Dove's Eye View

Muslim Peace Fellowship

The Muslim Peace Fellowship site posts an essay on Ghandi, non-violent resistance, and Islam.

Playgrounds for Palestine

Lawrence of Cyberia links to two charitable groups devoted to the welfare of Palestinian children.

Playgrounds for Palestine builds playgrounds and recreation areas for Palestinian children living under military occupation. All work is done on a volunteer basis. Go to their site to read more and donate, if you like.

The Palestine Children's Welfare Fund aims to provide the children of the refugee camps with basic needs such as food, clothing, educational tools and health care. Barbara Lubin's group Middle East Children's Alliance is the financial sponsor of this organization. Please browse the site for more information.

Save the Planet, Middle East Version

The Arava Institute: Environmental Studies - Sustainable Development brings Arabs and Jews together to work on some of the Dove's favorite issues.

The Institute is "a regional center for environmental leadership. By encouraging environmental cooperation between peoples, the Arava Institute is working towards peace and sustainable development on a regional and global scale. The Institute is situated on Kibbutz Ketura in Israel's Arava Valley - a desert in the Syrio-African rift near the Jordanian and Egyptian borders and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. The Institute is home to academic programs, research and public involvement."

Mideast Peace Blog: Lawrence of Cyberia

Lawrence of Cyberia kindly mentioned me recently, which brought her to my attention through the wonders of blog software. Lawrence is British, possessing all kinds of degrees from Oxford. Her website is extremely well researched and always informative. I will be mining it for new items for the Dove's Eye View.

You may want to go to the Palestine/Israel Resources Home Page, which Lawrence calls a "collection of home-grown sources of info on the I/P conflict."

I'm adding Lawrence to my list of crucial blogs. Thanks, Lawrence!

UPDATE: Jonathan of Head Heeb informs me that Lawrence of Cyberia is a woman behind the veil of the internet!

West Bank: Doctors' Healing Touch Reaches Across a Mideast Divide

From the New York Times: Doctors' Healing Touch Reaches Across a Mideast Divide. Israeli doctors go to the West Bank to treat Palestinians in an attempt to bridge the divide of war.

Khalid Moussa, an opthalmology patient, said: "If you antagonize me, I fight back," he said. "If you respect me and honor my existence, I'm willing to give you my last piece of bread to show you the same attitude."

One Israeli doctor said "It's like a Bertolt Brecht play. We tell them, 'You killed my father,' and they tell us, 'You killed my mother,' and we discuss it without emotion."

The doctors are from Physicians for Human Rights. More on this organization later.

The Times reports "The visits are also an example of the efforts by people on both sides of the conflict to keep up a conversation even as civilians and fighters on both sides are killed. Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost children in the conflict meet to share their grief and press for peace, and there are organized dialogues for teenagers."

Light Blogging

Yes I've been posting less lately, but the Dove's Eye View is still active. There are so many signs of hope on the horizon that I have to keep blogging!

West Coast Road Trip for Peace and the Environment

Water and the future of the planet are the big scary questions lying beneath the conflicts in the Middle East. Our Arab and Jewish siblings are like a family feuding horribly over the china and the silver in Grandpa's house, while outside a forest fire licks at the shrubbery.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports "Cultures clash on road trip / Israeli Jew, Jordanian Muslim forced into companionship". The Sierra Club sponsored this road trip touching on water, the environment, and Middle East peace. A Jordanian and an Israeli who study together at an environmental science center in Israel are traveling down the West Coast in a hybrid Toyota, promoting sustainable energy while working out their personal and political conflicts.

More on The Wall: Beinin and Pressman

Juan Cole posts two guest commentaries today, July 19, 2004:Jeremy Pressman and Joel Beinin on the Israel/Palestine Wall

Joel Beinin is a distinguished professor of Middle East History at Stanford University, and an Israeli-American. He has contributed greatly to the dialogue on the Middle East, especially in the Bay Area. Two years ago, the Jewish Voice for Peace organized a massive lecture series on the history of the Palestine/Israel conflict, and Beinin had one of the lectures to himself.

Voices of reason still speak. Who is listening?

Miftah - Hanan Ashrawi

Miftah is the short name for the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. This site features articles, essays, links and ways for you to get involved. The organization was founded by Dr. Hanan Ashrawi.

From the mission statement:

MIFTAH is "dedicated to fostering democracy and good governance within the Palestinian Society in a manner that promotes Public Accountability and Transparency while maintaining the free flow of information and ideas. Established in December 1998, MIFTAH's underlying premise is to serve as a Palestinian platform for international reconciliation and cooperation allowing for a global dialogue that is guided by the principles of democracy, human rights, gender equity, and participatory governance. "

More Groups Fighting the Good Fight

I went to Aron's Israel Peace Blog today, looking for some good news. Aron is a blessing to the World Wide Web, and if you care about Palestine and Israel, you should read his site regularly. Good news, I don't know, that's in short supply.

However, I did notice the Google ads at the top of his page, which I assume are generated by the wondrous algorithms of Google's search engine. Every one of the links was of interest. Here they are:

A Brit Tzedek V'Shalom site I haven't seen before. I know of the organization, and have met and deeply respect Marcia Freedman, who is one of the founders. (Translates to Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace)

A site featuring a presentation on a possible two state solution: "Palestine Israel 101".

A group new to me that works with Jeff Halper: Americans for a Just Peace in the Middle East. The PO box is in Santa Barbara, California. This organization has produced at least one documentary and is working on another, although no new events have occurred in the last 4 months. Browse the site for links to other organizations and information about the Middle East. The motto of Americans for a Just Peace in the Middle East:

"While we believe that Israel and the Jewish people have the right to live in peace and security, we believe the Palestinian people have that same right, BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IN LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL."