Mid Term Orientation: A Week to Breathe Deep and Take it All In

Fatigue, in human rights advocacy, runs deep. It's not so much the physical activity, although walking 5 miles a day up and down the old city and East Jerusalem streets or standing for four hours at Qalandia checkpoint can be challenging. The tiredness is more an emotional feeling, it strikes me at the oddest moments. It creeps around on its knees, deep in my soul.

Another house demolition to report. Another stabbing or shooting setting everyone on edge. Another morning spent asking soldiers to open the checkpoint's Humanitarian gate. It's no wonder that people who do this work often burn out, fast and furious or find themselves with a new gallows-style sense of humor.

In the beginning, I dealt with stress by retreating to my room to pray or cry (usually both at the same time). I'd write, and in doing so, try to imagine a better world with an end to conflict. Lately, it's been more challenging to find optimism and hope.

Wisely, our staff here have constructed our time with a week long break from our normal duties called "Mid-Term Orientation". We all come in to Jerusalem and stay at the Ecce Homo hostel deep in the Old City - the place where we met one another 7 weeks ago. There are a variety of speakers from some of the over 400 peace-building organizations in Israel. We traveled together to Haifa, and to a small Jewish community just outside the border of the Gaza Strip.

Here is a list of some of what we encountered, I'd like you know about them so that you can read up on them yourself:

Ruth Hiller – one of the original founders of “New Profile” www.newprofile.org, a feminist group working to de-militarize society in Israel, to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land conquered in 1967, to generate a life-preserving, egalitarian, humane society and to uphold the right to freedom of conscience, she is deeply concerned with militarization of Israeli society and told us of her family's personal journey of having two daughters enter military service and the process of supporting four sons who refused to do so.

Sharon Dolev - from the “Israeli Disarmament Movement”  http://disarmament.org.il/english/

who told us that there are 9 nuclear armed states that are putting 1 trillion dollars a year into weapons, and reminded us that Israel possesses chem-bio-nuclear WMD before she taught us important information about how the political parties and government are set up to work in Israel, and some of the threats to safety and peace that she sees in the rhetoric.

Samar Hougha - from "The Mossawa Center" in Haifa http://www.mossawa.org/en who works with Arabic citizens in Israel and recognition of the Palestinian people’s identity by lobbying the Knesset for fair legislation, increasing International advocacy and awareness in the EU parliament and US congress, empowering Women entrepreneurs and leaders, analyzing the needs of Arab communities.

Eric Yellin, - from “Other Voice”, http://www.othervoice.org  co-author of ‘Life must go on in Gaza and Sderot’ blogsite, http://gaza-sderot.blogspot.co.il/  As we looked down on Gaza from a hilltop a few hundred meters from the border, he shared with us his impressions of living as neighbors. He believes that the reality of the current hostilities and conflict make peace impossible. His work is to convince leaders and people on both sides of the border that “The only way to make this place safe is to be at peace with our neighbors."

Osama & Mahoun - from "Combatants for Peace", http://www.cfpeace.org  an Israeli Ex-Army and Palestinian Ex-Combatant organization that has been recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. They send pairs of speakers out to discuss the path to peace and ways that former enemies of war may be reconciled

We also met with our embassy/consulate representatives, worked on researching issues that the Holocaust and Nakba share with each other, went to a reform synagogue for worship, and attended a choir concert together. Just hearing the perspectives of our speakers and being together with the people from the other 6 sites and our staff was the pick-me-up I needed to focus in on the next 40 days until I'm back in the states. Today we take the Sunday to plan out the week, do laundry and fill the placement fridge so we can hit the field tomorrow refreshed and ready. I hope that your Sunday is a restful one too.