An Open Letter to Nicholas Kristof
Lunch with Naim Awasat
July 14, 2010
Dear Mr. Kristof,
Apparently we overlapped last week at Mishkenot Sha’ananim, where I was overseeing the pilot Jerusalem Cultural Fellowship. Our fellowship, modeled on the American Academies in Rome and Berlin, included a visual artist, a choreographer, two writers (of the New Yorker’s 20 under 40) and an urban planner. I wish you had been able to join our Fellows on their visits in and around East Jerusalem.
On your next visit, Hebrew University Professor of Planning Shlomo Hassan could show you the vision he’s been developing with Palestinian and Israeli partners for international enterprise zones in the unused lands between Arab villages and Israeli settlements. Join Amir Cheshin, former Arab Advisor to the legendary Teddy Kollek, in understanding the ever changing borders around Jerusalem, while visiting his many friends in East Jerusalem.
Be sure to bring your children on a tour of the Kidron Valley with environmental lawyer Richard Laster. He would be thrilled to introduce you to an incredible group of Israeli and Palestinian planners who are going village by village to create a viable water and sewage system that will serve residents on both sides there. You might be lucky enough, as we were, to be invited for lunch to the home of Palestinian entrepreneur Naim Awisati, who, with his wife and give children, welcomed ten of us: Jews and Palestinians, artists, planners, entrepreneurs and investors, to break bread together (enjoyed with their homemade olive oil) and discuss how to move forward in peace. Naim is building several health clinics and has plans to create a health club so youth in East Jerusalem have a place to play.
I’ve been a fan of yours for years — your experience of a place is so full and multi-dimensional. I hope you’ll take time during your next visit to Israel to follow some of these peacemakers who are working together to create practical, economic progress.
Sincerely,
Elise Bernhardt
President and CEO
Foundation for Jewish Culture
