A Letter to My Friends (Not Spam) (Really!)

Tonight I am optimistic. In fact, I'm in danger of becoming a groupie, a believer, a missionary, a fanatical activist! Which is a contradiction in terms, because what I'm optimistic about is a realistic way for thinking moderates to delegitimize extremists: the Silent Majority need be silent no longer! I quote [with my own edits in brackets like this] an email that my new-found friends supplied to send to more friends (I assume you qualify):

Dear You,

If you are distressed at the ongoing violence in the Mideast and have been wondering if there is anything concrete and constructive you could do to truly make a difference, you should check out the OneVoice initiative, http://www.onevoice.org. In particular, I [suggest] you [...] look at their "About Us" page.

OneVoice is a groundbreaking initiative to empower the people at the grassroots level to achieve a consensus for [Palestinian-Israeli] conflict resolution. It just launched a very creative platform that will amplify the voice of reason and create a broad-based movement for constructive and concrete negotiations to help fulfill the aspirations of both sides, while counteracting the inhumane and destructive violent extremism that has hijacked the lives of so many.

OneVoice is your chance to stand up and be counted. Your support and participation will be instrumental in its success. Please take a few minutes to learn more about this initiative and make a [...] difference: http://www.onevoicemovement.org/wps/portal.

Sincerely,

Savtadotty

The thing I like most about it is that they are consciously not playing up the celebrity angle, although they have some celebrity sponsors, but rather emphasizing the grass-roots aspect. And the grass can be anywhere in the world, so you don't have to be in the Middle East to share in this. They're We're (I joined up and got my pin!) planning a big Event on October 18. I'll write more about that later. Must get back to my knitting.