While extremism seems to be exerting itself once more ni the Middle East, with Hamas' victory and with illegal Israeli settlers in Samaria throwing rocks at soldiers sent to evacuate them, it is nice to occasionally hear that there still are moderates in the world. I want to share with you a couple of the small bright spots in the otherwise rather depressing situation in Israel/Palestine.
How about an Arab Holocaust museum designed to confer a better understanding of what Jews went through in the Holocaust to his fellow Arabs and Palestinians? From BBC News: [1]
Khaled Mahameed admits his museum, in Nazareth in northern Israel, is small. But he believes it is unique...
The museum contains a collection of just 60 photographs depicting the genocide with Arabic captions explaining the scenes. The pictures were purchased from Yad Vashem - the Israeli national Holocaust memorial.
Mr Mahameed firmly believes that it is only by understanding the truth about how the state of Israel was created that Arabs can fully understand Jews and ultimately resolve the conflict between them...
Arab leaders, he says, think that by giving credence to the Holocaust they are legitimising Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
"But when Palestinians learn about the Holocaust they will understand the Jewish people better and can begin to develop a shared history," says Mr Mahameed enthusiastically...
He hopes to make contact with Palestinian militants Hamas and Islamic Jihad to offer them information about the Holocaust...
A conference organised by the centre in November attracted 30 people and Mr Mahameed believes that slowly - sometimes very slowly - he is changing minds.
How about Peaceworks [2] a company that is promoting better ties between Israelis and Arabs through economic cooperation. And they use part of their profits to encourage moderates on both sides of the Israel/Palestine issue. from their website:
PeaceWorks is a not-only-for-profit company. We have proven that we can build and sustain a profitable company AND do a little good in the world.
Together with people striving to co-exist, we create and deliver unique and exciting specialty foods- only the freshest ingredients, always all-natural, always delicious.
PeaceWorks currently does business with Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, South Africans, Turks, Indonesians and Sri Lankans...
We are guided by the Theory of Economic Cooperation which reveals the following:
Profitable economic cooperation initiatives can cement relations between rivals in the same way that common-place business partners profit from exchange in today's market place.
In this manner, business can enable the conditions necessary to achieve long-lasting social understanding and prosperity in conflict regions around the world. PeaceWorks acts at the catalyst for economic interdependence.
Simply put, If wallets are married, relations can be stronger. PeaceWorks is founded on this theory -- and is proving to be a recipe for corporate success.
Peaceworks makes wonderful Tapenades [3] (I have tried three of them...YUM!) that are produced in Israel using olives grown in Palestinian villages, glass jars made in Egypt, and sundried tomatoes from Turkey. They also have "Natural Energy Bars" [4] and Fruit and Nut Bars [5] that are made in Australia but 5% of the profits go to OneVoice, a PeaceWorks foundation, that fosters co-existence in the Middle East.
Finally, how about a group that is trying to foster peace through environmentalism? The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) [6] is a regional center for environmental leadership. The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies offers Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian and overseas students an intensive hands-on academic program focusing on our joint environment. From their website:
By encouraging environmental cooperation between peoples, the Arava Institute is working towards peace and sustainable development on a regional and global scale. The Institute is situated on Kibbutz Ketura in Israel's Southern Arava Valley - a desert in the Syrio-African rift near the Jordanian and Egyptian borders and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. The Institute is home to academic programs, research and public involvement.
My hope is that small efforts like these are more significant than the larger shifts like the victory of Hamas and the even further rightward shift of Likud.
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