Durban Diaries - 1

Excerpt: The Durban Diaries Wednesday, August 29th 10.00: The student delegates of the Jewish caucus (we’re around a dozen) decide to put up our own stand near the press tent, at the main entrance of the NGO Forum. Let’s do what all the others are doing. It’s time to hand out our pamphlets. Let’s explain our slogans. Nearly one hundred people are now surrounding us. People begin shouting: “You should not be allowed to have a stand! You Jews, you have become racists!” Some cry. Others say nothing, but stare at us with contempt. TV camera crews and radio journalists approach us from all sides. Click. A photo is taken. Can we interview you later on? Frankly, we have no clue how to react to all of this. We try to hold the attention of the one person facing us to at least initiate a real exchange amid the chatter from all sides. The debate begins: Who is wrong, Sharon or Arafat? Who suffers more, Palestinians or Israelis? The questions don’t make any sense. But if these are the questions that make the crowds so furious, if we are touching the heart of what causes so much pain and humiliation, if we have pushed the button or pressed the “central nerve system” that ignites the frustration of Palestinian sympathizers, then this taboo needs to be broken. We must talk about the politics of it all! Even if we hadn’t come to Durban to discuss the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, let’s do it, because that is the only way we can start to have a real dialogue. Hopefully, once we find a common ground, recognize the other’s suffering, and manage to get across a fragile message of peace and hope, perhaps we can then discuss racism. Source: https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/durb/Durban%20Diaries.pdf