the -.Fault
Line to Peac. ~
CUSTOM RESULTS FOR EVERY BUDGET
How Tension Can Transform Conflict
4
By Brenda Naomi Rosenberg
/
Editor's Note: As the world waits to see if the Palestinian Authority circumvents
the "peace process" by requesting formal recognition from the U.N. General Assembly,
we wonder if there could be a better way to resolve the stalemate between the PA and
Israel? This essay is the first in a series looking at the conflict between governments,
citizens and, ultimately, the children of Abraham.
77e are at a critical moment in
history: We can choose to self-
destruct or be in the presence
of the best of our humanity.
A new form of leadership is needed to
address the mounting pressure surging
in all sectors of society, between coun-
tries, within governments, businesses,
religious institutions, communities and
on campuses.
To seed a new approach to peace,
Samia Bahsoun, a pro-Palestinian
American Muslim, and I, an Zionistic
American Jew, created Tectonic Leader-
ship. Suffice it to say, we are an unlikely
partnership. We have disparate career
paths, religions and perspectives; our
common denominator, however, is a
shared frustration with "dialogue" and
peace" groups that serve delicious hum-
mus but never address the elephant in
the room.
Our goal is to develop and train
leaders from opposite sides of a conflict
to take joint ownership in transform-
ing their differences into solutions. We
provide the structure, discipline and
commitment to create a New Rela-
tional Architecture that sustains seismic
events inherent to our civilization.
We use geology's Plate Tectonics theory
as a metaphor, recognizing that human
conflict is similar to fault lines between
plates, which interact and create friction
at their boundaries — subsequently caus-
ing earthquakes when the elasticity of
surrounding rock has been exceeded.
Human interactions can similarly
create fault lines. When pressure be-
comes unbearable, the energy released
is tsunami-like, inciting hate and fear,
separating nations, destroying business-
es and communities, oppressing people
and instigating wars.
The focus for our pilot workshop was
the Middle East conflict. In May 2011,
we worked with 16 Christian, Muslim
and Jewish university students from
four Michigan universities. Within five
days, young leaders learned how to use
the tension of hotly contested topics,
including Zionism, the Holocaust, Gaza,
"occupation" and suicide bombers, as
an opportunity to deepen their under-
standing of the other — and not as an
obstacle to partnering.
We were invited to present Tectonic
Leadership at the International Con-
ference on Transforming Conflict in
Amman, Jordan, last July. Sponsored
by the Common Bond Institute and the
International Humanistic Psychology
Association, I attended in the company
of Sarah Jaward, an American Muslim
from Dearborn who graduated from the
Tectonic Leadership program.
Sarah and I arrived in Amman full of
optimism. Once there, the organizers
asked us to form a circle and introduce
ourselves. Several people spoke before
the microphone was handed to a man
who identified himself as Gady from Tel
Aviv.
This simple introduction was followed
by a scream in Arabic from a young
man who ran out of the room, ranting
loudly. He was subsequently followed
by 20 more young men and women; at
the same time, two other women were
tugging on his jacket, trying to coax him
back into the room.
"
www.redthreadmagazine.com
My optimism vanished. All I could
hear were the voices of my well-meaning
friends and family saying, "Brenda don't
go. Jordan had riots last week; it's not
safe for you to be there." One of the
organizers said to me, "Brenda, the pro-
testors are out front; we have a bus at
the side of the building for the Israelis;
please go now."
Her words only reinforced my fear
of the very real danger we faced being
there. I took Sarah's hand and walked
to the bus, my heart pounding. We kept
asking anyone who would listen, 'Who
are they? Why did they leave? Why were
they so angry?"
By the time we arrived back at the
hotel, we learned "they" were university
students, and the young man who led
the walkout, Abdullah, was the group's
organizer. Apparently, when he heard
the word "Tel Aviv," he told his group
to walk out with him. He was outraged
because no one told him Israelis would
be in attendance..
The next morning, Sarah and I ap-
proached Abdullah in the hotel lobby.
We were willing to put the central
tenent of Tectonic Leadership to the
ultimate test: "Tension can never be
eradicated, but we can utilize tension to
transform conflict."
We spent more than two hours listen-
ing, with Sarah translating, and the
three of us talking. As he explained it,
he had "no problem" being in the same
room as Israelis but was in such shock
that the Israeli contingent's presence
had failed to be disclosed prior to the
event.
He went on to acknowledge that he
had never met an Israeli and needed
time to prepare himself and his group.
We gained his trust, and he was willing
to meet Gady, shake his hand and pres-
ent a collaborative exercise with him at
our presentation the next day.
The following day, we presented
Tectonic Leadership. Near the end of
our presentation, Osama, a Palestinian,
left the room. Sarah and I looked at each
other and shrugged. We believed Tec-
tonic Leadership was a hit as we fielded
numerous questions, received hugs and
sincere invitations to Israel, Neve Sha-
lom, Ramallah, Hebron and Lebanon.
Afterward, during lunch, Osama
approached me and asked if we could
speak. He said he had been overcome
with emotion and left the room fearing
someone would see him cry.
He described how moved he felt
seeing Arab and Jewish descendants
from America who care so deeply about
Israelis and Palestinians.
My assumption: I thought he left the
room when the video referred to me as
a Zionist. We hugged and took pictures
together, promising to stay in touch.
We continue to believe peace is pos-
sible, but our efforts need support from
all communities. We need to make
peacemaking, cross-cultural communi-
cation, genocide prevention and conflict
transformation financially viable career
paths — not just volunteer jobs for our
young leaders. It is up to each of us to
empower our young leaders and work
with them to make our world a better
place. l,77
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