The home of a Palestinian family some of us stayed with was demolished in August and the family, which has lived on and worked their land for five hundred years, is now forced to live in an apartment in Hebron. Issues that I have cared about for decades have become personal. That is part of the effect of Listening. Encountering people as people rather than as symbols or actors in a conflict makes the search for peace and justice no less urgent, but it forces those who Listen to set aside stereotypes and to reject easy accusation and solutions. The way forward calls for listening, compassion, cooperation, and mutual respect.
Peace is the way.
Philip Bentley, rabbi of Temple Shalom in Floral Park, New York, is past president of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. Leah Green, Director, Mid-East Citizen Diplomacy, Box 17, Indianola, WA 98342. Photos for this article were taken by Paul Allen Tick and Paul Hwoschinsky.