Generous Listening at the West End Lecture

“When I was a little girl, you couldn’t say ‘Palestinian’ or ‘Palestine’ without being called an anti-Semite,” said Anisa Mehdi, an Emmy Award-winning journalist specializing in Islam. “This is the way I grew up and, believe me, it left me with sweaty palms when I talked about the Middle East.”

Mehdi, an Arab American, grew up in New York City where, at an early age, she developed a voice for activism. She remembered, “On the day of the celebration of Israeli independence, when 10,000 people would be marching in celebration on Fifth Avenue … my [family, friends and I] would hold up signs commemorating the massacre of Palestinians,” she said. “We would have around us 10-12 policemen protecting us from the people who came out of Fifth Avenue, who attacked us.”

On March 19 at Intersections’ West End Lecture Series, Mehdi was joined by Michael Lame, former president and executive director of The Foundation for Mideast Communication. Both practiced what they call “generous listening” as they respectfully discussed – and sometimes disagreed about – the nature of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict that rattles the Middle East.

Lame suggested autonomy may be the solution for future progress. Regarding various proposed solutions to the conflict in the Middle East, he noted, “There’s not one model that is necessarily the answer. [But] I would like to see an end of occupation.”

The West End lecture series has explored the “Heart of Conflict: Pathways to Peace” and features internationally renown presenters who speak about their personal experience with conflict transformation. To hear a complete audio recording of this discussion, please visit: http://www.intersectionsinternational.org/westendlectures#mehdilame.