It is difficult to discuss the Middle East without acknowledging the political disturbances that threaten to shake the bedrock of some societies. But while political upheaval takes on a historical context in the eyes of outsiders, there are human beings whose lives are defined by these conflicts. The first-ever Middle East Emphasis Week, organized by the Friends Center, took place from Sept. 11 through Sept. 17 and sought to address some of these issues.

The hope was to “highlight the global opportunities available to the Guilford community and give voice to those for whom issues in the Middle East are very important,” said Max Carter, director of the friends center and campus ministry coordinator.

The events were timed to take place during the week preceding Yom Kippur, an important Jewish holiday. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and a holy time of spiritual purification had just ended.

The week was ushered in by Micha Chacour, a self-proclaimed “proud Israeli, Palestinian, and Christian.” Chacour’s inclusive heritage embodies the essence of the message he came from his home in I’billin, Israel, to share with the Guilford community.

At the panel held on Tuesday evening, students were able to share their experiences of the annual service trip to Ramallah, Israel, which Carter leads each summer. Chacour stood in front of the room and addressed the group.

“If you look at me as a killer, I become dangerous. If you look at me as a friend, I become your brother,” said Chacour.

His gestures swept across the room, pulling each member of the rapt audience into the passion of his message.

“I think of you all as my brothers,” he said, and a smile broke across his face, deepening the creases around his eyes into a sunburst that extended to his temples.

Over the following days more panels and group discussions followed. Stories were told, food was shared, and a narrative that the news never delivers began to emerge.

William Berry, a senior and peace and conflict and religious studies double major, related an anecdote about a Palestinian family he met.

“The family farm is surrounded on all sides by hostile Israeli camps and they have been forbidden to build cisterns for water or additional structures,” said Berry.

“The family has responded by painting a rock outside of their home with the words: ‘We refuse to be enemies.’ When guards come to harass the family, they invite them in for tea,” Berry told the group.

The dialogue throughout the week was fluid and expansive; it encompassed everything from humorous cultural observations to deep sorrow at the state of political affairs. To define or generalize the conversation would limit its scope and simplify its complexity.

The various panels throughout the week portrayed completely different experiences of the Middle East. The common thread was a generosity of spirit and the simple need to heard, whatever the message.

“Before we can understand civil rights we have to understand human rights,” said Dana Hamdan, a senior political science major from Jerusalem and the president of Community Senate.

“The ‘Arab’ is the last stereotype Hollywood is allowed,” said Carter in an interview, foregrounding the dehumanization of Middle Easterners we still permit in our media.

“Stereotypes in which Arab men are terrorists and barbarians and Arab women are oppressed and weak is a perfect example of the ways in which dehumanizing discourses can and do fuel the fire of physical, cultural, social, economic and political violence,” said Diya Abdo, assistant professor of English and a Palestinian.

The panels and discussions did not pretend to solve any problems, but they did initiate a dialogue and generate awareness.

The week-long program of events closed with a celebration of Yom Kippur and Shabbat candle lighting on Friday in the Hut. The ancient ceremonies of religious faith seemed an appropriate end to a week that gave voice to the intimate, human experience beneath the political strife in the Middle East.