Gush Shalom Truth Against Truth in Russian Papers

GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 www.gush-shalom.org/

[1] Truth Against Truth as insert in Russian papers Gush Shalom seeks dialogue with "Russian" Community

[2] Welcoming the Five COs upon their release

~~~ [1] Truth Against Truth as insert in Russian papers Gush Shalom seeks dialogue with "Russian" Community

òáøéú áàúø / Hebrew on the site http://www.gush-shalom.org

In these days before Yom Kippur, time of soul-searching and good intentions, Gush Shalom has gone out of its way to open a dialogue with the "Russian" Community in Israel: spreading a Russian translation of "Truth Against Truth" to some 60 000 households.

The campaign was started with a press conference, on Sunday (19.9) in Tel- Aviv's Press Center. The representatives of all Russian media in Israel were invited, and most of them took part.

"We dreamed about this for a long time, and at last we were able to start this unique campaign" (the opening words were immediately translated into Russian, the language of the conference - though in the course of the developing discussion some of the Russian journalists started to speak Hebrew). "There lies an abysmal chasm between the Peace Camp and the Russian-speaking community" said Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom founding member and writer of the brochure. "This is something which we cannot tolerate. We do not accept the opinion prevalent in the Peace Camp that a million Russian-speakers think alike and all of them are extreme rightists, Arab- haters and Peace-Camp haters."

On the eve of Yom Kippur, 60 thousand copies of "Truth Against Truth" in Russian are to be distributed as an insert in the Russian-language papers "Vesti" and "Globus". Truth against Truth is not a usual declaration of principles. In what could be called a post-post-modern effort, Uri Avnery tries to intertwine the Israeli and Palestinian narratives about more than hundred years of conflict - since peace is impossible without narratives being opened up and developed to include also the other side's way of seeing it. The consequent confrontation of the contrasting views works as an eye-opener throwing a completely new light on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, its origins and phases.

Until now, this new brochure had appeared only in Hebrew and English - and has been translated abroad in German, Spanish and Dutch, with the Arab edition to appear in the coming weeks. The Russian version is an exact copy of the Hebrew original. As the original, it bears on its cover the warning: "Caution! This is a subversive text. It undermines the very foundations on which the National Consensus is based!"

Gush Shalom, which is not blessed with abundant funds, decided to exhaust its reserves* and invest the necessary resources for this campaign out of conviction that it is impossible to attain peace if important parts of the Russian-speaking community does not join the Peace Camp. "I believe that the whole Peace Camp is guilty of ignoring this important community, as we ignored the Oriental one," Avnery commented, pointing out that all Russian-language media in Israel follow an extreme right-wing line, isolating Russian-speakers from the Israeli mainstream.

"Israeli society is divided into five big sectors - the veteran Ashkenazi, the Oriental, the religious, the immigrants from the former Soviet Union and the Arab citizens. We cannot succeed in the struggle for peace while being based only on two of them (the veteran Ashkenazi and the Arab), without winning support within the three others."

Together with the distribution of tens of thousands brochures, the Gush Shalom campaign will include publishing banners on Russian-language web- sites, extensive public relations and ads in the Russian-language media. A Russian-language sector on the Gush web-site is soon to follow.

See also:

Gush Shalom targets Russian speakers By Lily Galili Ha'aretz Mon., September 20, 2004

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