“Reconciliation is to understand both sides … to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side, and then go to the other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
It was striking that our Palestinian-Muslim tour guide in Israel/Palestine insisted it was important that we visit and listen to people with points of view with which we might strongly disagree. And it was quite extraordinary to witness as he joined us in the visits and the conversations with those who hold positions and who live and act in ways that negatively impact his life and his future.
Visiting the Temple Institute in Jerusalem was one such stop on our journey. It turned out to be the visit that helped me get in touch with what Thich Nhat Hanh calls the suffering of both sides.
I confess I struggled as I listened to The Temple Institute’s point of view, which leads to the kind violence we witnessed first-hand as we watched a group of Israelis escorted by Israeli soldiers taunting praying Muslims at Al-Aqsa Mosque. But more importantly perhaps, I was surprised by a sense of compassion as I listened to the Institute’s video interview with Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, its founder and head, as he described the experience of being part of the paratrooper brigade which liberated the Temple Mount in the Six-Day War of 1967.
Reconciliation in the Holy Land might take more than understanding and compassion … after all, “there is no reconciliation without justice” … but in the face of what feels like a daunting global community challenge, it is good to be reminded that that cultivating understanding and compassion will be a crucial part of the healing journey.