Here is a scenario and question for you: You wake up tomorrow morning and to your utter astonishment your paper's front page reads: "Religion Ceases to Exist in the Middle East." Will this increase or decrease the chance for peace between Arabs and Jews?

A common charge in the discourse over the Arab-Israeli conflict is that religion plays a central role in exacerbating and perpetuating the conflict. This position has been taken up by a number of atheistic best-selling books. The conclusion being that removing religion from the scene will go a long way in solving the century old conflict.

Others disagree, arguing that since at base the conflict is a product of economic, political, and social forces, the question of religion is irrelevant. Religion, this group says, is an epiphenomenon - born and determined by conditions on the ground. End the state of occupation and alienation, bring an end to the violence, give people bread and dignity - and religion will no longer matter.

Still a third group holds that far from being the source of the problem, and far from being a mere epiphenomenon, religion contains within it the solution to the conflict. Properly understood, this group contends, religion calls us to recognize the sacredness of all humanity. Moreover, the moral claims of religion jolt us out of our individual and group ego-centricism and challenges us to act with compassion towards our fellow human beings.

The question of religion and the Arab-Israeli conflict gets the juices flowing. When I posted my hypothetical scenario and question on Facebook - to groups such as "We Support Israel," "I Support Hassan Nassralah," and "Free Palestine"- I got a number of interesting and amusing responses.

Have a read (and voice your opinion):

"Shalom Roi, The scenario you describe would be the perfect setup for a false "peace" that would merely become "the calm before the storm", and then with every one doing "what's right in their OWN eyes" outside of moral guidelines, there truly would be hell on earth such as has not been seen since the days of faithful Noach just before the Flood....."

"If there is no more religion in the Middle East then there definitely wouldn't be any problems between Arabs and Jews .. and that only because Jews will cease to exist .. since Jews refer to people who follow Judaism.. which is a religion and thus doesn't exist.."

"I do think religion plays a major role,I think the Jerusalem and the settlers issues would be easier to accept for both sides, there would be no groups like Hamas and Islamic jihad, hence much less terrorist attacks...."

"This is my view. The whole conflict is based around the concept of religion. Time and time again you see Jewish settlers and Muslim Palestinians over the news. Religion, if one believes init, is supposed to be peaceful, the whole Palestine/Israel conflict seems to contradict that notion....."

"I think if anything it would cause more violence. These people believe in the religion so much, I think if they found out that it wasn't real they would probably lash out against their counterparts whom they already hate...."

"In my opinion, I think religion doesn't play a great role in the conflict. Jews and Muslims lived together under each others rules in Medina with the prophet (pbuh)....."

"The issue here is tolerance, not religion. No matter what you call your creator, if you call it God, Jesus Christ, Allah, Science, Mother Nature, or a host of other names.. the simple fact is that we are all brothers and sisters of the SAME creation. Jews and Arabs weren't created by different forces. We all have the common brotherhood of humanity and should peacefully work toward achieving more tolerant societies. Neither religion preaches intolerance and hatred yet it [hatred] exists. So I think without those guiding forces a similar conflict would still exist.

"I'm a Christian, but I believe God gave Israel to the Jewish people. Although he took it away at times throughout history, he always returned the Jews to their land, because it is rightfully theirs...."

"The conflict has very little to do with religion anymore- yes Judaism always yearned for a return to Zion"and Jerusalem is a Holy City for the Muslims too. But I think the conflict has moved beyond religion. Its about land, power, racial supremacy and pride."

So Jewcers, what do you think: Could the Middle East use a little less religion?

Until just a few decades ago, if you were a minority in the UK--national, ethnic, religious, whatever--then the only way you had a remote chance that your concerns and agendas might make it into the public arena was through some kind of official representative. If you didn't have such a sanctioned "voice," you had no voice.

Multiculturalism as it developed in the UK in the 1960s, ‘70s and beyond changed things to the extent that minority voices came to be heard increasingly loudly in the public sphere, speaking for themselves rather than being spoken for. But multiculturalism also silenced some minority voices since, as the diversity of British society grew, so government, media and public bodies came to rely on official representatives to navigate Britain's complex minority landscape.

In the British Jewish community, official representative bodies such as the Chief Rabbinate and the Board of Deputies have long provided an influential and respected voice for British Jewry. However, these bodies have at times defined the boundaries of British Jewry in narrow ways, with the result that their voices have, at different points in history drowned out those of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Reform Jews, pre-1948 Zionists and those critical of the politics of the State of Israel. Feeling themselves to be excluded from the structures of communal representation, a group of British Jewish critics of Israel have now produced the collection, A Time To Speak Out.

Continue reading...

Growing up in Argentina, my girlfriend Gabriela and her sister Paola cherished ice-cream day. On that day they got to eat as much ice-cream as they could. Only there was a catch. Gabriela’s mother employed the ice cream rule: during ice-cream time, the rule was that one sibling would decide how much ice-cream would go into each bowl, while the other had the right to first pick. That way, if one of the sibling had distributed the ice-cream unevenly, the other benefited. It was an ingenious system designed for fairness.

Now, what if we could employ the ice-cream rule to the Arab-Israeli conflict? Imagine the following: President Obama meets with Abbas and Livni/Netanyahu. He gives the latter a map and says, “Go ahead, two states for two people. You draw the boundaries, you choose a capital, and you decide where people have a right to reside. There will be no opposition or interference from Abbas. However, once you finish, it is up to Abbas alone to choose which side to take.”

Is there any question as to how the conflict would be resolved? Half a bowl of ice-cream for Abbas and half for Livni. Of course, such an approach would seemingly not be in Israel’s immediate interest since she possesses more than half of historic Palestine (the much more developed side as well). However, as has become clear to many across the Israeli political spectrum, if in the immediate future there is no viable solution to the Palestinian-Zionist conflict, Israel's territorial advantage (along with its demographic baggage) will be her undoing.

Thinking over a divided land, I am reminded of the story of King Solomon and the baby. As is told, when two prostitutes came to the king with conflicting claims over ownership of a baby, he adjudicated with a stratagem: "Cut the live child in two", he said, "and give half to one and half to the other." Realizing what is at stake, the real mother came forth and pleaded with the king to give the child to the other woman, "only don't kill the baby." The other woman said, “Cut it in two.” Hearing this, the king immediately returned the child to its rightful mother.

Now it is not out-of-bounds to use this story to champion the vision of a one-state solution, or Greater Israel or Greater Palestine. If the baby is a symbol for the land, then the true owner of the land will not compromise by dividing it into parts. On some kind of mystical level, the land needs to be indivisible and whole. One people, one land / two people, one land. Either way, one land it must remain.

But there is another reading of the story that could be helpful. It seems to me that the moral of the story is that real and unconditional love sometimes means letting go of something that is of ultimate concern. For the child to survive, the mother had to let go of her claims to him. Likewise, if the people of Israel and Palestine love their land as much as they say they do, then they need to let go of their vision of what Palestine and Israel ought to be - not let go of a vision of Palestine or Israel per say, just the one that is keeping them from realizing peace. Israelis and Palestinians are attached to myths (e.g. undivided Jerusalem, right of return) that given the reality on the ground serve no good. A new schema is in order, one that is based on genuine compromise and fairness, not on the unreasonable and exclusive claims of religion and history.

The Israel-Egypt Friendship Association is composed of hardy souls, but even they were forced to admit defeat last week when they phoned the Marriott Hotel in Cairo to confirm their reservations ahead of a planned goodwill visit to Egypt by a delegation of Israelis and Jews of Egyptian descent. Despite having booked and paid for their rooms three months in advance, there was, it seems, no room at the inn. Not just the Marriott, either; two hours later, their travel agent in Cairo was forced to advise them that there was not a single hotel in a metropolis of 8 million that was willing to host them.

Things seemed to be going pretty well initially. All the arrangements had gone smoothly; flights had been booked, visas cleared, diplomats and academics booked to speak to the delegates. Perhaps most importantly, the Egyptian security services --- the biggest potential stumbling-block --- had been consulted at all stages and given a list of the participants, and seemed to be cool with the whole trip. The trip's organiser, Levana Zamir, would have been justified in assuming that every eventuality had been foreseen. But she hadn't reckoned with Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adib.

Less jolly than he looks: Adib Wikipedia informs us that Adib is "a media personality with flair, intelligence, and integrity, as well as a sense of humor" and has "an uncanny insight into what interests his audience." Nothing like a bit of Israel-bashing to keep ratings buoyant, it seems. Adib devoted most of his Wednesday evening show to the visit; it was rich of the Israelis to come to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of Israel's founding "in Cairo, of all places." "Why should we bring in Jews born in Egypt", asked Adib, "who preferred to flee to Israel, which has fought us in blood-soaked wars?" Further, he suggested, they were coming to file claims for property that they had "donated" to the government when they left Egypt all those years ago.

Would that the Jews' second Exodus from Egypt had been so willingly undertaken. There were some 75,000 Jews in the country at the end of the Second World War. They had been good citizens during the war years; few Egyptians watched the newsreels footage of German lines advancing and retreating across the desert with quite so much attention. Cairo in those years, like Beirut or Baghdad, was a cosmopolitan city of Arabs, Greeks, Armenians and Jews, but also one that yearned to be free of British occupation. With the 1952 revolution and the coming of Nasser, Egyptians got their wish --- but not everyone was invited to the party.

Suez was the perfect pretext: Some 25,000 Jews were expelled from the country without delay, forced to leave with one suitcase and a limited supply of cash, and family members were allegedly taken hostage to ensure that the operation proceeded as smoothly as possible. All those leaving were made to sign documents "donating" their property to the Egyptian government; this was either retained or flipped for a quick sale to the highest bidder. After the Six Day War, most remaining Jewish property was appropriated by the state, and those Jews that had stuck it out decided their time was up. (No real shocker: Nasser's security service was said to be stuffed with ex-Nazis.) What right of return for them, I wonder?

The Jewish community in Egypt is now estimated to be in double figures. Ironically, given last week's events, that tiny community is as well-treated as any in the Arab world. Though typically disgusting antisemitism rages in the government-controlled press, authorities have in recent years co-operated with Cairo's Jews to renovate and rededicate the city's historic Sha'ar Hashamayim synagogue, and those few who remain --- elderly now, and fewer with every year --- live in peace among the teeming multitudes of modern Cairo.

There are even suggestions that the Jewish community in Egypt played their part in having the visit from their Israeli cousins canceled. Once the TV presenter, Amr Adib, had whipped up sentiment in the popular media, maybe it was more trouble than it was worth to host a visit at this moment in time, however anodyne and harmless it seems to us. Adib is, in strict fairness, not plucking the idea of reparations for the stolen property out of thin air. Israel has been known to use these forced "nationalizations" as bargaining chips in negotiations with the Egyptians; it has even been suggested that these assets might be used to offset Palestinian property claims against Israel itself.

Still, there is no evidence whatever that the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association had anything of the sort in mind. These were just a couple of dozen Egyptian Jews --- elderly, too, for the most part --- who wanted to visit the great synagogue, and the tombs of their relatives, once more before their time comes. There may not be that many opportunities for them to come back to the country they never wanted to leave in the first place.

When the Germans cast their votes on March 5, 1933, 43.9% voted for Adolf Hitler'sAt the funeral NSDAP. This party, though clearly anti-Semitic, did not win this election, the last German election before World War II, based on promises to exterminate Jews. People voted for them because they were sick of their shattered economy, sick of the humiliation after a war that was lost, and sick of the failed leadership of the Weimar Republic. And well, sick of the Jews, too, but that goes without saying.

The civilized countries of the world tried to negotiate. They compromised, they turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the outrageous steps that were being taken by the Nazis with increasing audacity, steps that an idiot could tell would lead Europe and the rest of the world straight to hell. It took almost nine years for the civilized countries of the world to unite and get their act together, but by then the Holocaust was consuming tens of thousands of Jews a day and most of Europe was occupied by a death cult. It took another three years before Germany and its allies were defeated. By then, 72 million people were dead. Read that again: 72 million.

The victory over the Nazi evil was accomplished by an unflinching determination,In mourning which in practice meant a willingness to sacrifice massive numbers of soldiers. Just paving the way for D-Day killed 12 000 men, with another estimated 10 000 allied soldiers killed on that one day.

But more to the point, the victory was accomplished by holding the Germans and the Japanese responsible for their leaders. Women, children, and other non-combatants were seen as legitimate targets by the Allied forces. In order to break the morale of the German and Japanese soldiers, systematic bombing of civilian targets was adopted. Hundreds of thousands of German women and children were killed in the name of the civilized nations of the world. Two atomic bombs were dropped on civilian targets in Japan just to make a point. It sort of took the fun out of winning, but the objective was accomplished: Unconditional surrender.

Bekitzur, as they say here in Israel, in short: If you get into a conflict with an enemy that is hell-bent on your annihilation, you win only by repaying the courtesy. You kick their ass until they cry uncle. First of all, however, you need to believe in the fundamental righteousness of your cause. You have to not just think that you are right: You have to know that you are right.

In the renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, both sides, as well asIn anguish US-representatives, have repeatedly said that the conflict can't be solved through violence. This is nonsense, of course. The Arab/Muslim world doesn't have the means to solve it through violence, though they have tried (and failed) repeatedly for the past 60 years. Just a couple of weeks ago, PA President Mahmoud Abbas explained to the Jordanian daily Al-Dustur that he is opposed to ”resistance” (Palestinian code for terrorism), not because it's wrong, mind you, but because he doesn't think the Palestinians can succeed. He didn't, however, rule it out as a future option. Israel, on the other hand, doesn't have the will to solve the conflict through violence: The Jews can't stomach the utter carnage this would entail. Not even after the slaughter of eight Yeshiva students in the heart of Jerusalem on March 6, the subsequent celebrations in Gaza, and the official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida's extending honor to the perpetrator, does official Israel react with more than stern condemnations. Israel seems unable to tell friend from foe even when the friend is bleeding to death in a Synagogue and the foe openly celebrates this in the street. But let's not fool ourselves: This conflict can be solved through violence like any other conflict. It's usually how conflicts are solved.

So what is violence? How can we understand it? ”When a people uses violence, it isIn despair an instrument, a tool by which to try to pry loose resources unobtainable by other means,” Roger Friedland and Richard Hecht write in their book To Rule Jerusalem. ”But violence is also an expression of commitment, a demonstration of what one holds most dear. Violence leaves bloody traces: wounds and corpses. It marks a community's values on human bodies, through blood sacrifices that only make sense in terms of the purposes for which the were offered. Violence is a language; force simultaneously a physical and a moral phenomenon. Efforts to decompose it must inevitably crumble.”

When the Palestinian Arabs cast their votes on January 25, 2006, 44.45% voted for Hamas. This party, though clearly anti-Semitic, did not win this election, probably the last Palestinian Legislative election before World War III, based on promises to exterminate Jews. People voted for them because they were sick of their shattered economy, sick of the humiliation after several wars that were lost, and sick of the failed leadership of the Fatah party. And well, sick of the Jews, too, but that goes without saying.

(Above: Scenes from the funeral of the victims of the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva; Photography by Paul Widen.)

How would our president inform the Knesset about this breaking news? It looks likeThe Golan Heights: Has Ehud Olmert already committed to returning them to Syria? the Olmert/Livni/Barak regime has been lured in by "the false comfort of appeasement," since they've decided to "negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along." Specifically, in what cannot be coincidences, news broke yesterday that the Israeli government is negotiating a cease-fire agreement in Gaza with Hamas (Egypt is brokering the talks), and then broke today that the Israeli government is in negotiations with Syria over a long-term peace treaty (with Turkey as brokers in that deal). The latter negotiations are the first time in eight years that Israel has attempted substantial diplomatic engagement with Syria, while the former is a profound volte-face on longstanding Israeli policy (now sustained with the charade of Ehud Olmert admitting publicly only that he is in talks with Egypt).

Jewcy has a few questions about the affair we'd like to find some answers to:

1) Given the president's recent public statements, do these latest moves by Olmert signal a repudiation of Washington? Or has the US government silently shifted positions without shifting rhetoric (see also this report from last spring that US pressure scuppered earlier efforts at Israeli-Syrian diplomacy)?

Ezzedin Choukri-Fiske of the International Crisis Group argues that US approval is essential for any negotiations to get off the ground, and so is pessimistic that anything can come of the talks before January 2009 at the earliest. Paul Salem of the Carnegie Endowment suggests a third route, namely, "The Americans are not obstructing it, but they are taking a wait-and-see approach. "The Bush administration doesn't want to give anything to the Syrians unless they give something first."

2) Apropos of which, did either side make any concessions before coming to the table?

Eyal Zisser of Tel Aviv University doubts that full negotiations could have resumed without an Israeli commitment to withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Shmuel Rosner argues that Syria's objective is neither talking to Israel or taking back control of the Golan Heights, but talking to the US and tightening control of Lebanon.

3) Speaking of which, any Israeli-Syrian negotiations are inextricably tied to the status of Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Iran. And at this particular moment, Hezbollah has essentially prevailed over the Lebanese government, thereby amplifying Iranian power and influence. What effect did that have on either the timing or the announcement of the Syrian negotiations?

4) And what about the Syrian side? Did Israel's strike at Syria's nuclear reactor last fall prompt Assad to come calling diplomatically? What about the chatter that surfaced recently in the Jerusalem Post to the effect that President Bush is determined to attack Iran before he leaves office? (The White House denies the report, though it isn't just opponents of the administration that are convinced an attack on Iran is coming.) Even if the rumors are bogus, might they still have been what spurred Assad to action?

5) What if any domestic political objectives is Olmert trying to achieve? His approval ratings are abysmal, which argues for some sort of popularity-enhancing diplomatic coup. But Olmert has given himself a very narrow line to walk: Israelis "prefer war over ceasefire with Hamas" by 56 to 33 percent, and though 57 percent favor negotiations with Syria, 54 percent oppose a Golan withdrawal that might have been (or might still be) a precondition for negotiations, and 70 percent believe "Israel cannot handle holding negotiations with both Syria and the Palestinians at the same time."

6) What about the roles of Turkey and Egypt? It used to be that the United States arbitrated all negotiations between Israel and its neighbors. Is Israel's new reliance on moderate governments in Muslim countries an expression of confidence --- i.e. Israel feels secure enough to engage in diplomacy without its strongest and only unequivocal ally present? Or is it an expression of desperation --- i.e. Israel feels it has no choice but to negotiate, and if the US won't be party, Israel will fall back on whatever alternatives it can find?

7) What does Israeli negotiation with Hamas, even through back-channels and without public acknowledgment, bode for Fatah and for Mahmoud Abbas in particular? If Israel comes to recognize Hamas as its negotiating partner over Palestine, de facto if not de jure, wouldn't such a development freeze the official Palestinian Authority out of its remaining claims to power?

For the last seven years musicians Gabriel Meyer and peace activist Elias Jabbour have been doing what politicians have repeatedly failed to do: bringing Jews and Arabs together in the spirit of reconciliation and peace. They do this through the Sulha Peace Project --- a coexistence endeavor based on the indigenous Middle Eastern tradition of mediation and conflict resolution, Sulha.

The Sulha Peace Project consists in a large annual gathering that features three days of dialogue, shared meals, traditional art, music, and inter-faith rituals. Beginning with 150 people in the troubled days of the second intifadah, the event has grown to host over 5000 participants at a time. In addition to the annual occasion, the Sulha Peace Project also provides Israeli and Palestinian youth a rare opportunity to gather together, exchange narratives and ideas, and prepare to be tomorrow’s peacemakers.

Gabriel MeyerThe Sulha initiative has been lauded by the likes of the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu as a significant and fundamental contribution to peace in the Middle East. Based on the idea that true peace must be built from the ground up, through the people and traditions that make up the landscape of the conflict, the Sulha Peace Project is paving the way for a new reality in the Middle East.

Recently, I had a chance to talk to Gabriel Meyer (son of the late prominent Conservative Rabbi Marshall Meyer) about the organization he co-founded, the difficulties inherent in the making peace, and the role of religion in peacemaking.

What is the goal of the Sulha Project?

The main goal of the Sulha Peace Project is to build trust between Palestinians and Israelis, prepare the two people for peace, and complement the diplomatic efforts, beyond a specific political agenda, stereotypes, cynicism and despair. We are a grassroots effort for peace and one of our purposes is healing, to make the Middle East and the Holy Land of the Prophets, reach its full potential of hospitality, justice, compassion, beauty and creativity.

What is the process by which forgiveness and peace between enemies takes place?

The first condition is trust. Without trust, there can’t be reconciliation. The main thing is to create an atmosphere where people can listen to the claims, pains, and hopes of each other. If you can realize that the other is a human being, then there is a big field of trust that is created and anything can be achieved. There are so many stereotypes that need to be overcome, not least of which is the reality generated by the media. We are trying to manifest and create a new type of reality. An alternative reality that goes beyond all that is put out by the media and daily news.

What is most challenging about the process of reconciliation?

Most challenging is that we are being bombarded by the media with bad news all the time. The media is painting a situation of constant war and suffering. Little attention is given to more positive efforts at coexistence created by people who are exhausted with war. This leads to large-scale despair, cynicism, and fatigue. So I would say that overcoming the negative impact of the media on people’s consciousness, not taking responsibility and handing over the perception of reality to media and politicians represents one of the biggest challenges to reconciliation.

Does the Sulha project champion any political formula to end the conflict? For example, one-state, two-state, or no-state solution?

That is not our job. We complement the diplomatic effort. We do not try to come up with a political blue print for a solution. We are working on creating trust. There are enough people who are creating solutions. They have the plans. Our work is to prepare the people so that when someone does sign a successful treaty there will be people to support it.

Music plays a really important role in the Sulha project. Can you speak to role of music in peace making?

I am a musician originally. I use music constantly as a tool to create sacred space from which to build trust between people. Music and the arts in general are a great means of transformation and healing. Music can reach the ears, minds, and hearts of people in a way that words often fail to do. Whenever you come to a place and hear music that is familiar, music that you heard your grandmother sing, you feel different. When that music is being played by people who are supposed to be your enemy, then it is even more profound. This is how I met many Palestinians and Arabs. I started singing songs from their culture, not mine. It was a real shock which broke the distrust --- all of sudden I am singing La illah illa la (There is no God but God in Arabic), and my Muslims partner breaks and thinks to himself “he can’t be so bad.”

Many people see religion as an inflexible force that perpetuates the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews, yet at the Sulha Peace Project religion is harnessed as a force for peace and unity. Can you speak to the use of religion as an instrument for peace?

There a saying in Hebrew: hadinim nimtakim beshorsham, which means “stern Acoustic Guitar For Peace: artist's conceptionjudgment is sweetened from the root.” I believe that religion is at the root of both the conflict and the solution. At our gatherings, we have all kinds of people – religious & secular - but we do use the gems of religion as possibilities for healing. I think that one of the problems with the Oslo peace process for example was that the religious were kept out of the discussion. There was zero mention of the root of peace in the Koran and Torah, for example. Something was missing. For most of the people who are involved in this conflict, religion matters. If you touch the positive part of religion, it has highly medicinal power.

On your website, you say that the goal of the Sulha Peace project is to heal and reconcile the children of Abraham. Why the emphasis on Abraham?

Abraham is our common father. Likewise, Sarah and Hagar are our mothers. We all come from the same family, the same tribe.

I am sure that such recognition goes a long way --- but isn't Abraham also the father who is willing to sacrifice his children in the name of God? Isn't Abraham’s relationship with his children also an apt metaphor for the willingness of authority figures in this conflict to blindly sacrifice their children on the altar of some religious or secular ideology?

I personally think Abraham is an archetype. I realize that he is a very complex figure. We can go into a discussion about the binding of Isaac/Ishmael, or how he let Hagar and Ishmael go out into the desert (though he made a point to visit them there), but I see him as a figure of compassion and humanity. He opened his tent to the four directions, and provided hospitality to strangers. Legend goes he would wash the feet of pilgrims and feed them. He defended the innocent at Sodom and Gomorrah. In the Kabbalah he’s related to unconditional loving-kindness, as the creator of the morning prayers, as flowing water.

Some people see what you are doing and say, “This is all very nice. People eating, dancing, singing, praying, and talking together. But how is that going to solve anything? The occupation continues. The terrorism continues. People go back to their homes and they are faced with the same reality. Are you really making any difference?”

The people who come to our gatherings are also crying the pain of their lost ones. There are a lot of people who have suffered. We have settlers and Palestinian ex-militia men. We are not outside of the reality here; we are just choosing to manifest it in a different way. We do not want to perpetuate the same negative feelings. Everyone knows that the problems are out there. We do not give more energy to them. We have CNN, BBC, and al Jazeera; they are doing a good enough job portraying the sickness. We want to portray the medicine.

Are we making a difference? Well, we started with 150 people in 2001, and now, in 2008, we are over 5000 strong. We also have partnered with an organization in the West Bank that teach non-violence resistance in the way of Martin Luther King. Now in our seventh year, we also have youth gatherings --- the Sulhita Youth Project which gathers one hundred Palestinian and Israeli kids for a five-day leadership and reconciliation retreat. So I think that we in fact are making a difference.

To date, what has been the greatest failure and greatest success of the project?

The failure is that it is not attracting 100,000 in both sides yet. People in Israel and Palestine are still skeptical and still cynical. But the biggest failure is that people still believe there would be more security without peace. The blindness of people who still think that security will come with war. They don’t understand that for one to be happy the other has to be happy as well. There’s also a lack of justice that needs to be resolved, but it will not be resolved through violence, we have tried throughout history and it has never worked.

The biggest success is that here the Sulhita Youth is fully happening and it is growing. This year we have three youth and three family gatherings. And we found a partner in the Palestinian side that we believe in. We have the explicit support of elders of the stature of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (link to youtube vid) and Archbishop Desmond Tutu among others and also a strong intuition that the framework and way of the Sulha Peace Project is making its mark on society at large.

What can expect from you this year?

Next week we are holding our fifth sulhita gathering with a hundred Palestinian and Israeli kids. In August, we are having our annual Sulha gathering that should once again take place at the Latrun monastery (about 15 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla). All are invited.

By mid-October, I will be arriving with my band Amen. Which is also composed of musicians like Amir Paiss from the Israeli band Sheva. In addition to the playing Sulha inspired music we will be screening the new Sulha movie. If you want to support Sulha you can come in August to Israel, or email us to book US tour dates at amen.sulha@gmail.com.

Finally, what message do you have for those Jewcy readers (Jews and non-Jews) whose heart have been broken by the conflict and who have given up on the hope for peace?

Never give up hope. You need hope to be Jewcy. If I did not have hope, I wouldn’t live here. There are still some beautiful beings in Israel and Palestine who are trying to make this place a Holy Land. A broken heart is a full human heart, but you can’t let that lead you to despair. We can’t lose hope. We can't live without hope. As long as you can breathe, there is still hope. Before we die we need to shine our special light. That’s what we are here for.

Farris Hassan, the young Iraqi-American from Florida who left home and snuck into the AP offices in Iraq in 2005, engaged in another interesting "immersion" project after returning.

At the height of the Israel-Hezbollah War, he went to Dearborn, Michigan, which has a large Arab community, wore a Star of David, and pretended to be a Jew named Jacob Malachi. He writes:

I traveled to Dearborn, Michigan, home of the largest concentration of Muslims in North America, and spent more than two weeks researching anti-Semitism in the American Muslim community. This issue affects me personally because although my parents are Muslim, the majority of my prep school and nearly all of my friends are Jewish. Having previously researched Muslims as a fellow member of their community, in Dearborn I wished to go further.

To that end, I immersed myself with the Muslims as Mr. JacobFarris Hassan Malachi, a Jew who wore a Star of David necklace but had an open mind and was trying to gain a greater understanding of the Muslim community. In irony, I was not the Jew investigating the Muslim community's hatred of his people, but rather I was the Muslim literally putting himself in the skin of a Jew in order to directly feel the hate in his own community. My research was especially provocative because at the time Israel was waging war in Lebanon and the world Muslim population was more feverishly incited than ever.

The story was about relationships: between religions, between nations, between local communities, and between individuals. I did not try to rile up my subjects by zealously attacking all things Muslim; rather I closely examined the effects of my efforts to build friendships with them from the position of being a member of their much touted arch nemesis – the Jews. I wondered whether they would receive me with grace in light of my curious and tolerant disposition or attack me in light of my Jewish identity.

I interviewed the religious leaders of two mosques and attended three Friday prayer services and two memorials for victims of Israel's war in Lebanon. I met with patrons of the Bint Jbeil (Hezbollah's capital) Club and journalists of the Arab American Newspaper. I rubbed shoulders with hundreds of angry Muslims at a peace rally in Detroit and thousands outside the White House, where I heard, unfortunately not for the first time, the chant "La illaha ilallah, Hezbollah! Hezbollah!"

Through this journey I discovered that American Muslims, with an emphasis on American, make a surprisingly strong distinction between Jews and Zionists. Walking amongst them in the streets, restaurants, and mosques while displaying a Star of David necklace and my school's Jewish Club t-shirt, I had expected to get beaten up within days. Instead, I was met with a curious hospitality. I found that Muslim anger draws not from a religious or cultural conflict, but almost solely from the political quagmire of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Certainly no clash of civilizations is tearing the world asunder. To the contrary, Muslims told me they felt a closer kinship with the religious culture of Judaism than of Christianity.

Still, ugly ideas reached me. I discovered once again that many Muslims hold elaborate conspiracy theories about Jews, which seemed to be instilled by the political context of their upbringing. The following misconceptions were conveyed to me: Israel is eradicating Lebanese civilians so that they can clear "open livingspace" for Zionists to settle; the beheadings, assassinations, suicide bombings, and other terrorist acts occurring in Iraq and across the Middle East are often orchestrated by Mossad agents in order to suppress and vilify the Muslim people; and under Zionist influence, President Bush is waging not a war on terrorism, but a war on Islam.

I tried to mitigate their paranoia and conspiracy theories by presenting myself as a Jew speaking on behalf of the peaceful and wholesome aspirations held by most of his people. At the beginning they were mostly suspicious and cynical, but after meeting a Jew who defied all stereotypes and advocated peace, love, and unity, their animosity subsided. By the end, they embraced me as one of their own. That accomplishment, of making a positive difference in the minds of others, by itself made my trip worthwhile.

When Hassan first traveled to Iraq, a number of right-wing websites, including Newsbusters (the right's version of Media Matters), suggested that Hassan must have been a closet jihadist looking to foment jihad. Never mind his declared allegiances and obvious decency, look at his name. His website, with archived writings, is here.

Haaretz is reporting a wave of terrorist attacks striking Israel today. This morning, explosives killed a soldier in the IDF and wounded three others on patrol near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, in the border territory between Israel and Gaza. Islamic Jihad claimed credit for the attack. This evening Israeli time, terrorists launched nearly simultaneous attacks on the town of Sderot and on the Merkaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem, with Kassam rockets and guns, respectively. In the former case, the only casualties were four wounded, but in the latter seven people and counting were killed.

It remains to be seen whether there is any level of coordination among terroristResidents of Sderot take cover during a Color Red Alarm, Feb. 29 efforts, or whether disparate terrorist groups now have sufficient operational liberty to attack in waves rather than isolated incidents. In either case, Prime Minister Olmert faces a difficult array of choices; pressure from the US government to forge ahead with peace talks with the Palestinians is sure to result in an increased level of terrorism, at least in the short term, and it is unclear whether Mahmoud Abbas is a credible partner for negotiations.

The wires have yet to pick up on these incidents, and the Haaretz reports are slim on specifics. Any Jewcy readers in the area, or in touch with anyone in the area, can send in additional news, details, photos, etc., to be posted as soon as possible.

 

I spend most of Saturday in a shelter with over 200 volunteers who are in Sderot with the organization Lev Echad. Their aim is to show solidarity with the population and help in any way possible, but the situation in the town of 25,000 has become completely untenable. Sporadic rocket explosions have been heard since the previous night, usually without warning, which leads to speculation that the Color Red early warning system is out of order, or that there is a new type of rocket that the system fails to register. The words 'Russian roulette,' often used to describe life here, gain real meaning.

Residents of Sderot take cover during a Color Red Alarm, Feb. 29 However, during a lull in the rocket attacks in the late afternoon, the volunteers venture out in groups of two or three to knock on doors and see how people around town are doing. I join Avraham and Atara, while Kobi, Shlomit, and Shira tag along, as they are heading in the same direction. We do not get far before the Color Red alarm actually sounds, which means we have 15 seconds to take cover. Avraham points to a flight of stairs leading from the street up to the the front yard of a house, and we all crouch down there. A few seconds pass before I hear the incoming rocket, and for every nanosecond that the whistling grows stronger, I know it's going to strike really close. Really close.

The impact is massive, in the yard of what later turns out to be a kindergarten, just across the street, ten meters away from where we are taking cover. Kassam rockets do not fall down: They strike. There is a deafening explosion and a cloud of fire, smoke, and dirt. Car alarms instantly go off, there is no silence, no respite, it is all noise.

My ears are ringing and I am thinking a mix of "fucking-shit-what-a-rush-that-was-fucking-close" and "sorry mom" (she asked me to stay away from the Gaza border). Thoughts of God are in there too, somewhere. I look at the people around me. Shira is sitting between the two other girls and looks like she wants the earth to swallow her. "Are you OK?" I say. She nods through her tears. "Are you OK?" I repeat and look at the other guys. Everyone says that they are OK. "Avi, you're bleeding," I inform him. "I know," he says and smiles as he touches a scratch on his face. He is 19 and just started his army service in the Armor Corps. He is a tough guy. "You're bleeding from your fucking nose, too," I point out. "I'm OK," he assures us.

Then there is the wailing of a woman, piercing through the car alarm, like somebody is in pieces. I hesitate: I'm not sure I can handle shredded people. Seconds later the first paramedics are on the scene, but there are no wounded in sight. "Let's head back to the shelter," somebody says, which sound like a good idea. We run through the debris, up the street, ears still ringing.

Halfway back we run into some other volunteers. Shira is obviously shell-shocked, so she is taken back to the shelter with the other girls, while the rest are asked to work the area, knock on doors and look for trauma victims. I hurry down a narrow alley with Avraham at the end of which we come upon an old lady. "Shabbat shalom," we greet her. It feels like a sick joke. "Shabbat shalom," she mumbles back as she looks down the street, where rescue personnel is cordoning off the area. "Nim'as lanu," she cries faintly, "We've had enough. Seven years of this and nobody cares. What if it would have been a weekday? That yard would have been full of kids."

Shrapnel from a Kassam rocket Five minutes later the scene is crowded with various rescue vehicles and their respective crews, people from the neighboring houses, and the vultures of the press. This is business as usual, this is 40 times a day. Nobody is physically injured besides Avraham, and he is busy trying to help others. We meet two kids, not older than 12, that show us around the back of the kindergarten. "That was a Grad, a Katyusha, not a Kassam," says one of the boys with the authority of an expert. "Look at the extensive damage to the building, all the windows are shattered." They are absorbed by it, these saucer-eyed kids that possess knowledge that kids shouldn't have. Their own house is right next door: It was struck by a Kassam two months ago.

Avraham and I head back to the shelter. We pass by a Synagogue where an old man is trying to gather a minyan. "Mincha, Mincha!" he calls out. Business as usual. We decline the offer, scramble together a couple of bottles of beer and find a quiet spot around the back of the shelter. I am shaking, and I realize that I have been shaking the entire time. "L'chaim tovim," I say as I raise the bottle with an unsteady hand, "To a good life." Avraham objects: "Rak l'chaim," he says with a humble smile, "Only to life. That's all I'm asking for: Life. It doesn't have to be good."

We drink in silence. In the background we hear heavy machine gun fire from Gaza. "That's our tanks," says Avraham. "That's where I'm going to be soon, I hope. In Gaza, kicking some ass."

Twenty people were killed in Gaza on Thursday as the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out several strikes against terrorist targets in the Strip. IAF's response came after over 50 Kassam rockets were fired at the Western Negev on Wednesday, killing 47-year old Roni Yihieh, a father of four. As the IAF carried out the strikes in Gaza, terrorists continued to fire rockets at Israel's border communities. At least 15 longer-range Grad rockets reached as far up north as Ashkelon, one of them scoring a direct hit on a house. Several people were wounded and treated for shock.

At least two rocket squads were believed to have been hit during the IAF operationsA Kassam missile landing in Sderot on Thursday. However, there were also civilians among the casualties, including at least five children. Four young boys were said to have been killed by an IAF missile while playing soccer in an open field. The IAF has yet to accept or deny responsibility for the strike.

However, this didn't just start yesterday. The latest escalation of violence shrouds the fact that over 8500 rockets and mortars have been fired at sovereign Israel from the Gaza Strip the last seven years. The town of Sderot, with its 25 000 citizens, has become synonymous with this type of low frequency warfare. Due to the massive influx of heavy weaponry into the Strip in the end of last month when the Gaza-Egypt border was breached, the city of Ashkelon is now also within range of fire. While the profound dismay expressed continuously by the people of Sderot has not resulted in any decisive response by the Israeli government, it is hard to imagine that Ashkelon, with a population exceeding 100 000, will accept the same fate quietly.

International calls on Israel for restraint and a proportionate response to these attacks belie the inherent disporportionality of the conflict itself. The expressed object of Hamas is to kill Jews, and they now have the means at their disposal to do this more effectively. Whereas the Kassam rockets fired since the beginning of the Second Intifada are often dismissed as being merely big firecrackers, the Grad rockets are essentially equal to the Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon during the summer of 2006. Their explosive payload is at least 10 times that of the much smaller Kassam, and their sudden appearance on the scene puts a quarter of a million Israeli citizens within their deadly range. The attack on Ashkelon yesterday probably marks the beginning of a calculated escalation by Hamas, which in the near future will lead to an inevitable showdown in the Strip. When this happens, it is crucial that Israel acts decisively, that the response is strategic and clear headed, aimed at revolutionizing the reality on the ground. The tactical strikes at random terrorist targets that we saw yesterday, with a good 25% of the casualties being civilian collateral, will not do the job.

Castro Says He Warned Chavez About US

Castro, the survivor of many C.I.A attempts, warns his friend Hugo of the United States wishes. The two men and their nations have strengthened ties since the collapse of the Soviet Union, where Venezuela has picked up the economic slack from Cuba’s loss of Soviet sponsorship. A vote on Sunday could greatly increase the Socialist powers of the South American state.

Why Putin Does it?

Putin is taking Russia back to a strongman format and the world yawns. Putin, tired of being pushed around (as he sees it) is ready to have Russia re-emerge as a super-power. He starts by suspending a treaty limiting the number of troops on European soil.

Olmert: Jerusalem Israeli Issue Not Jewish

As more and more Jewish groups vocalize about the need to not give up Jerusalem, Olmert decries “American” Jews who wish to bully the state. It seems that Olmert has really “gone native” is his quest for history. Shas states that it will bolt if the city is even mentioned.

US Withdraws Mideast Resolution at UN

The U.S. Withdrew a resolution supporting the agreements reached at the Annapolis Summit. It seems the text had not be cleared through the Arabs and Israelis before it was submitted to the Security council. It is important that there be a non-binding resolution if there has to be one at all.

Nazi Archives Saving names from the Lost

The archives have finally been opened and researchers and families will be able to track names of those lost in the Shoah. The archives have been closed since after the war and it has taken many years to finally get the archives opened.

Enlisted with the Marines at 61

Dr. Bill Krissoff has been commissioned a lieutenant commander in the Navy reserves, wanting to serve since one of his sons was killed by a roadside bomb while serving. During a meeting with President Bush, Krissoff spoke of his desire to join the service and help. As an accomplished physician, the good doctor was taken in and plans to give back by caring for wounded military.

[We asked cousins Mimi Asnes and Ben Keller to cover yesterday's peace conference at Annapolis, Mimi from the outside and Ben from within. Read all their coverage here.]

While Chabadniks danced and sang Hanukkah songs and protested Annapolis at Gate One, a very different kind of demonstration was going on in Annapolis; a demonstration supporting the Bush administration and the Israeli government, alongside the Israeli and Palestinian people. Nine progressive Jewish organizations united to present an hour-plus-long program of speeches, chants and songs (“If I Had a Hammer” by Pete Seeger and “Down By the Riverside” were crowd favorites.)

“We did it in a week because we didn’t have any longer, and we were able to pull together people from New York, Rhode Island, Colorado, DC, Israel,” said Tammy Shapiro, director of the Union of Progressive Zionists and MC of the rally. “There were a hundred people there representing the thousands who weren’t able to make it.”

Wait—people came from Israel for to demonstrate in Annapolis? “We had Mossi Raz (former head of Shalom Achshav and MK from Meretz) and Gavri Bar Gil who is the head of the Peace Movement and another former director of Peace Now,” she added. These two came for five days specifically for Annapolis and to raise awareness about the Geneva Initiative. Another Israeli civil society activist was Eyal Raviv from MePeace, which he describes as “the MySpace of Middle East peacemaking.” There was also an unaffiliated continent of teachers who showed up specifically to call out Olmert on his domestic education policy—they had a truck driving around with a sign that said, “Ehud fled to Annapolis” (and away from his domestic obligations).

While the pro-Annapolis rally was held far from the Academy itself, the demonstrators were right in the path of the motorcade of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and staged a showing of signs with (pre-approved) slogans for when he was scheduled to pass. Did Olmert see the demonstrators? One student claimed that “he passed by the people who were holding signs before the rally.” “We saw a motorcade pass by” that was close enough to see the signs, another added; the demonstrators remained hopeful that Olmert who was scheduled to be at a nearby building, was there for lunch at the Governor’s Mansion.

Even days before Annapolis, the Progressive rally was in peril after having their permit to demonstrate in public shot down by the Secret Service. Luckily, the Chief of Police and a local parish at St. Anne’s teamed up to help the grassroot activits secure a location that might make a difference.

Despite these regulatory confusions, the group was happy with the outcome of the rally. “We spoke to lots of press from TV, newspapers and radios,” said Shapiro. “We had been told that there were only permits for 30 people at the gate and we wanted more. But we didn’t want it to be a competition or a fight, distinguished for other things going on. It would have been nice to be closer. We could be positive without having to respond to someone and have our own message. And we were closer to Olmert and where he was—our message was for him, and Bush, and the American and Israeli public.”

In terms of what can be gained from Annapolis, Meretz USA chair Charney Bromberg told us that the “best case scenario is that precisely what was presented today in the signed statement that Israelis and Pal endorsed, initiation of ongoing negotiation through December the 12th with full working committees on each of the four major issues will be underway. One of things Meretz most proud of is that Geneva was the branchild of Yossi Beilin, leader of Meretz in Israel. We know that PM Olmert’s neg team has been closely studying the Geneva Agreements and Legislative history. We can take the Geneva Initiative as a “dress rehearsal of what parties will ultimately come out with.”

Bromberg’s conclusion was that “however frightening the record of the Bush Administration has been in pursuing things they shouldn’t have pursued and ignoring things they shouldn’t have ignored, they still represent the US which is the gravitational source of political direction in the world.” This is perhaps why he began his speech today in Annapolis by asking repeatedly, “can you hear me?” After a couple of go-rounds he noted that he wasn’t asking for a shoutout; he simply actually wanted the leaders to be listening.

[We asked cousins Mimi Asnes and Ben Keller to cover yesterday's peace conference at Annapolis, Mimi from the outside and Ben from within. Read all their coverage here.]

Annapolis is a pretty city, especially its main square overlooking the port. So it was a bit of a shock to happen upon a street fight in this orderly military town—especially a street fight between two ultra-Orthodox Jewish men.

“You are a terrorist! You are not Jewish!” one shouted at the other.

“You are a murderer! Go to Iran!” screamed the other as they led groups jostling for space on the cobblestoned street.

“Why do they hate each other?" I asked. "Aren’t they on the same side?”

My companion just shook his head. He had been variously called a terrorist, a faggot, a murderer and a worm, despite the fact that he hails from the same neighborhood as many of these protestors.

Meet Kobi Skolnik. He was my guide through the black-coated, black-capped groups of men amassed at Gate One of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. Without Kobi, I would not be able to explain to you the fine difference between a Kahanist and a Lubovitcher and a Sadmer Chasid and someone belonging to Neturei Karta. Not to mention those Kobi calls “regular Israelis” who were demonstrating against any potential concessions to be made to the Palestinians.

Neturei Karta (or the Sadmer Chasidim) are a religious group who renounce the validity of the State of Israel—they are most infamous for attending Iranian summits convened by ever-beloved President Ahmadinejad which have called into question the historiography of the Holocaust.

Lubovitchers, according to Skolnik, believe that their Rabbi Menachem Mendel Shnorson that died more than a decade ago is the Messiah and they believe in a “complete” Land of Israel from the Jordan River to the sea. They oppose the idea of a Palestinian state on religious grounds and don’t believe that “land for peace” is a legitimate option since the Land of Israel must be whole as it is holy.

Kahanists believe that the Palestinians should be expelled to other Arab countries; those protesting were saying, “They have many states, and we have only one.” Expulsion should happen by force if necessary. They are a terrorist organization in Israel. When Kobi saw one kid with a Kahane T-shirt holding a sign that said “Not one more Terrorist Arab country,” he tried to get into a philosophical debate with him about the fact that he was promoting and decrying terrorism at the same time. It didn’t go over well.

And where were the Palestinians? Or even the pro-Palestinian community? Notably missing. One very left-wing friend in the area told me that most of his contingent didn’t want to even legitimize the conference by protesting. But the right and even center pro-Israel contingent was also not represented. Said a longtime progressive Jewish activist: “They’ll wait to see what happens, and then if it’s positive, they’ll swoop in and take credit.”

We did run into a group of students from Johns Hopkins, Baltimore and Towson Universities, some of whom were of Pakistani origin. Mohsen Rahman explained to us that they were there to bring a pro-Palestinian perspective and were thoroughly inspected and followed by security, their names taken and their posters documented. These five young students were roundly harassed by the anti-Annapolis demonstrators who called them “terrorists,” and “murderers.”

While milling about the Gate One crowd I ran into Lane Berg, a longtime activist who said she had witnessed “every violent demonstration” in the US, as well as having traveled to Israel and South Africa at key historical moments of protest. She said that she’d never seen so many people with violently diverging opinions demonstrating mostly peaceably in the same small space and was amazed—“it brings me hope,” she said, and then asked me why I thought this was. I hated to tell her what I perceive as the truth; that the Big Boys stayed home today.

Here are some of the slogans we heard:

• “Zionists no. Judaism yes.”
• “Am Yisrael Chai.”
• “Im ashkakheikh yerushalayim eshkakh yemini.”
• “Free Palestine”
• “Arabs, Palestinians—Murderers!”
• “No terrorist state!” (from anti-Anapolis pro-Israel evangelicals).
• “—in Israel!” (added subversively by the Towson students).

 

• Now He Can Really Herd Cats.

• Intifadah with a French Twist

• Iran Puts the World to Work

• Avigdor the Soothsayer…

• De Palma’s Heaven’s Gate Moment

• Tin Man Needs Adjustment

• Shake hands With Jews –No Way, We’re Here to Be Serious

• Blood Libel’s are still so In

• 40 Lashes from Muhammed the Bear
  

• To Save Us Money, You Must Die

• Next Year In Jerusalem…

• Scotch and Water: The Life and Times of Teddy Kennedy

• No Solidarity for Mahmoud Salehi

• Gulags For Some, Tiny Pictures of Putin for Others…

[We asked cousins Mimi Asnes and Ben Keller to cover yesterday's peace conference at Annapolis, Mimi from the outside and Ben from within. Read all their coverage here.]

I'm on the overnight train from Boston to Washington, DC with a Darwin’s sandwich steadily disappearing next to me and a lot of hours to fill. As of my last functional wireless connection, the world is abuzz with preemptive talk about the failure of Annapolis. Haaretz has a lead story on Ismail Haniyeh’s refutal of Abbas’ mandate to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians. Over on Al-Jazeera's Arabic site, an article about the deaths of four martyrs in Gaza is accompanied by a picture of a young boy crying and cradling the head of one of the militants in his arms. The message is clear; headsof state can have all the congratulatory dinner parties they want:here, it’s still war.

Tabling the discussion: The conference room early this morningIt’s remarkable how some days, being able to read fluently in Arabicand Hebrew just reaffirms the futility of my very motivation forlearning these languages: to be able to Make A Difference in thePalestinian-Israeli conflict. People are often amazed at how quickly I can switch between Israeli-sounding Hebrew to Palestinian dialectand exclaim, “if only there were more people like you, this conflictwould be over tomorrow!” Or if there were more people like me, everyone would give up right here and now.

I am 27, born and raised in Watertown, Massachusetts with anexcellent early education at the Solomon Schechter Day School ofNewton. My parents sent me to Jewish school less out of their ownlinguistic or religious conviction (neither speaks Hebrew or believesin a traditional God) and more because I was a miserable failure atmaking friends in public school kindergarten. If they figured thatthere might be a higher percentage of the socially awkward in privateschool, they were right.

Fast forward through the requisite drama geek high school experience—incollege I (re)discovered my connection to the Middle East, thistime fueled by a beginning knowledge of the Arabic language and adesire to see Israelis and Palestinians on my own terms. I spent twosummers working in Nazareth with a Palestinian-Israeli women’sorganization before and during the al-Aqsa Intifada and went on to pursuea Master’s in Middle Eastern Studies. I've recently begun curating aseries of Talkbacks following the performance of the play MASKED, anIsraeli-authored drama about three Palestinian brothers.

Where the magic happens: Setting upMy cousin Ben, 24, is trying to grab a few last hours of sleep before his 5 AMcall inside the Naval Academy to set up computer systems to monitorthis seminal conference. Ben grew up mostly in Silver Spring, MD, withforays into Canada and Queens during his formative years. He is partof a third generation of tinkers and builders in the Goldsman-Kellerfamily; Ben’s grandfather’s reputation for being able to fix anyelectrical gadget (as long as you aren’t in a hurry) turned into anaptitude for fixing up cars and computers in his grandsons. Not manypeople can claim to have bought a BMW “fixer-upper” for $100, or tohave driven in a caravan of such cars from Maryland to Philadelphia fora cheese steak.

After graduating from Blair High School, Ben enlisted in the US Armyand as a Private First Class was in charge of what he explains is “awhole lot of important computers at Fort Lewis”; he ended his serviceafter over two years and went on to work for Boeing before moving intojournalistic tech support. Ben looks forward to pursuing a BFA, and eventually an MFA, in photography; his specialty is sports photography but unless Olmertand Abbas really go at it, he’ll have little use for that particularskill at Annapolis.

* * *

Previous posts:
A little family background

In just a few weeks, statesmen from around the world will convene at an international peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conference will coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the UN's historic decision to partition Palestine into two states. Yet after six decades of diplomatic failures and fruitless peace plans, the attendees look set to consider only warmed-over versions of the same stale and unimaginative "two-state solution."

It's time to consider daring new ideas and radical new solutions. To that end, I present to you the five strangest proposals to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Olmert and Abbas, please take note.

Peace of Mind

According to the International Meditation Society of Israel, peace between Israel and her neighbors can be achieved without protracted negotiations or conferences. The key is transcendental meditation (TM). Practitioners of TM—including, famously, the Beatles—believe that by turning inward, one is able to unite with "the Source of all Being" and spread kindness all around. If enough people in a society practice TM, hatred and violence will dissipate.

Alex Kutai, a leader of the TM movement in Israel, has done the math. Kutai has determined that bringing peace to the entire Middle East will require that the square root of one percent of the region's population undertake transcendental meditation.

During Israel's 2006 war with Hizbullah, Kutai dispatched a "squadron" of 65 TM practitioners into the war zone to create a spiritual force shield of invincibility around the north of Israel. Kutai has challenged the government of Israel to demonstrate its commitment to peace by assemble 265 TM practitioners around the country. Two-hundred sixty-five is the square root of one percent of seven million, and thus should be sufficient to bring peace to Israel/Palestine. The government of Israel has yet to finance even a single practitioner of TM.

 

The No-State Solution

 

Forget the two-state vs. one-state debate. It is time to consider the anarchist-inspired no-state solution. Conflict between Israel and her neighbors is a result of the divisive and coercive influence of state power, the reasoning goes. Peace will come only when the the people of Israel/Palestine assemble into a non-authoritarian cooperative community of free individuals.

In Israel, political groups like Anarchists Against the Wall, Israeli National Traitor Anarchists, and Amoria have been at the forefront in advocating for this solution. According to Amoria, "AMORIA is the intentional community that we wish to create in Kna'an, the land that is called Israel by some and Palestine by others. We are anarchists, so we are opposed to the state system that oppresses all peoples on the planet and the planet itself. We sidestep this semantic political conflict by advocating not a one-state solution, or two-state solution, but a NO-state solution in the Land of Canaan."

 

Weed for Peace

 

Continue reading...

AsterixAt a Paris book fair this weekend, two versions of the beloved Asterix comic hero in 1001 Arabian Nights (one in Hebrew, one in Arabic) were released. As the translators explain below, both camps had to make certain concessions in the name of art, specifically by heeding close attention to wild beasts (so as not to offend Islamic fundamentalists) and unkosher boars.

Both translators said they had had to adapt the text to reality, but had decided to keep the wild boars that people the albums despite religious objections to pork.

"We left the boars in though they're not kosher," said the Israeli translator.

Syrian Shehayeb said an earlier Asterix album translated into Arabic had used "wild beasts" rather than "boars" to avoid offending fundamentalists. "I kept the original because you have to face reality as it is," he said.

Ironic as it sounds, Asterix might have found a ripe audience for its socio-political values lesson after all.

In the books, the diminutive Gallic warrior's friends "live in peace and friendship with all other people as long as nobody bothers them", said Israeli Dorith Daliot Rubinovitz.

Brought to you by a Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Ohev Shalom, after witnessing Carter's speech at George Washington University.

"I believe Jimmy Carter is an anti-Semite and his intention is to hurt Jewish people."

Actor/Director Stephen FryA new, independent organization has launched in the U.K. committed to the separation of the State of Israel and its policies. Independent Jewish Voices has been also called out for their haute  contingency of mostly writers, actors, doctors, lawyers and among whose prominent list includes celebrities Stephen Fry, Harold Pinter, Mike Leigh, and Zoe Wanamaker. Ironically enough, IJV's declaration describes the group as "from diverse backgrounds, occupations, and affiliations." Given the running list of signatories, I'm not so sure about the social and occupation diversity factor.

And while the ability to engage in a healthy, intellectual debate on Israel's policies is important and critical, the situation in the Middle East unfortunately can't simply be broken down into a declaration of universal human rights. It's much more complex and it's a Western luxury en vogue for affluent Bourgeois Brits to think differently.

IJV, also coined "Jews For Genocide" by British columnist Melanie Phillips sponsored their first speak-out this past Monday and was met with much controversy, most of which was written up in The Guardian.

 

A 15-year-old boy in Israel was sentenced to cut off his hair as punishment for studying for a Math test while in Talmud class.

Adept at the art of negotiation (like all good Israelis), the teacher originally told the boy he wouldn't be able to take the Math test, to which the boy responded, "Let's not mix apples and oranges." The teacher then equated compromise with the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The teacher said, "This is like the peace agreements with the Palestinians. First you make the concession, then we'll have the negotiations."

 The wise son responded in kind, "And what did we (Israel) get out of that?" The teacher was forced to concede and decided a haircut would suffice.

One of Radio Salaam Shalom's New FacesThe first ever Muslim-Jewish radio station, Radio Salaam Shalom, launched last week in the UK. The station, funded by grants from the government’s Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund, aspires to bridge the gap in the Muslim and Jewish communities by illustrating the groups' shared cultural similarities.

The station is the voice of the “moderate majority” where people from both communities will have the chance to celebrate, debate and share the events, the spokesman added.

Farooq Siddique, a member of the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society and presenter on the station, said he hoped the project would help improve community relations.

“Basically when you think of two communities who don’t get on, the first one you think of is Jews and Muslims.

“The idea behind the station, at a time when chasms are opening up between communities here in the UK and around the world, is to act as a bridge and bring communities together to discuss their problems.

“There’s so much we have in common. The Israel-Palestine issue has come to define Muslim and Jewish relations, but prior to that the relationship was the exact opposite.”

The idea came from Jewish and Muslim students at two universities - Bristol University and the University of the West of England - as a means of forging closer links with each other.

Radio Salaam Shalom broadcasts daily from 3-9 PM and from the schedule appears to be largely comprised of Muslim shows.

Veteran British stage and screen actress Miriam Margolyes is picking up her share of slander for actions she is taking to convince Israel to concede more land to the Palestinians. The frumpy actress who starred in that godawful Geoffrey Rush "Peter Sellars" biopic on HBO is not only launching a group to see that the concessions are made, but making statements to the effect that she condones suicide bombers as they have no other choice, really.

In an interview she did with The Jewish Chronicle, the actress stated in context to suicide bombers, ""I still say what I say: Unless Arabs see us as people, they will go on killing us and I cannot blame them for that. I do not know what else they can do, what other way they can achieve any sort of political viability as a nation."

Ouch, Miriam. Them's fighting words.

Blogger Andrew Dodge sums it up best:

Most people would read that and think she is one of those self-hating Jews. Her leftie cred is worth more to her than the deaths of her fellow Jews in Israel.

Protest On Brandeis CampusEager to set the record straight about his controversial book, Jimmy Carter addressed a crowd of eager students, faculty members, and a noticeably absent Alan Dershowitz this past week at Brandeis University. Originally scheduled as a debate between the the two, Carter decided he didn't want Dershowitz there. Dershowitz gave his rebuttal on campus after Carter's talk.

In case you're wondering as to the crowd's overall reaction to Carter, you can be rest assured. Carter received only applause, and loud applause at that.

In response to a question, Carter apologized for a sentence in his book that he acknowledged seemed to justify terrorism by saying that suicide bombings should end when Israel accepts the goals of the road map to peace with Palestinians.

"That sentence was worded in a completely improper and stupid way," Carter said. "I've written my publishers to change that sentence immediately in future editions of the book. I apologize to you personally and to everyone here."

But he defended the use of the word apartheid in his book title.

"I realize that this has caused great concern in the Jewish community," he said. "The title makes it clear that the book is about conditions and events in the Palestinian territory and not in Israel. And the text makes clear on numerous occasions that the forced separation and the domination of Arabs by Israelis is not based on race."

As the audience was silent, he spoke of roads Palestinians could not use and of the more than 500 checkpoints in the tiny West Bank.

He suggested that a group of Brandeis professors and students visit the occupied territories for a few days and meet with leaders and private citizens "to determine if I have exaggerated or incorrectly described the plight of the Palestinians. "

Playing the part of the manipulative politician, Carter even managed to defend his Dershowitz decision by saying, "I didn't think Brandeis needed a Harvard professor to come."

Oh Jimmy. You're just too clever for us Jews. Or maybe just for those at Brandeis.

So what about those maps?Dennis Ross, a former Clinton envoy to the Middle East, elaborates on his accusation that Jimmy Carter stole maps from his book, The Missing Piece for use in his new book about Palestinian apartheid in Israel. In his defense, Carter claimed the two maps he used for his book he took from an atlas that was printed post-Missing Piece.

Below is Ross' principal gripe with the way Carter displays the maps in his book:

When I decided to write the story of what had happened in the negotiations, I commissioned maps to illustrate what the proposals would have meant for a prospective Palestinian state. If the Clinton proposals in December 2000 had been Israeli or Palestinian ideas and I was interpreting them, others could certainly question my interpretation. But they were American ideas, created at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis, and I was the principal author of them. I know what they were and so do the parties.

It is certainly legitimate to debate whether President Clinton’s proposal could have settled the conflict. It is not legitimate, however, to rewrite history and misrepresent what the Clinton ideas were.

Why is it important to set the record straight? Nothing has done more to perpetuate the conflict between Arabs and Israelis than the mythologies on each side. The mythologies about who is responsible for the conflict (and about its core issues) have taken on a life of their own. They shape perception. They allow each side to blame the other while avoiding the need to face up to its own mistakes. So long as myths are perpetuated, no one will have to face reality.

Wait a second. Isn't that what politics is comprised of? Those who don't know how to face reality?

Israel appointed their first Arab Minister, Raleb Majadele, who will be their Science, Technology, Culture, and Sports Minister.

Raleb Majadele told Ynet Thursday, “I see the appointment as a historic precedent. I couldn’t refuse this opportunity.”

The newly appointed minister did not fail to see the connection between Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s shaky position and his appointment. “The move undoubtedly created sympathy for Amir Peretz amongst the Arab public,” he said.

Yesterday, on the drive up to Maine for the day, my Israeli boyfriend and I were discussing music. It's one of the things we do, when we're not watching films or critiquing them, we do music.

And while on the subject of music, he talked about the influence of Arab culture on Israeli music and aired some of his concerns. Is the embrace of Arab music under the guise of multi-culturalism another illustrative example of Israel getting swallowed up by the Arab world around them and shedding their identity, in the process?

This brings us to today's scandal du jour and the scuffle over Israeli TV anchor Anastasia Michaeli's "racist" comment that "sparked the ire" of many of her collegues at the Eurovision Song Contest panel. Michaeli expressed her concerns that the contestant chosen to represent Israel at Eurovision have a proper understanding of Zionist issues and not only be chosen from an artistic standpoint, but from a cultural and intellectual perspective.

Said Michaeli:

Representing a nation is an emotional hardship and the level of the contestants' professionalism should be examined. When they open their mouths they should show experience. One Lebanon war was enough, Israel's public relations should be appropriate, the contestants should speak English properly and when they are interviewed on foreign TV stations they should be able to talk about politics and have an education. We shouldn't just let them sing but also instruct them on what and how to say things. They should be able to convey our messages.

Official Israeli reaction to Michaeli has not been favorable:

Following the storm, the minister in charge of the Broadcasting Authority, Eitan Cabel asked the authority's director Motti Shakler to examine whether Michaeli did indeed make the alleged statements, and if so to take measures to dismiss her from the panel.

"If the statements were in fact made," Cabel told ynet," it is a very irresponsible statement bearing a racist and unacceptable tone by sectors in Israeli society that do not represent the spirit of the Eurovision and the world view held by the Broadcasting Authority and public broadcasting in general that represents all layers of society."

I can't help but feel a little saddened over the reaction to Ms. Michaeli's words. Israel appears more concerned with protecting their image than to acknowledge that there might be some truth to her words, however tactless and misguided the approach.

Reluctant as I am to admit it, there's a reason stereotypes exist. And when it comes to the image of a terrorist, of course, the majority of people out there are going to think Middle Eastern/arab/jihad/suicide bombers, etc. And yes, racial profiling aside, we all know why.

So now the Arabs have come out with a new way, in the form of a video game whose scenario is explained below, of indoctrinating their youth in a culture that breeds more violence and hatred aimed at the Israelis.

Case in point:

IMAGINE you’re a Palestinian teenager praying in a mosque when an Israeli settler walks in and starts shooting at rows of worshippers. What do you do?

This is one of the plots of “Under Siege,” a Syrian – made videogame produced by Afkar Media. “Under Siege” a sequel to “Under Ash” is just one of the new videogames targeting Arabs and Muslims and stirring controversy in the West.

In the past half a decade a number of videogames has emerged for Muslim children, all sharing a similar goal: to subvert the typical gaming stereotype of Arabs as bad guys by replacing the typical American or European action hero with a recognizably Muslim hero.

Killing Israeli soldiers, trying to stop the demolition of houses in Gaza, pelting Israeli troops, throwing stones at them with a slingshot in an attempt to get an ambulance held by Israelis are just some of the videogame plots.

The author of "Under Seige," Radwan Kasmiya feels that the game serves a crucial purpose, “[It] gives young Muslims and Arabs a chance to see themselves in the role of good guys, which will help bolster self-esteem."

Mohammed Al-Naser, a Saudi father feels, “Just as they have games with Arabs and Muslims as the target we have games where Israelis are the target. Why is it politically correct for the West to have Arabs as the baddies in their games while it is politically incorrect to kill Israeli soldiers in the occupied territories in our games?”

Still, a lingering question persists: Since when do 10-year-old boys who blow up temples to serve some higher purpose need "self-esteem" or better yet, a game whose reward is, the obliteration of "the other"?

Wednesday, I posted on Shimon Peres attending a Israeli-Palestinian soccer match in Andalusia, Spain sponsored by the Peres Center for Peace. Jewcy.Com obtained exclusive footage of Peres alongside Jibril Rajoub and a representative from Andalusia at a press conference sharing his thoughts about making peace with the Palestinians. Special thanks to Hagai for the clip.