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| Tit for tat, we strike then we strike back again. |
The
peace issue of Meditation Magazine is focused on cultivating peace, communication, understanding, and reconciliation within ourselves, our families, between nations, and in the world as a whole.
UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF BOTH SIDES
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| Kevin Allerton, peacenik, meditator, author |
Palestinians are struggling fighting for survival, freedom, and to end oppression and illegal Israeli occupation.
Israelis are fighting for safety and an end to terrorist retaliation for their state sponsored terrorism and violence against its Jewish civilians, the others not being considered as important as their settler colonial project at any cost [to others in the region].
Any viable solution must address the needs of both sides.
It’s not only Palestinians who need freedom, and it’s not only Israelis who need safety. Both groups need both freedom and safety. Additionally, no group of humans will live happily in a situation of injustice.
All three of these things – freedom, safety, and justice – must be ensured for all humans throughout the land in order to reach a true and lasting peace.
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| Genocide Joe, stop funding Israeli massacre of human beings in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran... |
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| Peace is easy to reach. Just practice it. |
Lastly, both Israelis and Palestinians feel a deep and understandable need (rooted in both peoples’ historical traumas and experiences) for self-determination.
Both peoples feel a need to be masters of their own futures, rather than to submit to the will of others who are trying to dictate their fates.
So we have four basic needs for both Israelis and Palestinians:
- freedom,]
- safety,
- justice, and
- self-determination.
All four of these basic needs must be met for both groups in order for either group to experience true and lasting peace.
AGREE ON MUST-HAVES
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| For tolerance, an enemy is the best teacher. |
The first thing that Israeli and Palestinian leaders need to agree on is this very basic vision: Freedom, Safety, Justice, and self-Determination (which we will refer to as FSJD) for all of the human beings between the river and the sea.
(Personally, I would extend this to all conscious beings in the Universe, but for now, it may be more immediately achievable to begin with the humans of Israel and Palestine.)
AGREE ON MUST-NOT-HAVES
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| Here, Peace Dove, I have a surprise for you. |
Both sides need to understand the obstacles to peace in order to avoid the obstacles and handle the enemies of it. This will ensure a lasting peace.
OBSTACLES TO PEACE:
Hatred, Dehumanization, and Violence (HDV) are the three poisons that destroy peace. Israeli and Palestinian leaders must both sincerely commit to removing these poisons from their constituents, from their governments, and from their policies as much as they possibly can.
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| What? What'd I do? Why you looking at me? |
NOTE: Dehumanization includes racism, othering, and apathy toward the suffering of people “on the other side.” The category of “violence” includes emotional, physical, and structural violence. Emotional violence includes interpersonal actions like screaming, spiteful speech, spitting, slurs, and so on. Physical violence includes harming people or property. Structural violence includes policies and systems of occupation, oppression, apartheid, and so on. All of these obstacles to peace must be removed (or at least dramatically reduced over time) in order for both people to enjoy true and lasting peace.
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| I funded and defended HAMAS to do this plan. |
ENEMIES OF PEACE:
Any individual who prevents the achievement of the must-haves (FSJD – Freedom, Security, Justice, and self-Determination for all) or perpetuates the must-not-haves (HDV – Hatred, Dehumanization, and Violence) is an enemy of peace. This is because one will decrease the level of peace in the land rather than increase it.
It only takes one human being to commit a terrorist attack that can ignite a war that kills thousands. We must therefore take care to create a society where extremist individuals [like maybe PM Netanyahu] will not restart the cycle of violence.
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| This is a good lesson in co-owning the land. It will teach them hatred for many generations. |
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| Rev. King and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh |
While we cannot force individual humans to change their thoughts and emotions (e.g., to let go of hatred and dehumanization), we can certainly encourage this type of change at a societal level through peaceful education, media, social discourse, and messaging from leadership.
But when it comes to violence, we must demand a basic standard of interpersonal behavior that will protect peace and prevent future conflict.
Any human who perpetrates acts of violence (whether emotional, physical, or structural) is an enemy of peace.
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| I have some quotes - The 14th Dalai Lama |
But if we respond to this human with hatred, dehumanization, and violence then we become enemies of peace ourselves.
We must respond firmly and justly to violence in order to stop and prevent it. But we must also respond compassionately and wisely to avoid exacerbating it.
For example, by focusing more on rehabilitation and reconciliation than on punishment and vengeance, we can heal individuals and societies rather than unwittingly perpetuating hatred, anger, violence, and conflict.
More
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| It's all part of the master plan. They did it. Blame them. I wasn't in the loop. |
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ABOUT: Author Kevin Allerton is an ever-changing flow of matter and energy who is often described as "human." From the perspective of those who perceive him as a discrete entity, Allerton has been traveling the world, teaching, and writing about meditation since 2010. He loves readers and wants them to be happy. In his words, "we are all one consciousness" or some weird hippie tree sap like that full of incense and peppermints and some patchouli.
