A Peacemaker Perspective of Peace in the Middle East

If I was asked as a peacemaker to solve the Middle East crisis, what would I say? I would say that I cannot re-solve the Middle East crisis, only the leaders and people can resolve their own inner conflicts when they choose peace. 

The background setting to real peace is that both parties must have a willingness to resolve the problem. We are not speaking of being seen to be in a peace process but both are at a point where they have had enough of the past and wish to create a new future.  They are willing to give up what has not worked in the past.  They are ready to seek a truer pathway that expresses who they are and who they wish to become.

I will lay the groundwork for peace, as I understand peace in my own life and through my journey of universal values, personal inquiry, conflict resolution and awakening the fool in myself.  I am of course a fool for peace.

Let’s start with what peace is not.  It is not the absence of conflict.  Peace is not a negotiated settlement that trades off superficial demands.  Peace is not the absence of feelings and emotions.  Peace is not static or unmoving.  Peace is not ignoring the real problems and pretending that no-one is complaining therefore they are happy.  Peace is not supporting one as a friend and seeing the other as an enemy.  Peace does not arm either side.  Peace never interferes for self interest or profit.  Peace is not egoic self aggrandisement or greed parading as control.  Peace never removes the human rights of another. Lastly peace is not fear used as control.  That is suppression parading as peace, as no-one is able to speak up with their truth.

So what is peace?  In truth it can’t be put into words but clumsily we can try and get a feel for peace.  Peace is the unspoken harmony beneath the drama.  It is the unbroken song of creation.  It is the one breath of life that supports all.  Peace is unconditional love in all its forms.  Peace connects to a higher consciousness that knows we are role playing out this life experience to learn lessons or re-member who we are. Peace is a vortex of energy that attracts like unto its energy field. Peace is the soul’s journey completing.  Peace is the truth that sets all free.  Peace is creative and generous and lives to give rather than take.  Peace is the one at the table smiling as the living joy in every moment aware many possibilities exist.  Peace has no enemies as there is no ‘other’ to blame.  Peace is playful and foolish, peace is the beauty of nature, peace is stillness beyond thoughts, peace is the clear mind that is smooth like a pearl rolling from one situation to the next.  Peace is stress free and serene.  Peace accepts all diversity and celebrates life as it is.  Peace knows all is in divine order.  Peace is the true freedom all seek.

Byron Katie cut through the confusion with the statement ‘who would you be without your story?’.  This is a powerful statement.  We know we are in a story when someone asks you what is the problem?   You start to go into the history e.g. Israel and Palestine and you will trot out the facts that you were taught by your family, your friends, the university, religion, the government or the media.  Each story will be a story of the victim where you are the good party and the other is the bad party or great evil and you will provide plenty of reasons to back up your argument so no-one can question your version of events.  Why not practice questioning your beliefs using this worksheet (refer http://www.thework.com/downloads/worksheets/JudgeYourNeighbor_Worksheet.pdf). There is a video on the website that explains how to use it. Try it on your belief about the middle east crisis. See what happens. 

In conflict resolution there is a wonderful cartoon of a ugly duck looking into the pond of its reflection and seeing a beautiful swan. Always our side is the better side, the one hard done by or suffering injustice and clearly seeing the other has the problem.  This is classic projection and denial of responsibility for owning your part of the conflict.  In conflicts these are the positions set and unquestioned, sometimes for centuries.

Most people in our world are not taught conflict resolution in schools or in the home. They are not guided to own their feelings, to openly communicate what they feel, what they perceive as the problem and what they would like to see happen. Instead it becomes argument and debate and mirrors the power games we see around the world parading as conflict resolution. To deal with conflict there has to be a willingness to take responsibility for our part of the conflict, work together to develop options and solutions and agree to a wise agreement in order to share power. Conflict resolution moves people away from traditional ‘power over’ behaviours of control to ‘power within’ behaviours where we choose. Mostly parties in conflicts have a strong desire to blame the other and to demonise the other to third parties.  In conflict resolution mediators see themselves as facilitators and return power to both to solve the problem and not to hate the other.  This helps them develop skills, confidence and the ability to solve problems as they arise, it builds capacity for future conflict. When you are distracted by hating the other you lock yourself into your rightness and are blind to the other side refusing to change or question yourself, as it doesn’t feel good.  You may be wrong and that consciously or subconsciously makes you feel vulnerable, as if making mistakes is a weakness rather than a golden opportunity to learn. No one person knows everything and can ever feel confident they are making the right decisions all the time, always we make mistakes, it is human and it is how we grow in life. If people are held by beliefs that tell them to look strong and not weaken, then the dispute becomes intractible as power is seen as control rather than in the solution. A good way to look at this weakness is in the example of the blindspot test. You are handed a card with two dots on it and asked to cover one of your eyes and stare at the opposite dot with the other eye. There is a blindspot in the eye so after a while the other dot disappears. It is a great metaphor for when we hold on to intractable beliefs where we are right, we cannot see the other point of view, it literally disappears. This is how we hold onto our story, if we listen to the other then we may not feel quite so strongly about our story which justifies our position and behaviour. This is the blindness of denial revealed through a simple blindspot test, but it happens in real life and some people will not believe you when you say there are two dots.  They can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.  To question opens the mind to the possibility that the other dot exists, as they relax their vision and start to accept there may be another reality, suddenly the other dot emerges as if by magic.  You see the other side.  On the other hand when believe you are right without question, you will start to look for justification to back up your argument, you will create the victim in yourself and that you have no choice, this is the only way.   That means you don’t have to change.  This thinking creates intractable positions and there is no flexibility in finding a real solution. The problem is not the belief it is the person’s unquestioned attachment to a belief. It is the attachment that creates the pain around the situation. This can lead to what you fear you attract and a reinforcing spiral of conflict.

The law of attraction is becoming better known these days.  It is the universal principle of what you fear you attract.  If you fight for peace then you will continue to attract conflict to fight for peace.  Our thoughts are electromagnetic and you only have to remember the things you wanted in your life and how you found them or attracted what you wanted into your life either subconsciously or consciously. How many people do you know who married a similar personality to their father or mother or another family member. They have a belief of who they want and whallah a person turns up who fits this model of your thoughts.  The power of thought is very powerful, people have become very wealthy in the positive psychology movement as they have seen the power of thinking and used it to train others to think positively to get a certain quota of sales or to attract people to them. The Law of Attraction is not only the power of thought but the power of emotion that produces thought.  So you can attract negative or positive into your life given your intense focus and emotions.  If you are a negative person and everything goes wrong for you (the cup half empty) you will see more and more of that in your life overtime.  Life will become the evidence that you are right and you are a victim of life. 

If you believe you are the creator of your life and you observe your thinking you will start to evoke higher thoughts such as:  everything works out in a way that benefits others, my purpose is clear and expanding,  every situation is a teacher, I am learning more and more about myself through life, I always attract the right situations for my highest good and so on.  It is to see an outcome and focus on it, it draws it to you.  So if you have never known peace it may be hard to visualise things coming.  You can work on small things, recall what you are grateful for e.g. food, friends, weather, work whatever you can feel good about and focus on it, this is a universal blueprint that draws more of it into your life. 

Byron Katie speaks about reality and that you have created your reality. Her statement I resonated with was: how do you know you need something it is there, how do you know you don’t, it is not there.  It is reality, whether you like it or not.  On some level people are creating the life and times they are moving through. They are attracting experiences for a purpose and if they don’t want that experience it is to change their thoughts and emotions to attract what they do want. Good feelings produce more good outcomes, negative feelings attract more of that. The universal blueprint is more like a photocopier, just responding to the emotions and thoughts, not right and wrong. So you are responsible for what you choose to believe and as a result, what you choose to think and co-create with your friends, family and society. Byron Katie speaks of reality. She states god is reality. It is people who judge situations, judge people and stubbornly hold onto beliefs that distance them from others and the true happiness which is their birthright. So we are at a change point in time. We are moving into new ways of looking at conflict and for many, this will be hard to grasp as old paradigms have been the mantra they may feel they were born with. The question today is do you want peace? Do you really want peace? If the answer is yes, then you will open to new ideas and try them on. Don’t take anyone’s word for it, test it out, if it works go for it, if it doesn’t keep on with what you believe is true. It is not about making anyone wrong, it is simply being brave enough to challenge a thought you have attached your life, your culture, your position to. Why not just test for the truth. If it sets you free it was worth it.

Let’s look at fear which moves us out of reality.  Fear is a powerful emotion and can make sensible people terrified and do irrational acts. Fear can be generated by the media, the government, friends, family or books. You know you are in fear as your stomach tightens and you feel the tension and rising panic. It is a sign you are believing something that you find threatening. What do you think of the acronym of fear meaning:  false evidence appearing real?  People will say how can it be false, when I feel it?  It is our negative beliefs that generate fear, something may or may not happen.  Often the lived experience of the fear is not as bad as the fear. I recall being bitten by two dogs. I always loved dogs. The actual bite was interesting, I remember the teeth going in. However, later I was gripped by a fear I’d never known. I realised the power of fear and saw how it immobilised me. I was terrified to go near the dogs. It was the fear of being bitten not the actual bite. Another great fear of people is death as a worse case scenario, but if you question your fear you may find you discover something positive eg. what is beyond death.  There are plenty of cases of near death where it is perceived as a peaceful experience leading to more life.  That doesn’t mean you don’t save someone dying, it means you do not approach the situation in fear, you come in peace to be of greater service to the other. A loving person is more helpful then one gripped by fear.

So when you are awakened to more knowledge, your fear disappears.  When we face fears we find they don’t have the power over us, they actually dissolve.  Great heroic acts come from people making the decision to face what they fear, or in a moment of spontaneity, not feel any fear and act anyway. I did that with a parachute jump I chose to not only overcome fear I chose to feel no fear and I jumped from 10,000 feet. It turned out to be the greatest experience as I had a realisation that I wasn’t in control and that life was for the ride. Wow that was a rush.

When people are willing to show great courage and face there fears it is like entering the snake pit of their greatest fears.  They will begin to experience the darkness in the fear as it grips them. However if they move through it they will come to view the reality of an innocent snake that is curled up.  In truth when they go into the pit, that dark place, that is where they find when facing their greatest fear the greatest triumph arises. There are no snakes there are only a pile of ropes.  I remember the fear of dogs. I had to go upstairs to the toilet, the dogs were stationed behind a fence right there. So I go in and am gripped by fear. I decided with all my courage to face it and when I walked out of the toilet, there were no dogs. The imagination of fears is so powerful it sees great threats when there is in truth a misunderstanding or misperception of reality.  Who wouldn’t want to live without fear? We see that with the label of terrorists, yet they are also people with fears, ideologies and families.  The challenge is how to reconnect people to humanity to see the other as themselves.  We terrorise ourselves with our thoughts and then project fears onto others.  Gandhi saw the enemy as the devil running around in people’s heads.  He saw fear as the negative projection and he simply tried to prove to people that there was nothing to fear. Hence it was false evidence appearing real.   That is why questioning is essential otherwise you carry the fear for all of your life. For those of a religious background, love is the greatest power, just tap into love and the darkness will disappear.  You don’t focus on it otherwise you attract it to you. 

To return to peace, simply observe if you are feeling fear or love and the thoughts that arise.  Question negative thoughts and you will see your fear parading as fact and steeped in judgements and self justification. It is fascinating to read on the page just how we believe what we think. On paper you can really explore it.  As you change the world changes, you start to attract different experiences.  It is quite magical.

Fear is the real enemy in all conflict and if we seek peace, then it is to face our fear courageously and overcome fear with love.  Be open to the possibility that peace is not only possible it is who we are without our negative or fearful thoughts.  It is our true nature.

I will post my poem here which provides a pathway to peace, when people are committed to peace they will discover the truth that sets them free. That is a certainty. Good luck to those in conflict, you can heal the situation. No-one is powerless. If you are religious or spiritual ask for the highest guidance and see who turns up in your life and what happens. Fascinating to watch.

I send to all people in the middle east peace, love and a wish for a renewable future where all step away from the past, heal the pain and move towards an enlightened future. Now is the time.

The 7 Steps of Peace

The dove has a broken heart,
For she is trying to fly,
He wishes to save humanity,
From itself.

Behind every smiling face,
Is a broken heart,
How do I know each heart is broken?
The eyes are the windows
Through which truth is shown,
Action is the vehicle through which
Truth is owned.

Some are crying at the shape of the world,
Some are despairing for they feel the end is near,
That is truth the end is approaching,
But life is circular,
Life is endless,
From the ending will come new beginnings,
For human awareness is a season,
One must go through winter to reach spring,
Summer is the equinox,
The pinnacle of real hope,
As irises flower,
Within the iris one can see the future,
Of an imagined community,
That sees itself in the other.

Nature is constant transformation,
Transformative power is not militaristic,
It resides within unity of common purpose,
Our common future becomes visible to those who recognise the power in conflict resolution,
For this is the art of win/win,
For art is constant creation,
Inspiring humanity to look outside the box,
For we can recreate our common future,
One step at a time with peace of mind.

The first step is Dialogue (deep listening),

The second step is Understanding (clarity),

The third step is Recognition,
That is to recognise myself in you. (you could be me)

The fourth step is Empathy, (feelings)
For when I stand in your shoes,
I leave my world behind,
There are elements of truth in perspectives,
It is to focus on the truth not the failure.

The fifth step is Truth and Reconciliation, (healing)
For it is the truth that sets us free from revolving door conflicts,
The truth is a transforming power,
For the truth is true always just as rain falls from the sky not the soil,
It is not a half truth or negotiated settlement,
For the art of diplomacy is to persuade,
Not to resolve underlying needs with interest,
For a new world paradigm asks –
Is it better to be right or happy?

The sixth step is Harmonisation, (meeting in the middle)
We seek to find common ground that we can share,
There is no loss only a changing mosaic,
For the philosophy of harmony is blending,
As differences expand into acceptance.

The seventh step or seal is Integration,(peaceful behaviours)
The sum of the parts encompasses the whole,
There is no separation in the world family,
Each gains more through the shared process,
For this is not a crumb or a carrot to reward or punish,
It is the smiling face of peace in contentment,
For peace is not a treaty document,
It is not the absence of wars of abuse,
It is recognising that world peace starts within every family,
In every relationship,
In every school,
For the school without walls is open to all.

The steps are a simple pathway,
It is a middle path that looks neither east nor west but starts in the middle,
It has no ideology to follow,
It has no religious mantra to repeat,
It shines brightest in the eyes of all children,
For they are the torch bearers,
That will hold a light to the future,
And together they will find their way home.

So be at peace,
Like a fool on the edge of a cliff,
Take a step and the others will appear,
For the fool continues to offer the olive branch no matter the perceived conditions,
The fool will be rejected,
The fool will be ostracised,
For always in great transitions there is fear,
Those who are peace makers will be feared,
Yet fear not those at the vanguard,
The truth will always set you free.