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Smadar Bakovic, Neve Ilan One of the
hardest things to do, is to listen to others. Another hard thing to do is to listen to another person, and to try to see things from his or her own perspective. Both Israelis and Palestinians have tremendously suffered
in the past 3 years, since the Second Intifada broke out in October 2000. Both sides feel that they are the main, if not the only, victims of the conflict. Wrapped in suffering and pain, it has become almost impossible
for Israelis and Palestinians to come together and tell one another about their day to day experiences. The PIE conference in Copenhagen enabled Israelis, Palestinians and Europeans to come together and find solutions
to the lingering and sensless conflict. It became evident to all the participants that the first step in solving the conflict was to LISTEN to people from the other side,to emphasize with their situation, and to
understand and accept the legitimacy of their arguments. Ultimately, both Israelis and Palestinians realized that they were not the only ones suffering from the conflict, and that accepting the existence of the other in
his or her own stste was a basis to all other things. The role of the European students in the conference was of major importance and priceless. Looking at the conference in retrospect, it is obvious that all
constructive dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian participants was possible thanks to their presence. When arguments turned into personal attacks, or when one side was unable to listen to the other, the European
voice brought back reason and dialogue. In spite of the fact that many of the European students did not understand the conflict in all its entirety, they were able at times, maybe because of this fact, to see things
both Israelis and Palestinians overlooked. Using their experience and knowledge, they contributed immensly to the conference, and there is no doubt that most of them, if not all, went through a certian personal
transformation when listening to the experiences, stories, and pains of the other participants. I have an impression that there is not one person who came to the conference and stayed the same. People learned a lot
about the conflict, but equally important, they also learnt new things about themselves. Maybe above all they learned that they were important in solving the conflict, that they had a lot to contribute, and that as the
next generation, it was their responsibility not to lose hope. |
