Common Lands, Common Ground :

Following the call of Pope Francis

by Martin Edwin Anders en
The answer to why Islam and Arabic are indi genous to erusal em! as are udaism and
"ebrew! can be found in my #ommon $ands! #ommon %round: The indigenous agenda! Israel!
Palesti ne and brea&i ng the post' (slo Peace Accords log)am * htt p:++ goo, gl+-.I/oa
The essay encaps ul at es many ideas similar to those e0pr es s e d repeat e dl y by Pope Franci s!
under scori ng his powerful mess a ge of int erfait h respect ! as he goes to Israel with a rabbi and a
shei& as tra1eli ng compani ons, 2
htt p:++www,) t a, or g+ 3456+ 47+ 58+ news' opinion+israel' middl e' east+ on' popes' trip' to' israel' rabbi' and' shei&' will'be' tra1eling'
compani ons
9ecentl y! the following story! :et anya hu; s <lood and =oil: The 9acist' :ationali sm of his
>ewish =tat e; Ideal was post ed on the Internet ,
htt p:++www,) uancol e,com+ 3456+ 47+ net anyahus' nationalism' )ewish, ht ml
For me its import anc e lies in the fact that it is bas ed on a 1ery common but nonet hel es s
breat ht a&i ngl y cluel es s ideas about indigenei t y! and is the type of derogat or y and misl eadi ng
rhet oric that bot h defame s Israel and &eeps a focus off real possi bl e solutions to the peace tal&
impas s e?sol uti ons bas ed in part on First @orld e0peri ences and lessons learned that cannot be
deni ed either in the geopolitical :orth or in the =out h,
/ey to the new const ruct in #ommon $ands! #ommon %round are assumpt i ons firmly root ed
bot h in history and in current soci al science theor y?t hat the ewish st at e of Israel is arguabl y
the first moder n indigenous nation' st at e! and that the )ust dema nds of Palesti ni ans are also
thos e of a traditional peopl e see&i ng a homel and,
<y get ti ng bot h sides to under st a nd their common and mostl y unrecogni Aed perspect i 1es of
chall enges as peopl es! perhaps the neces s ar y recogni tion of each other as nations first will
put their communi ti es on a bet t er trac& for a 1iabl e two' st at e solution,
After list eni ng to former Israeli Ambass a dor to @ashi ngt on (ren;s historical tour de force at the
Atlantic #ouncil a few mont hs ago! I came away feeling e1en more strongl y that a speci al focus
on an e0plicit mut ual ac&nowl edge me nt of the e0ist ence of two nations and its peopl es would
be an inno1ati1e! const r ucti 1e and neces s ar y way forward towar ds a real Baccept a bl eC two'
st at e solution,
(ne 1ery import ant consi der at i on is that using the indigenous argume nt would not only safel y
shelt er Israel;s right of self det er mi nat i on as a ewish st at eD it would also put the count ry in a
far bet t er position in the court of world opinion! particul arl y in regions+ communi ti es wher e it
e0ist s only in the negat i 1e,
:ot mer el y a propaga nd a effort Bin the original sens e of the wordC! the focus can offer
additional critically neede d securit y guar ant e e s , For e0ampl e! properl y framed! it could greatl y
reduce the mar&et pl ace appe al of Irani an+Isl ami st argume nt s among thos e still sitting on the
fence as to which way to go,
An indigenous focus can help fortify bot h sides with a far bet t er and mor e nuance d
under st andi ng of the many e0peri ence s they shar e Band need to wor& throughC in common!
rat her than be hoist ed on the pet ar d of a conti nui ng ritualistic but empt y political face' off that
set s them apart ,
In his tal& Ambas s ador (ren eloEuent l y point ed to the F,=, contributi on to the formul ati on of
Arab senti ment s on nationali s m and independe nc e,
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In following that line of thought ! it shoul d be point ed out that <en) ami n Fran&lin found in the
IroEuoi s and neighbori ng :ati1e American soci eti es tangi bl e e0ampl es of wor&ing democr aci es!
particul arl y in ter ms of personal freedoms and repr es ent a t i on in go1er nme nt ,
If Indian lessons ser1ed so well in the creati on of the world;s oldest democr acy! they can also
be )ustified being empl oyed now on an issue of such import ance to the Fnit ed =tat es,
Finally! Prime Minist er :et anya hu; s concer n as e0pr es s e d in his )ust' published int er1i ew with
Bloomber g ! that somet hi ng must be done to pre1ent the collaps e of Israel as a ewish' ma)orit y
democr at i c nation! is clearl y addr es s e d,
First published in the San Diego Jewish World in respons e to =te1e /ramer;s Post' /erry! Israel
shoul d st ay the course *
http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2014/05/21/post-kerry-israel-stay-course/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campai!=post-kerry-
israel-stay-course
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