About
Listening
"Do not be too quick to assume your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels that you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you are capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy."
Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation
Mid East Citizen Diplomacy has been leading citizen delegations to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza since 1990. Hundreds of participants have travelled with us to learn first-hand from citizens, religious, political and grassroots leaders, settlers, refugees and peace activists about their lives, struggles and perspectives. We have built respectful and trusting relationships at every level of Israeli and Palestinian society.
Seeking to play a greater role in Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, we launched the Compassionate Listening Project in 1997, with the encouragement of Israeli and Palestinian NGOs. Participants in our delegations now focus on Compassionate Listening as a tool for reconciliation, based on the work of Gene Knudsen Hoffman. With the guidance of our professional facilitators and Israeli and Palestinian colleagues, trip participants deepen in their understanding of the perspectives and the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians on all sides of the conflict, and build bridges among the communities in conflict. We also hold workshops for Israelis and Palestinians in the listening technique, and invite them to come together to practice with one another.
Our professional staff lead Compassionate Listening delegations approximately twice each year. Our first Jewish-Palestinian (American) delegation took place in May 2000.
Our international Advisory Board includes leading Israeli and Palestinian professionals in the conflict resolution field, who actively participate in our training and delegations. In 2001 we will expand our project to include citizen delegations to the Arab world as well as Children of Abraham Youth Delegations to Israel and Palestine.
We believe that the international community has the potential to play a much more significant role in Middle East peace-building and reconciliation efforts. We also believe in the creative abilities of regular citizens to affect change at the global level. We invite you to join us on a Compassionate Listening delegation.
We know that not everyone can participate in an international peace-making trip. We also know that the Compassionate Listening reconciliation model is applicable to all situations of conflict. To make our work accessible to the general public, we produced a beautiful, broadcast-quality documentary video introducing our work with Compassionate Listening. Children of Abraham is now available for sale. We recommend it for the classroom (junior high through college level), for home viewing, or for public screenings at Churches, Mosques, Synagogues and peace centers.
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