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Megan Strum Dr.

Gordon Fellman PAX 98a: Independent Study May 2012 The Threads That Tie Us All Together: The PAX Program and My Internship Experiences I. Introduction: Even before my first class in college, a university seminar about war and revolution in the Middle East, I knew what passions I was going to pursue; both at Brandeis, and for the rest of my life. Those passions were the Middle East, and coexistence and conflict resolution. For a time, I considered pursuing an IIM, an Independent Interdisciplinary Major, combining my two passions into a major in Coexistence and Reconciliation in the Middle East, or something to that effect. However, as I took more PAX classes and declared my minor, I formed a new plan. I was going to keep my major in IMES, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and my double minor in PAX and Religious Studies. I wanted to keep my undergraduate focuses separate because before I could ever hope to start reconciling problems, I had to fully understand them first. In focusing my BA on the Middle East, I learned about the history of the area, its people, its customs, its political makeup, and its present struggles. It allowed me to become an expert in the area that sparked my desire to study reconciliation in the first place. As time passed and I took more and more PAX classes however, I slowly broadened my viewpoint and realized that my love for conflict resolution on an international level was much, much broader than just the Middle East. I will be entering George Mason University in the fall, pursuing a Masters of

Science in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. The PAX department led me here and I could not be more grateful. This independent study has a different focus though, it is meant to explore the extra-curricular applications of my experience in the PAX department. In the summer of 2010, I worked as an intern at one of the Chicago branch offices of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D) of Illinoiss 9th Congressional District. Also, beginning this semester, Spring 2012, and continuing through this summer, I am interning for the Abraham Path Initiative (API), a program the Harvard Global Negotiation Initiative is developing, all under the umbrella of the Harvard Law School. These two experiences will be my focus. I want to hone in on how working in these two places; my daily tasks, the overall experience of the environment, the purpose of the two places, the people we dealt with, what we helped contribute to, etc, relates to PAX, my studies here at Brandeis, my future studies, and the vision I have for the future. I will then share what Ive learned from all of these factors combined and how theyve helped shape me into the person I am today, following the path I am on thus far. II. Congresswoman Jan D. Schakowsky: Interning for a Congresswoman comes with many preconceived notions of grandeur: press conferences, voting on bills, meeting dignitaries, important dinners and fundraisers, kissing babies, etc. Working in the copy room in the back of a storefront office on the north side of Chicago however, is not one of those preconceived notions. I was placed in said office, one of the three offices Jan Schakowsky uses for her work and staff. My offices function was constituency services, that is to say that the staff were the 2

group of people who dealt most closely with the people who had elected Jan. My job, besides the expected file organization, copying, mail service, and basic underling tasks, was to field calls and draft letters. These were the most important parts of my job for a number of reasons. Firstly, my work allowed me to see what Jans job truly consisted of. We got dozens of calls everyday from constituents all over the district about every issue you can think of. People called in wanting to congratulate Jan for her work and thank her for her efforts. People called in to yell at us, expressing their rage that a certain bill did not pass, or that she had voted no on an issue they wanted her to vote yes on. People called in to ask her to come to their event or to co-sponsor a project or charity they were involved in. These kinds of calls were the ones that had to be waded through in order to get to the real issues, the issues that are the fundamental parts of a Congresspersons job. Secondly, my responsibilities in the office allowed me to actually help people. The calls I mentioned above that dealt with real issues were opportunities to do positive work. Most of this work consisted of helping people with visa and passport issues, family counseling, various government agency relations, and references to public institutions for disadvantaged youths. Whether I was drafting a letter to a local passport agency asking them to issue a passport to a constituent who had been denied one, even though they were a citizen, or writing to a visa office so that a family could be reunited, I was seeing the work pay off in front of me. Handling situations like these takes a certain level of calmness, ability to truly listen to others and come up with multiple solutions to their problems, and above all else, patience. These qualities are also all essential parts of conflict analysis,

resolution, and reconciliation. I was inadvertently learning essential life skills that would help in my aspirations for a future career. When working in the office, I was often the middleman between the full-time employees and the constituents that called in. While it was clear my position was beneath that of Jans full-time employees, my role was integral in that I was technically the first person fielding citizens concerns, questions, problems, and requests. This put me in a situation where I had the opportunity to practice truly compassionate listening. As the summer went on, I was given more responsibility and got to sit in on a few initial interviews. People would call in, tell me their stories and after I heard and copied down their messages, if they could be solved by a letter from our office, a recommendation from Jan, or any situation we could immediately solve by ourselves, they were set up with a case worker in the office for an initial interview. It was extremely empowering to be in these meetings, facing all the red tape, bureaucracy, and waiting that usually accompanies the political arena and government institutions and actually working to defeat it and get something done! III. The Abraham Path Initiative: Thinking about my first internship in this way took time and reflection. During that summer, sitting at my desk every day, I could not see the bigger picture. I did not know, at the time, that I was using skills I had learned in PAX classes and looking at a given situation from every possible angle in order to fairly assess and figure out how to solve it. After my internship ended and I returned to school and took more classes in my chosen field, an appreciation for the work Id helped do grew and developed into an even stronger 4

drive to keep effecting change, development, understanding and growth. This led me to a number of opportunities, including studying abroad in Haifa Universitys Peace and Conflict Management program, and my second internship, with the Abraham Path Initiative (API) at Harvards Global Negotiation Initiative in their law school. I am still currently an intern at API and will be through the summer. While the timing of my experience with the API unfortunately does not allow me the same post-experience insight as I now have in regards to working for Congresswoman Schakowsky, it is still extremely relevant to PAX and my future career aspirations. The Abraham Path (Masar Ibrahim al Khalil) is a route of cultural tourism which follows the footsteps of Abraham / Ibrahim through the Middle East. The story of Abraham / Ibrahims journey, which has been kept alive for some four thousand years in the landscape and memory of this region, records the origin of a spiritual tradition shared by more than three billion people in the world today. By retracing this journey, the Abraham Path provides a place of meeting and connection for people of all faiths and cultures, inviting us to remember our common origins, to respect our cultural differences, and to recognize our shared humanity. The Path also serves as a catalyst for sustainable tourism and economic development; a platform for the energy and idealism of young people; and a focus for positive media highlighting the rich culture and hospitable people of the Middle East. The Path follows a constellation of historic places in which Abraham / Ibrahim is an important part of local cultural memory. These are not dry archaeological sites, but living communities in which this story has been a source of meaning and inspiration for millenia. Taken together, these towns and cities trace the arc of Abraham / Ibrahims 5

journey across the Levant and stand witness to the shared heritage of the Abrahamic faiths. They include the old Silk Road towns of Sanliurfa and Harran in southeastern Turkey; the great Islamic centers of Aleppo and Damascus in Syria; the pilgrimage city of Jerusalem; the ancient oasis of Beersheva in the Negev desert; and the Holy Land town of Hebron or Al Khalil, where Abraham / Ibrahim is buried. For Muslims the most significant place in the story of Ibrahim is, of course, Mecca. There are also major Abrahamic sites in Iran, Iraq and Egypt. By any measure this forms one of the most outstanding cultural itineraries in the world. Countless millions have traveled this way over the centuries, and the sites along the route continue to attract thousands of people every year. The present project simply brings recognition to a story which has always been part of this landscape, and which has found expression not only in the regions historic sites, but also in the faith, folklore, and hospitality of the Middle East. Working as an intern, my responsibilities revolve mostly around gathering updated information for the website and participants information packets. Being a part of such an amazing organization has truly made an indelible mark on me in the last few months of my career here at Brandeis. It gave me hope for the future of our world. This may seem to be a drastic statement, but it is true. Seeing some of the worlds greatest minds working together, engaged in efforts to build a new vision of the Middle East, including everyone and basing this off of a common ground, is the most promising and reassuring experience I could have ever had. My work at API will help people expose themselves to the Middle East, many for the first time, in a completely different way than I have ever seen. When I

have learned about or been to the Middle East, it has always revolved around the history of conflicts in the area, or the current Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. My experiences have also always been either in a Jewish context, or a Muslim context; never both, never neither. I am sure that there are organizations that try to visit the Middle East with no biases or religious pre-texts whatsoever; however, I have never seen one that purposely tries to include the three major religions of the world all at once. This is extremely important because of the undeniably important role religion plays in the region. I have found that in my experience with academic material pertinent to the region, or conflicts in the region, that the majority of experts understand how important religion is to the area, but ultimately judge the situation with recommendations to avoid religion because of the controversy and perceived impossibility of doing so. I feel as though this opinion is completely understandable and for a long time, I felt the same way. However, I now believe that in order to effect any real change, religion has to play an integral role in any proposed solution to the conflict, or in any true understanding of the region. Acknowledging religion in a positive, inclusive way, like the API is attempting to do, is the only way to truly change anything. We must honor and respect all traditions present in a place if we are to make any progress there. Previously, the small differences between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism were blamed as the cause of all problems in the Middle East (and most other places in the world), and were simultaneously the reasons the conflicts in the region could never be solved. However, API strives to look at the Middle East through a lens that celebrates those small differences and reveals the many, many more similarities between all three 7

religions. The API is only one effort, in one place, but I believe that it shows important growth in the Wests collective consciousness and holds promise for more to come. IV. Personal Experience and Growth: Combining my two internship experiences with all of the books, journals, and research Ive read, the films, documentaries, and television specials Ive seen, and my own travels, I believe I have the right to say that I am now an expert. An expert in what, though? Well, even though I know for a fact that we are never done learning and evolving, I believe I am an expert in my own understanding of conflict analysis and resolution, the Middle East, and the incredible amount of work it is going to take to make a positive impact on both. This is not a title anyone could bestow upon me, or a certificate I can hang on my wall; those honors come in other forms. I am talking about a deep sense of both importance and peace about my experiences thus far, and the ones I know will come in the future. Everything I have done has led me here, all of my combined knowledge helps form my constantly evolving opinions on conflict transformation and reconciliation. I now have a network of connections that can help to advance my career to a place where I can practice what Ive learned in a real way, constantly utilizing knowledge and tools I have collected along the way. I now know that I want to be the person different groups of people utilize when they are in conflict with one another. I now know what that really means, and I also know that I am not done learning what that will entail, but I am absolutely positive that I want to know it all. I have learned that I am someone who wants to be everything to the people around me: friend, mediator, confidant; but also that it is not

always possible to do it all. I have learned that realistic expectations are key in matters of great importance, and that sometimes, when it feels like no progress has been made and all is hopeless and lost, small, gradual, and seemingly trivial details become important. If just one persons opinion becomes open to change just a bit, or one set of ears actually listens and understands, not just hears a different opinion than their own, a door opens just a crack, and then something positive has been done, plain and simple. V. Conclusion: My internship with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and my internship with the Abraham Path Initiative have both allowed me to learn new skills, and a vast amount of new information, both about the political and academic worlds themselves, and about the specific issues I was dealing with. The first internship opened my eyes to the reality of the real world and gave me a great understanding of the immense patience needed to truly get anything done. Even in the worlds most advanced democratic state, millions of miles of red tape, miscommunication, and opposing opinions halt the natural evolution and progress of humankind. This fact has to be faced above all else. This is both the main challenge with, and the main reason I want to pursue a career in international conflict analysis and resolution. The second internship instilled my belief that even though there are obstacles that will inevitably always be in my way, I can do good things in this world. I believe that majority of people on this earth are good and want good things for one another. They want to understand each other, they want to learn from one another, they want to grow and change together. As long as this is the possible outcome, any amount of work to get there 9

is completely worth it. The API is a pledge to honor this possibility. The Congresswomans constituency office is the reality of that pledge; what it actually takes, the day-to-day grind, real peoples voices with real problems and genuine belief in their own power to solve those problems. A single mother living in a poor neighborhood, working three jobs to support her three children, struggling to get the US Government to allow her mother to come live with them and help out being told no by everyone to her requests for a visa for her mother does not care a bit about anyone elses problems on the surface, but when she calls in to her Congresspersons office and asks for help from us, she is unknowingly helping out many others who have similar problems. She is speaking for women, for progress, for listening, understanding, and change. I know that I would be considered an optimist and an idealist by most people for the things I have said in this paper, but that is okay. I believe I am a realist because I have to believe it. I have confidence in this because I believe I have seen these hopeful possibilities actualized in front of me; maybe not in the traditionally celebrated way that ties up all loose ends and heals all wounds, but in a real way that might look like a piece of paper, a conversation, or a smile and a handshake. These things sound trivial, but the reality is that every step that helps anyone is a step in the right direction for all of us. These things are the things that will gradually move us forward. I have appreciated my time in both of these jobs, my classes here at Brandeis, and all the moments of my life that have led me to all of it more than I could ever say in words, but that is what those handshakes and smiles are for. They are the human threads that tie us together, that warm

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us up to each other, that allow a path to be forged toward mutual respect, love, and understanding of one another. Thank you for being part of my journey.

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