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

Dear Friend of Search for Common Ground,
The Middle East seems on the brink of overwhelming disaster. Iraq is wracked by insurgency and sectarian warfare. Israel and Hezbollah have fought to a bloody standstill. The Israeli-Palestinian struggle festers like a raw sore. There is great controversy over Iran's nuclear ambitions. In times like these, it is easy to despair. But somehow, the cycle of violence must be broken. As Martin Luther King said:

Force begets force; hate begets hate; toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe.

Transformative Voice. With those words, Dr. King was reflecting the overwhelming desire that almost everyone shares - in the Middle East and elsewhere - to live in peace. And what does this mean for an organization like Search for Common Ground? We see our job as laying groundwork for a less violent, less adversarial world. We give concrete form to alternative models, and we are committed for the long haul. As Ted Koppel, then of ABC-TV, said about us, we provide a "voice of hope."

Middle East. While news from the Middle East is grim, we still believe there is opportunity to create positive outcomes. As we have for 15 years, we keep trying to build bridges among Israelis, Arabs, and Iranians. While we fervently wish our work had taken deeper hold and accomplished more, we know we have made a difference.

Iran and the United States. Since 1996, we have sponsored high-level, unofficial meetings between Iranians and Americans. These continue. The most recent one was held in July 2006 in a European capital. We provide an active channel for dialogue and communication, and we use our connections to seek peaceful solutions and implement projects on the ground.

I believe you saved our negotiations. Your ideas kept the negotiations going…. If there is any outcome of the negotiations that is to the satisfaction of both sides, it will be a derivative of the discussions of this group - with conditions that will make it possible for both sides to accept. - current Iranian ambassador

What this group has been doing has had a profound effect on the psyche of both the public and the elite … No other activities have had such an effect. - Iranian professor

MECIDS. In partnership with the Nuclear Threat Initiative, we sponsor the Middle East Consortium for Infectious Disease Surveillance, a regional body to promote cooperation in detecting deadly diseases, such as anthrax and avian flu. MECIDS' unofficial motto is, "Viruses do not stop at checkpoints." At a time when Arab and Israeli officials have little contact, this is one of the very few places where they meet and solve problems together.

CGNews. This activity brings together the expertise of organizations working in peace-building, traumatic medicine, community organizing, and human rights advocacy. It promotes psychological healing, furnishes legal assistance, and aids in reintegration of victims.

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, former External Affairs Commissioner, the European Union

Palestinian Independent TV. Since 2002, we have co-produced with the Ma'an Television Network two round-table discussion series; a twice-weekly news magazine; televised meetings of the Palestinian Legislative Council; and two dramatic series. All of these promote non-violence and conflict resolution.

[Programming] shatters Palestinians' stereotypes about themselves. - USA Today

Documentary Series. We produced The Shape of the Future, a series of documentary films on how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might actually be resolved. In 2005, the programs were simultaneously aired - the first time this had ever happened - on Palestinian, Israeli, and Arab satellite TV.

This documentary series examines the fears and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians in an even-handed way. It shows how a negotiated agreement could address those fears and aspirations without threatening the national existence of either side. Israel and Egypt were able to accomplish this task at Camp David more than 25 years ago and this series supports the belief that Israelis and Palestinians can do the same. -former US President Jimmy Carter

Nigeria. Altogether, we currently produce TV and radio programs in a dozen countries. Our biggest project is in Nigeria where we are making two TV series, The Station and The Academy. The Station is a 52-part dramatic series that centers on a fictional Lagos television news channel. The reporters reflect Nigeria's ethnic, religious, regional, and gender diversity. Indeed, the boss is Aisha, a strong Moslem woman from the North. Our series producer, Allen Scheid, has done a masterful job in assembling and directing an all-Nigerian crew of writers, producers, actors, and technicians. Our local NGO partner is Academic Associates/PeaceWorks.

Première. In August on NTA, Nigeria's largest TV network, The Academy began to air. This is a 15-part, reality series about selecting and training the cast for the dramatic series. The Academy portrays how we advertised for Nigerians who wanted to be actors and actresses; how 56,000 people replied; how we winnowed the number down to 20 finalists and took them to an undisclosed location where they were trained for a month; and how, in the end, five people survived and won parts in the dramatic series, which will start to air in November.

Clinton. The commercial sponsor for our Nigerian TV shows is Nestlé, which announced its commitment at the 2005 Clinton Global Initiative in New York. In a recent speech, former President Clinton had this to say about the series:

This, by the way, is really exciting. I might like to see one of these [programs] in America. Think about what it could be: If people actually could turn on television and see real people with whom they could identify having serious conversations about both their religious convictions and how they do or don't translate into their daily lives.

Music. We find music to be a powerful tool for conflict resolution. In Macedonia, we produced a music video that rose to number one on the charts, and in Angola our peace song became the unofficial theme of the negotiation process. Our latest song has just appeared in Nepal. It is the theme for our new radio soap opera, which aims to empower young people to play a constructive role in the peace process.

Treading upon A New Path

Flirtatious we are, we love to joke and have fun, enjoying ourselves, We don't tolerate discrimination and do not practice it either, Energy, zeal, youthfulness and faith are what we have, Mountains may crumble if we want, After all nothing is impossible … treading upon a new path.

Radio. In many parts of the world, radio is the most effective way to reach a mass audience. Francis Rolt heads Common Ground Radio and directs our Radio for Peacebuilding in Africa (RFPA) project, which includes workshops, an online course, manuals, guidebooks, a database, and a website. 1500 African and international radio professionals have registered on the website (www.radiopeaceafrica.org). In an e-survey, we found that 72% of respondents believe that the project totally changed the way they see their job and the influence they can have on conflict in their country. Here is an email we received from a producer from South Africa's Bush Radio who had just attended an RFPA workshop:

I went in to work today because we have a weekly staff meeting and I had to give a report on my trip. Well, that wasn't hard - I couldn't stop gushing!!!! … I have informed our [Managing Director] that I'm revamping the Children's Radio Education Workshop - I'm basically re-designing it with all that I learnt in Accra. This really was an amazing experience.

Monitoring & Evaluation. We are proud to announce the on-line publication of a 230-page manual, called Designing for Results: Integrating Monitoring and Evaluation in Conflict Transformation Programs. Written by ex-Searchers Cheyanne Church and Mark Rogers and produced in partnership with the US Institute of Peace and the Alliance for Peacebuilding, the manual provides insights, practical tips, and examples of how practitioners can measure and increase the effectiveness of their work. It can be found at www.sfcg.org/programmes/ilr/ilt_manualpage.html, and it has already been downloaded almost a thousand times. For more information about how we are increasingly integrating monitoring and evaluation into all of our programs, please click on www.sfcg.org/programmes/ilr/programmes_ilr.html.

Awards. On November 1 at the United Nations in New York, we will hold a dinner to honor the 2006 Common Ground Award winners. Actress Kathleen Turner will be the host, and awards will be given to Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation founding chair John Whitehead, Sesame Workshop, Israeli singer David Broza, and Palestinian musicians, Wisam and Said Murad. This will be a fundraiser to support our work around the world, and tickets are $500. We hope you will be able to come and/or contribute. For information please contact Susie Dillon at sdillon@sfcg.org.

Thank You. Once again, I would like to express my thanks to people like you for your support. Such assistance makes our work possible, and I am extremely grateful.

With best wishes,

John Marks
President

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