by Ian Paul, Psephizo
Why are our conversations (!) about Israel-Palestine so problematic? Why is there an apparently unbridgeable chasm between the two sets of views on this issue? Is there a way to actually listen well to each other?
The Grove Ethics group has offered the beginnings of an answer. Two people, Colin Chapman and James Patrick, have set their views out on the key stages of the history of the conflict. In the booklet this pair of views is presented side by side; I cannot do that, so do not put any interpretation on the order here.
In this extract, I include their introductions, their accounts of the key moment of the foundation of Israel in 1947–8, and their conclusions. But the other sections are equally important.
I have found reading these two accounts side by side enormously enlightening. It illustrates how very different perspectives can develop and points to what we need to do to find a way to a better conversation.
You can buy the booklet, post free in the UK, from the Grove website here. It really is essential reading at the present moment.