Promoting peace

[EllaDisenchanted]

There’s a lot of very heated debate on this board, as understandably there is a lot of emotion and deeply held beliefs and feelings. When threads descend into us v them arguments, the divide just grows further and peace seems further away.

It got me thinking that it would be amazing to have a thread where people can post links highlighting instances of mutual respect/harmony/caring, small or big, where people on whatever ‘side’ come together peacefully.

When it comes down to it, we are passionate because we care, whatever side we are on. There’s place to hold people accountable, on all sides, and that’s definitely happening on the board, but I thought maybe we could also promote peace too.

I hope this makes sense ♥️

I’ll start it off : this is from 2018, but it’s pretty amazing

just to add - Shabbat is starting here in 30 mins so I won’t be back til tomorrow evening - I’m not starting and abandoning the thread, but won’t be back online until then.

That’s lovely @EllaDisenchanted

Thank you for that post, and thank you for this thread ❤️

I’ll keep an eye out for anything I can share here.

Love this thread. Here's another one: the Israeli organisation Women Wage Peace, and it's Palestinian sister-organisation Women of the Sun, together form a women-led peace movement campaigning for a non-violent resolution to the conflict.

Thank you for sharing Polo ❤️

Thank you for this thread.❤

If this thread isn't at the top of the CITME board, I can't help wondering why not.

What a lovely thread.
X

It is a lovely thread isn't it?
Can't understand why it isn't more popular.

I think it is very popular and people are reading and acknowledging the posts, but unfortunately there aren't a huge amount of examples to share

That is very special, and the fact they had this march only three days before Oct 7 just goes to show that this is where the pulse of truth really is. Not this on going war.

@ScrollingLeaves your above post is not at all in the spirit of this thread, which is: it would be amazing to have a thread where people can post links highlighting instances of mutual respect/harmony/caring, small or big, where people on whatever ‘side’ come together peacefully.

There are plenty of threads where criticism, divisive language and catastrophizing about the future of Israel, the Jewish people and their identity are welcome, please respect the perspective and intention of this thread by posting things like the above on more appropriate threads.

@25milesfromhome I apologise.
Mumsnet will remove it if I ask.

This Israeli man and former Shin Bet head, had a vision of what policies would bring about peace both for Israel and for Palestinians, but he does put his views vehemently.

@quantumbutterfly I haven’t seen anything to post here yet. There must be more activities and groups that promote peace?? Perhaps it isn’t reported much?

No link, but one of my friends has just come back from Egypt, where a small group of volunteers worked with evacuated children from Gaza to help them process trauma through play and art therapy, and link them up with suitable tutors so they can resume some education.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9PNbWSoHdR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Yoseph Haddad posted this yesterday: (translation from instagram's translation, but looks accurate)

Here's a story that happened today and brings the Israeli partnership in everyday reality.

I was driving on Highway 531, when I suddenly saw an overturned vehicle in the middle of the road, there was an injured woman inside and trapped. And who was there to help? Young people from the Jewish and Arab society who stopped the vehicle on its side, an Arab Israeli truck driver who immediately took out a pipe from the truck and helped to prevent the vehicle from flashing, and a rescue team who arrived first to the scene after a few minutes and included Jews and Arabs. This is how Jews and Arabs work together, and it happens all the time everywhere in Israel. This is the Israeli partnership! 🇮🇱
This does not mean that there are no extremists among us, I am not naive. But if we focus only on them only looks bad, when we choose to look at the good also without ignoring the same extremists that need to be given to them, then we also see the good.
Full recovery to the injured in the accident and friends - drive carefully!

The end is a bit garbled, and I tried to read the original Ivrit but didn't get any more clarity, but what I am taking from his words is that of course there are extremists, and this isn't to ignore them, but we need to also look for the good.

This is kind of what I wanted from the thread - there's so many threads about the hatred and suffering and misery, but if we only focus on that, I feel we get more entrenched and polarised and further away from peaceful resolution. We can promote peace and combat dehumanisation by looking for the good too, moments of co-operation, caring, humanity. I know this is within Israel, and not specifically about Gazans and Israelis, but I think it is relevant.

Thanks for sharing, @EllaDisenchanted . Sometimes it can be hard to look beyond the loud, aggressive people at the extremes, but they aren't the entirety of a population, of any population. There will be day after all of this. Hopefully, on that day, all of us can build a better future and heal from this, together.

I agree, at a local level, person to person there is, for the most part humanity. People are generally good people and want to help and rub along well with others. It's at the macro, state level that this gets eroded. How to bring the local to the macro is the challenge

Thank you for this, @EllaDisenchanted .
That story about all the people, whether Arab or Jew, coming together peacefully to help the woman who had had a car accident, and the reminder that this coming together happens all the time, carries such an important, true, and good message.

It reminds me of this idea,

“The best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good.”

(This is from the famous Wilhelm Baynes translation of the Chinese, “ I Ching” /Book of Changes. Hexagram 43.)

Kudos to the charity "Road to Recovery" too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-67592468#:~:text=Yael%20heads%20a%20charity%20called,which%20is%20governed%20by%20Hamas.

Thank you @keenforhelp She must be an extraordinarily strong person to carry on helping sick Palestinians in spite of her own personal links to others, who like her had been involved in this work trying to help Palestinians, but who were nevertheless taken hostage by Hamas on Oct 7. How admirable she is. It is an inspiration to hear of her.

https://x.com/chiefrabbi/status/1820763754981650602?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Sir,
Over the last few days we have watched in horror as a small minority has brought hatred, violence and vandalism to towns and cities across the country. We have seen anti-Muslim hatred and the targeting of mosques; asylum seekers and refugees attacked; violence directed towards the police and private property, all of which are a stain on our national moral conscience.
Every British citizen has a right to be respected and a responsibility to respect others, so that together we can build a cohesive and harmonious society for all. As faith leaders, we salute the many people who have stepped forward to repair damage and restore their neighbourhoods. We pledge to work with government and all sections of society towards a constructive and compassionate dialogue on immigration and social cohesion.
The Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis
The Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Imam Dr Sayed Razawi, Chief Imam and director general of Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society
Imam Qari Asim, chairman of Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster

Joint letter to The Times, Aug 6

I found this report from Haaretz to be heartening and in the interests of peace. The context is that yesterday or the day before Ben-Givr went with about 1,500 Jews to pray there and sing the National anthem, ignoring the law which is there to keep a peaceful status quo.

• Five senior rabbis, including Israel's former Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem Avigdor Nebenzahl, condemned visits by Jews to the Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount complex in a video published a day after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the holy site. "I call on the nations of the world, do not see those government ministers as representing the people of Israel. They do not represent the people of Israel...Please act to calm the spirits, we all believe in one God and want peace between the nations, and we must not let extreme fringes lead us," Yosef said in the video.

Where did my post go?!

I was hoping to draw attention to an organisation called Outbrave Relief, a group of women working together to support Israeli and Palestinian postpartum mothers and newborns. They're currently fundraising to deliver 1,000 safe-sleep baby beds to Gaza but now I don't know what links I'm allowed to post here (the link is on their IG) so I hope other MNers will take a look at how Outbrave are trying to make a difference.

Will do ❤