Normalisation? No. These are issues that reflect our common humanity.

This is a cross-post from www.globaljewishvoice.com

BLOODRELATIONS

By Caylee Talpert.

When people hear I am studying at the London School if Economics, they often ask me if I am involved in the Israeli society. I guess it’s a fair question, given LSE’s reputation as such a hotbed of anti-Israel activities. I spent my undergraduate years in South Africa defending Israel against allegations of being an Apartheid State and even went on to do a Masters in Israeli Politics in Jerusalem. So its not surprising that people assume I am involved in such activities here in London.

LSE Blood Drive

And yet, I made an active decision not to engage in the Israel-Palestinian debate.

The situation is so complex and in my experience, the issues brought up on campus are often so disconnected with the problems on the ground. I love Israel but am also at times highly critical and I feel the university campus is not necessarily a place where such nuances can be accurately understood – at least not in brief sound bites, an intimate conversation is a different story.

I am also somewhat skeptical of the effect of student politics in countries on the other side of the world. (I don’t deny there is power in “the student voice” and know it played a role in the fight against Apartheid, however I would argue that the eventual change came from within, but that’s the topic of a whole other discussion.)

Last week though, a uprising event caught my eye: a blood drive for pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters. This initiative, BLOODRELATIONS, was launched this year as part of The International Peace Day by the Parents Circle Family Forum and the Peres Centre for Peace. In London, the project was run by Saatchi and Saatchi and when I saw it advertised by the LSE Israel society, I decided to participate.

Why did I take a part in this event? Do I think it will make a difference to the Israeli-Palestinian situation?

Not really. However I support any event that supports positive interaction between different groups that see each other as simply that: “the other.” It’s easy to stereotype and distrust someone who you simply do not know. Over the last month I have been meeting people from Arab countries that I know are hostile to Israel, I sometimes find myself cautious and wary at first, I wonder what they think about me as a semi-Israeli (I made Aliyah a few years ago).

I consider myself a multi-cultural, open person and have friends from various backgrounds, so if I feel this way- even if only momentarily – I am sure there are others that feel the same. The only way to counter these feelings is to get to know each other as people and individuals.

I think this sort of initiative is the ideal way to promote such interaction, by coming together not just to celebrate a common love of falafel but rather to unite around issues that reflect our common humanity. A blood-drive certainly fulfills that role. In South Africa it was at exactly this type of event where I met people who, while different to myself in terms of religion or ethnicity, shared a common set of beliefs. I was able to make friends and build personal connections that were sometimes even stronger than my connections with my Jewish school friends who had grown up in my same community.

For all these reasons, I feel really proud to have taken part in this initiative and hope to have future opportunities to meet and interact with people different from myself, not with the explicit aim of multiculturalism or dialogue, but out of a common concern for the shared world we live in. The rest will come in the process. We may not be able to bring peace to the Middle East, but we can bring a little more tolerance, understanding and even friendship to a world where these simple qualities are sometimes lacking.