This news item is referenced from an article entitled: The Israeli-Arab Conflict for Brass Tack Dummies and Kudos to Potlucks for Peace 'Unthinkable' number of people turn out for Jewish-Arab dialogue - Potlucks for Peace screens film about solutions to Mideast conflict http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=dd380aa8-0808-4657-8ab7-d9a974c44692              Zev Singer The Ottawa Citizen Thursday, January 26, 2006 More than 400 people filled a sold-out auditorium last night at the Library and Archives Canada building to hold a dialogue about Jewish-Arab relations in the Middle East conflict. Ed Broadbent, who was MP for Ottawa Centre until Monday's election, moderated a panel discussion between Ottawa-area thinkers from each group. Mr. Broadbent, who once met with former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and considers former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres a "good friend," said before the event he had "never run into a thing of greater political complexity" than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He called last night's gathering of 440 people -- Arabs, Jews and others -- "a remarkable effort of dialogue." During the evening, which included a screening of a documentary about possible political resolutions to the Middle East conflict, Dalia Shabib, 20, said she was inspired by the event. Ms. Shabib, who is of Palestinian descent, said the event "brings a little bit of life and hope" to the ongoing conflict. "It makes me believe that maybe it's not so hard." Last night's program was made possible by a small group of Jews and Arabs who have been working together since 2002 -- working as they eat. The group is called Potlucks for Peace, and once a month about 20 people gather to share a meal and talk about peace in the Middle East. Jonathan Wouk, a retired Jewish chaplain -- and nephew of famed American author Herman Wouk -- said the point is to keep a dialogue open, even if agreement still seems far off. If nothing else, he said, the group makes it possible to say that, here in Ottawa, Arabs and Jews are talking. "If I had a toe for every time I've been told, 'There's no one to talk to,' I'd be a millipede," Mr. Wouk said. It's a special challenge, he said, for Jews and Arabs outside the Middle East to talk about the situation. "Like all diaspora communities, we tend to be more hard line than people on the spot," said Mr. Wouk. Qais Ghanem, one of the founders of Potlucks for Peace, said the group has worked hard to develop relationships. "It took some time to build the group up and build confidence and respect," he said. Dr. Ghanem, a neurophysiologist who teaches medicine at the University of Ottawa, said it was important to him to get involved in the dialogue because surprising things can happen when doors are open. "Somebody has to start," said Dr. Ghanem, a former Yemeni who has been in Ottawa since 1972. He was surprised that hundreds of people showed up to an earlier screening session, held on Jan. 10, when another documentary, The Question of Jerusalem, was shown. Organizers say about 370 people attended -- far beyond organizers' original dreams -- and about two-thirds were either Arab or Jewish. "It was unthinkable only a few months ago," said Dr. Ghanem. Josh Zambrowsky, a Jewish lawyer and criminologist, said that beyond the conflict in the Middle East itself, he was drawn to the group because of his concerns about what happens here. "I was really worried about what would happen in Jewish-Arab relations in Canada." In Canada, the Arab population has been projected by Statistics Canada to double between 2001 and 2017. In Ottawa alone, the Arab population was about 20,000 in 2001, and projected to reach 28,000 this year. For Ottawa's Jewish population, the 2006 projection is about 12,000. Mr. Zambrowsky said what can be "dangerous" is a situation where dialogue between the two groups is seen by some as betrayal. Neither community can't leave everything to the politicians. "I think that's an effort we have to make ourselves," he said. © The Ottawa Citizen 2006      Copyright © 2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Fair Use Notice The above is copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material.  If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. yayacanada.com