Search for Common Ground Newsletter Summer 2006

Search for Common Ground
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.: (1-202) 265-4300
Fax: (1-202) 232-6718
E-mail: search@scfg.org
Web: www.sfcg.org

Search for Common Ground
Rue Belliard 205 bte 13
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Tel.: (32-2) 736-7262
Fax: (32-2) 732-3033
E-mail: brussels@sfcg.be
Web: www.sfcg.org

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Summer 2006

Dear Friend of Search for Common Ground,

SPORT & SOAP. The World Cup is the most watched sporting event on the planet, everywhere but in North America. Football - or soccer, as Americans call it - regularly trumps politics. In the Ivory Coast, where fighting has raged for several years, the strife literally stops whenever the national team plays. For a few short hours, people think of themselves as Ivorians and take pride in their country - transcending tribe and region. We have long known that sport can be a powerful tool for peacemaking. Thus, in 1998, we sponsored wrestling diplomacy between the US and Iran. Another tool in our toolbox is TV and radio soap opera, which we produce in a dozen countries. In this year of the World Cup, football and soap opera seem like an unbeatable combination.

O Jogo (The Game). Thus, in Angola, we are now producing a 26-part, radio soap, which premièred in May. It tells the story of Anacleto and Roberto, footballers from very different backgrounds. Anacleto was born in Huambo, a UNITA stronghold during Angola's long civil war. He dreams of overcoming poverty and playing football for his country. Roberto, in contrast, has led a privileged life in Luanda. But he, too, is inspired by football and the World Cup. The series relates how the players meet and learn on the football pitch how to put Angola's divided, war-torn past behind them.

We chose football because it represents Angola coming together as a nation. It's a natural issue of solidarity and reconciliation. - Heather Kulp, SFCG Country Director in Angola, quoted in The International Herald Tribune
L'Équipe (The Team). Similarly, in the Ivory Coast, we launched a soap that portrays the adventures of two footballers, Zoukou and Konan, from different regions and ethnic groups. Like many African stars, they play in Europe - for the UK's Arsenal - and they compete for their native country. Here is how the BBC described the series:

BBC: Broadcast on 14 community radio stations [and RTI, the national radio network], the series aims to bring together populations divided by the Ivorian crisis….
Spés Manirakiza [SFCG Director in the Ivory Coast]: Radio soap opera is used by Search for Common Ground all over the world because it helps people to identify with one another and to address controversial issues…. Through radio soaps, they can deal with questions that require reflection and lead to changes in behavior….

Jean Noël Bah [Ivoirian scriptwriter]: We committed ourselves to remaining true to reality, so that ordinary people can identify with the program. When we wrote the series, we considered how people think and why they think as they do. Is it appropriate? Are there clichés and stereotypes? ….

BBC: The soap opera aims to be true to the daily life of the population. It is entertaining and humorous, while communicating a message of reconciliation.

IVORY COAST. While radio programs are our most public face in the Ivory Coast, we also work extensively on the ground, empowering Ivorians to intervene in local conflicts. Alexis Zro Gomé from Trogui took part in one of our workshops where he learned about mediating, improving listening skills, reframing anger, and differentiating positions and interests. Here is the result, according to staff member Rebecca Besant:

Energized by what he had experienced, Alexis returned to Trogui determined to bring the two divided communities together. Working with the ongoing support of our Coordinator, Alexis helped develop a peace committee - comprised of Yacouba and Burkinabé [ethnic groups], women, and youth. The committee took a leading role in mediating and reconciling the two communities and in helping Burkinabés regain looted property. It spearheaded the construction of a "maison de solidarité," jointly built by the two communities as a meeting space and guesthouse for visitors of all ethnicities.
NEPAL In February, we opened our 17th office - in Kathmandu. We felt we had something to offer: namely, tools to promote conflict resolution and reconciliation. Then, as we were starting up our first projects, a radio soap opera series and a community-organizing effort, the People's Revolution erupted. Naturally, we were concerned about our staff, Serena Rix Tripathee and Michael Shipler - and Francis Rolt of our Brussels office who had come out to lead a training and brought along his wife and two children. Thankfully, none of our people were hurt, and there was minimal violence. Indeed, things turned out almost as if we had scripted them. Here is Serena's report.

The extraordinary turn of events has created an opening for Nepal to enter into a negotiation process and bring an end to the conflict that has crippled the country for the past decade. After almost three weeks of a sustained national strike and protests, King Gyanendra announced the reinstatement of parliament. Almost immediately, the crowds, which had been in a confrontational mode, began demanding something else - dialogue. Civil society, the political parties, and even the Maoists have all called for a constituent assembly aimed at bringing together the political stakeholders to revisit the constitution of 1990. There is a level of unity in Nepal that even a year ago would have been unthinkable. Nepal's problems have by no means been solved overnight. However, there is the opportunity to shift from an adversarial and often violent approach to finding common ground. We are working to sustain the momentum for win-win, cooperative solutions. More than ever, there is a huge need in Nepal for the kind of work we do.
CGNEWS. Since 2001, we have published the Common Ground News Service, which features solution-oriented articles to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to bridge the gap between the West and the Muslim world. Every week, we distribute articles - in Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, and Bahasa - to leading newspapers, magazines, and websites, along with 17,000 individual subscribers. More than 2,300 of our articles have been reprinted, including 132 in Al Hayat, arguably the world's leading Arabic-language newspaper; 124 in the Daily Star (Beirut); 54 in the Jordan Times (Amman); 42 in Al Quds (Jerusalem); 28 in Arab News (Jeddah); and 25 in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv). Because we are an international news service, we often are able to place articles by Israeli writers in Arabic papers - and vice versa.

We recently published a series on ijtihad, the ongoing re-interpretation of Islamic law, in accordance with principles of Islamic jurisprudence. This series resulted in 40 reprints in such places as UPI, Al Arab, the Washington Times, and the website of the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, the Grand Mufti of Egypt was so taken with the series that he wrote six additional articles, which answered questions put to him by our Washington Editor, Leena El-Ali, and which highlighted a moderate approach. These articles were published in partnership with Al Ahram, Egypt's largest newspaper. Click here for a free CG News subscription.

The articles of the Common Ground News Service give hope that there are people out there who work on solutions inspired by the need to co-exist in tolerance and by the hope for a better future. - Christopher Patten, ex-External Relations Commissioner, the European Union
I cannot help but notice, after an article is published, that its idea, methodology or rhetoric creeps into and is expressed in the works of other Arab writers. - Hazem Saghiyeh, editor and columnist, Al-Hayat

It's nice to realize there are some reasonable voices out there in the sea of madness and hatred. - Yoel Esteron, ex-Managing Editor, Ha'aretz

I certainly hope [CGNews] grows into a "Muslim-Western" Associated Press. - Ibrahim Abusharif, Chief Editor, Starlatch Press, Chicago

MEDIA OUTREACH TRAINING. In partnership with Prince Hassan of Jordan, we sponsor the Partners in Humanity program, which encourages constructive Muslim-Western contacts. As part of this partnership, which also includes CGNews, we held training workshops this spring in Beirut and Jakarta to aid 40 interfaith and intercultural dialogue practitioners to reach out to local and international media. The goal was to help them utilize the media as a tool for bridge-building and dialogue.

The workshop shed light onto how to use the media to my NGO's benefit, an untapped resource that we need to use. - Lebanese participant
We need to find creative ways to overcome the obstacles and to get our news out, to stop making excuses, and to use the opportunities we have. - Palestinian participant

CHILD SOLDIERS INITIATIVE. We have forged an alliance with General Roméo Dallaire, the retired Canadian general who saved so many lives in Rwanda and who is now a Canadian Senator. The aim is to put the issue of child soldiers squarely on the global agenda and to encourage communication and cooperation in dealing with the problem. We want the international community - military, diplomatic, and non-governmental - to take on child soldiers as a high-priority, shared problem. With our partners, USAID, UNICEF Canada, and the University of Winnipeg, we are developing new tools for reducing the number of child soldiers. With funding from the Canadian government, we are working in three phases: 1) a workshop in Winnipeg in August to encourage cooperation among the players and develop new approaches; 2) a follow-on war game and simulation; and 3) actual engagement on the ground, probably in Africa, using policy options and tools developed in the first two phases.

COMMON GROUND FILM FESTIVAL. Since 2001, we have been holding film festivals in Washington and other cities around the world to showcase common ground-type films. This summer, for the second time, we will co-sponsor a festival with various UN agencies at United Nations headquarters in New York.

COMMON GROUND AWARDS. Also at the UN Building, we will hold the 2006 Common Ground Awards ceremony on November 1. This year, the host will be actress Kathleen Turner, and awardees will include Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Sesame Workshop, former Deputy Secretary of State John Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, Israeli singer David Broza, and Palestinian singer Wisam Murad. Those of you who were present last year, when we gave awards to Muhammad Ali and to gang leaders who had negotiated peace, can testify to what a extraordinary evening this is likely to be. Indeed, for the first time, the awards ceremony will be a fund-raiser - an opportunity for people like you to support the work of Search for Common Ground. Tickets are $500 each. Please contact Susie Dillon (sdillon@sfcg.org) if you are interested in attending.

THANK YOU. Since we began in 1982, thousands of people have contributed to our work, and we are grateful. It is clear that we could not have done so much without your partnership. We ask you to keep supporting us, both financially and otherwise.

With best wishes,

John Marks
President