Joan Lonstein (below, left), founder of the Association for Peace and Understanding in the Middle East, has teamed up with Zeinab Habash (right) of the Palestinian Ministry of Education and like-minded Israeli and Palestinian humanitarians to make The Way to Happiness available through newspapers and other media.

Another wrote, "It is important and possible to behave as human beings in every situation we find ourselves in, and this is what the booklet makes clear with every page. I always considered myself different from other people, as far as the principles I live by go, and suddenly I found good people nearby who think as I do."

A seventeen-year-old from Jerusalem said, "I simply loved and was amazed by the way of life presented in The Way to Happiness. I am very interested in volunteering and promoting the message in the booklet. Despite my young age, I am ready to meet any target set. I would like other people to practice The Way to Happiness way of life."

Dignitaries on both sides have taken note; witness the remarks of these influential supporters of The Way to Happiness, made at the opening of The Way to Happiness Foundation International headquarters in October 2003:

"As a newspaper publisher and a businessman, I know that our economic prosperity depends on peace, security and stability for all peoples, Arabs and Israelis. The Way to Happiness has shown me a way to achieve these goals.

"When I first read the book, I felt that I got something that was missing in my life. At that time I decided to give as a gift to my readers, the gift I got from Mr. Hubbard, and we put a copy of The Way to Happiness booklet in the newspaper to all of my readers.... We in the Middle East are sitting on the top of the biggest gunpowder barrel in the world and it threatens to explode any minute.

"It has been proven that no army can solve the problem. It does not matter how strong or what kind of weapons they have. Together, we can solve the problem."

"Your humanitarian efforts in improving life are well known to many all over the world. Now they have also become well known to many Palestinians. With the support of this Foundation, 1.8 million copies of The Way to Happiness were distributed in Palestine and Israel. While we still have so far yet to go, it is making a big difference. For the first time in my life, I saw many Israeli Jews, young and old, men and women, who risked their own lives to support, help and protect Palestinians.

How can this little book calm the raging sea? From the thousands of responses to The Way to Happiness in the Holy Land, it is clear that Palestinians and Israelis have found the answer.

"I am sure that The Way to Happiness can play the role of rehabilitating both peoples. That is why I am very proud that the Ministry's Committee on Improving Education has directed all school counsellors to teach the Palestinian children using The Way to Happiness. I promise my support in bringing this wonderful booklet to every man, woman and child in every land."

— Zeinab Habash, General Secretary, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Palestine

True to this promise and despite mounting tensions at the brink, volunteers have been resolute, continuing to place The Way to Happiness in schools throughout Israeli and Palestinian regions, bringing the book to both Jewish and Arab classrooms. And beyond that, posters featuring The Way to Happiness precepts have been posted in schools, lectures on how to use the code in one's daily life have been delivered to students in Rahat, and the Palestinian General Secretary for the Ministry of Education and Higher Education has distributed some 18,000 copies of the book.

Middle Eastern volunteers also conducted workshops for hundreds more in Kefar Kana, near Nazareth, El Najah and other Arab schools near Jerusalem, as well as delivering lectures in Golan Heights and Galilee. Fifteen Israeli schools have now adopted The Way to Happiness as their code of conduct, instilling values of peace for the new generation in the Middle East.