But beyond such prominent figures, is there anything resembling a network or movement of such people who, without agreeing on everything, know one another, share the same podiums, write for similar journals -- and can get a hearing in the heartlands of Islam?
She adds: "It didn't used to be about agreeing on everything – culture comes out of disagreement.
As Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign minister, said in that June meeting, "We agreed that there will be no agreement before agreeing on everything".
A better politics does not mean agreeing on everything, he continued, "but democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens.
"We've done 80percentt of the negotiation," he said, stressing that the remaining 20percentt would be problematic because it came down to all members agreeing on everything.
Arafat either would say he needed to think about it or, especially on Jerusalem, he would say he could not accept the idea, even when the idea was deferring Jerusalem and agreeing on everything else".
