Empathy

My Response to President Obama's Middle East Address

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We at Tikkun magazine commend President Obama for his call for the US to align with democratic forces in the Middle East, and for a resumption of negotiations between Israel and Palestine based on the 1967 borders, his recognition that the Palestinian people have the right to govern themselves and reach their potential in a sovereign and contiguous state, and his re-affirmation of Israel’s right to complete security. However, we share with many in the peace movement a deep disappointment that President Obama is not willing to present a detailed US plan for what a just and lasting agreement would look like, and then spend time selling that plan to the people of Israel and Palestine (even though that will require going over the heads of the leaders of both countries). Instead, by putting forward only a small fragment of what a genuine peace accord would include, President Obama set himself up for the response that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu gave: that giving up the West Bank settlements would endanger Israeli security. Only a full blown plan including the details of how to provide security and justice for both sides, will advance the peace process–and the absence of such a plan was precisely what made the Oslo Accord signed under President Clinton ultimately a failure. President Obama must not hide behind the empty slogan that no one but the Israelis and Palestinians can determine the contours of the peace they seek–this merely avoids what the peace movements have asked for, namely his strong intervention to win over the hearts of Israelis and Palestinians to a peace plan that he could propose (e.g. one based on the proposal of Tikkun magazine).

Healing Israel/Palestine

The Speech Netanyahu Should Deliver on Fatah and Hamas and Peace

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by Ervin Staub
The Israeli government reacted with hostility to the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. If Prime Minister Netanyahu were to give the right speech when he addresses the U.S. Congress later in May, the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could move onto a fast track. Here’s the speech I propose:

The beginning of reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah should inspire us, Israelis, and you Palestinians, to make peace. We have been harming each other, and we both have missed many opportunities to bring our hostility to an end. We wish you had been ready to come to an agreement when we made substantial offers to you in the past.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Israel/Palestine: A Battle Plan for Peace

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The 66th session of the UN General Assembly opens at 3 PM, September 13th, in New York City. According to my sources, the session will vote to recognize an independent Palestine based on 1967 borders on September 22, 2011, eleven days after the 10th anniversary of 9/11. What follows is a plausible battle plan for peace. The following day, 9/23/11, is Friday. After prayers, massive peaceful demonstrations will be held in all the major Islamic capitals in the world, calling on Israel and the US to recognize the new Palestinian state.

Healing Israel/Palestine

If the “Irvine 11” are to do time, what about Tea Party organizers?

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Criminal charges have been filed against the “Irvine 11” — the ring leaders of a large group of Muslim students at University of California, Irvine who repeatedly disrupted a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren last February, sparking outrage – which could result in 6 months of prison time. This draconian and unprecedented overreaction raises a host of issues and is being criticized by many in the UC Irvine community. Joseph Serna writes in the The Los Angeles Times (4/16/11):
Orange County prosecutors didn’t flinch Friday when a group of university student activists charged with disturbing an Israeli ambassador’s speech last year at UC Irvine brought more than 60 supporters with them to court. Instead, prosecutors filed a motion at the hearing to release grand jury transcripts from their investigation and handed out copies of court filings they said illustrated point by point how the students – “the Irvine 11” – conspired to disrupt Ambassador Michael Oren’s speech at UC Irvine on Feb. 8, 2010, then tried to cover it up.

art

The Art of Revolution: Spoken Word, Video, and Performance Art to Change the World

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Some of today’s most interesting, socially engaged, controversial, and occasionally even blasphemous artists are working in the mediums of spoken word, video and performance art. I’m excited to be joining Tikkun Daily as a blogger on the multi-media arts beat. All of the artists I plan to present here are working out of the belief that through their work they have the capacity — even the obligation — to ask the questions that light the spark of change. Whether they are examining issues of social justice, feminism/gender politics, the environment versus consumerism, Israel/Palestine or any other of today’s most complex problems, these artists are trailblazing their way to the cutting edge of both politics and artistic representation. The first artist featured here is Lisa Vinebaum of Montréal, Québec.

Empathy

Facts, Controversies, and Change of Mind – Part 2

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This is a continuation of yesterday’s post. Can Facts Settle a Controversy? When emotionally charged controversies are at play, even when agreement on the facts is possible, it’s unlikely to lead to any settling of the real issues, because beyond the facts comes the meaning we assign to them. For example, I have been in an ongoing conversation with a colleague about the healthcare situation in the US. We have absolutely no disagreement about the basic facts of there being dozens of millions of people who have no or limited access to adequate healthcare.

Culture

Facts, Controversies, and Change of Mind – Part 1

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In response to my blog piece In Appreciation of Complexity, I received 6 comments on my own blog and 5 on this blog. I read them all with great curiosity and interest. I am grateful to everyone who wrote back. I have no capacity to explain to myself, let alone others, why one comment caught my eye enough to want to respond. Here’s the original comment from Susan B. posted on March 6th:
Well, no, actually, those arguing against the Goldstone report are not asking for recognition of millennia of suffering.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Muslims Condemn Yesterday's Attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

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From the Jerusalem Post yesterday:
A woman was killed and 39 people were wounded on Wednesday afternoon when a bag exploded next to a bus stop across the street from the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha’uma), near the capital’s western entrance. It was the first serious terrorist bombing in the city since 2004, and for many residents it brought back terrible memories of the second intifada. We are grateful to have received this press release from our friends at the World Muslim Congress (and while we are about it, we include below their last week’s condemnation of the attack on Michael Lerner’s home):
Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem. PRESS RELEASE
March 23, 2011, Dallas, Texas
Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem. The world Muslim Congress strongly condemns the attack on the bus in Jerusalem as well as the resumption of the rocket attacks on the civilian population.

art

Can We Tell All Of Our Stories, One At A Time? Miral, The Movie

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[youtube: video=”b1yXZKkui8k”]
It will be most interesting to see how Americans respond to the new movie, Miral, by well-known painter and movie director Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). The movie opens tomorrow in New York and Los Angeles, and on April 1st in some other cities. Miral tells the story of several generations of Palestinian women from 1948. It is based on an autobiographical novel by the Palestinian-born, Italian TV journalist Rula Jebreal, who grew up in the Dar El-Tifl orphanage in East Jerusalem. The idea of a well-known Jewish artist telling a story from the Palestinian point of view has of course raised a ruckus.

art

The Right of Return for New Orleanians and Palestinians: An Interview with Jordan Flaherty

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When I first picked up Floodlines on assignment to write a review for Bitch magazine, I thought I knew something about what went down in New Orleans after Katrina, but after reading this firsthand account of surviving the storm, I realized I didn’t know much at all. It reminded me of the first time I read a leftist account of the history of Zionism. Only then did I realize how much the US mainstream media had framed my perception of Palestine by focusing on individual acts of violence by Palestinians taken out of context from the larger frame of Israeli state violence. Similarly, while reading Floodlines, I was forced to confront how my understanding of New Orleans has been shaped by mainstream media reports that focused obsessively on individual acts of violence while ignoring the large-scale state violence imposed on mostly poor communities of color. I was moved by how Flaherty, a white journalist and organizer based in New Orleans, manages to tell a story that encompasses both the staggering injustice of structural racism and the inspiring grassroots activism of New Orleanians.