Dear TalkMatters Supporters,
Do hope everyone is keeping as well as possible and that you have enjoyed the Eid, Passover and Easter holidays.
So here we are again. Another newsletter and another month has gone by with no sign of improvement. Against this gloomy background, I’m going to Israel to find out more about how the many cooperative grassroots initiatives that TalkMatters‘ supports are coping in these difficult days.
I’ve looked forward for so long to meeting again the inspirational leaders of the ‘old‘ TalkMatters initiatives and meeting for the first time the leaders of some of the ‘new‘ TalkMatters initiatives. I’m hoping to attend the People’s Peace Conference In Jerusalem and to meet there the brave Israelis and Palestinians who despite the horrors of abduction, torture and death insist on continuing to work towards a better world. It is at times like this that hope feels like an act of defiance.
Today’s update include Jacky Dentino’s haunting impressions on visiting Israel and the Jerusalem Youth Chorus for the first time; a letter describing how life is changing in the mixed Jewish Arab town of Akko written by Mohammad Fahili, the Director of the Arab Jewish Community Centre and an article by long-term London-based supporter Wallee McDonell about a special International Peace Programme.
THE JERUSALEM YOUTH CHORUS – JACKY DENTINO’S FIRST VISIT TO JERUSALEM
I’ve just returned from my first visit to Jerusalem — and I’m still catching my breath. Everything I’d imagined about this region — its magnetism, its tension, its layers of beauty and complexity — came to life in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. To walk its streets, to share meals with our staff and singers, to experience this place not as an outsider, but through the lens of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus — it was an honor I’ll carry with me for a long time. As part of this trip, I joined our staff and high school singers for a three-day music and dialogue intensive in a remote kibbutz in the north… read more
THE CLORE JEWISH ARAB COMMUNITY CENTRE – MOHAMMAD FAHILI’S LETTER
I am glad to share with you some upbeat news at this season of renewal. Akko is moving forward with plans to revitalize the city, starting with our neighbourhood, Wolfson.
The continued suffering of the hostages, their loved ones and the people of Gaza, is never far from my thoughts. We pray for a speedy end to the violence. As the war drags on, though, I feel we must prepare for better times and we are working towards that end… read more
THE PEACE EDUCATION PROGRAMME – MAKING PEACE WITHIN – WALLEE McDONNELL
Wallee is an advocate of the Peace Education Programme created by Prem Rawat – ‘I came from Ireland to live in the UK in 1977. l heard about Prem Rawat’s message of personal peace a year later realising I was searching for an inner peace myself. In 1997 I moved to London where my interest in humanity and peace broadened coming across and getting involved with the British Friends of NSWaS (the first grassroots initiative to be represented by TalkMatters). My passion for and about personal peace continues to grow from my own experience and I’ve been a facilitator with the Peace Education Programme set up by Prem Rawat since 2015’.
Wallee is one of our long-term supporters. He believes in TalkMatters and the grass roots projects that enable Israelis and Palestinians to talk together. He also believes that to make peace between the different communities, people need to first make peace within themselves…. read more
JOIN US ON AN INTERFAITH TRIP TO WAHAT AL-SALAM~NEVE SHALOM
Whatever we report, it is not the same as seeing for yourself what is happening at a grassroots level. Here is your opportunity. In November, TalkMatters together with Oasis of Peace UK are going to visit Wahat al Salam ~Neve Shalom (WaSNS) – the village in Israel where Jews and Arabs have lived in a shared equitable society ever since the 1970s. This special place is where half a classroom of children has family in Gaza, and the other half has siblings in the Israeli Defence Force. A place of immense complexity. A place where people commit daily to building a future of peace. A place that shows us that despite the relentless conflict peace is possible. Read more….
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In a time where conflict and division seem to increase daily, fear and pain threaten to silence us, TalkMatters continues to introduce the UK public to the people who refuse to see one another as enemies. We believe in supporting the grass-roots work in Israel and Palestine and we know that it is only by working together with you – our UK supporters – and with our Israeli-Palestinian Associates that we can ever walk another path. A path that leads to a future of peace, justice and equality for everyone. Please pass on this information to your friends and colleagues.
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Well that’s it for now with profound hopes for a return of all the hostages, a genuine ceasefire, the cessation of violence and peaceful coexistence.
Jenny Nemko and the TalkMatters Team