Using community mediation to solve conflict in Israel and Palestine

“International commonalities”

Efforts at dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians tend to only reach the news when international politicians are trying to broker a ceasefire or political solution. Yet there are those working constantly at the community level to enhance understanding and relations between people on both sides. Working with Community Mediation Centres (CMCs) and other partners, Mediators Beyond Borders has been connecting mediation centers in the United States with local partners in Israel to share ideas, materials, training and strategies. For the past 6 years, the partnerships have been building relationships and using mediation to address conflicts on many different levels.

Last year that engagement took a leap forward. Karmit Bulman, the Executive Director of the 32- year running Conflict Resolution Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota went to Rehovot, Israel in November – on behalf of Mediators Beyond Borders – to formally launch a learning partnership between two community mediation centers. The centers discovered huge commonalities and are now meeting monthly by video conference. Building on long-running mediation ties between the US and Israel, there are now four active learning partnerships between the two countries, including Mosaica in Jerusalem and Community Mediation Services in Queens, New York.

Karmit is very positive about these developments. Though she says Israel is dealing with similar issues as the U.S. in terms of treatment of African-Americans – with Israel’s Ethiopian community being subjected to daily violent treatment and discrimination at the hands of police – partnerships have been discussing ways to share insights and strategies. Moreover, though she and Israeli- based colleagues thought they would be leading most of the problem-solving through mediation, community dialogue and restorative justice lessons, they found they have learned far more from their Israeli and Palestinian colleagues.

In general, Karmit reports that relations between community mediation centers in Israel and those in the U.S have strengthened and become increasingly active, with interest in mediation growing in different communities. That’s not to say there aren’t challenges. Many people are wary of outsiders coming in to ‘solve problems’. Not all relationships last, partners move on and securing funding is a huge difficulty. Even where potential donations exist, they’re not always immediately accessible due to organizational differences. Collectively, however, partners in Israel and the U.S. are being proactive. Mediation centers are working specifically on issues of race, police conduct and discrimination. This work flags up common issues for partnerships to coalesce around, helping to establish processes to deal with these situations.

Exciting projects are now in the pipeline, such as civil rights mediation work, engagement with first time offenders and youth, restorative justice and housing development. These projects in part are motivated by the rewards that spring from 40 years of community mediation in the United States and the remarkable development of over 30 centers in the past 12 years in Israel. Karmit feels this is a huge validation of the time and effort she and colleagues have put in, and in some ways, sees Israel’s mediation practice as outstripping that of the US.

Looking ahead, the MBB Israel partnership is excited about the emergence of two new mediation centres in Arab communities within Israel. They plan to use this as an opportunity to establish projects working directly with these communities, ensuring that mediation can benefit more people, both Arab and Jewish, for years to come.

Written by Natasha Dyer