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The Common Ground ReviewA documentary journal

A documentary journal on the campaigns, the bridge-builders and the hard facts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Two peoples, one land, the documented record

This journal covers the civic campaigns that carried the Israeli-Palestinian conflict onto American transit walls, the organisations that keep working across the divide, and the facts a reader needs to follow the arguments. Everything is written in the third person, sourced and dated.

Start with the campaignsRead the explainers

An elderly shopkeeper raising the metal shutters of his store on a quiet stone street in Jerusalem at dawn
Dawn on a Jerusalem street. The journal documents the people and the arguments that share this land.

Start with the sections

Three ways into the record

Each section opens with an index of its pieces: the campaigns, the bridge-builders, and the documented context behind both.

  1. A New York subway platform with rows of framed advertisement posters along a tiled wall, commuters walking past in motion blur.
    01

    Civic Campaigns

    Poster campaigns, counter-ads and the transit systems caught between them: how the conflict was argued on American train walls.

    3 pieces inside

  2. Israeli and Palestinian volunteers planting a young olive tree together in a stony field under a bright sky.
    02

    Peacebuilding

    Bereaved families, bilingual schools, a Maine camp and former fighters: the joint organisations that keep working across the divide.

    5 pieces inside

  3. A stack of international newspapers on a wooden kiosk table in Jerusalem, morning light on the front pages.
    03

    The Conflict, Documented

    The reference pieces: US military aid in figures, the two-state idea, a dated timeline and the Gaza blockade in facts.

    8 pieces inside

Section 1 of 3

Civic Campaigns

Poster campaigns, counter-ads and the transit systems caught between them: how the conflict was argued on American train walls.

  • A brown steel elevated train of the Chicago Transit Authority crossing a riveted iron bridge above a downtown street, late afternoon light.

    Civic Campaigns

    The Campaign Launch in Chicago

    In October 2010 the Be On Our Side posters appeared on Chicago Transit Authority trains. A documented account of the campaign's first city.

    October 2010: the first posters rode the Chicago el.

  • A framed poster on a tiled subway station wall showing two smiling fathers with their young daughters, commuters passing in soft blur.

    Civic Campaigns

    Inside the Be On Our Side Campaign

    From Chicago's el trains to the New York subway and the San Francisco BART: how one poster campaign travelled across American transit systems.

    One poster, three transit systems, a season of disputes.

  • Two advertising frames facing each other across a subway corridor, one poster showing children, commuters walking between them.

    Civic Campaigns

    The Billboard War of 2011

    StandWithUs, the MTA dispute and a councilman's open letter: how the Be On Our Side posters triggered a season of counter-campaigns.

    Counter-ads, an open letter and a court decision in Seattle.

Open the Civic Campaigns index

Section 2 of 3

Peacebuilding

Bereaved families, bilingual schools, a Maine camp and former fighters: the joint organisations that keep working across the divide.

  • An older Israeli man and an older Palestinian woman seated together on a park bench in conversation, late light through trees.

    Peacebuilding

    The Parents Circle-Families Forum

    More than 600 bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families turned grief into joint advocacy. The history and method of the Parents Circle.

    Six hundred bereaved families who chose to meet.

  • Teenagers of mixed backgrounds seated in a circle of wooden chairs beside a lake at dusk, pine trees behind them.

    Peacebuilding

    Seeds of Peace and the Maine Camp

    Since 1993, Israeli and Palestinian teenagers have met at a lakeside camp in Maine. What three weeks of dialogue can and cannot change.

    Teenagers from the conflict, a camp in Maine since 1993.

  • A bright primary school classroom with Hebrew and Arabic posters on the walls, children working at shared tables.

    Peacebuilding

    Hand in Hand's Bilingual Schools

    A network of schools where Jewish and Arab children learn in Hebrew and Arabic together. How Hand in Hand built a model under pressure.

    Bilingual schools built under pressure, still open.

  • The green Jordan River valley seen from a low hill, fields on both banks, a hazy warm sky.

    Peacebuilding

    EcoPeace and the Water Question

    A Jordanian-Palestinian-Israeli organisation argues that shared water and a shared climate leave no choice but cooperation.

    Shared water as an argument nobody can wall off.

  • Two middle-aged men shaking hands on the steps of a modest community hall, a small crowd behind them.

    Peacebuilding

    Combatants for Peace

    Israeli ex-soldiers and Palestinian ex-prisoners who renounced violence and organised together since 2006. What the movement does now.

    Former fighters who now organise together.

Open the Peacebuilding index

From the historical record

A page that keeps its original address

This domain once carried the Be On Our Side campaign website. One indexed historical page is rebuilt here as documented history, at the same address it always had.

Section 3 of 3

The Conflict, Documented

The reference pieces: US military aid in figures, the two-state idea, a dated timeline and the Gaza blockade in facts.

  • The United States Capitol dome at dusk with flags at half light, seen across the reflecting pool.

    The Conflict, Documented

    US Military Aid to Israel, in Figures

    What the ten-year memorandum commits, how the $3.8 billion a year is structured, and how the debate around it evolved.

    $3.8 billion a year: what the memorandum actually commits.

  • A long negotiating table with folded flags and stacked documents under soft conference room light.

    The Conflict, Documented

    The Two-State Idea: a Short History

    From the 1947 partition plan to Oslo and the Clinton parameters: the milestones of the two-state idea and where it stands.

    From Resolution 181 to the present impasse.

  • Old newspaper front pages and black-and-white photographs spread across an archive reading table.

    The Conflict, Documented

    Key Dates of the Conflict

    1948, 1967, Oslo, the intifadas, the Gaza disengagement and after: a documented timeline of the events that shaped the conflict.

    The dated spine of the conflict, entry by entry.

  • The Gaza coastline with small fishing boats pulled up on the sand, a hazy Mediterranean horizon.

    The Conflict, Documented

    The Gaza Blockade in Facts

    Since 2007 Israel and Egypt have restricted movement in and out of Gaza. What the blockade covers, and how each side argues it.

    What the restrictions cover and how each side argues them.

  • A kitchen table in late afternoon light, a utility bill, a car odometer photo on a phone screen, and a pencil beside a lined notebook with a column of numbers, shot from slightly above at a shallow angle.

    The Conflict, Documented

    Measuring a Household Carbon Footprint

    A step-by-step look at how a household carbon footprint is measured, what a domestic calculator counts, and why two tools can return different totals.

  • A county clerk's counter in Georgia on a weekday morning, fluorescent light overhead, a stack of manila folders and a desktop scanner at the edge of the frame, shot from the visitor's side of the counter.

    The Conflict, Documented

    Filing a Georgia Open Records Request

    How to file an open records request with a Georgia agency, the three-business-day response window, and the copy fees an agency may charge.

  • A row of four parked Peugeot cars of different sizes in a French suburban car park at mid-morning, shot from the side at bumper height so the length difference between the smallest and largest is visible.

    The Conflict, Documented

    Peugeot 208, 308, 2008 and 3008 Compared

    What separates the Peugeot 208, 308, 2008 and 3008, what hybrid and electric versions change day to day, and what to inspect on a used 3008.

  • A closed manila folder on a wooden desk beside a laptop, late afternoon light through a half-open blind casting horizontal shadows across the paper, medium close-up from desk level.

    The Conflict, Documented

    Private Investigation in Spain

    How private investigation works in Spain for companies and insurers: internal fraud, unfair competition, court evidence, lease disputes and professional rules.

Open the The Conflict, Documented index

Elsewhere

Other editorial desks

  • For readers who want the definitions and source boundaries behind a French public figure before drawing a conclusion, the French-language review Le Tableau Français sets out how indicators on national output, income, employment and public budgets are built and compared.

  • The archive of Warsaw Airport Services, a Polish ground handling agent founded in 2000, covers ramp handling at Okęcie, Balice and Jasionka, its client airlines, and the timeline of its 2016 records.

  • A French editorial guide, engine remapping in Marseille, sets out tuning stages, diesel and utility vehicle cases, and the paperwork that follows, from garage choice to warranty and inspection.

  • For readers in Moselle weighing an engine remap, a French blog titled Reprog Metz sets out the technical stages, the vehicle types and the local rules, including engine tuning in Metz prices and inspection questions.

  • A French-language blog, Garage Essalmi, explains car maintenance for ordinary drivers, covering oil changes with prices, inspections, and dashboard warning lights, and it offers a guide to car repair in plain terms.

  • A French-language guide covers engine remapping in Bordeaux and Nouvelle-Aquitaine, from Stage 1 files for sport models and diesels to E85 bioethanol conversion, with engine remapping in Bordeaux prices, inspection rules and garage listings.

  • For readers weighing a failed engine, a French technical guide covers reconditioning and standard exchange, from head gasket and reboring work to prices, lead times, warranty and break-in, alongside engine repair decisions.

  • For readers who follow how vehicles are tuned in the Paris region, a French guide covers engine remapping by brand and model, dyno readings, and the legal questions around registration and insurance, at engine remapping in Paris.

The journal in pictures

Four scenes from the field

Four photographs from the pieces below, each with the page that tells the story behind the scene.