Time-out for the
‘Peace Olympics’

By VIRGINIA M. SULLIVAN

No one seems to be able to jump-start the peace process in Israel. Violence continues to escalate, and there’s no end in sight. It’s time for a time-out, a cease fire. But what could possibly motivate the Israelis and Palestinians to cease firing at one another? Since the latest fighting erupted in September, more than 700 people, mostly Palestinians, have died. This fact alone should be a motivator. Unfortunately, it isn’t.

It might be helpful to recall that last summer the point of contention between Palestinians and Israelis was Jerusalem. The then prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, promised his people that “Jerushalayim” will remain the “eternal and undivided” capital of Israel; Arafat demands that the capital of the Palestinian state be located there too.

It’s one of the ironies of our time that Jerusalem, the spiritual home of the world’s three leading religions, the City of Peace—can find no peace. The conflict over the city has escalated to the point where Israel even considered moving into the West Bank.

A military solution is no solution. A political solution is apparently beyond reach. Why not try a religious solution? Why not call upon the religious leaders of the three faiths in Jerusalem to offer a solution?

Since the adherents of all three faiths believe in the sovereignty of one God and the equality of all men and women, they might do well to sponsor a program in Jerusalem during a cease fire, to bring all nations together for peace. The program I have in mind is a “Peace Olympics” in Jerusalem.

What would a “Peace Olympics” be like? If the model is the Olympic Games, the best brains in the peace business will have to be invited, people who have innovative ways to go for peace, ways that have not been tried. We need a “Peace Olympics” to give visibility to new instruments of peace.

Is there a competitive model for such an Olympics? I believe there is. The name of the model in this country is The National Diffusion Network (NDN), a program sponsored by the United States Department of Education.

This is how the National Diffusion Network works: A teacher of Algebra, let us say in a high school in San Antonio, Texas, has discovered a new, dynamic way to teach his subject. He writes up his program and submits it for evaluation to the NDN in Washington DC. If the program is truly excellent, innovative and replicable in places other than San Antonio, it is awarded NDN status. This means that the San Antonio teacher can take his program on the road and share his insights with Algebra teachers in other places. Teachers throughout the country can implement the San Antonio teacher’s program, and in the process develop some new aspects of it. Once a year at an educational conference, teachers get together to compare notes. The result is intellectual paydirt—an entirely new program may emerge. Basically, the situation is a win-win pyramid, wherein intellectually innovative programs are recognized, implemented and replicated.

A “Peace Olympics,” held in Jereusalem, the City of Peace, would give world-wide recognition and status to those unsung laborers in the vineyard of peace, laborers who may have developed worthwhile programs for peace in their own countries, but have no way of testing them in a competitive context.

A time-out for a “Peace Olympics” in Jerusalem may be a time-out worth taking.