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- Israel and Palestine: Changing the Terms of Agreement
- Tzipi Livni's Challenge
- Women Should Be Free to Pray at the Wailing Wall
- It Is Up to Israel to Restart Peace Negotiations
- Israel Can Win in Gaza, But Not Now
- Congratulations to the New State of Palestine!
- A Time for Hope and a Call for Restraint
- The Palestinians Want to Negotiate
- Whatever Happened to the Quartet?
- Israel in Wonderland
- Time for Taking Stock
- Netanyahu on the Brink
- How Shaul Mofaz Can Jump-Start the Peace Process
- Netanyahu's "Israeli Comfort"
- Netanyahu: Too Big for His Britches
- Israel Twisting in the Wind
- A Question of Accountability
- ...and only afterwards move to discuss the topic of Jerusalem
- Negotiations By the Parties
- The World Should Help the Palestinian Hunger Striker
- Playing the Victim Card Will Not Bring Peace
- President Peres and Dr. Ashrawi: Thank You for Staying on Track
- Time to Negotiate the Northern and Southern Sectors of the Israeli-West Bank Border
- Israel’s Tussle with Europe
- Security and Borders: Both Required for Peace
- Etzion Bloc Expansion: Israeli Overreaching
- Next Steps: Negotiating an Initial Border
- Let Us Prepare for Two States
- Can Palestinians Recognize Israel’s “Jewish Character”?
- The Question of Recognizing Israel as a Jewish State
- Giv’at Hamatos
- Har Homa C
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About the Authors
_Dr. ANDREW M. WILSON is the author of World
Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (Paragon House,
1991), a comparative anthology that contains over 4,000 passages from
268 sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism,
Hinduism, Confucianism, Jainism, Sikhism, Baha’i, and more. Also
featured are the traditions, prayers and proverbs of the First Peoples
of Africa, the Americas and Oceania. Clergy, scholars, and practitioners
of multiple faith traditions have applauded it as a contribution to
comparative religion and a resource for interfaith worship. The online
version of World Scripture is linked to by many collegiate and
independent websites as a comparative religion resource. Dr. Wilson has a
Ph.D. from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and
Civilizations and has published on Jewish–Christian relations in the
Journal of Ecumenical Studies. His interest in Israeli–Palestinian
relations has led him to take more than a dozen trips to Israel,
Ramallah and Gaza.
Dr. Wilson is Professor of Scriptural Studies at UTS: The Interfaith Seminary (New York City), the main seminary of the international Unification Church. Nevertheless, in undertaking the work to develop the proposal for a border, he received neither church support nor the endorsement of any church officials. He states, “I am offering this proposal as an individual citizen who cares deeply about peace in a way that transcends my personal religious beliefs. I believe that the spiritual maturity that grows out of a life of faith has positioned me to make a contribution to the wider discussion.”
LOUISE B. STRAIT accompanied Dr. Wilson on several of his trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories. An elder in the Presbyterian Church (P.C.U.S.A.), she is active in interfaith activities in the Washington D.C. area. Her interest in peace has been fostered by the strong peace witness of the Society of Friends, which she encountered in her education at the Quaker-affiliated Sidwell Friends School and Earlham College. An editor of periodicals by profession, Ms. Strait is currently employed by the American Psychological Association.
Dr. ANTONIO L. BETANCOURT is the Director for the Office of Peace and Security Affairs for the Universal Peace Federation. He also serves as President of the World Institute for Development and Peace, a think tank devoted to economic justice and resource developer on ideas and technologies to address more effectively the problems of poverty. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of the International Security Council, a Washington, DC-based defense and foreign policy think tank, and was Executive Editor of Global Affairs, its quarterly journal.
Dr. Wilson is Professor of Scriptural Studies at UTS: The Interfaith Seminary (New York City), the main seminary of the international Unification Church. Nevertheless, in undertaking the work to develop the proposal for a border, he received neither church support nor the endorsement of any church officials. He states, “I am offering this proposal as an individual citizen who cares deeply about peace in a way that transcends my personal religious beliefs. I believe that the spiritual maturity that grows out of a life of faith has positioned me to make a contribution to the wider discussion.”
LOUISE B. STRAIT accompanied Dr. Wilson on several of his trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories. An elder in the Presbyterian Church (P.C.U.S.A.), she is active in interfaith activities in the Washington D.C. area. Her interest in peace has been fostered by the strong peace witness of the Society of Friends, which she encountered in her education at the Quaker-affiliated Sidwell Friends School and Earlham College. An editor of periodicals by profession, Ms. Strait is currently employed by the American Psychological Association.
Dr. ANTONIO L. BETANCOURT is the Director for the Office of Peace and Security Affairs for the Universal Peace Federation. He also serves as President of the World Institute for Development and Peace, a think tank devoted to economic justice and resource developer on ideas and technologies to address more effectively the problems of poverty. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of the International Security Council, a Washington, DC-based defense and foreign policy think tank, and was Executive Editor of Global Affairs, its quarterly journal.
_Acknowledgements
_WE GIVE SPECIAL THANKS to Rev. Christopher
Krefft, whose spiritual guidance was instrumental in the inception of
this project and whose valued advice assisted its development at every
stage. Reverend Krefft is an active member of the Wellington, New
Zealand, Inter-Faith Council.
We wish to acknowledge the support and contributions of Ye Jin Moon, Daniela Wetherall, Malcolm Allan and Jim Scorgie, who met with the authors in Honolulu, Hawaii in April 2011, where we began a journey together that led to this proposal. We thank Roger Wetherall for producing a first-rate website. We thank Mr. Scorgie for his generous support. We are also grateful to Glenn Strait and William Selig for their logistical support, to Tarek Nahabet and Dr. Mark Barry for their editorial comments and advice about working in the Washington political culture, and to our friends in Israel—Eliezer, Shelley, Eldad, Hod and Shuki—for their warm hospitality and encouragement. No doubt we will have many more people to thank as we continue to share this proposal with others and gather their insights from diverse points of view.
We wish to acknowledge the support and contributions of Ye Jin Moon, Daniela Wetherall, Malcolm Allan and Jim Scorgie, who met with the authors in Honolulu, Hawaii in April 2011, where we began a journey together that led to this proposal. We thank Roger Wetherall for producing a first-rate website. We thank Mr. Scorgie for his generous support. We are also grateful to Glenn Strait and William Selig for their logistical support, to Tarek Nahabet and Dr. Mark Barry for their editorial comments and advice about working in the Washington political culture, and to our friends in Israel—Eliezer, Shelley, Eldad, Hod and Shuki—for their warm hospitality and encouragement. No doubt we will have many more people to thank as we continue to share this proposal with others and gather their insights from diverse points of view.
Contact Us
For more information please contact the authors: andrew.m.wilson.phd@gmail.com
