people (an Arab Muslim man and a Jewish woman) from the Israeli village of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam spoke in our community. Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a village of 50 families half way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that has been intentionally established to have Arabs and Jews living alongside one another in peace. (To learn more about this, click here) When they discussed the fact that they get no help or encouragement from the Israeli government (the government refuses to sell them any more land to expand and gives the school the least amount of money they legally can) the Rabbi asked the question “What about support from Hamas; do they help you?” After pointing out that Hamas is a political movement in the occupied Palestinian territories and not in Israel, Naomi said “Hamas has nothing to do with us; we are just trying to live together in peace with justice.” Ahmed said; “I agree with almost nothing they say, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t talk to them and try to find a way forward." When Naomi was asked what her Jewish friends say when they find out that she grew up and lives in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and works to help Palestinian prisoners she said: “They say ‘Oh, you must be one of those’.” When Ahmed was asked “What needs to be done for you to have more impact?”, he said “The governments , not just the Israeli government, need to pick up on this model. We can help show that people of religious and ethnic differences can live alongside each other in peace, but only our governments can make a big difference.” Perhaps we need more of “those” to encourage the new “Axis of Evil” to pick up on this model of peace with justice and try to move it forward with soft power and not guns and armies.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
The New "Axis of Evil"
The BBC recently polled 28,000 people from around the world inquiring which countries they felt had a positive influence and which countries had a negative influence. (For the entire article, click here) The top four (or bottom four depending on your viewpoint) for negative perception were Israel, Iran, North Korea and the United States. Those with the most positive perceptions were Canada, Japan and the European Union. Some commentators have explained the difference between the countries as based on the degree of engagement (some might call it meddling) in world affairs. I am inclined to think that the difference is more related to the emphasis on the use of soft power rather than on hard power. This week two young 
people (an Arab Muslim man and a Jewish woman) from the Israeli village of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam spoke in our community. Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a village of 50 families half way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that has been intentionally established to have Arabs and Jews living alongside one another in peace. (To learn more about this, click here) When they discussed the fact that they get no help or encouragement from the Israeli government (the government refuses to sell them any more land to expand and gives the school the least amount of money they legally can) the Rabbi asked the question “What about support from Hamas; do they help you?” After pointing out that Hamas is a political movement in the occupied Palestinian territories and not in Israel, Naomi said “Hamas has nothing to do with us; we are just trying to live together in peace with justice.” Ahmed said; “I agree with almost nothing they say, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t talk to them and try to find a way forward." When Naomi was asked what her Jewish friends say when they find out that she grew up and lives in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and works to help Palestinian prisoners she said: “They say ‘Oh, you must be one of those’.” When Ahmed was asked “What needs to be done for you to have more impact?”, he said “The governments , not just the Israeli government, need to pick up on this model. We can help show that people of religious and ethnic differences can live alongside each other in peace, but only our governments can make a big difference.” Perhaps we need more of “those” to encourage the new “Axis of Evil” to pick up on this model of peace with justice and try to move it forward with soft power and not guns and armies.
people (an Arab Muslim man and a Jewish woman) from the Israeli village of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam spoke in our community. Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a village of 50 families half way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that has been intentionally established to have Arabs and Jews living alongside one another in peace. (To learn more about this, click here) When they discussed the fact that they get no help or encouragement from the Israeli government (the government refuses to sell them any more land to expand and gives the school the least amount of money they legally can) the Rabbi asked the question “What about support from Hamas; do they help you?” After pointing out that Hamas is a political movement in the occupied Palestinian territories and not in Israel, Naomi said “Hamas has nothing to do with us; we are just trying to live together in peace with justice.” Ahmed said; “I agree with almost nothing they say, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t talk to them and try to find a way forward." When Naomi was asked what her Jewish friends say when they find out that she grew up and lives in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and works to help Palestinian prisoners she said: “They say ‘Oh, you must be one of those’.” When Ahmed was asked “What needs to be done for you to have more impact?”, he said “The governments , not just the Israeli government, need to pick up on this model. We can help show that people of religious and ethnic differences can live alongside each other in peace, but only our governments can make a big difference.” Perhaps we need more of “those” to encourage the new “Axis of Evil” to pick up on this model of peace with justice and try to move it forward with soft power and not guns and armies.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment