Journal #2 The Problem with "No Solution"

Hello Everybody. :)

I gotta say, despite the fact that this is a class about Jerusalem, I was a little surprised about the prompt for this journal. I feel like I don't know nearly enough about the situation to put forth a good idea. But perhaps not knowing enough might not be so bad because it might help me think outside the box.

I think the best place to start would be at the micro-level, with individuals and communities. While sitting together over a plate of hummus and falafel might not be super productive, I think that it can't hurt. Small grass-roots organizations can be the catalyst for great change. Earlier in the class I brought up the idea of fostering peace in Israeli and Palestinian schools. There is so much hate outside in the world. School could be a place that promotes understanding. I understand that this would be easier said than done, but children are highly impressionable, so at the very least it might help curtail the belief that violence is the only answer and prevent future loss of life. Perhaps this education could be done by international or domestic volunteers who are part of peace organizations. While this may seem insignificant, it could be the seed for something in the future.

On to the level of policy: the first step would be granting Palestinians their rights and equal representation. As for how to go about doing this . . . I have no idea. While I don't know much about Israeli politics, I doubt that a lot of the politicians are amenable to that, for reasons of power, national security, staying in office etc. etc. If most of them were open to it, I'd like to think that progress would be made in this area by now. Without Palestinians having a say, I don't think there will be a solution.

I don't think anyone has any delusions that this is going to be easy. But I favor the slow and hopefully steady approach of changing the little things. I understand that this won't really help people's living conditions right now, and that sucks. But realistically, this is the route I would take