This is the opening post for the revised FOIP: Friends of Palestinians and Israelis. So I guess we'll have to shorten it to FPI, this, instead of FBI.

My former FOIP, begun in the fall of 2003, has disappeared into ether space, somewhere between Mars and Venus. Boing. It's gone. It all has to do with changing ISP's and changing email addresses. It's even more complicated than that. But I decided to start all over, keeping the same goals in mind.

1) Providing important news and information about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that doesn't get reported (typically) by the media in the United States.

2) Giving voice to persons, agencies, and groups that are making a positive contribution to changing the dynamics, leading away from violent confrontation, to non-violent, bridge-building efforts to move toward resolution of long-standing problems.

3) Doing all in my power to help all parties treat each other with mutual respect, address underlying issues long ignored, bear with one another with understanding and forgiveness, and move towards reconciliation and resolution of long-standing obstacles towards solutions mutually acceptable to all sides.

4) Urging readers to spread important news stories and insights to their world, their circle of friends, local, state and national governmental leaders, so that the US is working toward the above stated objectives.

So, I invite responses and discussion about items posted on this blog. It is a record (for all of us) of posts through the coming months (years?). If you wish to join the FPI distribution list, simply write me asking to be added. This will assure that you receive timely background reports from the 25-30 articles coming to my attention almost everyday from many sources. I choose only the best material and post it here (and to my FPI "friends") only every two or three days.
News articles come from Doug Dicks (the PCUSA liaison in Jordan), the ATFP (American Task Force on Palestine), Palestinian News Network (a daily news summary), Ray Weiss (former RCA missionary in the Middle East), Marlin Vis (RCA mission co-worker in E. Jerusalem, SABEEL (the Palestinian Liberation movement), many Israeli/Palestinian cooperative groups on the ground, Lew Scudder (now retired RCA leader, Arabic scholar, long affiliated with the Middle East Council of Churches), and from my own reading and research.
You are welcome to alert me (and all of us) to other view points that illumine the tortuous route toward a better future for Israelis (security) and Palestinians (their ligitimate aspirations). May the God of Abraham, Jesus and Muhammad help us all to keep from killing each other in the name of justice, "God", or honor. John R. Kleinheksel Sr.