A Palestinian-Jewish dialogue for peace
in the Middle East
The cofounders of the Palestinian and Jewish American Women's Dialogue Project, Reena Bernards and Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil, discussed Israeli-Palestinian relations and their experience forging a respectful dialogue across a vast cultural and political divide, in a program sponsored by the UMass Amherst Office of Jewish Affairs on December 3, 1997.
Palestinian, Jewish speakers address importance of dialogue
By Elana Premack
Massachusetts Daily Collegian
December 3, 1997
Tying personal experiences to the broad issue of the Middle East peace process, Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil (left) and Reena Bernards (right) speaking at the University of Massachusetts on December 3, 1997, discussed the importance of dialogue in resolving conflict between Palestinians and Jews.
Trained in conflict resolution, leadership and organizational development, Bernards and Khelil formed the Palestinian and Jewish American Women's Dialogue Project in 1989 following the [first] Palestinian intifada. Sensing a need for understanding between the two groups, the women began the dialogue with twenty women—ten Palestinian Americans and ten Jewish Americans.
"We want to put a face on the enemy, to understand that we both have suffered and that we have to recognize the suffering of each other," Khelil said. "We have to appreciate that each one of us has a side to the issue."
The personal experiences of both Khelil and Bernards contributed to their desire to create a dialogue. Khelil's hometown of Nablus, West Bank, was occupied in 1967, the same time she was receiving her education in the United States. At the time, her education was stressed over her connection to the conflict. "The issue of the conflict was somewhere deep in my heart, except it was not occupying me," Khelil said.
It was her return to her home in 1977 that opened her eyes to the need for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Palestinians. For the first time she was able to humanize Israelis and began to believe that there must be a fair solution to the conflict.
Bernards was raised in the United States with a strong Jewish background—her father was a conservative rabbi, her mother a Hebrew school teacher. Bernards said her view of Israel was extremely positive. "Israel was the savior of the Jewish people," Bernards said. "It was an incredibly creative country that came out of the ashes of the Holocaust."
On a 1968 trip to Israel, the then 13-year-old Bernards witnessed firsthand the feelings of Palestinians toward Jews. Visiting the occupied West Bank, she faced Palestinians angry at Jews for being in their town.
While Bernards acknowledged that this initial experience produced only an unconscious understanding of the issues at hand, it was an understanding still, and one that provided a catalyst for her future actions, including the creation of the dialogue project.
Khelil said that the need for leaders to give an incentive for Israelis and Palestinians to move in the direction of peace was of major concern. She said that Israelis would respond to a promise of security while Palestinians want sovereignty, self-determination and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Although support for the peace process is high among both Jews in Israel and the United States as well as Palestinians, many consider the current Israeli government responsible for a setback to the peace process.
"Would a shift in the government in Israel contribute to success in the peace process? Yes, yes, yes, yes," Bernards said. In addition, Khelil said that [Shimon] Peres' slowness in acting on the peace process after Yitzhak Rabin's death also played a role in leading to the current deadlock.
The role the U.S. government has played in the peace process has affected Palestinian views. The lack of government action in support of Palestine has led to an erosion of support for the peace process. Projects like Bernards and Khelil's dialogue will hopefully lead [to a break in this deadlock].
Larry Goldbaum, director of the Office of Jewish Affairs, said that he views the dialogue as a model for people to talk to each other as human beings and to begin to move through conflict. He hopes to create a similar dialogue at UMass. "The dialogue should not end here, but should start here," Goldbaum said.
This article appeared in the Massachusetts Daily Collegian on 12/9/97. It is reprinted with permission of Elana Premack and the Collegian.
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More information about The Palestinian and Jewish American Women's Dialogue Project and its cofounders, Reena Bernards and Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil.
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