nblinks

An NGO I've started following and supporting a little recently is called Search for Common Ground; they focus on mediation, conflict resolution, etc. -- getting Hutus to talk to Tutsis, pro-choice activists to pro-life activists, Democrats to Republicans, Israelis to Palestinians. They also support ecumenical efforts that acknowledge the real, serious differences between religions -- and so make one a lot less queasy than the "You know, deep down, we all believe the same thing" types. Anyway, in their latest article packet was an op-ed by one of their officers, an Arab American, in the Detroit Free Press, calling Arab Americans to help step up to the plate in offering leadership in the whole obviously horrendously stalled "peace process", and also offered the following aside, which I found compelling: "What remains baffling is that topics that are off-limits for discussion in the United States get a much fuller hearing in Israel itself. Compare the diversity of critical opinions that appear in Israel's major newspapers to those in the United States -- you'd think the United States had a greater stake in defending the occupation than does Israel."