Palestinians4Peace

Establishing a community for Palestinians everywhere to communicate,  and respect each other's perspectives, and the perspectives of all others who are affected by the ongoing conflict, including Muslims, Christians,  Jews and others so that solutions may emerge,  through unfolding discovery  grounded in mutual care and understanding , that meet everyone's needs.

We need to learn to see conflict as unmet needs, and turn disagreements into opportunities for understanding.

We believe in "Nonviolent Communication" as espoused by the late Marshall Rosenberg as a way to bridge the gap between people and create understanding. In the simplest terms, NVC is a way to communicate without judgment or blame, which makes it easier for both parties in a conversation to open up and express themselves in an empathetic way.

• This link summarizes the technique : Here
• This link is a practical example : Here

We recognize that a new way must be found to unify our community by projecting a new vision for the future that can help us move toward securing our legitimate rights to self-determination and an end to the conflict with Israelis based on peace, freedom, justice and mutual respect.

Playing the game of who is right, and the cycle of violence, has wasted more than 75 years while the most vulnerable populations have suffered immensely.

• That future generations of Israelis and Palestinians see each other's humanity and live in peace, freedom, justice and mutual respect for each other and the shared land.

• We believe that our vision should be articulated and promoted by a new generation of Palestinian leadership that can advance a shared vision of peace. 

• We also know that worldwide public opinion is moving decidedly in favor of our people. What supportive world leaders and civil society organizations are asking of us is “What do you want and how do you propose to get there?” We owe them and, more importantly, our people an answer.  



Because we have been denied, and continue to be denied, the opportunity to hold free and open elections, one of the first steps we propose is to make use of the significant technological skills possessed by young Palestinians by conducting a popular virtual referendum of our people both those under occupation and those in the diaspora to find out what our people want and approaches they can support to advance our struggle for justice. 

We invite you to join us in our collective search for a new approach to a just peace based on the will of the Palestinian people.

WE SUPPORT:

A political settlement negotiated between peace loving representatives of Israelis and Palestinians, that meets everyone's security, economic and self determination needs in accordance with international law, and allows families to raise their children in peace, dignity, justice and freedom.

WE CONDEMN:

• Continuation of the status quo between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples which can only lead to continued tragedy and insecurity for both.

• Killing or maiming or inflicting mental trauma on children, elderly, and all civilians.
• Abduction and imprisonment of anyone, including civilians, children, women and elderly, without legal representation.
• Torture and humiliation.
• Forced displacement.
• Restricting food and water as a method of war or torture.
• Sexual violence as a method of war or torture.
• Racial hatred and incitement against Jews, Muslims , Christians , Israelis, Palestinians and all minorities.
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Moreover, we deeply believe in the words of 

• Nelson Mandela: 

¨Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies¨

• Albert Einstein: 

¨Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.¨

• Gandhi:

¨An eye for an eye makes everyone blind¨

• Desmond Tutu :
  “If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies ".

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A recent poll by US-based Zogby Research Services conducted in Gaza and the West Bank found that there is strong opposition to a number of rights violations that are alleged to have been committed by either Israel or the Palestinian groups. When asked how they feel about the following behaviors, no matter which side carries them out: killing or targeting civilians; holding prisoners without trial or charges; holding elderly, women and children as captives; violating the rights of captives subjecting them to abuse, including torture, humiliation, or rape; seizing or destroying the property of others; denying food, water, medicine to civilians in time of war; or failing to protect people’s freedom of movement or speech - overwhelming majorities (in most instances, eight in ten) said they were “strongly opposed to this behavior since it is against international law and my values.”
When asked to identify the most desirable actions that should now be pursued by Palestinians, respondents in the West Bank and Gaza both agree that the most desirable step forward is to continue to bring the Palestinian case to international bodies to further isolate Israel. And both also agree that the least desirable action is to pursue armed struggle that targets Israeli civilians.
The second and third top choices in Gaza are for Palestinians to unify their ranks and create a national unity government followed by holding a popular referendum to elect a new generation of Palestinian leaders.
When asked for their view of a two-state solution in which Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, evacuates settlements, with international guarantees for Palestinian sovereignty, independence, about eight in ten in Gaza and East Jerusalem see this outcome as desirable. Slightly more than one-half in the West Bank agree. Majorities in the West Bank and Gaza see one state as somewhat undesirable.