By Lara Rodin
Our wonderful weekend in Alon Shvut, a settlement in the West Bank, was one that provided me with greater insight into the Israel Palestine conflict, and the realities on the ground regarding peace talks and land swaps. Often, when I think of settlers in Gush Etzion, I picture a group of religious and messianic Zionists whose sole purpose for living in the West Bank is purely ideological. Staying with a family over Shabbat, attending services at the local synagogue and eating Shabbos lunch in their home, allowed me the opportunity to dig a little further and ask questions, opening me up to a greater understanding of ideological motivations for living in the Gush.
On Saturday evening, once Shabbat came to a close, we had the opportunity to participate in a dialogue session with a Jewish settler and a Palestinian, through the “Shorashim” (“Roots”) organization. The session with Shorashim was meaningful to me, both on a practical level and in regard to digesting all of the material I learned while staying in Gush Etzion over Shabbat. Shorashim is an organization based in the West Bank that brings together settlers and Palestinians living in the West Bank in order to engage in dialogue on the conflict, as well as create relationships and mutual understandings in regard to culture, faith, and life in the West Bank. Shorashim takes dialogue about the conflict to a personal, human level, and acts as a wonderful example for dialogue on the conflict both here in the Middle East as well as back home in North America. Hearing the stories of Jewish West Bank resident Shaul and Christian Palestinian West Bank resident Antoine was very meaningful, affecting within myself a greater understanding of historical significance and life on both sides of the conflict. It was very special to see the positive relationships between Shaul and Antoine that have grown out of this organization, and gave me hope in regard to possible steps toward peace through dialogue.
The session was significant to me on a practical level as well. At my university, McGill, we have recently struggled with BDS motions proposed by the Student’s for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) group at our student services general assembly. As a result of these repetitive motions, and the tension on campus between SPHR and the Israel on Campus (IOC) groups, some students have taken initiative in starting dialogue sessions on campus between SPHR, IOC, and any other student who is interested in engaging in conversation about the Israeli Palestinian conflict, focused heavily on the controversy of settlement in the West Bank. The example that Shorashim has set for me and for the world in regard to peaceful and productive dialogue on the conflict is one that I would like to work toward mirroring during these dialogue sessions on McGill campus in the coming year. The opportunity to hear Shorashim leaders’ stories and motives for dialogue inspired me to continue to work toward a space where productive dialogue can take place on my own campus. The session inspired me so deeply that I am even considering working on a series of dialogue sessions, involving the help of the Shorashim organization, as part of my campus project at McGill next year for Nachshon. I found the session incredibly inspiring and helpful in regard to digesting information about the conflict, as well as maintaining a sense of hope that peace is on the horizon, and can be accomplished through on-the-ground work and human-to-human contact and conversation.
