About us

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The Building the Bridge Foundation is chartered on 12 February 2015 in The Hague, The Netherlands as a non-profit, ‘not government organization’ (NG0), under kvk 62640828, located at: Louis Couperusplein 2, 2514HP, The Hague.

Building the Bridge is a gathering place to meet and connect. We strive to validate the experiences of people who are not always heard from and also to connect people who otherwise do not meet.

We encourage diversity of opinion and background. The richness and vitality of our differences deepen our dialogue.

Walking the tightrope

We are pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian and, especially, pro-peace. We want the best for the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians who crave peace and the sense of bilateral security and mutual trust. Everyone deserves to be happy. Everybody wants to wake up to a more fulfilled life. On all sides of the Divide, people do their best to provide food, shelter and education. Jews, Christians, and Muslims everywhere whisper the same daily prayer: ‘take care of our children’.

To secure peace, we insist on mutual demilitarization, according to the principles of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to be guaranteed by the European Union (EU). It is time Europe steps up to the plate and end a conflict it has started. And now, the European Union is the most powerful region on earth with an economy almost larger than the economies of the United States and China combined.

Walking the tightrope requires a balancing act, dealing cautiously with tension and compromise. "We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed, words to consider, reconsider," as cited by Poet Elizabeth Alexander at the first U.S. presidential inauguration of Barack H. Obama in January 2009.

Action Needed

But we need more than words. We need action. You are needed to join the MANY to lift our collective VOICE to move the leadership and the people of Europe to effectuate a positive result in the Region.

What can you do?

1. Express your thoughts and opinions to one or all of the world leaders who are merely a click away in our Virtual Post Office.
2. Sign the Petition and add your voice to the strength of many; or compose your own Petition and join the dialogue.
3. Stay informed by reviewing an impartial and random live stream of up-to-the-minute newsfeeds from Israel, from Palestine and from around the world about Israel and about Palestine. Review the many more realities beyond the 'breaking news' news cycles.
   
   

Each week you're invited to ponder and comment on guest editorials and commentaries – nuggets of wisdom and experience. Your response will inevitably broaden our horizons. Join the conversation. You are part of the story. Ask the questions: "What is the side of the story that is not obvious yet decisive? How can I make a difference?"

In short, we invite you to get involved with, eventually, millions more around the world to give the gift of creating transformative life-giving and life-changing structures to bring about peace one simple, but sustainable, step at a time.

Be part of building the bridge.

Abraham A. van Kempen
Editor

Born British and Dutch (Nederlander), Abraham Atlantis van Kempen is, by default, because of his two nationalities, ‘more’ European than most Europeans. He was born in 1950 as an Englishman on board the S.S. Atlantis, a British ship, on the Red Sea in the Middle East. He was also born as a Nederlander (Dutch) as both his parents were from The Netherlands. To complicate matters, Abraham looks Hawaiian, though is uniquely European albeit with an exotic tint.

One of Abraham’s favorite soapboxes is his take on Abraham depicted in the Holy Book. “We’re missing God’s preponderant commandment: ‘Don’t kill in My Name … ‘”.