Cross-border blog promotes Israel-Gaza peace

By Rebecca Harrison

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - "Peace man" is from the Gaza Strip. "Hope man" lives across the Israeli border in Sderot.

Both yearn for an end to violence and have grand dreams of nurturing Palestinian-Israeli friendship and promoting peace.

But since Hamas Islamists seized control of Gaza in June and Israel shut its frontier, the two have been unable to meet, let alone work on plans for a Gaza-Sderot children's summer camp.

So they decided to keep their friendship alive in cyberspace by creating a joint blog in English that explores daily life on both sides of Israel's conflict with Hamas and pushes for an end to the violence.

"We wanted to open our lives and suffering to the world and show this isn't just a political issue, there are real people involved," Hope man, a 42-year-old father of three, told Reuters by telephone.

"We wanted to show there are ordinary people who are looking for alternatives to violence."

Both bloggers keep their identities secret for fear of harassment or perhaps worse in Gaza, where dialogue might be viewed as collaboration. They use the "Peace man" and "Hope man" nicknames on their site, www.gaza-sderot.blogspot.com.

Militants from Gaza regularly launch cross-border rockets which rarely kill Israelis but traumatize towns such as Sderot. Israel frequently raids the Hamas-run enclave and killed some 300 Palestinians there last year, including dozens of civilians.

"MORE FORCE MEANS MORE ROCKETS"

While many Sderot residents want Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to take tougher military action in Gaza after an 8-year-old boy lost part of his leg in a rocket attack, Hope man says a major incursion would only breed more violence.

Peace man, a teacher, also urges Israeli restraint and uses the blog to call for an end to rocket fire from his native Gaza.

"This will take us to a dark future and the end will be so bad," Peace man writes in a recent post. "My voice is with my friend: stop the violence on both sides, we need GOOD people to change this situation."

The men recount anecdotes about life in Gaza and Sderot. Peace man tells how goods are scarce due to Israel's border blockade on the territory and describes how frequent blasts rock his neighborhood.

Hope man writes about how he and his wife enjoyed a walk in the countryside during a recent lull in rockets. The calm was soon pierced by the wail of Sderot's warning alarm and they hit the ground before rushing back to check on their children.

The two men used to meet up in Sderot. But now Peace man, like most Gazans, is barred from leaving the enclave. They still chat on the phone, by email and now via the blog.