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One thing in the below I don't agree with: That rallies, "flag- waving", "finger-pointing" and taking sides would be "obsolete". It certainly is not, quite on the contrary. But this kind of discussions and dialogue reported here as being engaged in at Berkeley University, USA, certainly is a (new) good thing. It does not rule out that other, and in my opinion should be tried at universities (etc) here in Sweden (etc) too. So this goes to some other lists as well. Rolf M., Malmö, Sweden At 04:21 2002-06-24 +0000, you (amazonmama2000 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) wrote, to the Free Palestine list: >At the University of California, Berkeley -- and increasingly on >other college and high school campuses -- students are discovering >healing Dialogue to replace obsolete rallies, flag-waving, finger- >pointing, and "taking sides" that increase alienation and fan the >flames of war. > >Jewish and Arab students are not waiting for governments, >politicians, and institutions to change the world. Remarkable young >women and men are taking it on themselves to begin breaking down >walls to build long-awaited, authentic human relationships. >The newly-gathered students at Cal call themselves "Salaam-Shalom." >They learn from one another, each expanding each one's own knowledge, >discovering together new compassion and creativity. > >For more information about Salaam-Shalom at U.C. Berkeley, send >e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] encourage other campuses to follow >this path. >================================================ >Published in The Daily Californian -Tuesday, June 18, 2002 >http://www.dailycal.org/article.asp?id=8806 > >Group Finds Discourse on Middle East Conflict: >Students Emphasize 'Friends' to Build Relations > >By EMMA SCHWARTZ >Contributing Writer > >Amid shouts of hatred fueled by the Middle East conflict, one UC >Berkeley student group seeking to represent a variety of perspectives >calls for a dialogue of understanding. > >"Friends" is a common buzzword for members of Salaam Shalom, a group >that aims to build peaceful relations between Israelis, Palestinians, >Arabs, and Jews on campus. "People say dialogue is easy, but it's not >easy to tear your soul inside out," says group member Judy Gussman. >The group's first meeting, held at the end of the spring semester, >was at times heated as the group tried to make sense of violence >through open dialogue. "It was a little tense," says Laura Haddad, a >Salaam Shalom member. "But as someone at the meeting put it, if it >weren't a little tense we wouldn't have been getting anything done. >However, if we hadn't been friends first, we wouldn't have been able >to hold that discussion." > >The group has yet to stage an open forum on serious issues >surrounding the conflict. For now, the students focus on forging >friendships between members. "We haven't had a big discussion because >we believe we have to know each other first," Haddad says. >The first dialogue, which was just for the group organizers, asked >members what brought them to the group in an attempt to make the >discussion personal rather than political. "It has involved a great >deal of soul-searching of things you were raised with," Gussman >says. "They all have the ability to step back from that and look at >their world in a new way." > >The group began as an attempt to add a peaceful perspective to the >campus debate on the Middle East conflict. "I was distressed by two >things," says UC Berkeley graduate student Roger Studley. "First, >there is a lack of any communication between people from different >camps and groups. Secondly, everything on campus is one group >shouting at another and shouting back. It's very political, noisy, >and nobody is sitting down and talking to one another." > >Many members of the group joined out of frustration with the apparent >lack of dialogue between already existing groups who have a stake in >the conflict. "I got involved because I noticed the intense >polarization on this issue," says Robin Baral, a UC Berkeley >student. "I've been here long enough and involved in enough activism >to know what happens. I felt like the politics had gotten in the way >with people getting to know each other." > >Haddad says the group offers an alternative route for those who don't >feel a place in either of the two major political groups, the >Students for Justice in Palestine and the Israel Action Committee. >Students say that while they have no illusions that they are going to >solve the conflict, they believe a resolution cannot be reached >without discussion. > >"We take seriously that it is important to understand someone else's >view as much as your own," Studley says. "We believe that the first >thing you have to do is get to know an individual. Once you have >that, you are much less likely to shout and will be able to >understand someone's opinion with further complexity rather than as a >political stripe." > >Students from Muslim and Jewish student groups said that Salaam >Shalom has great potential to clear up misunderstandings. "I think >this is a step in the right direction," says Salman Alam, a board >member of the Muslim Student Association. "Misinformation about some >of the main issues causes people to jump to wrong conclusions about >each other. Peaceful, respectful discussion is the best way to clear >up some of these misunderstandings," he added. > >Other students remain hopeful and say dialogue could form an >important middle ground for students. "The only way to break down >stereotypes is to get to know people. If they can get a dialogue >going, it would be the only place on campus where that is happening," >said Rebekah Stern, an active member of Berkeley Hillel. > >Salaam Shalom members hope their group will be a model for students >on the Berkeley campus and all over the country. Group members say >they have received e-mails from students across the country who are >beginning to form similar groups. "Without being able to talk, you're >going to be stuck," Studley says. "Modestly, we can demonstrate this >approach. If somehow that winds up making other people who are more >important in the game take notice, that's a good thing." > >Haddad says that they plan to set up a series of discussions in the >fall where students break into small groups with a facilitator. "It's >really in small groups where people will get to know each other," >Haddad says. > > > > >++++++++++++++++++++++ eFreePalestine! ++++++++++++++++++++++ >www.FreePalestine.com No Peace Without Occupation Free PALESTINE! >++++++++++++++++++++++ eFreePalestine! ++++++++++++++++++++++ >Blessed are the Peacemakers NOT the Warmakers! >Chronic INJUSTICE is the ROOT of TERRORISM! >www.FreePalestineCampaign.org Be a Peacemaker in PALESTINE! >Fighting TERRORISM while AIDING OCCUPATION is Moronic! >END TERRORISM by ENDING Israeli OCCUPATION Stupid! >SHARON NOW = MILOSEVIC Then = HITLER IN 1942! >Peace Only in a Legislatively DEzIONIZED Secular State! >Aiding Israeli OCCUPATION = Aiding TERRORISM! >Where Does Our Simplistic Absolutist President Stand?! >++++++++++++++++++++++ eFreePalestine! ++++++++++++++++++++++ >www.Badil.org The RIGHT of RETURN! >www.IndictSharon.net Indict the BUTCHER! >www.PMWatch.org PALESTINE MEDIA WATCH! >www.PalestineRemembered.com PALESTINE for DUMMIES! >www.Al-Awda.org/WB_Fund.htm Give to Plundered PALESTINE! >www.InternationalAnswer.org Act Not to STOP WAR and RACISM >www.Al-Awda.org/petition.htm END zIONIST Profit from OCCUPATION! >www.RamallahOnline.com Our Occupied Home in Ramallah PALESTINE! >www.groups.Yahoo.com/group/FreePalestine/messages ARCHIVES! >www.PalestineChronicle.com News and Views from PALESTINE! >www.DocumentaryPhotographs.com Pictures from PALESTINE! >www.PalestineMonitor.org Monitor PALESTINE! >www.WRMEA.com zIONIST-Free MEDIA! >++++++++++++++++++++++ eFreePalestine! ++++++++++++++++++++++ >A Mind WORD is Stronger than a Hand sWORD! ~ FORWARD to the Wilderness! >FreePalestine! is America's Secular WILDERNESS VOICE of PALESTINE!* >[EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBSCRIBE NOW :-) >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe :-( >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Speak up on FreePalestine! >Views expressed are the author's only* >++++++++++++++++++++++ eFreePalestine! ++++++++++++++++++++++ > >Your use of Yahoo! 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