YALLA JOURNAL -- Young Canadian Jews, Palestinians

publish stories, give others voices

Sunday, 19 November 2006

     Imagination is everything. It is the preview of lifes coming attractions, said the genius Albert Ennstein.

     Why can some Jews and Palestinians envision and engage in a new life together, and yet others cannot or will not?
     The answer is partly in understanding Social Change -- how it happens, who helps.
                http://traubman.igc.org/change.htm
     Certain personalities are inclined to be Innovators and Early Adopters to help new ideas diffuse into society.
     Other people get interested later -- the Early Majority, the Late Majority.

     This life of Social Change is energizing and creative, on the road to excellence and becoming more human.
     It is life-giving and exhausting, full of engaging people and loneliness. . .all at the same time.
     Comfort and unparalleled joy are interwoven with responding to "impossible" barriers and fearful people.
     Delays and setbacks test -- yet nurture -- patience and endurance.

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men (and women).

Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.

Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle."

Phillips Brooks (1835 - 1893)

IN THE HOLY LAND

     "This is a very daring, complex and challenging process," say Ron Kronish ( RKronish@icci.org.il ) an Innovator in Jerusalem.
    "It is much easier to remain within the confines of one's own community and deny and reject the Other, based on what one reads in the newspapers or sees on one's television screen almost every day."
     Kronish, an effective Innovator, is co-director of Kedem, a highly successful, ongoing, inter-religious reconciliation program of Muslims, Christians and Jews in the Holy Land:

Published in The Jerusalem Post -- 23 October 2006

Dialogue is the only way

By Ron Kronish

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1159193498090

     Kronish concludes: "The vast majority of people remain, unfortunately, in their own corners and their own communities, with very little contact and very few efforts to understand 'the other side.'"
     "But, fortunately, there are a growing number of people, who are forward-looking and thoughtful enough to chart another course, to pave the path of dialogue between Arabs and Jews.
     "There is indeed an alternative to endless war and perpetual animosity.
     "So far, only a few people have taken this path.
     "My hope is that more will choose to do so, for the benefit of all. . ."

IN THE NORTH AMERICA

     Young Canadian women Innovators -- Palestinian Dina Awad and Jewish Rachel Davidson -- are co-editors of YALLA JOURNAL.
     They begin:   "Dedicated to all Israeli and Palestinian children. May they be blessed to grow old in peace."

     YALLA JOURNAL -- http://yallajournal.org/ -- is a grassroots, collaborative, literary, youth response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
     YALLA is a 200 page book of the poetry, photography, and short stories.
     Its personal narratives and essays are from Jewish and Arab youth aged 18-30 from across the world.

     Exemplary, hard-won cooperation is modeled by this youth-created forum rich with poignant, heartfelt Jewish and Palestinian narratives and photographs that touch too-long-unexpressed wounds and hopes.
     By going to the most contentious and painful places, and the most longed-for visions, this courageous publication makes possible deep healing that these equally excellent peoples long for and can reach together.

     Arab writer, Waleed Jarjouhi, says that YALLA is ushering in a different sort of peace between the Jews and Arabs of Canada.
     "Peace is not about treaties between nations. It's about peace between people and real communication."

     The Arabic word YALLA explains the mandate of the journal.
     "Come on! Let's get going!" it means, and is used colloquially in both Palestinian and Israeli dialect today.
     Through this call to action, the journal hopes to inspire the reader to choose communication over silence, dialogue over violence.

     The first edition of YALLA JOURNAL was released in 2005 across University Campuses in Canada.
     The first launch was co-sponsored by the Arab Student's Association and Hillel student groups.
     It generated much public interest.

     YALLA editors were featured in local and national news, and spoke at university events across Eastern North America.
     They earned the 2005 Quebec Government's Forces Avenir Award.

     The second edition of the innovative journal was recently released in Toronto and Montreal.
     Launch parties October, 2006, featured live Arabic and Jewish musicians, journal readings, and free copies of the book.

     E-mail for the YALLA staff can be sent to YallaJournal@yahoo.ca .
     READ and DOWNLOAD the whole 2006 YALLA JOURNAL, plus its cover, at http://yallajournal.org/ .
     ORDER the beautiful, bound print edition, contact:

CANADA -- Dina Awad -- Dina_Awad1@yahoo.com

USA -- Rachel Davidson -- Leya.Davidson@gmail.com

News media DOES respond to the citizen peace process

     Now at http://traubman.igc.org/messages.htm are preserved almost 500 success stories of Jews and Arabs building relationships.
     In the past, many news professionals neither understood nor reported about the supremely important, required public peace process.
     This is changing, as we are learning to tell our own success stories much better.

    Leading the way are Palestinian Dina Awad and Jewish Rachel Davidson, and their Arab-Jewish youth team with YALLA JOURNAL.
     Look at the result of their pioneer publishing project and their exemplary news media relationships.