Cyprus-Forum.com

[repulsewarrior]

...for the record, i include this action for your consideration; something like this in Cyprus (or anywhere else in the world) is not impossible.

by Yonathan Listik

Jerusalem - Ten days ago the impossible become reality. While the world was watching Palestinians and Israelis trading fire and hatred through every possible means, there was a rare moment of cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians who shared a mutual desire to put an end to the violence.

In the midst of the missiles, bombs and devastation that took place in Gaza and the south of Israel, a group of Palestinians and Israelis came together in the Palestinian town of Beit Jalla, near Bethlehem, for a joint march to demand a bilateral ceasefire.

We belong to a group called Combatants for Peace (CFP) formed by former combatants from both sides of the conflict who, after taking part in the cycle of violence, have decided to use the path of non-violence to protest against it. Everyone in our group is a former soldier or combatant and has a history of causing and suffering violence. We tell our stories so that other people can appreciate that there is always the option of turning towards non-violence. Moreover, through our personal stories we offer Palestinians and Israelis the opportunity to hear first-hand how the conflict is viewed by the other side.

What the joint march showed us is that even in the midst of war we can look beyond cultural and physical barriers and see that we are all in the same boat. We are all victims of a conflict that is dominated by the language of violence. During our joint march, we made the point that both sides can talk to each other and more importantly that there are people on both sides who want to live in peace with the “other” and can achieve it through non-violence. Through our actions we demonstrated that the common belief that the other side is unreasonable or inhumane does not hold water.

Seven years earlier we met in the same place to establish CFP. We believed that violence only begets more violence and that the real victors are those who look to the future rather than remain preoccupied with revenge over the past.

About 150 Israelis and Palestinians came to the march on 17 November. The march started simultaneously in areas of the West Bank under Palestinian and Israeli control. Israelis on one side, Palestinians on the other, we met at a crossroads that divides the two areas.

In Hebrew and Arabic we called upon Hamas and Israel to stop their violence. Together we called on the Israeli government to cease the expansion of settlements and enter negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and on Hamas to stop firing missiles towards Israel. For Israelis to see a Palestinian condemning Hamas’ missiles or for Palestinians to see an Israeli condemning Israel’s bombing of Gaza is exactly the message we seek to spread.

You could clearly see the astonishment on the faces of passers–by as they watched Israelis and Palestinians, holding their respective flags, marching together. When our procession met with Israeli soldiers at the crossroads where they stand guard, you could see the Israeli soldiers and non-CFP Palestinians, who were not used to our demonstrations, preparing themselves for confrontation. Some Palestinians even left, fearing a violent clash. This is, after all, the routine most are used to. Only this time we talked to the soldiers, showing them that there would be no violence.

At first they remained in formation and adopted a cynical attitude. But as time passed, they relaxed realising that we meant what we said.

No doubt there is still a long road to travel but we do not lack in strength and hope. Those in power who choose violence are a great obstacle to negotiations. Needless to say there are many voices against ours.

Now that we have achieved a ceasefire we must make every possible effort to spread the message of cooperation against the Occupation and the conflict, showing our respective societies that the solution will only come when both sides achieve independence and security. This march was only a beginning, but it was an excellent one.

*Yonathan Listik is a member of Combatants for Peace, a philosophy student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a teacher. For more information about Combatants for Peace see: http://cfpeace.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/c4peace. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-pa ... -ceasefire

...your comments please.

[Robin Hood]

Whilst I can only admire the motives and the sentiments of this group, one sentence says it all and why common sense will never prevail:

About 150 Israelis and Palestinians came to the march on 17 November.

What the people of this planet do not seem to understand is that the power is with the people and it is only by the masses working as one that the current system which gives power to the few and total control over the majority by that few, that humanity will ever become humane.

In 2008 I watched events in Gaza and could not understand why a weak, under-armed group of civilians would take on a vastly superior well equiped army. I was very much on the Israeli side and was convinced that the Palestinians deserved what they were getting. After all they were firing missiles (unguided rockets) at the poor Israeli civilians. BUT this just did not make sense, even an illiterate Arab shepherd would not fire a rocket without a good reason, knowing that within seconds he was going to get vaporised. I decided to use the internet and try to find out why ............... and to do that you need to go back not just to 1948 but to the eleventh century to paint the historic background to the conflict which came to the fore in 1948. There is a lot to take in, believe me.

It changed my opinion completely because I felt I could now make my own judgement and not form one from the distorted and often hidden origins of this conflict provided by the MSM. But just try getting others to do the same and form their own views. Impossible ...... the MSM tells them all they need to know ..... so why bother. Apathy and indifference is the enemy and that is just how those that pull the strings want it. ‘Sheeple’ is a very apt description for 99%+ of the population.

We now see the same MO with Iran and Syria! Demonise the Country/Regime by feeding miss-information and the media presenting to us wholly distorted and biased stories, telling us half truths and deliberate lies....... and Syria and Iran will soon become another Gaza but on a much much larger scale. That is if WWIII has not kicked off by then.

Who is behind it? Go back to the 11th century and work it out for yourself .... it is the only way.

[cyprusgrump]

Whilst I can only admire the motives and the sentiments of this group, one sentence says it all and why common sense will never prevail:

About 150 Israelis and Palestinians came to the march on 17 November.

What the people of this planet do not seem to understand is that the power is with the people and it is only by the masses working as one that the current system which gives power to the few and total control over the majority by that few, that humanity will ever become humane.

In 2008 I watched events in Gaza and could not understand why a weak, under-armed group of civilians would take on a vastly superior well equiped armed army. I was very much on the Israeli side and was convinced that the Palestinians deserved what they were getting. After all they were firing missiles (unguided rockets) at the poor Israeli civilians. BUT this just did not make sense, even an illiterate Arab shepherd would not fire a rocket without a good reason, knowing that within seconds he was going to get vaporised. I decided to use the internet and try to find out why ............... and to do that you need to go back not just to 1948 but to the eleventh century to paint the historic background to the conflict which came to the fore in 1948. There is a lot to take in, believe me.

It changed my opinion completely because I felt I could now make my own judgement and not form one from the distorted and often hidden origins of this conflict provided by the MSM. But just try getting others to do the same and form their own views. Impossible ...... the MSM tells them all they need to know ..... so why bother. Apathy and indifference is the enemy and that is just how those that pull the strings want it. ‘Sheeple’ is a very apt description for 99%+ of the population.

We now see the same MO with Iran and Syria! Demonise the Country/Regime by feeding miss-information and the media presenting to us wholly distorted and biased stories, telling us half truths and deliberate lies....... and Syria and Iran will soon become another Gaza but on a much much larger scale. That is if WWIII has not kicked off by then.

Who is behind it? Go back to the 11th century and work it out for yourself .... it is the only way.

You make some very good points - we'd be in a significantly better place if the majority of the population (and many posters on here) looked beyond the screaming headlines of the biased MSM....

When I say that by the way, I'm referring to news in general - not just this conflict...

[Sotos]

Who is behind it? Go back to the 11th century and work it out for yourself .... it is the only way.

Can I borrow your time machine? No seriously... what happened in the 11th century?

[Get Real!]

Israeli aggression is only speeding up Palestinian statehood...


UN General Assembly upgrades Palestine’s status
http://www.euronews.com/2012/11/30/un-g ... ne-status/

[Get Real!]

Who is behind it? Go back to the 11th century and work it out for yourself .... it is the only way.

Can I borrow your time machine? No seriously... what happened in the 11th century?

Well it can't be the Freemasons because they came much later but the Crusaders seem to fit the time period.

[Robin Hood]

Sotos/Get Real ...... if you are interested .........

The vast majority of Jews now living in Israel are not from the original 13 tribes of Israel. They are from Khazaria an area in Eastern Europe at that time, or the Kingdom of the Khazars and this was the origin of Ashkenazi Jews starting around the 11th century. So, 95%+ of those that now claim Israel as their ancestral home have absolutely no ethnic roots in the Holy Land. They adopted Judaism around AD 740 rather than Christianity or Islam by choice. It is an interesting story much of which has only been unearthed in the last decade or so.

http://www.bearcanada.com/fae/israel/khazarsbecomejews.html

Quote:

‘This is the story of a kingdom of belligerent, warlike Caucasian nomads, having no linked ancestry with anything Israelite this side of Noah, yet adopting Talmudic Judaism and becoming the dominant - and virtually only - current force in twenty-first century international Jewry.’

If you take notice most Israeli’s although claiming their origins as the Holy Land do not have the same dark olive skin that the Arabs have, and to a degree also Turks, Greeks etc. and of course Cypriots, they are fair skinned like Eastern Europeans.

The story that has ended in the saga today in Palestine starts at that point in time and if you have the time and patience to trace all the stories relating to the journeys of the Ashkenazi Jews you come to the point when Zionism begins to dominate. Zionism is not Judaism as it is a political organisation that is not restricted to those of the Jewish faith. Throughout history the ‘Jews’ have taken the blame for events which should be more correctly attributed to Zionism.

There’s more .......... a lot more!

[Sotos]

Have you been to Israel? I went there and I saw many foreign looking Jews... but I've seen a lot that looked local. Maybe it was something like 50%-50%. Also many Arabs i've seen there were not "dark olive skin" either. And for sure most Cypriots or Greeks do not have "dark olive skin"!! So I think you must be generalizing a bit too much.... just because some Israelis are not "original" it doesn't mean that all of them are fake

[Robin Hood]

Sotos, you asked:

Have you been to Israel?

Yes but only briefly, I have never worked there.

I have lived here for almost twenty years and worked in the ME for over 20 years and accept it or not, there is a noticeable difference between Northern European and those of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. We have many Cypriot friends and many of the ladies take a lot of trouble to avoid the sun, because their skin goes darker and quicker than the pink skinned Northern/Eastern Europeans and it does not peel off and go ‘white’ again within weeks. So, whilst a generalisation I believe it is a reasonable observation? Fake is not what I meant or suggested.

(This has nothing to do with any racialist tendencies or anti-Semitic beliefs, it is merely an observation which generally would support the argument that Ashkenazi Jews are not ethnically linked to the Holy land and in the main have Northern European origins. I obviously do not include the Arab-Israeli’s nor other foreign origin Israeli’s as Ashkenazi.)

[Sotos]

I've been to many countries in the Western Mediterranean and I didn't see any difference between Western and Eastern Mediterranean skin tones in European countries... And I don't think all Northern Europeans are pink. I've seen many of them who can tan a lot and very fast. Anyway... you can tell that many Israelis don't look local but i think many others look local and you can't paint them all with the same brush... I talked to one Jew taxi driver and he was saying that his government brings a lot of fake Israelis from Russia, Argentina etc and gives them land... I guess he considered himself real Israeli. I've also seen a lot of black Israelis... presumably from Ethiopia.