I was half listening to the radio yesterday when I caught a programme on Radio 4 that really struck me and was possibly the most optimistic thing I had heard coming out of the Middle East for a long time. It was about a phone line which had been set up to enable Israelis to talk to Palestinians and vice versa. It all seemed to start by chance when an Israeli settler dialled a wrong number and started talking to the Palestinian on the other end of the line and has spread from there. They had stories of conversations that had started as fairly heated arguments and ended with phone numbers being exchanged.
The programme also had stories of a Parents Circle that brought together bereaved parents from both sides of the conflict to support each other. And then there was work in schools, where the children of Israeli settlers, who had never even met a Palestinian, were given the opportunity to meet some Palestinians. One of the you Palestinians involved this talked about speaking to one boy for a very long time as he gradually shifted from an attitude of "we should kill you all" to one of apologising for his earlier views. How powerful is that.
In the midst of so much negative reporting about the Israeli-Palestinian situation, it was refreshing and inspiring to hear of some reason for hope. These are the people who are being failed by the leaders on both sides.
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