I am the director of PeaceInsight. This is a charity that brings together Israeli and Palestinian teenagers to learn how to dialogue during two weeks in the summer in England. We do everything we can to maintain contact between the participants to continue their dialogue in the region. Our philosophy is to enable each side to tell their stories and to listen to the other with respect and openness, not an easy thing for anyone in conflict let alone such a tough one as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
 
Recently I went to the West Bank to train Palestinians as potential facilitators to continue this vital work in the region. During this training I witnessed one of the Palestinian women criticising certain Palestinian reactions to the Israeli occupation. The co-trainer and I intervened after she was verbally attacked by other members of the group. Later, another of the women spoke to me at length about the daily hatred that is fed throughout all sections of Palestinian society, from age three upwards. I was already aware of this and have seen some of the textbooks that teach that Jews are apes and dogs (regarded as the lowest of the low). A few Palestinians have told me similar things. This societal indoctrination has been going on in Israel for years and plays its part in the occupation.
 
Trying to write honestly, objectively and informatively (as Margaret Bradshaw in the July issue suggests that the authors of ‘To resist is to exist’ Therapy Today, March 2009, did) about such a complex and entrenched conflict, fraught with cultural differences, fear, mistrust, variant historical narratives and hatred, is a monumental challenge. It is not possible to look at the trauma suffered by both sides without having an indepth awareness of the political, historical and cultural background. To highlight only the Palestinian suffering of the conflict seems to me to reinforce the Palestinian mantra that ‘We are the victims’, which does nothing to help the Palestinians go beyond the hatred that they are taught and begin to think for themselves (as the brave, young woman on the adult training course is doing). It is interesting to see that in each of the summer camps we have held it is the Palestinian teenagers who express their surprise that ‘Jews suffer as well’, after listening to Israeli stories of trauma. It is entirely new to them, as so much of what they learn during the summer camp is new.
 
I was one of the people who felt that the original article did nothing to further understanding but had the opposite effect. Most of it was anecdotal, which is precisely what keeps the Palestinian community down, hearing stories that add to the flood of hatred. And I was angry that the Israeli voice was not allowed to be heard – until enough protest was raised that enabled that to happen. The trauma of thousands of people in Israeli towns does not get media coverage in this country, but it is very real indeed. If we learn nothing else about trauma in conflict, it is imperative that 
we hear both sides. This is the common sense approach to promoting peace, not inflammatory stories that fuel more hatred, more frustration and more rage. This is the explosive mix that encourages young people to see violence as their only recourse.
 
The therapist’s role is to help each side see the human face of the other and hear their suffering. To continually resort to ‘one side good, the other bad’ or the ‘black and white’ simplistic view of such complexity is to be either extremely naive at best or to be maliciously manipulative at worst. And at that level we surely need to reflect on the danger we can cause to thousands of people by playing with their vulnerable and wounded emotions and lives.
 
No more ‘honest, objective and informative’ articles unless they are just that, please.
 

Sylvie K Schapira
Director, PeaceInsight