By Carolyn Weaver for Voice of America
Tues July 29 2014

Abraham Gutman, an Israeli Jew, and Dania Darwish, a Syrian-American Muslim, met in a global politics class at Hunter College in New York, and became friends, despite their political differences. As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated in July, they were disturbed by the fury they saw on social media.
 
“We felt like Facebook is becoming more and more hateful, that every comment is more polarizing, and almost all the comments on my Facebook and Twitter feed were very black and white, and strongly worded,” Gutman said.
 
So, early in July, as the conflict in Gaza exploded, he and Darwish started a Facebook and Twitter campaign: Jews & Arabs Refuse to Be Enemies. The idea was simple: post photographs by Jews and Arabs and Muslims who happen to be friends, lovers, spouses – or who just want to send a message of peace.
 
“We wanted to create a space where people had the same experience we had with each other, that you can disagree, but you can have a debate, and try to be part of a solution in a productive way,” he said.
 
“The campaign was created really just [to] allow people to see people as people, and not the enemy, and not the ‘other side,'” Darwish said.

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