Ronald J. Young

by M.M. Ali

One would think that prospects for peace in the Middle East would be brighter with the disappearance of the Soviet Union from the international scene. This has allowed the United States greater leverage to make feuding parties reduce tensions and work toward peace.

One would also have thought that the task of men like Ronald Young would be easier in a post–Cold War period following the Camp David accord. It looked like that for some time. But each time a lasting settlement seems closer in the Middle East, something happens to disrupt carefully crafted arrangements. Many have lost hope and given up. But not Ronald J. Young, author of the book Missed Opportunities for Peace.

Ron Young is executive director of the U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East, an organization that he established in 1987 and today operates from Marysville, WA. Earlier, he worked from 1982 to 1985 in Amman, Jordan, as the representative of the American Friends Service Committee, an organization that strives for “Justice, Human Rights, Peace and Reconciliation” and has a special focus on the Middle East. During his stay in the Middle East, Young traveled widely and frequently and visited Israel several times. In the course of his travels he met both Arab and Jewish leaders, and concentrated on means of reducing mistrust and misunderstandings.

He and his wife, Carol Jensen, have put themselves repeatedly in the middle of heated debates. Several times their credentials and even their motives were questioned, but nothing deterred their quest for peace.

Talking to the Washington Report at a meeting arranged by the American Muslim Council in Washington, DC, Ron Young cited the need to recognize that although there are extremists in both camps, there also are “reasonable people” on both sides who see the futility of living in a state of perpetual war. The hope of bringing the contending viewpoints closer together and establishing a climate of mutual trust lies with these moderates, who demonstrate a willingness to give and take, Young believes. He adds, “Let us all admit that Israel is a reality just as the Palestinians have a right to a sovereign territory in which to live.”

Ron Young believes the United States has an opportunity today to play a more effective role in bringing about peace in the Middle East. “Unfortunately, when we all thought we were well on our way to a major breakthrough for peace, an extremist assassinated Yitzak Rabin, Shimon Peres lost the elections and Binyamin Netanyahu became the new Israeli prime minister, creating serious doubts about the future of the peace process,” Young notes. However, he sees this not as the beginning of the end of the peace process, but as a challenge.

“We all have to work hard to create an environment where the life or death of an individual, or a misguided bomb blast does not disrupt a process on which posterity depends,” he urges. “Well-meaning people on both sides should keep dialoguing and continue their search for a lasting peace.”

Pursuing Dialogue

It is in order to pursue this dialogue that Young organizes meetings, seminars and conferences in the Middle East and in the United States. He speaks on the subject at all such gatherings and seizes every opportunity to educate people on the need for peace. He also advances his message through his newsletter and other publications.

Ronald Young has managed to bring together such diverse personalities as Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, Fr. Theodore Hesburgh and Br. Warith Din Muhammad as honorary vice-chairpersons of the Groundwork for Peace newsletter. Today, the U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East has more than 2,000 Christian, Jewish and Muslim members who unhesitatingly call for understanding and trust among the three groups whose religious beliefs find common ground in Jerusalem. Young’s Interreligious Committee has successfully brought onto the same platform leaders and activists from all sides, including senior U.S. government officials.

Ronald Young acknowledges that the road to a lasting peace in the Middle East is long and arduous. He feels, however, that “God has provided a unique opportunity” to settle regional disputes in today’s uni-polar world, which no longer suffers from world-wide or global schisms as was the case during World War II and the Cold War. A country like the United States, he points out, has the chance to play the role of a peacemaker with comparatively little difficulty. He cautions, however, “that there are inherent problems within each region of the world. Some go back several centuries.”

In this context, Ronald J. Young finds well-defined tasks for organizations like his. They can help community leaders, religious groups, politicians and others join hands to work for peace. He reminds such leaders that the absence of war is not peace. In making his own universal appeal for peace and understanding, Young explains: “We owe it to our children and grandchildren to establish peace and leave behind a world that is free of fear and hatred.” A good place to start, he believes, is the Middle East, where settlement of disputes is vital for creation of a world in which future generations should be able to live without fear and in peace.