Common Ground Awards

On November 6, 2007, 300 people came together for the tenth annual Common Ground Awards at Chelsea Piers in New York. It was a magical evening. Charlayne Hunter-Gault of PBS and NPR presided, and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary had the crowd singing and cheering. Awards were given, as follows:

• General (ret) Roméo Dallaire. His experience in trying to stop genocide in Rwanda has led him to become a worldwide advocate for human rights and ending the use of child soldiers.
• Charlie Rose. A veteran newsman and host of his own show on US public television, he interviews guests in ways that transcend politics and ideology.
• Ishmael Beah. Author of the best-selling book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, he provides witness to a personal story of redemption and healing.
• Combatants for Peace. This is an organization of former Israeli combat soldiers and Palestinian fighters who have joined forces to work for peace in the Middle East through non-violent action.
• Little Mosque on the Prairie. This popular Canadian TV sitcom defuses misunderstanding and hate through the use of drama and humor.
• Health Care Coverage for the Uninsured. A coalition of strange bedfellows from across the US political spectrum, this group grew out of a two-year-long, consensus process that we sponsored and that resulted in an historic agreement to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance.

Eliav-Sartawi Media Awards
At a separate ceremony at Columbia University, co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and the School of International and Public Affairs, presented this year’s Middle East Journalism Awards to Akiva Eldar of Ha'aretz, Jordanian journalist Salameh Nematt, Bassam Aramin for an op-ed in The Forward, and Gershon Baskin for a column in the Jerusalem Post. Zel Lurie, the 93 year-old visionary who conceived and endowed the awards, received a special Common Ground Award to honor a lifetime of achievement. [more]

SFCG Senior Vice President Susan Collin Marks (left) and President John Marks	Emcee Charlayne Hunter-Gault (left) presenting award to Charlie Rose
Left to right: awardee Ishmael Beah, SFCG Executive Director Sandra Melone, and awardee Lt. Gen. The Honorable Sen. Roméo Dallaire	Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary
Awardees Zohar Shapira (left) and Suleiman Khatib of Combatants for Peace	Awardees Zarqa Nawaz (left) and Mary Darling of Little Mosque on the Prarie
Actress Kathleen Turner, emcee of the 2006 Common Ground Awards	Eliav-Sartawi Media Award winners Akiva Eldar (left) and Salameh Nematt

• 2006 Common Ground Awards: Pres. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; Sesame Workshop; John Whitehead; Taylor Branch; David Broza, Wisam Murad and Said Murad
• 2005 Common Ground Awards: Muhammad Ali; Henry Johnson and Dominic Taylor; Sec. Jack Kemp and Sec. Henry Cisneros; Americans for Informed Democracy and Families of September 11; Adina Shapiro and Ghassan Abdullah; Amb. John McDonald
• 2004 Common Ground Awards: Harold Saunders; Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee and Gen. Pervez Musharraf; Community of Sant'Egidio; Pontanima Choir of Sarajevo; Breaking the Ice; The Rev. James Movel Wuye and Imam Muhammed Nurayn Ashafa; Carolina RAIN
• 2004 European Common Ground Awards: Pres. Boris Trajkovski; Werner Lottje; Moussia Haulot; Don Piero Gallo
• 2003 European Common Ground Awards Pres. Martti Ahtisaari; Sergio Vieira de Mello; Mousta Largo; Nikiforos Metaxas
• 2002 Common Ground Awards: Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Ted Koppel; The Daniel Pearl Foundation; John Wallach; Azim Khamisa; Ples Felix
• 2001 Common Ground Awards: Rep. Maxine Waters and Rep. Spencer Bachus; St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Trinity Lutheran Church and Dar Alarqam Mosque; Linda and Peter Biehl; Ljupco Markovski and Mexmedin Memeti; Joseph and Clementina Chéry
• 2000 Common Ground Awards: Pres. Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong Il; Daniel Barenboim; Rep. Doug Bereuter and Rep. Sander Levin; Edward Norton; Libby Rouse; William Ury; Loretta C. Biggs; Amb. Peter D. Constable
• 1999 Common Ground Awards Sec. James A. Baker; Daniel Yankelovich; Ten Point Coalition of Boston; Hendrik W. van der Merwe; Peter C. Angelos and the Government of Cuba
• 1998 Common Ground Awards: Pres. Jimmy Carter; Sen. George Mitchell; Maitre Alioune Blondin Beye; The Alliance of Concerned Men; William Raspberry; Melvin Douglas and Abbas Jadidi; Melvin Douglas and Abbas Jadidi; Deborah Tannen