BRATTLEBORO — The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a source of tension and frustration, not only in the Middle East and around the world, but here in Brattleboro.
On Monday, May 9, from 7-9 p.m., at Centre Congregrational Church, 193 Main St., the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community (BAJC) presents a public forum on the Middle East entitled, “How Does the Media Shape Our Understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?” A $5 donation is suggested to cover program costs.
This event, which is co-sponsored by the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Clergy Association, the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Initiative, the Conflict Transformation Department of the SIT Graduate Institute, All Souls Church Unitarian Universalist, Centre Congregational Church, First Baptist Church of Brattleboro, and First Congregational Church of West Brattleboro, is the result of a collaborative effort within our community to engage in the type of dialogue necessary if there is to be peace anywhere.
Peace activist Noa Milman has been invited to facilitate an interactive program exploring multiple perspectives and approaches to the conflict, and designed to foster greater understanding and cooperation within our community and beyond.
A former prominent activist in the Israeli peace movement and the environmental movement in Israel, Milman worked as a community organizer for Peace Now and Green Course (a student-based environmental organization). In addition, she was a student at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, a regional program that caters to Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian, and American students.
She lectures about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relevant initiatives, as well as on environmental challenges and the environmental movement in Israel. At Boston College, Milman studies social movements and the intersection of race, class, and gender in Israeli society. She also teaches classes on social theory and an introductory class to sociology.
There is no such thing as an “objective” way of reporting a conflict, she says. Moreover, no account of the Israeli-Arab conflict is neutral or natural. Every account is shaped by the frame that underlies it. Frames are central organizing ideas or coherent story lines that make sense of a messy and erratic reality. They often determine which facts are included and which we deem irrelevant, shape the vocabulary that is used, and inform the quotes and images chosen, she adds.
According to Milman, because of the power of framing in shaping understanding of the conflict and possible solutions, it is important to be able to identify the frames which inform each account.
As facilitator, Milman will assign participants to five different groups, each of which will be asked to prepare an outline, and select visuals and quotes, for a documentary on the conflict.
Each group will have an assigned frame about the conflict (feuding neighbors, strategic interest, Arab intransigence, Israeli expansionism), which will guide their account of the conflict. Participants will then be asked to consider what the possibilities are (if there are any) for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from the standpoint of the frame they are using. What does the frame imply would need to be done for a resolution of the conflict?
At the end of the activity, participants will read their accounts of the conflict, and the other groups will be asked to identify which frame underlies each report.
Participation from as many Brattleboro area residents as possible, representing diverse viewpoints, will insure the success of the program's collective intentions. For more information, see www.bajcvermont.org, or call 802-257-1959.