Brothers, Not Others
Atidna International uses conversation and compassion to bridge gaps.
As the ceasefire and hostage exchanges take place, many people wonder how Palestine and Israel will move forward as countries. The recent October 7th attacks and the Gaza genocide made it clear that the cycle of conflict is unsustainable for both nations. People around the world now hold their breath wondering if this ceasefire is legitimate and how future political moves in the region will impact the world.
Tensions run high not only between Palestinians and Israelis, but also between Arab and Jewish communities in general. Colonialism expelled Palestinians from their homes in 1948 during an event that would later be known as the Nakba. The establishment of settlements, checkpoints, and road restrictions creates an apartheid state in which Palestinians are second- or even third-class citizens in their own land.
It is common for the state of Israel to justify such actions by saying that they were necessary to ensure safety for Jewish people. However, many Jewish people outside of Israel found that Israel’s actions actually endangered them. By acting with no regard for human rights, Israel’s poor reputation emboldens antisemitic actors. After the October 7th attacks, incidents both antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes increased from the previous year.
Israel’s citizens are not spared from these tensions either. Youths get conscripted to die as cannon fodder or return home as war criminals. One Israeli soldier said that he “saw the value of human life disintegrate” during his time in Gaza. Others decided to stop serving altogether after seeing their fellow soldiers massacre Palestinian civilians. Yuval Green, a medic, abandoned his post after two months. Green saw soldiers vandalizing and looting homes with few consequences as well as his commanding officer issuing orders to burn a house down.
Elijah Kahlenberg is an “antizionist Syrian Ukrainian Jew”, Truman scholar, and editorial intern for Dawn, a publication focused on human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. In an interview with Hayan Imadi, Elijah agreed with a comment in which Hayan called Israel an “Assad-like figure” that offers security in exchange for some liberties. He went on to discuss the history of Jewish and Muslim coexistence in the Levant region, particularly during the time of the Ottoman Empire. To Elijah, this history indicates that Arab or Jewish people do not hold any inherent hatred for each other.
Working alongside Elijah as a Palestinian American, Jadd Hashem believes in “total equality of all people in the Holy Land.” He also believes that nuanced Israel/Palestine discussions beyond just waving flags or shouting slogans. In addition to fostering Israel-Palestine dialogue, Jadd has worked in local politics to educate young voters about the importance of local elections. At the Israel block party that took place at UT Austin’s campus, Jadd was the one to get the rabbi to help de-escalate a charged situation that posed a threat to their physical safety.
Even if they are not brothers by blood, Elijah and Jadd are brothers in Levantine spirit. When they started their work, they noticed how there was a lack of dialogue and therefore a lack of mutual understanding between Arab and Jewish communities. They work by finding common ground between the two groups, fostering a civil conversation, and holding space for compassion for all innocents regardless of religion or nationality.
After noticing the lack of spaces for various groups to mourn side by side, Atidna International hosted a joint memorial in November to mark one year of loss in “Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and beyond.” By using collective humanity to unite people of different backgrounds, they start conversations on college campuses.
Elijah and Jadd have received pushback from both Jewish/Israeli and Palestinian and Palestinian-allied student organizations, but individuals from those respective backgrounds have been generally supportive of their work. By having these conversations, they build a foundation of common ground and mutual understanding. Both groups latch onto their history, but tend to cast the other group as an “other” to fear after hearing the worst about each other.
Palestinians and Israelis may live in the same spaces, but they don’t actually meet each other as equals in social footing and identity. Violent settlers and military occupation can taint Palestinians’ views of Israelis and Jewish people and Judaism in general. Meanwhile, when they inevitably get fed up and lash out, Israelis and Jewish people in general may see Palestinians as terroristic enemies to be eradicated. When given the opportunity to simply meet each other as people, they learn about each other’s respective narratives and eventually synthesize a new collective narrative that better reflects their shared history.
