Lower Sixth Explore Empathy and Equality with Solutions Not Sides.
This week, Solutions Not Sides, an NGO charity organisation, visited the Lower Sixth to help us learn about the current conflict between Israel and Palestine. They believe in three key values: non-violence, equality for all, and the rejection of hatred. This programme exists to share diverse narratives, to have humanising encounters, and to develop critical thinking skills which help equip young people with the knowledge and empathy to be capable of having productive conversations about world issues.
For our talk, we had a speaker from Israel, Hillel, and another from Palestine, Lana, who came to share their experiences of living in Jerusalem and working as activists while the conflict is happening. Their stories of bravery were truly eye opening to hear, as their efforts for peace are consistently opposed by violence and hatred towards them, at times being so extreme one of the speakers, Hillel, came away from a peace protest with a broken arm.
"The session's aim was to listen to different perspectives of the conflict and the prior history from the region, to humanise those involved where the media has failed to do so, and to extend our understanding of the complex war."
To involve students in the conversation, we did an exercise in groups where we ranked each state's desires and needs with the categories ranging from survival to self-actualisation. This activity helped us understand the steps needed for equality between the Israeli and Palestinian people, and how that could be the first step to a solution.
After this, we took part in a Q&A session with the speakers, where we had the opportunity to ask them questions about their cultures or about their views on the war. I was proud of my year group as the questions asked were respectful and appropriate for both speakers, and this really allowed us to develop our understanding of their experiences.
In my opinion, having Solutions Not Sides come in to talk to us was special as it is not an experience many people get, and having the talk on the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks enhanced the sensitive nature of the discussion.
I think it is important that my age group learns about this issue because not only does it give us knowledge on the subject, but it also helps develop our way of thinking to be more empathetic and compassionate for future conversations around sensitive topics. I like the charities key values of non-violence, equality for all, and the rejection of hatred because in my view they reflect St Chris’ beliefs of humanitarianism and acceptance. Overall, I found the talk intriguing and thought provoking, and I would recommend it to others.