April 6, 2007

I take issue with the line in the sand drawn by Andrew Silow-Carroll in his essay, "Navigating the left and right: Can't we just compromise?" I would like to add three strategies and a campaign to his somewhat oversimplified analysis and grim prognosis.

The "let's talk campaign" of Brit Tzedek V'Shalom seeks to engage the Jewish community in advocating with members of Congress to support efforts by Israel to talk with Palestinians and her other neighbors in pursuit of a two-state solution.

The first strategy of the campaign is to engage with our local Jewish community members in conversations about the value of Israel speaking with her neighbors. The second strategy is to sign petitions to send to Congress and the administration reinforcing the value of U.S. support for Israel to talk with her neighbors.

Third, I would add to Silow-Carroll's analysis of both the right and left the most important strategy of all -- compassionate listening, which is the sine qua non for talking to lead to understanding, if not change.