Check out all the links to Israel on WordPress, bloggers paradise, and you will find tens of entries everyday.

Most of the authors impart bile. They hate Israel. You tell them that Israel is the one democratic country in the region, with a growing Christian population, and a medical system open to all, and and and …..you might as well be talking to a brick wall. For these people, Israelis are murderers.

It is easy to be cynical. If I was to count the number of times I am supposed to have carried out genocide, the Palestinians would be equivalent in numbers to those in India or even China.

So how can I prove my point that Israelis are really just like any other people, looking to live a life full of fun and in peace?

Enter Aussie rules football. Now for those of you not used to this sport, you may consider “peace” and Aussie rules (or Footy) a contradiction in terms. I was first introduced to the sport some years ago via a film called “The Game”, which made the battle of the Somme look like a Sunday afternoon picnic.

But no. The Shimon Peres Center for Peace brought the game to Israel. It recruited 20 Israelis and 20 Palestinians. They trained together near Jerusalem and sent a joint team to an international tournament in Melbourne.

What did this mean on the field? A great story is Nasser Gus, who had served a jail sentence for firing on Israeli soldiers. He partnered up with religious Jews living in the West Bank. The actual results seem less important than the political and social bonds formed.

This Sunday night, a documentary film will be screened in Jerusalem, showing how the idea moved from a wild though all the way to reality. As the director observed in a newspaper interview, this is a direct lesson in seizing an opportunity, despite considerable social obstacles constantly being shoved in your face.

As for the detractors on WordPress reading this, they should ask themselves why this film is not currently being shown on the West Bank or in Gaza. And they should consider why if Israelis keep coming up with programmes for coexistence, how come there are few equivalent Palestinian initiatives?