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BUILDING
BRIDGES VANCOUVER
SO
WHO ARE WE? WHO IS "BUILDING BRIDGES VANCOUVER"?
We
are a small group of people concerned about the ongoing conflict
in the Middle East. We support the only path to the ending
of that conflict: justice for Palestine, security
for Israel, and peace for both. We showcase the work
of those who through art, education, dialogue and constructive
action seek to bridge that divide.
The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not essentially a religious
conflict. It is primarily a conflict about land,
justice, anger, fear and security. The peoples on both sides
of the decades-long conflict are suffering as peoples
from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). However, because
the peoples of the area are strongly identified as Jews and
Muslims (not forgetting the Palestinian Christian minority),
there is a mistaken public perception that it is a religious
conflict.
It
is true that as the conflict has continued, there are small
and very angry groups on both sides which bring religious
energy to their desire to "win" - but this is secondary to
the primary reality. This being so, it is necessary for those
of us committed to multifaith co-operation,
as is the Interspiritual Centre, with which we are affiliated,
to counter this misperception by holding up to public view
and support those within and beyond all three faith-groups
who are seeking to bridge the divide.
The
goal of our planning team, through this program of public
education, is to strike a balance between the encouragement
of hope and the acknowledgement of difficulty. We want to
reach out to the people in the middle, of
whom, I am convinced, there is a greater number than the number
of those with loud, angry and fearful voices from either edge
- which is not to say that there is not a lot to be angry
and fearful about. I am aware that there are those who would
say that what we are doing is simply a distraction from the
injustice of the occupation. Contrariwise, and without trivializing
the suffering involved, we need to affirm the profound value
of people-to-people contact, and the need for a comprehensive
vision of justice, peace and security for the entire Middle
East, not just for any one part of it. This is why I ask any
reader of this page to join me in supporting this modest program
as a grassroots Canadian contribution to peace in the Middle
East.
I
finished my term as chair of the BBV planning team on January
8, 2012. I am happy to say that BBV has an excellent planning
team, ready to carry on and expand our work. Barrie MacFadden
(barriemacfadden@yahoo.ca) is the new chair. Other members
of the team are picking up other aspects of what I have been
doing. Of course I will continue as an active member of the
team.
And we now have an events page on Facebook. Just search for
“Building Bridges Vancouver” and you will see
information about the events we have planned, to every one
of which you are warmly invited.
Meanwhile, to each of you, shalom (Hebrew) / shelama (Aramaic,
the language of Jesus) / salaam (Arabic)!
Don Grayston, Past Chair, Building Bridges Vancouver Planning
Team
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