When Aslan’s not talking about Israel, he’s a very smart man. When he is, he’s unkind, cruel and distorted.

I think you hit it on the head about talking at or past each other - yes, not listening. OTOH, how else can this go? Each side wants to feel justified. The problem is with distorting the real honest-to-goodness historical facts, most of which has been twisted beyond proportion.

Maybe the problem with the book is being even-handed. You can’t be even-handed when the Arabs have no desire whatsoever to make peace. When they have never offered a treaty or a negotiation that doesn’t have to do with annihilating Israel.

Anyway, maybe it’s better that we in the Diaspora try to be friends on other levels and leave the M.E. out of it for now. Find common ground, establish a relationship and trust before we tackle the really tough stuff. i know a few rabbis who do a lot of interfaith stuff, walks, breakfasts, etc. Which, btw, rarely gets any media attention. I talked about this before. We need to SEE each other getting along.

More interfaith gatherings in Israel and Europe of clergy (Imams and Rabbis). They started this earlier this year actually. The rest of the community should just find common things to come together. My feeling is, the rest can be discussed, but if you’re friends first, it’s easier to talk about those difficult subjects. (Usually hehe)