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Politics : Moderate Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (8603)	3/17/2004 2:18:46 PM
From: tsigprofit	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20773

Mid-East pen friends part 1: Introductions news.bbc.co.uk Omneya al-Naggar is an Egyptian school teacher in the Northern city of Alexandria. Orly Noy is an Israeli journalist of Iranian origin, living and working in Jerusalem. They are both working mothers, but their worlds are divided by hostility, politics, culture and religion. BBC Arabic.com has asked Omneya and Orly to exchange their views, via e-mail, on life, the prospects for Middle East peace and everything. Read the exchanges and send us your comments. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Omneya, I guess it is as strange for you to receive a letter from a total stranger, as it is for me to write one. Maybe the best thing to do is start with the basic facts. My name is Orly, I'm 33 years old, married with two little girls, ages four and a half and one. I live in Jerusalem, and work as a producer at a new Israeli-Palestinian radio station which will go on air in about three weeks. I am also studying for my second degree in Middle East studies at the Hebrew University. As I write this letter it occurs to me how weird it is that two geographical neighbours like us would never have known about each other without the intervention of a third, distant party. Anyway... I was born in Tehran, Iran, and came to Israel after the Islamic revolution in 1979. Come to think of it, maybe I should have started at this point, not only because of chronological order, but also because to this day I see myself as no less Iranian than Israeli. Perhaps it doesn't make any sense to you that I can feel a part of two totally different worlds like Iran and Israel. Sometimes it's puzzling for me as well, but I guess this is a part of what it means to be an immigrant. Well, Omneya (by the way, it is a beautiful name, what does it mean?), I'm looking forward to our mutual journey. There are so many things to be said. Yours sincerely, Orly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Orly, I really surprise myself at not feeling at all strange writing to what you suggest is a "total stranger". Thanks to cyberspace, we (I mean people everywhere) are not strangers anymore. To be honest, I expected to feel the strangeness coming from the fact that you are Israeli and I am Egyptian. You are the first Israeli person that I have been in touch in the hope of getting to know. But here again, the strangeness is diluted because of our physical remoteness. My name is Omneya, and I am 35 years old. I am married to an artist and we live in Alexandria and have two boys who are seven and two years old. I studied political science in the American University in Cairo both for my BA and my MA. I've always had a great interest in the politics and history of the Middle East, and I think it's great that you've chosen Middle Eastern studies. I also did a second degree in English literature when I moved to Alexandria. I've worked and taught in a school in Alexandria since 1997. I see that we have a lot of things in common, being both working women, mothers, Middle Eastern and neighbours. Yet, there is a gap that divides our two worlds. It might be a similar gap to your two worlds of Iran and Israel. Can we reconcile our divided worlds? It is a big job, and it needs an insightful spirit able to survive the pains of unwanted memories. We have to face the fact that yes we have a peace treaty, but we lack peace. This is why we will always look at each other with a big question mark. Believe me I do not like this truth, but I have to acknowledge it. Thank you for your nice e-mail. My name means "a wish", and my wish is that we enjoy our correspondence. All the best, Omneya -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Further exchanges between Orly and Omneya will follow.

To: Thomas M. who wrote (8603)	3/17/2004 5:11:14 PM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 20773

So let's get this straight. The visit by an opposition leader to a religious site means that the Prime Minister didn't want peace and it also justifies years of suicide bombers that target civilians in mass murder, with only minimal chance of hitting military assets. You Nazis are sick.