The People Who Should Be in the News

Ok, I'm getting some saddle sores from ranting on top of my high horse in the last few posts.

Moving on... At Tantur this weekend, my friend was exhibiting pictures from her Palestinian children's photo project. Check out the link below to see Palestine through the eyes of children. It really is such a great organization and I really admire her dedication to non-violent resistance. http://www.contrastproject.org/

One last thing, I just saw a documentary about the Parent's Circle. This is a group of Palestinians and Israelis who have lost their children or family to violence and have realized that the only way for the conflict to end is for them to reach out to others who have lost loved ones. http://www.theparentscircle.org/about.asp

The movie is titled Encounter Point. If you can find a screening of it, please watch it. At the very least, watch the trailer below. It will change the way you see the conflict--or at least you'll be able to see Palestinians and Israelis the way I see them. Turn off the news and meet the real people in this conflict:



http://www.encounterpoint.com/trailer/quicktime7.php

See No Evil, Hear No Evil...even when it hits you like a 30 foot wall.

This weekend I went to Tantur for part of the June 5th Initiative events. Above is a picture of the set-up. It seems pretty fitting that the Wall is snaking behind the stage. It kind of puts to bed the notion that this is just a "fence". It is so tragic that many Israelis aren't even aware of how the Wall is weaving through the West Bank--not along the Green Line. The intention is to encircle Jerusalem to create new boundaries. The consequence is that Palestinian families are finding themselves on the wrong side of the fence and being physically barricaded from their family and neighbors, their property on the other side, their jobs, their hospitals... Could you imagine if you woke up one morning and found that the end of your street, on which you've lived your entire life, was blocked off by soldiers and your new view was of a concrete slab. Holy crap, I've heard of bigger protests coming from neighborhood associations demanding the dismantlement of tacky lawn ornaments. This is a little more important than pink flamingos.

I think that the Israelis who came to the events at Tantur were very courageous and I admire their curiosity. One friend was asked quite a few questions. One asked if the Wall was really as big as the activists were saying it was. She just kind of blinked and pointed behind her. "It's right there." They were absolutely shocked that they hadn't seen it. I bet they were wondering "How did I miss that big, fucking Wall?

I'm always a little suspicious when an expat begins passionately talking about the Occupation and speaks critically of all Israeli citizens. As if the reaction to the occupation by the average Israeli on the street was so uncommon on the historical continuum of this violent, hateful world; people naturally avoid seeing things and addressing topics that make them uncomfortable. Wasn't the Holocaust indicative of that? How 'bout Rwanda? How 'bout Sudan RIGHT NOW? How many people regularly discuss the desperate poverty and crime within their own country? How many people really delve into the issues behind the endemic homelessness in cities around the world, especially the U.S.? How many people recognize that human trafficking and child pornography exists everywhere? How many people really take the time to get to know other people from different races, religions, and economic stratum? Let alone get involved to put an end to human suffering within their own borders? People don't ask the hard questions because usually they're not ready to hear the answers and make the tough choices necessary to act. Scratch that. Once you know the reality, acting is not a "choice", it is a moral obligation mandated by all religions. Don't like that reality? Become an atheist--I'm sorry if I offended any atheists.

Social ills exist everywhere in one form or another. I suppose this is part of the reason I can't be "pro" or "anti" anything. I think that we all need to address social justice issues in countries outside our own with a little more humility and a little less "us against them" arrogance. I don't mean that Palestinians and Israelis should do anything. I have no business telling people who have suffered from experiences that I hope to never know, what they "should" or "should not" do. When I say "we", I'm talking about the expat community that becomes voluntarily entrenched in the conflict. What this conflict needs is a group of people who can show their support while remaining vigilant watchdogs for opportunities that lead to peace. Sadly, I don't know too many expats courageous enough to build relationships in both East & West Jerusalem.

My Kind of War

I hope these guys make it huge--so unbelievably talented. Check out more of their videos at http://www.baratsandbereta.com/

I'm Studying Sign Language

I attended my first Women in Black demonstration this past Friday to stand in protest of 40 years of occupation. Many cars honked their horns and gave a thumbs up as they passed by, but I also learned quite a few new hand signs. The first few times that I saw one particular hand gesture, I interpreted it as being supportive and a sign of solidarity. I later found out it is far more offensive than the old school middle finger. This was probably one of the few times I was grateful that I didn't understand Hebrew. Oy! Do they kiss their mothers with those mouths?

When I was doing research on the Israeli Peace Camp, I was always fascinated by the group of women who have been standing in silent protest every week since the first Intifada. Out of all the peace groups, Women in Black is clearly the most moderate, yet they evoke the most contempt from the right-wing elements of society. Check out some very cool women's groups here: http://coalitionofwomen.org/home

What is it about a group of non-confrontational women--mostly mothers and grandmothers--that makes grown men scream obscenities and shake their fists in rage. Existing literature has led me to conclude that women’s groups that voice opposition to the Occupation are especially vulnerable to hostility--more so than all other groups in the Peace Camp. Women's activism is seen more as a betrayal because they deviate from expected gender roles. When people protest they are often labeled leftist or radicals. When a group of women stand in protest, especially middle aged women, their presence lends more credibility to the cause and their protest serves to shame a community. The reaction therefore is less political and more personal.

Ayala Emmett, one of the contributors to Our Sisters’ Promised Land: Women, Politics, and Israeli-Palestinian Coexistence, wrote that counter-demonstrators at the silent vigils in Israel used to hold signs that read: “The Women in Black are longing for Auschwitz”, “The Women in Black—A Knife in the Back of the Nation” and “We ‘recognize’ Black Widows. We recognize that they can kill, and we recognize that they are insects.” By evoking national symbols of vulnerability, the counter-protest signs implied that women in the Peace Camp are betraying the Jewish collective.

Last year, I did a news search for articles about the Peace Camp in Israeli media starting from 1988. I was horrified by the vilification of women's and bereavement groups that want dialogue. In 1990, the Jerusalem Post had an article about attacks on Women in Black. The Kach youth movement would distribute leaflets in Jerusalem listing the names, phone numbers and addresses of members of the Women in Black organization. As a result of this listing, the women had become targets of death threats and threats against the lives of their families. Other callers threatened to burn their houses down. All for standing in silence in a supposedly "free" society. (Margot Dudkevitch. “KACH NAMES WOMEN IN BLACK.” The Jerusalem Post. August 24, 1990, Friday. News. Accessed through Lexis Nexus Academic.) I've also read about cars that have tried to swipe at the women protesters and opposition groups who sprayed protesters with bug spray. Maybe there should be some community workshops on how to use constructive debate instead of vehicular manslaughter to prove our points.

In my research, I found that Israeli society is generally uncomfortable with being occupiers. The symbols of occupation are deliberately kept out of sight, so the average Israeli never actually crosses a checkpoint, sees the Wall or enters East Jerusalem, West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The "occupation" is more of an abstract concept. Yet, like the bogeyman in a child's closet, the specter of Palestinian injustice and its attendant rage is always lurking in their subconscious. When they see people who look just like their mothers standing in the light of day with signs that remind them that the Occupation is real and it is wrong, people don't know how to process their feelings constructively. Like a petulant child being punished for their bad behavior, they lash out at "mommy".

Man, this country could use some serious time on the psychiatrist's couch. Interestingly enough, the other day I was thinking "hmmm, so do I"...for moving to this cognitive rubik cube of a town in the first place.

"Those People"

I often hear people make comments about Palestinians in blanket terms. Lots of "they all" or "those people" believe this or that. Sometimes the comment isn't even about Palestinians--it's a blanket comment about all Arabs...or all Muslims but they invoke the word "Palestinian" to give some kind of legitimacy to their comment. Don't even get me started about how these folks are throwing the semantics right into the Cuisinart...As if a Palestinian was the same as a Kuwaiti, and a Kuwaiti was interchangeable with a Tunisian; which of course makes a Tunisian the same as an Indonesian.

The fact is one can be an Arab without being Muslim. One can be a Muslim without being an Arab. One can be a Palestinian without wanting to strap a bomb belt on and march into a Sbaro. But I don't think that one can be a Palestinian and not feel the pain of Occupation. I'm not even Palestinian and my heart breaks a little more each day with the things that I see.

Below is a poem that I really liked. It's a conversation between two types of people who share the same pain.

You & I
By Mahmood Jamal

You want to speak of War
I want to speak of Peace

You say Punish
I say Forgive

You speak of God’s Wrath
I speak of His Mercy

Your Qur’an is a Weapon
My Qur’an is a Gift

You speak of the Muslim Brotherhood
I speak of the Brotherhood of Man

You like to Warn others
I like to Welcome them

You like to speak of Hell
I like to speak of Heaven

You talk of Lamentation
I talk of Celebration

You worship the Law
I worship the Divine

You want Silence
I want Music

You want Death
I want Life

You speak of Power
I speak of Love

You search out Evil
I warm to the Good

You dream of the Sword
I sing of the rose Petal

You say the world is a Desert
I say the world is a Garden

You prefer the Plain
I prefer the Adorned

You want to Destroy
I want to Build

You want to go Back
I want to move Forward

You are busy Denying
I am busy Affirming

Yet there might be one thing
On which we see eye to eye

You want Justice
So do I

You can choose how to view the world: with optimism and faith or pessimism and doubt.

Should We Boycott Thinking? Seriously, I Don't Know...

This morning I received an email from an Israeli acquaintance asking me to sign a petition against the UCU's recent motion to boycott Israel. British University and College Union (UCU) had passed a motion on Wednesday to promote a boycott on Israel's academics. The boycott is in response to what members argued was "an apartheid state, engaging in crimes against humanity in the occupied territories. They said the situation in the territories did not allow spectators to stand idly by." The motion was approved by a 158 to 99 vote, and called for freezing European funding for Israeli academic institutions, while condemning "Israeli academia's cooperation with the occupation." According to Ha'aretz, The motion called for freezing all EU funding for Israeli academic institutions until Israel will "comply with the United Nation's resolutions."

I am absolutely stumped as to how I feel about the boycott. On the one hand, I applaud the courage of people who stand up for what they believe in spite of the consequences. And by "consequences" I mean the deluge of anti-Semitic labels that will be plastered on all 158 offending members. But UCU is not alone. According to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel, 130 British doctors called for the boycott of the Israeli Medical Association and its expulsion from the World Medical Association. The National Union of Journalists also declared a boycott of Israeli goods at their annual meeting in April in response to the Israeli "aggression" in the war with Lebanon in the summer of 2006. There is something so exciting about direct action campaigns that sometimes I'm not all that sure I care what the movement is actually about.

In this case, I DO care and so I am even more intrigued. Is this a tipping point? Is this the beginning of something? Is there an anti-Apartheid grassroots movement a-brewin' reminiscent of the 80's South African divestment campaigns? One that is of the "little less talk and a little more action" variety when it comes to solidarity with Palestinians? In the U.S., Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Tufts, University of California, and the University of Pennsylvania have announced their commitment to a divestment campaign and there are campaigns in 50 other U.S. universities trying to garner wide-spread support. This activism is clearly in spite of the big fat black mark those institutions are likely to get from pitbull, I mean, watchdog groups like Campus Watch.

This leads me to the inexplicable squicky feeling that came over me when I read the email and the subsequent news articles I found. One of the reasons the UCU boycott doesn't sit well is the fact that it specifically targets Israeli academics regardless of their affiliations or political positions. My blood boils every time I come across Campus Watch because they defame respected academics who have different ideological views and often write or teach in ways that are critical of Israel. Campus Watch's vitriolic attacks are intended to censor not only the offending scholar but any others who may share a similar perspective. So, when I read that a group of UK academics are rejecting Israeli scholarship based on their own ideological convictions, I have to wonder if priorities are well placed. The university setting is supposed to be a place of free thinking and a fertile ground for social change, so I wonder if avenues a dialogue are being road-blocked in an attempt to join a growing movement. I wonder if, instead of a boycott, a more affective tactic would have been a call for active debate between Israeli scholars and their UK counterparts.

On the other hand, if a boycott against an offending state is going to work, its gotta hurt all aspects of the state. Israeli universities are mostly state-funded and a large percentage of the Israeli population benefits from the higher education system. If students become directly affected by an institutional boycott then perhaps more grassroots Israeli dialogue and activism will develop. One would hope. Then again, critical introspection usually is the best answer for everything, yet rarely employed. I can't think of too many occasions when an offending collective spontaneously issued a mea culpa after a sharp international rebuke.

I am interested in hearing more about this debate. It will be exciting to learn about the strategies divestment organizers will use. From a U.S. perspective, it is really positive that there are some Ivy League heavy hitters on board to lend credibility to the campaign. My one hope is that it isn't all in vain. I hope there are experienced organizers at the helm of this movement because otherwise it will be yet another opportunity for the international community to let the Palestinian people down.

Get Your War On

There are a couple of things that, I don't experience very often, but consistently have brought me a lot of joy: winter trips to the beach, online chats with my niece & nephew, a really good diner breakfast, the accidental afternoon pitcher of margaritas, and of course the sarcastic biting humor of "Get Your War On".

One of my most prized possessions is an autographed poster by GYWO creator David Rees. Last year, The Rude Mechanicals were doing their stage performance of the GYWO comic strip in DC and I was unable to attend. David Rees was there for a post-performance discussion, and my friends didn't forget me. God bless 'em.

Above is probably the tamest dialogue in the entire series, but click the image if you want to get the full cussin' & swearin' effect. Rees really captured the post 9/11 sentiment shared by a lot of people I know. Beneath the sarcastic barbs is a whole lot of rage and frustration, but his brand of humor and sharp political analysis was a real comfort to a lot of us who felt that our country was being highjacked by special interests. If you enjoy Jon Stewart, then definitely check out GYWO.

..and My Feminist Facade Bakes Off at 350 degrees

I'm kind of thinking that maybe I shouldn't limit my career options to gender empowerment & Middle East pursuits. I think that maybe I should re-examine my Betty Crocker roots and embrace the inner Barbara Billingsley. Lately, I have been enjoying the escape that creative expression provides...and by "creative expression", I mean expressing myself with colored sugar and edible flowers. Of course, I realize that making a career out of cake decorating could very well lead to some thicker treads on my already over-inflated spare tire--still I have a lot of fun in the kitchen. Plus, I don't have to think about my day-to-day reality while I'm trying to figure out the best way to convey the map of Palestine on a 9 x 13 sheet cake with only a handful of Petit Buerre cookies, a jar of chocolate spread, colored sugar beads and a wooden camel.

Last night, we had a Pirate Party so I had an opportunity to resume my "art". I was a little crushed for time, so it wasn't my finest work, but it served its purpose.

An oft quoted theory is that no two democracies have ever gone to war with one another. After looking around the room at all the happy cake-eaters I would say, that when people are eating cake, they're not even thinking of war. They're thinking about more cake...and maybe icecream. What this world needs now--more than ever--is cake. I might just be the gal who will bake it for them.