Brave New
(young) Voices
call for
human engagement
18 April 2014
"Political
leaders will never take risks . . . if the people do not push them to take some
risks.
You must create
the change that you want to see."
~ Barack
Obama (44th President of the United States)
"The people
must first paint a picture of what we want life to look like."
~ Ami Ayalon (Former Commander-in-Chief, Israeli Navy)
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What Life Will Look Like:
Brave New Voices (BNV)
of the 21st century
Brave New
Voices (BNV) --
http://youthspeaks.org/bravenewvoices/
-- is a growing community of creative youth with courage to help us
become our human-best together.
This new generation of teenage poets is emerging -- picking up the pen and
taking hold of the microphone with courage, passion, intelligence,
creativity, honesty, and power.
BNV challenges young people to develop and present the power of their voices
and visions.
WATCH this young poetic, powerful pair of 21st Century youth announcing
we are One!!
Muslim
and Jewish Brave New Voices
3-1/2 min video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv00xjClbx0
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Middle East
Call for Engagement
not separation
Peace
requires human engagement
Ha'aretz -- Israel -- Letters to the
Editor -- 10 April 2014
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/1.585053
EXCERPTS:
Change is not going to happen first among governments and political
personalities...still blind to the required-yet-missing public peace process of
face-to-face, citizen-to-citizen engagement to humanize and experience
authentic trust among the people.
Why can we not see that "wanting" peace
means pursuing human engagement?
"The people must first paint a picture of what
we want life to look like." Former MK Maj. Gen. (ret.) Ami Ayalon clarified.
"No people or nation is going to go down a road
where it cannot see what life looks like around the corner". . .framing a
new courage - a modern "struggle" of engaged Palestinians and Jews
becoming artisans of communication, genuine neighbors, thus empowering
governments to succeed.
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Hand-in-Hand
Engaged Arab, Jewish
teachers, students, parents
Little
acknowledged is that Arabs and Jews even within the state of Israel live mostly
separate lives.
There is
little engagement, and continuing ignorance and aversion toward one another.
Thus, few citizens have communication tools or the courage to engage each
another.
This especially across borders with Palestinians in the West Bank and
Gaza.
In contrast, Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education -- http://www.handinhandk12.org/ -- is
building a new, inclusive society, partnership and equality through a network
of integrated, bilingual schools and shared communities of children, youth and
adults throughout Israel.
Founded in 1997, Hand in Hand's success and longevity demonstrate that
children, families, and entire communities of Israeli Jews and Palestinians can
live and work together with mutual respect and friendship.
This 2014 year they have 1,100 Jewish and Arab students enrolled at their five
schools. Their newest programs -- preschools in the cities of Haifa and Tel
Aviv -- are poised to double in size this coming fall.
"Jews and Arabs learning together, living together and changing
the world together," they say, "one school, one community at a
time.
WATCH the inspiring video:
Hand
in Hand Schools
9-min video
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Jerusalem Passover:
Palestinians and Jews
passing food from home to home
Since 2006,
before Passover the Interfaith Encounter Association -- http://www.interfaith-encounter.org
-- organizes a unifying food-sharing.
Chametz -- leavened food -- instead of being
traditionally discarded at holiday time, is collected from Jewish families by teams
of Jews and Palestinians.
Then the Palestinian-Jewish teams "pass over" the border, taking the
food to needy Palestinian Christian and Muslim families in East Jerusalem.
During both collection and distribution, the motive of inclusiveness,
engagement, and sustainable coexistence is made fully transparent.
During collecting, Jewish families are informed that their chametz
will be delivered to needy Palestinian families in East Jerusalem.
Upon delivery, volunteers clarify that the food comes from Jewish families in
West Jerusalem.
Recipients include an old-age home in Silwan, and
families in the support circles of Al-Manar in Wadi Joz and of Al-Razi in Al-Ram.
This 2014 year the food giving was joined by activists from the Sephardic
egalitarian (favoring equality for all people) community "Degel Yehuda" in
Jerusalem.
The project has inspired a public stage performance by a Hebrew school in the
U.S.
WATCH it online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z5hniPB2wI
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These and hundreds of other success stories are preserved at http://traubman.igc.org/messages.htm