Foreword / David Smock -- Introduction -- Religion : a blessing or a curse? -- After the collapse of Oslo -- The Alexandria Summit and its aftermath -- Grassroots interreligious dialogues -- Educating the educators -- Other Muslim voices for interreligious peacebuilding -- Symbolic ritual as a mode of peacemaking -- Active solidarity : rabbis for human rights -- From personal grief to collective compassion -- Journeys of personal transformation -- Practical recommendations -- Appendices.

The author of The Politics of Meaning offers his unique solution to the crisis in the Middle East, covering the history of the region while discussing the philosophical and political issues that surround any search for peace and justice in the region. Original.

A major modern conundrum is how the Arab/Israel conflict remains unresolved and, seemingly, unresolvable. In this inspirational book, Rabbi Michael Lerner suggests that a change in consciousness is crucial. With clarity and honesty, he examines how the mutual demonization and discounting of each sides’ legitimate needs drive the debate, and he points to new ways of thinking that can lead to a solution. Lerner emphasizes that this new approach to the issue requires giving primacy to love, kindness, and generosity. It calls for challenging the master narratives in both Israel and Palestine as well as the false idea that “homeland security” can be achieved through military, political, economic, or media domination. Lerner makes the case that a lasting peace must prioritize helping people on all sides (including Europe and the U.S.) and that real security is best achieved through an ethos of caring and generosity toward “the other.” As many spiritual leaders have taught, problems like these cannot be solved at the same level at which they originated—one must seek higher ground, and that becomes a central task for anyone who wants a sustainable peace. Embracing Israel/Palestine is written for those looking for positive, practical solutions to this ongoing dilemma.

A major modern conundrum is how the Arab/Israel conflict remains unresolved and, seemingly, unresolvable. In this inspirational book, Rabbi Michael Lerner suggests that a change in consciousness is crucial. With clarity and honesty, he examines how the mutual demonization and discounting of each sides’ legitimate needs drive the debate, and he points to new ways of thinking that can lead to a solution. Lerner emphasizes that this new approach to the issue requires giving primacy to love, kindness, and generosity. It calls for challenging the master narratives in both Israel and Palestine as well as the false idea that “homeland security” can be achieved through military, political, economic, or media domination. Lerner makes the case that a lasting peace must prioritize helping people on all sides (including Europe and the U.S.) and that real security is best achieved through an ethos of caring and generosity toward “the other.” As many spiritual leaders have taught, problems like these cannot be solved at the same level at which they originated—one must seek higher ground, and that becomes a central task for anyone who wants a sustainable peace. Embracing Israel/Palestine is written for those looking for positive, practical solutions to this ongoing dilemma.

Violence in Israel and Palestine has become the norm. Do we even understand this conflict? Do we know where it comes from? Why can't the two sides reach agreement? Can Jews and Palestinians find a way to coexist? An American Jew, Mark Braverman thought he understood the reasons for Israel's existence. But when he visited the region and began to understand the forces that are fueling and perpetuating the conflict, he realized just how far we are from achieving peace. From the bustling communities on either side of the Jerusalem barrier, to the historical lessons of the Nazi Holocaust and South African apartheid, to the foremost voices in theology and conflict resolution today, Braverman answers the questions above and offers a course of action both at home and abroad to realize peace.

A novel inquiry into the sociopolitical dimensions of public medicine, Healing the Land and the Nation traces the relationships between disease, hygiene, politics, geography, and nationalism in British Mandatory Palestine between the world wars. Taking up the case of malaria control in Jewish-held lands, Sandra Sufian illustrates how efforts to thwart the disease were intimately tied to the project of Zionist nation-building, especially the movement’s efforts to repurpose and improve its lands. The project of eradicating malaria also took on a metaphorical dimension—erasing anti-Semitic stereotypes of the “parasitic” Diaspora Jew and creating strong, healthy Jews in Palestine. Sufian shows that, in reclaiming the land and the health of its people in Palestine, Zionists expressed key ideological and political elements of their nation-building project. Taking its title from a Jewish public health mantra, Healing the Land and the Nation situates antimalarial medicine and politics within larger colonial histories. By analyzing the science alongside the politics of Jewish settlement, Sufian addresses contested questions of social organization and the effects of land reclamation upon the indigenous Palestinian population in a decidedly innovative way. The book will be of great interest to scholars of the Middle East, Jewish studies, and environmental history, as well as to those studying colonialism, nationalism, and public health and medicine.

MI5 operates a partially secret policy that allows agents to participate in serious crimes, a security tribunal has heard. In a challenge to the intelligence service's handling of agents, lawyers for a coalition of human rights groups have questioned the legality and extent of the powers. Some elements of what is known as "the third direction" - guidelines permitting agents to become involved in criminal conduct - have been published. Crucial details specifying whether there are limits on such criminal activity, however, remain secret... The author's opinion: I think we should do everything in our power to make sure that human rights are no longer infringed upon, and to convince the British, American, Russian, Israeli and Iranian Intelligence agencies - and all other Intelligence Agencies in the world - to get those rogue factions from the International Intelligence Community in line, so that human rights can fully be upheld - and that all intelligence agencies in the world finally make peace with each other.