‘LandPeace’: A Bottom-up Approach to Peace in Israel
S., a former Hamas activist who must hide his name for fear of retribution, found his way to LandPeace through an Israeli prison system. He tells the story of a young Palestinian named Tzudki Zaro, in prison with him, who told him that he murdered Jewish baby Shalhevet Pass. When S. asked him if he was proud of his deed, Zaro replied:
Of course, why not?
S. described the shock he felt hearing this monster, proud of murdering a baby. After that, S. recounts, “I began to think differently.” S. told Makor Rishon:
I reached the conclusion that I did not want to be with people like Zaro, and that both you [Jews] and us [Palestinians] live on this land, and that we do not have another land, so what are we to do? You fire at us, we fire at you, you kill and we kill, and when will it end?
S. described searching for ways to talk to Israelis and how he found the LandPeace movement:
I do not care about Abu Mazen or Netanyahu, but I do care about my neighbors, and I want the firing on each other to stop. I want my Jewish neighbor to give me a ride and I want to do the same for him, and we together will force our leaders to make peace.
…
The leaders failed to bring peace because the public was not prepared for it. The leaders sat together and wrote agreements and then delivered the message through the press to the people. But the people have not seen a difference, and they are still suffering. … Peace will come not when the leadership will cook and we will eat from it but rather when we shall cook for ourselves.
For Palestinian Arabs like S., reaching out to his Jewish neighbors could get him killed by Palestinians, while the Jewish settlers may reach out without risking retribution from other Jews. (Nonetheless, Jewish LandPeace members report being subjected to ridicule.)
Shai Ben Josef, a key figure in LandPeace, observed:
For seventy years people are trying to divide the land and have failed because it is a small land, and because we live amongst each other, and share the same roads, breathe the same air, and drink the same water. We must therefore find a way in which each nation will be able to fulfill its self-determination separately, but at the same time share in things that could be run together.
The message of LandPeace to President Obama and the European Union is clear: hands off — let us “cook” peace for ourselves.
Thanks for sharing that story.
Always the same: once politicians get out, common sense gets in
“Peace will come not when the leadership will cook and we will eat from it but rather when we shall cook for ourselves.”
This has to be one of the best statements I have ever heard.
For Palestinian Arabs like S., reaching out to his Jewish neighbors could get him killed by Palestinians, while the Jewish settlers may reach out without risking retribution from other Jews. (Nonetheless, Jewish LandPeace members report being subjected to ridicule.)
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Jews trying to reach accomadation with Palestinians are ridiculed.
Palestinians trying to reach accomadation with Jews are killed.
Therin lies the difference between the two societies.
Is it really the politicians who should stay out of Israel. After all, aren’t they a representative of the people as imperfect a system as it may be. What about the call to wipe Israel and the Jewish People from the face of the earth. Is that call coming from the House of Politics or is that call coming from the House of Islam?
If the subject doesn’t come up when talking about war and peace in the Middle East, it is not speaking honestly. When push comes to shove, King of the Hill in Israel must be Islam or death. End of story.
These local stories while heartwarming to some, in my opinion are “feel good” missives to forget that the larger Middle Eastern Neighborhood does not want peace with Israel unless Islam is supreme and Israel acquiesces to their demands of superiority. That would pave the road to kindness toward a dhimmi living under the shadow of a sword.
“For Palestinian Arabs like S., reaching out to his Jewish neighbors could get him killed by Palestinians”
And that’s the problem in a nutshell. There can be no peace until enough Palestinians actually want to live in coexistence with Jews. Added to the difficulty is the host of countries and tyrants that don’t want the problem to go away.
And that’s why it will not work. Until ALL the people in ALL muslim countries take this attitude, and thereby take control of their country, the leaders of non-palestinian countries will continue importing murdering islamic thieves (I know, a bit redundant).
I could even extend this, by saying, That ALL western world governments a missing on the main culprit, ideology of muslims outside of this conflict. On the other hand, Before OSLO, all muslims in Israel, including Judea and Samara, wanted to live in Israel and be Israeli citizens. Once Israeli government created an outside entity, palestinian authority, arabs are afraid to take Israels side, even though, these standard of living greatly higher then those of these brethren in other muslim countries. So, to summarize this, Yes, People will solve this problem, not governments. But, that’s not going to happen tomorrow.
I have a Jewish friend who used to live in Hevron 30 years ago, before the so-called “peace process”. Hevron is an ancient city where Abraham used to live. The vast majority of residents are now Arabs, and the Jews live in a few blocks near the shrine where Abraham is buried.
Back then there were no Jewish schools in Hevron. This family hired an Arab Muslim man with a van to drive their kids to Jerusalem. There were no fences, checkpoints, or anything preventing movement back and forth. There was simply no need. On the way home the the van would stop in Bethlehem and the Jewish children would buy candy from Muslim storekeepers. Now there is a wall between Bethlehem and the highway, because terrorists were shooting at passing cars.
I will let readers draw their own conclusions as to the legacy of the “peace” process.
It seems the so-called Arab-Israeli conflict is really a proxy conflict controlled from the US and Iran/Saudi Arabia.
There must be many more like “S”. Because muslims are only fed a diet of hate propaganda and brainwashing, they cannot think rationally. The fact that their leaders cannot organise proper education for their people is a horrendous state, and yet the West never mentions it and now the Obama regime is supporting Iran.
Very good article, one minor nitpick: “Eretz Shalom” means “Land OF Peace”, not “Land Peace”. The possessive in Hebrew is a bitch…
Israel could give away all the land they have and they would never have peace because of the Palestinian mind set since they are small. They are taught to hate Israel. Hate them to death. On the other hand you have a small group of Jewish extremist that also hate the Palestinian people and would never accept them as a people because they have hate in their hearts and also teach their children to hate from a very early age. This is very sad anyway you look at it.
Its even sadder that both of these people are being used buy another group for their personal reasons and these people care not for the suffering of their own brothers, and used them for their evil agenda, but will not make themselves known. They do so in both groups. Its not just one sided. They do what they do for power and selfish agendas. They care not for peace or justice as long as they are in control.