Teiwaz
05-30-2006, 03:00 AM
Asking "What will it take to get lasting peace" in the Middle East seems to be the wrong question. It is too broad.
What do you think can be done NOW to pave the way? What are the things that can be done at a local level, the little things that make the way for other things?
The disputes seem to be, at a grass roots level, about religion, and tribal animosity. So is there any current action with decent support to get to the KIDS before they are set against each other by the mullahs and the adults? How do you get at the coalface and teach tolerance?
It has to be an extremely long term strategy doesn't it? I met a lady, Roslyn Avnet (an attorney from Washington, and sister of John Avnet, the Hollywood Producer), in Florence in 2000. She was there to meet her son who was working with Israeli and Palestinain kids in the Gaza strip. I remember that this was when they really started throwing bombs at each other because this young guy was frantic about whether his kids were alive or dead. He was part of a Jewish program working with kids from both countries trying to instill tolerance. Don't we need more of this sort of thing?
Another issue is how to tackle the corruption that keeps the average person in poverty despite the oil generated wealth?
I just don't understand the general mindset of the people in places like Iraq where the animosity between the different religious sects is almost as bad as their unreasoning hatred of the west. I dispair of how you ever make progress in those circumstances.
What do you think can be done NOW to pave the way? What are the things that can be done at a local level, the little things that make the way for other things?
The disputes seem to be, at a grass roots level, about religion, and tribal animosity. So is there any current action with decent support to get to the KIDS before they are set against each other by the mullahs and the adults? How do you get at the coalface and teach tolerance?
It has to be an extremely long term strategy doesn't it? I met a lady, Roslyn Avnet (an attorney from Washington, and sister of John Avnet, the Hollywood Producer), in Florence in 2000. She was there to meet her son who was working with Israeli and Palestinain kids in the Gaza strip. I remember that this was when they really started throwing bombs at each other because this young guy was frantic about whether his kids were alive or dead. He was part of a Jewish program working with kids from both countries trying to instill tolerance. Don't we need more of this sort of thing?
Another issue is how to tackle the corruption that keeps the average person in poverty despite the oil generated wealth?
I just don't understand the general mindset of the people in places like Iraq where the animosity between the different religious sects is almost as bad as their unreasoning hatred of the west. I dispair of how you ever make progress in those circumstances.