Common Grounds

---

• Co-existence is still the guiding star

  
  November 28, 2014 10:48

  By: Yifat Kariv

   

  Yifat Kariv is a member of Knesset with the Yesh Atid party. She heads parliamentary committees on Holocaust survivors, promotion of teens in Israel, young adult leadership and Israel-India relations. She lives in Hod Hasharon and is the mother of four children.

  Read More

• Videocast - When a Jewish Kibbutz Neighbors an Arab Village

  
  November 18, 2014 14:53

  An OnBeing.org VideoCast hostd by Krista Tippett

   

  The relationship between Arabs and Jews in Israel has been strained by failed peace agreements, suicide bombings, and the construction of a separation wall — all which have fostered fear and anger on both sides - video

  Read More

• Hope

  
  November 18, 2014 15:00

  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 More

• It’s time for Jews to wake up and face Israel’s human rights violations

  
  November 28, 2014 10:48

  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 More

• Full Disclosure, My True Colors

  
  March 22, 2016 15:37

  Abraham 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 More

• Why is masjid Al Aqsa so important to Muslims?

  
  July 27, 2017 13:34

  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 More

• Lost and forgotten: Palestinians and the Unsustainable Refugee Crisis

  
  July 20, 2016 13:08

   

  By:          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 More

• Building Bridges

  
  August 18, 2016 10:27

   

  Contributed 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 More

• BUILDING BRIDGES

  
  September 26, 2016 17:37

   

  Contributed 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 We

   

  A 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 More

• Google: Put Palestine On Your Maps!

  
  September 30, 2016 17:01

  Source: https://www.change.org

   

   

  Read More