THE HANDSTAND


THE HANDSTAND	SEPTEMBER 2003
Help through Partnership, Not Charity and Domination By Ghassan Andoni Thursday, August 21, 2003 My work through the past 20 years has brought me close to many international organizations and individuals working in Palestine. I have met and worked with so many great people, very passionate, dedicated, and intelligent ones. I have learned a lot from such interaction and have a great deal of admiration for so many. Yet, I feel the need to address an issue that I see as troublesome. Recently I attended a workshop and met with a very sweet American lady, a scholar in education who works for a local Palestinian Church-related organization. As a result of our short chat, I decided to write this piece. After she told me that she is a neighbor of mine living close to my office in Beit Sahour, I asked, "What are you doing in Palestine?"¨ "I am running a program to teach Palestinian children how to adopt non-violence as a life style", she replied with a smile. "Is this program coordinated with the Palestinian Education Ministry?" I inquired. ¡No. No we work directly with children and schoolteachers,"she answered. I felt something itching inside me and wanted to push the discussion further. "But who gave you the right to?" I could feel that my question angered her and she replied, "These are traumatized children. They only have authorities, parents and teachers, to tell them what to do and not to do. No one allows them creative thinking and I am here to help change this." I felt sorry that I forced her into this defensive position. Yet I was tempted to move the discussion further. "Look, work with children is a very sensitive issue. They are not yet ready to make choices, and this is different than adults. Why do you feel that you have the right to decide for them a style of life?" At this point I think she panicked. I guess she did not expect to hear this from a person who has dedicated a major part of his life to promoting and practicing non-violence. I wanted to find a way out of this awkward position, so I tried to explain. "I feel very uncomfortable when even Palestinian groups, for example Hamas, do summer camps and try to direct Palestinian children towards their own beliefs. Even with the consent of the children¡¦s parents, I feel that on an ethical basis this is wrong. My protest comes from the same place." I don¡¦t think that I made my point clearly to her; in fact, it appeared that my comments made it even worse. What was it that motivated this American scholar and the organization she worked for? I truly believe the desire to help. So what is it that worries me? I think the lack of definition of the rules and ethical bases for providing help. In her native professional setting she would probably agree with my premise: Nature gave parents the right to raise and educate their children. Local communities, to varying degrees, are the de facto environments in which children are being raised. Schools are contracted to share this responsibility based on regulations and principles, which developed historically and/or were formulated by a body that the community recognizes as reliable. Ethically speaking, those are legitimate bodies that, even when disagreement exists, deserve respect. The best way to produce the desired change is by working patiently to influence the system and bring about a different consensus. I wondered about the underlying assumptions that colored the way this help was deemed necessary. Do Palestinians lack human resources? In the particular field of education, I think the answer is a big "NO!". Does anyone have any idea how many Palestinian scholars have studied in the best Western universities and returned to live and work in Palestine? It¡¦s probably too many to count. How many educational institutions have Palestinians built over time? Hundreds. I realize now that my initial reaction to her project was the feeling of being insulted. The presumption was that it takes an American scholar and a charity organization to decide the fate of our children. No consultation with the appropriate Palestinian institutional leadership was necessary. I felt like this was in line with the idea of still being a nation under someone else's custody. The second issue was the feeling of being accused. The implication here was that even though Palestinians have the resources, we are a nation that is incapable of utilizing them or unwilling to do so. The idea of permitting charities and individuals to step in with imposed agendas is, to me, very troublesome. This is true even if the individuals and organizations have the highest intentions, and their values are those of the highest order. The bottom line is this: are they here to partner with us, or to dictate to us?