The March issue of Friends Journal dropped online last week (and will soon hit mailboxes) and the first featured article is from Mike Merryman-Lotze, AFSC’s Middle East Program director, and looks at the Palestinian use of the concept of normalization. I first came across this term in a Max Carter book review in 2011 and have been wanting to run an article ever since because it really questions some Quaker orthodoxies. Mike writes:
So as Quakers committed to peace and engagement with all people, what should we take from this conversation? First, we should recognize that Palestinians and Israelis are getting together and cooperating but on their own terms. One of the key problems with many past people-to-people programs is that they were initiated and led by outside actors who imposed their own goals and terms on interactions. The normalization framework pushed forward by Palestinians is a reassertion of ownership of the terms of interaction by those most impacted by the systematic injustice of Israel’s occupation and inequality.
I’ve wondered how the paradox of normalization plays into some of the issues that seem to regularly stymie Quaker process. From my introductory Friends Journal column:
As Friends, our first instinct has been to think of conflicts as misunderstandings: if only everyone got to know each other better, love and cooperation would replace fear and confusion. It’s a charming and sometimes true sentiment, but many Palestinian activists charge that this process ignores power differentials and “normalizes” the status quo.
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