PeaceWorks Initiative Threatened By Recent Bloodshed In Israel
December 10, 2001

In the past eight years, Manhattan based attorney and entrepreneur Daniel Lubetzky has achieved something in the Middle East that others could only imagine…he has brought Arabs and Jews together in the workplace in a unique business venture named PeaceWorks™.

Now the current bloodshed in the Middle East is threatening this one of a kind business initiative that has brought war-ing parties together and has been praised by Presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of State throughout the world. The company recently appointed Dr. Ruth Westheimer as one of its PeaceWorks Goodwill Ambassadors and among its board of advisors is Ben and Jerry™ co-founder Ben Cohen.

Since 1994, PeaceWorks has successfully promoted its message of co-existence through commerce, while at the same time producing a wide range of products ranging from chocolate bars to paté and pesto. The underlying message in PeaceWorks’ business model comes from its commitment to act as a catalyst to ensure the birth and success of companies and products manufactured through joint ventures among neighbors striving to co-exist. Starting in Daniel Lubetzky’s Manhattan basement with $10,000 and marketing just three spreads by a handful of Israelis and Arabs, the company now has multi-national operations on several different continents selling into the millions of dollars and featuring over 100 different products in 5000 retail outlets across the globe.

In particular, the company has focused on the war torn Middle East where traditionally Israeli Jews and Arabs have found it impossible to work in harmony. PeaceWorks’ flagship project is Moshe & Ali’s Spraté™, an award winning line of gourmet Mediterranean spreads that features cartoon images of a Jew and an Arab and is manufactured in Israel by a company owned by a Jew, who buys his ingredients from Israeli Arabs, Egyptians, Turks and Palestinians.

Now, the current bloodshed in the Middle East is making PeaceWorks’ business increasingly difficult to continue.

“This really is a Greek tragedy. The Israeli Jews and Palestinians still desperately want to work together, but they cannot due to the actions of the extremists,” says Lubetzky – a Mexican born American citizen, who recently returned from Israel.

He explains that Palestinians cannot travel into Israeli controlled areas to work in the factories and Israelis are afraid for their lives to travel into Palestinian controlled towns and villages to buy the raw materials needed for manufacturing.

Lubetzky is now hoping that the peace-makers in the Middle East will take a leaf out of his book and look at the success of PeaceWorks in bringing the two sides together.

“There is no better way to create political stability than by having people work together and giving them economic incentives. It’s the only way to break the vicious cycle that leads to desperation and anger.”