Received: with LISTAR (v1.0.0; list 9-11peace); Wed, 16 Jan 2002 08:55:33 -0500 (EST) Return-Path: <bulletin@9-11peace.org> Delivered-To: 9-11peace@complete.org Received: from c009.snv.cp.net (c009-h018.c009.snv.cp.net [209.228.34.131]) by pi.glockenspiel.complete.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 511833B80B for <9-11peace@complete.org>; Wed, 16 Jan 2002 08:54:10 -0500 (EST) Received: (cpmta 22511 invoked from network); 16 Jan 2002 05:54:08 -0800 Received: from 151.203.226.105 (HELO sylvester) by smtp.surfree.com (209.228.34.131) with SMTP; 16 Jan 2002 05:54:08 -0800 X-Sent: 16 Jan 2002 13:54:08 GMT 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 Message-ID: <NFBBILDICDMBFNGCLHNEKEOIDBAA.bulletin@9-11peace.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Importance: Normal X-archive-position: 17 X-Approved-By: eli@morethanmoney.org X-listar-version: Listar v1.0.0 Sender: 9-11peace-bounce@complete.org Errors-to: 9-11peace-bounce@complete.org X-original-sender: bulletin@9-11peace.org Precedence: bulk Reply-to: bulletin@9-11peace.org X-list: 9-11peace

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 ------------- If you would like us to include an action, giving idea, news article, or source in the bulletin, please write to bulletin@9-11peace.org and describe your item in the subject line.

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We apologize if you have sent us an email and we have not gotten back to you yet. Our response time will be slow until we can get some more volunteers working on this aspect of 9-11Peace.org.

ABOUT THE BULLETIN ------------------- The 9-11Peace.org bulletin is a weekly newsletter providing resources, news, and action ideas to over 24,850 people around the world. The full text of the bulletin is online at http://www.9-11peace.org/bulletin.php3; users can subscribe to and unsubscribe from the bulletin at that address also. The bulletin is a project of 9-11Peace.org. Contact bulletin@9-11peace.org for more information.