The Common Ground News Service (CGNews)

The Common Ground News Service (CGNews) aims to promote constructive
perspectives and dialogue on a broad range of issues affecting Arab-
Israeli & Muslim-Western relations. CGNews is available in Arabic,
English, French, Hebrew, Indonesian and Urdu. To subscribe, click
here. For an archive of past CGNews articles, please visit our website
at www.commongroundnews.org.

Inside this edition
29 July - 04 August 2008

Not just another interfaith parley
by Rabbi David Rosen
In this first article of a series on Jewish-Muslim relations, Rabbi
David Rosen, interfaith advisor to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and
the only Israeli rabbi invited to the Madrid Interfaith Conference,
explains why he believes we'll look back on this as a significant
event.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 29 July 2008)

US policy should be torture-free
by William Bache
Why are US war veterans and active duty soldiers opposed to torture
tactics? Colonel William Bache, a retired US army officer and Vietnam
veteran, considers why World War II veterans, Vietnam veterans and
active duty soldiers are some of the biggest opponents of torture and
inhumane treatment of captives.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 29 July 2008)

One child's voyage
by Sharon J. Doyle
In this article, Sharon J. Doyle, a counselor and lecturer at St.
Francis Xavier University, introduces Paul Harbridge's book, Helena's
Voyage, an inspiring new children's story that fosters "children's
natural openness".
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 22 July 2008)

What Iranians and Israelis need to know
by Trita Parsi and Roi Ben-Yehuda
Iranian-born author Trita Parsi, and Israeli-American writer Roi Ben-
Yehuda examine the false stereotypes fuelling the tensions between
Israel and Iran, countering these with 6 essential things that
Israelis and Iranians should know about each other.
(Source: Ha'aretz, 19 July 2008)

Dubai: a true home to many
by Natasha Bukhari
Former press advisor to the prime minister of Jordan, Natasha Bukhari,
a freelance journalist, is now a proud Dubai resident who refutes the
claim that Dubai has no soul.
(Source: Middle East Times, 24 July 2008)

Featured Video

A land called paradise
In December 2007, over 2,000 American Muslims were asked what they
would wish to say to the rest of the world.
This is what they said.
(Source: MAS Media Foundation, 03 January 2008)

Not just another interfaith parley
Rabbi David Rosen

Jerusalem - Last week, an amazingly colourful array of Arab princes
and Muslim clerics came together with representatives of the world's
major faiths in the Spanish Royal El Prado Palace in Madrid. While the
Western media generally failed to appreciate the magnitude of the
event, the Arab media understood how important it really was. Not only
was this the first international multi-faith conference ever initiated
by an Arab Muslim leader, it was inaugurated by the king of the Muslim
world's heartland, Saudi Arabia, where the most conservative Muslim
outlook prevails.

At the opening event, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud emphasised
his conviction that authentic religion is expressed in a spirit of
moderation and tolerance, that concord must be elevated above
conflict. In order to address the global challenges of our time, he
called for cooperation and collaboration between the different
religions.

This green light for interfaith dialogue and collaboration opened the
gates for the curious but cautious. As a member of the Jewish
delegation - composed of some 15 rabbis and scholars - we seemed most
affected by his "permission".

The Arab media interviewed us incessantly, and prominent Arab figures
approached us, many of whom had never before met a Jew - let alone a
rabbi. The encounter ignited a humanising flame that began to burn
away the demonised image of the other. For this alone it was
worthwhile.

As is often the case at conferences, conversations outside the formal
proceedings offered far greater opportunity for meaningful exchange -
especially at meal times. (I should point out that the Muslim
organisers had specially ordered kosher food for the Jewish
participants, a testament to the consideration and respect shown by
our hosts).

At one meal, our Saudi interlocutors were at pains to emphasise the 85-
year-old king's courage. King Abdullah's desire, said one of them, was
not only for Saudi Arabia to play a more engaged role in the world and
with the world's religions, but also to open Saudi Arabia itself to
the world.

The World Muslim League (WML), which reflects a very conservative
religious ideology, was given responsibility for organising the
conference so that the initiative had significant religious "cover".
At the same time, it was patently clear that for the WML, these were
uncharted waters. The preparations, list of invitees, invitations, the
programme itself - all betrayed a lack of familiarity with the
interfaith territory, and with specific religious communities in
particular. But that too highlighted the remarkable novelty, and thus
significance, of King Abdullah's decision to sponsor this event.

While I had been invited not as an Israeli, but as a Jewish leader in
the inter-religious field, the fact that I am an Israeli citizen had
been excitedly reported in the media. In the highly choreographed
proceedings, there was a moment of some passion and heat. It came in
the wake of an almost inevitable mantra expressed by a panellist in
the penultimate session: while dialogue with Jews was permissible (and
perhaps even desirable), he said, dialogue with Israel was not. The
panellist called on me to respond to his comment.

I replied that an authentic dialogue is not one in which one side
defines the character of the other, but rather seeks genuinely to
understand others as they see themselves. Judaism has always been
inextricably connected to the land of Israel. While this must not be
used to justify actions or policies that conflict with Judaism's
ethical foundation, to deny or try to separate this bond is to fail to
acknowledge, let alone respect, the way most Jews define themselves.
Moreover, because of the centrality of the land of Israel to Jewish
life, without Israeli religious representation, no claim to full and
genuine dialogue can ever be credible.

While a few reacted negatively, alleging that the irenic discussion
had now been politicised, there were also constructive Muslim
responses emphasising that by extension of this principle, Jews need
to appreciate what Jerusalem means for Muslims, as well as Muslim
solidarity with their Palestinian brothers and sisters.

Perhaps most notable of all was the respectful spirit in which the
discussion took place. Many noted that it had actually served as
something of a release. The absence of any mention of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict had created the feeling that there was an
elephant in the room. The opportunity to refer to it in the context of
respectful debate actually helped clear the air.

While the concluding statement was an anticipated pious declaration of
all things good, it does reflect the expressed Saudi intention to
continue this newly embarked upon process. This should not be
underestimated: the highest authority in the very heartland of Islam
has taken a lead in interfaith outreach with the declared intention of
addressing contemporary challenges and resolving conflict. I believe
we will look back on the gathering convened on 16 July 2008 in Madrid
as a very significant development, both for the Middle East and for
the world at large.

###

* Rabbi David Rosen is international director of inter-religious
affairs for the American Jewish Committee and interfaith advisor to
the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. This article is part of a series on
Jewish-Muslim relations written for the Common Ground News Service
(CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 29 July 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

Return to top

US policy should be torture-free
William Bache

Istanbul, Turkey - In the wake of Abu Ghraib, "extraordinary
rendition" and Guantanamo, torture has become a stain on America's
good name, something that would have been unthinkable only a few years
ago. This stain, which has especially harmed US relations with the
Muslim world, must be removed, with all those involved being held
accountable for their actions.

US Congress needs to conduct a thorough investigation into crimes of
torture authorised and carried out by US officials, while governments
worldwide should work together to prevent future abuses and encourage
an environment of mutual respect for human rights.

Colonel Nick Rowe, famed as one of the only American prisoners of war
(POW) to escape from five years of imprisonment by the Vietnamese
Communists, would be aghast at recent events. Years after his
experience in Vietnam, he became a man with a mission, voluntarily
accepting recall to active duty in 1981 to establish the US Army
Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) Program. A victim of
torture himself, Rowe did his best to protect and prepare American
fighting men for the horrors of war, but never would he have thought
his program would become the model for the United State's "torture
lite" campaign.

He designed his SERE course to enable American servicemen to survive
isolation, torture and indoctrination by hostile countries or
terrorists. Torture in the SERE course is limited to torture lite,
which means the use of nakedness, extreme temperatures, stress
positions, infliction of continuous high volume noise and sleep
deprivation. This combination of torture lite techniques is designed
to cause pain, mental disorientation and total collapse of the
individual's will to resist.

Days and nights of continuous torture lite are enough to break anyone.
It leaves physical, psychological, mental and sometimes spiritual
scars. Torture lite is designed to tear asunder the spirit of
individuals and render them willing collaborators with their
tormentors.

Recently, a German citizen who was reportedly "disappeared" by the CIA
and taken to Afghanistan for torture lite was committed to a mental
health institution. Five months after his "disappearance" - part of
the global "war on terror" - he reappeared on a deserted country road
in Albania after US government officials realised he was not a
terrorist. He now suffers from psychological illness resulting from
his severe interrogations and imprisonment.

Milt Bearden, a CIA officer who directed support operations for Afghan
mujahideen fighters resisting the Soviet occupation of their native
land in the 1980s, stated that official US policy during the
administrations of three American presidents was that all sides in the
Afghan conflict should treat their prisoners in accordance with the
Geneva Conventions, in which signatories agree not to torture POWs and
enemy civilians in armed conflicts.

World War II veterans, Vietnam veterans and active duty soldiers have
also always opposed torture and inhumane treatment of captives. Why do
the soldiers who suffered the horrors of war seem to know more about
the need to preserve and defend the values of human dignity than
policy makers? Probably because they know that once inhumane forms of
warfare are found acceptable by the United States of America, itself a
signatory to the Geneva Convention, American soldiers will be more
likely to suffer torture and abuse if captured by terrorists.

The United States needs to learn from its soldiers. It also needs to
recognise that asking forgiveness and making restitution to the
victims of illegal policy is part of a necessary process to regain our
stature as a moral nation governed by the rule of law.

In 1999, US President Bill Clinton travelled to Guatemala to extend
his apology for 30 years of US government support to the former
military dictatorship. That dictatorship utilised death squads,
torture, disappearances, secret prisons and ethnic cleansing to
repress its own people. Clinton's action served to re-establish
confidence in the Guatemalan people that America would no longer
support repression in the region.

A similar apology by US President George W. Bush to the innocent
victims of the "war on terror" would go a long way towards reconciling
illegal and immoral US policies seen as "anti-Muslim" in public
opinion surveys from Turkey to Indonesia. Such a gesture by President
Bush would set the stage for the eventual reconciliation between
America and the marginalised peoples of the Middle East and South
Asia. Such a process would move forward the cause of global peace and
justice, as well as isolate extremists of all varieties.

###

* William Bache is a retired US army officer and Vietnam veteran,
currently living in Turkey. In 2006, he worked as the Deputy for
Ethics at the Iraqi Center for Military Principles, Values and
Leadership in Baghdad. This article first appeared in Washington Post/
Newsweek's Post Global and was written for the Common Ground News
Service (CGNews).

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 29 July 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

Return to top

One child's voyage
Sharon J. Doyle

Wolfville, Nova Scotia - Was there ever a "once upon a time" when we
were more tolerant and open towards those we perceive as different?

There was a golden age in Spain 1,000 years ago when Jews, Christians
and Muslims lived in mutual harmony. Now, however, there are
indications of an increasing global intolerance within and between
nations. We are stumbling into a 21st century wilderness of both
secular and religious fundamentalism born of fear.

Where do we find the strength we need, after the 6 o'clock news, to
stave off fear, to keep dreaming, to ask questions? What is the point
of religion? Is it really loving acceptance or is it dogma?

Historically, people have interpreted religion as suggesting that "we"
have the answers and "they" must come over to our side, or else. The
underlying implication is that we have the inside scoop on who God is
and what God wants. If God is on our side, we can justify shunning
others, or even violence in the name of "our" truth. It is a long road
from self-righteousness to respecting the rights of others.

"In a town by the ocean, in a house on a hill..." begins a journey
that helps illuminate the way forward. Written in English, Hebrew and
Arabic, Paul Harbridge's children's book, Helena's Voyage, promotes
religious tolerance with simplicity -- appealing to children who ask
questions and to adults whose concern it is to foster children's
natural openness.

Harbridge wrote eloquently about what spurred him to write Helena's
Voyage. "My daughter Helena died in her sleep in 2006. As I grieved, I
thought of how her mother was from Spain and how Helena very likely
had ancestors of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. At the same
time I saw TV images from the Middle East of mothers carrying their
dead children from the wreckage of bombed buildings, and for the first
time, I knew that grief. Out of these impassioned thoughts, Helena's
Voyage was born."

Helena is a sick girl who yearns for more life and vitality. She is
visited by a muse, or messenger, who travels with her to three cities
-- Jewish, Christian and Muslim. In each city, Helena is invited to
stay, but the angel accompanying her on the journey calls her onward.
By being open to other ports of call and by asking, "How can I know
which of these beliefs is true?" Helena discovers commonalities among
the faiths. She learns that all religions promote the same values,
though clothed in different traditions.

Helena's Voyage is rooted in the holy teachings, from all faiths, that
affirm humanity's inter-connectedness.

A Muslim prayer for peace asks that we get to know each other, rather
than despise each other (Qur'an 49:13). A Jewish prayer from the Torah
asks for wisdom, that it may be with us, work with us, and guide us
discreetly in our affairs (Book of Wisdom 9:1-3). St. Paul, the envoy
of Christianity, urged followers to bear with one another charitably
and do all we can to preserve the unity of the Spirit that binds us
together because we are one Body, one Spirit (Ephesians 4:2-4).

Sufi mystics tell us that once someone truly encounters God, the
glimpse of God carries a person beyond the narrowness of
denominations, or mere human distinctions. This, according to British
religious scholar Karen Armstrong, allows one to feel equally at home
in a synagogue, a church, or a mosque. As the 14th century Muslim
mystic, Hafiz, proclaimed:

I have learned so much from God
That I can no longer call myself
A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim
A Buddhist, a Jew...

Helena's Voyage is powerful because it reveals that we are not alone,
or exclusive, in our quest to know God. By realising that adherents of
the major faiths share more in common than they think, we find the
wisdom to guide us, one act at a time, to tolerant choices on the
personal, local and international levels.

That children's books impart such wisdom should come as no surprise.
After all, it was Jesus Christ who encouraged us to learn from our
young: "Whoever humbles themselves as a child is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:4).

###

* Sharon J. Doyle is a counsellor and lecturer of an interfaith
spirituality course at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish,
Nova Scotia. Helena's Voyage is published by O Books
(www.helenasvoyage.com). This article was written for the Common
Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 29 July 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

Return to top

What Iranians and Israelis need to know
Trita Parsi and Roi Ben-Yehuda

Washington DC/Barcelona, Spain - The looming Iran-Israel confrontation
has a seemingly deterministic quality to it. Listening to the
politicians, one gets a sense that powers beyond our control are
pulling us toward a 21st-century disaster. Yet a great deal of the
force propelling us into confrontation is fuelled by ignorance and
dehumanisation. Israel is demonised as "Little Satan", while Iranians
are portrayed as irrational Muslim extremists.

Indeed, mutual ignorance of our respective societies plays into the
hands of the hard-line leaders who are calling for blood and
destruction. They manipulate and distort; above all, they do
everything to prevent us from recognising that the enemy has a face.

Not that either of us is naive enough to believe that mere knowledge
of one another will offer a miraculous solution. We do believe,
however, that mutual understanding will go a long way toward allowing
us to feel empathy and compassion for each other, and to sound off at
those calling for bloodshed and war.

Here are some essential things Iranians and Israelis should know about
each other:

1. Israel is a vibrant yet incomplete democracy.

On his visit to the United States last fall, President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad famously stated that there are no homosexuals in Iran.
Well, in Israel there are plenty of homosexuals, and they are the only
ones in the Middle East who have an annual gay pride parade in their
capital city.

Democracy in Israel means that every citizen and group (Jewish or
otherwise) has the right to express him/herself and assemble in
public. Also, that every citizen is equal under the law, has voting
rights, religious freedom, access to education, health care and
economic opportunity.

Undoubtedly, Israel's democracy is still a work in progress. The
fusion of religion and state has limited people's rights and freedoms
(for example, Israelis of different faiths cannot legally marry one
another in the country), and the de facto secondary status of Arab
Israelis is an affront to the country's democratic ideals.
Fortunately, many people in Israel are assiduously working to change
the system from within.

2. Iran is a vibrant quasi-democracy.

It is far from a full democracy, but neither is it a complete
dictatorship. Its severe limitations notwithstanding, Iran has a
lively civil society and possesses most of the building blocks for a
successful democracy down the road. The Iranian people's struggle for
democracy dates back to the 1906 Constitutional Revolution. Since
then, Iranians have learned two important lessons.

First, war and democratisation don't mix. As tensions between Iran and
the outside world increase, the first to pay are Iran's pro-democracy
and human rights activists. For Iran to move toward a democratic
system, it needs peace and tranquillity; bombs and surgical strikes
will achieve the opposite.

Second, when you carry out a revolution, you know against whom you are
revolting, but not necessarily for whom you are waging the revolution.
Iranians have little appetite for another revolution. As unpopular as
their current government is, they prefer gradual and manageable
change.

3. Streets are named for poets.

Just like Iran, Israel puts great value on the written word. In
Israel, streets are named for poets - writers who have revived a
people and its ancient language. It is the pen and imagination, more
than the sword and muscle, that have been responsible for the creation
of this nation. As in Iran, everyday conversations in Israel are as
likely to be peppered with literary references as with practical
concerns.

4. Iranians are lonely and distrustful.

Much like Israelis, Iranians feel painfully isolated in the Middle
East. They are surrounded by people with whom they share neither
language nor religion. Iran is majority Persian and Shi'ite; its
neighbours are majority Arab and Sunni.

Nor does Iran have many friends beyond the Middle East. If anything,
the international community has never treated them fairly, Iranians
believe. In the last century alone, Iranians have contended with
colonisation and decades of foreign intervention, not to mention an
eight-year war against Saddam Hussein, in which the entire world sided
with Iraq.

5. Zionism is not a dirty word.

In a show of disrespect, many leaders in Iran refer to Israel as the
"Zionist regime." While being called a "regime" may not be flattering,
for most Israelis, Zionism is not a dirty word.

From within, Zionism is a national liberation movement, whose aim it
is to create a safe haven for Jewish people, culture and national
identity. Zionism is the Jewish people's answer to the centuries-old
impulse to erase them from history. When Ahmadinejad and his ilk speak
of Zionism's imminent doom, they are in fact strengthening the very
movement they seek to eliminate.

6. Sympathy with Palestinians, but no desire for conflict with Israel.

Ahmadinejad's venomous rhetoric notwithstanding, Iranians don't spend
much time thinking about Israel. They are far more concerned about
Iran's crippled economy and rampant corruption. While the sympathies
of most Iranians fall squarely with the Palestinians, this is not an
issue they feel their country must be actively involved in.

Iranians will fiercely defend their independence and territory, yet
they have no desire for conflict with Israel. Iranians remember
Alexander's sacking of Persia, the Arab conquest in the 7th century
CE, the Mongol invasion, and the 1953 CIA coup against Iran's
democratically elected prime minister. But there is no recollection of
any conflict with the Jewish people because there hasn't been one.
Most Iranians would like to keep it that way.

###

* Trita Parsi is the author of Treacherous Alliance -- The Secret
Dealings of Israel, Iran and the U.S., and Roi Ben-Yehuda, an Israeli-
American writer living in Spain is a regular contributor to Jewcy and
France 24. This abridged article is distributed by the Common Ground
News Service (CGNews). The full text can be found at www.haaretz.com.

Source: Haaretz, 19 July 2008, www.haaretz.com
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

Return to top

Dubai: a true home to many
Natasha Bukhari

Dubai - I was recently on holiday away from Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates. As customary, I was bombarded with questions by both friends
and acquaintances gathered around the dinner table one evening about
how I could possibly bear to live in this desert and "unbearably" hot
country.

Well, putting the element of heat aside, those present started making
what I would describe as fleeting and, in my opinion, ignorant
judgments about a country that they had never lived in. Some lived in
nearby Middle Eastern countries and others in Europe.

One of the remarks that sounded my alarm bells was a comment on how
"Dubai has no soul". Others talked about a "lack of culture" in this
modern country where locals are a minority. Others went even further
by saying that they wouldn't live there even if they were offered all
the money in the world!

Trying to remain calm, I started arguing against their fleeting
remarks and began defending the place I've now come to consider home,
keeping in mind of course that everyone is entitled to his or her own
opinion, as long as it is backed by facts. However, that did not sway
me from this urge to prove them wrong, especially where "soul" and
"culture" were concerned.

Soul, I argued, is relative. Every place in the world has a soul, and
it is one's own perception that actually defines how soulful or not a
place is. If you are perceptive, you come across it in every corner of
any place on earth. And if anything, Dubai, with its diverse
population, has an abundance of it.

The same goes for culture (which does not mean heritage). This tiny
emirate has more culture than so many ancient places I've visited, and
I've always prided myself on being well-travelled!

In fact, it is here that you are bombarded with culture, beginning
with languages, and ending with diverse religious practices. One needs
to be observant and aware. This must be one of the few places in the
world where when Ramadan and Christmas overlap you can openly
celebrate both without reservations.

It is a place where cultural practices of every ethnic and religious
group are respected and even encouraged. It is where Arabic, English,
French, Indian, and Filipino songs are sung enthusiastically by
students during assembly at many of the country's private schools. It
is also a place where veiled woman are working hand in hand with mini-
skirt wearers to further develop this country, neither judging nor
berating the other.

It is where children can enjoy trick or treating on Halloween but are
yet encouraged to donate food, clothing, money and toys to tsunami
victims. It is where they are learning that they have a chance at
success regardless of their race, nationality, ethnic background or
religion. It is where merit, hard work and dedication are the deciding
factors of how successful you can be in any endeavour.

My friends argued that it is such a transient place that no one can
ever call it home, except for its local residents. Well, I beg to
differ. There are countless expatriates who admit that they would
never dream of such a "comfortable" lifestyle in their home countries
and that they would not choose to leave the emirate unless they
absolutely had to.

Many choose to give birth to their own children in Dubai and teach
them to not only respect the locals' culture and tradition, but also
to give back to the society that they believe has given them so much.
Tolerance, cooperation and respect are key to success in this country,
and those who lack them will not make it in this melting pot.

Yes, it does get scorching hot during summer, but that does not limit
Dubaians' activities, for what nature has deprived them of they make
themselves! Manmade islands, an indoor ski slope and a soon-to-be
built indoor golf course are just a few examples. There may be little
rainfall in this desert country, but innovative ideas keep pouring in.

A number of the region's countries are trying to emulate Dubai, be it
in its eccentric architecture or shrewd business sense, but the
steadfastness of its leadership has made it difficult for others to
keep up.

That is not to say that it is a perfect place, but what its
leadership, local and expatriate population have achieved over a
limited number of years is truly admirable.

Many steps are yet needed for the region's business model to also
become a pioneer in issues of human rights, gender equality and
quality of education, among other things, but Dubai has proven again
and again that where there is a will there is indeed a way.

So to my friends I say that I will gladly take the heat to be part of
the growth and progression of this phenomenal place that feels no less
than home.

###

* Natasha Bukhari is a freelance journalist based in Dubai and a
former press adviser to the prime minister of Jordan. This article is
distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be
accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Middle East Times, 24 July 2008, www.metimes.com
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

Return to top

About CGNews
The Common Ground News Service provides news, op-eds, features and
analysis on a broad range of issues affecting Arab-Israeli & Muslim-
Western relations. CGNews syndicates articles that are constructive,
offer hope and promote dialogue and mutual understanding, to news
outlets worldwide. Read our past issues.

Comments? Please email us at cgnews@sfcg.org. Want to submit an
article?
We welcome contributed articles by local and international experts who
offer constructive insights and analysis on a broad range of issues
affecting Arab-Israeli & Muslim-Western relations.

If you would like to contribute, please submit an article online.
Want to reprint an article?
Unless otherwise noted, copyright permission has been obtained and
articles may be reprinted by any news outlet or publication. Please
acknowledge both the original source and the Common Ground News
Service. The views expressed in these articles are those of the
authors, not of CGNews or its affiliates.

We respect your time and privacy. You are receiving this email at %%
%%emailaddr%%%%.
Visit our website to unsubscribe from our mailing list.

The Common Ground News Service is headquartered at 1601 Connecticut
Avenue, NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20009 USA. Visit us on the Web at
http://www.commongroundnews.org.

Send to a friend | View as web page | Contact us | (c)2008 Common
Ground News Service

This service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground,
an international non-governmental organization (NGO), headquartered in
Washington and Brussels, whose mission is to transform the way the
world deals with conflict - away from adversarial confrontation
towards cooperative solutions.