Free Muslims' Partner Facilitated Prisoner Exchange Between Hamas and Israel

The Free Muslims Coalition is organizing a unique peace conference in Jerusalem with Gershon Baskin who will co-host the event with Kamal Nawash.

While most people in the United States have never heard of Gershon Basking, he is now a household name in Israel/Palestine.

Dr. Baskin played an important role in facilitating contacts between Hamas and Israel. Baskin was able to use his contacts with Hamas to bring together people who were unable to connect via official channels of government and diplomacy.

The question is who is Gershon Basking and why did Hamas trust him? "Gershon," as he is admirably known by Palestinians, is an orthodox Jew who is a passionate supporter and protector of Israel. However, unlike many supporters of Israel, he is also a passionate supporter of the Palestinians. Gershon has been fighting for the rights of Palestinians for 20 years. Gershon is usually the first to speak out when Israel takes punitive measures against Palestinians. For example, when Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians or restricts their movement and their ability to earn a living, he is the first to protest.

Gershon is an example that when Palestinians and Israelis show compassion for each other that solutions can be found and disputes resolved. Here is an interview with Gershon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui8WZWsDhCw&feature=player_embedded.

When Gershon learned that the Free Muslims Coalition wanted to organize a unique peace conference to allow various proposals for peace to be produced and to compete in the market place of ideas, Gershon offered to help. He and his partner, a Palestinian named Hanna Siniora of the - Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information offered to co-sponsor the event. For them we are grateful.

Like Gershon and Hanna, who support our efforts, we ask that you support our efforts by making a contribution to the peace conference. We need translators and audio equipment. We need your financial support for this project. Please contribute by mail or online.

To contribute electronically do it here: http://www.freemuslims.org/support/donate.php.

To contribute by mail, please send a check to:

Free Muslims Coalition
1050 17th St., NW
Washington, DC 20036

Conference in Jerusalem

Date: November 14th, 2011, 2:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Place: The Ambassador Hotel

Contact:

Posted October 19, 2011 by Kamal Nawash

Comments

I am a peaceful guy. But I am also an analytical person and sometimes the two concepts conflict.
If one reads the history of the Jewish people, something becomes painfully obvious. Their fortunes cycle deeply with the cycle of the societies in which they reside. Almost like spouses of abusive husbands; the man loses his job so he comes home and kicks the crap out of his wife. This has required that the Jews have a REFUGE where they are safe from these cycles, which pummel them as a minority group for thousands of years.
In my opinion, the Arabs have never appreciated what a human refuge is, why Jews need such a place or why Jews deserve a safe haven. This is at the core of the dispute. This is also precisely why people like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu just don't get it. Their entire frame-of-reference is based around being a usurped MAJORITY group. They, like many Arabs, have no concept of what it is to be an historically hunted and pillaged MINORITY. To the mindset of many Muslims, there is a reason why minority religions exist as such--because they are wrong-headed and in extreme examples, because they are outright against the will of God..
I wish you guys luck. God knows that I would love to wake up one day and NOT hear some news report about more violence in Israel/Palestine. However, until Muslims and especially Arabs awaken to the fact that the Jewish REFUGE is for the PROTECTION of Hebrews and not for their eternal punishment, they will likely keep attacking Israel and Israel will very likely keep retaliating +1. Thus, all sorts of nasty outcomes will manifest.
One more thing: Some of the things Israel does may not be pretty or even entirely legal. But I submit that most other modern, well-armed democracies would have hit back far harder then anything Israel has ever done. People tend to lose track of these critical points because many have made up their mind that Israel is a colonialist, "apartheid" nation (rather then a refuge) and built on stolen land. From that starting point it becomes easier to accept what is now a 90+ year old sectarian war against the Jewish civilian population of the Middle East.

Posted October 19, 2011 by Trollstein

Why do we need a Muslim group conducting hostage trading? Civilized governments can handle this and I don't see the need for private organizations getting involved.

Posted January 20, 2012 by scone

As far as I know Gershon Baskin moved to Israel from the United States in the late 1970s. He worked with Jews and Arabs within Israel until the first intifada, when he began promoting dialogue and opportunities for cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Posted November 27, 2012 by Beethoven