News & Features
Venturing into the Heart of a Conflict
By Nick DeRatto
Aug 27, 2008 - 10:45:59 AM

During her trip to Israel, Megan Madison met A'arabiya, a Palestinian woman who was left unable to talk or laugh after soldiers beat her husband and destroyed their home

A guard tower stands starkly against the crisp, blue sky, looking out over the barbed-wire lined brick wall dividing Palestine and Israel. Below, dozens of people patiently wait to pass through one of many checkpoints as they make their way to work, winding between the chain link fences like cattle in a chute. What would garnish complaints and protests if taking place here draws barely a murmur of dissent, and not just because of the watchful eyes of armed guards. For those stuck within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it’s just a way of life.

Media coverage offers only the barest glimpse of a conflict that has raged for decades, lighting upon only one or two threads of a vast blanket of issues. The only way to truly understand the currents raging underneath this sea of unrest is to visit the region, meet with the people there, and experience a slice of their daily lives.

L.C. Bird graduate Megan Madison did just that as she received one of only a few scholarships to participate in the International Programme from July 6 to August 7 at Galillee College in Israel. A rising senior at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C., Madison lived in a Jewish commune in Kibbutz Mizra to get a first-hand look at the conflict.

“It’s a very complex issue. You can’t just divide it into two sides. What we see here in the media is just the Israelis and Palestinians, but there is so much more than that,” says Madison. “There are Zionists who believe the land is only for them, ultra-orthodox religious settlers, ultra-orthodox settlers who believe in a solution or are against Zionism itself, economic settlers who are completely secular, militant Islamic movements, Palestinian refugees, Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Muslims against Palestinian Christians, IDF Soldiers, Hamas, Fatah, and suicide bombers.”

Majoring in politics and music, Madison first became interested in the Middle East while still in high school. There, her Spanish teacher, Khadijah Luqman, taught the class that language was more about passing tests and knowing how to talk to people; it’s about breaking down cultural barriers and understanding the world, a lesson that resonated with Madison. Last year, she received her first taste of what that meant as she spent part of her summer studying Arabic in Morocco. However, nothing truly prepared her for her trip to Israel.
“It was so emotionally draining, especially towards the end,” says Madison. “In every class, another layer was added; it got really heavy. You feel almost helpless because you want to do something, but you realize that you have to be in a certain position to be able to help in that capacity.”

Not content with just the classroom experience, Madison organized a trip to Jerusalem for the last week of study. Expecting only five or six of her classmates to sign up, she generated enough interest to have 22 of the 26 students travel to Jerusalem.

“I found that we had two free days and I didn’t see that we were going to the West Bank at all or going to see a refugee camp, and that is what I am most interested in being in the region,” says Madison. “It was great to be able to see another perspective.”

In her tour of Jerusalem, Madison found the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolition
and met with the director of Project Hope. Her group helped build a Palestinian family’s house that had been demolished in Anata, West Bank and played with children in an Askar refugee camp.

“I really wanted to meet some people from non-government organizations, so it was great to be able to meet with the director of Project Hope. The stories and experiences from that past weekend have been the most powerful of the whole trip for the majority of the group that went,” says Madison.

Armed with a new perspective on the conflict, Madison has already given presentations on the subject to Trinity United Methodist Church of Chesterfield and Rotary International of Spartanburg, S.C., two organizations that helped fund her trip.

“When we heard that she had been selected for this program, we felt like she had earned the right to go. Within four days of sending out an email looking for donations, we had collected enough money to pay for her round-trip flight,” says Betty Sawyer, family friend and member of Trinity United. “It was very rewarding to be able to do this for someone who was so deserving. Megan is a great young adult.”

With plans to continue studying and working with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Madison most likely hasn’t had her last glimpse of the region, a decision that comes as no surprise to her family.

“Megan has always been very compassionate and focused on humanitarian efforts, even as a child,” says Patricia Madison, Megan’s mother. “We are kind of amazed with her interest in the conflict, because it’s not something that she has ties to in the household. The whole family is very proud of her.”

nderatto@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421


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