From: "Eli Pariser" <bulletin@9-11peace.org>
To: <9-11peace@complete.org>
Subject: Reviving the Middle East Peace Process
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 08:56:38 -0500
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REVIVING THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
Read online, subscribe, or unsubscribe at:
http://www.9-11peace.org/bulletin.php3


CONTENTS
---------
1. Introduction: A Time to Act
2. Join the Conversation
3. One Link
4. Background
5. Views
6. Inspirational Peace Efforts
7. Get Involved
8. About the Bulletin


INTRODUCTION: A TIME TO ACT
-------------------------------
by Eli Pariser, 9-11peace.org Founder

Let's start with some disclosure: I am Jewish.  Many members
of my extended family live in Israel; I have traveled to
that troubled country a number of times. When a Palestinian
man blows himself up on a bus, I can't help but wonder
whether someone I know -- maybe even a cousin or uncle --
was on it. I know that every day people in my family ride
the busses and go to the pizza parlors and malls that are
targets for suicide attacks.

There are people, both Jews and non-Jews, who would say that
this is the price Israelis must pay for taking land away
from the people who lived on it for centuries.  But while I
deeply sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians, while
I believe that many of their grievances are both real and
terrible, I cannot condone the logic of that argument. The
people on these busses do not deserve to die for the sins of
their parents or grandparents: no one does. And I do not
blame Israelis for being angry when their families are
killed.

Even so, I can imagine some of the rage that Palestinians
must feel.  While my Israeli cousins live in lavish homes,
have gardens and SUVs and wide-screen TVs, many Palestinians
a few miles away have trouble getting drinking water. Their
homes are bulldozed by the Israeli army. Their ancestral
fields are razed. And while we often do not see this happen,
they are abused and mistreated and sometimes killed for the
most spurious of reasons.

These are terrible, tense times in the Middle East, and I
could continue to point-counterpoint my way through the
issues for hundreds of pages more. But we've had enough time
to wallow in the details of the crimes perpetrated by both
sides.  Placing blame is a convenient way for the people in
power  to avoid their real responsibility -- which is to
ensure that their people live in peace.  And while the
struggle to place blame goes back and forth, people who just
live there, both Israelis and Palestinians, continue to die.

How can those of us in the international community support
these peace efforts and help the fragile process of
reconciliation along? In an attempt at providing a framework
to answer this question, this week we offer some background
on the history of conflict in the region, while at the same
time highlighting the promising work of several existing
organizations both within the Middle East and abroad.

When we started working on this bulletin, we had hoped we
could come up with something 'balanced.' In retrospect, this
was an unachievable goal.  Those readers who wish to find in
this a pro-Israel viewpoint will; those who wish to find a
pro-Palestine viewpoint will also.  I encourage you to
eschew these classifications.  I'm pro- people living with
dignity and anti- people being killed.

Next week: India/Pakistan


JOIN THE CONVERSATION
----------------------------
You can help shape the future of our activism regarding
Middle East peace.  Through ActionForum, a reader-moderated
discussion board, we'd like to hear your answer to this
question:

"How can we effectively support a peaceful resolution to the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict?"

Have ideas, thoughts, comments?  Join us in discussing this
vitally important question at:

http://www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=221


ONE LINK
---------
Learn about everyday life under Israeli rule, the reasons
that Arafat rejected Israel's "best offer yet," and how the
Oslo process has curbed the freedom of Palestinians in the
West Bank. Plus, some thoughts about how to criticize
Israeli policies while remaining supportive of Israel
itself, and the vulnerability of these policies to Western
pressure.
http://www.9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=77


BACKGROUND INFORMATION
-----------------
A summary of the history of the region from 2000 BC to the
present.
http://www.mideastweb.org/BriefHistory.htm

A time line of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from 1914 to
2001.
http://www.mideastweb.org/timeline.htm

Some of the key issues in this conflict are:

Displaced Palestinians.
One of the main obstacles in the way of the creating a
lasting peace agreement is the question of whether displaced
Palestinians should be allowed to return home. A good
explanation of both Palestinian and Israeli views on this
issue:
http://www.9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=78

Jerusalem.
The city of Jerusalem, holy for Jews, Muslims, and
Christians, may well be the key to creating peace in the
Middle East. This article summarizes the historical and
religious significance of the holy sites within Jerusalem to
each faith, as well as the options being considered by
negotiators for this extremely significant city.
http://www.9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=79

United States Involvement.
2006 will be the 50th year of American efforts to bring
about an Israeli/Palestinian peace. The BBC's article on
this coming anniversary summarizes these diplomatic efforts,
and their failure thus far.
http://www.9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=80

September 11 has had a devastating effect on prospects for
peace in the Middle East. Why? Read on.

" 'For Israel, September 11 was a Hanukkah Miracle,' Israeli
political and security officials recently told the newspaper
Ha'aretz. Thousands of American fatalities are considered a
godsend -- in this cynical world -- because their deaths
helped shift international pressure from Israel onto the
Palestinians, while allowing the Israeli government to
pursue its regional objectives unobstructed. And indeed, in
the past months, the United States has unfalteringly
supported all of Israel's actions."
http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/26/04/news1.shtml

Applied Research Institute's "Eye on Palestine" offers
frequent reports on the regional effects of Israeli
occupation.
http://www.arij.org/paleye/

The website of the Foundation for Middle East Peace contains
articles and more comprehensive information on the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The site publishes a biweekly
settlement report, which according to the Foundation, is
"known as the authoritative English-language source for
information about settlements and the settler community" and
"is used by diplomats, journalists, students and other
interested parties in the Middle East, the United States and
elsewhere for concise, accurate updates on this central
aspect of Israeli policy in territories occupied in June
1967".
http://www.fmep.org/


VIEWS
------
Foreign Policy In Focus argues that the Israeli occupation
is a historic wrong on the scale of slavery and apartheid,
and that it must be ended in order to break the cycle of
violence.
http://www.fpif.org/outside/commentary/0112occupation.html

In this edition of Bitter Lemons, a weekly cross-fire
produced and edited by Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian, and
Yossi Alpher, an Israeli, editorialists present Palestinian
and Israeli views on the state of peace in the region.
Although no consensus is reached per se, all contributors
see the dead-locked peace process as the result of
irrational mistrust and fear on both sides, as well as a
failure to learn from past mistakes.
http://www.bitterlemons.org/previous/bl070102ed1.html

A compelling and thought-provoking analysis that portrays
the peace process as doomed to fail as long as it remains
inconsistent with the national goals and identities of both
Israelis and Palestinians. According to this article, both
sides see a continuation of the conflict as preferable to
the painful compromises that might bring about peace.
http://www.ariga.com/peacewatch/


INSPIRATIONAL PEACE EFFORTS
------------------------
People in the Middle East and around the world are working
to facilitate peace in the region. Here are just a few
stories of organizations and individuals we found inspiring.

The 70-year-old-plus wife of a former American diplomat
organizes speaking tours of America by Middle Eastern women
through her small organization called Partners for Peace.
These women relate their personal experiences of living with
the fear, war, and violence in their homeland, in the hope
that Americans will gain a better understanding of the
situation and want to help. The speaking tours have been
phenomenally successful.
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens/2000-026.html

The Compassionate Listening Project, a major initiative of
the US-based MidEast Citizen Diplomacy group, brings
together people from both sides of the conflict. By meeting
and talking with the people they perceive as their enemies,
participants begin to break down stereotypes and reconcile
with each other.
http://www.mideastdiplomacy.org/clp.html

The Givat Haviva Jewish-Arab Center for Peace Programs runs
the Children Teaching Children project, through which
Israeli and Palestinian children learn to cope with the
violence and conflict that are a part of their everyday
lives, and learn to think more critically and realistically
about the situation.
http://www.inter.net.il/~givat_h/givat/ctcfaqs.htm

The Seeds of Peace International Camp for Conflict
Resolution brings Israeli and Palestinian youth together at
a summer camp in Maine and teaches conflict resolution and
peaceful coexistence. Seeds of Peace has also set up the
Seeds of Peace Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem.
http://www.seedsofpeace.org/

The Campaign for Secure Dwellings, an initiative of
Christian Peacemaker Teams, partners churches and groups in
North America with Palestinian families in Hebron who are at
risk of having their homes destroyed. The Campaign has
experienced some success, as the number of home demolitions
tapered off until for a period of a year the Israeli
military demolished no homes in the Hebron district.  This
campaign is run in cooperation with the Palestinian Land
Defense Committee, Rabbis for Human Rights, and the Israeli
Committee Against Home Demolitions. Christian Peacemaker
Teams also helps train and deploy a peace corps that
resembles the nonviolent accompaniment teams used by Peace
Brigades International.
http://www.prairienet.org/cpt/csdbackground.php

The Women in Black began as a group of women who held vigils
and dressed entirely in black to protest the Israeli
occupation. Women in Black groups have since spread to
countries throughout the world, and the Jerusalem and
Bosnian groups were nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace
Prize. Some excellent background information and articles
are provided on the Edmonton (Canada) Women in Black group's
website.
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/Peace/womeninblackindex.htm

In their policy statement, Americans for Peace Now, the U.S.
partner of the Israeli organization Shalom Achshav,
compellingly argue that Israel has as much to gain from a
Palestinian state as Palestinians do. APN believes that
forging a lasting peace with the Palestinians is not only
compatible with the Zionist position, but is necessary if
Israel is to preserve its Jewish and democratic character.
http://www.peacenow.org/stand.html

For more information on other peace groups and reports by
these groups:
http://www.ariga.com/humanrights/


GET INVOLVED
-------------
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ABOUT THE BULLETIN
-------------------
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