Common Grounds
Hope
By: Victoria Safford
"Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope — not the prudent gates of Optimism, which are somewhat narrower; nor the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense; nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness, which creak on shrill and angry hinges (people cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through); nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of “Everything is gonna be all right.”
Read MoreIt’s time for Jews to wake up and face Israel’s human rights violations
By: Shaiya Rothberg
Shaiya Rothberg lives in Jerusalem and teaches Bible, Jewish Thought and Kabbalah at the Conservative Yeshiva. Shaiya holds a PhD from Hebrew University in Jewish Thought and a B.A. in Jewish Philosophy and Talmud from Bar-Ilan. He made aliyah in 1988 and served as a soldier and officer in the I.D.F. from 1990-1993. The opinions in his blog are his own and do not represent any institution
Read MoreFull Disclosure, My True Colors
March 22, 2016 15:37Abraham A. van Kempen, Editor
It gives me much pleasure to introduce YOU to our first newsletter. YOU are part of a cadre of people around the world connected to the Israelis and the Palestinians, their quest to peacefully coexist, sooner than later. YOU could be the director or a representative or a member of one of 1,000+ Israeli-Palestinian organizations. YOU could be one of all living Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. YOU could be a known blogger or columnist or newspaper editor or reporter. Some of YOU are television and radio personalities. YOU are also academicians, renowned authors and intellectuals. And over 600 of YOU are members of the diplomatic corps, primarily in New York and Geneva but also in every major capital in the world. And just about all of YOU are peace activists. I feel honored yet humbled being in YOUR Company. YOU are part – a critical path – of our start.
Read MoreWhy is masjid Al Aqsa so important to Muslims?
Source: OnePath Network
https://www.facebook.com/OnePathNetwork/
For me it was a profound religious experience ...
And what can I remember the most? The thick Persian Rugs enveloping my feet, the feeling of God's presence all around me.
The AlAqsa Mosque is a Holy Place, a Place of Prayer for Everyone.
To Watch Video Please Click on Video Link: https://www.facebook.com/OnePathNetwork/videos/1743356112360004
Read MoreLost and forgotten: Palestinians and the Unsustainable Refugee Crisis
July 20, 2016 13:08By: Anant Mishra and Aayush Mohanty
Anant Mishra is a former Youth Representative to the United Nations. He has served extensively in United Nations General Assembly, the Security Council along with the Economic and Social Council. He is also a visiting faculty for numerous universities and delivers lectures on political economics and foreign policies.
Aayush Mohanty is a post graduate student at the Nelson Mandela Centre for Conflict Analysis and Peace building at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, India.
Introduction
Over one and a half million are currently residing in the 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Those, relocated in the aforementioned refugee camps are living in and around the city and towns of neighbouring nations. These refugees live without any social or economic support, signifying the level of polarization of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Since the First Arab-Israeli War of 1948, these Palestinians have become outcomes of marginalization and failed politics, religion, and conflicts of ideology in the Middle East.
The issue which began from a political conflict, soon became a militant one, displacing over 750,000 Palestinians in the first war of 1948 which continued till the end of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Decades later, the Arab-Israeli conflict escalated resulting in millions getting displaced. It is imperative for policy makers to resolve this conflict which specifically involves refugee situations and their extent of vulnerability. Many international development agencies such as the United Nations (UN) have addressed key issues such as the rights of the refugees, eradication of poverty, followed by sanitation and health education in refugee camps, they have failed immensely on the political and humanitarian front. Policy leaders must address the grave issue of violation of rights of Palestinian refugees through open door diplomacy and innovation, including but not limited to inviting key government actors in resolving the conflict politically and identifying key challenges to Palestinian refugee situation in the Middle East.
Read MoreBuilding Bridges
August 18, 2016 10:27Contributed by Libby and Len Traubman
The Traubman family resides in San Mateo, California. Len, is a retired pediatric dentist, retired after 35 years in San Francisco, CA. Libby, a retired clinical social worker, was a trustee of the Foundation for Global Community - formerly Beyond War - which Libby and Len helped launch in 1982. Libby and Len shepherd the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue, established in July 1992, whose principles of living together apply universally to relationships between diverse citizens and with Earth herself. Their children, Eleanor and Adam, in their early 40s, have left the nest and married, and now there are three dear grandchildren.
"When you don't live in the community you don't think of them as human."
‘Made in America’
ESPN-TV documentary (June 2016)
Building Many Bridges in Jerusalem
Four days in April 2016, over 300 Muslim, Jewish, and Christian citizen bridge-builders gathered at the Jerusalem YMCA to learn from one another and grow closer together. They were part of 90 Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian relationship-building groups of the international umbrella Alliance for Middle East Peace -- http://www.allmep.org
Read MoreBUILDING BRIDGES
September 26, 2016 17:37Contributed by Libby and Len Traubman
The Traubman family resides in San Mateo, California. Len, is a retired pediatric dentist, retired after 35 years in San Francisco, CA. Libby, a retired clinical social worker, was a trustee of the Foundation for Global Community - formerly Beyond War - which Libby and Len helped launch in 1982. Libby and Len shepherd the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue, established in July 1992, whose principles of living together apply universally to relationships between diverse citizens and with Earth herself. Their children, Eleanor and Adam, in their early 40s, have left the nest and married, and now there are three dear grandchildren.
A Mosque and Church
Living WeA Michigan Unitarian Universalist congregation found itself homeless as their church underwent construction.
A local mosque came to the rescue, offering them a space free of charge.
Read MoreGoogle: Put Palestine On Your Maps!
Source: https://www.change.org
Read MoreAustralians Organize 300km March to Demand Recognition of Palestine
Source: Palestine Chronicle
Oct 3 2016 / 12:45 pm
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/australians-organize-300km-march-demand-recognition-palestine/
Palestinian activist Shamikh Badra said a group of Australia activists started a 300km march from Sidney to Canberra, which will last for 10 days, to hand a petition over to the Australian parliament to demand the recognition of Palestine.
Read MoreWhy the March of Hope inspired few Israeli politicians
Source: Al-Monitor
By Mazal Mualem
The biggest peace event of the past few years in Israel received a lukewarm reception from the media and evasive responses from the country’s ministers and most of the Knesset members invited to participate. Organized by Women Wage Peace, the March of Peace left Rosh HaNikra, on the border with Lebanon, on Oct. 4, and ended about two weeks later, on Oct. 19, with a rally outside the prime minister’s residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem. At that final event, thousands of Israeli and Palestinian women, all dressed in white, demanded a diplomatic agreement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Read More
LATEST OPEN LETTERS
- 23-12Tens of thousands of dead children.......this must stop
- 05-06A Call to Action: Uniting for a Lasting Peace in the Holy Land
- 28-05Concerned world citizen
- 13-02World Peace
- 05-12My scream to the world
- 16-11To Syria and Bashar al-Assad
- 16-11To Palestine
- 24-10Japan should withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN), WHO's controlling parent body, to protect the basic human rights and lives of its citizens.
- 09-08Open Letter to António Guterres: Will the UN Protect Our Rights and End Our Suffering?
- 09-06Urgent Appeal
Latest Blog Articles
- 30-12OUR NEW YEAR’S MESSAGE | HISTORY FAVORS PEACE
- 26-12Our Friday News Analysis | What the World Reads Now!
- 25-12Our Wednesday News Analysis
- 24-12I am living my own Nakba
- 24-12Inside ‘Greater Israel’: myths and truths behind the long-time Zionist fantasy
- 24-12'We Need to Protect the Palestinians in the Name of a Shared Future,' Says Israeli-German Philosopher Omri Boehm
- 23-12The Evangelical Pope | Do Not Fear the Other
- 19-12Our Friday News Analysis | What the World Reads Now!
- 18-12Our Wednesday News Analysis | Death feels imminent for 96% of children in Gaza, study finds
- 17-12Death feels imminent for 96% of children in Gaza, study finds
- 17-12Opinion | Israelis Feel the War Is Over. For Gazans It's a Different Story