Israeli-Palestinian Peace Begins with You and I

Mike Ghouse
May 25, 2011

Mike Ghouse, a speaker on pluralism and cohesive societies.

Thomas Friedman [New York Times analyst] beat me to it; He recommends a good solution for the endless conflict in the Middle-East. I urge the right-wing Jewish, Muslim and Christian organizations not to hate him for writing his piece in the May 25, 2011 New York Times; it is something they wanted to begin with but went about in the wrong way. Their passion and support is crucial to be applied in the right path, the path of peace in the holy land of Moses, Solomon, Jesus and Muhammad. My prayers are for Friedman for writing this piece and God willing I am writing now to supplement his efforts.

Friedman challenges the Palestinians this way: "To the Palestinians I would say: You believe the Israelis are stiffing you, because they think they have you in a box. If you resort to violence, they will brand you terrorists. And, if you don't resort to violence, the Israelis will just pocket the peace and quit and build more settlements. Your dilemma is how to move Israel in a way that won't blow up in your face or require total surrender."

He urges the Israelis, "Israel today still has enormous leverage. It is vastly superior militarily and economically to the Palestinians, and it has the U.S. on its side. If Netanyahu actually put a credible, specific two-state peace map on the table -- not just the same old vague promises about "painful compromises" -- he could get the Americans and Europeans to toss in anything Israel wanted, including the newest weapons, NATO membership, maybe even European Union membership. It could be a security windfall for Israel."

The silent peace loving Jewish, Muslim and Christian majorities to the conflict want peace, they want Jews to feel secure, they want Palestinians to live with the basic necessities of life and Christians to be free from the conflicts between extremists in all groups. All of them want that region of land to remain a holy land, where peace shines and radiates to the world. Let peace and non-violence take root and win the support of every one of us in the world.

I'm thinking of going to Jerusalem and doing my share of the work in bringing together the people and taking a step forward. This has been my calling and perhaps yours too. Would you consider joining the movement, at least in terms of gathering momentum in the net world?

It's time for peace and time for us to come together, with justice for Palestinians (both Muslim and Christian) and security for Israelis. If we can realize a peaceful settlement between all parties, much of the world's frustration will fade away.

Blessed are the peace makers. I feel that was on the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus delivered that sermon; I feel the words and its power and, although a Muslim, I feel blessed with the baptism in the river Jordan where Jesus, my mentor and prophet, was baptized. I went there [a few years ago] with the Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) of Reverend Sun Myung Moon's ministry. Founded in 2003, the Middle East Peace Initiative is based on Reverend Moon's vision that problems of the Middle East will ultimately be solved by religious leaders – the leaders of Christianity, Judaism and Islam working together, rather than political leadership alone. I urge Rev. Moon's movement to give MEPI momentum now.

theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/05/israel-palestine-peace-begins-with-you.html

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, interfaith, cohesive societies offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.