Freitag, 7. November 2008
Evelyn Boehmer-Lauferauthor of the peacecamp-project
peacecamp, 02:47h
I am Evelyn. In the picture, you see me with my husband Ronny at the peacecamp stand of the Jewish Street Festival in Vienna, trying to raise money for peacecamp.
I have been living in Israel for many years and am now living in Vienna. I am a Jewish Austrian, an Austrian Jew, a Jewish Israeli, an Israeli with European roots. I know a lot about the suffering of both, Jews and Arabs, and both people's quest for an own and safe homeland. I also know a lot about the situation of the Jews and their suffering throughout history as a people without a homeland. I therefore support the idea of a homeland for the Jewish people and can also sympathize with the Arab quest for a homeland for their people.
Ronny and I are the only "steady" peacecamp-team members. We do this benevolently in our really limited spare time, aside our bread-earning full-time jobs in our professions. We have been organizing peacecamps since 2004 with young participants from Jewish and Palestinian neighbourhoods in Israel and youngsters from European countries - Slovenia, Hungary and Austria. Many people were very helpful; we would not have succeeded to realise any of the peacecamps without them. They have generously supported the peacecamp-project with time and money. We can never thank them enough for this.
Why are we putting so much of our time and energy into the peacecamp-idea? I was always concerned about wars, terror, about the Holocaust and all the man-made catastrophes that people have brought upon themselves in the course of human history. My parents survived the Holocaust, but many members of their families were murdered by the Nazis.
When I was a child, I used to dream about a world in which there would be no borders between the countries and no differences between people of different origin and religion. I dreamt about a world in which all people would be free and equal, and about countries which would be a home for all the people who would live in them and care about them.
I often thought that there is so much hatred and violence in the world because our parents and grandparents have been victims of wars, terror, violence and injustice and are full with resentment which they pass on to their children. And now the children believe that it's only fair to take revenge for what was done to their parents, and spread new violence and inflict new suffering to the new generation.
I therefore decided to offer young people of different cultural backgrounds an opportunity to meet and learn about one another, to share their pain and to make up their own mind about things that they were told by their teachers and parents.
I must admit that there is nothing that I could tell you or teach you about how to make peace in a violent world. I must admit that I do not know. That no adult knows. That most adults who have tried, have failed.
I have the hope that the young may find ways to make the world more peacecful.
I actually believe that young people are sometimes more clever, more creative and more inventive than grown-up people. Maybe they can find the answers to the questions that the grown-ups are unable to answer or even to ask.
I am very much looking forward to the reunion in spring 2009.
cu soon,
Evelyn
bohmerATutanet.at
I have been living in Israel for many years and am now living in Vienna. I am a Jewish Austrian, an Austrian Jew, a Jewish Israeli, an Israeli with European roots. I know a lot about the suffering of both, Jews and Arabs, and both people's quest for an own and safe homeland. I also know a lot about the situation of the Jews and their suffering throughout history as a people without a homeland. I therefore support the idea of a homeland for the Jewish people and can also sympathize with the Arab quest for a homeland for their people.
Ronny and I are the only "steady" peacecamp-team members. We do this benevolently in our really limited spare time, aside our bread-earning full-time jobs in our professions. We have been organizing peacecamps since 2004 with young participants from Jewish and Palestinian neighbourhoods in Israel and youngsters from European countries - Slovenia, Hungary and Austria. Many people were very helpful; we would not have succeeded to realise any of the peacecamps without them. They have generously supported the peacecamp-project with time and money. We can never thank them enough for this.
Why are we putting so much of our time and energy into the peacecamp-idea? I was always concerned about wars, terror, about the Holocaust and all the man-made catastrophes that people have brought upon themselves in the course of human history. My parents survived the Holocaust, but many members of their families were murdered by the Nazis.
When I was a child, I used to dream about a world in which there would be no borders between the countries and no differences between people of different origin and religion. I dreamt about a world in which all people would be free and equal, and about countries which would be a home for all the people who would live in them and care about them.
I often thought that there is so much hatred and violence in the world because our parents and grandparents have been victims of wars, terror, violence and injustice and are full with resentment which they pass on to their children. And now the children believe that it's only fair to take revenge for what was done to their parents, and spread new violence and inflict new suffering to the new generation.
I therefore decided to offer young people of different cultural backgrounds an opportunity to meet and learn about one another, to share their pain and to make up their own mind about things that they were told by their teachers and parents.
I must admit that there is nothing that I could tell you or teach you about how to make peace in a violent world. I must admit that I do not know. That no adult knows. That most adults who have tried, have failed.
I have the hope that the young may find ways to make the world more peacecful.
I actually believe that young people are sometimes more clever, more creative and more inventive than grown-up people. Maybe they can find the answers to the questions that the grown-ups are unable to answer or even to ask.
I am very much looking forward to the reunion in spring 2009.
cu soon,
Evelyn
bohmerATutanet.at
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