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This important
Middle East Peace Campaign News Update is presented to you
by our affiliates, The Association for Peace and
Understanding in the Middle East (APUME) and The
Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East
(APSME).
Today's topics
are:
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Silent
Majority of Israelis and Palestinians Support Peace
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Sources
for survey data on p.1: Hebrew University
http://micro5.mscc.huji.ac.il/~truman and Palestinian
Center for Policy and Survey Research http://www.pcpsr.org/.
Survey questions appear at www.pcpsr.org.
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Silent
Majority of Israelis and Palestinians Support Peace --
Yes,
it’s surprising. Most Israelis and Palestinians want peace!
A survey taken after the January Hamas election win found that
most Israelis and Palestinians support peace negotiations with
each other. These results were reported in a joint press
release on March 26th by university professors at
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an independent Palestinian
research center in Ramallah. Similar joint press releases have
reported growing demand for a negotiated peace among both
Israelis and Palestinians since 2000. And, since November
2002, they have reported steady demand for peace at levels
shown in the left-most chart above. (See bottom of page 3 for
more information.)
Many
Israelis and Palestinians would also be surprised by these
results. In the same March survey, only 57% of Palestinians
realized that a majority of fellow Palestinians would, upon
Palestinian statehood, be willing to recognize Israel. Only
33% of Israelis realized that a majority of their fellow
Israelis favor negotiations with Hamas. It appears that the
moderate majority on both sides is a Silent Majority.
Will
this longstanding conflict crumble like the Berlin Wall in
1989? A generation of Americans grew up in the shadow of the
Cold War, a war that it seemed would either blow up the planet
or creep on irresistibly forever. And then, without a shot
being fired, in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet
Union scattered into the dust of history. The Berlin Wall was
undermined by the silent majority of Soviets who finally made
their voices heard. Will the silent majority of moderates in
the Middle East make themselves known?
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Over
3,000 Jews and Arabs a Month Attend Israeli The Way to
Happiness® Workshops on Tolerance and
Understanding
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Workshop
participants hear stories and play games in their introduction
to The Way to Happiness booklet.
They
also act out skits on The Way to Happiness principles
such as “Respect the religious beliefs of others,” and
“Try to treat others as you would want them to treat you.”
Workshops are led by 15 volunteers with our Tel Aviv sister
organization, the Association for Prosperity & Security in
the Middle East.
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Deaf
children with The Way to Happiness posters in
Hebrew
at April 2006 workshop.
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Arabic-Speaking
teachers of winning school in
summer
2005 The Way to Happiness contest.
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Israeli
National Telephone Company, Workshop for
employees,
March 2006.
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Israeli
officers at workshop,
February
2006.
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Arabic-Speaking
9th Graders in Nazareth hold Arabic
and
Hebrew The Way to Happiness booklets,
December
2005 workshop.
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Israeli
grandmas hold The Way to Happiness
booklets
in Hebrew,
March
2006 workshop at their club.
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You
can support booklet distribution and seminar
delivery in the Middle East.
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Click
here to donate!
Make
sure to note that your donation is for the
Middle
East Campaign.
Or
call (800) 255-7906 or (818) 254-0600
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Volunteers
of the Month
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Mazen
Abu-Hijleh, Vice President of Palestinian Affairs,
APUME
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Mazen
Abu-Hijleh and Issa Mitri work as a team in directing
our Palestinian activities, which have included
refining the Arabic translation of The Way to
Happiness booklet, funding over 700,000 copies for
Palestinian families and training 500 Palestinian
senior administrators of the Palestinian Ministry of
Education on the educational methods of L. Ron
Hubbard.
As
Executive Vice President, Issa is also active in
directing our fundraising work for The Way to
Happiness campaign in Israel. When Mazen went to
Tel Aviv last July, he led an Israeli school workshop
(in Arabic) on The Way to Happiness.
The
two learned only after joining APUME that they also
work as computer specialists at the same hospital in
Los Angeles!
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Issa
Mitri, MBA, Executive Vice President, APUME
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Fundraising
Around the Globe
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Moroccan
Bazaar (garage sale) in Los Angeles. What a team! It
was beautiful and funded over 7,500 booklets!
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Professional
theater play in Tel Aviv on The Way to Happiness
booklet premiered in April to rave reviews.
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Sofia
Sweet played keyboard at a Clearwater, Florida benefit
rock concert that she organized in February.
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| What
Israeli 7th Graders Learned at The Way to
Happiness Workshop |
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“I
realized that it’s better to be happy than to use
violence and that I should ignore little criticisms.”
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“I
realized violence could be prevented by more effective
understandings.”
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“I
learned that not only money and material things are
needed. Happiness and being good to man are needed.”
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©2004
Association for Peace & Understanding in the Middle East. All
rights reserved. THE WAY TO HAPPINESS is a trademark owned by L. Ron
Hubbard Library in the USA and in other countries (trademark
registrations issued and other registrations pending) and is used with
permission.
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