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My friend Graham Goodman is a peace activist in Israel. He travels back to his hometown of Montreal occasionally with his children to give his parents some joy, but despite their pleas he will not leave the dangers of Israel for the safety of Canada. His work there, he feels, is too important.

If you believe the headlines in U.S. papers, the constant fighting between Israelis and Palestinians seemingly has no hope of ending. The two sides are in a pitched battle, and we are told that only the highest officials in the world can negotiate a peace there.

That is a lie.

The so-called top officials of the world have failed time and again to establish a lasting peace in the Middle East. The only ones who are making bridges between the two nations are the ordinary people.

Israeli and Palestinian children have crossed borders and together have recorded CDs and made DVDs of their songs and efforts to learn to trust each other.

Teenagers in high schools from both nations have created pro-peace newsletters and blogs.
Adults, such as Graham, have been working for three decades, now, to foster ties and even affection for each other, despite the saber-rattling of their elected officials. There are hundreds of acts of kindness every day between Israelis and Palestinians that go unreported in our headlines.

Here are some of the peace groups working for a solution to the cycle of bombings, military actions and horrible deprivation caused by war.
http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org/Resources.htm#peacesites

I am writing about this topic today because I see and hear a growing virulent strain of anti-Israeli feeling across this nation. Fomenting hatred for the Jews or for the Arab states surrounding Israel is not the answer.Building bridges to the ordinary people in Israel and Palestine IS the answer, in my view.

And, wresting the peace process away from the so-called experts would go a long way to finally, blessedly, bringing the sweet rains of peace down upon that parched, unhappy place.

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