From ownership to belonging...

"With G-d’s Help, the Settlers will be the fingers of Israel’s outstretched hand for peace”. 

Thus spoke Rabbi Menachem Froman. 

For anyone that ever heard about extremist settlers in Israel, this affirmation sounds like a "Neverland". We all know about a brutal ways of Zionism that possessed the extremist settlers, in fact still does... Beating of Palestinians that obviously take revenge, arooting olive trees... in brief all kind of atrocities. They really represent some kind of devils incarnated. You are right to think that these actions are, indeed, beyond redention.  Of course they will tell you that they are only defending themselves, but fact is they are posted there illegally from the international point of view. But fact is that many were born there. 

The day Rabbi Menachem arrived with his long white beard to Tekoa settlement, in the West Bank, something happened... 

He started preaching all this "nonsense" about "loving the Palestinians, "because they are our neighbours",  and proclaiming things like "Allahu Akbar!" In front of tens of thousand people of Hamas. Was he a madman? Can you realise the contrast?
You have to understand that Rabbi Menachem was not a common person with a regular soul, no. I believe he dwelled in what the Kabbalists call the "Yechida", the actual point in which the soul and the Divine make contact. He was wrapped in this dance with the "Shechina"and his life was an example of the power of love.

The following video was made by Harvey Stein. Have a look and see for yourself.

Rabbi Menachem Froman from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

He was the founder of the Gush Emunim settlers movement . Later he created Eretz Shalom, a social movement which works toward the advancement of peace and dialogue between the Jewish and Arab inhabitants of Judea and Samaria (West Bank). The movement is mostly made up of the "sons of Abraham", Jews and Arabs who are interested in living in their homeland in mutual respect and cooperation with their neighbours. "We understand that we are destined to be neighbours for many more years, it is in our interests and is, indeed, our mutual desire to advance good neighbourly relations". 
Eretz Shalom is not a political movement and does not presume to offer conclusive solutions or to formulate peace agreements, but rather works from the participate in dialogue and joint projects in education, religion, culture and the environment in the hopes of creating change that will burgeon from the bottom up.

Acceptance: from the wanting to change reality, to accepting it.  

All the political energy and thought form both the right and left sides of the political isle have always been geared towards changing the existing reality.
We believe that acceptance is a first and necessary step to the mutual solution to the conflict.
Acceptance of the current situation means to understand that both nations are living on the same land. Are connected to it, and wish to remain living on it.
Acceptance of reality is to understand that we all must give up on the dream that the other won’t be here. That myself, as well as the other has a connection and a right to this piece of land that we call Israel and the Palestinians call Palestine.

From ownership to belonging.

It is obvious to all how the concept of ownership in regard to the land leads to many of the conflicts and even wars.
Concepts of "ownership" and "possessions" in regard to the land are not only dangerous but also very far from what Judaism teaches. An example of this would be the laws of the sabbatical year where the land stays barren and ‘returns’ to it’s Creator. We follow the scripture’s statement that sais: “to Myself is all the land”, meaning that only G-d owns the land and all humans are just temporary inhabitants. If in the first generation of the settlement movement the motto was “The land of Israel belong to the people of Israel”, we who follow the teachings of Rabbi Froman claim that“The people of Israel belong to the Land of Israel”, meaning that we belong here and we love the land that we live on.

This approach of belonging is a much more modest and less forceful approach towards the land. This seemingly semantic change can alter the type of dialogue and the language used in it. Local and communal action.

“Eretz Shalom” is a social action organization and not a political one. 

We believe that it is our responsibility to bring all peace efforts and initiatives to closer and more essential circles than those dealing with politics. “Dialogue-graphy” is a new term we coined that tries to express this new approach. We would like to take the initiatives away from the bureaucracy that exists in the current political system and move them to local responsibilities.
“Dialogue-graphy” reaches out to a new kind of neighbours, to local cooperation between Palestinian villages to Jewish settlements. “Dialogue-graphy” is based on the notion that there is more in common than separates. In our vision we see a different kind of partnership between Palestinian village and its neighbouring Jewish settlements. In this vision we see the acceptance of the other and the different as the biggest potential for cooperation and mutual respect because of the proximity in which we live, the same person that we see each morning on our way to work, that we see outside our window, that is my neighbor whether I chose it or not is the person that I can possibly meet and get to know because we live in the same place.
We believe in one G-d, Hashem, He is Allah, He is the One G-d. The source of this conflict is in the religion and the faith of both sides. Therefore it is the believers and the belief that can become the roots of the solution just as they are the roots of the conflict.
We should search for the religious common denominator, we should get to know each others beliefs, culture, books and religion and here too we are sure to find that there is much more in common than divides.
We are convinced that the animosity will turn into understanding once both sides get the chance to meet.

 Practicalities 

 Work plan for 2012-2013:

 “Eretz shalom” will work to bring about dialogue and prayer groups amongst Jews and Palestinians based on geographic proximity.
“Eretz shalom” will plan and organize with the cooperation of Jews and Palestinians an International interfaith convention of peace and faith.
“Eretz shalom” will plan and organize music and cultural events with the participation of leading artists rabbis and cultural leaders in Israel and abroad.
“Eretz shalom” will publish a bi-monthly publication and an annual book in both languages that will be a platform for different voices of religious and cultural creativity that can play a big role in forging a dialogue between the two nations.
“Eretz shalom” will work to help subsidize the teaching of Arabic to Jews and Hebrew to Arabs both in schools and in extra-curricular formats.
“Eretz shalom” will organize a joint prayer once a year in the agricultural fields to pray for rain with both Arab and Jewish farmers.
“Eretz shalom” will bring about joint ecological projects based on geographical proximity that will benefit both peoples. Such as joint solutions to garbage disposal, waste purification and alternative energy.
“Eretz shalom” will work on putting together a joint committee on road safety and traffic courtesy. “Eretz shalom” will create a joint fund that will support economic cooperation between Palestinians and Jews helping primarily close geographic cooperation.
“Eretz shalom” will forge joint activities protesting the animosity and fences between the nations. “Eretz shalom” will create an internet site in 6 languages that will be a platform for publicising ideas that will help in bringing about peace, mutual respect and dialogue between Muslims and Jews. With Help of G-d and with our responsibility we will take action and be successful!
Our hope is that these amazing group of people will go viral in the area and, if possible all over Israel, because we need this way of thinking around us!