Investing in Peace
By Thomas L. Friedman
The New York Times
This article is part of Times Opinion's 2025 Giving Guide
"...the nonprofits I'm most drawn to - and want to recommend this holiday season - are focused on building community and capacity...
"Regarding the Middle East, I have a particular aversion to those calling for "disinvestment" as a way to punish one side or the other. I much prefer advocating for "investment" in institutions promoting Israeli-Palestinian community and skill-building for young people - to keep alive the possibility of two healthy states, living side by side, where members of each society can thrive...
Two examples:
"...The Abraham Initiatives is a Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli organization "that advances social inclusion and equal rights for Israel's Palestinian citizens by influencing public policy, shaping public opinion and demonstrating practical models for a shared society." Its leaders are Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Israelis. At a time, when the Gaza war has so strained relations between Jews and Palestinian Arabs, the Abraham Initiatives is a beacon in the darkness...
"...EcoPeace Middle East is made up of Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists, which has been working for years on projects like a "Green Blue Deal" - a plan in which capital from the Gulf States and investors would provide financing to Jordan to build a large-capacity solar plant in its vast desert to produce clean energy that Israel would tap to expand its coastal desalination plants. Israel would then pump that desalinated water into the Sea of Galilee, from where it would flow into and revive the Jordan River. That would allow the river to once again be a flourishing regional water carrier that nourishes Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli farmers."
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אנחנו מכנסים הוגים מובילים, פעילים חברתיים, ומחוללי שינוי לעתיד, אמריקאים, ישראלים ופלסטינאים, המחויבים לשיפור החברות שלהם.
نحن أمريكيون وإسرائيليون وفلسطينيون نبني ونكوّن روابط من أجل التعلم والتفكير والمشاركة معًا حتى نشجع الحلول التقدمية بشأن القضايا التي تهمنا جميعًا.