by Raquel Evita Saraswati on January 11, 2010 · 6 comments
“None but a noble man treats women in an honorable manner. And none but an ignoble treats women disgracefully.”
- The Prophet Muhammad (At-Tirmithy)
Last year, I was approached by MarcGopin.com to write a column focusing on positive incremental change.
While I am always in favor of an optimistic approach, I confess that it is sometimes hard to remain positive. This is especially difficult considering the many challenges women – and especially Muslim women – continue to face in establishing and preserving their rights.
For example, it is true that the tribal practice of honor killing – in which women are slain to restore the “honor” of their families and communities - is not exclusive…
I had a wonderful experience recently in Toronto. This is a photo of my book talk at Indigo Books, where I spoke on my recently published To Make the Earth Whole: the Art of Citizen Diplomacy. I had been invited up by the Mosaic Institute to speak on a panel on the state of Middle East peace, together with Fawaz Gerges and Bessma Momani. The event was terrific, but the book talk was also fun because Hind brought so many of her good friends in Toronto, and we were able to celebrate with friends our work together in Syria.
Below are two extraordinary stories. One is an excerpt from an inside look at how and why extremists still filter into Iraq from Syria. It is hardly the tale that neoconservatives gunning for war with Syria want to hear, but it is far closer to the harsh reality and complexity of the situation. The only answer seems to me to be a strengthening of Western-Middle Eastern relations, everyone’s acknowledgment of shared responsibility for Iraq’s situation, better communications, and more cooperation on state strengthening and the rule of law.
The second story is an astonishing tale of reunion between a Syrian soldier and an Israeli soldier who had been on the same battlefield. But where they reunite is shocking,…
By Mallory Huggins
A few weeks ago, The Jewish Voice & Herald (which serves New England and Southeastern Massachusetts) spolighted our own Aziz Abu Sarah’s work as an activist in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The article, titled “Palestinian activist: From angry young man to a proponent of peace,” discusses Aziz’s very personal connection to the conflict and how he came to be such a vocal supporter of peace. At an event that was part of a speaking tour entitled “Two Peoples, Two Stories: Finding the Turning Point for Israeli-Palestinian Peace,” Scott Cooper, managing director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (CRDC), and Aziz spoke about the goals of CRDC and how Aziz came…
In the evolving world of social media, we have started a weekly podcast exploring positive paths to change. In our first podcast, we talk about our diverse backgrounds and recent advances in peacebuiding. Click here to listen . To subscribe through RSS feed click below, then click on CRDC Podcast
Many voices were clamoring to be heard this past week as President Barak Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington to discuss the future of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. At this important time, Israeli Kobi Skolnick and Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah came together to produce this joint letter, aimed at showing Israeli and Palestinian solidarity toward a new era in Middle Eastern policy.
Open Letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Barack Obama
Kobi Skolnick writes:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when I was young…
by Scott Cooper
During a recent speech to the US State Department, US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell said that “people create conflict and people can end conflict. I’ve seen it happen in Ireland.”
On that note, here is something happening right now between real people, Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs and Jews:
Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel Commemorate together Memorial Day, Nakba Day, and the Day of Independence
We invite you to a unique gathering organized by a group of Arab and Jewish activists (sponsored by “Beyond Words” Association)
Tuesday 28th – Wednesday 29th, April, 2009
To respect and commemorate the pain and
…
A few days ago, the world commemorated Holocaust Day with memorials, moments of silence, and time taken to remember the lives of loved ones lost. For years this day has been a source of internal conflict for me as a Palestinian, so this year my wife Marie and I decided to hold our own memorial by doing something I have put off for a long time: we watched the movie “Schindler’s List.” It was my first time seeing the movie, which tells the story of a German man who risked his life to save hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust. Although it may seem strange for a Palestinian to take time out to…
Kobi Skolnick is a former Israeli settler and soldier, who decided to become a peacebuilding practitioner and study peace psychology after a life-changing moment during his tour of duty in the city of Hebron in which he became aware of the complexity of the conflict.
Aziz Abu Sarah joined a radical wing of Fatah’s Youth movement after losing his brother when Aziz was just 10 years old. After a few unique and eye-opening interpersonal encounters with the ‘enemy’, he eventually changed directions and became one of the most active, well-liked, and hardest working Palestinian peacebuilders.
What do these two men have in common?
- After losing close friends and family to the conflict and desperately trying to do everything in
…
In the context of major global conflicts, where everyone is analyzing what is right or wrong, black or white, left or right, it has occured to me that the definition of reality sometimes gets lost in the mix.
Here are few definitons of reality occording to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
‘Reality’
1: the quality or state of being real
2 a (1): a real event, entity, or state of affairs reality> (2): the totality of real things and events
reality> b: something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily
Imagine for just a moment if headlines coming out of the Middle East read like this…
