Dear Zachary, Luckily you are using OS to facilitate this sensitive and complex group of people. In other methods of facilitating an Israeli Palestinian group I would say that the facilitator's identity is crucial to the success of the encounter. But OS is a very neutral and smart method that put the group and the issue in the center and no the facilitator. From my experience as a Palestinian inside Israel and as a facilitator working with Israeli Palestinian conflict groups, OS seems to be the most suitable tool for me to open the most sensitive issues from this conflict without having to take sides or hurt anyone when opening the space. Just half a year ago, I took a Jewish American wonderful woman, Peggy Holman, to Palestine to train Palestinian educators the Appreciative Inquiry Method, it was a marvelous experience both for her and for the participants. They discussed the issue of improving their life and living with the occupation with the knowing that the facilitator was Jewish, and it didn't effect the 3 day training at all. They were looking for the positive side of the occupation! The secret was that the space was so open that it enabled the inclusion of all differences of religion, race and identity. I believe you can pick up any of the mentioned facilitators and he/she could do great job if he/she could keep the space open no matter how provocative it could be. Soon enough, the group will forget about the facilitator and will be busy with each other. In any case I wouldn't put two facilitators in this sensitive situation, it will only distract the group from the real thing. Putting two facilitators when using OS in midst of conflicted group that is not familiar with the method or with each other, will only demonstrate that each one of them is taking one of the sides and none of them could be neutral or open anymore. I would do that only when the group is already formed and have met before and familiar with OS. Hope I have helped a bit, wish you all best and success,
Carol Daniel Kasbari, Facilitator of OS in Israel and Palestine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Zachary Metz" <zacharym...@cicr.columbia.edu> To: <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 7:30 PM Subject: ? on chosing a facilitator - Isr - Pal Open Space > Hi all, > > My colleagues and I here at the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia have been asked to hold an Open Space on a question related to the role of civil society in supporting the peace process in Israel and Palestine. We are struggling a bit to get clarity on who of our team makes the most sense to facilitate. We have several great folks - the question is really about the role of the "identity" of the OS facilitator in an OS that may generate lots of heat around questions of identity, including Israeli, Jewish, Arab, Palestinian, American and others. We imagine the group will include a mix of interested people from US-based civil society groups working on or around advocacy and/or peace issues related to Israel and Palestine. > > Here are the options we have on the table (round table of course!): > > - one Jewish American facilitator (me, full disclosure) > -a partnering of the above with a Palestinian American facilitator - a co facilitation > -a European American facilitator with no explicit ties to any of the identity issues at play in this conflict > > Any thoughts, opinions, experiences, etc that you have on the question of the identity of the facilitator in OS are more than welcome. I look forward to your input as we quickly (it's Friday) move towards opening space on this critical question. > > Be well, Zachary Metz > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
