Ron Young

By Roger Gaess

From 1982 to 1985, as the Amman-based Representatives of the American Friends Service Committee, Ron Young and his wife, Carol Jensen, traveled extensively throughout the Middle East. Their work for a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict took them to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza 25 times, Egypt and Syria 10 times, and Lebanon three times.

Difficult Years for Peace

The three years Ron and Carol served as AFSC representatives were eventful, to say the least: in 1982 alone they were faced with Israel's escalated repression of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians, Israel's invasion of Lebanon, the massacre at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, the unveiling of the Reagan Middle East peace plan as well as the peace proposal agreed to at the Arab summit at Fez, Morocco, the rejection of both plans by Israel, and the sharply increased colonization of the West Bank and Gaza by Jewish settlers.

As official representatives of the AFSC, Ron and Carol met with US and European officials as well as a wide variety of Arabs, Israelis, and Palestinians. Depending on the circumstances, Ron and Carol would usually ask three basic questions: What were the requirements for peace? What were the obstacles? What could the US do to enhance the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Ron and Carol distilled these perceptions into regular reports and a bimonthly newsletter for the AFSC.

Commitment to Peace and Justice

Ron Young's commitment to peace and justice started a quarter-century ago when, as a college student in the early 1960's, he took a year off from Wesleyan University in Connecticut to work in a Black Methodist church in the South. From 1965 to 1972 he was the National Director of Youth Programs at the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, New York, and from 1972 to 1982 he was the National Peace Education Secretary at the American Friends Service Committee. Last year, after more than 20 years away from Wesleyan, Young completed his B.A. with a concentration in Social Sciences.

Young's work on peace and justice issues sensitized him to the selective vision many Americans have toward the Middle East. Many people otherwise active in peace education "didn't seem to be able to deal with the Middle East at all," he said in a recent interview in his New York apartment.

Washington Out of Step

Focusing specifically on the Middle East, Young said that he had found there was often a remarkable gap between the policies which came from Washington in relation to a particular country, and what he was being told by US foreign service personnel stationed in that country.

Young draws on these and other first-hand experiences in his forthcoming book, Missed Opportunities for Peace: US Middle East Policy, 1981-1986, to be published by the AFSC in May. In his book, he cites several instances where significant Arab and Israeli leaders more or less simultaneously approached the US for help in breaking the political constraints each felt, only to be disappointed by US inaction. US inaction was more of a tragedy because each side wanted Uncle Sam to do pretty much the same thing at the same time.

Why was the United States unable to respond to Arab and Israeli requests in a creative, helpful way? Young contends that the fundamental problem is not, as a number of critics contend, that the pro-Israel lobby is dead-set against any peace where Israel would relinquish the occupied territories. Instead, these are problems endemic to US foreign policy around the world: an over-reliance on the efficacy of military force; an underestimation of the power of popular movements; a tendency to view local conflicts primarily through the lens of US-Soviet conflict; and, lastly, an inclination to adopt a go-it-alone attitude, which ignores the advice of friends.

US Hurting Israelis, Palestinians

"The US is cutting off at the knees those Palestinian and Israeli leaders who are moving in directions that are realistic and hopeful," Young notes with dismay. He urges sensitive, knowledgeable supporters of Israel to visit their Senators and congressmen and complain that, unless drastically altered, US Middle East policy will end up destroying Israel rather than helping it.

Since their return from Amman 18 months ago, the Youngs have had a second son, Jamie, and Carol is continuing her studies for the Lutheran ministry. Having already taken two interfaith delegations to the Middle East, Ron is exploring the formation of a US interfaith committee for peace in the Middle East, and he enthusiastically pursues his own activities as a speaker on a variety of Middle East-related topics.

Roger Gaess is a New York-based free-lance writer specializing in Middle East issues.