Wildpeace

Let it come

like wildflowers,

suddenly, because the field

must have it: wildpeace. ~ Yehuda Amichai, Wildpeace

I quoted this poem in my master’s thesis, which was dedicated to the Parents Circle-Families Forum: a formidable grassroots organisation of Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost immediate family members as a result of the conflict.

They operate under the principle that reconciliation is a prerequisite for achieving a sustained peace. At the time, I had understood Amichai’s lines to mean that peace is inevitable, eventual.

When I look at the poem 4 years on—with Israeli occupation continuing its reign of terror over Palestinians—I understand it in a completely different light.

I’ve been asking myself: what do the crushing violence and repression—in Colombia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Palestine, and elsewhere—have in common?

1. A stark imbalance between State power and civic resistance? Of course.
2. A Goliath monopoly over resources, decision-making, and narrative? Sure.
3. A global normalisation of inhumanity? Sadly, yes.

But also, youth. Young people sparking social change, standing high above the glass ceiling, and protecting our shared integrity. What one human does to another affects us, so in the same way that Netanyahu causes me to despair, this young woman from the Middle East causes me to hope:

“We as young people should emphasize our inherent right to live in safe places without any threats, especially while practising our civil work. We want a country where we can speak about our issues without being bombed, sieged or arrested. We have to also strongly emphasize our right to shape the future of our country by including us in any discussions about reconstruction…”  ‘If I Disappear’: Global Report on Protecting Young People in Civic Space

As an Israeli Jew, who was conscripted into a cynical military at 18, it’s too easy to bask in pessimism. But, when I read the hundreds of testimonies from young people standing up to power in spite of the barriers, risks, and threats—determined to build peace, defend their human rights, and mobilise their communities—I see Amichai’s lines differently.

We, young people, are the wildpeace. We will not wait for it to come, suddenly, because the field must have it. It will come because we will bring it through endless resolve. It will come because we will demand it of ourselves and our communities. It will come because we will it to come, through our activism, our courage, and our conviction that, together, we can incite peace to grow like wildflowers.

Don’t believe our outlines, forget them

and begin from your own words.

As if you are the first to write poetry

Or the last poet. ~ Mahmoud Darwish, To a Young Poet

Colleagues, comrades, friends, we must continue, as Darwish suggests, to forge peace as if no one has ever tried before and as if we will be the last to try because with our collective strength and drive, it will come.

“The only thing we can do is to encourage our generations to join the fight and protect as much as we can.” ~ Young woman from South Asia, ‘If I Disappear’: Global Report on Protecting Young People in Civic Space

Written by

Charlotte Davidi, UNOY Communications & Protection Coordinator

Check out our #Youth4Peace #WithoutFear campaign here, our protection resource library here, and the full ‘If I Disappear’ report here.