Peace talks take cue from ancient reconciliation ritual

By Elaine Ruth Fletcher
Religion News Service

JERUSALEM -- When Israeli and Palestinian officials shook hands recently in Aqaba, Jordan, over a new cease-fire accord -- dubbed a "hudna" by the media after the classical Arabic term -- Elias Jabbour was elated that an ancient Arab concept in conflict resolution had suddenly become part of the lingua franca of modern Middle East peacemaking.

But the deeper meaning of the Arab concept of hudna -- and of the more complete reconciliation that is supposed to follow, known as "sulha" -- has not yet been fully digested by modern politicians or the media, Jabbour said. As a result, a little more than a month after the June 4 agreement, each side is already accusing the other of violating the accord.

Jabbour, an Arab Israeli resident of Galilee, is a traditional sulha and hudna negotiator who has been trying for decades to expose Israelis and Palestinians to this ancient Middle Eastern process of conflict resolution.

Jabbour's grass-roots work among Jews and Arabs in northern Israel can be credited with helping to introduce the concepts of hudna and sulha into the lexicon of Arab-Israeli peacemaking -- from Galilee, Gaza and Tel Aviv all the way to Washington.

"I am elated that the thing that I was preaching and lecturing about -- this old ancient way of peacemaking -- has been adopted now by the great politicians who never heard of such a thing 10 years ago," says Jabbour, 68.

Jabbour said despite some perceptions, the process of hudna and sulha is not exclusively Islamic. While the prophet Muhammad and successive Islamic sages and rulers integrated the practice into Muslim belief, hudna and sulha rituals have their origins in the pre-Islamic era of Arabia. In the centuries since, the process has been used by Christians and Jews, as well as by Muslims, said Jabbour, who is Christian.

Traditionally, there is no contact between the two enemies in the hudna stage of peace negotiations. But in the ritual of sulha, interaction between rivals becomes highly important, when the mediator -- known in Arabic as "jaha" -- invites the rivals for coffee. The coffee is usually prepared by the stronger party and offered to the weaker, in order to restore his injured sense of honor.

More...