Off-site Peace Links

Two Brandeis University students, one Jewish the other Atrab, have opened http://www.shalam.org/, which combines the words Shalom and Salam in its domain name and which they hoep to use as a platform for spreading word about dialogue as being better than demonization

Don't miss http://www.mifkad.org.il the online petition for suport of the Ayaon-Nusseibeh peace plan

Hello Peace! Israelis, Palestinians can now "call over the wall" to one another by telephone . . . now, at no cost All the information is at http://www.hellopeace.net/

Owned and operated by a second generation refugee, this web site calls on the Palestinian leadership to make the historic compromise and "stop the songs that sing of destroying Tel Aviv." http://www.geocities.com/nizar_e.geo/commentary1.html

A critically important site for undertsanding what the future could be, if people stop focusing on the past: EuroMed -- the European union's focus on the Mediterranean, including the Middle East It's a site chock full of information about grants, joint projects, and perhaps most important, The Barcelona Process, a post-Madrid international convention for regional efforts involving all countries of the region, irrespective of their politics.

Israel-Palestine.com is the private effort of a French journalist to make sense of the situation. So far, the site is only in French, but he promises an English language version.

Visit the new Open Tent Middle East Coalition website at http://www.OpenTent.org, an umbrella group for non-profits, individuals and businesses which support peace in the Middle East and among Middle Eastern descendants in the United States through common cultural projects and peace initiatives.

Al-Bawaba, (The Gateway), a new Arabic Internet portal launched in September, offering something that has been missing in the Middle East's Arab media: Original, independently-produced contents with a pan-Arabic perspective. "Until now, the media have provided Arabic-speakers with contents translated from foreign agencies or produced with a single locality in mind," said Ramzi E. Khoury, Editor-in-Chief. "But we are covering the entire Arab world, handling topics previously absent in both the Internet and non-internet media. We are providing Middle Easterners with fresh points of view from neighbors all over the region."

Check out Kibbutz Lotan A desert based kibbutz with expertise ranging from ecotourism -- including an emphasis on bird watching, since the Jordan Rift Valley, where the kibbutz is located just north of Eilat is the main route for birds winging north and south at the change of sesaons between Europe and Africa -- to Reform Judaism. Very cool place in a very hot (but dry, so not discomforting) climate.

Our Jerusalem, Capital of Two States Manifesto
full text in Hebrew, Arabic and English at http://www.gush-shalom.org/jerusalem

Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, an online monthly publication dealing with strategic and political developments in the Middle East.

Search for Common Ground An NPO that encourages dialogue

http://www.redshift.com/~wsandtt/). This site proposes, as a new millennium's resolution, the adoption of a simple world pledge promoting social and environmental justice: "I recognize a vital unity linking me with all humanity and humanity with all life, acknowledging that where none prevails over another, each may prosper and all may continue."

For something spiritual, see The Rabbi and I -- a dialogue between a rabbi and a Hindu predicated on the assumption that the domain name, www.equalsouls.org, is what it says.

Recommended Site: Childrens Drawings for Peace a site devoted to uploading childrens drawings about peace from all over the world.

The Holocaust Education Foundation, Inc. a non profit organization dedicated to providing educators, students and the anyone conducting research information about the Holocaust, has opened a site at http://www.Holocaust-trc.org It carries articles, links, and more, and is worth a visit.

Playing for Peace -- The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music has been "Playing for Peace" since 1988, conducting chamber music concerts in both Israel and surrounding Arab countries, including Palestine. They also invite Israeli and Palestine muisicians to join them. In short, they're one of the good guys. We expect to be carrying their schedule for an upcoming tour, but until then, recommend a visit to their site at http://www.applehill.org

The Holocast-History Project is a remarkable collection of essays and full texts of such documents as the Nuremburg trial transcripts. Aimed at providing ammunition for Holocaust revisionists, it also proves that one need not be in Shoah Business in order to make a contribution to the effort to understand that most horrible moment in human history.

At salam-shalom.net, founded by Walter Ruby, Yazen Alhassan, and Maria Espinosa, is an online forum for discussion of what they call Jewish-Palestinian dialogue. Though we tend to believe that making the dialogue Israeli-Palestinian would be a little more accurate, this site is highly recommended for the quality of the texts in the open forum. No flaming allowed, of course, but the Internet's facilitation of exchanging ideas in the grope toward turning enmity into friendship, makes the site valuable for all seeking ways to reach out to the other.

Sleeping Giant -- Terrific coverage of the terrifying issue of nonconventional warfare by terrorists.

Re'ut-Sadaka (Friendship) Jewish-Arab Youth Movement for Coexistence and Peace in Israel was established in 1982 by a small group of young Jews and Arabs in Tel-Aviv. Based on the belief that building mutual understanding requires the fostering of real relationships between Arabs and Jews in Israel, especially among the youth, Re'ut-Sadaka provides Jewish and Arab youth the opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and perspectives and to develop friendships across cultural lines. Now they're doing it on the web, with a site that includes information about their activities, including ways you can help.

A Swiss Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group in Basel has put up a web site at http://www2.access.ch/isra-pal-peace/ where you can find a "Jewish - Palestinian Declaration" calling for mutual respect and equality. You can sign it online, of course.

Here's a link to World Peace. Really, it's a worldwide effort to create a day of peace in the year 2000. Check it out. But don't forget to come back to Ariga. There's lots here.

Americans for a Free Lebanon at http://www.aflnet.com/ maintains an extensive, updated selection of news reports from and about Lebanon, with a mission statement that calls for an end to the Syrian and Israeli occupations of that country. The site includes an online discussion group, links to Middle East related sites, and many, many news sources.

At Michael Meyer's marvelous site in Norway, an inspiring speech by Rafael Silver, who is responsible for developing and coordinating management training programsfor Palestinian professionals at Galillee College. Since its inception the College has been working with Palestinian organizations and governmental offices and to date has trained more than 500 Palestinians. Even in these tense times, the work of this program and its communication with the Palestinian organizations and people continues faithfully.

If you 1. believe that all people have the right to seek and enjoy asylum; 2. believe that your government should share the world's responsibility for refugees; and 3. believe that your government has a duty to protect the rights of all people, including refugees and to report on how it is doing this. Then you can sign the Amnesty International Refugee Petition. which they plan to present to the UN. All you have to provide is your email address.

WebActive A terrific site of sites collecting and disbursing information for peace activists worldwide. http://www.webactive.com

MALTESE AND HEBREW: two cases of cultural survival "Maltese, like Hebrew, is a small insular remnant language spoken only in the homeland and a far flung diaspora. Both languages are living testimony to the pre-Christian and pre-Roman identity of the ancient world." by Lawrence Attard Bezzina

UNITE INTERNATIONALE ANTIFASCISTE -- Just what it says - an anti-fascism site, in five languages. The English ain't great, but no matter -- with 108 links to anti-fascist sites world-wide, this page is a wealth of links to the anti-fascist movement world-wide. And yes, Ariga is listed at the site. http://myweb.vector.ch/dnthines/home.htm

Newsies Tom Managan has created a wonderful web site about journalists on the 'net, with links to many, many journalists, editors etc. who have their own web pages. It's very much a freedom of information site, with lots of thoughtful articles about online publishing, as well as some wonderful cartoons. It also loads very fast. http://www.newsies.com

The Mandala Site By Anika

Ariga is proud to have been selected as a Whimsy Winner at Growth House, a site dedicated to helping people through the trauma of terminal illness.

Envoy at Exploring Peace in the Middle East. Do you have what it takes to be a Special Peace Envoy to the Middle East? A lesson for us all, put together by some Maryland high school students. A Worthwhile Visit

In case you haven't been there through the Arab Peace Links page, we recommend a visit to The Arabic Electonic Mail Journal , a London-based effort by S. Suwellam to rail against the folly of blind fundamentalism. He is an inspiration of democratic opposition to censorship in the Arab world, and the foolishness of intranicine Arab conflict. A firm supporter of the peace process, his piece on why he was sad at the signing of the Interim Agreement, was an eloquent call for rejectionist Arabs to finally face reality. He also creates mirrors to articles from Ariga. http://www.amity.co.uk/ejournal

Though it comes out of Houston, Oil OnLine carries a lot of information relevant to the Middle East peace process, for oil and its piplines are but an element in the infrastructural transformation that the region is beginning to experience. Oil and gas professionals use this site to get information and news about the industry and marketing. http://www.oilonline.com

PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL aka BIG BROTHER INCORPORATED, is a site full of info about the global security dealers who specialize in the tools of self-defense, often turned into tools of oppression and repression. Exposed are corporate profiteers from cyrpotgraphy, cellular phone eavesdropping, video surveillance, and a host of methods used by major money players to help some of the nastier regimes in the world. Companies ranging from the UK and USA, to Israel and France are named. Check it out. http://www.privacy.org/pi/reports/big_bro/

YUROPE "is an outstanding resource covering information and interesting projects coming from former Yugoslavia countries including various newspapers, magazines and books. Yurope also hosts various individuals, non-political groups and organizations." http://www.yurope.com

The State of the World's Children 1996, UNICEF "Highlighting the terrible toll war is taking on children, this special 25th anniversary UNICEF State of the World's Children 1996 report proposes an Anti-war Agenda. http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/index.html

Africa Online A one-stop site for resources about Africa. Highlights include a Newstand (with some new sources); a magazine rack (best I have found) located under "groups"; and comprehensive background on Africa covering all countries and territories. http://www.africaonline.com

Israel at the Atlantic Monthly. The venerable Boston magazine's web-site includes a section called "Flashback" in which they dig out of their archives related articles concerning current events. The Rabin assassination sent them back all the way to the early 1950s, when then prime minister David Ben-Gurion penned a piece explaining his vision of the then new-born country. http://www2.theAtlantic.com/atlantic/atlweb/flashbks/israel/rabinint.htm"

The University of Texas Middle East Studies server is chock-a-block full of links. It has much more on the Arab world than it does on Israel, and includes many links to other university sites for academic documents concerning the Middle East. Posted Sep 25 1995

The Arab-Israeli Conflict," a role-playing simulation using telecommunications mediated through the University of Michigan, in which students from ten schools arund the world interact on-line to better understand the Middle East. AIC is a simulation of the interaction between the governments of nations. The central focus of the game, as the name implies, is the conflict between the ideals, beliefs, and issues supported by the Israeli government and those supported by Arab governments. With sixty teams involved in the simulation, they've divided it into six different games, each independent of the others and, some would say, of the real world. Each game has eleven teams: Syria, Egypt Iran, Jordan, Occupied Territories, Palestine Liberation Organization, European Union, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Israel. Each team is played by one school. http://192.253.114.31/Academics/AIC/AIC_master_toc1.html

The Australian Jewish Democratic Society is committed to Peace and Social Justice, Reconcilliation between Nations and Peoples, Nuclear Disarmament and Tikkun Olam.

Jewish Peace Fellowship is a Jewish voice in the peace community and a peace voice in the Jewish community. We are a nondenominational Jewish organization committed to active nonviolence as a means of resolving conflict, drawing on Jewish traditional sources within the Torah, the Talmud and contemporary peacemaking sages like Martin Buber, Judah Magnes and Abraham Joshua Heschel.

The Abraham Fund, which supports grassroots coexistence projects that bring Jews and Arabs together to learn about one another and break down destructive stereotypes, is exanding its web site, aiming to become a leading source of information about coexistence projects. Named for Abraham, the revered ancestor of both peoples, The Abraham Fund is both a funding source, an educational resource, and a catalyst for those interested in developing constructive coexistence opportunities. They've given away about $6 million to 400 projects in the last six years. The site is worth a visit.

Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group -- The granddaddy or mommy of people to people peace sites, it's owned and operated by Len and Libby Traubman. It's very California, but in many ways that's refreshing compared to the intensity of Israel/Palestine

Horizons -- PAVE PEACE THROUGH CULTURE AND LITERATURE ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE , produced by the indefatigable Ada Aharoni, is now in the air, including announcements of a peace conference in Haifa this summer, poetry, book reviews and more. Don't forget to come back to Ariga

Ariga E-Bombed: Anti-boycott protest turns mean as Jew-loving turns into Jew-hating Many people were upset by Ariga's publication of the Gush Shalom boycott list. Most wrote saying they'd use the list to buy goods from the settlements. I wrote to back to most saying "that's okay by me." Not okay were flames comparing "leftist" to nazis, and especially terrifying -- yes, terror-fying -- was an anonymous spam using ariga.com mail addresses to hundreds of listservers on the 'net, which began spewing back thousands of messages thus clogging the ariga mail accounts so badly that much mail was lost -- and is still being lost. To find out what happened and about the sabotage known as e-bombing, click here.

The Boycott FAQ, answering 13 key questions including: Isn't Imposing An Economic Boycott Over A Group Of Citizens An Anti-Democratic Act?; Isn't Boycotting The Settlements Similar To The Nazis' Boycott On The Jews?: and How Do The Settlers Obstruct The Peace Process?

Uri Avnery responds to criticism by Meron Benvenisti of the Gush Shalom boycott of goods made in the settlements.

Salam Review A pro-peace, grass-roots organization's web site, not dissimilar to Ariga, though with what looks like far more resources. Calling themselves "A monthly magazine about the struggle for peace and justice in the Middle East" the October 1997 issue is their sixth, and opens with a poignant "Quote of the Month" -- " The latest bombings are a direct result of the repression, subjugation, humiliation and siege that Israel has inflicted upon the Palestinian people. Our government is guilty, doing their utmost to destroy the peace process. They bring upon us death and destructon. I do not criticise the terrorrists. They are our creation. Almost every Palestinian family has been hurt by Israel, and they live in squalor and despair. The suicide bombers are our mirror." Dr. Nurit Elhanan-Peled, daughter of Matti Peled who founded the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and mother of Smadar Elhanan, aged 14, killed in the triple suicide bombing of 4 September

www.harhoma.com The original developers of Har Homa planned to develop both a Jewish and Palestinian neighborhood. See their page for why the Netanyahu decision to build there was not only politically wrong-headed, but a violation of Netanyahu's own claims to be in favor of privatization. http://www.harhoma.com

Photographers Razi and Omer Calev create remarkable portraits of Israeli personalities. Don't miss their Netanyahu Family Portrait, including Bibi, Sarah, the kids, and Bobo the Clown. . It's worth the wait for the jpg. http://www.spotnik.com/raziomer

Shalom - Wahat el Salaam An Intentional Community of Jews and Arabs in a village at Latrun, the gateway to the Judean Mountains. This web site offers information about the village, its educational programs, its founder Rev Bruno Hussar, and much more. If you're looking for proof that Jewish-Arab cooperation is possible, visit this site. http://www.nswas.com/

You might want to look At the Gesher Page, where they are working on creating dialogue between religious and secular (oh, how I hate that word) Jews in Israel. But don't forget to come back to Ariga. In fact, bookmark this page right now. New material is added during the week. http://www.gesher.co.il

The Giving Page A personal effort for a site of tsadakah/charity sites, maintained by Saul Kaiserman. http://www.jtsa.edu/melton/tzedaka/

The Peres Center for Peace Strangely, they chose a co. domain name rather than an org considering this is the ultimate Middle East Peace NPO/NGO. Currently, the site makes more promises about what's in the pipeline than already delivering, but hey, they only opened last week. But it's clear they didn't hold the expenses when they built their web. Nothing too fancy -- frames, some heavy graphics, real audio, etc, but quite clear and pretty. My sources at the center say they'll have a Hebrew and Arabic version up eventually. Now, if they can get more than speeches up at it, they'll really be fulfilling the promise. http://www.peres-center.co.il

Dor Shalem "Dor Shalem asks forgiveness on this Yom Kippur from all of Israel. Forgive us for the credit we gave Bibi since the elections. We thought he deserved a period of grace, we thought there was someone on whom to rely, but Bibi insists on proving the opposite every month. If it was only Dan Meridor whom he humiliated, it would have been enough -- if it had been only the homeless he harmed, it would be enough -- if he only neglected the unemployed,it would have been enough -- if only he had chosen to forgo budgets for education to free money for the settlements, it would have been enough -- if only failing to defeat terror, it would have been enough -- if it was only our hopes for peace that he crushed underfoot, it would have been enough. But he, Bibi, destroys our nights. How can someone sleep at peace when at the head of the government is a man who cannot make one correct decision. Bibi, the problems of this little country are much too big for you. You are endangering the future of Israel. Ask for forgiveness, and go." Visit "Dor Shalem Dorash Shalom" (An Entire Generation Demands Peace) http://www.dorshalom.org.il
B'Tselem means In God's Image, a Biblical reference appropriate for this Israeli human rights group, operating since the Intifada. Hard headed, fair, and courageous, B'Tselem helps make Israel a better democracy by recongizing human rights for all.

Peace Now The veteran Israeli peace movement, founded on the eve of Camp David by a few dozen reservist officers who wrote a letter to then (Likud) premier Menachem Begin, asking him to be flexible with the Egyptians. http://www.peace-now.org If you're in the States, you might want to check out The American Friends of Peace Now http://www.peacenow.org

The New Israel Fund The New Israel Fund is an international philanthropic partnership of North Americans, Israelis, and Europeans. Itsupports activities and groups in Israel that defend civil and human rights, promote Jewish-Arab equality andcoexistence, advance the status of women, nurture tolerance and pluralism, bridge social and economic gaps, seekenvironmental justice, and press for government accountability. NIF makes grants ($6 million, including NIF's ownprojects, in 1995); provides technical assistance through SHATIL -- its capacity-building center -- to some 170 Israelipublic-interest groups; trains civil-rights and environmental lawyers; and conducts public education in North America. http://www.nif.org/

The Givat Haviva Institutue is the oldest and largest of the leading institutions andorganizations in Israel working to advance Jewish - Arab rapprochement, culturaland religious pluralism, democratic values and peace in the Middle East.Givat Haviva is a nonprofit organization, its campus is located in the Sharon Valley in the center of Israel. Givat Haviva was founded in 1949 as the national education center of the Kibbutz Artzi Federation of Kibbutzim. You'll find links to Givat Haviva's activities as well as to the kibbutz movement. http://www.inter.net.il/~givat_h/givat/g_table.htm

The Jaffe Center A Tel Aviv University-based think tank specializing in the geopolitics of the Middle East. http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/

The Israeli Foreign Ministry's Guide to the Peace Process includes documents and background going back as far as the Camp David Accords. Most interesting and useful to researchers, students and people who are looking forward instead of backward, are the links to the Multi-National, Multi-Lateral Talks, which don't get much publicity but are doing the real work of laying the foundations for regional cooperation in the coming century. This site is well-organized, and despite the fact it has the obvious self-interest of any governmental project, it deserves the attention of anyone interested in the peace process and the future of the Middle East. http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/peace/guide.html

Maven The best of several Mother of All Lists regarding net affairs in which Jews are interested. Originally called an A-Z, its creator, Matthew Album, turned it into a terrific site, which includes a regular message reporting what's new at his site. Anything Jewish on the net ends up listed at Maven. http://www.maven.co.il

The Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information The IPCRI, founded in Jerusalem in 1989, is the only joint Palestinian-Israeli public policy think-tank in the world. It is devoted to developing practical solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. IPCRI deals with the cardinal issues such as: What is the nature of the final status agreement that the two sides must reach - two states, confederal and power-sharing arrangements, links with Jordan etc. * Where should the borders between the two entities be drawn? * How to solve the intractable question of Jerusalem, the Holy City claimed by two nations and three monotheistic religions? * What should happen to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip?"

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