Ynet: Settlers, Palestinians talk peace

This post should not be taken as my endorsement of settlers having moved to the West Bank in the first place, but it is a note of hope that in the context of a negotiated peace agreement establishing a Palestinian state, some Jewish settlers believe in establishing good relations with their Arab neighbors.—Arieh

From article by Yair Altman, Ynetnews.com, Sept 7, 2011:

A few dozen settlers and Palestinians, members of the Land of Peace movement, met on Tuesday at the West Bank outpost of Migron in an attempt to mend the rifts. The group toured the ruins of the structures razed by Civil Administration forces on Monday, a measure that prompted settlers to riot and lead to the arrests of six teens. …

At vandalized mosque (Photo: Ohad Zweigenberg)

‘We can make peace’ (Photo: Ohad Zweigenberg)

… the group continued to the village of Kusra, south of Nablus, the site of a “price tag” operation during which unidentified assailants torched a mosque and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls. The operation is thought to have been perpetrated in response to the Migron outpost razing.

… At one point, when it appeared that the group would have to leave without entering the village, Land of Peace head Nahum Pachenik intervened.

“You are the sons of Ishmael, and we are the sons of Yitzhak,” he told the village residents. “We have the same father. We oppose the destruction of mosques. Such acts go against the faith in god.”

The residents eventually relented and let the convoy through. At the center of town, near the vandalized mosque, the settlers and the Palestinians paused to discuss the the possibility of living together in peace.

“Political conclusions on how to solve the conflict did not come out of it, but this was an important gathering,” Pachenik said. “I told them that if we would all lie on the ground and listen quietly, we would hear it crying over the spilled blood of the sons of Abraham.

“Suddenly they realized that they have someone to talk to. …” Click for entire article online.