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Surfboards to Reduce Arab-Israeli Tensions?

by Daniel Pipes
August 21, 2007
updated Apr 3, 2009

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There's something about the Arab war on Israel that inspires cockamamie "peace" ideas. It seems like anyone with an expertise or avocation thinks that his special interest might help reduce Arab-Israeli tensions. Architects, physicians, musicians – they all imagine they can assuage hostilities. Still, nothing quite prepared me for Dorian Paskowitz, described by the Associated Press as "an 86-year-old Jewish surfing guru from Hawaii," arriving at the Erez crossing and donating a dozen surfboards to the Gazans.

Dorian Paskowitz, 86, a legendary surfer from Hawaii, personally handed over some of the surfboards he brought to Gaza for "peace" purposes.

Paskowitz, a former world champion, explained how he had been moved to read about two Gaza surfers who had only one board to share between them; and they were among the Gazans at Erez to receive the boards. That one of them, Muhammad Jayab, described himself in the article that inspired Paskowitz as sympathetic to Hamas did not bother Paskowitz who declared that "To be able to go to your enemies and give them something that makes them happy is a most fulfilling adventure." Paskowitz offered some philosophy: "God will surf with the devil if the waves are good. When a surfer sees another surfer with a board, he can't help but say something that brings them together." He also spoke poetically about the industrial revolution the boards would bring to Gaza. "From a board comes a group of guys who ride. From the group comes a business, then an industry, then a fantastic amount of money. I'm talking about billions, all from one board." (August 21, 2007)

Linda Sikorsky of "Ultimate Peace."

Mar. 20, 2009 update: It's one and a half years later – and Parkowitz's surfboards have apparently not yet ended the Arab-Israeli conflict. But, no fear, along come Linda and Robert Sidorsky of Massachusetts with their Frisbees. They call it the "Ultimate Peace" initiative, and it will take the couple (along with a documentary filmmaker and an "intercultural liaison") on April 1-5 to eight Israeli and Palestinian villages where 150 to 200 Palestinian and Israeli players ages 11 to 14 will play side by side in combined ethnic teams.

Says Linda: "It isn't about politics. This is about kids learning to get along, and have fun." They note that the game has no referee but instead a "spirit of the game," that calls for mutual respect of opponents. Says Robert (a veterinarian – so, like Paskowitz, in the medical business): "You can't purposely block a guy, or purposely interfere with someone else's movement." Adds Linda: "That's huge to teach kids. With Ultimate Peace, we're trying to give them tools they can learn and understand through a sport. The whole idea of bringing Israeli and Palestinian kids together is working around this whole concept of the 'spirit of the game'."

An "Ultimate Peace" Frisbee.

Interestingly, the Peres Peace Center in Tel Aviv is assisting in the effort with transportation, translation, visa and parental arrangements for the event and visits to the villages. The Sidorskys raised about $70,000 to cover expenses and are bringing about 450 Ultimate Peace discs, in addition to plastic cones and jerseys. Linda does add a note of sanity to the undertaking, however: "We're not going to solve the Middle East conflict." But she does see the Frisbee players becoming "the models for how people can be with each other."

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