Recently Queen Elizabeth visited Ireland, and laid a wreath to commemorate those who died fighting for that country’s independence. Not so long ago this would have been unthinkable. I remember, back in the 80s, feeling hostility towards Americans who donated to NORAID, an Irish-American Republican fundraising organisation, and shock when members of the British Government were killed in an IRA terrorist attack in Brighton.
When I visited Sweden as a teenager in the early 80s, a time of great tension during the Irish Troubles, my father reacted with anger and frustration when questioned by teenagers who felt sure the British were the baddies and the Irish, like Bobby Sands, innocent victims. His views are actually very liberal – but most people will jump to their country’s defence when it is criticised by an outsider.
When I asked an Irish Catholic friend whether he’d ever experienced prejudice, he bitterly remembered taunts when he was at university in the UK. He was doing an electronics degree and was subjected to endless jokes about how he must have chosen that course in order to make bombs for the IRA.
There are still tensions between Britain and Ireland – but great strides have been made. I hope young Israelis and Palestinians will see similar improvements – and perhaps help make them happen.
Professor Sarah Brown, a Trustee of Children of Peace
When I was 13, I actually visited Northern Ireland to learn more about the conflict there, spending a little over half a month in Belfast. When I heard both sides speak, I felt like there could be no resolution to the problems there because both sides felt such resentment towards the other and wanted such different solutions. It was shocking for me as a teenager, I couldn't believe that the Catholic and Protestant children went to seperate schools, and that the people lived in different areas and that there were clear unwritten borders to where a Catholic could go and where a Protestant could go. But at the same time I was there, a cease fire was agreed upon and the IRA got rid of all its weapons. Even when it seems like there is no way to get along, peace can be achieved. In the end both sides were just people trying to live their lives and who wants to raise their family in the middle of a dangerous conflict? Now I am in Israel, experiencing many similarities to what I experienced then. In Israel the boundaries between the Palestinians and the Israelis are clear through giant walls. Those Palestinians (or Arab-Israelis) that live in Israel experience racism the same way that an Irishman did living in England when the IRA was violently active. I hope that the Israelis and the Palestinians will also become tired of living in conflict and everyone will put their weapons down. Northern Ireland has much to teach Israel about helping to come towards peace. But even if a peace agreement is negotiated between political bodies, it will not truly be successful unless the people also come to want peace. As an intern at Windows: Channels for Communication, I am able to see the struggle between the youth on both sides to try and reach justice, which will lead to peace. Windows brings together Jewish and Palestinians youth and they discuss the conflict from their own perspectives. In this way the people themselves are learning to listen and to understand the history that each have experienced. Through understanding, they can work together towards equality. This is a worthwhile way to approach the conflict, because only a just society will bring peace.
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