Israeli, Syrian and American march in a bar in Hashem

Brian E. Frydenborg

At the beginning of 2011, I first came to the Middle East. East for class on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, traveling through Palestine and Israel, except for Gaza.

Yes, I said Palestine and Israel.

Disclaimer: I am zealous religious when it comes to being practical, but apart from that, I avoid supporting any sort of claims about knowledge of metaphysics or endorsing all kinds of religious property at all in the physical world.

In other words, if people think that their religion gives them a special claim to political sovereignty on one end of the earth or another, you will not find in me a receptive audience.

It is a historical fact that very few modern states were founded so as to be considered "legitimate" by modern standards, modern standards that came into effect at a time when virtually all States had already been established.

Before these more hypothetical modern norms, war and conquest, mass migrations that violated the consent of one or more parties, and who treated despots, kings, emperors and dictators, established the more often modern states. This does not mean: "Because the Mongols destroyed several states of Central Asia in the 1200s, who will criticize what happened in 1948 or 1967 between Israelis and Arabs? (19659010). especially Palestinians), "far from it."

My only point is that the questions of conquest, occupation and colonization, colonization, displacement are not unique to our time, nor the plot of land. land that was once known as the Palestine Mandate and which is now disputed.to the solutions of one side that totally dominates the other, erasing another person (both horrible and simple), or entering a machine to go back in time and undoing decades of decisive wars (return to my religion: very impracticable) here and now (also known as "reality").

Two states

I could write any a column on it, but for now let's just say that what I want is the best possible result for the greatest number of people on both sides ( this is my inner Kantian ), and for me it's two states, side by side you, living in peace, an Israel and Palestine based more or less on the 1967 borders.

This may seem less and less practical today, but would be even more practical than a solution to a state that resembles apartheid or a temporal approach that magically gives Arabs sovereignty over the lands for which Jews have fought, defended and controlled for 70 years or more.

The Israeli-built Wall is a representation against a two-state solution (AFP File Photo)

In other words, the best solution is one that will allow the most freedom and coexistence.

And in a spirit of coexistence, I think Arabs and Jews need to speak, especially those living in the Middle East. I am not talking about official peace negotiations with what I mean now; I mean individuals: Israeli Jews and Arab Palestinians, and also Jordanians, Iraqi Syrians, Egyptians, Saudis, you name it.

Amman Meeting

I am proud to have already facilitated similar actions: I convinced three American Jews They met in Israel after completing their "Birthright" program ( a problematic name from an Arab point of view) to come back with me a bit to Jordan, and they fell in love with the country and its people almost instantly. 19659010] I do not think that they knew what to expect, but Jordan and his people have pleasantly exceeded their expectations and all the experience has been an exercise in breaking down misinformation and stereotypes (although Sure, these three American Jews were already skeptical and

After my first visit to Israel and Palestine, and after I moved to Jordan in 2014, I went to Israel and sometimes to Palestine nine times. After my better understanding, it puts me in a very special position because I met very few people in those places that were so much back and forth, or talked to many people on opposite sides. of one of the great conflicts of the last half century and some of them.

I count among my friends and contacts Jewish and Muslim and Christian: Jordanian, Palestinian, Iraqi, Israeli, American, Syrian, Yemeni, Lebanese , etc. And I have l "Impression of being back in college: I am friends with the people of Kappa Sig frat and Sigma Nu frat, just a name two, but although I see them in their individual contexts, it's pretty difficult to gather them.

Add to that wars, occupations and complications.

I was delighted when an Israeli journalist contacted me – having been impressed by my very first . 19659007] Al Bawaba Article One on Jordan – that she wanted to come to Jordan, talk to locals, learn about the economy here and what was passed with the recent protests. I knew it would be a special occasion to bring together Arabs from the Middle East and Israeli Jews in an exceptionally rare and, for that very reason, very important and very necessary way.

Yes, you meet Jews and Arabs who speak regularly, are friends, same date, but it is very difficult and there is often a huge pressure from their communities, families and friends to not do that.

In most situations, you encounter Jews and Arabs who have never had serious social interactions with a member of the other group. So when you have the opportunity to present, for example, a Syrian Muslim and an Israeli Arab, in your own way, you literally make history.

No, it is not Rabin who breaks with Arafat. But that always matters.

In simple terms, there is so much misinformation and, forgive the term, shit, which dominates conversations in the Middle East (and, to be fair, pretty much everywhere these days). If one group does not like the other, you can usually take everything that someone from one group says about the other with a salt truck.

And much of this "information" is based on misinformation and misinformation: hearsay, myths, legends, one-way news reports or unrepresentative extreme minority actions within the group for represent the whole. . This does not only concern Arabs and Jews, but can easily extend to Sunnis and Shiites, for example.

Talking to each other

So, if a big part of the problem is that no one is talking to and that people often have no idea how the other thinks and feels , small conversations are miracle opportunities that must be taken seriously.

Hashim Fool and Falafel Restaurant in Downtown Amman (Migrationology.com)

So one night, I took him my Israeli reporter and his publisher and photographer (all Jewish) in a Palestinian-Jordanian pizzeria in a fashionable part of Amman. He is wise and grizzled, has traveled extensively in Europe and the United States, has been doing business with Israelis for years and regularly travels across the Jordanian border to the west. The conversation was running empty and began to include several Jordanian and other visitors

My journalist wanted to know Jordan, its economy and the demonstrations. At no time did the conversation turn to recriminations about the mistakes of Israelis and Arabs in their conflict. She listened, learned, laughed, shared the pizza, and listened more. She took selfies with a Jordanian and took selfies with her. They exchanged WhatsApps.

The next night, I introduced the Israeli crew to one of my Syrian friends at Hashem. They were talking mostly about the Syrian civil war and geopolitics, but also about his life and the situation in Jordan, and the quality of falafel and hummus at Hashem. They also keep in touch

Making contact with each other

The fact is that they made contact with each other voluntarily. None of this means an endorsement of the worst aspects of Israeli or Arab societies or policies. This does not mean that you cease to believe in the Palestinian right to sovereignty over a homeland in at least some of the territories controlled by Israel or that you endorse the occupation on one side or that you renounce the right to Israel to exist or to endorse terrorism. on the other hand

In certain circles, these simple exchanges would be considered as an outrage, even a betrayal of his cause and his people. I had an Israeli Arab (that's how he chose to identify, not like a Palestinian) visiting me with an Israeli Jewish friend. We were in a bar and the Jews wanted to talk to a group of Arabs. Arab girls wanted, but the Arab guy with them flatly refused.

(AFP)

I do not say that to belittle that Arab guy, and I understand the feeling; this time, with my Israeli journalist, a number of friends and contacts refused to meet her, did not answer my questions or hesitated.

In 1945, Orwell wrote : I mean in the first place the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified as insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of Millions of people can be labeled with "good" or "bad" confidence. This seems to be the way of working Arabs and Israelis, and that must change

My friend reporter was not going to give my Syrian friend an action on the Golan Heights. My Palestinian friend at the pizzeria would not speak on behalf of Fatah or Hamas.

But these interactions are crucial and need to be multiplied: because the only way out of a desperate conflict where one or the other does not understand nor humanizes much the Another, where there is very little interpersonal communication outside senior officials and security professionals, where many on both sides act needlessly and carelessly in the way that will best perpetuate mistrust and hatred, the only one way to get a point where these companies will support something better than the current horror that can at least not talk about, we talk about falafel or pizza, where people can start to build relationships , see yourself as humans and start to see small ways to accommodate these "others", ways that will not give up but that will change the dynamics of cycles of unnecessary and / or deliberate provocation and lack of understand voluntary decision.

Understanding can at least mitigate this conflict, make it less vicious. Maybe in such a climate, it will be easier to consider accommodations and compromises that are much more difficult to see now, maybe talking and interacting will not be as controversial, maybe the Cradles will find new ways to live together. nonviolence and shared sovereignty in a way that has escaped recent generations and is immeasurably better than the horrible status quo.

Failing that, enjoy good food and make new friends who can offer you prospects you would not normally have access

But hey, I'm only an Iranian-American whose grandparents fled imperialism and the conflict in America after 800 years of maladministration, occupation and displacement which only improved after another century. painful compromise and deeply flawed business and continues, but greatly diminishing the conflict …

Brian E. Frydenborg in a freelance American, academic, and consu writer He is currently based in Amman in Jordan. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Al Bawaba News, only those of the author.