Call for global genius to create JUST JERUSALEM

+  some real examples

Friday, 23 March 2007

 

I very strongly agree with the notion that

you have to be the leader you are seeking.

                Nadine Burke, MD

                San Francisco pediatrician

Jerusalem means so much to Jews, Muslims and Christians.
It is at the heart of the search for a life together that benefits everyone.
        Old thinking: "Jerusalem means more to me than to you."
        New thinking: "Jerusalem means so much to each of us."

The Holy City, composed in 1892, expresses best in music a vision for Jerusalem that is now within reach, we believe.

And once again the scene was changed; new earth there seemed to be;

I saw the Holy City beside the tideless sea;

The light of God was on its streets, the gates were open wide,

And all who would might enter and no one was denied.

No need of moon or stars by night, or sun to shine by day;

It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away.

It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away.

World's creative genius invited to
invent a just Jerusalem

    JUST JERUSALEM Competition has begun -- http://web.mit.edu/justjerusalem/ .
     Design entrees from anyone in the world  are due December 31, 2007.
     You are invited to invent new approaches to, and potential solutions for, the many complex, seemingly intractable problems that the residents of Jerusalem face on a daily basis.

     Individual citizens or teams from any country in the world are invited to enter.
    Multi-disciplinary and mult-inational teams are encouraged .

     Find future possibilities for a pluralist, just, peaceful, and sustainable Jerusalem shared by all its residents.
     Discover new ways of thinking about the many difficult issues and hardships faced by Jerusalemites, regardless of their faith or ethnicity.

     Submission Eligibility & Rules are at http://web.mit.edu/justjerusalem/html/2eligibility.shtml
     Each entrant will choose one category:
                1.  Jerusalem as capital of two states
                2.  Jerusalem as capital of one state (specify which)
                3.  Jerusalem as an international city (corpus separatum)
                4.  Other (specify)

     JUST JERUSALEM is part of The Jerusalem 2050 Project at MIT -- http://web.mit.edu/CIS/jerusalem2050/ .
     Co-sponsors at MIT are the Department of Urban Studies and Planing -- http://dusp.mit.edu/ -- and the Center for International Studies -- http://web.mit.edu/cis/ .
     Questions can be directed by e-mail to JJQuestions@mit.edu .
     Read more in today's newspaper:

Published in The Boston Globe -- Friday, 23 March 2007

MIT casts a wide net for Mideast solutions

By David Abel, Globe Staff

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/03/23/mit_casts_a_wide_net_for_mideast_solutions/

Meanwhile, citizens are already modeling
new ways of living & learning together

A few of the many examples are:

1.  Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al-Salam (Oasis of Peace)

http://nswas.com/

Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a cooperative village of Jews and Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship living and learning together in a shared school with shared languages, while providing a safe place for other Palestinians and Jews to meet and consider a new, shared future.

2.  Hand in Hand Schools

http://handinhand12.org/

Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel builds peace between Jews and Palestinians in Israel with three bilingual and multi-cultural schools in Jerusalem, the Galilee region, and Wadi Ara.  Each school is co-directed by Palestinian and Jewish co-Principals; and each classroom is co-taught by Jewish and Arab teachers. Classes are balanced between Arab and Jewish children. Students at all grade levels are taught in both Hebrew and Arabic, learning to treasure their own culture and language while understanding the difference of others around them.

3.  All Nations Cafe

http://allnationscafe.org/whatwedo.html

All Nations Caf頴eam creates a peaceful oasis -- a mini-camp at Ein Haniya, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, on the border between Israel and Palestine.  Mostly young adults in their 20s and 30s share food, work, and prayer.  They create and celebrate together, care for the earth and the local mountain spring, bring the ancient stones to life, and put smiles on faces of fellow human beings -- "enemies" no more.

4.  Nemashim Arab-Jewish Theater Community in Ramle

http://mideastweb.org/nemashim/ 

Palestinians and Jews in Israeli develop dialogue, mutual respect and understanding. They live  together in a form of commune, within Haifa, a town of a mixed population. In the middle of a terrible, destructive conflict, they model that a way out is by demonstrating the ideals of equality and co-existence in a mixed group and by using theatre to advance these principles.

Building a just city culture:
one last story of a weekend in Alabama

September, 2002, Rabbi Jeffrey Ballon moved to Temple B'nai Sholom in Huntsville, Alabama.  He wrote:

     "I moved to Alabama and have been stunned into silence  like so many others because of international events.
      It is a hostile environment. 
     Are there outlines and guidelines for setting up such a dialogue that seems to work?
     Is there a system that seems to work better than others that outlines the traps and shows the way to smoother places?
     The community (Huntsville Alabama) is quite polarized at the moment.
     Any advice would be welcome."

By July, 2004, Rabbi Ballon had built relationships and appeared on local TV with new Muslim colleague, Aladdin Beshir

Rabbi and Muslim Leader Forge Friendship

Broadcast on "For Goodness Sake"  -- Channel 19, WHNT-TV 10 o'clock News

Huntsville, Alabama -- Sunday and Monday evenings July 18 and 19, 2004

http://www.whnt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2045212

In 2007, a few weeks ago, great surprises were revealed in Ballon's e-mail:

     "So -- what did we manage to do this weekend?
      On Thursday the community gathered at the historically Black college and listened to an Indian professor talk about Hindu and Christian Relations
     Friday afternoon and evening was a success as the Mosque hosted the community and informed them of faith.
     We even were able to get the Sunni and the Shite community to do it together
     Saturday morning the temple hosted the community and the imam came.
     It was observed that he dropped our siddur (prayer book) and that he, with instinct, kissed it in reverence for the sacred nature he felt inherent in it.
     We walked the street after the service to the Episcopal church two blocks from us and had lunch together.
     Rabbi David Saperstein from the Religous Action Center in Washington, DC, addressed the crowd.
     Finishing up an eight week pilgrimage, on Sunday the Methodist church hosted the community.
     And in the afternoon another hundred people reviewed the entire experience at the Center for Conscious Living
     I am proud to say Something Happened.
     We will keep on going."

I very strongly agree with the notion that

you have to be the leader you are seeking.

                Nadine Burke, MD

                San Francisco pediatrician