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Jewish Perspectives on Israel-Palestine Situation:  Panel discussion, Dec. 14,  in Beachwood featured Debra Hirshberg, Michael Greenberg, Cynthia Dettelback (Moderator), Brian Amkraut and Martin Plax - details in upcoming Peace Action Newsletter (January 2009) and in Cleveland Jewish News

Another Perspective: What Do Palestinians Think? Although the December 14 program did not include Palestinian or Arab perspectives, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom recently posted a very interesting interview with Amjad Atallah, Co-Director of the Middle East Task Force of the New America Foundation, which addresses many potential Israeli or Jewish concerns about what most Palestinians think about a future possible resolution of the conflict with Israel. Read interview here

March to End the Siege of Gaza - October 10, Cedar Center, Cleveland

How difficult is it to write a balanced narrative about the Israel-Palestine conflict?  Read Ethan Bronner in NY Times, on "The Bullets in My In-Box"

Electronic Intifada presents Palestinian perspectives

Peace Now - Israeli pacifists for Palestinian self-determination within 1967 borders 

Pessimistic about Middle East Peace?  Consider this -

• 77% of Arab citizens would rather live in Israel than in any other country in the world.
• 68% of Jewish citizens support teaching conversational Arabic in Jewish schools to help bring Arab and Jewish citizens together.
• A great majority of both Jewish citizens (73%) and Arab citizens (94%) want Israel to be a society in which Arab and Jewish citizens have mutual respect and equal opportunities.
•  More than two-thirds of Jewish citizens (69%) believe contributing to coexistence is a personal responsibility; a majority (58%) of Jewish citizens also support cabinet level action.
• Arab citizens and Jewish citizens both underestimate their communities’ liking of the “other.”
• Urgent action on coexistence in Israel is desired: 66% of Jewish citizens and 84% of Arab citizens believe the Israeli government investments should begin now, and not wait until the end of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• View Harvard study (2008)

Mideast Conflict: Need for a New Perspective - Arab News (6/5/08)

Tough Love for Israel?  Read article in The Nation

Controversy Surrounds Peace Action's Series on Middle East Peace at Cleveland Hts - University Hts Library

CH-UH Library Board of Directors cancelled our March 12 showing of the film "Searching for Peace in the Middle East" and the community discussion to follow.  The Board said they were concerned that the facilitators might be skewed towards the Palestinian side.  They acted in response to a misleading and inflammatory letter from Cleveland  Hts. resident Fred Taub that was worthy of Fox News.

Read Cleveland Jewish News March 8 coverage of the controversy.

Read Cleveland Peace Action's letter to the Library Board of Directors in response to the cancellation of the March 12 program.  You can also read the Library's response to our letter. 

Cleveland Peace Action has been working to provide balanced programming on the Middle East, the kind that would lead to the constructive dialogue that will  be necessary to truly move toward  peaceful solutions. 

We should have expected this - anyone talking about peace will be viewed with suspicion and may even be publicly attacked.  We are hopeful that we can work with the Library so that the April and May installments in this series can go forward and that the film, "Searching for Peace in the Middle East" can be rescheduled.

At Cleveland Peace Action's forum on Iran (1/24/08), Scott Ritter and Edward Peck discuss Middle East brinksmanship, the danger of threatening an attack on Iran and the implications for peace in Israel/Palestine -read article in Cleveland Jewish News

1/22/08: The Vanunu Saga: Israel's nuclear whistleblower still not free - Israel likely has 200 nuclear weapons - Countercurrents.org