A worker in Seoul, South Korea, makes Korean unification flags, which depict a blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula on a white background, at a sponsoring company of next month’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo by Yonhap

This is an excerpt from an article published by UPI on Jan. 24, 2018. See the full article at: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/Voices/2018/01/24/Olympic-option-Winter-Games-could-be-a-win-for-Korean-unity/6191516811627/

Over the past few weeks, news from the Korean peninsula took a sharp turn from the “nuclear option” to the “Olympic option.”

As if someone in Pyongyang suddenly woke up and smelled the kimchi, the North began getting involved in what had been until quite recently basically a South-only event. The North will send 22 athletes to participate, who will march with the South under a flag with the outline of the united Korean territory. It will send an orchestra of 140 musicians. North Korean hockey players will join the existing South Korean team, to create a single “all Korea” team. Naturally, government figures, artists and other influential persons are going to attend.

Some see this as a co-opting of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics by the North, a last-minute insistence on sharing credit for what was almost solely the work of the South. Whether or not that is true, however, there is reason to welcome the new developments.

Historian and NGO leader Hyun Jin Preston Moon postulated a new view of Korean nationhood in his 2014 book Korean Dream. Critiquing the failures of both North and South, he calls for a unified Korean nation based on several core principles.

The process of nationhood must come from the aspirations of the Korean people, he argues, and it must be Korean-led. “The Korean people must take control of and shape our own national destiny,” he wrote, “through the unification process and lead our neighbors and the international community to support our efforts.”

See the full article at: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/Voices/2018/01/24/Olympic-option-Winter-Games-could-be-a-win-for-Korean-unity/6191516811627/

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It was mid-August 2017 and the situation on the Korean peninsula seemed to fluctuate from bad to worse. Tensions had spiked after North Korea announced that it was developing plans to send missiles to Guam in response to heated public statements from the United States and the ratification of new sanctions from the United Nations.

Amidst such news, the One Korea Global Campaign issued an announcement that reminded the global community that there are pathways to peace that go can beyond political wrangling. In a follow-up to the 2015 song “One Dream One Korea,” the August 15th release of the song “Korean Dream” engaged “a group of celebrated Korean and international musicians” to expand global awareness of the shared values and vision of one united Korea.

The One Korea Global Campaign origins

The One Korea Global Campaign aims to build popular support for Korean Unification through the Hallryu (Korean wave) platform, one of the most highly visible and influential pop culture phenomenon in our world today. With millions of fans across the globe, Hallryu can work to be a dynamic force for global peace.

K-pop stars at the 2015 One K Concert in Seoul

Launched as the One K Campaign in 2015, it released two powerful and groundbreaking songs: “One Dream, One Korea” by Kim Hyung-Suk and “One Dream” by Insooni at the first One K Concert held in the Seoul World Cup Stadium with over 40,000 attendees.

Alongside the flashing lights, Action for Korea United, a key coalition of over 900 civil society organizations working with the One Korea Global Campaign, worked to coordinate the launch of numerous grassroots educational campaigns to provide more in-depth education on the importance of reunification based on Korea’s founding principles and shared values. While each group is focused on their own particular areas of strength or interest, the AKU coalition is held together with the commitment to build a nation that can manifest the “Korean Dream” to “bring benefit for all humanity.”

The general approach of the coalition and campaign matches the strategy laid out in Dr. Moon’s book, Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea, of engaging ‘people power’ to chart a peaceful path towards a reunified nation, making inroads where diplomacy and politics cannot.

The One Korea Campaign Goes Global

In Korean Dream, Dr. Moon notes that Korean reunification should be led by Koreans but supported by the global community. Building on the successful launch in Korea, the One K Campaign took steps to expand its reach to a broader, English-speaking audience on Aug. 16, 2016 at the International Young Leaders Assembly’s Global Summit at the UN General Assembly Hall, and the One Korea Global Campaign was officially launched.

That December, the One Korea Global Campaign also held a press conference attended by a surprising trio of renowned artists, Peabo Bryson and composers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, announcing a new song promoting reunification that will make an “impact beyond the charts” like Michael Jackson’s “We are the world.”

In an interview shortly after, the two-time Grammy Award winning Bryson, singer of Beauty and the Beast’s ‘Tale as Old As Time’ and Aladdin’s ‘A Whole New World,’ said of the song project, “If this goes anyway toward accomplishing [reunification], it will still be without a doubt the biggest accomplishment of my life.” He expressed his concern for humanitarian issues and said that Korean reunification is about having “hope for humanity”, drawing parallels to the American civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ speech.

Debut at the Global Peace Convention 2017

In early 2017, promotions for a “One Korea Global Peace Concert in Manila” began in earnest with an enticing hint of the debut of the new One Korea Global Campaign song.

While primarly appealing to international fans of K-pop and the Korean Wave with headliner names like Shinee, PSY, B1A4, BTOB, AOA and CNBlue, the promotions also highlighted the important cause of Korean reunification as a major milestone towards global peace with the motto, “One Dream, One Korea, One World.”

At the Concert, Dr. Moon personally told the story of the divided Korean people to a cheering audience of 15,000 fans and challenged them to be the peacemakers that will make Korea one again. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis also came on stage to introduce the first debut of their long-awaited campaign song that would conclude the evening’s performances with all the artists together on stage .

Even while the 30-plus top Korean stars performed their most popular hits, the grand finale was undoubtedly the unveiling of the long-awaited “Korean Dream”. Many fans could be seen shedding tears and shouting for joy as their favorite stars joined Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on stage.

One dream, one Korea, one world! #OneKConcertinManila @philconcerts pic.twitter.com/n1D0FFEUGd

— s a n d r a (@fadedspiral) March 2, 2017

Release of the Korean Dream song

After the Concert, star-struck fans eagerly uploaded their recordings of the newest One K Global Campaign songs on the internet, only to find, to their disappointment, that the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd had had drowned out the audio of the much-anticipated song. When would the song be released to the public?

The One K Campaign chose the day commemorating Korea’s Independence, August 15th, to hold a showcase of the new song, “Korean Dream,” at the Ilchi Art Hall in Gangnam, Seoul.

Famed Korean-Australian singer Dami Im, Jung Dong-ha and Voisper performed the song live, this time in a quieter venue where the lyrics and full effect of the vocals could be heard clearly.

Shortly after the event concluded the song was released for purchase on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and other platforms.

Following this, several of the featured singers released promotional videos giving a short personal invitation to purchase the song and promote the ongoing campaign.

On Sept. 1st, the full music video was released on the One K Campaign’s Youtube channel, featuring close-up shots of each artist and flashback scenes from all of the One K Campaign’s activities leading up to that point, including a solemn visit by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to the DMZ.

Fans and stars alike, who had been waiting months for the song’s release, were enthused.

(Youtube comments on the Korean Dream song music video)

Lyrics to move nations

The “Korean Dream” lyrics express the still unfulfilled hope for a unified Korea and the potential of such a new nation to shine as an example of peace. As Dr. Moon has poignantly noted in the Korean Dream book, in order to see past seemingly insurmountable differences, division and conflict, a conversation is necessary to identify a common platform upon which Koreans in the North and South can rise up and claim as their shared identity. This is precisely what the Korean Dream lyrics allude to:

Scars of separation
isolation from our family
but it can’t erase 5000 years of love & legacy
the roots our destiny grows from

Strength in unity the Korean dream
A vision we will serve the world
as one Korea one Korea

Hand in hand without fear
spreading love that will heal us
shine our light so all can see the
transformation the unification

For the benefit of all humanity
create a beautiful world that’s made
for you and me
where we all live in peace

The “universal dream” to “serve the world as one family” refers to Korea’s historical 5,000-year-old ethic of “Hongik Ingan” or “living for the benefit of humanity.” This dream encompasses the whole of North and South Korea, and can be the basis upon which to build a new, unified Korea “where we all live in peace”.

The song’s bridge enlists the unified Korea in a new mission – to “join hands and heal the world” as “citizens of God’s creation.” This evokes the dream of Mr. Bryson, who envisioned writing lyrics that would invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which similarly called for the dignity and freedom of “all of God’s children,” going beyond the trending local issue to encompass a broader, universal cause.

A Unifying Vision to Serve the World

The theme of Korean reunification is not a new one. Koreans have always been – for the most part – conscious of the ideal of reunification because they understand that they are literally two halves of one Korean family.

Yet when it comes to the issue of unification itself, there has always the temptation to make Korean reunification about military, political or economic power, with winners on one side and losers on the other. This comes from the faulty notion that unification is about political, military and economic matters and the people should not worry about things “above their pay grade.”

It has always been part of the Korean identity that theirs was an aspiration to be a people that can serve all humanity. When this vision can be ingrained in the minds and hearts of the people, it renders all the political, economic and military aspects of the divided peninsula as mere details to be worked out.

There is some insight that long-time interfaith peace-builders can offer from their experience of working to resolve identity-based conflict. James Patton, president of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, shared in an interview with the Global Peace Foundation that successful peacebuilding efforts between disparate groups most often take root in the realm of values. “If I recognize in you something that I value… the connections start to deepen; and it comes away from the doctrinal differences.”

Korean Reunification as a Stepping-stone towards Global Peace

The work of the Global Peace Foundation and Action for Korea United have spearheaded opportunities for Koreans, both from the North and South, to put into practice the shared historical vision of Hongik Ingan, or, “living for the benefit of humanity”. It is in these shared experiences of service both to each other and to the world that the Korean people can begin to see beyond all the narratives of division and difference–and then to work together towards unification.

Hongik Ingan is a vision not just for the Korean people, but that looks outward beyond the nation for the inspiration and the good of all humanity. In Hongik Ingan, Asians can find a principle that supports human rights and freedoms and comes from an ancient civilization at the very heart of Asia.

In an editorial for the India-based Sunday Guardian, Dr. Moon writes, “a Korea unified on the foundation of its own ancient principles will finally leave behind its colonial past and bring to an end the last remnant of the Cold War in Asia.” Dr. Moon goes on to describe a “new Asian peace dynamic” free from any colonial legacy that will naturally expand to the world through the ethic of “broadly benefiting humanity.”

The One Korea Global Campaign aspires to serve as this kind of catalyst to awaken the Korean people, Asia and all the world to recognize that we have the power and responsibility to transform the world into that of which we dream.

This will remain one of my proudest moments in music, to be a small part of a global humanitarian effort for peace💕 https://t.co/VSanXeUYEi

— Peabo Bryson (@PeaboBryson2) September 6, 2017

Read Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon’s book: Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea

The post Strength in Unity: A Timeline of Songs for One Korea appeared first on Hyun Jin Preston Moon.

In the last few years, South Koreans have endured a painful process to deal with great loss, anger and soul-searching on a national scale. The people grappled with the tragedy of the sinking of the Sewol ferry as well as issues such as stifled growth due to crony capitalism, high rates of youth unemployment and finally the impeachment of a president due to revelations of corruption. These, along with the ever-present and arguably growing threat of an unstable regime in the North, made the elections held on May 9, 2017 a critical presidential election.

Youth protest government corruption – Dec. 2016 (PC: 단87)

The high intensity civic engagement that preceded the presidential ouster and “snap elections” were a good sign of the Korean people’s willingness to work and invest their time and resources in the future of the nation. It is natural to suggest that the public debates, discussions, forums, rallies and efforts to “get out the vote” led to the extremely high voter turnout – with a reported 77.2% of those eligible and registered to vote taking part in the presidential elections.

Tim Meisberger of The Asia Foundation praised the process leading up the elections, noting:

In an age where some question the value of democracy, Korea provides a shining example, in its processes, institutions, and people, that other countries can admire and seek to emulate

Presidential campaign rally (PC: Lê Thanh Sang)

And even as the newly elected president takes office, it becomes ever more important to continue developing and strengthening this civil society engagement. While South Korea remains one of the most successful economic success stories in the world today, we need to step back to question what kind of “invisible hand” of moral standards and norms need to be enshrined to ensure lasting and equitable development.

Dr. Hyun Jin Moon pointedly touched on this during the Global Economic Forum in Manila:

[…] there are no shortcuts in life. For there to be a sustainable, equitable and prosperous economic system, there must be people of conscience first, whose collective decisions advance the greater good as opposed to benefitting the few.

Their choices need to be rooted in universal principles and values that uplift the intrinsic God-given human rights and freedoms of all because it is in their self-interest to do so.

In other words, the markets, or their consumers, demand it. The overarching economic approach of the Global Peace Foundation, hence, calls for less government interference in the marketplace in line with the classic liberal economic principles with one very important addition – the development of societies in which the collective ethos is rooted on a universally accepted ethic that guides the national and global economic systems.

Nov. 2016 candlelight protests (PC: Chris da Canha)

For better or worse, this development can only take root when responsible, virtuous citizens and communities engage in making their nation better for all people. Ideally, these virtues would be cultivated first in the family, and this ethic could then be extended out to society, nation and world. The contributions that we as individuals and families make to the public square can shape communities and the nation in ways that – while difficult to measure – can chart the course of a nation for generations to come.

Now, more than ever, Korea needs moral, innovative leaders to work together for the cause of building a nation that lives up to its founding ideals. Dr. Moon’s Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea, outlines a principle-based process for building such a movement in both Koreas today.

How will you get involved in your own community?

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Global Youth Summit 2017: “Achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals through Youth Collaboration, Leadership, and Innovation”

March 3rd, 2017 – SM Mall of Asia Arena, Manila, Philippines 

Keynote Address: Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, Global Peace Foundation chairman

Hello Manila! It’s a tremendous honor for me to come speak to a bunch of young people. As you all know, we just completed the 7th Global Peace Convention where I had an opportunity to meet many older people from all around the world. Us older guys represent the present and the past, but you young people represent the future.

So when I was given this opportunity, I jumped at it, because if we can inspire the next generation to dream–not just a small dream, but a big dream–it can change and shape the landscape not only of this nation of the Philippines, not only East Asia, but all Asia. And not only all Asia, but the entire world, because the circumstances today allow such dreams to become a reality.

With young people, the most important thing is passion. You have to be passionate about the future you want to create. If you don’t have passion, you don’t have ownership. If you don’t have ownership, you’re not going to make that dream something that motivates and animates your life.

Many times as I speak to people from around the world, I give a quote–a profound quote–given by a very influential figure in the heartland of Asia. His name was Genghis Khan. He said, “If one person dreams a dream, it is but a dream. But if a thousand people, if all the people of the world dreams the same dream, then that dream becomes a reality.” This is a time in which the 7 billion people of the earth should dream the same dream, a dream to bring peace on Earth through a vision that can unite the human family that has been suffering for millennia. It is a visceral vision that’s rooted in fundamental truths that we can all, regardless of culture, background, ethnicity, or nationality, relate with. And what do you think that dream is? One Family under God!

Imagine if everyone can make that dream their dream. That’s what the Global Peace Foundation is seeking to build because its founding vision is “One Family Under God,” one family at a time.

One of the reasons why I like the Philippines is because you already have a culture that resonates with this vision. You’re a nation that is deeply rooted in faith and understands the importance of the family. The family represents the most important social unit in society. If the family goes awry, society goes awry. You recognize this. Thus, you have the foundation in which you can make this truth your own.

This vision can not only have tremendous impact in this nation of the Philippines but eventually Southeast Asia and the world. Why? Because Southeast Asia is going to be that influential. You have everything here. You have moderate governments. You have an inclusive social and religious environment. This is especially relevant at this time with the global war against terror, which is turning into something that looks very much like inter-religious conflict, which is the worst of conflicts that humanity can engage in.

At the same time, you are at the center of the most dynamic regional trade zone in the world. If the Philippines can build a national model of economic, social and political transformation, the impact the Philippine islands can make to the rest of Asia, especially starting from Southeast Asia, cannot be measured. It will have tremendous impact.

Now although I look at the Philippines as my second home in Asia, I was born in Korea. Is Korea a united nation or a divided nation? Of several nations that were divided after WWII, only Korea remains divided. One thing you have to understand is that this division was not the wish of the Korean people. Korea faced many of the experiences that most of Asia experienced, including the Philippines.

Korea was under the colonial dominion of the Japanese. After World War II, the Korean people had the opportunity to fulfill a 5,000-year-old dream, which was to create an ideal model nation rooted in their founding ideal of Hongik Ingan, which stated that the Korean people had a divine mandate from Heaven to build a nation that can serve all of humanity. As a student of history, who studied all the civilizations that are studied, I know of no ancient civilization that had such high-minded ideals, that believed that they were meant to serve the rest of humanity. Thus, the Korean people, although we are an ancient civilization, never invaded others. Although Korea, being sandwiched between China and Japan, was invaded countless times, the Korean people never invaded our neighbors. We tried to build an ideal nation because of this heavenly mandate, and with the end of WWII, for the first time in our history, we received the freedom to be able to do so. But that dream was taken away as Korea was sucked up into the Cold War geopolitics of that age, and an unnatural division was created, arbitrarily separating the Korean people, the Korean family, and the Korean Dream.

This is a time in which the world is moving from the Atlantic sphere to the Pacific sphere. This is a time when Asian stories should stimulate the hearts and minds of people, not only here in Asia, but around the world. And the Korean story is that Asian story. Korean Unification will represent the end of the colonial era that had plagued Asia. It will also represent the end of the Cold War that had plagued our landscape. It will also mark the beginning of a new era, that represents the era of Asia.

I wrote a book recently. It’s called Korean Dream. There, I cite the writings of Tagore, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in literature, where he wrote, “Korea at one time was the lamp-bearer of Asia. And Korea waits for that light to be lit once again for all of Asia and the world”. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is a time in which that light shall be lit again through all of you dreaming that same dream – a dream to build One Family under God. The greatest impediment to the fulfillment of that dream is peace in the most dynamic region of the world, where the world is now moving towards, which is here in Asia.

The unity of North and South Korea is the civil rights issue of this age. It should not just be the dream of all Koreans, but of all Asians, and most of all, of everyone around the world.

For young people, you need passion and you need dreams. And as I explained, this is a time to dream big, bold, hairy dreams.

Let me explain more in depth the reason why the Philippines was chosen for this year’s Global Peace Convention. Various factors around the world are giving a unique opportunity to this island nation. Just like Korea, the Philippines has a unique role to play. The Philippines is the only other Christian nation in Asia. Korea is a Christian nation in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Philippines is a Christian Nation in the Southern Hemisphere. The history of the Philippines is very tied to the West, unlike Asia proper. It was under Spanish colonial occupation and eventually within the US territorial relationship. So at this time, when there is a shift moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific Rim, these two nations, from the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere, will play an increasingly important role.

This is where I’m going to inspire you young people here in the Philippines. It is this opportunity that affords you the chance to be leaders in your own right, in whatever capacity, however small or large. But you have to dream. It is dreamers that are able to see opportunities and capture and bring to reality possibilities. It is those who are willing to dream that can make opportunities into substantive reality that brings about transformation in this world. If anything, I’m hoping that this talk will give you the chance to stop and think about whether or not what is motivating me today is really capturing the opportunity that fate has provided, not only to myself, but to this nation, this region, and this world.

We need people who can dream, and who are bold enough to take that dream and make it into something real and profound. We need people of enterprise that can be creative and move issues forward. We need people who can offer new paradigms, new frameworks that can shape and address problems that currently exist in society or in this nation. Those are going to be the movers and shakers of tomorrow.

So young people, be the dreamers that define what this century will be. Be the dreamers that can realize the dreams that have animated humanity ever since our creation. Be willing and bold enough to dream the greatest dream of all – the dream to build One Family under God.

Can you do that, yes or no? Very good. Thank you very much!

See more updates from the 2017 Global Peace Convention in Manila, Philippines here: http://www.hyunjinmoon.com/global-peace-convention-2017/

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***

Freedom of Conscience statue on the site of the original Maryland Colony. Photo Credit: Elvert Barnes

The founders of the United States of America once sought to build a secular nation that would protect the fundamental rights of the citizens that were bestowed to all people by the Creator. Both George Washington and John Adams, the first and second presidents of the newly founded United States were noted for emphasizing the importance of religion in cultivating within the populace the kinds of virtues necessary for self-governance.

The Library of Congress online exhibition explains the role of religion in the founding of the Republic:

In his Farewell Address of September 1796, Washington called religion, as the source of morality, “a necessary spring of popular government,” while Adams claimed that statesmen “may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.”

This being as such, the structure of the American government with clear distinctions between that which is “church” (as a term to denote religious institutions) from that of the State, was originally intended to protect the freedom to believe and practice in accordance with one’s conscience.

Yet today, secularism – once intended to provide a neutral, shared space for people to engage their principles in the public square – has taken on interpretations that may need to be questioned. If and when the structures of society impedes upon the rights of the people to believe and practice according to their conscience, we need to be unafraid to take a hard look and have public conversations to ensure the freedoms endowed to us by the Creator are not lost.

The Global Peace Convention 2012 highlighted the global leadership role of the Americas rooted in universally accepted aspirations, principles and values

In understanding the cause of this “unraveling” of the public sphere and the decline of civic engagement, we can take lessons from the late Richard John Neuhaus who called faith leaders to lead in re-engaging values that had become the “naked public square” of American civic life. We might even see the various interreligious crises and extremist movements around the world as rooted in a failure to come to a consensus around basic, shared values.

While Neuhaus called for a renewal based in Judeo-Christian values, the Global Peace Foundation works to articulate principles for people from all faiths and to build a consensus around values that we all share. It is upon these shared agreements, GPF works to engage people to honor and live out their faith commitments through contributing to the wider public square.

Presenters at the Round Table Discussion on a Global Ethical Framework in India, December 2015.

To further this work, we strive to advance the building of a new, shared public space based on the interfaith principles of One Family Under God. While there are many constituent parts to this work, among our models of interfaith leadership is the One Family Under God campaign in Nigeria where we are working to build a shared public sphere between previously divided Muslim and Christian communities. In India, we are working with faith and academic leaders to articulate an interfaith, ethical framework to guide civil society engagement in India and beyond.

Significantly, these conversations need to flow from faith and religious leaders to include people and leaders from every sector to be able to weigh in and work to figure out ways to apply abstract principles in their sphere of work and influence. This then, again requires sustained and local level discussion and grassroots engagement to create communities and societies “for, by and of the people.”

Read Dr. Moon’s keynote address at the Global Peace Convention 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA: http://www.hyunjinmoon.com/gpcatlanta-opening/

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“For peace to be established there must be reconciliation. But reconciliation cannot be forced; it has to occur naturally from the heart”

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon
Global Peace Convention 2012 in Atlanta

Conflict between people has always existed, yet globalization today has now transformed what were once local conflicts into global issues. And while it is difficult to pinpoint a single cause for any conflict, the path to reconciliation and peace must include a fundamental shift in the human mind and heart.

At a recent forum in DC hosted by Global Peace Foundation – USA, social activist Ali Abu Awwad and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger spoke on the divide between Israelis and Palestinians on the West Bank.

Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, founder of Faiths in Conversation and director of Roots.

Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, self-described as a Jew, Zionist and a Settler living on the West Bank, shared his story of how he had lived 33 years of his life in an area where there were 9 Palestinians for every one Israeli. Yet in those 33 years, he had managed to have never met a single Palestinian.

“I didn’t see them, I was blind,” he remarked.

One day, as he was driving some Protestant pastors to Jewish settlements along the West Bank, he stopped the car for a hitchhiker. One of the pastors remarked, “You’re such a nice guy. You pick up hitchhikers.”

The Rabbi responded, “We do pick up hitchhikers; we trust each other; I pick up every person who sticks up his finger.”

And yet as he finished the sentence, he realized he was lying. He didn’t pick up every person who stuck up his finger–he only picked up Jewish hitchhikers. In that moment, he realized he still had “spiritual and moral work to do” and soon became involved, through referral by a Global Peace Foundation staff member, with “Roots”, a joint Palestinian and Israeli peacebuilding initiative based in the West Bank.

Palestinian nonviolent activist Ali Abu Awwad

On the other side of the divide, Mr. Ali Abu Awwad, a Palestinian, shared his story about his life following the death of his brother at the hands of an Israeli police officer. He was, understandably, filled with hatred and distrust towards Israelis. Yet only a week after his brother’s death, a group of Israeli parents visited his house “crying the same colors of tears as my mother”, to offer comfort to his family.

For Awwad, this experience was shocking, as he was accustomed to only seeing Israel’s stone-faced politicians and armed military police at government security checkpoints. It was when he saw the human side of Israel that his perspective began to shift. And while his was not a straightforward or clear trajectory, he soon became a nonviolent activist working for peace through initiatives such as Roots.

Rabbi Schlesinger and Mr. Awwad’s stories both point to the moral imperative to see beyond identity-based lines. Both are powerful testaments to the nobility latent within the human spirit that Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon seeks to uplift and promote through the activities of the Global Peace Foundation. Peace can and must come about naturally from within the hearts of men and could never successfully be imposed through political or legal arguments.

As seen in the example of Rabbi Schlesinger and Mr. Awwad, who tour the world speaking on going beyond being ‘Pro-Israel’ and ‘Pro-Palestine’ to being ‘Pro-solution’, there is a fundamental truth that all people can recognize when given the opportunity. We need to work to acknowledge that what we share, rooted in our divine nature, is greater than what divides us.

Read more about the forum, “Painful Hope”, on the Global Peace Foundation website at: https://www.globalpeace.org/news/global-peace-foundation-usa-co-hosts-israeli-palestinian-forum-dialogue-and-engagement-us

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon is founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation.

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