About Common Humanity

 

Common Humanity believes that the road to peace in the Middle East lies in building friendship, respect, and understanding with the Arab and Muslim World.

 

By appreciating the richness and beauty of Arab and Muslim culture, by respecting their point of view, and by listening and trying to understand to what they have to tell us, we will be able to better recognize the common humanity we both share.

 

Common Humanity is an independent, non-profit organization.  We are in the process of applying for tax exempt status but have not yet received it.

 

Mel Lehman is the director of Common Humanity.  He works to build understanding and peace between Americans and the Middle East.  He first traveled to Iraq in Christmas of 1996 as a communications executive of Church World Service of the National Council of Churches.  After a career of 20 years he left in 1998 to work to help end the U.N. economic sanctions on Iraq.  He has made a total of 7 trips to Iraq and altogether has spent some 4 months there.  He has also spent time in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon.  His work has included editing a newsletter, publishing articles, and speaking.  In December of 2002 he led a delegation of doctors to Iraq to teach medicine and was invited back again by the Iraqi Ministry of Health. 

 

Unfortunately the U. S. invasion several months later has prevented his work inside Iraq since then.  He has continued to work on building understanding between Americans and the Middle East.  He has organized four Concert for Peace Tours which have brought Syrian musicians to American audiences where they have been enthusiastically received.  He has taken Christmas cards from children in American churches to children in churches in the Middle East as part of a pen pal exchange.  He has published several articles and occasionally speaks about peace in the Middle East.  He is currently working on a book about peacemaking in the Middle East from a Christian perspective.

 

Mel Lehman grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  After attending Eastern Mennonite University he studied at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University in New York.   He currently lives and works in New York City.  His alma mater EMU recently published an article in its alumni magazine about his work:  http://www.emu.edu/crossroads/winter06-07/peace.html.  Articles about his work developing pen pal relationships:  http://www.corpus-christi-nyc.org/SchoolCNY.html and http://www.charlottediocese.org/customers/101092709242178/filemanager/CNH%20Docs/PenPals.pdf

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