History is usually written by the winners, but is remembered most deeply by the losers whose version varies considerably from the official story. Our past memories of hurts exert a powerful influence on the present, especially when they are bound up with our social or tribal identity. A principal reason why past hurts perpetuate present conflict is that we imbibe the past along with our mother’s milk. Think of two areas of enduring conflict: Israel or Palestine and Ulster or Northern Ireland. These are conflicts that encompass land, memory and identity and unless both sides are prepared to listen to and take on board the very different 'histories' of their opponents and confess wrongdoing, no lasting resolution is possible.

The Jews naturally see themselves as the victims and the dispossessed. They have endured a history of discrimination, oppression, and genocide. Many also believe themselves to be a chosen people with a God given right to the land they now live in which is enshrined in the name they give to their state. The Palestinian Arabs also have a long history of persecution and occupation. They have lost homes, and most of their land and status becoming largely a refugee people as a result of the wars between Arabs and Israelis. That is why the culture of violence has taken such a hold among them. Many Palestinians have lived in the Holy Land for generations. Now they see their ancestral land occupied by foreigners and newcomers who treat them as outsiders. In a desire to find justification for their attitudes of mutual suspicion and hatred not a few on both sides have adopted extreme forms of religious fundamentalism together with an incessant recapitulation of their history. The list of historic wrongs is endless and added to by every violent death and reprisal.

A similar story is to be found in Northern Ireland where James II and Cromwell, Drogheda and the battle of the Boyne, the Great Famine and the Easter uprising are present memories relived by the Marches and counter demonstrations and perpetuated by the educational system. The republican Catholics see themselves as the persecuted and dispossessed in their own land. The Unionist see themselves as a beleaguered minority whose traditions, culture, religion and very identity is about to be overwhelmed by a Nationalist government in cahoots with the Pope. Myths and martyrs, heroes and villains populate their histories and feed their suspicions despite the efforts of governments, mediators and churches. The truth is that there is a need for genuine repentance by both communities and particularly by the English who have raped, pillaged and exploited the Irish both catholic and protestant for centuries.      

This is by way of a long introduction to a new book that I am currently reading by Russ Parker, Director of the Acorn Christian Foundation, a book that I would strongly commend. Healing Wounded History* is described by Bishop Graham Dow as a groundbreaking work on healing community history. It shows how wounded communities are in danger of continually repeating their history unless action is taken to prevent it by sustained prayer, listening, learning and repenting. This can be particularly powerful when a representative of a community publicly confesses the sin that has given rise to the violence or dis-ease. Russ Parker writes of his own experience when a minister in Coalville in Leicestershire he made a public apology on behalf of the church for abetting and colluding with a mine owner in the Leicester coalfield. He forcibly removed his workforce from their tied accommodation in Durham to Coalville in the nineteenth century in order to work his mines there far away from their kith and kin. When Russ confessed this wrong something almost immediately lifted in a community that had been marked by feuds, suspicion of outsiders, especially clergy, and incest. From then on the church began to grow. Perhaps, and this is only a thought rather than a deeply considered judgement, there may be a similar woundedness here in Stevenage with the tensions and hurts between Old and New Town. I would value your comments and reflections on this. Meantime get hold of the book it makes compelling reading.

Don Dowling  

* Healing Wounded History published by DLT price £10.95  ISBN 0-232-52251-0