Friday, February 22, 2008

We are the majority

I was reading the comments this morning ,and when I wanted to reply to comments I found another, encouraging me more and more .
I used to say we are the majority in the world, the people who want peace are more than those who want war, but the majority is not being heard.

All governments are saying that the violence should be ended.
My question is : where are these governments?
Why the international governments don’t put PRESSURE to end this violence?
If they cant do it that is why we civilians don’t do it ,why we don’t create new future with hope, peace and love.
We don’t have to wait till more people die ,lets start now.
As my friend hope man , Things may not change very fast but little by little hope can be created and we the ordinary people can help in building a better future.
People on both sides want to know how many are supporting this peace.
What we see in the media is government speakers, but they don’t see you as civilians.
Am sure if more people join us ,the picture will be clear to others and we will achieve our goals .

37 comments:

The Lehman Family said...

Peace man,
We support you in your call for peace. Thank you for modeling peace for many to see. The only path to peace is through justice and reconciliation. You have begun this path through your willingness to communicate, which shows the strength that you have in spite of the circumstances. May we all continue to pressure the powers that be to end the violence.
God Bless,
Ryan

ZS said...

Peace Man,

I admire you for your words of moderation under pressure and I will continue to read what you write - but from where I sit in Israel it looks very simple. If the rockets stop falling on Sderot, the Israeli army would not have to fight against the militants firing them. To me and most Israelis it seems that the militants in gaza are causing this problem.

Peace,

Zak Safra

Anonymous said...

And one concrete way you can help is by going out on the street when demonstrations are organized, to speak (calmly, politely, after first LISTENING !) with interested citizens

There are world-wide demonstrations planned for TOMORROW, Saturday 23 February on the street in Oslo, Casablanca, Rabat, Damascus, Istanbul (place EL Fatih), Brussels, Rotenberg and Malmo in Sweden, Capetown in South Africa, Neuchâtel (from 10 o'clock on) in Switzerland, Beirut on Hamra Street, Paris at 3 pm at Denfert Rochereau, London from 5 to 7 pm opposite 10 Downing Street, Cairo, near the Arab League, Al Tahreer Square, Athens, Rome, The Hague in The Netherlands and more in Palestine and France : go to the ISM website.

Carol (http://carol.blog.tdg.ch)

shapirit said...

PEACE SALAM .SHALOM
I am fed up with this conflict .
We all must fight the ignorance which prevails in both camps.
we must respect one another .
Both parts need a good orchestra leader .
let's hope succeed in achieving peace
Everybody needs to talk to his/her neighbor and tell politicians that time has come to sit and talk about the near future .
From now on I'll read your blog .

shapirit said...

Never heard about the demonstration in Paris ...
Who organizes them ???

pipistro said...

You ask "Why the international governments don’t put PRESSURE to end this violence?". Some days ago I wrote here a comment (it did not appear, though), arguing that war is still considered a viable option for the solution of alleged reciprocal interests, and I added that we are wrong considering war as something different from a huge amount of crimes for the sole fact we subordinated those crimes to rules (these so called rules have been always dictated by the strongest, the one and the first who usually violates them). And this fact would have made us think of the very absurdity of these rules, as far as we acquit ourselves and condemn the others. It's our doom until we realize that there ain’t no “others”.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you carol ,we should deal with the problem peacefully ,and that’s good idea about tomorrow demonstrations ,but I thinks you should inform the media about this demonstrations
Am sure after that’s the number of people will increase

Anonymous said...

All of us fed up with this conflict, and that’s we want change ,one hand ,one voice not enough ,we all should say enough .

an april day said...

If the majority wants peace then there will be peace.From the concept of collective consciousness, if enough of us as members of the human species believe and act as if there will ultimately be peace between israelis and palestinians then eventually we will of course create our own reality as a people.

Anonymous said...

Dear Peace Man
Peace is the only solution and dialog the most natural and efficient thing between neighbours.
I wish you courage and good luck.
Salam

Anonymous said...

I foun ded this blog, coz one of my friends in a group post the new, im really amazing and wondering about what you are writting here. Im really wishing much ppl around the world claim for peace and let his voices be heard, even exactly i do not know how we cna do that I think we need first to open hearts and after start to pass the new. While more ppl knows about your situation it will be closer the moment to say enough from violence.

I really admire you and support you evne i know words are not enough for those who live between a war.

My best wishes for you. Salam & Shalom
From Mexico,. Azucena.

Gila said...

You know, generally when one hears about demonstrations, they are AGAINST one side or another. As in--Pro-Palestinians/Condemn Israel as Evil or Pro-Israel/Condemn Palestinians as Evil. This is not, to put it mildly, particularly effective, nor is it reasonable or justified, given the circumstances. I mean-it is clear from the blog-both sides are suffering greatly.

How about a demonstration, world-wide, where people just go out, without flags, without politics, without accusations, without condemnation, without threats, without billboards and without hatred and just support an end to the violence?

Of course, if we tried to do it in Israel it would be condemned and ridiculed by most as yet another stupid, airy-fairy left-wing radical idea proposed by self-hating Jews/Israelis. I suspect that the ramifications of such a demonstration in Gaza or the West Bank would be rather more severe. Sigh....

Every so often, something will happen, a hudna or the Disengagement or whatever and one things that "okay, maybe this will do the trick and this time it will stick and we will finally have peace". And of course, it is only a matter of time before things heat up and the bombs and rockets are flying. You get to the point where you just cannot believe anymore--you become completely cynical.

But I read your posts and I allow myself to think "maybe, it could be possible".

Anonymous said...

Hello : I live in Spain .
I am peace woman .
Your blog is very important ,people must know what happen to ordinary people who is living there.
My best wishes for yours .
Sorry .my lenguage isn't english.
Thanks you .

Arminius said...

Hey!!! Count me into this majority. If we keep looking for a way to peace, it will simply not arrive; if we do the peace, it will arrive in all of its glory.

I'm with you in this struggle. Good luck!!!

mensajera9017 said...

Los hombres comunes dialogan.
La gente del pueblo quiere y pide la paz.
Y los hombres poderosos solo piensan en ganar, en ambiciones y no ven el dolor.
Mi corazòn junto a ambos pueblos!
Desde Argentina, felicitaciones!!

Arminius said...

Hey!!! I just spotted this blog, and I wish you succeed in your task... Count me into this majority of peace-willing people.

If we keep expecting the peace to arrive in the right moment, we will keep waiting endlessly. But if we do like you did, making the peace, it will reach the mankind.

I'm with you, from Puebla, México. Good luck!!! ;)

Anonymous said...

Hello, I am writing from Chile, his blog is peace and hope. In my country there are many Palestinian immigrants, who along with the Chileans have one heart and want peace in their region,
We are with you,
Terraserena .-

Anonymous said...

hi
sorry for annoying but since when do you have internet in Sajaia refugee camp? i have been there often and as far as i know most of the "houses" there are not connected even to the telephone line.
and how can you post when the electricity was cut down? if you succeded to overcome this problems soplease let me know.
I would appreciate some detels, this may help me a great deal.
p.s
i think you bettre start posting in isrealy blog archives as well, www.israblog.co.il would make a good home for this.

thanks

Anonymous said...

Shalom,salam,peace and in my language frieden.
I want to send you my best wishes and want to say thank you for your blog dear Peace Man and dear Hope man.
Hope,many,many people will read this blog.
And i hope you will continue this blog a long long time.
Sorry,my english is not the the best,smile
so god bless you
salam and shalom
Dalila

Anonymous said...

I hate to throw negativity into this incredibly positive call- but this has been tried for years but there are always forces on both sides that stop it. I am not talking about governments or Israeli settlers or Palestinian militants. It is us the average people who also do this. For example, last October, OneVoice Movement tried to hold mass rallies in Tel Aviv and Jericho to show that people on both sides want peace and work towards a two state solution. An incredibly brave event was toppled by the ISM movement mentioned by Carol above because paranoia created rumours about how it would destroy the Palestinian people and this was all a trick to cheat Palestinians out of their rights. Similar paranoia was going on in Israel but it didn’t come to the surface as much. I don’t believe OneVoice, ISM or any other group is threatening but obviously the majority you talk about do feel threatened that somehow it will go against their needs (I know I certainly feel this when I hear about the one state solution). If you were to now make a statement that we need a bi-national state, you lose all the Israelis and Jews. If you state that we need a two state solution, you lose the majority of Palestinians. We only will work towards a solution if we feel it meets our needs. So what do we do when we all want peace yet each of our needs is different and the other side’s needs are threatening to us?

Anonymous said...

Question- are there other blogs between Palestinians and Israelis? (can be in English or Hebrew)

Anonymous said...

To Peace and Hope,

I just today found out about this blog. It stirs the deepest emotions of sadness in me because of where you are and what you are going through, but also a warm sense of humanity in seeing real peoples' lives, not just statistics and news reports.

I am a Jewish-American. My parents were Holocaust Survivors. I'm now trying to write letters to people of influence - such as my Representatives and Senators - to do more to facilitate a Peace Process. (I'm a supporter or 2 states.)I hope my Letters to The Editor get in as well. We all need to send these letters. I am also sending more support to "Combatants For Peace", former Israeli and Palestinian combatants now promoting dialogue.

I say to those who perpetuate violence: "How much longer will this go on until victory? What is victory anyway? After 60 years, has anyone really 'won'"?

I'm hoping for the day that Hope Man and Peace Man spend real time together, share food and laughter.

But for your region Peace is hard, because too many people feel that they have to give up things, and there is a lot of fear of one side by the other.

You both need to strengthen the leaders of reconciliation. I, and others reading this blog, need to help you. We need the media to cease reporting the negatives without the positives, For example, I was in Annapolis the day of the Conference attending a pro-Process rally, but CNN only showed the ones who protested against Peace.

I'll have more to say in future posts. God bless both of you.

Marinho said...

Greetings to peace in Gaza and Sderot, from Brazil's population.

arial said...

grazie per la vostra testimonianza, vorrei che questo mare di dolore e sofferenza finisse. un forte abbraccio Ciao

Robby said...

All the press I read about both Gaza and Sderot only includes war ravaged photos. Is there any chance of you guys posting pictures of Gaza and Sderot? I don't mean pictures of war and hatred, but nice scenery like flowers, mountains, beach, children laughing?

It might help gether some support.

Thanks and keep it up, you are both great!

Anonymous said...

Reading your blog..wish I can could do more ...there are so many of us out here that want to help. I read the media and by its bias creates violence and misunderstanding..demonizing one side or the other. Your blog can help create peace by breaking this cycle of mistruths

Anonymous said...

Every thing is possible, if we work for it
If we believe we can do it then will be possible, doesn’t mater when ,but if we will listen to the others we will not achieve any result.
We must be stronger and have hope for tomorrow and to work to end this conflicts and to live in peace.

Suzanne said...

"From the very first day," says Bethlehem's Mayor Elias Bandak, "the Israelis and our people mixed together as old friends."

From an old article. From an article written in 1967.
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,837304,00.html

It's worth a read. It's worth to blow some life into the ideals of Ja'abari, expressed in this article.

Keep up the good work you two with this blog.

Anonymous said...

To Robby,

You can find some pictures of what you would like of the Gaza Strip (April - June 2007)on my blog http://carol.blog.tdg.ch except - no mountains, sorry !

To Hope man and Peace man, I passed out papers with your blog reference on it at the information booth on Gaza in the center of Geneva yesterday. I will do the same at our weekly Women in Black demonstration. Your blog is also the subject of the new text on my blog (yesterday).
It's true that it would be great to see some photos of spring flowers - they are so beautiful there. And Robby is right : people have NO idea ! Also, it's nearly the peak moment of bird migration...
In solidarity, Carol

Lirun said...

exactly why i started blogging during the lebanon war

DasMaja said...

Hello!
It's good to read your blog because you two show the world, that there is at least hope in israel and gaza, though the media tell us something different.
I think the people dreaming of a peaceful world are the majority, we just have to start it.
greetings from germany, be blessed!
Maja

Anonymous said...

We know that’s the media biased, that’s why we want the other to know this
I believe that’s there is a chance for peace ,but have to work for it .

Anonymous said...

I am worry because there is no writting the last days.
Today is my birthday and the most importan to me is write some words here and saying to both of you what important are your peacefull words and desires in order to be more happy in this region.
I think is imposible to live in happiness knowing that in sderot people are scaring, and in Gazza people do not have almost anything.

to me is impossible,

so, keep writting please...

Ana, from Bat-Iam

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday to you Ana ,and I wish that’s next birthday will be peace over the world
Don’t worry we will keep writing .
Peace

Yannis Zabetakis said...

Just discovered your Hope Blog!
well done to both of you!

Let's all join forces through blogs, writing, teaching to end soon the conflict in Gaza, in Cyprus, in Serbia.

"Brothers in arms" keep the hope flame alive!

And let's hope that Barak Obama will bring to our part of the world a new wind...Unfortunately, only if USA try hard, something can be achieved...

Yours
IZ
University of Athens

Anonymous said...

I just found out about this blog!!! I write form Italy.
I really think this could be a great mean to call for peace!! I will always read it and you will always have my support!!! (actually i whish I could do more)
good luck

Veronica

Anonymous said...

I can only attempt to somehow understand the pain and frustrations that both of you, Peace Man and Hope man, must feel in the circumstances you are in.

Perhaps more terrible, is the perception of being alone.

Although our direct ability to help is limited right now, I would like to provide you with a link to others, from all over the world, who are expressing support for both of you and for the free people of Israel and Palestine:

Link: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13285

Please pass this link on to others, in both your territories, to let them know that we are watching and that we care.

The situation is dire but we can turn it around together.

We are, after all, the majority.

Kind regards,

GR