This afternoon, I had the opportunity to attend an event sponsored by the Penn State Israel Alliance. The event was The David Project. The purpose of this organization is to educated students about how to advocated for Israel. It provides students with the strategies and tools to create effective programs that teach others what Israel can do as well as providing context for many of the facts used in conversation about the Middle East. It was an interesting program, because in part of the Israelis making up most of the audience but more importantly about the message it sent. The take away messages that stuck with me and that I am going to share with you reminded me why the PLA exists and its founding purpose--to educate students.
The first point is that there are people who will never agree with what you have to say. They have their own opinions and feelings about certain situations and no matter what evidence you throw at them or what argument you use to convince them, they will forever be set in their opinions. But your purpose as an advocator for Israel is not to try and change their mind. The goal is to try and persuade the people listening to you argument with the opinionated person. The hope is that the eavesdropper will hear what you are saying and form their opinions based on educated information, not contextless facts.
The second point is that we have to get to the root of the problem before we can start addressing the issues. If a person does not believe that a state should exist, you cannot argue about the political policies of that state because their argument will always be that the state should not exist. Before you can get into discussing the complexities of the problems in the Middle East, you have to first be on the same page that Israel as a state has a right to exist.
Finally, whenever dealing with someone who is spewing facts and history in your face, ask them for context, to explain where that information is coming from and more importantly why that information is valuable. You can show pictures of Israelis searching ambulances or schools. And it looks awful if the soldiers are pulling people out of the ambulances. However, once you give the context that ambulances and schools are used to store weapons, it makes more sense that the Israeli soldiers should search these places.
This relates directly to the mission of the PLA, whose goal is to develop leaders who can have a discussion about a topic where "multiple dimensions of an issue are explored, diverse viewpoints are welcomed and heard, and fully informed and respectful discourse ensues that leads to sound action." Without having the ability to listen to the other side of an argument, let alone welcome those opinions, a meaningful discussion will never be had. By fully understanding the root of the issue, we can look at the various facets that comprise a problem like the one in Israel. And without having the context behind the facts and figures there is no way to be completely informed about an issue. Taking the skills learned in the PLA can be taken out of the fan behavior policy issue and placed on larger scale problems like the ones in the Middle East. These skills are universal, and how lucky are we that we get to learn them now?
The first point is that there are people who will never agree with what you have to say. They have their own opinions and feelings about certain situations and no matter what evidence you throw at them or what argument you use to convince them, they will forever be set in their opinions. But your purpose as an advocator for Israel is not to try and change their mind. The goal is to try and persuade the people listening to you argument with the opinionated person. The hope is that the eavesdropper will hear what you are saying and form their opinions based on educated information, not contextless facts.
The second point is that we have to get to the root of the problem before we can start addressing the issues. If a person does not believe that a state should exist, you cannot argue about the political policies of that state because their argument will always be that the state should not exist. Before you can get into discussing the complexities of the problems in the Middle East, you have to first be on the same page that Israel as a state has a right to exist.
Finally, whenever dealing with someone who is spewing facts and history in your face, ask them for context, to explain where that information is coming from and more importantly why that information is valuable. You can show pictures of Israelis searching ambulances or schools. And it looks awful if the soldiers are pulling people out of the ambulances. However, once you give the context that ambulances and schools are used to store weapons, it makes more sense that the Israeli soldiers should search these places.
This relates directly to the mission of the PLA, whose goal is to develop leaders who can have a discussion about a topic where "multiple dimensions of an issue are explored, diverse viewpoints are welcomed and heard, and fully informed and respectful discourse ensues that leads to sound action." Without having the ability to listen to the other side of an argument, let alone welcome those opinions, a meaningful discussion will never be had. By fully understanding the root of the issue, we can look at the various facets that comprise a problem like the one in Israel. And without having the context behind the facts and figures there is no way to be completely informed about an issue. Taking the skills learned in the PLA can be taken out of the fan behavior policy issue and placed on larger scale problems like the ones in the Middle East. These skills are universal, and how lucky are we that we get to learn them now?
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