Lend for
Peace:
Young
Jews, Palestinians champion economics of peace across borders
Monday, 16 February 2009
To
transform the Middle East or any relationships, we have asked questions
with little power:
How do we hold those people accountable?
How do we negotiate for something better?
What new policy or legislation will move our interests
forward?
Questions
with great power are recommended in COMMUNITY: The structure of
belonging, Peter Block's 2008 book:
How valuable do I plan for this effort to be?
What are the gifts I hold that have not been brought fully
into the world?
What is my
contribution to the very thing I complain about?
"Whatever you do may seem insignificant to
you, but it is most important that you do it."
- Gandhi
"This is the Citizens' Century."
- Dr. Harold Saunders, former U.S. Ass't
Secretary of State
Facilitator of five successful
Arab-Israeli treaties
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Lend for Peace
What do
these four U.S. young men have in common?
Sam Adelsberg - observant Jew - ( SAdelsberg@gmail.com ) student of Philosophy,
Politics, and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Andrew Dudum - Christian Palestinian - ( AndrewDudum@yahoo.com ) student at the Wharton School
in Finance and Real Estate
David Fraga - observant Cuban Jew - analyst at Insight Venture Partners, with a double major
in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Allam Taj - Muslim Palestinian - student at the Wharton School of Business and University
Pennsylvania Law School
They are
four citizens - two Palestinians and two Jews - who co-created Lend for Peace -
http://LendforPeace.org - to enable
citizens of all faiths and backgrounds to make a tangible difference in the
Israeli-Palestinian relationship.
The youths' mission is to facilitate micro-lending
from individuals around the world to individual micro-entrepreneurs in the
Middle East.
Beginning in Palestine, they are helping to create
economic and political stability in the region, for the good of all.
Citizens worldwide can now use their site - http://LendforPeace.org - to make a loan
directly to a vetted micro-entrepreneur in the West Bank.
They work with US government-approved microfinance
institutions on the ground to deliver your capital along with training and
guidance to low-income individuals who are interested in starting or expanding
their own small businesses.
A loan is repaid over a set period of time as your
micro-entrepreneur builds economic self-sufficiency and a stake in enduring
peace.
There is also the choice of gifting the amount to
help perpetuate the project, to be continually re-distributed to future
micro-entrepreneurs in need.
VIEW more stories, photos, and videos:
LendforPeace.org Blog
http://lendforpeace.wordpress.com/
Nonprofit aims to bring
peace to Middle East
Microfinance group LendforPeace.org was launched
last night
The Daily Pennsylvanian - Friday, 06 February 2009
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Relief International ~
Schools Online
Middle East
Relief International ~ Schools Online Middle East - http://connect-middleeast.ning.com
- is a new site to connect teachers and students across oceans to encourage
spontaneous collaboration and creativity for new levels of communication
between students and teachers in Palestine and the United States.
Palestinian and U.S. educators can select topics
and activities of choice that intergrate with their lesson plans, to further
education while building relationships.
The theme "Education for Community
Development / West Bank- Palestine" is newly supported by the U.S.
Department of State to overcome long-held ignorance and close distances between
citizens and classrooms.
Educators or students CONTACT Ann Mussman (
Anna.Mussman@gmail.com ) in the U.S. or Palestinian Jawad AbuOwn ( Jawad@ri.org
) in the West Bank.
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Sending Goodwill Across a
Border
Most people
around them retreated into clans and "sides."
But for one month of intense living, near Jerusalem
a remarkable group of Jews and Palestinians found one another and shared
purpose.
They gathered then sent household supplies and
messages of healing across the Gaza border in response to increased
violence.
SEE a full, illustrated account of the
Jerusalem team's day-by-day process of change from despair to creative social
outcomes.
A Story of Diverse Citizens
Muslims and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians
Rising Together from Despair to Social Action
by Connecting, Communicating, Healing and Creating Acts of Goodwill
http://traubman.igc.org/gazahelp.pdf
or
http://traubman.igc.org/gazahelp.doc
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"David &
Fatima" crossing borders
Another
story that begins in Jerusalem and ends in Gaza is DAVID
& FATIMA - http://davidandfatima.com
.
The esthetic 2-hour film is a Romeo and
Juliet story of love overcoming rigid old thinking and passionate adherence to
limited identities.
In Jerusalem, a young Muslim Palestinian women and a
Jewish Israeli man meet and overcome social taboos from antiquity, showing the
triumph of love over fear between individuals even if larger communities and
nations are not yet ready.
"Realistic people never change the
world. Only the crazy people do," David concludes assures Fatima.
The insightful film was produced by Karim Bian (
Malibutv@aol.com ), a Jewish immigrant from Iran, and directed by Alain Zaloum,
an Egyptian Arab.
The DVD is now available in 12 languages -
English, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, French, Persian, Chinese, Turkish,
German, Japanese, and Korean.
ORDER it online at http://davidandfatima.com/trailers/reflections_eng.html
.