How I Came to Start a Successful Israel-Palestine Peace Space

So, I’ve been running Unity is Strength on Quora.com for more than a year. It’s an Israel-Palestine peace space. It has more than half a million views by now, and more than three thousand followers. It’s had dozens of people contribute — Israelis, Palestinians, and others from all over the world. It’s aired opinions from right of the Israeli center to supporting the Palestinian cause through the boycott, divestment, and sanctions of Israel. These stances are rarely found together, directly interacting in anything short of a shouting match. And we’re honest and respectful enough to often find surprising lines of agreement. The space needs a new name at this point, which is a discussion we might have soon. If you haven’t seen it yet, go check it out.

I started the space, honestly, because I didn’t want to be all talk and no action about Israel. I am hoping to grow a Jewish family and would like to lead by example in keeping them connected to our culture and heritage. My family is traditional-Jewish, and even if some of my distant relatives are Israeli, rather comfortably American. We were never militant. We would oppose and avoid armed conflict whenever possible. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has fought in several wars that helped shape its culture, and has a period of mandatory military service that is a rite of passage for young…