25 October 2020
In an interview conducted by Mona Naidoo on her online show, Riding the Waves of Change, Nausheena Mahomed, the Producer & Host of the Give Peace A Chance campaign explained the purpose.
1.What is the Mission of Channel M?
My vision is very simple, to inspire change & raise consciousness. That's basically my mission. I run online campaigns to inspire change. I share content that I produce to challenge the status quo on certain topics and to engage in positive dialogue with thought leaders on a particular topic and really leave our viewers with powerful questions to ask themselves, "What is holding us back?" So one of my campaigns is called "Give Peace A Chance."
The focus here is on the Israel Palestine Conflict. But also broadly to have discussions on breaking down existing prejudices and to question the status quo that people are holding on to that causes peace to be out of reach for them.
So peace remains elusive if you have to consider the politics and the different layers of the conflict.
The campaign will focus mainly on engaging with peace activists and people who share a vision, of what a lot of people call the impossible, that yes one day peace can be achieved between Israeli's and Palestinians.
This is an example of one of the campaigns I am running which ties into my vision of Inspiring Change & Raising Consciousness on a topic. Because the Peace Movement in Israel and Palestine is not given enough visibility - the amount of work that is taking place at a grassroots level, the amount of hard work that is underway by peace activists to actually drive change is just not given enough visibility. So that's where Channel M steps in to engage with peace activists, to talk about the hard issues, bringing in the political issues, and ultimately to inspire people to think more along the lines that Peace is possible. Why not Give Peace A Chance and if so what is the way forward?
What lies in the road ahead for Palestinians and Israelis to achieve peace? So that ties into the Channel M vision of inspiring change and raising consciousness on a topic.
Mona
So people are probably sitting around and wondering - How did Nausheena get involved in all of this? What was inside you - because there was something that guided you to be on this platform to want to focus on peace and it is such a critical issue you know, a global issue that has been going on for such a long time, and you chose to deal with such a difficult topic like you said people don't believe in peace, they think ok its impossible. And that's what I love about you, you stepped into an arena where the majority of the world's population think its doomed to fail. What guided you into that space?
Nausheena
Well, first of all, I am a South African. We had a conflict that went on in South Africa also for more than seventy years and we've achieved a lot as a nation. And we've been through a lot of healing and if we have to consider the South African context of Apartheid and what we have achieved under reconciliation that was forged between two great leaders, who I consider as great leaders, Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk and if we have to go back in history and examine how painful that journey was and what we have achieved today, then yeah I think it is possible and we ought to be having these conversations and South Africans should be exporting these conversations about peace and reconciliation because we are the best example to the world in terms of what we have achieved in our country. So that is the number one interest.
The Second interest was when as a journalist I was covering a march. It was a difficult time in the conflict, it's always a difficult time in the conflict - Palestinians were protesting against US President Donald Trump's declaration that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel, a lot of Palestinians sadly lost their lives.
In South Africa, there was a call from the Pro-Palestinian lobby to downgrade the SA Embassy to Israel, while the Pro Israeli lobby was saying "No don't downgrade because South Africa can play a role in this conflict through dialogue by bringing both sides together to recognize each other. So I attended the march and I went LIVE on Facebook and there were really hateful comments that came through on social media that really stunned me like the Jews were condemned to Hitler, and Christian supporters out there were mocked, and called evil.
The comments that were coming through were not focused so much on the conflict, they were not adding value by engaging, it was just simple hate speech. For me, it was a moment that instantly opened up my heart to humanity and as a journalist and just as a human being out there, I was questioning the extremism that really existed in our society.
I viewed the whole fiasco as extremism and it stopped me dead in my tracks - to find myself at the center of so much hate targeting religious communities - that was just a moment where I said "look if I can make a difference - well here comes accountability Nausheena." Now, this is something I really don't want to let go of because here we are in South Africa, we've achieved so much, we've fought for our freedom, we've achieved religious harmony to a large degree, and yet there are still elements of extremism that are coming through and it seems like we cannot engage in dialogue.
During the Facebook LIVE, I was also talking about the importance of keeping an open mind and the importance of bringing in the peace narrative, but it seemed to me that people felt at the time that the peace narrative was a waste of time. So from there, I went on a journey to learn and discover and understand the conflict. I wanted to engage with both sides of the conflict, both Palestinians and Israelis, and understand the conflict through their eyes. I went on an amazing journey, traveled to the region and what I discovered was that hope for peace in both Israel and Palestine is alive!
At a grassroots level, people have opened their hearts and they are making efforts to get to know each other beyond the politics, to really build bridges between the Abrahamic Faiths and to get to know each other at a human level. There are many amazing inspiring grassroots peace movements that are actively involved in promoting peaceful dialogue, promoting peaceful reconciliation, and promoting understanding with each other. It's very similar to what we experienced under Apartheid in South Africa.
Efforts were made at a grassroots level for blacks and whites to understand each other, for them to understand their cultural backgrounds, for them to understand their fears of each other too. So we are seeing a lot of that taking place right now between Israeli's and Palestinians beyond the news headlines, there is a genuine inspiring effort being made by peace activists and ordinary Israeli's and Palestinians.
This is what inspired me and I wanted to bring some of that home and I wanted to go ahead with this online campaign by engaging with the network that was available to me so that people and the world can engage within that ambit within that frame of reference - so yes we lets talk about the religious layer of the conflict and the political layer but beyond that, the hope that is currently being built up in that region is what I wanted to share with the world because like I said there is not enough visibility being given to that.
Mona
Yes and that is just what I loved about you and what your mission is all about. Because that is exactly what Antonio Guterres the UN Secretary-General said at the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture this year.
He said that we've got to use social media platforms and media platforms across the board to spread good in the world.
And for me, that is what your mission is all about. Because what you are saying is GIVE PEACE A CHANCE, that is more powerful than we can fully comprehend because if we have more peace around us then I think conflict and chaos may have a bit of a challenge to survive in that space of peace. That's why I was so enthusiastic to bring you on and share your vision Nausheena. and I think for people out there, it hasn't been easy for you to share that message isn't that so Nausheena? You've had some challenges!
Nausheena
I was warned that peace is actually blood sport! And I think I had a little dose of that experience. But what is more inspiring than talking about spreading Peace and Love in the world? But yes there was a lot of resistance to this. It's hard to believe how resistant people have become to discussing and talking about peace and reconciliation and in particular with regards to this conflict because I have been mainly dealing with this conflict.
So in the context of this particular conflict people are very resistant and reluctant to go there because there are so many issues to get through - But for me you know and for most peace activists it's like if we start there if we start with this energy and with the desire to engage in dialogue with the other side or with both sides about peace - its a great start! It's a great inspiring start. And it's a good place to start.
If we have more pro-peace efforts around building bridges between the two sides I really feel that could gain momentum and if you are pro-peace it means you are Pro Palestine and Pro Israel. It means you are Pro Humanity it means you are Pro...wanting to build a better world for the future generations, or do you really want to leave this behind for them to inherit.
So being pro-peace is a good space to be in and I think it is the best space to be in. This is why I wanted to run this campaign - Give Peace A Chance and to engage with people there because it's their stories, Palestinians, and Israeli's. It is for me to facilitate these discussions to see if there is vibrancy around the peace movement and indeed there is and that is very inspiring.
So I always tell people Mona, first choose peace for yourself.
Because we talk about conflicts and war that is very real and that is really tormenting people in different parts of the world. War and conflict are very real for them.
They are living in a lot of pain. But here we are viewing the conflict and we are so opinionated about which side is the winning side, the question is do you have peace in your life?
Because we have personal conflicts as well, so I always tell people to choose peace for yourself first, choose peace for humanity, choose peace for God, and do the work that you need to do on yourself, to improve the quality of your life. And if you value your life then you will see value in the life of someone else. So this is the best way for me to simplify the message of peace. Before we take to being opinionated because sadly a lot of lives have been lost - we need to take stock of how much value we put on our lives and on the lives of people that we love, and then use that as a mirror and reflect that back on someone else's life that's also of value to them and reflect that on the world - then consider your position on war and conflict and decide what would be the best opinion to have on this!
We are in the middle of a crisis. A global catastrophe called COVID 19, and this invisible war agent is tearing lives apart, has put many people out of jobs, have destroyed lives especially if you are living below the poverty line. So the entire world is focusing on how to overpower this invisible war agent, but when it comes to actual war and conflict where we are using tanks and weapons, we have a choice, and if you are going to be opinionated and if our global leaders are going to be opinionated then where does that leave us as humanity?
So now is actually the time for all of us to ask ourselves powerful questions and hold ourselves accountable for the quality of our own lives, lets start there and also hold ourselves accountable for our political opinions, on which side is right and which side is wrong for the greater good of humanity. And if we start there, it is a start, it is a powerful new start, moving forward.
