Note - MidEastWeb in no way agrees with the sentiments in this letter:

Mr Skeptic wrote:

"I adhere completely to your project and would wish to help you  sincerely. Nevertheless I am afraid  your organization is primarily of Jewish  origin, because I never found even one Moslem who officially takes a stand for   coexistence with the people of Israel.

 ..It is true that this country since  General De Gaulle adheres to a one-sided political line fixed in favor of the most extreme positions of the refusal front. To summarize this humanistic  thought...:

Withdrawal from the West Bank.

Withdrawal from  East Jerusalem.

Return of  the   so called refugees.

Compensation for the war damages to the nice  Palestinian   people.

We  will perhaps be left with Deauville and Juan-les-Pines.

[Don't] forget that it  is the Arabs who refused the partition plan of 1948, that Jordan is an integral part of the State of Israel. That the Arab armies  four times tried  to crush the young State of Israel. In surprise and iniquitous wars (Yom  Kippur).

Those are the same people who honor the ones who deliberately  explode themselves in buses,  restaurants and other places considered to be   dangerous military targets.

Ah!  also they have started to export their so   nice Intifada; speak about that to the "Spaniards, the English, the Moroccans,  the Tunisian, the French, the New Yorkers, the Swedes, the Indonesians, the Egyptians". Who have put in their pocket the money intended to help the   Palestinians in the construction of a decent state, if not the friends of  the  big Arafat? So,  peace is like Father Christmas -  one  can believe in it, that   does not cost anything.

I BELIEVE THAT WHEN people WILL have enough of SEEing   THEIR CHILDREN  EXPLODing IN ALL THE TOWN  CENTERS A DRASTIC SOLUTION IS   LIKELY TO BE APPLIED to a world so Beastly. And then perhaps  that the  providence which must see all that is done in his very Holy Name would render
  justice and will make it possible to know who twists things and who is right.  I fear nevertheless that when this happens  some shall be sorry if you see  whom I am speaking of.

As  a Jew I am proud of what the people of Israel  carried out in 60 years.   Were I an Arab, I believe that I would not have the   same regard for the work completed by the Palestinians during the same period.  Above all,  don't tell me about the American assistance  to Israel. The Arabs   receive ten times more without considering the huge oil profits wasted without   purpose Let us speak a little about Arab development Algeria means war and  massive emigration.

Libya = the kingdom of the psychopath  who brings down  civil aircraft.

Egypt = the misery, the galloping demography.

Syria and Iraq  better not to speak of them.

Iran = soon will have atomic weapons. Not a  laughing matter, no?

Afghanistan =  Good riddance to the Taliban, those who  explode Buddhas and hang people in the middle of the goals of a soccer field.

Lebanon = going better, lucky some Christians are still there.

Yemen and Sudan  are in a sorry state.

....

Mr. Skeptic

...

REPLY #1

I can write about the coexistence, friendship and love among people, regardless of their religious beliefs, for I have experienced it, felt it and lived it .

It pains me to see so much anger, frustration, and hatred when people point fingers and at the same time, speak about sincerely wanting to help. I wonder is it a cry for help, or is this finger only trying to degrade the work that one is doing, or fear from not understanding the 'other' or maybe anger at all the 'others'  or does it come from an experience that one have had?

You see, what I hear Mr. Skeptic  is saying, that he does not want to hear about coexistence, he is warning people not to believe that any Arab or any Muslim, [as Iran and Afghanistan are not Arabs, and I am sure Mr. Joseph is aware that all Muslims are not Arabs, or that all Arabs are Muslims, as the majority of Muslims are not Arabs anyway] wants to coexists, or maybe I am wrong and he does want reassurance that Arabs, whatever their religion is, do want to coexist..

There are positive as well as negative incidents, in history as well as in what is going on now, but what I prefer to do is to look at the glass and say it is half full, instead of half empty. try to find the good in people, rather than dig to find the dirt or ugly part that lurks sometimes inside them.

 I can only write about the beautiful experience that I am still going through daily with people with different beliefs.

Sincerely

Saida Nusseibeh

REPLY #2  (this was a reply to a second letter- part of an ongoing correspondence)

Dear Mr Skeptic,
The topic of your letter is exactly what we must choose to work on. Let's be aware that if we continue to direct our attention to what divides us instead of on what unites us, all we are doing is reinforcing this division. Our attention to those thoughts that divide us is an impulse of intelligence that manifests itself and which sprouts like a plant that we water. We water out thoughts with this attention.

Therefore, because I feel that you truly aspire to peace between our peoples, I request you sir  to direct your attention consciously to that which unites us, those humanitarian values of love and peace, and to combat the reflex of our thought to bind itself or to dwell on that that which is negative or divides us.  For you, as for me, it is our responsibility, once we are conscious of the power of our thoughts, to direct them not to the negative, but to the positive. Better yet, to defend each other. I take it upon myself, an Arab Muslim woman, to defend my Jewish brother or sister, while directing the attention of my interlocutors not to the negative, but to that which is positive and common. And it is up to you to reinforce among your interlocutors, positive talk and action for love and peace regarding your Muslim Arab brothers and sisters, and not to direct our thoughts to the negative things that divide us.

To be conscious of our thoughts, and to control them and direct them while choosing concentrate on the positive ones, there is the real Djihad with oneself. For if we do not manage to control and choose our thoughts consciously, then any old breeze can bring  us to places that will cause us us to lose EVERYTHING including our humanity. There is no absolute in the reading of any religious scripture; everyone perceives and understands according to their own reality and beliefs, preconceptions or partisanship. Instead of judging each other mutually to know who is right or wrong, let us develop empathy and learn to feel that which the other feels.

With this, Sir, May peace be upon you.

Dina Lahlou

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