Thanks for shearing!

Eventually, we all know that peace is based on mutual recognition not final borders. The idea of swapping land on a one-of-one basis as discussed by this Israeli government is far more appealing than the 1 for 9 basis “offered” by Barak.

The world has changed in 60 years … all the things we say and all the things the Israelis say are meaningless in the face of uncertainty. Nothing is permanent and the only thing that is important are attitudes. People’s attitudes. If someone has a good attitude, anything can be done to change the grievances of the past for both sides and, we can stop throwing mud at each other’s faces everytime we have a discussion.

Anyway, I am at the Ambassador Hotel 541-222 room 228 in case anyone wants to call and say hi … or SKYPE me (send me a note so I know who you are first ) … we have our show this Friday and Saturday at the Ambassador. Maybe those of you in Israel and have permits in the territories can come

Ray Hanania

Also, Maale Adumim is not an illegal settlement. It is a Jewish city in the West Bank, one that Israel intends to swap land for in a final peace accord with the Palestinians. People in Maale Adumim are part of the Israeli mainstream, NOT like those crazies who live in Itzhar or Kiryat Arba.

Same question many people have. I moved there in 1996 because I wanted to live close to my elderly dad who moved there a few years earlier. My kids ended up going to school in MA, made their friends there, etc. so we knew we were going to stay. After 12 years of roaming around from apartment to apartment (quite unsettling for us) we bought a place there. The cost of an apartment is 1/2 the price of apartments in Jerusalem, which is another reason why so many people buy there. There are over 40,000 residents. And most are not living there for ideological reasons. So I’m not the most politically-correct person, myself, obviously. So what to do in a not-so-politically-correct situation?? Make the community you live in aware of what you do – have interfaith gatherings in your home, invite Palestinians to your home, etc. This way I can enlighten the people living around me. There are all these peace-niks living in Ramat Aviv gimmel in Tel Aviv which to me is even worse, because that neighborhood was built on a destroyed Arab village – destroyed in 1948. I wouldn’t live there because of that. No one was transferred, no Arab village was destroyed in order to build the particular neighborhood I’m living in now – so it all boils down to what is personally politically-correct. Besides there are quite a few Palestinians who shop at our mall, take the Maaleh Adumim bus and get off at the entrance to get to their homes in Azariah. And lots of us shop in the Palestinian city of Azariah (I buy my plants there and some household items). So we can be good neighbors….

Also – I keep asking the question. If in 1967 Israel would have given back the lands they captured in June, would they have given the land back to Jordan from whom it was captured? Or would they have made a separate Palestinian state right then and there. No one seems to know!

At the same time, it is interesting to hear that many people from Maaleh Adumim engage in dialogue work. I’d like to hear more about this paradoxical duality.