How #Gaza could begin loving #Israel

All over the world, children, mothers, fathers, and teachers are beginning to weed out hate and sow the seeds of peace. This peace wave is now reaching the Middle East.  One of my primary motivations of becoming a blogger for The Time of Israel, was to learn more about the sensibilities in the region.  As part of my daily routine,  I make a regular habit of checking out the Peace sites on facebook and twitter. This one caught me by surprise. Meet Joujou, a 31 year old Palestinian woman is saying enough is enough:

The majority of Palestinians are supporting a peace agreement with Israel and a two state solution. The majority of Israelis do the same. I’m the granddaugther of palestinian refugees, I’m living a safe life but the majority of people in the Middle East don’t have that privilege. We have now the chance to make the world a better and safer place by signing this peace agreement. we have the chance to build a future for our children to grow up in peace and prosperity instead of war and terror. We are not a bunch of terrorists and I know that you are not. So let’s do it finally. It’s time for Peace. I’m ready for Peace. We are ready for Peace. Make that change”

Not that love approach has not been tried before. What has never been tried is the “weed out hate” approach. Attempting to gain peace  spreading love, is like putting on makeup without cleansing the pores. This was the problem with the flower children of the sixties and this is the limiting factor even today. In order to give peace a chance, peace lovers will need to come together and begin to weed out the hate like it has never been weeded out before. A good place to start is this time, this place, with the Times of Israel. Weeding out hatred won’t be easy. We need to awaken the Joujou’s on both sides of the border to inspire the children, in the fields, in the gardens, and in the parks to weed out hate and sow the seeds of peace,  We need to teach our children to become good spiritual guerilla gardeners.  We need to find more courageous women like Joujou willing to take a stand for peace. We need to develop good spiritual community gardening techniques. Above all, we need to stop listening to the skeptics and haters who claim they know better.

Freed from these limitations, children throughout the region, will be motivated to sow the seeds of peace. This is where peace begins, rooting out one weed at a time, and planting one seed at a time. If you are tired of the terror, tired of the hatred, let’s join forces to weed out hate and sow the seeds of peace.

Courtesy U.S. Embassy Berlin

There will never be peace until the people are prepared to occupy peace. Last April, US Ambassador Philip Murphy to Germany inspired a group of eighty German students to plant seeds of peace throughout the once divided city of Berlin. All of this to relate the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through gardening. This is a great start, but there is a lot of work ahead of us.

What is needed is a viable program to spring these good intentions into action where it is needed the most. Throughout Gaza there are thousands of community gardening life line projects springing up supported by international relief agencies.. What a great opportunity for Israel to step up and support these efforts with a value added spiritual twist of teaching the children to weed out hate and sow seeds of peace. All of this channeled through existing international relief organizations.

Since starting the Weed Out Hate Initiative, over 50,000 sunflower peace see packs have been distributed and planted in places like Berlin, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Las Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, and in my home town Springfield, IL.

Rabbi Capers Funneye(Image by Marc Daniels)

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/28/school-children-mark-kings-dream-speech/

Israel and Gaza! All over the world people are rooting out symbolic weeds of hatred for themselves and for YOU

Rabbi Capers Funneye (Beth Shalom, Chicago)  and I made a difference at the Marquette School of Excellence in South Chicago a few years ago. This is what Black History Month is all About…utilizing the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to make a difference at hot spots all over the world!  Israel could be implementing this Martin Luther King, Jr., inspired program locally as well.

Image Courtesy Illinois office of Governor Pat Quinn

In Springfield, IL, even the Governor Pat Quinn’s office got involved last November with a symbolic weed pulling at the Lincoln Magnet School.

Adrian Harden MLK, Jr. World Peace Rose Garden Atlanta GA

Here is a group a civic leaders in Atlanta at the Martin Luther King, Jr World Peace Rose Garden

The Spirit of Black History Month and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr is shaking the groundswell in Georgia as well as …..

Fox 5 Washington D.C. Aug 27th, 2013

in Washington D.C.  Here is what Fox 5 Washington D.C. caught on their morning news segment the day before the 50th  Anniversary commemoration of the MLK Jr ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.

PR Newswire

The message is getting louder and louder shaking the very core of the groundswell

Marc Daniels, Heike Mead – US Embassy Berlin. Photo courtesy of Hans-Martin Lohmann

All over the world, people are weeding out hate and sowing the seeds of peace for you Gaza and Israel. There is so much greatness coiled within all of us individually and collectively. Humanity will begin to subdue the hateful inclinations of our mothers and fathers, in favor of discovering solidarity of our common spiritual illuminations.  It all starts with us as individuals. Please join us.