About truths and half truths

How many of us really question things we have been taught as children? I, for one, did not. It is so natural for a child to accept the things they are told by their parents, family-members and teachers as absolute truths. It is only decades later that some of us realize that the truth is never absolute, and there is always more than one side to every story.

It is difficult to ask a young person to doubt what they’ve been taught by their society; to question the truths they have been presented with. It is only through exchanges and encounters with ‘the other side’ that they can come to realize that perhaps their own truth is not the only one; that it may be only half the truth. Children of Peace has made exchanges and encounters between Palestinian and Israeli youths a priority, which is the reason I feel so proud to act as Goodwill Ambassador for them. Because young people who play and spend time together today will grow into adults who can talk and relate to each other with more respect and understanding. What is the truth you have been taught, and do you think there might be another side to it?

Daniela Norris, co-author of Crossing Qalandiya: Exchanges across the Israeli/Palestinian Divide.

Crossing Qalandiya: Exchanges across the Israeli/Palestinian Divide by Daniela Norris and Shireen Anabtawi, (Reportage Press, UK May 2010)

www.crossingqalandiya.com

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