For a long time, we have been watching and living the miserable situation between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs in the area. We asked ourselves, how can we contribute to a change of atmosphere? How can we break the distrust between the societies, and how can we--as simple citizens--create more opportunities for Jews and Arabs to meet and be involved with one another in our daily lives?

As Paul regularly performs to both Arab and Jewish kids, it gave him an idea: to combine his love for the ukulele (a small and easy to learn 4 string instrument) and his experience with children to create Ukuleles For Peace.

The goal of Ukuleles for Peace is to bring Jewish and Arab children together to play in an orchestra with ukuleles, kazoos and other fun instruments. Paul works with the students once a week in their own schools, and then brings them together for performances. The children sing in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The hope is that playing together will create further opportunities for communal activities, and that parents and members of the communities will get involved in the program.

Ukuleles for Peace has grown since it's inception to involve classes at the open/democratic elementary school in Hod Hasharon and El Najach elementary school in Tira.

Up until now, Paul's work has been completely voluntary. There is an urgent need to find sponsors and to attract funding and public donations to keep the program alive and growing.

Paul's dream is to create orchestras in several communities and towns, enlarging the circle of real co-existence; enabling kids and parents to befriend one another; and with our modest abilities, helping to create a happier, better, peaceful society. There is a lot to be done in this area between the Arab and Jewish population in Israel. If the situation with the Palestinian Authority is safer, Paul would like to form a group there too. That will depend on a relaxing of travel restrictions and on parents feeling that things are safe enough for their children.

Furthermore, we want to make sure that a child who wants to play the ukulele will not be prevented from doing so because he cannot afford one. It is a relatively cheap instrument ($25), but even that is a lot for some families. Besides instruments, there is an ongoing need for strings, instructional books and videos, pitch pipes, etc..

Paul would eventually like to take Ukuleles For Peace around the world playing at events to show that real co operation between war-torn communities is possible.