Middle East -- People of Light for
this Season of Light 2009
21 December 2009
"There will be no victory of light over
darkness
as long as we do not recognize the simple truth,
that
instead of fighting the darkness,
we must intensify the light."
-
A.D.Gordon (1856-1922)
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This Season of Light 2009 reminds us -- the
darker the sky, the more visible the stars.
People of Light
like Israeli Ilana Meallem
animate high principles in daily relationships, and cross lines to hear and
humanize the unfamiliar "other."
And Palestinian Laila
El-Haddad moves outward from Gaza largely electronically via Internet.
Some visionary citizens -- like Palestinian and Jewish
creators of "You Are Not Here" -- provide others with new
abilities and technologies to safely experience feared "enemy" cities
and cultures from a distance.
There is a universally shared dream of Middle East
youth --Muslims, Christians, Jews, all.
The common vision of young adults is this --being
able to freely and safely cross all borders to meet all their neighbors.
Palestinian Mahmoud Abu-Laban ( AboLaban_Mahmood@yahoo.com ) in Hebron has
created the newest expression of this needed goal.
Freedom To Move
Created by Mahmoud Abu-Laban - Hebron, Palestine
http://www.mepeace.org/group/freedomtomove
Ilana Meallem (
ilanameallem@hotmail.com ) is a Jewish Israeli who has crossed too many old,
traditional lines and inspired too many people to describe here.
SEE her inspiring story and photos at http://traubman.igc.org/ilana-jpost.pdf
.
READ online at:
The Jewish Beduin
by Lauren Gelfond Feldinger
The Jerusalem Post - 10 December 2009
YOU
ARE NOT HERE -- http://www.youarenothere.org/
-- newly allows Israelis in Tel Aviv to 'meta-tour' Palestinian Gaza.
And New Yorkers are linked with Baghdad, just the
same.
YANH participants take a walking tour comparing
similar locations of paired cities.
To foster understanding, this "platform for
urban tourism" offers users virtual audio tours of cities in conflict
zones.
READ online at:
Tourists 'visit' Gaza sites from Tel Aviv streets
YNet News - 16
October 2009
http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3790914,00.html
This new
step in practical communication the decreases distances and walls between
people and nations.
To
PARTICIPATE, you:
1. chose your
paired cities the YANH Web site - http://www.youarenothere.org/
2. download a map.
3. take your
cell phone with you.
4. walk on a tour of Gaza through the streets of Tel Aviv, or
Baghdad through the streets of New York.
Baghdad - New York
http://www.youarenothere.org/yanh-tours/baghdad-new-york
Explore Baghdad as you walk the streets of New York!
Site-specific access codes can be found throughout the city
allowing you, the Meta Tourist, to experience the Great City by the Tigris.
Upon
finding an access code, call the Tourist Hotline -- 646-862-7769 -- for free
audio guides to all the must-see locations.
Gaza - Tel Aviv
http://www.youarenothere.org/yanh-tours/gaza-tel-aviv
A Tour of Gaza through the Streets of Tel Aviv is the latest
project from YANH.
Your narrator is journalist and mother, Laila
El-Haddad ( Laila.ElHaddad@gmail.com ).
Laila has
written and recorded the audio tours of her city which are available to explore
as you walk the streets of Tel Aviv.
She further describes YANH on her blog, GAZA MOM -- http://www.gazamom.com/ .
Laila is part
of YANH team that includes Mushon Zer-Aviv, designer, educator and media activist from
Tel-Aviv, based in New York.
Mushon's
work explores media in public space and the public space in media.
In his creative research he focuses on the perception of
territory and borders and the way they are shaped through politics, culture,
networks and the World Wide Web
Now intensify
the light wherever you live.
Go bless all humankind --
especially enemies, no exceptions -- with acts of goodwill.
-
L&L
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