We have now reached our next milestone, 1,500 signatures, as circulation of this initiative increases. Although the open letter comes from members of Canada’s law community, I know that others who support the initiative from the United States and Canada have also signed the open letter and signalled their support in a variety of ways.
 
Several days ago, I was privileged to be invited to a small gathering that included Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish whose life story of tragedy and resilience will be well known to many of you, as is his commitment to peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The Daughters for Life Foundation he created (daughtersforlife.com) provides scholarships and awards for aspiring young women in the Middle East, regardless of their religious affiliation, ethnicity or background, chosen not only for their academic prowess, but for their character and commitment to the improvement of lives for girls and young women in the Middle East. I was gratified at his support for our respectful dialogue initiative. He felt it was important that it reach as many people in the law community as possible. Although there were divergent views at this small gathering respecting the conflict in the Middle East, everyone “actively listened” to each other – precisely the type of dialogue that promotes understanding. 
 
Currently, work is being done on how to draw upon this initiative, and its support in the law community, to make a tangible difference. I will have more to say about that work in future updates.  But I am pleased to advise you that even the modest publicity given to this national initiative to date and its Ottawa origins has already prompted discussion on some other campuses about creating similar dialogues. Special thanks to Ottawa law students Arjun Gupta, Hasan Ferdous and Shayna Horvath for their continuing efforts to network with other student associations to facilitate such dialogues. 

For those who have recently signed the open letter, please read the previous updates that are easily accessed on this site. They always include examples of signatories. Keeping with that approach, here are just a few of the many signatories not previously mentioned: Tom Cromwell, Frank Iacobucci, Michael Osborne, Adam Allouba, David Stolow, Brian Greenspan, LL.D., Mel Green, retired OCJ judge, Gabriella Maatouk, Tom Curry, Akter Javan, Rochelle Direnfeld, Sidney Troister, Linda Fuerst (one of our first signatories), Barbara Grossman, Christopher Bredt, LSM, Julian Porter, Susan Reid, Sara Blake, Bruce Elman, LL.D., Stan Fisher ……

Please continue to notify others about this initiative.