NO MORE ENEMIES:

a new book for new life on Earth

Sunday, 10 April 2011

 

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies,

we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering

enough to disarm all hostility."

            -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  (1807-1882)

An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.

            -- Ms. Gene Knudsen-Hoffman (1919-2010)

"How do I listen to others?

As if everyone were my Master speaking to me

His cherished last words."

            -- Hafiz (1320-1389, Persia)

               Sufi Persian mystic and poet

   
NO MORE ENEMIES
 
    We on Earth are finally meeting and listening to one another.
     Listening to learn, without "yes, but."

    
NO MORE ENEMIES -- http://www.nomoreenemies.net/ --  is the long-awaited April 2011 book whose publisher proposes:

 

"What if the very idea of enemies is killing us?

Could we redesign the way we see the world, the way we view each other, to shift the paradigm and make the notion of "enemies" obsolete?

Maybe it is already obsolete?"

 

     By hearing and dignifying each other -- excluding no one -- many on Earth are beginning this new way of living.
     Creating the new, blessed community circling our gorgeous one planet.
     The obsolete idea of "enemy" is on its way to the rubbish dump of history.
     The 20th century Kabbalist, Abraham Isaac Kook, well-described this inclusive life available to each citizen today.

 

The Song of Songs

http://traubman.igc.org/song.htm

 

     The wisdom concludes:

"There is one who ascends with all these songs in unison --

the song of the soul, the song of the nation, the song of humanity, the song of the cosmos --

resounding together, blending in harmony, circulating the sap of life,

the sound of holy joy."

     LISTEN to the sound of holy joy.
     SEE the new global community gathering.

 

The How-To Story:

One citizen building a virtual global community choir 2,000 voices strong

15-min video

http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_whitacre_a_virtual_choir_2_000_voices_strong.html

and

The Whole Song -- Sleep:

Harmony of youth and adults from 57 nations

10 min video

http://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir


NO MORE ENEMIES
in real life, this March
    
     1001 STORIES OF COMMON GROUND -- http://www.1001cgstories.org/ -- is a platform for people who believe in constructive, cooperative change at the interpersonal level.
     DISCOVER citizens-like-you who not only imagine a bright future, but who are shaping their own communities in a positive way and want to share their efforts and impact with the world.
     VIEW inspiring videos:

 

1001 Stories of Common Ground

Stories of Positive Change in the Middle East and North Africa

http://www.1001cgstories.org/videos


     HEARTBEAT -- http://www.wix.com/heartbeatjerusalem/home -- in March 2011, gathered 30 courageous young Palestinian and Jewish musicians lived and harmonized together.
     From East and West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Rehovot, Tira, Majdal Shams, Raanana, and Haifa, their nearly 48 hours of nearly non-stop music creation succeeded to:

 

1.  cut through the silence of the desert

2.  transcend the fear, violence and separation of the rest of the country

3.  blast an exuberant medley of Arabic hip-hop, Balkan beats, funk, jazz, traditional Arabic music, Jewish music, roots, reggae and rock n' roll all the way back to our home cities to the North.  

 

     The Muslims, Jews, and Christians:

 

1.  brought together a new group of Heartbeat Jurusalem participants for a fun and meaningful experience

2.  co-created a safe space to develop their musical skills and knowledge

3.  mutually helped develop and bring out one another's voice

4.  explored music as a tool for communication and social change.

5.  wrote new songs

6.  explored the language of music through improvisation

7.  studied different musical styles

8.  listened to each other

9.  communicated, lived, and performed in harmony, creating a Desert Retreat to offer first time participants a taste of Heartbeat while preparing to engage with each other throughout the year. 

    VIEW photos:

 

HEARTBEAT RETREAT

Amplifying Youth Voices -- March 2011

http://www.facebook.com/heartbeatjerusalem


     PEACE CHILD ISRAEL -- http://www.mideastweb.org/peacechild/west_side_story_pr.html --  in March 2011 gave voice and stage to Palestinian and Jewish Israeli youth who created and performed their own bilingual adaption of the Broadway musical "West Side Story."
     Opening night was March 25, 2011, at the Anis Theatre in Jaffa.
     In alternating Arabic and Hebrew, the students from Gymnasia Herzliya, a Jewish school in North Tel Aviv, and Ironi Yud-Bet, an Arab school in Jaffa, danced and sang together, using theater as their tool to create a better shared society.

 

"Peace Child Israel" Jewish and Arab Students

Learn Values of Coexistence through Theater

Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassyta/sets/72157626387062684/

Jewish and Arab Students Perform West Side Story

Parallel story posted on DipNote -- 07 April 2011

http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/west_side_story_israel

and

3-1/2 min video -- 13 April 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOULatUZmFs

 

     The Palestinian and Jewish Israeli youth so love their cooperation that they accomplished the difficult, sophisticated fete of creating lyrics of the classical songs in alternating Hebrew and Arabic.
     LISTEN and realize what is possible -- the sound of holy joy:

 

AMERICA

Peace Child Israel

March 2011

4-min audio  --  Hebrew and Arabic

http://www.mideastweb.org/peacechild/AMERICA.wma


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These and hundreds of other success stories are preserved at http://traubman.igc.org/messages.htm