Preaching peace while practicing hatred and violence
The rationale behind Engaged Buddhism is that someone who has learnt to be at peace with him or herself, truly at peace, through years of practice, has skills that can be useful as a mediator between warring factors. Such a person can bring his or her special qualities into the conflict. He or she has the ability to listen to each side with equal compassion and completely without judgment. Thus this person can help the sides get to know and understand each other, work out their differences and gradually reach peace and harmony together.

Noble and wise indeed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.

Until this morning, I still belonged to the mailing list of my Buddhist group. I got regular updates about activities and occasional teachings. Often discussions arouse about how to be more mindful about the groups activities, taking into account religious restrictions, trying to involve more Palestinians in the group’s activities (there were one or two Israeli Arabs in the group) and so on. Besides retreats and days of practice aimed at strengthening the groups mindfulness, the group also embarked on careful and sensitive activities aimed at furthering understanding between Israelis and Palestinians in different ways.

Every now and then an e-mail would arrive which invited members to donate money for Palestinian causes or to join in more overtly pro-Palestinian activities. Some of the list members had a problem with this, and a discussion would ensue, according to the nonviolent code of behavior and discussion of the group.

Yesterday, I opened my mailbox to find there the most violent, offensive, malicious, hateful e-mail I have ever read in my life. It was written by one of the group’s more dedicated “peace” activists, in reaction to an e-mail protesting a request to donate money for the poor of Nablus that had come through the list. Had I not known that the writer was Jewish, I would have thought this e-mail was written by a vicious anti-Semite. I am afraid I cannot reproduce it here, because it is a private list. I would like to stress that I am sure this person was not reflecting the sentiments of most of the group members in her harsh words.

For years, I have tried to explain to right-wing friends and even moderate left-wing friends that the activists of the Israeli peace movements are not motivated by hatred of Judaism and Israel, but by a sincere belief that peace is in our reach and by a rare ability to understand the other.

I would not like to generalize. I have many friends who are such people. But I think members of the Israeli far left should be asking themselves how they manage to elicit such hatred in such a large percentage of the Israeli public. Could this be because of the hatred they themselves emanate and the contempt and condescension with which they seem to regard Israelis who do not feel as they do? If they really want peace, they should try treating their fellow countrymen and women with a minimum of respect and courtesy and should be making at least as much effort to understand them and their views and ways, as they do the Palestinians.