Thematic Quotes from Erella Dunayevsky
Walking by me was a Russian soldier who had immigrated to Israel a year before and barely spoke Hebrew, and by the time we reached the road we were good friends. I told him about what we were doing, and how it was humanitarian work, not political work. I introduced it very simply, so he could relate to what I was saying. The soldier said he understood us. When I started walking with him he clenched his gun by his side [....] I thought to myself, what is it about belonging? Who exactly do I belong to? What is identity? I could deal with the question at that moment, as we left our friends. Who is friend, who is foe? Why the confusion?
In 2003, about the time we started working, settlers ambushed Palestinians on [the Palestinians’] lands and beat them - nearly to death. We visited one of the Palestinians, Samih, when he was released from the hospital. I remember one visit I was joined by Yitzhak Mendelsohn, we’re both therapists. We tried to ask Samih what he was doing with the anger and insult he suffered, we asked his wife and kids too. Our presence was very important then
In this continuous process I meet and get to know people, relationships grow, we are always connected. I get to know the problems from inside and understand some of them resemble the problems people everywhere have, while others are related to the culture, perceptions and collective mentality. It fascinates me and has become part of a process of growth and education in my life
Part of what I’ve learned in general is how to set my limits in the right places, including the limits of my power. I’ve learned - and I’m still learning this – that I have an idea of what happens to me when I meet someone, but I have no idea what happens to them when they meet me. I use my presence, I learned that when I’m in the right mood, my presence has an effect and it does a lot for people I meet. It’s important and it plays a role
I think [my work] doesn’t contribute anything to a peace process, it contributes to something on the level of grassroots. I feel that if we didn’t do our work, the distance might be greater
We are a kind of bridge. The continuity gives me strength, and the contacts we maintain grant me perspective and vision. There is power there that enables me to compete with the things that consume my strength, such as the war in Gaza. The things that consume your strength seem to work overtime
After suicide attacks people here would say to me, “Look what your friends are doing.” That was very hard. It didn’t have to do with me but obviously when it came up it was very painful
I can’t control peace, and that’s a very clear distinction. When I know what is beyond my control, it becomes clearer what I can control. For instance, I can definitely control whether I visit people in the Southern Hebron Hills every Thursday, and every two weeks visit Salem and Deir al-Hatab. Liberty is something I can control, even if I’m sentenced to prison. There is a lot of power when you realize most of the things we’d like to have happen are beyond our control
In his inauguration speech, Nelson Mandela said that when we manage to overcome our fears, we enable others to do the same
I can only say a word or two about what I experience in the field. Fears are very central to the creation of collective identities. I think that generally speaking, the Israeli public – this is a generalization – fears extermination and is a victim who fears this. Views of reality are disrupted and become very narrow. There is no range of possibilities for the ways the other side acts and they are constantly interpreted in a very narrow sense – such as “I’m righteous, you’re wicked.”
