Dear Mohammed, I forwarded your Atlantic article to the Listserve Group for the Salzburg session on immigration etc, and it has prompted the exchange below between myself and Nabil Alawi. As you will see, I tried to answer his criticism but I am sure you could do so better yourself. (Many other members of the group wrote back in warm praise of your article, and thanked me for circulating it.) All best wishes, Edward SALZBURG GLOBAL SEMINAR Edward Mortimer CMG| Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, Senior Program Advisor SalzburgGlobal.org From: Nabil Alawi Date: Monday, 18 August 2014 17:37 Subject: Re: A Plea for Empathy and Moderation in the Middle East Dear Edward, Yes, I know Dr. Dajani. I met him in 2009 at a conference on American studies at An-Najah. It would be nice to see how he answers the question on settlements, I do not mind forwarding my message to him. Regards Nabil ________________________________ From: Edward Mortimer Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 5:17:10 PM Subject: Re: A Plea for Empathy and Moderation in the Middle East Dear Nabil, Many thanks for this response, which has obliged me to read Mohammed Dajanis article again, more carefully. Yes, I suppose there is some simplification, but as a journalist I would say some simplification is always necessary if one wants to convey an essential point about a very complex situation to readers who may not have the time or patience to go through all the details. But you raise the important question: how to stop settlements in the West Bank? In order to do this, one has to understand who is doing the settling and what makes it possible. I would say that two things do. First, repeated opinion polls in Israel have shown rather little support for the settlers, but if you raise this issue in the context of efforts to resolve the conflict it is always brushed aside. Most Israelis dont believe, or dont understand, that this is the main issue which makes peace impossible. So one needs to get on to their wavelength (showing empathy) in order to persuade them to do things differently. Secondly, American leaders, and those parts of the American public that take a strong interest in the issue (strong enough to influence their vote or to motivate contributions to political campaigns), basically go along with the Israeli narrative. So, again, one has to address them in a way that they will understand and listen to. I think too few of the Palestinians and their supporters really make the effort to do that, and Dr Mohammed should be given the credit for trying. You have lost faith in the two-state solution because the settlements appear to be making it impossible. Israelis have lost faith in it because they believe that even if they accepted it the Palestinians (as per Hamass covenant) would still want to abolish Israel altogether. Thats why they allow themselves to be represented by Netanyahu and others even worse than him. Somehow faith and trust have to be restored on both sides, because to imagine that without faith and trust a one-state solution would be more workable than a two-state one is surely an illusion. That, I think, is the important truth that Dr Mohammed has grasped and is trying to convey. But Im sure he could answer much better for himself. Do you know him? May I pass your message on to him? All best wishes, Edward From: Nabil Alawi Date: Monday, 18 August 2014 01:40 Subject: Re: A Plea for Empathy and Moderation in the Middle East Dear Edward, I think Dr. Dajanis thesis is a simplification of the conflict, to say the least. As I read his article I was hoping to see any hint on how moderation can stop settlements in the West Bank when actually nothing is left of our land in Palestine to establish a viable Palestinian state. The two-state solution is the opium that the US administrations drug Palestinians with until we see settlers on our doorsteps asking us to evacuate our houses because they were given to them by God. Regards Nabil ________________________________ From: Edward Mortimer Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2014 2:04:41 PM Subject: A Plea for Empathy and Moderation in the Middle East Dear Colleagues, I think you will all appreciate this remarkable article by Professor Mohammed Dajani, who attended the Salzburg session on Holocaust and Genocide Education: Sharing Experience Across Borders, in June this year. All best wishes, Edward “A Plea for Empathy and Moderation in the Middle East.” theatlantic/international/archive/2014/08/a-plea-for-empathy-in-the-middle-east/375990/ Best wishes,
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 05:57:39 +0000
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