Though he lives in Coronado now, Miko Peled was born in Jerusalem and has a grandfather who signed Israel's Declaration of Independence. His father served as an Israeli general who later became a peace activist, a critic of Israel's territorial expansion and a supporter of dialogue with the PLO and a two-state solution. Junior followed in his father's peacemaking footsteps, as you'll learn if you catch him speaking in Laguna Beach on Sunday.
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Say, has Peled written about his unusual story and refreshing views? You betcha.
“In my book The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” Peled says, “I show how it is that the son of an Israeli general and a staunch Zionist came to these realizations: Realizing that your side of the story is not the only side to the story, and then accepting rather than fighting this realization and in the end finding that the story upon which I was raised, was a lie–now that is an interesting journey.”
He's coming to Laguna fresh from Gaza–and eager to share “a perspective that goes against the usual mainstream media talking points and diaspora propaganda.”
His address “Beyond Zionism: Hope for Peace in Palestine-Israel” begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at Neighborhood Congregational Church, 340 St. Ann's Drive, Laguna Beach. Parking is free but a $10 donation will be requested at the door.
Learn more about the man and his book at mikopeled.com and thegeneralsson.com.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.