Peace,
not war, is being waged in laboratories and medical centers of Palestine. In
fact, historically, Palestinian and Israeli scientists seem to be quite
successful at keeping peace throughout the long years of conflict. "Disease
does not have boundaries," says Dr. Arnold Noyek, a professor of
otolaryngology and medical imaging at University of Toronto (UT), "Medical
exchanges allow us to rise above politics as we mix medicine and peace.”
Most
recently, scientists from Tel Aviv, Bethlehem and Seattle teamed up to find the
cause of deafness. Dr. Mary-Claire King, who is best known for identifying the
first breast-cancer gene, is the principal scientist on the team. The other team
members are Dr. Karen Avraham, an Israeli American of Tel Aviv University, and
Dr. Moien Kanaan, a Palestinian from Bethlehem University. Although the
researchers contend with the war on an almost daily basis with the shutting down
of university facilities, blocked shipments, and the inability to speak to
research subjects, the team has already identified four genes responsible for
hearing loss. They communicate almost daily by e-mail or phone and even in the
worst days of the conflict have had meetings in Jerusalem at hotel cafes. The
project was started in 1997 when the potential for research among extended
families in the region was realized. Although the recent increase in the
conflict has restricted work for the time being, the families on the project
used to meet regularly until a few months ago so their children could play
together and socialize (King).
Cooperation
among scientists, however, is not a new idea in the region. In fact, it is an
old idea that just keeps growing. In 1999, a continuing medical education
workshop was held by the University of Toronto that brought Israeli and
Palestinian researchers together for a one-day workshop in Jerusalem. The
program brought together 21 Canadian, Israeli, and Palestinian experts to
discuss and exchange ideas on the topic of hearing loss. This workshop was one
of many workshops planned by CISEPO (The Isabel Silverman Canada International
Scientific Exchange Program) to invite institutions in the Middle East to
contribute to academia and peace in the region (University of Toronto).
Scientific
cooperation among researchers extends far beyond the medical field though. Only
two years ago, a program was created by Sandia National Laboratories to study
ways to help maintain shared sustainable grazing and agricultural systems
important to the future of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (Sandia).
Ben-Gurion University Professor Moshe Shachak, a preeminent desert ecologist who
serves as Israeli coordinator for the project points out that, “In the
environmental sciences the ecosystem does not function according to political
boundaries," Using this idea, the group looks for ways that the Israelis
and Palestinians can cooperate so that the environment remains intact for use by
all people in the region.
The
project grew so large in only two years that the team installed meteorological
stations at four ecological research sites located along a 100-kilometer-long
ecological gradient in the northern Negev desert. Two of the stations are in
Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank and two are in Israel.
The
stations take hourly measurements of air temperature, rainfall, soil
temperature, soil moisture, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, and
relative humidity - all variables that help define ecological conditions. The
Palestinian and Israeli partners collect and share the data from all the
stations weekly by cellular modems. The CMC maintains a Web site so that any
researcher in the world can see and use the data (Sandia).
Michael
Vannoni, CMC Middle East Program manager says, "We want to establish a
precedent for collaborative projects between Palestinian, Israeli, and US
scientists. There has been little in the way of interactions between the
scientists in the past, and we hope this project will open doors to future
communication and collaboration. Scientific cooperation may lead to cooperation
in other topics important to the peace process such as water management and
economic development” (Sandia).
Many
other projects have also been formed such as the “Nurses by the Bay” project
created by the Alliance of Middle Eastern Scientists and Physicians (AMESP). The
Project takes ten nurses of Israeli and Palestinian origin to the University of
California to train for eleven weeks with the hopes of helping them gain further
understanding in the field of nursing as well as of each other. Founders of the
program hope that the neutral ground of the university will enable the nurses to
return to their jobs and create other cooperative programs in their communities.
AMESP’s motto is a quote by Dr. Harold Saunders, Former Assistant Secretary of
State and Negotiator of the Camp David Accords. He says, “There are some
things that only governments can do, such as negotiating binding agreements. But
there are some things that only citizens outside government can do, such as
changing human relationships."
Scientific
cooperation in the region even includes the youth. The Arava Institute of
Science brings together youth in the Middle East to solve environmental problems
together on a Kibbutz in Israel (Arava). The
program includes lectures, field
trips, group and individual studies. The program strives to provide a
balanced scientific, political and social understanding of complex environmental
issues in the region.
One
reason, scientists may be able to cooperate so well, however, is that they spend
more time discussing science than politics. Karen Avraham, an Israeli American
of Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Moien Kanaan, a Palestinian of Bethlehem
University say that they do not speak of the conflict, only of their scientific
work.
Palestinian
Environmental Engineer Hazem Qawasmeh, formerly with the Middle East/North
Africa association (MENA), says he's participated in joint research with Israeli
scientists in the past that failed because of politics."Politics got in the
way of the many previous attempts of communications in the scientific field and
rendered successful project implementation useless," he says. "And
that's what makes the (Sandia) project so special because it provided the
success recipe for dealing with potential partners in similar situations. It's
kept at a scientist-to-scientist level and politics is kept out at any
cost."
Scientists
have discovered, like many other people, that if the right attitude prevails
cooperation is usually successful. "We both clearly believe in peace and
discussion, and from that perspective, we are on the same side," Dr. Karen
Avraham, an Israeli American of Tel Aviv University says. "If all Israelis
and Palestinians could work together as we do, and truly like each other, there
would certainly be peace and two constructive countries and people living side
by side."
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