Coming Home

There are always two sides to every story.  I have heard this phrase since I was a kid, but, over my four months in Israel, it has developed a deeper meaning.  One of the focus points for my school in Israel has been peace building particularly concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  I lived with Israeli and Arab students, and we all sat in weekly seminars to discuss this conflict and ways to build peace.  Different sides of this conflict were taught through people’s narratives.  Students told their stories, and we heard other narratives through guest speakers and others we met along our journeys.  Just like the old phrase there are always two sides to every story, there are many sides to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  History is thought to be facts, but the history can change depending on who is telling the story.  In all of these narratives, who is right and who is wrong concerning this conflict?  Is there a right and wrong?  Actions taken by Israelis or Palestinians fall in various places along the morality scale depending on whose scale it is.  All of this can seem like a confusing jumble of histories, cultures, and personal stories especially to an outsider like me.  However, I have also learned many lessons about myself and the world through it.  

Through my time here my education has certainly been more about outside the classroom learning than inside.  Interacting with my diverse group of peers has helped me to gain a greater patience in dealing with cultural differences.  It has taught me to be more forgiving of both myself and others when cultural mistakes or miscommunication happens.  Through talking extensively about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I have learned to listen and to really hear people.  I may not agree with someone’s point, but I can understand what motivated his or her thoughts and maybe even empathize with his or her reasoning.  Israelis have also taught me how to honestly argue my point and stick up for my views.  I now find myself more openly telling people I disagree with them or if I have an issue with someone bringing it up to him or her in an attempt to solve it whereas in the past I would have held my tongue.  

Applying this to the world, when I meet someone from another culture I will definitely try to use patience and forgiveness.  I will actively listen to understand where he or she is coming from and know that he or she has a narrative to tell.  As Dr. George B. Forsythe, President of Westminster College said, the community we live and interact in is a global one.  I will work or interact with people from another culture many times in the future, and these skills that I have learned while in Israel will help me to have successful, meaningful interactions.  As an individual in the world, it can seem daunting to try and figure out where your place is.  In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I often find myself wondering if I can even do anything in this conflict to make any sort of difference.  I do not know the answer to this question.  As a fellow human, do I owe it to the less fortunate and less privileged to help them achieve equality or would my presence further complicate things?  Maybe the next great skill I have to master is understanding when to be involved in a cross cultural conflict and when to simply listen and learn from it.  

Me - dressed in my travel gear ready to great the world.