The latest news articles of Palestine seem to only focus on the Palestine/Israel peace talks. Indeed the two words almost seem synonymous. Yet what is rarely seem in the media is the ‘good’ aspects of the Palestine/Israel relationship.
When researching for last week’s blog post I came across an interesting website – Oasis of Peace. In 1972 this organisation created a community where Arabs and Jews were offered the opportunity to come together and share their living and life experiences in a hope that the dominant stereotypes would be reduced and that a peace between the two could be possible.
While some may be sceptical of this idea, and even the organisers admitted that they were naïve to an extent, the idea had some merit. The thesis of the organisation was that it was a conflict between two peoples rather than individuals and so with a few trial and errors the organisation came to offer an opportunity for two national identities to meet and identify with their group.
The organisation and community are such a success that the School of Peace is internationally recognised and has hosted 45,000 students and adults and the community has grown to 55 families. The school itself has 500 students and educates them in a bilingual bicultural environment.
This goes to show that not all citizens of Israel and Palestine are in conflict with each other and that there is hope that the two peoples are able to live together…eventually.
Oasis of Peace – Neve Shalom-Wahat al-Salam
The Middle East 
You are are right, too often there is not enough in the media about good Palestinian-Israli relations.
The Oasis of Peace is a very interesting concept. It does highlight how two different peoples can live together in one community.
I think there are definitely a lot of people throughout Israel and Palestine who want peace. Maybe the focus should not be on negotiations but on ways to live peacefully together.
However, would a one-state solution really work? I fear that if this occurred, some would live harmoniously together, while others would be marginalised causing further conflict.