Letter to the Editor February 20, 2019
In 2013, I completed a 10-year art project that offered a hypothetical world in which people would put themselves in the shoes of their so-called enemies and would learn to see from inside the “other’s” story - thereby opening space for a world without war. During the making of this project I received the Dutchess County Executive Arts Award to an Individual Artist, and was happy for the recognition this brought to an idea I strongly believe in.
My hypothetical, it turns out, was a reality somewhere on the planet. In Israel/Palestine there is a young, small, strong and committed organization composed of former enemies who put down their weapons, renounced the violence that permeated their lives, and now work very much together toward making peace in a land that has seen little of it. Combatants for Peace was founded by Israeli and Palestinian fighters who each made the huge mental and emotional journey out of their own life story, enabling them to listen to the “other.” Now they work together in nonviolent resistance to the complicated forces that preclude peace on their land. They stand against home demolitions, they protect Bedouin shepherds grazing their flocks, they bring solar power and playgrounds to villages living on the verge. They bring together Palestinian and Israeli families who grieve for all those they lost. This alone is moving beyond belief. They put up their hands against the growing crack in the dam, behind which is a future of war.
I love these people. Come hear them speak. March 8 Woodstock. March 9 Rhinebeck. http://afcfp.org/press-release-woodstock/
Madeleine Segall-Marx, sculptor Hyde Park, NY and New York CIty
In 2013, I completed a 10-year art project that offered a hypothetical world in which people would put themselves in the shoes of their so-called enemies and would learn to see from inside the “other’s” story - thereby opening space for a world without war. During the making of this project I received the Dutchess County Executive Arts Award to an Individual Artist, and was happy for the recognition this brought to an idea I strongly believe in.
My hypothetical, it turns out, was a reality somewhere on the planet. In Israel/Palestine there is a young, small, strong and committed organization composed of former enemies who put down their weapons, renounced the violence that permeated their lives, and now work very much together toward making peace in a land that has seen little of it. Combatants for Peace was founded by Israeli and Palestinian fighters who each made the huge mental and emotional journey out of their own life story, enabling them to listen to the “other.” Now they work together in nonviolent resistance to the complicated forces that preclude peace on their land. They stand against home demolitions, they protect Bedouin shepherds grazing their flocks, they bring solar power and playgrounds to villages living on the verge. They bring together Palestinian and Israeli families who grieve for all those they lost. This alone is moving beyond belief. They put up their hands against the growing crack in the dam, behind which is a future of war.
I love these people. Come hear them speak. March 8 Woodstock. March 9 Rhinebeck. http://afcfp.org/press-release-woodstock/
Madeleine Segall-Marx, sculptor Hyde Park, NY and New York CIty