Anthony Silkoff
BEMIS
Scotland Young Thinker of the Year

Pick a side

'Palestinians do not deserve a State and are incapable of governing themselves. They must be managed, imprisoned, or exiled.'

Or

'The state of Israel is a hydra-headed monster, comprising Zionist ethnic cleansers, US imperialists, and Arab collaborationist regimes.'

Pick a side. Any side, so long as it's black and white. Farcical, perhaps, but this is the true extent of polarisation to be found in Britain today on this issue. When it comes to the Middle East conflict, the 'Middle Way' is largely shunned in favour of anger, antagonism and hot-blooded hatred. Sadly, this is most visibly demonstrated on university campuses, the supposed home of reasoned thought.
     Thousands of miles from the land of copious feud and falafel, students on a rainy campus in the North of England plan demonstrations, book teaching rooms and smother the concrete buildings with slogans, posters and wallpaper paste. One group claims 'solidarity' with Palestinians, the other with Israel.
     In universities up and down the UK, these microcosmic conflicts sometimes turn criminal, on occasion involving police action or, even worse, violence. Together, both sides wage their own little war on campus. By lending encouragement to absolutist agendas in the Middle East, they're happy, from the comfort of student halls, to sacrifice the lives of Israelis and Palestinians as academic cannon-fodder.
     This is my view. Others might disagree, but regardless of how we perceive the morality of constructing a replica Middle East conflict here, the fact is that the attitudes of a large number of British students are often far more entrenched and extreme than those found in Israeli or Palestinian universities. Thankfully, vast numbers of young people in the Middle East give us much more to be optimistic about.

The OneVoice Movement enables citizens on both 'sides' to define their own future. Since 2002, OneVoice has enlisted more than 600,000 Israelis and Palestinians in its movement – members who differ in history, religion and politics but who share a commitment to creating a new political future. These hundreds of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians are working toward nothing less than a complete end to conflict in their land.
     They demand of those amongst them and of those who represent them that they recognise the right of both peoples to independence, sovereignty, freedom, justice, dignity, respect, national security, personal safety and economic viability. They call upon those leaders whom they have elevated to the highest office to begin the process of negotiation to reach and implement a two state solution and thus fulfil the consistent but, until now, overshadowed will of the overwhelming majority of both populations.
     They understand these seem like distant goals but take on their own shoulders the responsibility of seeing them realised – of demanding more of their leaders and empowering their leaders to be stronger and bolder in the face of these challenges.

Personally, what I find most frustrating about the British debate on Israel/Palestine is the complete domination of academic viewpoints, the outside opinions of so-called 'experts' and, on the whole, the complete lack of reference to what the majority of Israelis and Palestinians themselves actually want.
     Sefi Kedmi from Israel told me: 'Relations between British students are often more tense than back home [in Israel]. If British students could see how comparatively well Israeli Jews and Arabs get on, even in the middle of conflict, I think they’d be shocked.' Sefi attributes some blame to the media for stoking tensions in the UK, explaining: 'All you seem to get in your newspapers and TV stations is bloodshed, from both sides. If you already feel aligned to one side, it’s completely understandable that you might be turned radical by these images'.
     The damage caused by this conflict to community relations here in Scotland is certainly not isolated to university campuses. The lack of trust and dialogue between communities, particularly Muslim and Jewish, the latter of which is my own, can be largely attributed to a conflict thousands of miles Eastwards.
     Most Muslims and Jews will emphathise with stories of a very polarised upbringing. My own was characterised with pro-Israel rhetoric. It wasn't anti-Palestinian as such, but the suffering of the other side was simply ignored in favour of misguided patriotism. A Muslim friend of mine reports a similarly one-sided upbringing, with Palestinians portrayed as martyrs and heroes in the righteous struggle against the Zionist entity.
     Hearing this as neither a Muslim nor a Jew, one might question its relevance. Alongside extremism, apathy is another common response to the Israel/Palestine saga. I try not to make a habit of visiting Islamist terrorist websites, but you'll struggle to find a single one that fails to mention Israel. It’s not mentioned as a passing reference, but as a specific justification for attacks such as the one on Glasgow Airport. After the 9/11 attacks too, Osama bin Laden said that Israel had been his prime motivation. To be apathetic about a conflict that seems fairly distant, and endless, is quite understandable, but unfortunately it is something that affects us all.

Last February, Alex Salmond declared: 'The key role for Scotland...will be as a peacemaker – providing the facilities and the opportunity for conflict resolution.'
     By standing with OneVoice in Scotland, we have this facility and opportunity to defuse tensions between communities here, while delivering on the hopes and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians.
     Those in the Middle East are faced with a choice – working to find a way out of the conflict or leaving their children to inherit it. As onlookers in Scotland, we have a choice too – to contribute to the solution or to be part of the problem. Pick a side.

Forthcoming events
2010

UK Universities Young Thinker
of the Year
June 2010
[click here] to download brochure
[click here] to book online

Young Public Sector Programme
May 2010
[click here] to download brochure
[click here] to book online

Young Local Authority
of the Year
March 2010
information to follow

Young UK and Ireland Final
February 2010
[click here] for information

Winning papers

2009:
Anthony
Silkoff
[click here]

2008:
Mairi Clare Rodgers
[click here]