Picture this! 54 high school students from Israel, Palestine, Mexico, and the United States circled up, playing icebreaker games on the beach in shadow of the two-layered, 30-foot high border wall that divides Mexico from the the United States at Friendship Park in San Diego, California. It was a beautiful 80 degree day, and the waves were gently rolling onto the beach. Border Patrol helicopters, drones, jeeps, and four wheelers were scattered across the landscape and airspace.
The students were part of the Hands of Peace Summer Program that brings young people from Israel, Palestine, and the United States to San Diego each summer for three weeks of intensive daily dialogue, homestays, and self-expression seminars with the goal of empowering future agents of change. They were joined by a cadre of 17 students and their dedicated teachers from CETYS School in Tijuana. At the moment I am describing, the participants were just minutes away from beginning a 2-hour facilitated dialogue session. The big group would be divided into five groups of 11 teenagers with two professionally trained facilitators in each small group.
I paused for just a moment. Standing on the sand outside of the circle, I just smiled and watched them interact. For a longtime dialogue facilitator, this is what it’s all about. Being able to promote moments of genuine connection, storytelling, deep listening, and self-reflection is a true privilege. In these moments, worldviews are expanded and stereotypes are debunked.
In order to safeguard equity, welcome all voices into the space, and minimize the obvious power dynamics that existed in this multinational group that didn’t know each other well, the formal dialogues required a carefully designed structure. Communication agreements would include things like be present, speak only for yourself, and listen to understand, not to respond. Over the course of two hours, we hoped the students would reflect upon two to three central questions that would be chosen by each team of facilitators and their participants. For each question, we used a timed go-around format with an option to pass or pass for now. We encouraged all participants to briefly reflect on each main question in their journal before the go-around. Given that there were no interruptions allowed during the timed go-around and other participants were not given time to respond after a speaker completed their remarks, we encouraged the participants to write their observations and questions in their journals as they listened to each speaker. At the conclusion of each go-around, participants were given a
significant block of time to share what they noticed, inquire of others or the group, and build off
of each other’s ideas. The menu of central questions was as follows:
- Sitting here in the shadow of the border wall, what are you thinking and feeling? What life experiences or deeply held values can you share that shape your reaction to this human barrier?
- When you consider the implications of national borders and especially those that are fortified with physical barriers like this one, how is it complicated for you? Do you feel torn or pulled in different directions? If so, how?
- What are the barriers or walls that exist in your (each participant’s) individual lives? How can we overcome barriers?
- What similarities and differences, both physically and symbolically, do you see between the wall/fence or border that divides Mexico from the United States and the one that divides Israel from Palestine?
- Consider the dynamics of this dialogue (language, who is able to attend, where you are located, etc.). How might these dynamics inform your understanding of your own privilege? What do we do with this information?
- What responsibility, if any, do citizens have for the policies of their government?
My group only had time to consider questions 1 and 5, but the conversation was rich and the setting loomed large. Some of the participants felt profound sadness as they looked at the behemoth that was the wall and thought about the ways in which it divided people and made it much harder for some to fulfill their educational, vocational, and economic dreams. Others felt that the wall was inevitable and necessary to protect the security of people on both sides (guns moving south, people and drugs moving north). While they didn’t always agree, the participants were respectful of each other’s views and considered how people’s opinions were related to life experiences and values. They also recognized the complexities associated with borders. In many cases, their opinions softened, and they left feeling confused and interested in learning more.
Question 5 yielded some particularly introspective responses. Two participants from the United States reflected upon their profound position of privilege. They acknowledged that even though they live 30 minutes from the border, they had never been to this place nor had they ever visited Mexico. They remarked that they never even think about the border in their daily lives. They also recognized that this dialogue was happening on U.S. soil and the language was English. Some of the Mexican participants also made major breakthroughs. These particular Mexican students attend one of the best high schools in Tijuana, their families are socio-economically advantaged, and some of them have dual citizenship because they were born in the U.S. As a result of their circumstances, they have been cleared to travel to the U.S. whenever they wish. This is a far cry from the throngs of migrants who can be seen congregating on the Mexican side of the wall as they await their asylum hearings or contemplate a way to sneak into the U.S. These Mexican or Mexican-American participants were open and honest about their privilege, but they differed from the folks who were living in the United States because they said that they are always aware of what is happening in the U.S. They feel as if so much of their future well being and that of their country is connected to their more privileged neighbor. Similar power dynamics were reflected in the comments from the Israelis and Palestinians. The Israeli participants acknowledged that they are hardly even aware of the walls separating their country from Gaza and the West Bank. Conversely, the Palestinians talked about how they are always aware of the walls that are intended to keep them out. Powerful learning moments indeed!
In conclusion, it was a magical day and one that will hopefully be long remembered by the participants and facilitators alike. For me, I just felt lucky to have had the opportunity to organize and facilitate such an event. It is truly special to see what can happen when people are given the rare opportunity to talk about important issues and connect at a deep level.