lethargic_man | Sunday, May 11th, 2008

troo pointed out on my recent post on my views about Zionism that, though it may seem different as portrayed by the media, the peaceniks on the Israeli—and probably also the Palestinian—side are now, and have largely been, in the majority amongst the populace; it's just that the extremists have a louder voice, and the leaders don't always reflect well the views of their electorate.

Furthermore, I think I ought to point out the numerous initiatives to bring the two sides together at the grass roots level, which you also don't see well represented in the media—places like the joint Israeli/Palestinian village Neve Shalom, and organisations like Combatants for Peace, whom I heard speak yesterday at Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg's. This organisation consists of people who have fought on both sides, who have renounced violence and now promote dialogue as a means of resolving their people's problems. That's a brave decision to take, especially for one of the speakers, Bassam Aramin, whose ten-year old daughter was shot dead by Israeli border police outside her school the other year. It would have been very easy for him to seek revenge—but revenge, as he points out, only leads to more violence. And so he is pushing instead, against a system biased against him, for justice.

You can hear him speaking again this afternoon in central London if you're there, and reading this in time (instead of being out in the sunshine).

Tomorrow Moishe House are hosting Ra'ed Al Mickawi, a speaker from BUSTAN, another joint initiative. I shall be going to hear him; will those of my readers in physical range be?