Dear Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue participants and supporters,

     In these violent, repressive days, it is easy to see only dark forces -- "ours" and "theirs" -- who fall mindlessly for the violent way, treating others who do not comply like traitors, threatening and using force upon suspects.
     "Losing our minds," we allow our reptilian, dinosaur brains to take over, dehumanizing ourselves and others, hardening our hearts and theirs.
     Forgetting our beautiful humanity and high destiny, we disregard law and the order of interdependence and cooperation -- listening, reasoning, searching collectively for wisdom, collaborating like the diverse, human community we are destined to become.

     Preceding major change, there is often chaos and perturbation -- a shaking-up of our old, familiar world.
     We are in that time.
     And the decision to change is binary.  We say no to "the old, the obsolete."
     And we must define and model that to which we are saying "yes" -- a new way of thinking and treating one another.

     Signs of civil change are appearing.
     There is a growing new breed of citizens who are learning to communicate in a web of global information and spirit -- listening to Earth and to one another.
     The narratives of all "sides" -- equally human and excellent peoples -- are increasingly being told in the broadcast and print media.
     Below are two new Children's Novels About Palestinian-Jewish Relationship-Building and three University Theses About Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue.
     This is a new trend among citizens who are, according to our new friend, Palestinian Walid Batrawi, "seeds for peace."
     And Walid reminds us: "The seeds must be watered.  And blood is never water."
     We encourage everyone to "water" and nurture new relationships where you live.
              -- L&L

1.  Children's Novels About Palestinian-Jewish Relationship-Building

THE ENEMY HAS A FACE  (a novel for age 12 and up) 
by Gloria Miklowitz, Eerdmans Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 2003, 143 pages, age 12 and up
There is more on the Web at http://traubman.igc.org/bookchild.htm#face

In this thoughtful and suspenseful 2003 book for youth, Gloria D. Miklowitz explores issues of Middle Eastern relationships through the eyes of young people on both sides of the age-old conflict. The surprising conclusion to the novel will leave readers with a renewed understanding of other peoples needs, fears, and beliefs. 139 pages. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.

SNOW IN JERUSALEM (a novel for ages 6-10)  

by Deborah da Costa, Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying-Hwa Hu

32 pages; water color and pencil drawings; map; Albert Whitman & Co.; Morton Grove, IL.; 2001

There is more on the Web at  http://traubman.igc.org/bookchild.htm#snow

This optimistic story is the first children's book by author Deborah da Costa. Its messages is of tolerance, compromise, and peace. Two boys -- one from the Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter, the other from the Muslim section of the walled city -- reconsider their own boundaries, expand their identification, and find a solution together.

2.  University Theses About Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue
See them at http://traubman.igc.org/theses.htm

BRIDGING DIFFERENT TRUTHS: Creating Dialogue for Reconciliation and Healing
     International Christian University, Tokyo, 2003
BUILDING PEACE BETWEEN PEOPLE: The Role of NGOs in Transforming Relations Between Israelis and Palestinians
     by Louis-Alexandre Berg, Brown University, 2000
CONVERSATIONS FOR PEACE: An Oral History of the Path to Palestinian and Jewish Reconciliation in Two California Communities
     by Alison Helise Rubalcava, California State Univ-Fullerton, 2001