Thanks to Peter Maiden
(PMaiden@pacbell.net) of the Arab-Jewish Dialogue of the South Bay for this
encouraging news of counter-demonstrations at Stanford finding common
ground.
Given the time and space, there are women and men
wanting and ready to transcend that which divides our two fine peoples!
===============
Crossing the Barrier at Stanford
For some, the oval at the end of Palm Drive at
Stanford University was the location for a demonstration at noon on Friday,
April 19, 2002 in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. About one
hundred fifty demonstrators attended
So did over two hundred counter-demonstrators in
solidarity with Israel.
Stanford officials insisted the two demonstrations
take place on opposite sides of a path.
Towards the end of the event, Rabbi Michael Lerner
spoke criticizing the Israeli regime. He also criticized the Palestinian
Authority for the use of violence without negotiation.
Many counter-demonstrators booed Lerner before he
spoke.
But after a while, some participants in the
counter-demonstration began to applaud the rabbi.
A short while later, as the event came to a close,
someone spoke on the microphone asking the demonstrators on both sides not to
replicate the conflict, but to join and sing together for peace.
The two demonstrations then merged. And Israeli
and Palestinian flags flew side by side.
Peter Maiden's photo captured two Stanford dorm mates
(l. to r.) Jared Cohen and Tarek Hammam. See it by clicking on:
Jared and Tarek were on opposite
sides of the demonstrations, until they found each other afterwards and waved
their flags. Together.