Dear Readers and Colleagues,
in this newsletter
- Veronika Grueneisen in her “letter of chair” reports about recent PCCA activities and events
- Shmuel Erlich evaluates the Kliczkow questionaire
- Angelika Zitzelsberger- Schlez takes up the discussion about the System Event in Cyprus
- Mira Erlich-Ginor`s “Eric Miller Lecture” in London
- Films/Plays
- “The Gate Keepers”
- “Return to Haifa”
- “Within The Eye Of The Storm”
- We wold like to draw your attention to M.Fakhry Davids`book “Internal Racism. A Psychoanalytic Approach to Race and Difference”. Palgrave Macmillan UK,2011
Karin Lueders,ed
Letter of chairperson, Veronika Grueneisen
We are continuing to work on PCCA’s mission which is: to foster learning about irresolvable collective conflict in the presence of the Other. PCCA brings victims and perpetrators, and their descendants, together around shared tasks so that both can learn and gain perspective, in the presence of the Other, about the traumatic impact of both roles and the ways in which this is passed on, generationally.
Recently PCCA has created an Advisory Board. It’s task is to contribute to PCCA’s work, further supporting it in looking at the wider societal context of the work, reflecting on its in-ternational and scientific relevance. We hope that this new structure will indeed enrich our work.
Summary Analysis of Kliczkow Questionnaires, processed by Shmuel Erlich
1. We received 19 responses, with the following breakdown: 4 Germans, 1 German- Polish, 5 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 1 Polish, 1 Canadian, 1 UK, 1 Netherland, 2 Serbs, 2 Italians.
2. It is quite difficult to draw general conclusions from these responses, since they are very personal statements and highly personalized perspectives of the experience they each had. This is of course to be expected. We know that each person has his/ her very intense and personal conference experience.
3. Interestingly, all but one are very positive.
Another look at the place of action in the SE in Cyprus 2010, Angelika Zitzelsberger- Schlez
Some participants of the conference 2010 have written in the newsletter about the “antisemitic attack” in the SE-meeting of Germans and Jews/Israelis which was heard as if the author of the remark has said: You jews are responsible for the holocaust because you didn´t interfere in the armenian genocide.
This interpretation of the remark was written down in an unpublished paper of staff-members and there the interpretation changed into reality, as if the author of the remark really has said that the Jews are responsible for their own holocaust.
B. Jesberg suggested that the author of the remark wanted to initiate a new room for discussion.
I have another interpretation about what I heard in the meeting and with my view I try to figure out what goes to the stereotype of the Germans (still antisemitic) and what might be typical for an individual German. It is my individual view of the events.
The Eric Miller Memorial Lecture, Mira Erlich-Ginor
I was much moved and felt privileged to have this opportunity to present the Eric Miller Memorial lecture. Eric was both the “father” and the “midwife” of the turn in my professional and personal career that brought me out from the consulting room to the “town square”.
I am forever in debt to him and this lecture is an opportunity to recognize it.
“Miller the pillar” was one of the remarkable, unsaturated, succinct, interpretations he gave in our last joint work in a group relations conference I directed in Nazareth. We worked together in the Large Group, which moved more and more to a Basic Assumption Dependency group and Eric, highly sensitized to this particular Ba, offered this picture in his special cocktail of seriousness and making fun of himself, not falling into the narcissistic trap of self-aggrandizement.
Recommended films
“The Gate Keepers”
German TV-title “Töte zuerst”, directed by Dror Moreh.
Interviews with 6 former heads of Shin Bet “who speak candidly about their involvement in some of the country´s most controversial operations” (The Guardian)
http://www.thegatekeepersfilm.com/
“Return to Haifa”
By David Goldberg.
Remember we once recommeded the film “The Promise”. This film now is Haifa 50 years later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzsYmtqdP8U
“Within the eye of the storm”
By Shelley Hermon.
http://withineyeofstorm.com/