Reflections from Ramla- Part II

Muli Peleg

We didn’t come there to impose any fancy solutions or magical panaceas. We arrived to elicit their stories and their perceptions of the reality they live in. We simply encouraged them to talk by asking them simple questions: “What does it mean to be a Ramlian from your perspective”, and “How would you define yourself”. Little did we know that these ‘simple’ questions would invoke very complex and multi-layered answers. These types of direct inquiries are challenging for any person let alone for residents of a mixed town with cross-cutting allegiances, blurred commitments and an ambivalent sense of belonging. The issue of identity, individual or collective, is taken for granted by most of us most of the time. We don’t usually linger on it because our identity is seldom threatened or tested. This is not the case in Ramla. Take for example the case of Jalil, a 26 year old man born and raised Ramlian whose family has been there for 5 generations. He is an Arab who does not define himself as one; He is a Christian Orthodox who does not practice religion; He is a Palestinian who does not share Palestinian militancy, and he is an Israeli who is not allowed to serve in the military and is constantly reminded he is not a Jew. When asked how he perceives of himself Jalil unequivocally replies “I am from Ramla”. But what does it mean? Do other Ramlians feel the same? Can all residents of Ramla be categorized under the same label? Is there a common Ramlian identity? Just for argument sake, we also met Hila, a 26 year old Jewish woman, who served in the Israeli army with distinction. She is the exact opposite of Jalil in every aspect but one: she defines herself as a proud Ramlian. Is there anything else common to Jalil and Hila besides sharing the same geographical space? Should there be? Is this foundation sufficient enough to create and cultivate a sustainable community?

This is one of the major impetuses in our Ramla engagement: how to introduce prospects for capacity building and sustainability to a potentially rifted society. Although the initial reaction from town officials when we first approached them was “everything is fine here”, repeated visits allowed us to detect potential fissures and concealed discontent. This is our great task for the next trips to Ramla: how to delicately reach those deeper layers of insecurity and frustration through CMM methods of story-telling, contextualizing and getting to know the other, and then setting the course for the people of Ramla to establish their own common ground. Not an easy undertaking by any means by exceptionally rewarding if accomplished.