THE SURFING FOR PEACE LAUNCH went off that night on the beach in downtown Tel Aviv at an open-air bar called the Clara. Two hours beforehand, as dusk fell, David, Arthur, and Kelly paddled out into the Mediterranean with more than a hundred Arab and Jewish fans for a surfer's circle, where everyone could offer up a prayer or a statement of camaraderie. Again pandemonium ruled. Everyone was yelling, trying to get the participants, who were bobbing on their boards, to calm down and hear what Kelly had to say—virtually impossible over the bad disco music blaring from the Clara's speakers.

"We're all coming together," Kelly shouted. "Obviously, we're not working well together at this moment, but the cool thing is that we're out here together for the same thing, because we love surfing. Hopefully, we're out here to try to love our neighbors and get along."

At the Clara, the crowd of 3,000, mostly Israeli Jews in their twenties and thirties, was buzzing. Arthur bounded onstage to start things off. "We're here because of him!" he said, pointing to Doc. "Give him respect!"

Energized, Doc mounted the steps of the stage. "First, so you can understand me, I want to wish you all Shalom Aloha!" he yelled into a microphone, fist punching the air. "That is love, from the people of Hawaii!"

Now the five members of Malca Baya hit the stage, crunching out serious guitar feedback. After the first song, in Hebrew, they were joined by Makua, who was carrying a ukulele; Kelly, with an acoustic guitar; and Joshua and David Paskowitz. David stood at the front of the stage, crooning "One Voice": "Hear me, brothers and sisters, there's no time for later!" Behind him, Joshua sang out with a ska/reggae effect. "Turn it to the heavens, and ask Him one big favor!"

The crowd went wild for Kelly, who strummed his guitar and sang along to the chorus before launching into an original ballad called "Trouble." He'd written it about a period in his own life, though the sentiment seemed to fit the occasion.

In a matter of hours, the previous five days of tension and boredom evaporated. If only for one night, Surfing for Peace was real.