Archive for the 'Letters from Palestine' Category

Letters from Palestine #5: War

Published
by
Hildy
on January 12, 2009
in Changing the World and Letters from Palestine
. 4 Comments


(To read this series from the beginning, please click here.)

When my brother and I were kids, horsing around in the back seat as my mother drove, it usually didn’t take long for “acting up” to become full scale war.  When my mother couldn’t take it anymore, she would slide off her slip-on shoe and, still driving, she would reach her arm over the back seat, smacking whoever was in her reach.

One of us would always complain, “But he / she started it!” And my mother’s response was always the same:

“I don’t care who started it, you’re both gonna get it!”

I have pictured that scene often this past two weeks, as Israel and Hamas have combined forces to kill innocents and to create the bombed-out hell that will be “the new Gaza” when the fighting finally stops. Anymore it doesn’t matter who started it; they both need to stop.

Yes, there are serious issues that must be addressed, once and for all, or this fighting will continue to rear its head into eternity. But right now we are watching as almost 1,000 people are dead and whole communities have been turned to rubble.  This is not a time for taking sides.  It’s a time for getting out my mom’s shoe and making them both just stop.

Is killing someone else ever justified? Wiser people than I have argued this point since there have been humans to argue. Here is what I do know, though: Innocent people are dying and the place that remains for the survivors to live in will need serious rebuilding before it will be remotely recognizable as a community.

As you read the letter below from Nora Lester Murad from Dalia Association, I urge you to consider her letter with the Buddha’s words in mind: In this world, hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate.

Hildy:
We all feel helpless. Yesterday there was a demonstration in Tel Aviv against the war. I wanted to go so badly to feel that I am doing something. My husband practically forbade me (he doesn’t do that, and I don’t “obey” – but that shows you how serious this is) because he said it wasn’t safe. We didn’t go. He doesn’t even want me to go to work in Ramallah, but I have to. I HAVE to keep working. We’re feeling that the international community isn’t doing enough, but it’s hard for us to know what to do. The whole thing is so irrational, so powerful, so unbelievable. How do we stop it?

As you know, my husband is the United Nations psychologist, so he spends all day calling his staff in Gaza, listening as they describe huddling in interior rooms, under blankets because the windows are all blown out, trying to comfort their kids. Yesterday we were watching an interview with a family on the news when bombs hit nearby. Watching their reaction made me cry. They instinctively grabbed their children and elders and ran to the right, and they ran to the left, and they looked all around and then collapsed back down clutching one another. No where to run. No where to be safe.

Nora’s observations are shared, painfully, by Ahmed Masoud, a Palestinian writer living in London, who sent this letter to the editor of The Guardian.  (Many thanks to Kevin Harris at the blog “Neighbourhoods” for sharing the link to Ahmed’s letter.)

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“I don’t care who started it, you’re both going to get it.” I know my mom is reading these words right now (yes, my 85 year old mom reads my blog!) and thinking that her swatting shoe is no match for this. We are all feeling that same helplessness. What can we do to stop the fighting, to start the rebuilding, to perhaps ensure this is the last time innocent people die in this relentless battle?

I asked Nora what those of us who are feeling so helpless can do. Here is what she told me:

I am praying that it will end soon, and then there will be lots of work for Dalia Association to do – helping to rebuild in ways consistent with our values of local control and long-term planning.

Right now, please keep up to date and keep talking about what is going on, so it is NOT business as usual. And please, express your outrage. Calls to the White House and Congress do matter. Please encourage others to call.

As for keeping up to date, if you are inclined to get all sides of the story, I urge you to look beyond the news in your own country, and to watch Al Jazeera as well. (And please, spare me the “Al Jazeera is a state-sponsored mouthpiece for Islamic radicals.” That is no more true – or perhaps just as true – as NBC or the BBC being state-sponsored mouthpieces for US and British policies. And while that whole topic is for another post, what I can state unequivocally is this: If you read Al Jazeera, you will learn.)

In addition, the following two books have been invaluable in my understanding FIRST of the background of what is going on in Palestine (as well as elsewhere in the Islamic world), and SECOND what we can do to create lasting peace – not just the temporary absence of war, but real peace.

Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West
by Benazir Bhutto
It is hard to believe how much is packed into one volume. Bhutto presents a country-by-country summary of the current political realities in the Islamic world, with the history in each case, to help you understand how things got to be the way they are in Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and of course, her homeland, Pakistan. She then provides a thoughtful analysis of how to create peace and reconciliation between the West and the Islamic world.

The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
by Jonathan Schell
Johnathan Schell insists he is not opposed to the use of force; he simply believes history shows that war has become an ineffective tool for achieving political ends. Throughout this in-depth historical analysis of wars since the 1600’s (ending in the current post-9/11 world), Schell asks, “Was it really military might that won that war? And if the answer is ‘no,’ then couldn’t we settle differences without resorting to war at all?” It is a question I find myself asking these days, as I watch suffering around the world: Do we really need war, or is there a more effective way to achieve political ends?

It may sound trite, but we humans have the capacity to build communities, not bombs. As I consider both Nora’s and Ahmed’s images, I am struck with the horror of losing my own family. We are all human. We all love. We all suffer. Whether we are talking about Gaza or Darfur or Tel Aviv or the Twin Towers – how can we sit by and allow such suffering to take place, rationalizing that because it has always been like this, that is certainly how it always will be?

Tomorrow, I will begin sharing excerpts from The Pollyanna Principles: Reinventing “Nonprofit Organizations” to Create the Future of Our World. If ever we were all being called to create a peaceful future, it is now. Call your congressman, send a donation to Dalia Association to help them rebuild once this is over, or just read to understand more about what is happening in the Middle East.

Whatever you choose to do, please remember this simple truth:

If we all hold ourselves accountable for creating a peaceful world, that is the future we will create.

Letter from Palestine #4

Published
by
Hildy
on December 29, 2008
in Changing the World and Letters from Palestine
. 3 Comments

Long-time readers here at Creating the Future have come to know Nora Lester Murad, who has graciously shared her Letters from Palestine here from time to time.

As war rages between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, I know you will want to know how Nora and her family are doing. Here is what she told me this morning:

It’s just terrible. Indescribable. Inhuman.

My husband was supposed to leave for Gaza this morning (he goes every other week), but obviously he can’t go now. He’s next to me, just calling people one after the other. They are so scared. Bombs are exploding around them. They can’t go to the store to get food, and anyway, the stores are closed. No electricity, water. Frightening.

We all just pray it will stop soon, but all indications are that it will not. What will it take for the world to cry out?

Thanks for asking about us. (And thanks for your contribution.) It really means a lot.

This is what it is like to live in a war zone. It is not about who is politically right or wrong, or who started bombing first. It is about real people trying to live real lives.

That is why, as the year draws to a close, I am going to do something I have never used this blog to do. I am going to ask you to please help Nora’s organization – Dalia Association - by clicking here to donate. Even just $10 will help.

If you are not familiar with Dalia Association, they are Palestine’s only community foundation, working to build strong communities from inside Palestine, without the external political agendas that so often accompany “international aid.”

To share why I am so passionate about the work they are doing, I want to share the following, quoted from their annual letter:

Imagine thousands of Palestinians in villages, refugee camps and cities, with tremendous ideas and energy, taking initiative to improve their local communities and the world. It shouldn’t be hard to imagine because, in fact, this happens every single day.

Unfortunately, many of these grassroots community groups are not as effective as they could be. They often lack sufficient expertise and funds, or they get exhausted working under the challenges of occupation and colonization.

These groups deserve an advocate to believe in them, fight for them, advise them, and work alongside them. Dalia Association is that advocate.

As the first and only Palestinian community foundation, Dalia Association helps grassroots community groups to mobilize their own resources and capacities. We network them to experts and donors. We provide small scale funding, whenever possible. We coach them to improve the quality and professionalism of their work. We teach them how to become more sustainable, and we work for the sustainability of the civil society sector as a whole.

In the year 2008, we:
• helped an informal women’s group turn their $7,000 idea into a proposal for a $70,000 beauty salon to train and employ village women – and we secured funding from a donor.
• published research arguing that popular participation in development is a right enshrined in international law, a right which is not being respected by the international aid system.
• facilitated an innovative grant making program in which villagers decided themselves how to invest development resources.
• conducted many financial sustainability assessments and fundraising consultations at no cost to community-based organizations.
• began a project to highlight the creative ways that Palestinians engage in philanthropy in order to dispel the myth that Palestinians are receivers not givers.
• took part in meetings in the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, the United States, and Brazil, putting Palestine on the global philanthropic agenda.

We did this, and much more, because we believe that a thriving civil society is critical to Palestinian social change and sustainable development. And we believe Palestinian civil society can’t thrive as long as it is dependent on international aid.

But the success of Dalia Association is not at all assured. If we want to reduce dependence on international aid, we need every single Palestinian and every friend of Palestinians to become a donor. Your creative ideas, volunteerism, in-kind support, and encouragement have kept us going until now, but we also need money. Every $10, $100 or $1,000 matters. We know how to make a little money go a long way.

With your continued support we are enabling Palestinian-led social change and sustainable development today and for future generations.

We all know from experience around the world that building strong communities is a deterrent to terrorism, violence and war. As we sit and watch the horrors on the TV news, feeling helpless to do anything for those who are fearing for their own survival as their communities are being destroyed, Dalia Association is working every day to build strength in those communities.

In this horrible time of war, in a place where community-building will be such a key to peace-making, please join me in supporting the work of Dalia Association, where truly, every dollar will make a huge difference.

To read the next post in this series, head here.

Letter from Palestine #3

Published
by
Hildy
on June 17, 2008
in Capacity Building, Changing the World, Funders, Fundraising, Letters from Palestine and Nonprofit Planning
. 2 Comments

I am so pleased to share another letter from Nora Lester Murad. (To read this series from the beginning, please click here.)

Nora lives with her husband and three daughters in Israeli controlled East Jerusalem, in Palestine’s West Bank. In addition to her consulting work to NGOs, Nora has co-founded Dalia Association, a community foundation created and run by people who actually live in Palestine – a rarity in a land dominated by foreign aid (and therefore foreign priorities). Dalia Association’s purpose is to get beyond the politics and just take care of the people.

Nora has blessed us by agreeing to guest blog here, to share what it is like to try to run a Community Benefit Organization amid the chaos and insanity that is day-to-day life in Palestine. You can find her first post here, and her bio is below her post.

I hope you will continue to welcome Nora and Dalia Association into your hearts.

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Dear Hildy,
Thanks so much for asking about the strategic planning process we did for Dalia Association. I hope your blog readers will have some reflections that will help us in the future.

Our strategic planning process was constrained by our donor, an excellent foundation overall that tries to help applicants access funds by getting involved in shaping the grant proposal.

They suggested that their grants committee would be much more likely to approve our application if we specified that we’d be seeking an international consultant, rather than a local consultant, to facilitate our strategic planning. They said that in their experience, it is worth the expense to get an objective point of view from someone who specializes in community foundations.

Were they helping us to get a grant that we would not otherwise have gotten? Were they passing on valuable information they’ve learned from years of experience around the world? Were they driving our agenda? Or did they not fully comprehend the assets we have right here in our own community? I suspect all these things may have played a role.

The strategic planning retreat itself had some good outcomes. We invited some non-board members to bring new perspectives to our thinking, and this helped deepen our relationships with some key community members who we’ve been trying to involve. We recruited two new board members and two committee members from among those guests.

The board itself came to new clarity and stronger consensus about the need to focus on successful implementation of our three grantmaking pilots over the next 18 months.

And the international consultant became a champion for us, which I think was helped along by the drama we went through when we took a break from our planning to observe a nearby village being completely surrounded by an illegal Israeli settlement. That incident led to us all being detained and questioned by Israeli soldiers for a very tense 20 minutes or so.

But were those achievements worth one-third of our annual budget? The plan itself is unimpressive. It documents what we are planning to do and puts it into a framework that donors and others can relate to.

But is it a plan we can follow? Or is it just a good idea on paper?

As in other third world and regions of conflict, planning in Palestine is very, very difficult. True, the political situation is uncertain, but this is not the challenge. We can pretty realistically predict that the situation on the ground will continue to get worse.

We will continue to have no access to Gaza, nor will Gazans be able to reach us (which is why our Gaza board member did not participate in our strategic planning).

We will continue to be able to enter Jerusalem and Israel only when Palestinian ID holders are granted travel permits by the Israeli military (almost impossible to get). We have had to schedule all our pilots inside the West Bank, as our community organizer has been denied a travel permit.

We will continue to be delayed and frustrated by over 500 mobility barriers (staffed and unstaffed military checkpoints, trenches, concrete blocks, etc.) that divide the West Bank itself into bantustans. The occupation is something completely out of our control, but we can fairly predict how it will affect our operations.

Sadly, all of that is the predictable part of doing our work here.

On the other hand, our financial situation is unpredictable. We’ve planted many, many seeds, but because what we’re doing is so new, and most donors have little or no experience in the Middle East, it is very difficult to predict what we will or won’t get in terms of funding, which means we don’t know if we can hire more staff, expand our projects, or do any of what we have planned to accomplish.

For example, we have one donor who just this month approved our grant request for $25,000/year. We made that request in September 2006 — twenty months ago!

The delays were due to a combination of bureaucracy and indifference and arrogance, with a lot of preconceived notions, misconceptions and stereotypes added in. I say that because after we passed all the administrative hurdles, they shared that they then went through months and months and months of internal discussion about the “risks” of supporting us.

How do you prove that you’re not a terrorist? How do you prove your innocence? How do we prove we are doing real community development work, good work that is sorely needed?

We have another potential donor who is trying to convince us that our grant amounts of $3,000 are too high. They say that local donors who are poor will be discouraged to give if their contribution is so low in relation to grant amounts.

This was such a strange idea to me that I had to think really hard just to understand this feedback.

Then I realized that in the west, individuals make contributions because they want to have an impact. They want to make a noticeable difference.

But here in Palestine, that is not the motivation at all. In both Islam and Christianity, charitable giving is a regular part of the faith, and it is therefore simply proportional to income. In other words, people give money here primarily from either a religious or social obligation. They expect their generosity to be rewarded by God.

And so there is no shame in giving small amounts. Each family is expected to give in relation to their means. People don’t give because they want to affect some particular change through an organization. And if they did, they would give directly to the organization they want to support, NOT to a community foundation that will make the ultimate decision about how the funds are used.

Now we have to decide, are we going to modify our grant request to increase the chances of funding, since the donor has a specific way of looking at grant amounts? Or are we going to stick with what we know about our local environment and people? This time, I think we will stick to our own plan knowing that we may lose the funding.

Being a grant recipient certainly is helping us to get clearer and more committed to the type of grantmaker that WE want to be. Little things like returning emails, giving full attention when you talk to people, saying up front how long decisions will take rather than saying “in the next few weeks” for months and months — these are the behaviors that communicate to grantees that you respect them as agents of social change (not just as “applicants”) and that you are interested in their success in achieving their mission (not just in “completing the funded project”).

Well, I’ve wandered from the topic of strategic planning a bit. In the future, we expect our resources to become more predictable, which will enable better planning. We hope (and plan) to influence the donor community to be more accountable and responsive. We also hope (and plan) to be less dependent on them once we have more resources under our local control. I anticipate that our strategic planning will look at lot different then!

Best regards to all,
Nora

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Until 2004, Nora Lester Murad combined a life of teaching at Bentley College in Massachusetts with a life of consulting to governments, foundations, corporations and community organizations on matters of racism and intercultural understanding.

In 2004, Nora and her husband moved their three daughters halfway around the world, to the Palestinian community of Beit Hanina, in Israeli controlled East Jerusalem. “My husband is Palestinian, and we wanted to be near his family. We wanted the girls to grow up with a deep sense of belonging to both Palestinian and American cultures, with full access to both sides of their heritage and languages.”

Nora is now the volunteer Executive Director of Dalia Association, a new community foundation that mobilizes resources for Palestinian-led social change and sustainable development in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and the Palestinian communities inside Israel.

For the next post in this series, head here.

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