Ofer Shinar
10
Do you think there can be some constructive comparisons made between this conflict and others?
Prominent Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who traveled to South Africa usually came to the conclusion that there is almost no connection between the two conflicts and that you almost cannot take anything from there. People that did spend a lot of time there (many people have studied it and met with Desmond Tutu1 and other prominent figures) came to the conclusion that you just cannot replicate the process there. I think... my understanding is that it's not totally correct. I strongly believe in empathy, I believe in the common ground that is there even below the cultural and religious framework of societies. I think the reason the Palestinian and Israeli societies tend to view bereaved parents with such reverence is because both societies share the most basic value of empathy. It is something that is embedded in our minds and in our hearts. And it was very important for me to read the writings of a political psychologist, one of the leading political psychologists in Israel, Daniel Bar-Tal,2 who was writing on the conflict and writing on the reasons for the conflict. He says that the thing that is missing, are not the physical borders between Israelis and Palestinians, but rather it's the empathy, empathy for the other side's victims. If you do it, if you make this small contribution, you solve the conflict. You can really solve the conflict. If you feel for the other side's victims, you don't want to hurt them because it will hurt you. Empathy is the ability to identify with the other side's pain. If you feel for me, you don't want me to get hurt, it's that simple. It was very important for me to read it from someone who is really a tremendous scholar, someone who spent many years studying and researching the conflict.