Dialogue needed on campus

RHONDA SPIVAK

Alan Levy, professional mediator, arbitrator and associate professor of human resources, labor relations and dispute resolution at Brandon University, is calling on universities across Canada to hold a Dialogue Week rather than an Israel Apartheid Week.

In Levy’s view, “A university should strive to increase social cohesiveness within its student body and society as a whole. Learning the art of respectful discourse is part of the learning process and allows students to increase their emotional intelligence and the understanding of others. It is most unfortunate that some university leaders across Canada fail to understand this. They are not only failing their university community, they are failing what the role of a university should be in the 21st century.”

In an interview with the Independent, Levy, who lectures to Arab and Jewish students at the world-ranked International Centre of Dispute Resolution at Tel Aviv

University in Israel, said, “It is abominable that the University of Manitoba [and others] have allowed an event to take place ... called Israel Apartheid Week. It is not an acceptable excuse to say that Israel Apartheid Week must take place as a matter of free speech. It is an event which fuels and reinforces ideological divisions between the two sides – Israelis against Palestinians, Jews against Arabs. I believe that a university has a responsibility to take a [mediation] approach and engage the community in meaningful and constructive social dialogue. This takes leadership and courage.”

Levy, who also has a master of laws degree from York University, said he has written to David Barnard, president of the University of Manitoba, asking to meet with him to discuss how the university can foster “respectful, constructive social dialogue on campus on the issues of Palestinian rights and Israel.” Levy hopes that U of M will seriously consider “the wonderful contribution” they could make to meaningful discussion between the parties involved.

“We must find innovative avenues to build a relationship. It is not impossible. We just need to be creative and positive in our efforts,” Levy insisted.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Levy has more than 25 years experience in the field of dispute resolution and has negotiated more than 130 collective agreements, without a single strike. He also frequently appears in the Canadian media as an expert in matters of human resources, labor relations and dispute resolution. “In 2009, I did 131 interviews, including interviews in every major newspaper, magazine, radio and television network in the nation,” he told the Independent.

“I would like to create a process in Winnipeg on Middle East issues for the two sides to begin to dialogue in a meaningful way. In such a process, one side will not persuade the other that they are right. But the process may be transformative and will allow people with different opinions to learn to respect each other’s point of view. The change may be in the way the parties understand themselves, their conflict, their relationship or their situation.... We need to build tolerance on both sides.”

Levy believes that there is no military solution to the conflict in the Middle East. “The problem can only be solved by constructive dialogue. We have no choice in this matter. Too much blood has all ready been spilled.”

Levy, who was once a student at Tel Aviv University, said, “There will be a two-state solution. It may be a gradual process. It may take perhaps the next 20 years. I don’t know the time period, but I think it is going to happen. The status quo is no solution.”

This past December, Levy lectured to Israelis and Palestinians on conflict resolution at Haifa University. In his view, Israel has become a much more “open and tolerant” society in the last 30 years.

“When I was at Haifa University recently, I saw Arab students engaged in a political protest. I told my Israeli colleague, ‘Let them yell and scream as much as they want. Do you see any of them with guns in their hands?’ Israel is a democracy and it’s this tolerance that is its strength,” he said.

Levy shared the example of a mosque and a synagogue in Toronto that share the same parking lot. “They also are involved in ongoing interfaith dialogue. Just because you have differences of opinion, doesn’t mean you can’t dialogue and be friends. Learning to agree to disagree is also a learned art of respect for the other side,” he said.

“What we need in Winnipeg is an organization who will be kind and courageous enough to sponsor efforts in allowing meaningful discussions to start between these parties. But Winnipeg is a very conservative, conflict-avoidant town.”

Rhonda Spivak is a freelance writer and editor of the Winnipeg Jewish Review.

^TOP