CNN's AC360:

Palestinians, Jews engaging and creating

18 October 2008

"Change doesn't come from Washington,

change comes to Washington."

- Barak Obama,

Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World was recently published and recommended to Washington by 34 citizen-leaders drawn from religious, business, military, foreign policy, academic, foundation and nonprofit circles.
     The extraordinary body of experience was brought together by Search for Common Ground - http://www.sfcg.org/ - and the Consensus Building Institute - http://cbuilding.org .
READ their landmark document at http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/us/pdf/Changing%20Course.pdf .

     The group advised reliance on accelerating a new wave of (1) diplomacy as the "primary tool" of global engagement and (2) face-to-face exchange programs to better learn about one another's nation and culture.

Report Seeks Engagement With Muslims by Diplomacy

The New York Times - 23 September 2008

http://nytimes.com/2008/09/24/washington/24muslim.html

     This agrees with the wisdom of Dr. Harold Saunders.
     As U.S. Assistant  Secretary of State, Saunders helped facilitate five successful Arab-Israeli treaties.
     Consider his up-to-date insight and book:

POLITICS IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS: A Blueprint for the Citizens' Century

by Harold H. Saunders

http://www.amazon.com/Politics-about-Relationship-Blueprint-Citizens/dp/1403971455

     Today, CNN also highlights citizen-to-citizen Sustained Dialogue activity for the Middle East public peace process.
READ the CNN feature story:

Jews, Palestinians engaging and creating

Anderson Cooper 360 blog (AC360)

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/16/palestinians-jews-engaging-and-creating/

Or simply Google for "Palestinian Jewish AC360"
     Or "Jewish Palestinian AC360"
     Equally.

     The CNN feature asks:
     "So what changes?
     "This: becoming human to each other, we begin to want the best not only for ourselves but for the other equally - so far, the missing part of the peace process.
     "While we are not depending on politicians to build relationships, to their credit this Sept. 23rd Congress passed H.R. 1369. This historic first Peacemakers Resolution acknowledges the vital role of nongovernmental organizations in peace-building efforts between Israel and Palestinians.
     "This citizens century demands face-to-face meeting on vastly larger scales, from which will come the healing, trust, and unprecedented creativity beginning at the grassroots. This isnt the role of government.
     "This is the Public Peace Process."

"Change doesn't come from Washington,

change comes to Washington."

- Barak Obama,