My farewell to mepeace!
On mepeace.org I was at first a member under my real name – Eva – but after a wave of abuse I had a big fed up and left, deleting my whole profile there, thus deleting all of my posts and comments.
Many friends asked me to stay, to continue to speak out – so I decided to come back as Alice, a nickname I use frequently on the Internet.
Yet, after a while people understood who I am (I have my very personal style of writing) and the abuse continued and increased. I reached a breaking point where I said: NO MORE!! – and decided to leave again and for good, but this time not to delete my profile so as to preserve at least my posts and comments.
Now I go there only to reply to messages and comments on my page, to watch what is going on and hopefully to make some (good) new friends and contact. But I’m no longer posting or commenting there – it drains my energy for no result. My profile is now called “Alice doesn’t live here any more” 
I didn’t want to leave unnoticed, so I posted this “discussion” (see here below) to publicly announce why I’m leaving:
My farewell to mepeace!
I’ve been an active member on mepeace.org since I heard about the site presented as a platform for dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis – or at least that’s what I understood at the IPRCI workshop in April 2008. I may have misunderstood it, and I’m sincerely sorry for my mistake (if it was a mistake).What I see on mepeace is a platform where Jews and Israeli Jews (as opposed to Israeli Arabs) dominate discussions – not matter where they live and how much they actually want peace.
From more than 900 “peacemakers” (as everyone is called on mepeace.org) roughly 50 (maybe) participate at all. Many members have never said a single word. In a little research I did, while I can’t possibly go through the statistics of 900 members, I found at least 100 members (mainly people who’ve joined mepeace a year ago from now) who’ve never said a single word. Some members clearly spread hate.
The most prominent “peacemakers” for us Israelis & Palestinians are Paul Reti from Australia, Yigal D. Kahana from the US, Neri Ba On as the sole Israeli, Max S. from the UK and Elaine Friedman from the US.
Almost NO Palestinian ever participates in discussions, except for Hiba, Wael, Mohammed from Gaza, Abed Khalil, Abeed Quassem, Donna from Jordan, Marwa from Canada and a few others that are not on my friends list and whom I might forget right now. While I appreciate their interventions very much, they don’t make even some kind of equality in weight and interventions on mepeace. They are by the way not even considered as “prominent peacemakers”.
In any case I’ve felt increasingly alone on mepeace.org, and am not prepared to continue my lonely “mission”.
Therefore, while leaving my profile, I’ll not come back to discuss or post anything else than this - unless I see a significant change and my Palestinian friends tell me that things have changed on mepeace and that THEY feel at ease to discuss there – which I don’t believe will happen anytime soon.
I’ve gone through many disappointments and frustrations ever since I was there, and while many Palestinian members tried actively to support me and asked me to stay, only one Israel-Jewish member of mepeace ever did anything similar. She’s unknown to most of you.
My conclusion is that while I have been speaking about what I witness here in the country where I live, what I see and hear, events and fact that sometimes (or maybe often) do not make it in to the Israeli media, events and facts that are denied by a big part of the Israeli public, while I try to speak out on behalf of Palestinians whose rights are denied and whose reality and perceptions I happen to understand very well through my personal experiences in the past 2 1/2 years, I have recieved continuous abuse by many “prominent” or less prominent “peacemakers”, while most other “peacemakers” stayed silent.
In my perception, to stay silent while one witnesses other peoples rights being denied and abused is a form of condoning this denial and abuse, as well as making oneself an accomplice of the deniers and abusers.
This goes as much for what is happening in the West Bank, Gaza and even inside of Israel, as well as for what I felt it towards myself. I am not prepared to take abuse alone, without any kind of solidarty from members of whom I know that they witness the same things happening all over the WB, Gaza and Israel.
As I didn’t get this solidartiy and support from my Israel-Jewish friends on mepeace (except for this woman), neither from any other Jews present in this forum, I decided to leave as an active member myself.
Enough! Khalass! Maspik! – make yourself heard if you want to be heard – I’m not going to do this any more on mepeace.org.
I’ll continue to Blog on my private Blogs and write on several websites, I have joined other more supportive (and in my perception: also more honest) networks, and I’ll be more active in real-life grass root movements and projects.
Good bye and many thanks to those who DID support me!
Alice
P.S. I closed this “discussion” as I don’t want to discuss about my leaving mepeace, I only wanted to let you all know why I left. Good luck to all!
Join the Conversation
A few people I know had given mepeace a shot, but were never able to get into the discussions. Although it claims otherwise, most visible members seem pretty aggressive to me, like you have to be a part of the founding clan to survive the hatred and one-sidedness. That makes it an unsuccessful platform by default. You aren’t losing anything with your departure, you are just gaining the strength to start elsewhere. Don’t let others bully you into shaping certain opinions.
PS: I just checked their stats, it is incredibly dormant. I know that because we don’t get enough traffic either, and for them to be significantly less active in terms of traffic means pretty much nothing is going on there!
Seriously Eva, you fortunately have better things to do than this, don’t let it get to you. Away from mepeace and onto things that actually matter
I am the founder of mepeace.org. I am thankful for this opportunity to share how mepeace.org IS successful as a platform for peacemakers and invite you us.
To clarify:
* We are a growing community of peacemakers
* We have over 400 forum discussions which are open and alive
* We have more than a thousand pages on mepeace.org
* We have received more than a quarter million page visits in less than a year
* mepeace.org has been visited in 146 countries around the world
* Visitors spend more than 9 minutes on our site, on average
* Palestinians on average spend 13:24 on mepeace.org
We have wonderful peacemakers of many faiths and many places on mepeace.org. Each of our peacemakers matter. Each contributes to our commmunity. They enjoy the interaction, information and inspiration. Join us on mepeace.org and contribute.
Email me with any questions,
Eyal Raviv
Founder – mepeace
eyalpeace@gmail.com
Hi Eyal, it’s perfectly normal to receive visits from around the world, that’s how all websites work. It’s called the internet, and it’s not a testament to success. Eva made a valid argument against the abuse and general atmosphere of your small “community” and you need to learn how to respect that, and how to take responsibility for what she and others like her have been through on your website, merely for expressing a “different” opinion (so much for dialogue on mepeace, where everyone pretty much thinks the same, and claim to want peace but resort to hatred as soon as someone different joins the community.) Instead of apologizing for the way she has been mistreated and abused, you are making false claims about a website who most people don’t even know exist. This is just proof that you are not about dialogue and all about PR and patting yourself on the back, just another reason to believe that mepeace is very far from what it claims to be.
You are going to have to work a lot harder to convince others that mepeace is not just an extension of a cliquey “peace wanting” Facebook group whose members share similar ideologies. I spent enough time on your site to know this, and to see the way you were quiet when an entire community were ganging up on a pro-Palestinian Israeli. All I see is staunch supporters of Israel claiming to want peace but effectively silencing anyone who disagrees with their opinions. Shameful. Before defending your website, learn how to moderate it properly, and how to make people feel welcome instead of disgusted.
In any case, please allow others to have their own opinions about your site and move on.
Hi Esra’a, I created mepeace.org for respectful and productive conversation between peacemakers. At mepeace we respect the contribution of each of our peacemakers. We also respect Eva’s feelings.
We also respect your work with Mideast Youth and all the peacemaker in this community. For that reason we link to Mideast Youth. We also offer links to many other good organizations as part of our commitment to offering interaction, information and inspiration for peace. We are not competing. We are growing a community of peacemakers realizing peace in the Middle East.
The best way to experience mepeace.org is to experience it by joining. I invite you to join, it’s free, and email me your feedback. I look forward to working with you.
Eyal Raviv
Founder – mepeace
eyalpeace@gmail.com
PS We are proud and thankful for every peacemaker in our community.
Then you would need to live up to this mission, instead of watching people leave the community one after the other. It’s a difficult mission to achieve and takes a lot of hard work. It would be nice to see the community increase in terms of diversity and Palestinian membership.
I will join. But I will leave the second my opinions would not be respected there.
Thank you for being understanding and respectful.
I’ll give MEPeace.org one more chance … but it scared me off before … but I think that is just a reflection of the growing arrogance of the Israeli public that they are more important than the Palestinians, that they have the power (at least shortterm) and that they don’t have to be respectful or recognize Palestinian rights. Israelis need to start talking about their own failures, their own violence, their own hatred and their own shortcomings before they can start lecturing others … I give Eyal credit for sticking it out in such a toguh Netanyahu-like crowd. (By the way, the word “Netanyahu” is often used in Arab dialogue these days to describe a monster who lurks in the shadows ready to murder innocent people and good causes.)
Ray Hanania
http://professivecomicstrips.blogspot.com
I agree with that, Ray, and I also think that a lot of this is going on. Israelis, in particular, and Jews in general, are willing to look inwardly, and are often self-critical. Many Israelis recognize that they have not as yet realized the more nobler aspirations that were part and parcel of the founding of the State of Israel.
Having said that, I also believe that it is almost impossible to let your guard down when you perceive, rightly or wrongly, that a great many people are out to get you. And Israel is not being delusional in this regard. Many factors point to a concerted effort to destroy the state: the need since the beginning to wage defensive wars, the incessant barrage of terrorist attacks, the actions and proclamations of Hizbullah and Hamas, the professed intentions of Iran, the worldwide spread on anti-Semitism, etc.
What you ask for, Ray, is fair and reasonable. But it has to be matched, as you have often suggested, by an equal willingess by Palestinians to look inwardly, and to give up the idea of destroying Israel, or supporting those committed to such destruction. If Palestinians are willing to do that, then I am convinced that Israel would reciprocate in kind, and would contribute to Palestinian prosperity and freedom in ways that far exceed Palestinian expectations.
In a very real sense, and I know it may sound weird, Israel may be the best hope for Palestine. Israel is one of the few countries that actually give a damn, and that is capable of doing something about it.
Unfortunately I do not see this represented in most Israeli blogs, whose authors get abusive and insulting as soon as you try to reason with them or criticize their policies. There are some great ones, sadly they too get a lot of abuse from anyone who thinks differently (usually those who classify themselves as “right wing.”) Where are the self-critical ones whom you speak about? I don’t see them.
Israel, in my opinion, is anything but united.
It is Israel’s responsibility to “give a damn.” They have a huge hand in this mess, and should therefore play a big role in cleaning it up.
I don’t know that much about Israeli blogs, Esra’a, but I do have several hundred family members in Israel, all the way from the “black hats” to the unreligious. When I talk to them, they don’t really seem that sure of themselves, and they seem more than open to the possibility of peace. I’ve never heard any of them say, for example, that they want to kill Palestinians, or to destroy the possibility of a Palestinians state.
True, they may be quite skeptical about the possibility of peace, given current realities on the ground. But you can tell that they want peace, and that given the right circumstances, they would take a risk for peace.
In terms of Israel having “a huge hand in this mess, and should therefore play a big role in cleaning it up,” I could agree with the second part, but in all sincerity, I believe that a lot of people had “a huge hand in this mess,” including: to people who persecuted Jews for some 2000 years, the people who perpetrated the Holocaust, the Arab states who saw no reason for a Jewish homeland, the Arab states who did what they could to destroy Israel, the Arab leaders who would rather keep the Palestinian refugees hostage to ideology than to improve their lot, the Arab states who kicked some 850,000 Jews out of Arab lands including my wife and her family, and the terrorist organizations who believe that false belief and a greed for power trump the common sense inclination toward peace.
But Esra’a, we do have a choice here. We can continue arguing the equities of the past, which will get us nowhere, because equities exist on all sides. Or we can begin creating realities on the ground which speak louder than words. We can sell each other on a Vision of Hope, instead of hopelessly recounting the historical legacy of the past. Which do you think makes more sense?
It seems that you are blaming everyone but the Israeli government itself, who did in fact, have the biggest hand in this mess. I mean, they only have one of the biggest and best militaries in the region, if not the world, and receive billions in aid from the world’s most powerful government, that of the USA. And while it is “capable” of securing peace, it is not doing that.
How does blaming everyone but oneself lead to peace? That mentality leads to violence, and the justification of this brutal violence that we have seen for decades.
It is very difficult to move on when you are painting Israelis as peaceful victims and Palestinians and Arabs as brutal terrorists/persecuters who started this violence in the first place (even though they are politically and socially powerless, and receive a significantly less amount of aid and funding than Israel.) Both sides are guilty, but most Israelis I meet claim that only one side is, and that they are somehow helpless victims. It really gets to me. THIS is what is stopping peace. Nothing else. It’s this assumption that somehow they are perfectly innocent when in fact are guilty of what the international world considers to be war crimes, ditto to the Palestinian side who feel the same way. I’ve described it as blind and destructive nationalism and I shall continue to do so, because that’s really the biggest problem.
I think it’s this kind of thing that makes mepeace uninviting and painfully one-sided, I saw your opinions dominating the discussions, which is why Eva and so many other peaceful people get attacked merely for disagreeing. It is inconsiderate to blame everyone else but the state that was responsible for much of what is going on, and it is, of course, not living up to its responsibilities as many Israelis also believe. The more I hear Israeli apologize on their government and military’s behalf, the more I have hope for the future, but the more I see Palestinians dehumanized and loathed by Israelis and vice versa, that’s when I know this is going to continue for a few more decades.
Ray is a really good example of this, when he condemns whoever attacks. Key word here being “whoever,” meaning if any Palestinians attack, you will find Ray condemning it here, but if any Israelis attack, you can expect his criticism here too. This is a necessary process for stability.
Eyal,
It’s great to hear: “We also respect Eva’s feelings”. It’s good that you say it here, because, sorry to say, I didn’t notice. By the way – whom do you mean with “we”?
Nissim,
I’m afraid, but I agree with Ray and Esra’a. You may have lot’s of family members in Israel – which I do not question in any way – I know from my own experience that it took me 10 years to come into a situation where I couln’t avoid any more to look at what’s going on “behind the Wall”. There are still things I don’t know, who know’s what is still waiting for me? Only a month ago I learnt that settlers and Palestinians – who live in the same place, an Occupied Territory which is NOT legally part of Israel – are subjected to 2 very different rules of law. Israeli settlers are subjected to the Israeli law (I’m not a jurist, but I wonder how this can be legally possible for someone who doesn’t reside in Israel?) while Palestinians – just because they are Palestinians are subjected to Laws of Emergency, to Military Law – which in simple words means “total arbitrary”. And when I see and hear that settlers who attack Palestinians (not just stories, but witnessed by either other Israelis of International Peace Workers) are NOT arrested, but the attacked Palestinians ARE. This is only one example of thousands. To me, there is something VERY WRONG. And I’ve seen it by myself how Israeli media block out most of what’s really going on in the Occupied Territories is almost completely censored by the Army and the Israeli media. Anyone who want’s to have a look at reality can do so easily, but one needs to WANT it in the first place, make the effort to do so, and be prepared either to stay silent about it or to take incredible abuse – like I’ve been taking for the last 2 1/2 years.
Not exactly, Esra’a, because as you recall, I began by agreeing with Ray’s statement that “Israelis need to start talking about their own failures…” I just tried to make the point that it’s not a one way street. Both sides have to come to the conclusion that the status quo will not hold, and that a change of attitude is needed.
Let me ask you this, Esra’a: Do you honestly believe that if Palestinians, including Hamas, gave Israel’s leaders even a hint that they want peace, that Israel would not respond favorably? Maybe I’m wrong, but I wholeheartedly believe that Israel would jump at the opportunity to cut a deal, and a fair deal at that.
The problem, as I see it, is that a great many Israelis honestly believe that a great many Palestinians don’t want peace. Maybe not the majority of Palestinians, but enough to make a difference. Probably, the majority on both sides would be reasonable, and would be willing to compromise. But the extremists on both sides have so far held sway, and the majority is held captive.
Esra’a, I believe this is the answer. It’s the answer for Israel/Palestine, and it’s the answer for the world. Let’s stop talking, and let’s start doing. The doing will speak for itself, and will be more persuasive than any argument could possibly be.
Let’s speak to one another with common sense and with a sense of personal dignity, forgetting for the moment why we think we’re right and the other guy is wrong. Let’s invest in one another to create jobs which protect the environment. Let’s inspire one another with a sense of hope. Let’s sustain the hope with public diplomacy. And let’s fight the extremists, with all the weapons at our disposal, most of which are non-military in nature, but let’s also position the fight within a Vision of Hope.
You’re right Eva. Now what? How do we fix it? Are we going to fix it by talking about it? Probably not, because whoever you blame will turn defensive. And guess what? Both sides have good points.
If you want to fix it, you have to turn away from the blame game, and you have to create new realities on the ground, without caring much about who loves you, and who hates you. You’ll have to put history on a shelf somewhere, and begin to lay the foundation for a new future. A lot of the hate will disappear in the face of realities on the ground which point to the possibility of hope.
You have a great deal of passion, and you find the injustice revolting, and you can’t believe that your people are not living up to the values they espouse. I can understand that. But I would redirect at least some of that passion into pragmatic actions that could be taken without being overly judgmental.
If I could build a factory in the West Bank, that produces a green technology product, with Palestinian workers, and with Saudi finanacing, I would do that, and I would move over there, and try to make it a success. If the people there hate my guts, that would be OK with me. I would look at that as a challenge. I would help them with good paying jobs, and slowly, I would try to convince them of the possibility of hope. And if I could do that, they may start hating me a little less. Maybe we would come to realize that we’re not all that different after all. Certainly not as different as all this talk suggests. Am I off the wall here?
There is one thing about this conflict that I don’t understand, living in a country that recognizes anyone who is born here as a citizen. Why are all these Palestinian refugee camps in countries surrounding Israel still operating? Surely the majority of those inhabitants have been born in said country, not Palestine. Why aren’t they citizens of the country in question (Jordan, Lebanon, etc.)
Are these governments actually saying “well, I know you were born here and your folks were born here and this is the only place you’ve ever known, but really you belong over there and as soon as that country gets erased or agrees to letting you back in then you can get your ass out of OUR country”
As a Canadian, that really makes no sense whatsoever to me. Isn’t the country that you were born in your country of origin?
Eric, you are making the fatal mistake of using way too much common sense for the Middle East.
And by the way, your analysis of the thinking of Arab governments is pretty much on target. But you’re missing one piece.
What if you’re running your country inadequately. What if you’re not able to provide for your people the necessary aspects of a decent life. And what if you sense that your people are inclined to revolt against your rule. What do you do?
As a ruler, you could decide to clean up your act, and start treating your people like human beings, and to do what it takes to improve their lot in life.
Alternatively, you could decide to impose upon them autocratic rule, and make a deal with the religious extremists to help you maintain a state of order. In addition, you could use a scapegoat to divert attention away from the inadequacy of your leadership. So you pick Israel.
You don’t really want to improve the lives of the refugees. Citizenship? God forbid. You want to keep them down, and you say it’s Israel’s fault. Remember, you need to deflect attention away from you. It’s Israel’s fault. If we can destroy Israel, then you can all have the lives you deserve, the lives that Israel took away.
This kind of approach is alive and well in the Middle East. But I still say, that if Israel were to be destroyed, so too would we destroy any chance for turning the Middle East around. Israel, as little as she is, is probably in the best position to effectuate positive change in the Middle East. She is most able, economically and technologically, and most motivated to bring such change about, not just out of sheer goodness, but because it could lead to peace, and peace is probably Israel’s best chance for survival.
Eric,
What you describe is (or has been) valid for many other countries as well. Germany until recently has never given anyone born there the German nationality. This is still the case in Switzerland. France has changed these laws approximately 20 years ago. About Austria, my birthplace, I don’t know how it is now (I’m quite far away from this reality, nowadays), but IF the law has changed (which I doubt), it must have beed very recent as well. These are only the few European examples I know about – but I’m sure if we would check this questions, we would find many more countries with similar legisations. In this, also Nissim – you are wrong – it’s not only a Middle Eastern/Arab type of thinking – not at all!
Israel (by far!!!) doesn’t give the Israeli nationality to anyone born here – even if the parents have been living here for decades…
Eyal,
Do you actually realize how cynical your comments are?
Eva, I wasn’t trying to suggest that such problems only exist in the Middle East. Eric asked why Arab refugees aren’t being absorbed into their host countries, and I tried to explain.
But I don’t think it’s an exageration to say the many Arabs suffer from political oppression and religious intolerance. Israel too has her faults, but I think it’s fair to say that they are of a different nature.
It is important to face facts as they are, and to acknowledge our mistakes. There is plenty of blame to go around. But an accounting of our faults will not be enough to rectify the sad state of affairs we find ourselves. We will need to enact policies which address the mistakes of the past, and which give people hope for the future.
Eva brings up some important facts, but as usual, other comments claim it’s somehow only the Arabs who lack “common sense.” Seems that the staunch and blind support of Israel is making certain people unaware of its huge issues and crimes, and still unwilling to take responsibility for them because blaming Arabs is just so much easier and more fun.
I wish you all well and hope that you can make a difference.
Please note the site below and check the forums section of politics and Jihad.
These sites exist everywhere and are frightening in their commonality and beliefs.
http://www.islamicawakening.com/
Again, good luck
Here what seems to be going on from my Point of view:
I have not seen anyone display “blind support of Israel” on this thread. In fact, commentors like Eva criticize Israel without mentioning the Palestinians culpability in the conflict. People who respond to that criticism, like Nissim, acknowledge faults on both sides. But, considering that more attention has been paid to Israel’s faults, he has to delve a little more into Palestinian faults in order to put things into perspective.
The orignial topic was about bias on mepeace.org. Maybe it is biased towards Israel, but, there are plenty of other forums that are biased towards the Palestinians. Thats they way it is for most people. Few individuals are willing to come to any sort of compromise about Israel/Palestine, thats why any effort for peace is still an uphill battle. There are people here who won’t compromise on certain issues. I do not participate on forums where I believe my comments will fall on deaf ears. I’m glad Eva is not going to either. You can’t debate against people with whom you share no common ground.
When it comes to the Israel and Palestine, I am of the belief that neither side is more reponsible for conflict than the other. Once someone recieves more blame, as Nissim suggested, they become defensive. Defensiveness only further splits people apart. Thus, both sides have an equal obligation to strive for peace – one which they both do not fulfill because they believe the other side does not want it. Also, Israel and Palestinians are not the only ones responsible for the conflict. Lets not forget how Britain encouraged the increasing tention between the two groups before the partition in 1948. lets also not forget the arab nations attacking Israel without even considering the wants or needs of the Palestinians (not that the war would have been right anyway), or The U.S. and the Soviet Union using the Israelis and Arabs respectively as buffer states for their Ideologies. With all these factors in play, its hard to blame just one group for the entire conflict.
Esra’a, I have to take issue with you. I have said many times that there are equities on both sides of the fence: between Israel and Palestinians, between the Middle East and the West, and between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Both sides make good points, and there is plenty of blame to go around. I’m not sure that it gets us anywhere to keep playing the blame game. I also don’t think it is useful or even possible to say who is more at fault. And I’m not at all sure that it really matters.
What is important is to realize that time is running out. We either make sense of our lives, by using our “common sense,” or we’re going down as did 99% of all species on this earth.
I think that Israel should take responsibility for its mistakes and assume its obligation to promote the peace. But I think Palestinians must do the same, for it to mean anything. I don’t think it’s “fun” to blame Arabs. But I do think that an even-handed approach is insdispensable to the quest for peace. The justice that Arabs seek for themselves, is the same justice that they should extend to others.
And as for “common sense,” Esra’a, I sense a hint of skepticism. But common sense is not to be trifled with. For me, common sense is the way that God talks to us. He gives us the common sense, the wisdom, to figure things out, and then He steps back to see what we’ll end up doing. But we should not be confused. If we don’t start making sense of our lives, He will let things play out, even if it is our own self- destruction that we bring about. That’s how the rules have been set. Bring order to your lives, or live with the consequences of your own making.
And blaming one another, is not a way of making sense or bringing order. Rather, we should see things the way they are, and enact policies which point to the possibility of a better life, without much regard for who struck John, or for who was more to blame. The blame game is getting old, and time is running out.
She is Israeli and obviously, unlike others, has the courage and guts to stand up for what she thinks is right instead of following the sheep. I encourage you to read her other posts and comments before arriving to such a false and baseless claim, it seems like the only real issue you have with her is the fact that she critcizes a country that you’re a staunch supporter of. So what? In Israel and America people are treating this like a crime, it’s rather absurd. She’s actually one of the few real peacemakers I know aside from Ray. They are the few people who really do put their politics and biases aside when they look at what’s right and what’s wrong instead of looking at life (and this conflict) through a narrow tunnel like many of you so obviously do.
Esra’a, I am a staunch supporter of Israel, and that is one reason I believe in peace, because in the final analysis, peace is the best way to secure Israel, and to assure her survival.
However, peace will not come by blaming Israel, and making her out to be the bad guy in this situation. Peace will come by inspiring Israelis to take a risk on behalf of peace. And they will only take that risk if they become convinced that the vast majority of Palestinians are on board, and that means that Palestinians have, for the most part, given up on the aspirations of the extremists to destroy Israel. Most Palestinians are ready to opt for a better life, but so far, the extremists call most of the shots.
This will be difficult for both sides. And therefore, it is important to begin conditioning people for the possibility of peace, and the only way to do that is to sell both sides on a Vision of Hope: Ideologically, Economically, Spiritually, Diplomatically, and if necessary, Militarily.
If you begin to use Common Sense as your Ideology. If you create good paying jobs which protect the environment. If you use ideology and investment to inspire people with a Vision of Hope. If you sustain the hope with Public Diplamcy. And if you fight against extremism, but within a Vision of Hope. If you do all these and more, then people on both sides will begin to imagine the possibility of peace, and once they imagine it, we will be that much closer to making it real.
Start with a big vision, a big Vision of Hope. Give it some substance on the ground. And soon enough, the reality on the ground will grow to fill up the space created by the vision. Such is the dynamic of change in the world, and such is the prescription for change in the Middle East.
Notice that the scenario I’m suggesting does not involve blame, or retribution, or vengeance, or an obsession with history. The scenario described above tells us simply to take into account conditions on the ground, and to do something constructive about them, without necessarily placing blame for past mistakes, and without necessarily rushing to the peace table.
I may be naive. People who blieve in peace usually are. But based on everything I know, I think an approach of this sort could work, or is at least worth a try. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying a new approach: talking a little less, and doing a little more. And let’s let history sit on a shelf for a somewhere, while we begin to carve out a new future for ourselves.
Esra’a look at this post and thread and show me where Eva has criticized the Palestinians. If I missed something than by my error, than show me. Do not simply claim that my accusations are baseless simply because you do not agree with them.
So I support Israel, big deal. I also support the Palestinians. My dream is a bi-national state and will always be such. However, I do not believe in giving one side more criticism than the other. As others here have suggested, that only further fuels conflict and will continue to drive wedges between the two groups I hope will collaborate. I was responding to what I saw on this thread. If for some reason you find that offensive than either prove me wrong. I treat each thread individually because each one is its own separate discussion. Also, Just because someone disagrees with your idea of what is right and wrong does not mean then they see things through a “narrow tunnel.” People do not agree and thats why there is discussion and compromise. You mention that the biggest obstruction to peace is people thinking that one side is innocent. No disagreements there. But, when Eva’s comments ignore Palestinian atrocities, she makes it appear as though the Palestinians are innocent. That is bogus. Everyone has blood on their hands now.
As I said before, prove me wrong. Show me the “blind support” of Israel that you see in many of the commentors on this thread. Show me where Eva has criticized the Palestinians. Then I’ll apologize without hesitation.
Also, did I say that I disagree with the content of what Eva is saying in the comments? No. I just was noting the fact that she was being one-sided.
You keep acting that every Israeli’s job is to exist solely to criticize the Palestinians! Because Israel is perfect and there is absolutely nothing to criticize there.
In any case, and as wrong as you are in this misguided claim, this is NOT about the Palestinians, or in fact the conflict as a whole. It is about her experiences at a website where Israelis generally do not accept any form of criticism and hypocritically claim to be peaceful. This is troubling.
You are wrong in your baseless accusation that Eva does not criticize Palestinians, and for relying only on one post to make such an incorrect generealization on a person’s perspective on this conflict.
Read the rest of her posts. You need to see how necessary it is to truly understand a person without criticizing them merely for disagreeing with their general perspective. This is not mepeace. Israelis with radically different opinions than the usual right-wingers and ardent Zionists will exist here, and will not allow themselves to be bullied into criticizing others simply because the mainstream refers to them as “enemies,” especially when they have more than enough to criticize in their own lands.
Hilarious how many American Jews and staunch Israelis love Palestinians who criticize Palestine, and consider them to be “peaceful,” but hate the Israelis who criticize Israel, even though both people are practically doing the same thing and fighting for the exact same cause in an identical manner: fixing ones own faults before jumping to attack the other, something you are obviously encouraging. How much abuse did the pro-Palestine American Jewish community get simply for their opinions? Remember all the threats that the creator of Jewschool faced simply for condemning Israeli crimes and terrorism?
I encourage everyone who criticizes themselves before cluelessly pointing their fingers at others to continue doing that. You’ll notice most of us doing that here at Mideast Youth. Learn to see and deal with your own faults before resorting to the so called “blame game” because that is real progress.
Israeli peace activists are certainly brave for surviving attacks against them for doing what they feel is right. This is the point that Eva is trying to make, this is what the trolls at mepeace put her through, and yet again, proving her right, are other attacks claiming that she does not criticize Palestine enough, and thus perhaps questioning her patriotisim. Super frustrating.
“Do you seriously just not get it? This is NOT about the Palestinians, or in fact the conflict as a whole. It is about her experiences at a website where Israelis generally do not accept any form of criticism and hypocritically claim to be peaceful.”
Whether you like it or not, someone opened the door for another massive Israel/Palestine thread. If you were intent on keeping this thread within that boundary that you should have made clear as it drifted off topic.
“This is not mepeace. Israelis with radically different opinions than the usual right-wingers and ardent Zionists will exist here.”
There is a reason why I am not on mepeace.
“Until then, I don’t feel the need to respond to someone who doesn’t see how necessary it is to truly understand a person without criticizing them merely for disagreeing with their general perspective.”
Back at you.
May I say something, please? I’ll be right back – I just need some time to say at least half of what I want to say.. ok?
And the person who did open that thread was Nissim, not Eva. Why are you looking for irrelevant comments from her about Palestine if they are clearly irrelevant to what she is essentially speaking about?
You can be Israeli without criticizing Palestine with every breath. It doesn’t mean they are bad Israelis or aren’t Zionists. It means they realize that they have their own problems to solve as well. It is perfectly normal for them to admit and work on these problems instead of being criticized for not joining the hate-filled crowd attacks at Palestinians and other Arabs. Somehow people think that this is the “Israeli” thing to do now.
For Madmax and everyone here!
I want to make my position a little clearer. First of all, I want to say that if I don’t reply more it’s for two reasons: a) I do not have access to my computer (or other computers) as much as I’d want and b) I didn’t want to get into any polemic again.
Madmax,
I am Israeli and I am Jewish. I immigrated to this country 12 years ago, as an adult, with 2 babies. I did it for “Zionist” reasons – not to “settle the land” across the Green Line, but because I wanted to live in a Jewish environment and saw many advantages in living here, concerning this goal. Many Israelis continuously ask me “why anyone possibly would want to come from Switzerland (as I did) and live in Israel”. My answer usually is: “Chaim Weizmann once said that to be a Zionist one doesn’t need to be crazy – but it helps”
So for ten years I lived here as a completely “regular” Israeli, having doubts about my governments policies, but no big contestation or no big questionning. Essentially I believed what most Israelis believe: That we were “only” defending ourselves against Arab/Palestinians aggressions. That our army was doing it’s best to be human, despite all the adversity and all the atrocities committed by the ennemy. That our Secret Service was here to protect us (Israelis) and doing it’s best as well to be as “human” as possible.
I was proven wrong. By whom? By the secret service itself. I cannot enter what happened to me in a completely surprising and unexpected way – you’ll have to take my word for what I say about this. From one minute to another (actually it took about half an hour) I, who until then was a completely “innocent”, “naive” and good willing Israeli mother, was thrown right into the middle of the conflict in a way that very few people are able to grasp. I did nothing wrong, nothing at all. In my own eyes – and in the eyes of those who know about it – what I did was something I just had to do and was good for both sides (not kidding). Naturally I was questionned how and why and so on – how I came into this position – and truly, I was warmly thanked for the tiny little thing I had done, that finally didn’t matter very much in the course of history. Yet, I was told that my action was good and couragous. Fine – but what happened next was that my privacy was violated completely and the real “thank you” was nothing but abuse. It was then that I realized that “something was wrong”. That if I, the perfect Zionist Israeli citzen, was “thanked” in that way (although what I “received” as abuse was tiny compared to what Palestinians usually get), how must it be if you’re a Palestinian “suspect”? It was then that I began to investigate and have a closer look into what was going on, as I call it “on the other side of the Wall”.
This was more than 2 years ago. I slowly got in contact with “real Palestinians” – meaning that I met and talked to Israeli Arabs and Palestinians and learnt to understand their perception, their feelings and what actually was “going on” on their side. I found out that Palestinians where not the “devils” as they are seen in mainstream Israeli minds. I naively thought that by telling my friends and collegues about my “discovery” I would bring them “good news”. The complete opposite happened. While these people had known me for 10 years, liked/loved me and trusted me, in very little time I was categorized as “crazy”, “manipulated” and the like. Most friends dropped me completely. One of my bosses, a very educated and intelligent man, told me (I quote, because I’ll never forget that sentence!!): “But Eva, what happened to you? A normal Israeli doesn’t know any Arabs!”
In the meantime I have learnt that indeed, I’m not “normal” any more. About 95% of all Jewish Israelis never talked (deeply and on a basis of mutal respect) to any Palestinians in their whole life. Palestinians almost don’t exist in the life of “regular” Israelis. “They” are somewhere – in Gaza, in Jenin – just thinking of how best to kill us. I’m barely exaggerating – I’m talking about what “regular” Israelis think. (Look at my post “From Jerusalem to Auschwitz”, I hope it will clear you all up about this!).
Yet, as Israeli living where I do, I am subjected to exactly the same conditions as all my Israeli neighbors. Terrorist do not distinguish between a “good Israeli” or a “bad Israeli” when they’re out to kill.
I, my husband and my children travel on public busses in Jerusalem every day. We go to malls, we go to the pedestrian streets, we go to movies – we live here, every single day. Many people I know have bought cars just to avoid to take busses. I never could afford a car, and will not be able to buy one in the near future.
My and my husbands bus line goes through ALL the main and “favorite” spots for terrorist attacks. Even the next to last “bulldozer attack” was on a bus station I use many times. It’s been more than once that I’ve (Thank God!) escaped a bombing by a minute – once it was not more than 30 seconds. Our bus left the station at French Hill station, moved away, and right behind us, a young woman blew herself up in the remaining crowd.
French Hill Junction has been the target of at least 15 attacks in the 12 years I’ve been living here, and I have to go with my bus line EVERY DAY through that junction.
The father of a friend of mine was killed in a bus bombing at French Hill Junction in exactly MY bus line – the one I need to take to get to town at all. My bus goes through Jaffa road, through the spots where 4 busses have been blown up within a few weeks in 1996. My bus passes Machane Yehuda Market, where I often stop to do some shopping.
If I would make a list of people I know who have been killed or wounded in such attacks, and of friends of friends I know very well, this list would be long.
In not many years, my two children will have to join the army. I would love to stop this war as soon as possible. I would say that I would love to stop it “yesterday” (that’s a French expression, sorry if you’re not familiar with it).
So – when someone on mepeace or anywhere else tells me that in claiming for basic Justice for Palestinians to obtain the peace (means non-violence) that Israelis need tells me I’m inciting and calling for War, I slightly get “mad” (sometimes)…
In these two years of investigating what is going on “on the other side of the Wall”, I’ve seen to many almost unbelievable abuses of basic rights of civilians (not “fighters” in any way). I’ve learnt of incredible injustices, witnessed never imagined racism and more and more.
While I don’t judge what has been done or not in the past – I admit that this whole issue is way to complex and complicated to come to any clear conclusion – I can see what is going on now. And whatever others say or believe – and while I am totally aware of Quassams falling on Sderot and all other violences committed – even among Palestinians themselves – I came to the conclusion that there is – now – a clear inequality of power. That – now, at present – there is, as someone said in a discussion, a bully and a victim, that there is an abuser and an abused. The abuser may have all the reasons in the world for having become what he is – he’s still an abuser.
I believe that Israel is the “one” in power – much more in power than Palestinians. That Israel must do the first step to stop this completely inequal situation. That the human rights abuses must stop. That justice and basic rights for Palestinian civilians must be restored. I never ever claim that Israel should stop to defend itself against real aggressions, but it must stop to aggress those who do NOT aggress us.
There is extremely little knowledge within the Israeli public about what is “really” going on on “the other side of the Wall”.
Well – what should I say more? I hope that I have made myself clear.
Best regards to all!!
Well said Eva.
Eva,
“That – now, at present – there is, as someone said in a discussion, a bully and a victim, that there is an abuser and an abused.”
I am following you up until the above point, where we disagree. You have your opinions based on your experiences, and others like Walid Shoebat and Nonie Darwish have theirs (the opposite end of the political spectrum, not sure if you heard of them). When I read all these different testimonies, talk to a variety of different people, and experience a variety of different events, I am forced to conclude that neither party is completely innocent or guilty. Both have serious flaws that need to be dealt with, and I do not think that one side is more responsible just because they seem to be militarily stronger. Strength comes in many forms. I have not undergone what you have undergone, but I also have not undergone what the aforementioned individuals have undergone either. Who is right then? Poeple on both sides have testimonies and facts. Right and wrong all of a sudden becomes very gray and vague.
Anyway, I guess we (the world in general) will just have to work around our differences in opinion for common goals.
The best of luck to you as well!
I think that Madmax makes a good point here. After a while, people on both sides of the wall have good arguments to make, and it becomes exceeding difficult to decide who is right and who is wrong. The same is true all around the world.
Eva makes good points as well. Her interaction with the Israeli security apparatus convinced her that something untoward was happening “behind the wall.” And as she began investigating, she uncovered instances of Israeli abuse toward innocent Palestinians. And yet, she also says that,
And Eva documents the many instances of Palestinian violence against innocent people, and recounts how she had come to know of such victims, and how her own life has come perilously close to the violence itself. It is no stretch to imagine that a nation beset by violence against itself, could easily lean toward abusive behavior.
And now she worries about her children, and the future they have in store for them.
If Israel is abusive, and I am sure there are instances of such, then there must have been a reason, as Eva suggests. Is the reason enough justification for the abuse? Not for Eva. Although others may draw a different conclusion. But the reason for Israeli abuse was not that Israel likes to abuse people. It was due mostly to the random acts of violence that are recounted in Eva’s testimonial. But of course, Palestinians would say that the random acts of violence where not random at all, but were desparate acts of defiance against their oppressors.
And that brings us to the notion of a “cycle of violence,” by which each act of violence by one side, is used to justify an act to violence by the other side.
And similarly, each argument in defense of one side, is countered by an equally valid argument in defense of the other side.
So where does that leave us? It leaves us endlessly arguing with one another, and endlessly engaging in violence against one another.
So what is the answer? The answer is hinted at by something Eva said,
She is not saying that she would like to win the argument. She is saying she wants to stop the war. She is suggesting that action be taken to stop the back and forth of endless arguments, and endless violence.
OK. Then stop the war. Stop arguing, and do something, something tangible, that will “stop the war as soon as possible.”
Most of the problem, believe it or not, is economic. And some of it is ideological. You can solve this by creating good paying jobs, and by giving people a new ideological framework. Over time, people will dare to hope for a better future, and with hope, all things are possible, even the impossible dream of peace.
China was an ideological nightmare. Now, people are making money, and the ideological rhetoric has been toned down considerably. India was the obstructionist leader of the third world. Now, people are making money, and you don’t hear too much ideological nonsense. So too with Russia, and Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Eva, you and I, and most people on this website, want the blessing of peace for your kids. The answer is in our hands. Empower Palestinians economically with good paying jobs that protect the environment. Empower Palestinians ideologically by speaking to them with common sense and with a sense of personal dignity, as I’m sure you’re already doing. Inspire in them, and in Israelis, a sense of hope. Sustain the hope with public diplomacy. And when necessary, be willing to fight against the forces of extremism.
I don’t see that your testimonial is in conflict with what I believe, and what I dream to help accomplish.
Nissim, Madmax,
I have absolutely no problem with Palestinians speaking out against the problems in Palestinians society and the wrongs of Palestinians towards Israel.
I personally think there is are lots of issues to be addressed and dealt with inside of the Palestinian society. I’m not “uncritical” towards lots of things going on there…
Yet, first: one cannot do everything, and second: for me as an Israeli, I think it’s my duty to make people aware of OUR wrongs, to clean up “my own yard” first.
I don’t think that what I am doing (or trying to do) – and Thank God I’m not alone in that!! – is “arguing endlessly”. I think that to solve a problem, one has to understand and recognize the roots of the problem first of all. When hopefully more Israelis will come to understand that their blind support of government and army doesn’t lead to peace (has it, in any way, until now?), but understand that there are lots of scelettons in the closet that have to be dealt with in order to go forward for real, I think that “peace” will advance a big step. It’s about destroying myths, not about “endless arguing”.
Nissim, I completely agree with you on the fact that most is linked to welfare and economics. Yet, not everything. And then – that’s really NOT what our governments (Israeli and Palestinian) are doing. What I – and others – try to do is to speak and act on a level of people to people – ignoring as much as possible what leaders and governments do and say.
On my former Yahoo blog, I called it once “creating a territory where peace can live”. Establish trust. Show that co-operation and joining forces between supposed “ennemies” is possible. That’s what I was searching on mepeace as well. That’s what I’m doing as much as possible on the ground as well (in joining groups and activities like Combatants for Peace and others).
Yet – as I found out (see my post “Closed Military Zone”) that in doing this we’re “troublemakers”, we disturb “peaceful” warmaking. We disturb the settlement policy of the Israeli government which shamelessly expands and creates settlement dispite all accords and international declaration.
I don’t think that staying silent about all this is doing a “service” to my country. I think that in letting the sceletons out of the closet, we’ll clear up the ground to create something new. Otherwise, the sceletons will always come back…
Eva is still a member of mepeace.org, her acts should be respected as she said clearly she were not feel comfortable in some of the discussions due other members.
As mepeace.org is an open platform we are very vulnerable for people who have no sensibility to others and people who have expectations that are not real. This is our challenge as a new comunity of nearly 1000 people .
I am very sad for that and hope we will manage to create the codes that enable respectful participation for all.
Please visit http://www.mepeace.org/forum/topic/show?id=661876%3ATopic%3A79379
Mepeace.org… Gave us great space to talk about our issues with respectfull way ,,, Eyal made a great work in buliding this paltform and beleive me its not easy to contorol everything there … we should appreciate his effort …
what eyal did is better than people who did nothing till now … i will support mepeace.org with all i can .. and i know that one day our dream will become true …
you can blame and say bad things about anyone … but before judging … plz judge ur self … make a small excam to ur self … and see if u can go forward in such a silky road or not …
if don’t like mepeace.org its up to you but that doesn’t mean the mepeace or eyal is bad … you should give big support to ay peace effort … blaming will never help …
peace to all fro Jordan
Donna
Part of Eva’s post is the fact that most of them do not actually participate.
Number of membership doesn’t represent activity. So if not many people participate in the first place, where is the challenge in keeping this inviting and generally unbiased? This is not an impossible community to handle. You can easily control what does and what doesn’t happen. Abuse does happen with you being fully aware and instead of you stopping it, you are joining it.
The topic you linked to itself doesn’t seem too promising. Within it you are practically attacking another member by justifying what they have gone through. I believe this comment still applies to you:
Now ladies and gentelmen let us see what is allowed on mepeace:
For having a different opinion!
For having a different opinion!
Paul received no discouragement for using such language to describe another person, and here we have people claiming that mepeace is tolerant. I am convinced yet again that I and many others would never find a home on mepeace. Especially since more and more people seem to be leaving. The biases on that site are overwhelmingly clear.
Just because your site has “peace” in its domain, doesn’t make it tolerant and respectful by default. You need a lot of work and moderation to do before we take you seriously.
Neri and Eyal, instead of writing a formal apology to what a member has gone through you are only linking to your site, bragging about membership, and requesting that Eva stops discouraging others from joining. So it means numbers is what you are going after; not constructive content. The latter is what actually makes a real difference. The former is a useless statistic, which you keep talking about, when in fact you should be talking about the content.
Esra,
some of the people are listed and accept mails, other just read and many others I know working together and create new project and activity. contact Hiba from the mepeace and ask here about things she is involved in. visit and look at the discussion, maybe you’ll find some valuable comment to add.
now I underatand that Esra’a (Bahrain) is probably Mary Rizzo, and you do not realy say who you are and that you are a memeber in mepeace. how should I react ? blame you? as you continue to comment in mepeace it is clear you find this place useful
So maybe we can both invite friendto mepeace.org and see for themselves.
visits the We cannot blame the blamers its their “truth” after all.
the fact is that the web itself is a wide open board for all of us and we need to learn how to make it comfortable.
we have different opinions and we need to have a platform where it can be expressed, your comments never been deleted as any of Eva/Alice so I cannot see any problem to any one to express himslef. BTW we banned some people when they said things that were no appropriate but we know it must be minimal and constrained.
with love from tel-aviv
Neri
Neri, I know that you probably must not have an argument if you continue to distribute lies both here and on mepeace. Allow me to refute your baseless, silly claims:
Quoting Mary Rizzo does not mean that I am her. It is illogical to make such an assumption. The latter part of your post is inapplicable as I never wrote any comments on mepeace, precisely because I find it useless (and abusive.) The way you are reacting proves me right.
Making false claims about anyone who remotely disagrees with you and the poor moderation of your site does not reflect very well on your character, or on the site that you represent. Better luck next time, but you are not fooling anyone by pretending to be tolerant. You say something but do something completely different. So don’t blame people for leaving mepeace; you have left them with no other choice. And your attitude does not help change their decision.
This mepeace thing sounds like a real headache. Shame that not everyone feels comfortable participating, but there are plenty better peaceful sites where you can. When I have more time I will list some good alternatives.
Murad (Kuwait)
why not look for yourself, it is hard task to create peace and change societies that so invested in conflict, we need people who care and can invest in this headache.
It is hard to expect that peaceful sites will keep be peacfull when discussing the questions of human rights and Qassams vs. settlements. they will have to ban many people because the issues are so complex.
I’ll be happy to see this sites.
No thanks, I value my time and I think I have seen enough.
Dear Esra’a (Bahrain)
I am sorry to confuse your quote to something that you said as you are Mary Rizzo.
What?
Esra’a and Mary Rizzo are two entirely different beings. Next…
Kawthar, exactly what I said, since Esra’a corrected me.
(I wrote probably so I am happy to take it back.)
I am a Palestinian and a member of mepeace.org, for a person who enters mepeace.org for the first time, he will find it a bit difficult for him to get in the discussions, but after following up and participating a few times, the person get to know some active members and get used to the general climate there.
There could be on mepeace.org many people with many different views about the two sides and the conflict as a whole, for me personally I succeeded in making too many friends from different places with totally different view, simply because we considered the term of respect and interaction between us. Aggressiveness could happen sometimes and did happen lately, which is natural since this platform is an opened one for everybody to enter, what is not natural is to let it that way and certainly many members are not. Many are trying to deal with and solve many of the existed upnormal conditions there.
mepeace.org includes many things inside it, but what is good about it that all people can share there and just speak, a serious efforts are being studied to create principles and pure way to deal with this platform.
Each member might have his own experience there, good or bad, or combination of both, that doesn’t necessary make mepeace.org totally bad neither it makes it totally good.
Hiba is right.
This is because I created mepeace.org as a platform for peacemakers. You bring the content. As a community with hundreds of peacemakers, sometimes people don’t agree. As Hiba wrote:
Because of open-minded peacemakers like Hiba, Neri, Donna, Paul and Nissim mepeace.org is a community worth joining.
I would not minimize the contribution of those who have joined. By joining a community of peacemakers you contribute more than by criticizing from the outside. Join and be a peacemaker on mepeace.org.
Eyal Raviv
Founder – mepeace
eyalpeace@gmail.com
You know, I’ve yet to see really constructive comments from the “mepeace founders” other than this thread being used as an advertisement for the site! It almost violates our spam policy.
I strongly disagree – if you are calling someone who has verbally abused another an “open minded peacemaker,” like Paul calling Eva a “myopic propgandist” and “disruptive and manipulative wrecker!”
How in the world is this kind of place worth joining if such abuse exists on a seemingly large scale with you doing absolutely nothing about it, and in fact, calling such insulting users “peacemakers” who make the community more worthwhile?
Please, if you have a comment to wite, write it, and support your argument by stating how you have taken responsibility for this abuse. However, if you are going to do nothing but post links to the site, please stop! Posting a comment solely to promote another website is, by definition, spam.
Esra’a (Bahrain) lamented that I was overly critical of Eva on mepeace.org simply
Had Eva not deleted her profile, you’d all be able to see that that assertion was and is just plain not true.
Ray wrote:
I hope that all here really do that, and that you all make a constructive contribution to mepeace.org.
Be well…
Paul RETI
Sydney OZ
Please remember that friends (like here) need not make peace, current enemies do. Doing that is not easy and simply inciteful contributions and emotional blackmail do not help increase understanding of the other.
Then please enlighten us all and do tell who was Eva spreading propaganda on behalf of. The Palestinians? What justifies you treating another member in such a deplorable manner?
This has truly been a waste of time. The folks at mepeace have launched an advertisement campaign without properly refuting any of the arguments, again it convinces me that it cares more about its membership than its content. A good platform strictly relies on the latter.
If I wanted to hear people shout obscenities at one another, I will be sure to visit you guys again. But remember, this is the style of the peacemakers of yesterday. Today, there are higher standards!
Paul,
I’m sorry to contradict you – but I didn’t delete my second profile, and a lot of “truth” can be seen in the discussions I participated in.
Paul… denial doesn’t help. Truth will come back at you, anyway!
By the way…
Donna just left as well. Donna was a very valued and appreciated member.
She too was hurt, and Eyal didn’t defend her. She was hurt in her feelings as an Arab and a Muslim by what is allowed to say on this site…
It’s not only me – you know?
I’ve been following this thread for a while, concerned that the standard of discussion would fall below what we at Mideast Youth have set for ourselves.
Everyone has stated her/his opinion clearly, and it is high time we agreed to disagree.
We all share a commitment to peace in the Middle East, so let us spend the energy in pursuits that will actually work towards that.
The thread is now closed for comments.
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