Where to Make A Difference

From last week's Speaking of Faith on Public Radio.

Robi Damelin and Ali Abu Awwad, are part of a gathering network of Israelis and Palestinians who've lost loved ones in the crisis between their peoples. We speak this hour about their unlikely friendship, the difference between being right and being honest, and the human possibility behind violent headlines.

Robi Damelin is an Israeli who lost her son to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad is a Palestinian who lost his brother to an Israeli soldier. But in their unlikely friendship and determination, these two defy headlines of despair. They are part of a citizen-led movement to turn pain into hope.

In the program Robi talks about their movement to make a difference by bringing together people from both sides of the conflict to share in their common humanity and common losses. They were on a movie promotion and exhibition tour of the US when Krista Tippets interviewed them. Robi mentioned an incident that had just occurred. Here from the transcript.

Ms. Damelin: Do you know, a woman came to me yesterday in the seminar and she said, 'I'm a student and I really want to do something, but I'll have to travel overseas.' So I said, 'Why? You live here in — where are we?'

Tippett: Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yes.

Ms. Damelin: Milwaukee. There are enormous problems with crime; there are enormous racial problems here. This is the most wonderful place for you to begin a journey of making a difference in your own community and in yourself, because you can't go out and start changing things if you're not willing. Does it have to be in a pink room that you can experience making a difference?' And I'm really glad that I said that. It wasn't to be clever. Because she suddenly looked — there were three black women standing next to her — at them, and they looked at each other and they said, 'Let's meet.' And, you know, it's really strange but it's not that we're two evangelistical people rushing around the world, trying to change, you know, like make people belong to a religion. But I think that what we really want to do is to make people understand that they have the potential to change things within themselves, and they don't have to be politicians to be able to do that. That's the whole message of what we are doing.

Gives a deeper meaning to the bumper sticker:

Think globally;
Act locally.

If we all would do that. Wow.