If Not You, Who? If Not Now, When?

Once again, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is escalating with horrifying results. For almost 70 years, both sides have claimed state sovereignty and the moral high ground. As in other parts of the Middle East, this conflict currently seems to be utterly unresolvable.





Yet one group has had the courage to try, in one area.




Their story is also your story: If not you, who? If not now, when?




Gidon Bromberg is Co-Founder of EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East, which brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to create sustainable development in the region and advance peace efforts in the Middle East. His is the only organization that is Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli working under a single roof. EcoPeace is focused on shared water resources.




From the organization’s beginning, in 1994, there were many obstacles and decades of distrust to overcome. They first met in 1994 in Taba, Egypt, which is on the Egypt/Israel border, and a stone’s throw across a sliver of the Red Sea to Jordan. At that time, Egyptian security had never seen a Jordanian passport and held everyone at the border until they were eventually told to let everyone through. So just getting to the very first meeting took heavy negotiations.




Initially, everyone in the meeting dug in with their own set of self-interests. On the second day, one individual said “Enough is enough: There needs to be a regional effort that addresses all our needs, and I’m going to help make it happen.” Says Bromberg, “That was the turning point, because none of the other players felt that they could afford to be left out. It happened because one individual was willing one individual was willing to personally commit. One individual became inspired by a vision and could not justify saying ’No,’ even though everyone felt the risks were too great.”




“The leadership lesson,” says Bromberg, “is that there are many times when the vision is so grand, so important, so contrary to the reality on the ground, that you just need to take the risk and give it everything you’ve got.”



“If you believe in your vision,” says Bromberg, “you can’t give up. You need to try to reach the decision-maker, but that’s often not enough. It’s rare that a decision-maker leads. It’s rare that the leader leads. Sadly, my biggest lesson learned is that most leaders are incredibly risk-averse. They’re fearful of their vocal constituencies.




“If you want leadership to be empowered, you need to speak to their constituencies. You create the circumstances, by design, to help leaders lead.”




Bromberg then shared the same tips as most of us would try within our companies:

• Provide the data that makes the case for change

• Work with the stakeholders that are impacted by lack of change




Then he went on to share that tough change takes more. It’s all of our responsibility to lead from where we are: “Don’t be satisfied with the status quo. Not for the benefit of self, but for the benefit of the community, for a shared vision.”



He says his biggest lesson has been that Top Down, alone, isn’t enough. In hindsight, what he would do differently, from the beginning:

• Work Top Down and Bottom Up advocacy/togetherness/and pressuring, in tandem...equally, at the same time

• Engage and involve youth or those who are “naïve” enough to ask leaders the tough questions that need to be asked




Then, he goes further…

• Engage and work with community (team) leaders who the Top Down leaders trust

• Education is a must to break down preconceived notions; create symbolic events

• The most important success is trust-building, that can be leveraged elsewhere

• Small wins matter! (e.g., Peace Vegetables: Grown in Palestine soil, sold in Israel)



Don't wait for decision makers to lead.

Act now.

Find the courage.

Lead an effort: Small, big, doesn't matter.

Leadership starts with you. Now.

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