PAINFUL PATH TO UNDERSTANDING
  Lydia Aisenberg

A deeper understanding of the tragic history of the Jews is what propelled Anhar Masarwa to join a recent and much publicized journey to Auschwitz.
Anhar, a Muslim citizen of Israel, was also hoping that the experience of finding common ground and empathy would bring about recognition from the journey\'s Jewish participants of the past and present day tragedy of her people, the Palestinians.
The visit to Poland\'s most infamous site by 250 Israelis, half of whom Jewish and half Arab and who were joined by some 200 French Jews and Arabs, was intended to transcend politics and nurture reconciliation between Arabs and Jews.  
From the outset there were many Arab and Jewish vocal detractors to the intended bi-national attempt at dialogue, understanding and reconciliation through a joint journey to the Holocaust site.  Some even dubbed the event as the \'Pilgrimage of Pain,\' or \'Pain Train.\'
A Muslim mother of four from the Wadi Ara village of Arara, Anhar Masarwa has been attempting to bridge the divide and interact with Israeli Jews for many years.  A feminist activist in the Arab sector, Anhar joined and is very active in various people to people and interfaith organizations promoting dialogue. 
A great deal of talk has gone under that bridge since the 39 year-old former beauty salon owner began her personal quest to discover her own history as well as that of the Jews.  Anhar attended high-school in Arara which boasts a population of over 10,000, of which 40% are the Masarwa extended family.  Jewish history, religion, culture and Zionism was and still is an integral part of the Israel Ministry of Education\'s curriculum set for high-schools in the Arab sector, and Anhar was a diligent and bright pupil.
\"We do not have our Palestinian history well-chronicled like that of the Jews and most of what I knew before I became involved in delving into and coming to terms with the deeply intertwined roots of Jews and Arabs, was from my grandmother\'s stories,\" said Anhar.
These days one can find Anhar in Givat Haviva\'s Jewish-Arab Center for Peace where she is in charge of marketing on-campus courses and workshops offering spoken and business English, Hebrew for adults, bridge building and negotiating skills. She even has swimming lessons for Arab women on offer.
The whole concept of a bi-national journey to Auschwitz was the brainchild of Nazareth based Father Emil Shufani, archimandrite to the Greek Catholic Church in the Galilee.  Shufani, quickly involved veteran journalist Nazir Majli, who is also from Nazareth, and when the two decided to find a Jewish partner for their long journey to the past in the hope that it would contribute toward building a better future, they approached Ruth Bar-Shalev from Tel Aviv.  Bar-Shalev specializes in teaching how to make breakthroughs when a situation seems to be without a positive solution – quite fitting given the task and reasoning behind the challenge the gentlemen were going to present her with.
With Bar-Shalev more than willing to take on a leading role in gathering in Jewish participants the project got under way in earnest, and Anhar was among those asked to join.
\"I was very moved when approached to participate in this journey,\" said Anhar, who apart from her job in marketing is also a trained facilitator working with groups of Israeli women from different religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, as well as being an active member of the Jewish-Arab movement for women, Anwar (Lights).
The organizers specifically looked for Arabs and Jews who worked in the fields of education, media and community activism who would in turn share their experiences with many others. 
\"For me the journey represented a genuine desire to glean more knowledge about the collective historical memory of the majority of the people of Israel, the Jews with whom I have shared citizenship but certainly not equality,\" explained Anhar, whose teacher husband is very supportive of her activities.
\"I studied the Holocaust at school and I remember putting a great deal of effort in to a paper I had to write about the immigration of the Jewish people to Israel.
\"The more I learned and became aware of the Jewish historical narrative, I became very angry at my people for not still being here,\" said Anhar, whose office on campus is in the complex of buildings that make up the Givat Haviva Peace Library.
\"For a long time when I was younger I really didn\'t want to put any effort into understanding the Jews as I blamed them for having deprived me of my land, Palestine and ability to develop a Palestinian identity.
\"However, as time went by I realized the importance of becoming part of Israeli society and attached a great deal of importance to getting to know \'the others\' around me and began to become active in mostly Jewish-Arab organizations for women,\" she said.
\"Through my connections with Jewish people I felt their pain and wanted as a Palestinian to understand that pain and that they, the Jews, understand mine in the hope that through duel recognition of pain maybe we can find a way to solve the conflict between our peoples.
\"After the visit to Auschwitz, I now understand the catastrophe that befell humanity that is known as the Holocaust.
\"I now fully understand that Jews want and need a secure place to live, but I also demand of the Jews not to be part of a catastrophe for another people, the Palestinians, my people,\" she said, raising her hands palm upwards as she spoke.
\"I sincerely hope that the Palestinians will have a state of their own – but I am an Israeli citizen, my home is Arara, the home of my family for over a thousand years,\" she said with great emotion.
\"I still want to know more about my own history and formulate my own narrative.  The post-September 2000 worsening relationships between Israeli Jews and Arabs is not because we the Arabs lack knowledge about Jewish history and the Israeli narrative, it is purely because of the government\'s political stance and military actions against the Palestinian people, and especially against Palestinians who are citizens of Israel.
\"I want to be able to forgive but not to forget.  For this however, there is a price that needs to be paid as in equality and acceptance in Israeli society for those of us who are citizens of the state, as well as a state for the Palestinian people so that they can determine their own destiny.
\"Is it really so much to ask for?\"