Thursday, August 31, 2006
Life's adventure continues...
Today my friend MorganRose drove up from Toledo, Ohio and we spent a lovely day together. She brought a scumptious picnic lunch which we ate at the dining room table because we got hungry before we'd made it down to the park. Afterwards we walk/scooted to the park. There was a clarity to the air you never see in the summer. The colors were so vivid they made you squint. MorganRose and I sat at a table on the screened porch in the community center while I read over a good-sized packet of her poems.
MorganRose is an exceptional poet and I've been encouraging her to gather her poems so we could see about getting them published, either in poetry journals or in a book. Today I began categorizing them according to subject matter. There wasn't a loser in the bunch. As I told MorganRose later, I felt like I'd been served a 17-course meal; her work is that rich.
In the midst of our work, I took time for a much needed lap swim. It had been a full week since I'd been in the pool and I was sorely missing it. After a nice long swim I came back and we finished our project for the day. After we'd gotten back home Eddie brought us Chinese take-out for dinner. Eddie seems to enjoy MorganRose as much as I. It's always fun when that happens.
I also want to talk about yesterday.
The Windsor Women In Black invited me to join them for their weekly peace vigil in front of the Ambassador Bridge. Following that, they wanted me to come to their weekly meeting and discuss my 18-day Lebanon Peace Initiative in Washington, DC.
In preparation, I'd spent the last three days reading and editing my blog from that time. On Tuesday I took it to Kinko's to be printed as a spiral-bound notebook. On the cover I placed a picture of me holding up my sign in front of the White House, but that was the only photo I used. The 110 pages inside included my blog entries as well as a number of articles and/or interviews to which I'd posted links.
This was only the second time I've ever printed a portion of my blog in hard copy. I must admit it becomes more real when I hold it in my hands like this. And these particular entries--starting with my phone call to Sulaima two hours after Israel first bombed the Beirut International Airport on July 13, through my phone visit with the whole family in Kuwait on August 14, the day the ceasefire had finally gone into effect--were extremely powerful for me to relive.
Yesterday I started my presentation to the Windsor Women In Black by giving some background about how I'd become so close to Rabih, Sulaima and the kids, my visit with them in Lebanon last November, the reasons for my decision on July 19 to go to DC and mount a solitary vigil for the Lebanese people, and a brief synopsis of what had happened during those 18 days, especially the opportunities I'd had to engage in dialogues with people from around the world. I then asked if they had any questions or comments.
That began a lively discussion of the political and historical aspects of this current war between Israel and Hezbollah. It soon became obvious that one of the women held views that were not shared by the others. I found myself joining the others in trying to get her to change her mind. Suddenly I saw what was happening and said, "Wait! Are we trying to change one another's minds, or better understand what each person believes?"
That started a discussion about the use of dialogue and what purpose it can serve. Several of the women had to leave, so we only scratched the surface of this exploration into what I'm coming to see as the heart of my learnings during those 18 days: nonviolent dialogue. Fortunately, the woman whose views we'd tried to change was able to stay and she and I entered into a true dialogue. Just as I'd found in Washington, DC, if I asked the right questions and then listened closely to her answers, I came to a much better understanding not only of what she believed, but the life experiences that had given rise to her beliefs.
Before we left, the woman with whom I'd dialogued expressed interest in taking a workshop on nonviolent dialogue. The other two women who were still there said they'd be interested too. I offered to facilitate such a workshop whenever they wanted.
I now see how I can best bring my learnings from the most powerful 18 days of my life to the peace community at large. I'd like to facilitate workshops called "Nonviolent Dialogue for Activists." They would include a sharing of my experiences in Washington, the techniques for nonviolent dialogue that I'd used during that time, followed by experiential exercises to help the participants try it out for themselves.
If you recall, during those 18 days in front of the White House I heard too many well-intentioned peace activists get into arguments with people who responded negatively to their signs. Day by day my commitment to and use of nonviolent dialogue was tested, but I only grew stronger in my belief in its effectiveness. Even in the face of extreme hostility, my encounters never degenerated into arguments. Like persons I've known who have gone to Guatemala for three-week immersion courses in the Spanish language, this was my immersion course in the art of nonviolent dialogue.
Yes, I gave in yesterday to my old habit of trying to talk someone into seeing things like I see them, but at least I caught myself before it had gone too far. I'd really like to be part of showing others what I think is a most effective way to bring about change. And not just change in others, but change in myself.
Instead of adding to the cycle of violence, I want to add to the spiral of peace.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
She did it!!!
This afternoon I got a phone call that put a smile on my face that is going to stay there for a long, long time. It was my dear friend Nan calling from Hannibal, Missouri to tell me the results from the battery of tests that had been run on her last week. These were to see how the six chemotherapy treatments had affected the stage 4 uterine cancer she'd been diagnosed with last April.
drumroll, please...
NAN IS CANCER-FREE!!!
When her doctor added that she was in remission, Nan gently corrected him. "I am not in remission, I'm cured!" Knowing Nan, if that's what she says, that is the truth of it.
As she has been doing for all the years I've known her--21 and counting--Nan modeled how to stay positive even in the face of a pretty horrendous situation. From the beginning she refused to allow any negative or fear-producing words to be spoken in her presence. And that included the doctor's words. No cancer stories, no obsessing over all that might go wrong, no negativity at all. She stayed focused on seeing herself healed and getting on with her life. The chemo didn't even wear her down. If she'd get a twinge of nausea, Nan would simply take one of her holistic tablets and it would go away. Yes, she'd be exhausted for a week after each treatmment, but she'd simply gear down and allow her body to recover its strength.
I also think a very important element in her healing was the loving support of her friends and family, especially Anne, the woman with whom she has lived during the past seven months. Anne fed her, drove her to doctors' appointments, took over putting out Nan's monthly Friends of Silence newsletter, and graciously hosted a never-ending parade of houseguests. I was among them, so I know what I'm talking about. Talk about a faithful friend!
So now Nan can get on with her life. And that includes two books she's in the middle of writing. She already has four published books--just go to amazon.com and type in "Nan Merrill" as author--one of which she was in the process of self-publishing just as she received the diagnosis of cancer in April. Here's info I've posted before, but it bears repeating:
Nan Merrill's "Peace Planet: Light for Our World", with reflections written (prayed over) by Nan and photographs chosen by Barbara Taylor for each country in the world. If you'd be interested in ordering this jewel of a book, send a check made out to Friends of Silence (US currency only) to FOS Peace and Prayer Gift Shop, 200 Rock Street, Hannibal, MO 63401. Enclose $15 for orders to be mailed within the US (shipping/handling is included). Email them at FriendsofSilence@sbcglobal.net for info regarding orders to be mailed outside the country, or for large volume orders.
May dear Nan live many more years and continue to show us how to be fearless lovers of life.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
So now we know...
Once again investigative reporter Seymour Hersh has cast his line into the murky depths of Washington politics and caught the big fat scaly fish called Truth.
WATCHING LEBANON
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Washington's interests in Israel's war.
The New Yorker
Issue of 2006-08-21
Posted 2006-08-14
In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive. "It's a moment of clarification," President George W. Bush said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. "It's now become clear why we don't have peace in the Middle East." He described the relationship between Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran and Syria as one of the "root causes of instability," and subsequently said that it was up to those countries to end the crisis. Two days later, despite calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead in negotiations to end the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until "the conditions are conducive."
The Bush Administration, however, was closely involved in the planning of Israel's retaliatory attacks. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preemptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.
Israeli military and intelligence experts I spoke to emphasized that the country's immediate security issues were reason enough to confront Hezbollah, regardless of what the Bush Administration wanted. Shabtai Shavit, a national-security adviser to the Knesset who headed the Mossad, Israel's foreign-intelligence service, from 1989 to 1996, told me, "We do what we think is best for us, and if it happens to meet America's requirements, that's just part of a relationship between two friends. Hezbollah is armed to the teeth and trained in the most advanced technology of guerrilla warfare. It was just a matter of time. We had to address it."
Hezbollah is seen by Israelis as a profound threat--a terrorist organization, operating on their border, with a military arsenal that, with help from Iran and Syria, has grown stronger since the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon ended, in 2000. Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has said he does not believe that Israel is a "legal state." Israeli intelligence estimated at the outset of the air war that Hezbollah had roughly five hundred medium-range Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 rockets and a few dozen long-range Zelzal rockets; the Zelzals, with a range of about two hundred kilometres, could reach Tel Aviv. (One rocket hit Haifa the day after the kidnappings.) It also has more than twelve thousand shorter-range rockets. Since the conflict began, more than three thousand of these have been fired at Israel.
According to a Middle East expert with knowledge of the current thinking of both the Israeli and the U.S. governments, Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah--and shared it with Bush Administration officials--well before the July 12th kidnappings. "It's not that the Israelis had a trap that Hezbollah walked into," he said, "but there was a strong feeling in the White House that sooner or later the Israelis were going to do it."
The Middle East expert said that the Administration had several reasons for supporting the Israeli bombing campaign. Within the State Department, it was seen as a way to strengthen the Lebanese government so that it could assert its authority over the south of the country, much of which is controlled by Hezbollah. He went on, "The White House was more focussed on stripping Hezbollah of its missiles, because, if there was to be a military option against Iran's nuclear facilities, it had to get rid of the weapons that Hezbollah could use in a potential retaliation at Israel. Bush wanted both. Bush was going after Iran, as part of the Axis of Evil, and its nuclear sites, and he was interested in going after Hezbollah as part of his interest in democratization, with Lebanon as one of the crown jewels of Middle East democracy."
Administration officials denied that they knew of Israel's plan for the air war. The White House did not respond to a detailed list of questions. In response to a separate request, a National Security Council spokesman said, "Prior to Hezbollah's attack on Israel, the Israeli government gave no official in Washington any reason to believe that Israel was planning to attack. Even after the July 12th attack, we did not know what the Israeli plans were." A Pentagon spokesman said, "The United States government remains committed to a diplomatic solution to the problem of Iran's clandestine nuclear weapons program," and denied the story, as did a State Department spokesman.
The United States and Israel have shared intelligence and enjoyed close military cooperation for decades, but early this spring, according to a former senior intelligence official, high-level planners from the U.S. Air Force--under pressure from the White House to develop a war plan for a decisive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities--began consulting with their counterparts in the Israeli Air Force.
"The big question for our Air Force was how to hit a series of hard targets in Iran successfully," the former senior intelligence official said. "Who is the closest ally of the U.S. Air Force in its planning? It's not Congo--it's Israel. Everybody knows that Iranian engineers have been advising Hezbollah on tunnels and underground gun emplacements. And so the Air Force went to the Israelis with some new tactics and said to them, 'Let’s concentrate on the bombing and share what we have on Iran and what you have on Lebanon.' " The discussions reached the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he said.
"The Israelis told us it would be a cheap war with many benefits," a U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said. "Why oppose it? We'll be able to hunt down and bomb missiles, tunnels, and bunkers from the air. It would be a demo for Iran."
A Pentagon consultant said that the Bush White House "has been agitating for some time to find a reason for a preemptive blow against Hezbollah." He added, "It was our intent to have Hezbollah diminished, and now we have someone else doing it." (As this article went to press, the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution, although it was unclear if it would change the situation on the ground.)
According to Richard Armitage, who served as Deputy Secretary of State in Bush's first term--and who, in 2002, said that Hezbollah "may be the A team of terrorists"--Israel's campaign in Lebanon, which has faced unexpected difficulties and widespread criticism, may, in the end, serve as a warning to the White House about Iran. "If the most dominant military force in the region--the Israel Defense Forces--can't pacify a country like Lebanon, with a population of four million, you should think carefully about taking that template to Iran, with strategic depth and a population of seventy million," Armitage said. "The only thing that the bombing has achieved so far is to unite the population against the Israelis."
*****
Several current and former officials involved in the Middle East told me that Israel viewed the soldiers' kidnapping as the opportune moment to begin its planned military campaign against Hezbollah. "Hezbollah, like clockwork, was instigating something small every month or two," the U.S. government consultant with ties to Israel said. Two weeks earlier, in late June, members of Hamas, the Palestinian group, had tunnelled under the barrier separating southern Gaza from Israel and captured an Israeli soldier. Hamas also had lobbed a series of rockets at Israeli towns near the border with Gaza. In response, Israel had initiated an extensive bombing campaign and reoccupied parts of Gaza.
The Pentagon consultant noted that there had also been cross-border incidents involving Israel and Hezbollah, in both directions, for some time. "They've been sniping at each other," he said. "Either side could have pointed to some incident and said 'We have to go to war with these guys'--because they were already at war."
David Siegel, the spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said that the Israeli Air Force had not been seeking a reason to attack Hezbollah. "We did not plan the campaign. That decision was forced on us." There were ongoing alerts that Hezbollah "was pressing to go on the attack," Siegel said. "Hezbollah attacks every two or three months," but the kidnapping of the soldiers raised the stakes.
In interviews, several Israeli academics, journalists, and retired military and intelligence officers all made one point: they believed that the Israeli leadership, and not Washington, had decided that it would go to war with Hezbollah. Opinion polls showed that a broad spectrum of Israelis supported that choice. "The neocons in Washington may be happy, but Israel did not need to be pushed, because Israel has been wanting to get rid of Hezbollah," Yossi Melman, a journalist for the newspaper Ha'aretz, who has written several books about the Israeli intelligence community, said. "By provoking Israel, Hezbollah provided that opportunity."
"We were facing a dilemma," an Israeli official said. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "had to decide whether to go for a local response, which we always do, or for a comprehensive response--to really take on Hezbollah once and for all." Olmert made his decision, the official said, only after a series of Israeli rescue efforts failed.
The U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel told me, however, that, from Israel's perspective, the decision to take strong action had become inevitable weeks earlier, after the Israeli Army's signals intelligence group, known as Unit 8200, picked up bellicose intercepts in late spring and early summer, involving Hamas, Hezbollah, and Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader now living in Damascus.
One intercept was of a meeting in late May of the Hamas political and military leadership, with Meshal participating by telephone. "Hamas believed the call from Damascus was scrambled, but Israel had broken the code," the consultant said. For almost a year before its victory in the Palestinian elections in January, Hamas had curtailed its terrorist activities. In the late May intercepted conversation, the consultant told me, the Hamas leadership said that "they got no benefit from it, and were losing standing among the Palestinian population." The conclusion, he said, was " 'Let's go back into the terror business and then try and wrestle concessions from the Israeli government.' " The consultant told me that the U.S. and Israel agreed that if the Hamas leadership did so, and if Nasrallah backed them up, there should be "a full-scale response." In the next several weeks, when Hamas began digging the tunnel into Israel, the consultant said, Unit 8200 "picked up signals intelligence involving Hamas, Syria, and Hezbollah, saying, in essence, that they wanted Hezbollah to 'warm up' the north.” In one intercept, the consultant said, Nasrallah referred to Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz "as seeming to be weak," in comparison with the former Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak, who had extensive military experience, and said "he thought Israel would respond in a small-scale, local way, as they had in the past."
*****
Earlier this summer, before the Hezbollah kidnappings, the U.S. government consultant said, several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, "to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear." The consultant added, "Israel began with Cheney. It wanted to be sure that it had his support and the support of his office and the Middle East desk of the National Security Council." After that, "persuading Bush was never a problem, and Condi Rice was on board," the consultant said.
The initial plan, as outlined by the Israelis, called for a major bombing campaign in response to the next Hezbollah provocation, according to the Middle East expert with knowledge of U.S. and Israeli thinking. Israel believed that, by targeting Lebanon's infrastructure, including highways, fuel depots, and even the civilian runways at the main Beirut airport, it could persuade Lebanon's large Christian and Sunni populations to turn against Hezbollah, according to the former senior intelligence official. The airport, highways, and bridges, among other things, have been hit in the bombing campaign. The Israeli Air Force had flown almost nine thousand missions as of last week. (David Siegel, the Israeli spokesman, said that Israel had targeted only sites connected to Hezbollah; the bombing of bridges and roads was meant to prevent the transport of weapons.)
The Israeli plan, according to the former senior intelligence official, was "the mirror image of what the United States has been planning for Iran." (The initial U.S. Air Force proposals for an air attack to destroy Iran's nuclear capacity, which included the option of intense bombing of civilian infrastructure targets inside Iran, have been resisted by the top leadership of the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, according to current and former officials. They argue that the Air Force plan will not work and will inevitably lead, as in the Israeli war with Hezbollah, to the insertion of troops on the ground.)
Uzi Arad, who served for more than two decades in the Mossad, told me that to the best of his knowledge the contacts between the Israeli and U.S. governments were routine, and that, "in all my meetings and conversations with government officials, never once did I hear anyone refer to prior coordination with the United States." He was troubled by one issue--the speed with which the Olmert government went to war. "For the life of me, I've never seen a decision to go to war taken so speedily," he said. "We usually go through long analyses."
The key military planner was Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, the I.D.F. chief of staff, who, during a career in the Israeli Air Force, worked on contingency planning for an air war with Iran. Olmert, a former mayor of Jerusalem, and Peretz, a former labor leader, could not match his experience and expertise.
In the early discussions with American officials, I was told by the Middle East expert and the government consultant, the Israelis repeatedly pointed to the war in Kosovo as an example of what Israel would try to achieve. The NATO forces commanded by U.S. Army General Wesley Clark methodically bombed and strafed not only military targets but tunnels, bridges, and roads, in Kosovo and elsewhere in Serbia, for seventy-eight days before forcing Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo. "Israel studied the Kosovo war as its role model," the government consultant said. "The Israelis told Condi Rice, 'You did it in about seventy days, but we need half of that--thirty-five days.' "
There are, of course, vast differences between Lebanon and Kosovo. Clark, who retired from the military in 2000 and unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for the Presidency in 2004, took issue with the analogy: "If it's true that the Israeli campaign is based on the American approach in Kosovo, then it missed the point. Ours was to use force to obtain a diplomatic objective--it was not about killing people." Clark noted in a 2001 book, "Waging Modern War," that it was the threat of a possible ground invasion as well as the bombing that forced the Serbs to end the war. He told me, "In my experience, air campaigns have to be backed, ultimately, by the will and capability to finish the job on the ground."
Kosovo has been cited publicly by Israeli officials and journalists since the war began. On August 6th, Prime Minister Olmert, responding to European condemnation of the deaths of Lebanese civilians, said, "Where do they get the right to preach to Israel? European countries attacked Kosovo and killed ten thousand civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket. I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians." (Human Rights Watch estimated the number of civilians killed in the NATO bombing to be five hundred; the Yugoslav government put the number between twelve hundred and five thousand.)
Cheney's office supported the Israeli plan, as did Elliott Abrams, a deputy national-security adviser, according to several former and current officials. (A spokesman for the N.S.C. denied that Abrams had done so.) They believed that Israel should move quickly in its air war against Hezbollah. A former intelligence officer said, "We told Israel, 'Look, if you guys have to go, we're behind you all the way. But we think it should be sooner rather than later--the longer you wait, the less time we have to evaluate and plan for Iran before Bush gets out of office.' "
Cheney's point, the former senior intelligence official said, was "What if the Israelis execute their part of this first, and it's really successful? It'd be great. We can learn what to do in Iran by watching what the Israelis do in Lebanon."
The Pentagon consultant told me that intelligence about Hezbollah and Iran is being mishandled by the White House the same way intelligence had been when, in 2002 and early 2003, the Administration was making the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. "The big complaint now in the intelligence community is that all of the important stuff is being sent directly to the top--at the insistence of the White House--and not being analyzed at all, or scarcely," he said. "It's an awful policy and violates all of the N.S.A.'s strictures, and if you complain about it you're out," he said. "Cheney had a strong hand in this."
The long-term Administration goal was to help set up a Sunni Arab coalition--including countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt--that would join the United States and Europe to pressure the ruling Shiite mullahs in Iran. "But the thought behind that plan was that Israel would defeat Hezbollah, not lose to it," the consultant with close ties to Israel said. Some officials in Cheney's office and at the N.S.C. had become convinced, on the basis of private talks, that those nations would moderate their public criticism of Israel and blame Hezbollah for creating the crisis that led to war. Although they did so at first, they shifted their position in the wake of public protests in their countries about the Israeli bombing. The White House was clearly disappointed when, late last month, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, came to Washington and, at a meeting with Bush, called for the President to intervene immediately to end the war. The Washington Post reported that Washington had hoped to enlist moderate Arab states "in an effort to pressure Syria and Iran to rein in Hezbollah, but the Saudi move... seemed to cloud that initiative."
*****
The surprising strength of Hezbollah's resistance, and its continuing ability to fire rockets into northern Israel in the face of the constant Israeli bombing, the Middle East expert told me, "is a massive setback for those in the White House who want to use force in Iran. And those who argue that the bombing will create internal dissent and revolt in Iran are also set back."
Nonetheless, some officers serving with the Joint Chiefs of Staff remain deeply concerned that the Administration will have a far more positive assessment of the air campaign than they should, the former senior intelligence official said. "There is no way that Rumsfeld and Cheney will draw the right conclusion about this," he said. "When the smoke clears, they'll say it was a success, and they'll draw reinforcement for their plan to attack Iran."
In the White House, especially in the Vice-President's office, many officials believe that the military campaign against Hezbollah is working and should be carried forward. At the same time, the government consultant said, some policymakers in the Administration have concluded that the cost of the bombing to Lebanese society is too high. "They are telling Israel that it's time to wind down the attacks on infrastructure."
Similar divisions are emerging in Israel. David Siegel, the Israeli spokesman, said that his country's leadership believed, as of early August, that the air war had been successful, and had destroyed more than seventy per cent of Hezbollah's medium- and long-range-missile launching capacity. "The problem is short-range missiles, without launchers, that can be shot from civilian areas and homes," Siegel told me. "The only way to resolve this is ground operations--which is why Israel would be forced to expand ground operations if the latest round of diplomacy doesn't work." Last week, however, there was evidence that the Israeli government was troubled by the progress of the war. In an unusual move, Major General Moshe Kaplinsky, Halutz's deputy, was put in charge of the operation, supplanting Major General Udi Adam. The worry in Israel is that Nasrallah might escalate the crisis by firing missiles at Tel Aviv. "There is a big debate over how much damage Israel should inflict to prevent it," the consultant said. "If Nasrallah hits Tel Aviv, what should Israel do? Its goal is to deter more attacks by telling Nasrallah that it will destroy his country if he doesn't stop, and to remind the Arab world that Israel can set it back twenty years. We're no longer playing by the same rules."
A European intelligence officer told me, "The Israelis have been caught in a psychological trap. In earlier years, they had the belief that they could solve their problems with toughness. But now, with Islamic martyrdom, things have changed, and they need different answers. How do you scare people who love martyrdom?" The problem with trying to eliminate Hezbollah, the intelligence officer said, is the group's ties to the Shiite population in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut's southern suburbs, where it operates schools, hospitals, a radio station, and various charities.
A high-level American military planner told me, "We have a lot of vulnerability in the region, and we've talked about some of the effects of an Iranian or Hezbollah attack on the Saudi regime and on the oil infrastructure." There is special concern inside the Pentagon, he added, about the oil-producing nations north of the Strait of Hormuz. "We have to anticipate the unintended consequences," he told me. "Will we be able to absorb a barrel of oil at one hundred dollars? There is this almost comical thinking that you can do it all from the air, even when you're up against an irregular enemy with a dug-in capability. You're not going to be successful unless you have a ground presence, but the political leadership never considers the worst case. These guys only want to hear the best case."
There is evidence that the Iranians were expecting the war against Hezbollah. Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite Muslims and Iran, who is a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and also teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, California, said, "Every negative American move against Hezbollah was seen by Iran as part of a larger campaign against it. And Iran began to prepare for the showdown by supplying more sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah--anti-ship and anti-tank missiles--and training its fighters in their use. And now Hezbollah is testing Iran's new weapons. Iran sees the Bush Administration as trying to marginalize its regional role, so it fomented trouble."
Nasr, an Iranian-American who recently published a study of the Sunni-Shiite divide, entitled "The Shia Revival," also said that the Iranian leadership believes that Washington's ultimate political goal is to get some international force to act as a buffer--to physically separate Syria and Lebanon in an effort to isolate and disarm Hezbollah, whose main supply route is through Syria. "Military action cannot bring about the desired political result," Nasr said. The popularity of Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a virulent critic of Israel, is greatest in his own country. If the U.S. were to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, Nasr said, "you may end up turning Ahmadinejad into another Nasrallah--the rock star of the Arab street."
*****
Donald Rumsfeld, who is one of the Bush Administration's most outspoken, and powerful, officials, has said very little publicly about the crisis in Lebanon. His relative quiet, compared to his aggressive visibility in the run-up to the Iraq war, has prompted a debate in Washington about where he stands on the issue.
Some current and former intelligence officials who were interviewed for this article believe that Rumsfeld disagrees with Bush and Cheney about the American role in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said that "there was a feeling that Rumsfeld was jaded in his approach to the Israeli war." He added, "Air power and the use of a few Special Forces had worked in Afghanistan, and he tried to do it again in Iraq. It was the same idea, but it didn't work. He thought that Hezbollah was too dug in and the Israeli attack plan would not work, and the last thing he wanted was another war on his shift that would put the American forces in Iraq in greater jeopardy."
A Western diplomat said that he understood that Rumsfeld did not know all the intricacies of the war plan. "He is angry and worried about his troops" in Iraq, the diplomat said. Rumsfeld served in the White House during the last year of the war in Vietnam, from which American troops withdrew in 1975, "and he did not want to see something like this having an impact in Iraq." Rumsfeld's concern, the diplomat added, was that an expansion of the war into Iran could put the American troops in Iraq at greater risk of attacks by pro-Iranian Shiite militias.
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on August 3rd, Rumsfeld was less than enthusiastic about the war's implications for the American troops in Iraq. Asked whether the Administration was mindful of the war's impact on Iraq, he testified that, in his meetings with Bush and Condoleezza Rice, "there is a sensitivity to the desire to not have our country or our interests or our forces put at greater risk as a result of what's taking place between Israel and Hezbollah.... There are a variety of risks that we face in that region, and it's a difficult and delicate situation."
The Pentagon consultant dismissed talk of a split at the top of the Administration, however, and said simply, "Rummy is on the team. He'd love to see Hezbollah degraded, but he also is a voice for less bombing and more innovative Israeli ground operations." The former senior intelligence official similarly depicted Rumsfeld as being "delighted that Israel is our stalking horse."
There are also questions about the status of Condoleezza Rice. Her initial support for the Israeli air war against Hezbollah has reportedly been tempered by dismay at the effects of the attacks on Lebanon. The Pentagon consultant said that in early August she began privately "agitating" inside the Administration for permission to begin direct diplomatic talks with Syria--so far, without much success. Last week, the Times reported that Rice had directed an Embassy official in Damascus to meet with the Syrian foreign minister, though the meeting apparently yielded no results. The Times also reported that Rice viewed herself as "trying to be not only a peacemaker abroad but also a mediator among contending parties" within the Administration. The article pointed to a divide between career diplomats in the State Department and "conservatives in the government," including Cheney and Abrams, "who were pushing for strong American support for Israel."
The Western diplomat told me his embassy believes that Abrams has emerged as a key policymaker on Iran, and on the current Hezbollah-Israeli crisis, and that Rice's role has been relatively diminished. Rice did not want to make her most recent diplomatic trip to the Middle East, the diplomat said. "She only wanted to go if she thought there was a real chance to get a ceasefire."
Bush's strongest supporter in Europe continues to be British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but many in Blair's own Foreign Office, as a former diplomat said, believe that he has "gone out on a particular limb on this"--especially by accepting Bush's refusal to seek an immediate and total ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. "Blair stands alone on this," the former diplomat said. "He knows he's a lame duck who's on the way out, but he buys it"--the Bush policy. "He drinks the White House Kool-Aid as much as anybody in Washington." The crisis will really start at the end of August, the diplomat added, "when the Iranians"--under a United Nations deadline to stop uranium enrichment--"will say no."
Even those who continue to support Israel's war against Hezbollah agree that it is failing to achieve one of its main goals--to rally the Lebanese against Hezbollah. "Strategic bombing has been a failed military concept for ninety years, and yet air forces all over the world keep on doing it," John Arquilla, a defense analyst at the Naval Postgraduate School, told me. Arquilla has been campaigning for more than a decade, with growing success, to change the way America fights terrorism. "The warfare of today is not mass on mass," he said. "You have to hunt like a network to defeat a network. Israel focussed on bombing against Hezbollah, and, when that did not work, it became more aggressive on the ground. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result."
WATCHING LEBANON
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Washington's interests in Israel's war.
The New Yorker
Issue of 2006-08-21
Posted 2006-08-14
In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive. "It's a moment of clarification," President George W. Bush said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. "It's now become clear why we don't have peace in the Middle East." He described the relationship between Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran and Syria as one of the "root causes of instability," and subsequently said that it was up to those countries to end the crisis. Two days later, despite calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead in negotiations to end the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until "the conditions are conducive."
The Bush Administration, however, was closely involved in the planning of Israel's retaliatory attacks. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preemptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.
Israeli military and intelligence experts I spoke to emphasized that the country's immediate security issues were reason enough to confront Hezbollah, regardless of what the Bush Administration wanted. Shabtai Shavit, a national-security adviser to the Knesset who headed the Mossad, Israel's foreign-intelligence service, from 1989 to 1996, told me, "We do what we think is best for us, and if it happens to meet America's requirements, that's just part of a relationship between two friends. Hezbollah is armed to the teeth and trained in the most advanced technology of guerrilla warfare. It was just a matter of time. We had to address it."
Hezbollah is seen by Israelis as a profound threat--a terrorist organization, operating on their border, with a military arsenal that, with help from Iran and Syria, has grown stronger since the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon ended, in 2000. Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has said he does not believe that Israel is a "legal state." Israeli intelligence estimated at the outset of the air war that Hezbollah had roughly five hundred medium-range Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 rockets and a few dozen long-range Zelzal rockets; the Zelzals, with a range of about two hundred kilometres, could reach Tel Aviv. (One rocket hit Haifa the day after the kidnappings.) It also has more than twelve thousand shorter-range rockets. Since the conflict began, more than three thousand of these have been fired at Israel.
According to a Middle East expert with knowledge of the current thinking of both the Israeli and the U.S. governments, Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah--and shared it with Bush Administration officials--well before the July 12th kidnappings. "It's not that the Israelis had a trap that Hezbollah walked into," he said, "but there was a strong feeling in the White House that sooner or later the Israelis were going to do it."
The Middle East expert said that the Administration had several reasons for supporting the Israeli bombing campaign. Within the State Department, it was seen as a way to strengthen the Lebanese government so that it could assert its authority over the south of the country, much of which is controlled by Hezbollah. He went on, "The White House was more focussed on stripping Hezbollah of its missiles, because, if there was to be a military option against Iran's nuclear facilities, it had to get rid of the weapons that Hezbollah could use in a potential retaliation at Israel. Bush wanted both. Bush was going after Iran, as part of the Axis of Evil, and its nuclear sites, and he was interested in going after Hezbollah as part of his interest in democratization, with Lebanon as one of the crown jewels of Middle East democracy."
Administration officials denied that they knew of Israel's plan for the air war. The White House did not respond to a detailed list of questions. In response to a separate request, a National Security Council spokesman said, "Prior to Hezbollah's attack on Israel, the Israeli government gave no official in Washington any reason to believe that Israel was planning to attack. Even after the July 12th attack, we did not know what the Israeli plans were." A Pentagon spokesman said, "The United States government remains committed to a diplomatic solution to the problem of Iran's clandestine nuclear weapons program," and denied the story, as did a State Department spokesman.
The United States and Israel have shared intelligence and enjoyed close military cooperation for decades, but early this spring, according to a former senior intelligence official, high-level planners from the U.S. Air Force--under pressure from the White House to develop a war plan for a decisive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities--began consulting with their counterparts in the Israeli Air Force.
"The big question for our Air Force was how to hit a series of hard targets in Iran successfully," the former senior intelligence official said. "Who is the closest ally of the U.S. Air Force in its planning? It's not Congo--it's Israel. Everybody knows that Iranian engineers have been advising Hezbollah on tunnels and underground gun emplacements. And so the Air Force went to the Israelis with some new tactics and said to them, 'Let’s concentrate on the bombing and share what we have on Iran and what you have on Lebanon.' " The discussions reached the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he said.
"The Israelis told us it would be a cheap war with many benefits," a U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said. "Why oppose it? We'll be able to hunt down and bomb missiles, tunnels, and bunkers from the air. It would be a demo for Iran."
A Pentagon consultant said that the Bush White House "has been agitating for some time to find a reason for a preemptive blow against Hezbollah." He added, "It was our intent to have Hezbollah diminished, and now we have someone else doing it." (As this article went to press, the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution, although it was unclear if it would change the situation on the ground.)
According to Richard Armitage, who served as Deputy Secretary of State in Bush's first term--and who, in 2002, said that Hezbollah "may be the A team of terrorists"--Israel's campaign in Lebanon, which has faced unexpected difficulties and widespread criticism, may, in the end, serve as a warning to the White House about Iran. "If the most dominant military force in the region--the Israel Defense Forces--can't pacify a country like Lebanon, with a population of four million, you should think carefully about taking that template to Iran, with strategic depth and a population of seventy million," Armitage said. "The only thing that the bombing has achieved so far is to unite the population against the Israelis."
*****
Several current and former officials involved in the Middle East told me that Israel viewed the soldiers' kidnapping as the opportune moment to begin its planned military campaign against Hezbollah. "Hezbollah, like clockwork, was instigating something small every month or two," the U.S. government consultant with ties to Israel said. Two weeks earlier, in late June, members of Hamas, the Palestinian group, had tunnelled under the barrier separating southern Gaza from Israel and captured an Israeli soldier. Hamas also had lobbed a series of rockets at Israeli towns near the border with Gaza. In response, Israel had initiated an extensive bombing campaign and reoccupied parts of Gaza.
The Pentagon consultant noted that there had also been cross-border incidents involving Israel and Hezbollah, in both directions, for some time. "They've been sniping at each other," he said. "Either side could have pointed to some incident and said 'We have to go to war with these guys'--because they were already at war."
David Siegel, the spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said that the Israeli Air Force had not been seeking a reason to attack Hezbollah. "We did not plan the campaign. That decision was forced on us." There were ongoing alerts that Hezbollah "was pressing to go on the attack," Siegel said. "Hezbollah attacks every two or three months," but the kidnapping of the soldiers raised the stakes.
In interviews, several Israeli academics, journalists, and retired military and intelligence officers all made one point: they believed that the Israeli leadership, and not Washington, had decided that it would go to war with Hezbollah. Opinion polls showed that a broad spectrum of Israelis supported that choice. "The neocons in Washington may be happy, but Israel did not need to be pushed, because Israel has been wanting to get rid of Hezbollah," Yossi Melman, a journalist for the newspaper Ha'aretz, who has written several books about the Israeli intelligence community, said. "By provoking Israel, Hezbollah provided that opportunity."
"We were facing a dilemma," an Israeli official said. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "had to decide whether to go for a local response, which we always do, or for a comprehensive response--to really take on Hezbollah once and for all." Olmert made his decision, the official said, only after a series of Israeli rescue efforts failed.
The U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel told me, however, that, from Israel's perspective, the decision to take strong action had become inevitable weeks earlier, after the Israeli Army's signals intelligence group, known as Unit 8200, picked up bellicose intercepts in late spring and early summer, involving Hamas, Hezbollah, and Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader now living in Damascus.
One intercept was of a meeting in late May of the Hamas political and military leadership, with Meshal participating by telephone. "Hamas believed the call from Damascus was scrambled, but Israel had broken the code," the consultant said. For almost a year before its victory in the Palestinian elections in January, Hamas had curtailed its terrorist activities. In the late May intercepted conversation, the consultant told me, the Hamas leadership said that "they got no benefit from it, and were losing standing among the Palestinian population." The conclusion, he said, was " 'Let's go back into the terror business and then try and wrestle concessions from the Israeli government.' " The consultant told me that the U.S. and Israel agreed that if the Hamas leadership did so, and if Nasrallah backed them up, there should be "a full-scale response." In the next several weeks, when Hamas began digging the tunnel into Israel, the consultant said, Unit 8200 "picked up signals intelligence involving Hamas, Syria, and Hezbollah, saying, in essence, that they wanted Hezbollah to 'warm up' the north.” In one intercept, the consultant said, Nasrallah referred to Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz "as seeming to be weak," in comparison with the former Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak, who had extensive military experience, and said "he thought Israel would respond in a small-scale, local way, as they had in the past."
*****
Earlier this summer, before the Hezbollah kidnappings, the U.S. government consultant said, several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, "to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear." The consultant added, "Israel began with Cheney. It wanted to be sure that it had his support and the support of his office and the Middle East desk of the National Security Council." After that, "persuading Bush was never a problem, and Condi Rice was on board," the consultant said.
The initial plan, as outlined by the Israelis, called for a major bombing campaign in response to the next Hezbollah provocation, according to the Middle East expert with knowledge of U.S. and Israeli thinking. Israel believed that, by targeting Lebanon's infrastructure, including highways, fuel depots, and even the civilian runways at the main Beirut airport, it could persuade Lebanon's large Christian and Sunni populations to turn against Hezbollah, according to the former senior intelligence official. The airport, highways, and bridges, among other things, have been hit in the bombing campaign. The Israeli Air Force had flown almost nine thousand missions as of last week. (David Siegel, the Israeli spokesman, said that Israel had targeted only sites connected to Hezbollah; the bombing of bridges and roads was meant to prevent the transport of weapons.)
The Israeli plan, according to the former senior intelligence official, was "the mirror image of what the United States has been planning for Iran." (The initial U.S. Air Force proposals for an air attack to destroy Iran's nuclear capacity, which included the option of intense bombing of civilian infrastructure targets inside Iran, have been resisted by the top leadership of the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, according to current and former officials. They argue that the Air Force plan will not work and will inevitably lead, as in the Israeli war with Hezbollah, to the insertion of troops on the ground.)
Uzi Arad, who served for more than two decades in the Mossad, told me that to the best of his knowledge the contacts between the Israeli and U.S. governments were routine, and that, "in all my meetings and conversations with government officials, never once did I hear anyone refer to prior coordination with the United States." He was troubled by one issue--the speed with which the Olmert government went to war. "For the life of me, I've never seen a decision to go to war taken so speedily," he said. "We usually go through long analyses."
The key military planner was Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, the I.D.F. chief of staff, who, during a career in the Israeli Air Force, worked on contingency planning for an air war with Iran. Olmert, a former mayor of Jerusalem, and Peretz, a former labor leader, could not match his experience and expertise.
In the early discussions with American officials, I was told by the Middle East expert and the government consultant, the Israelis repeatedly pointed to the war in Kosovo as an example of what Israel would try to achieve. The NATO forces commanded by U.S. Army General Wesley Clark methodically bombed and strafed not only military targets but tunnels, bridges, and roads, in Kosovo and elsewhere in Serbia, for seventy-eight days before forcing Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo. "Israel studied the Kosovo war as its role model," the government consultant said. "The Israelis told Condi Rice, 'You did it in about seventy days, but we need half of that--thirty-five days.' "
There are, of course, vast differences between Lebanon and Kosovo. Clark, who retired from the military in 2000 and unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for the Presidency in 2004, took issue with the analogy: "If it's true that the Israeli campaign is based on the American approach in Kosovo, then it missed the point. Ours was to use force to obtain a diplomatic objective--it was not about killing people." Clark noted in a 2001 book, "Waging Modern War," that it was the threat of a possible ground invasion as well as the bombing that forced the Serbs to end the war. He told me, "In my experience, air campaigns have to be backed, ultimately, by the will and capability to finish the job on the ground."
Kosovo has been cited publicly by Israeli officials and journalists since the war began. On August 6th, Prime Minister Olmert, responding to European condemnation of the deaths of Lebanese civilians, said, "Where do they get the right to preach to Israel? European countries attacked Kosovo and killed ten thousand civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket. I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians." (Human Rights Watch estimated the number of civilians killed in the NATO bombing to be five hundred; the Yugoslav government put the number between twelve hundred and five thousand.)
Cheney's office supported the Israeli plan, as did Elliott Abrams, a deputy national-security adviser, according to several former and current officials. (A spokesman for the N.S.C. denied that Abrams had done so.) They believed that Israel should move quickly in its air war against Hezbollah. A former intelligence officer said, "We told Israel, 'Look, if you guys have to go, we're behind you all the way. But we think it should be sooner rather than later--the longer you wait, the less time we have to evaluate and plan for Iran before Bush gets out of office.' "
Cheney's point, the former senior intelligence official said, was "What if the Israelis execute their part of this first, and it's really successful? It'd be great. We can learn what to do in Iran by watching what the Israelis do in Lebanon."
The Pentagon consultant told me that intelligence about Hezbollah and Iran is being mishandled by the White House the same way intelligence had been when, in 2002 and early 2003, the Administration was making the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. "The big complaint now in the intelligence community is that all of the important stuff is being sent directly to the top--at the insistence of the White House--and not being analyzed at all, or scarcely," he said. "It's an awful policy and violates all of the N.S.A.'s strictures, and if you complain about it you're out," he said. "Cheney had a strong hand in this."
The long-term Administration goal was to help set up a Sunni Arab coalition--including countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt--that would join the United States and Europe to pressure the ruling Shiite mullahs in Iran. "But the thought behind that plan was that Israel would defeat Hezbollah, not lose to it," the consultant with close ties to Israel said. Some officials in Cheney's office and at the N.S.C. had become convinced, on the basis of private talks, that those nations would moderate their public criticism of Israel and blame Hezbollah for creating the crisis that led to war. Although they did so at first, they shifted their position in the wake of public protests in their countries about the Israeli bombing. The White House was clearly disappointed when, late last month, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, came to Washington and, at a meeting with Bush, called for the President to intervene immediately to end the war. The Washington Post reported that Washington had hoped to enlist moderate Arab states "in an effort to pressure Syria and Iran to rein in Hezbollah, but the Saudi move... seemed to cloud that initiative."
*****
The surprising strength of Hezbollah's resistance, and its continuing ability to fire rockets into northern Israel in the face of the constant Israeli bombing, the Middle East expert told me, "is a massive setback for those in the White House who want to use force in Iran. And those who argue that the bombing will create internal dissent and revolt in Iran are also set back."
Nonetheless, some officers serving with the Joint Chiefs of Staff remain deeply concerned that the Administration will have a far more positive assessment of the air campaign than they should, the former senior intelligence official said. "There is no way that Rumsfeld and Cheney will draw the right conclusion about this," he said. "When the smoke clears, they'll say it was a success, and they'll draw reinforcement for their plan to attack Iran."
In the White House, especially in the Vice-President's office, many officials believe that the military campaign against Hezbollah is working and should be carried forward. At the same time, the government consultant said, some policymakers in the Administration have concluded that the cost of the bombing to Lebanese society is too high. "They are telling Israel that it's time to wind down the attacks on infrastructure."
Similar divisions are emerging in Israel. David Siegel, the Israeli spokesman, said that his country's leadership believed, as of early August, that the air war had been successful, and had destroyed more than seventy per cent of Hezbollah's medium- and long-range-missile launching capacity. "The problem is short-range missiles, without launchers, that can be shot from civilian areas and homes," Siegel told me. "The only way to resolve this is ground operations--which is why Israel would be forced to expand ground operations if the latest round of diplomacy doesn't work." Last week, however, there was evidence that the Israeli government was troubled by the progress of the war. In an unusual move, Major General Moshe Kaplinsky, Halutz's deputy, was put in charge of the operation, supplanting Major General Udi Adam. The worry in Israel is that Nasrallah might escalate the crisis by firing missiles at Tel Aviv. "There is a big debate over how much damage Israel should inflict to prevent it," the consultant said. "If Nasrallah hits Tel Aviv, what should Israel do? Its goal is to deter more attacks by telling Nasrallah that it will destroy his country if he doesn't stop, and to remind the Arab world that Israel can set it back twenty years. We're no longer playing by the same rules."
A European intelligence officer told me, "The Israelis have been caught in a psychological trap. In earlier years, they had the belief that they could solve their problems with toughness. But now, with Islamic martyrdom, things have changed, and they need different answers. How do you scare people who love martyrdom?" The problem with trying to eliminate Hezbollah, the intelligence officer said, is the group's ties to the Shiite population in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut's southern suburbs, where it operates schools, hospitals, a radio station, and various charities.
A high-level American military planner told me, "We have a lot of vulnerability in the region, and we've talked about some of the effects of an Iranian or Hezbollah attack on the Saudi regime and on the oil infrastructure." There is special concern inside the Pentagon, he added, about the oil-producing nations north of the Strait of Hormuz. "We have to anticipate the unintended consequences," he told me. "Will we be able to absorb a barrel of oil at one hundred dollars? There is this almost comical thinking that you can do it all from the air, even when you're up against an irregular enemy with a dug-in capability. You're not going to be successful unless you have a ground presence, but the political leadership never considers the worst case. These guys only want to hear the best case."
There is evidence that the Iranians were expecting the war against Hezbollah. Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite Muslims and Iran, who is a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and also teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, California, said, "Every negative American move against Hezbollah was seen by Iran as part of a larger campaign against it. And Iran began to prepare for the showdown by supplying more sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah--anti-ship and anti-tank missiles--and training its fighters in their use. And now Hezbollah is testing Iran's new weapons. Iran sees the Bush Administration as trying to marginalize its regional role, so it fomented trouble."
Nasr, an Iranian-American who recently published a study of the Sunni-Shiite divide, entitled "The Shia Revival," also said that the Iranian leadership believes that Washington's ultimate political goal is to get some international force to act as a buffer--to physically separate Syria and Lebanon in an effort to isolate and disarm Hezbollah, whose main supply route is through Syria. "Military action cannot bring about the desired political result," Nasr said. The popularity of Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a virulent critic of Israel, is greatest in his own country. If the U.S. were to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, Nasr said, "you may end up turning Ahmadinejad into another Nasrallah--the rock star of the Arab street."
*****
Donald Rumsfeld, who is one of the Bush Administration's most outspoken, and powerful, officials, has said very little publicly about the crisis in Lebanon. His relative quiet, compared to his aggressive visibility in the run-up to the Iraq war, has prompted a debate in Washington about where he stands on the issue.
Some current and former intelligence officials who were interviewed for this article believe that Rumsfeld disagrees with Bush and Cheney about the American role in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said that "there was a feeling that Rumsfeld was jaded in his approach to the Israeli war." He added, "Air power and the use of a few Special Forces had worked in Afghanistan, and he tried to do it again in Iraq. It was the same idea, but it didn't work. He thought that Hezbollah was too dug in and the Israeli attack plan would not work, and the last thing he wanted was another war on his shift that would put the American forces in Iraq in greater jeopardy."
A Western diplomat said that he understood that Rumsfeld did not know all the intricacies of the war plan. "He is angry and worried about his troops" in Iraq, the diplomat said. Rumsfeld served in the White House during the last year of the war in Vietnam, from which American troops withdrew in 1975, "and he did not want to see something like this having an impact in Iraq." Rumsfeld's concern, the diplomat added, was that an expansion of the war into Iran could put the American troops in Iraq at greater risk of attacks by pro-Iranian Shiite militias.
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on August 3rd, Rumsfeld was less than enthusiastic about the war's implications for the American troops in Iraq. Asked whether the Administration was mindful of the war's impact on Iraq, he testified that, in his meetings with Bush and Condoleezza Rice, "there is a sensitivity to the desire to not have our country or our interests or our forces put at greater risk as a result of what's taking place between Israel and Hezbollah.... There are a variety of risks that we face in that region, and it's a difficult and delicate situation."
The Pentagon consultant dismissed talk of a split at the top of the Administration, however, and said simply, "Rummy is on the team. He'd love to see Hezbollah degraded, but he also is a voice for less bombing and more innovative Israeli ground operations." The former senior intelligence official similarly depicted Rumsfeld as being "delighted that Israel is our stalking horse."
There are also questions about the status of Condoleezza Rice. Her initial support for the Israeli air war against Hezbollah has reportedly been tempered by dismay at the effects of the attacks on Lebanon. The Pentagon consultant said that in early August she began privately "agitating" inside the Administration for permission to begin direct diplomatic talks with Syria--so far, without much success. Last week, the Times reported that Rice had directed an Embassy official in Damascus to meet with the Syrian foreign minister, though the meeting apparently yielded no results. The Times also reported that Rice viewed herself as "trying to be not only a peacemaker abroad but also a mediator among contending parties" within the Administration. The article pointed to a divide between career diplomats in the State Department and "conservatives in the government," including Cheney and Abrams, "who were pushing for strong American support for Israel."
The Western diplomat told me his embassy believes that Abrams has emerged as a key policymaker on Iran, and on the current Hezbollah-Israeli crisis, and that Rice's role has been relatively diminished. Rice did not want to make her most recent diplomatic trip to the Middle East, the diplomat said. "She only wanted to go if she thought there was a real chance to get a ceasefire."
Bush's strongest supporter in Europe continues to be British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but many in Blair's own Foreign Office, as a former diplomat said, believe that he has "gone out on a particular limb on this"--especially by accepting Bush's refusal to seek an immediate and total ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. "Blair stands alone on this," the former diplomat said. "He knows he's a lame duck who's on the way out, but he buys it"--the Bush policy. "He drinks the White House Kool-Aid as much as anybody in Washington." The crisis will really start at the end of August, the diplomat added, "when the Iranians"--under a United Nations deadline to stop uranium enrichment--"will say no."
Even those who continue to support Israel's war against Hezbollah agree that it is failing to achieve one of its main goals--to rally the Lebanese against Hezbollah. "Strategic bombing has been a failed military concept for ninety years, and yet air forces all over the world keep on doing it," John Arquilla, a defense analyst at the Naval Postgraduate School, told me. Arquilla has been campaigning for more than a decade, with growing success, to change the way America fights terrorism. "The warfare of today is not mass on mass," he said. "You have to hunt like a network to defeat a network. Israel focussed on bombing against Hezbollah, and, when that did not work, it became more aggressive on the ground. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result."
Monday, August 28, 2006
truth & courage
This was the day for hearing truth spoken with courage and passion.
First it was John Zettner, a longtime Detroit peace activist, making his statement to the federal judge at his 9 a.m. sentencing for an action of civil resistance that he and others took on the third anniversary of Bush's invasion of Iraq. For that action John had dressed in the garb of the Abu Ghraib prisoner we all think of when torture comes to mind. He and members of the Detroit Peace Community had sat nonviolently blocking the entrance to Detroit's Federal Building that sunny March day, but John was the only one arrested. He'd been arraigned a few months ago. Between then and now, there had been an agreement made between John's attorney and the federal prosecutor to request the sentence be a fine of $275 and no jail time instead of the maximum of 30 days in jail and $5000.
Two dozen supporters showed up in the courtroom today to offer John the solidarity he deserved. The judge--Federal Court Judge Komives--had also received and read dozens of letters extolling John's integrity, peacefulness, and contributions to the community.
I think we were all surprised by Judge Komives' sensitive and respectful treatment of John. Not only did he impose the suggested $275 fine and no jail time, but he spoke of John's "social conscience" and "integrity." He even mentioned Gandhi!
He didn't warn John not to take such actions in the future even though John said very clearly that he would be doing so. The closest he came to a reprimand was when he encouraged john to let his beliefs be known through legal rather than extra-legal means. But there was no punch to it.
I'm hoping we can get a copy of the transcript because John's statement was the most beautiful witness for truth that I have ever heard. It came from deep within the heart of a man who has always lived and acted in ways congruent with his beliefs. Yes, Gandhi definitely comes to mind.
The second example of truth spoken with courage and passion was tonight at the Pointes For Peace 25th Peace Talk. Dr. Ali Ajami, Consul General of Lebanon (Detroit Region) presented "The Lebanese Perspective on the Current Middle East Crisis."
Before becoming a diplomat, Dr. Ajami was a writer and poet...and it showed. Every word that came out of his mouth was dipped in the blood of his people. He was informed, articulate, honest and obviously suffering. And he answered every question--there were dozens--with a directness that is unusual in public figures. He said it like he saw it. And I agreed with almost everything he said. That is until he got into a people's right to fight an occupying army violently. The pacifist in me just can't go there. But except for that, we were on the same page. Actually I was gratified to see that my grasp of the history of the conflict between Lebanon and Israel was pretty accurate.
After the talk I scooted up to Dr. Ajami and his wife to tell them about my friendship with Rabih Haddad and his wife Sulaima Al-Rushaid, both of whom I was sure he'd know. I also told them about my 18-day solitary vigil on Lebanon's behalf in front of the White House. He expressed deep gratitude to me for that. But before we'd said a word, he had surprised me by leaning down to kiss my cheek in greeting. And this from a Muslim man who isn't even supposed to shake hands with a woman who is not his wife. I felt a deep connection between the three of us. His wife was also most gracious. But that's almost to be expected. Graciousness is a national trait of the Lebanese people.
First it was John Zettner, a longtime Detroit peace activist, making his statement to the federal judge at his 9 a.m. sentencing for an action of civil resistance that he and others took on the third anniversary of Bush's invasion of Iraq. For that action John had dressed in the garb of the Abu Ghraib prisoner we all think of when torture comes to mind. He and members of the Detroit Peace Community had sat nonviolently blocking the entrance to Detroit's Federal Building that sunny March day, but John was the only one arrested. He'd been arraigned a few months ago. Between then and now, there had been an agreement made between John's attorney and the federal prosecutor to request the sentence be a fine of $275 and no jail time instead of the maximum of 30 days in jail and $5000.
Two dozen supporters showed up in the courtroom today to offer John the solidarity he deserved. The judge--Federal Court Judge Komives--had also received and read dozens of letters extolling John's integrity, peacefulness, and contributions to the community.
I think we were all surprised by Judge Komives' sensitive and respectful treatment of John. Not only did he impose the suggested $275 fine and no jail time, but he spoke of John's "social conscience" and "integrity." He even mentioned Gandhi!
He didn't warn John not to take such actions in the future even though John said very clearly that he would be doing so. The closest he came to a reprimand was when he encouraged john to let his beliefs be known through legal rather than extra-legal means. But there was no punch to it.
I'm hoping we can get a copy of the transcript because John's statement was the most beautiful witness for truth that I have ever heard. It came from deep within the heart of a man who has always lived and acted in ways congruent with his beliefs. Yes, Gandhi definitely comes to mind.
The second example of truth spoken with courage and passion was tonight at the Pointes For Peace 25th Peace Talk. Dr. Ali Ajami, Consul General of Lebanon (Detroit Region) presented "The Lebanese Perspective on the Current Middle East Crisis."
Before becoming a diplomat, Dr. Ajami was a writer and poet...and it showed. Every word that came out of his mouth was dipped in the blood of his people. He was informed, articulate, honest and obviously suffering. And he answered every question--there were dozens--with a directness that is unusual in public figures. He said it like he saw it. And I agreed with almost everything he said. That is until he got into a people's right to fight an occupying army violently. The pacifist in me just can't go there. But except for that, we were on the same page. Actually I was gratified to see that my grasp of the history of the conflict between Lebanon and Israel was pretty accurate.
After the talk I scooted up to Dr. Ajami and his wife to tell them about my friendship with Rabih Haddad and his wife Sulaima Al-Rushaid, both of whom I was sure he'd know. I also told them about my 18-day solitary vigil on Lebanon's behalf in front of the White House. He expressed deep gratitude to me for that. But before we'd said a word, he had surprised me by leaning down to kiss my cheek in greeting. And this from a Muslim man who isn't even supposed to shake hands with a woman who is not his wife. I felt a deep connection between the three of us. His wife was also most gracious. But that's almost to be expected. Graciousness is a national trait of the Lebanese people.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
And now for something completely different...
The following photos were taken by a friend of mine, Ken Rowell. He lives on three acres of land with his wife, children, one horse, eight dogs, one pig, one goat, six cats and assorted other creatures. The first photo is of Wilbur the pig and Kate the border collie. You may recognize Kate as our community park's famous "goose-guard." The kittens in the next photo were so new to the world they had no names as yet. In photo #3 taken a week or so later, two of them are showing off their survival skills.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Maryann Mahaffey 1925-2006
Today Detroit celebrated the life of one of its greatest sheroes: Maryann Mahaffey. Pat Kolon and I were among hundreds who gathered at the Detroit Opera House for three hours to remember Maryann's life of service to the greater good and to personally and communally pledge to carry on her commitment to the poor, women, workers, youth, the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community and all voiceless victims of oppression, economic injustice, institutionalized racism, privatization of services, wars and violence. As her pastor, Ed Rowe, said, if we simply recalled her greatness without commiting ourselves to act in ways that would benefit the community, it would be a mockery of her life and works.
In her own words, Maryann said, "I wonder what it is with me? Then I recognize that I cannot deny my passion. It is true that I feel very firmly about principles. And thus I will carry on."
Maryann Mahaffey was elected to the Detroit City Council for eight terms: from 1973 until adult T-cell leukemia forced her to retire in December 2005. For three of those terms she was the Council president by virtue of her having received the most votes. Maryann Mahaffey was the people's politician and everyone knew it. She never forgot those who depended on her as advocate, agitator, organizer, listener, fighter and best friend. For that's how so many saw Maryann Mahaffey.For me, she was a sister in the peace movement. Always there at rallies and marches, no matter what the weather. Maryann was arrested more than once for causes in which she believed deeply. She just never backed down. Strong, persistent, informed, compassionate, articulate, available and relentless in her fervor, Maryann Mahaffey never used her position for anything but the greater good. A social worker, she used that consciousness to promote social change within the systems of government.
A mentor to more women than I could count--myself among them--Maryann Mahaffey will live on in our works more than in our words.
Here are links to two articles written after her death on Thursday, July 27:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006607280372
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060728/OBITUARIES/607280335
Friday, August 25, 2006
healed & happy
After two weeks here with us, I'm pleased to say that our friend Pat is looking like a new person. This was her longest vacation in decades, and Ed and I enjoyed it every bit as much as she. Not only did she feed us well--Pat loves to cook, especially dishes made with vegetables from her garden--but she is such an easy person to have around. We're going to miss her greatly when she returns home to her "other" life tomorrow night. I sure hope she'll come stay with us again soon.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
A woman obsessed
Another of my writing exercises from the retreat:
It wasn't that she had to be seen and heard for herself, although she did have her personal issues with this--remember sister Carolyn's refusing to say "See you in the morning" before going to sleep at night?--it was more that she had to make a difference of some kind, her life had to count for something. What makes me say it was an obsession? Because if she didn't do it she felt she'd die. That might sound strong, but I think it's true.
So on that hot muggy Thursday afternoon in July, after having driven 500 miles by herself, she dropped her suitcase on the bed of her hotel room, got her sign out of the black plastic bag, and set off in her scooter towards the White House, five blocks away.
Could she have imagined that she and her sign would be seen by tens of thousands of persons from around the world over the next 18 days? That some of these persons, including one 9 year-old boy, would scream at her in anger, pain and disgust?
No, she knew none of that, but she did know she could no longer sit at home stewing in her juices, feeling impotent and disempowered over what was happening to the people and land she'd grown to love. She did know she had to be seen and her voice heard--even just the words printed on her sign--by whomever she encountered: tourists, senators, representatives, media, US Park Police, sister and brother activists, visitors to the president, anyone who had eyes to see and language to understand her cry for Israel to get the heck out of Lebanon and leave those suffering people alone.
In her naivete, she believed most readers of her signs would agree with her message. Oh yes, she had a lot to learn.
I say she was obsessed because it didn't matter how tired she was, how hot the day, how mean the people, how alone she felt. For 18 days, day in and day out, she got up from her hotel bed, finished writing and posting her blog account of the day before, took a shower in her wheelchair-accessible bathroom, got dressed, rubbed sunblock on her tattoo, put on her straw hat, picked up her sign and tucked it upside-down between her legs on her scooter, took the freight elevator downstairs, greeted the workers in the hotel restaurant kitchen with an "Hola!", paid $1.50 for an apple or grapefruit or orange juice-to-go at the souvenir shop in the lobby, asked whomever was closest to the front door to please open it, and scooted out onto sidewalks crowded with cell phone-absorbed Washington workers in suits and tourists in t-shirts and shorts with cranky kids in tow.
I say she was obsessed because she kept going back for more. Even after she'd heard hundreds of American voices telling her she should change her sign to say, "Lebanon/terrorists out of Israel." After countless Israeli tourists had come up to her, faces twisted in rage, telling her she didn't know what she was talking about, that she and her sign were hurting their children, that the Israeli people were suffering too and didn't she care about that? Even the boy who yelled at her that she was in a wheelchair because of that sign she carried, a little boy whose mother kept repeating, "Let them die; I want all the Lebanese dead!", whose grandmother stopped to say she'd lost her family in the Holocaust, that she supported everything her country was doing to Lebanon and if I didn't like what my country was doing, I should just get out.
Nothing deterred this woman's obsession with being seen and heard. But it wasn't her face she wanted to bring forth, it was the face of Lebanon, of her family, of the innocents who were suffering in a war not of their choosing.
When people would tell her she should change the wording on her sign she'd say, "Please make your own sign. Come stand here beside me. I welcome your doing that. But I'm here for my family in Lebanon, it's their suffering I must bring forward."
Only on the last hour of the last day did she finally say "Enough already." After being surrounded by eight Israeli men and boys, one of whom showed her the face of pure hatred--the kind of hatred that could and would kill--only after fifteen minutes with his face in hers and his fury poisoning every breath she took, did she call it a day. Even though there was still a white middle-aged American man waiting to bring his complaints to her, she just smiled and said, "I'm sorry, dear, but I'm done for the day" as she scooted off.
This obsession of hers had run its course. She had been seen and heard as best she could. But more importantly, she had seen and heard others. That was the surprise. In the end, that was what made it all worthwhile. That it was she who was changed, not the "other." For in those 18 days she learned something she'd never known before. Oh, she'd thought she knew it, but now she saw that she'd believed it not known it and the difference between "believing" and "knowing" was everything. It was what allowed people like Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to meet hatred with love.
And what was that knowing? We all want the same thing. We are made of the same stuff. We want ourselves and our loved ones to be safe. It's that simple.
In every dialogue she had over those long hot days in front of the White House and up on Capitol Hill, whether people agreed or disagreed with her sign--except for the three times when ranting was all they could do--everyone agreed that they wanted their loved ones safe. They also wanted their suffering acknowledged; they wanted to be seen and heard.
How could she argue with that? It was exactly what had sent her onto the streets of Washington, DC with her sign in the first place. What had given her the guts to sit there vulnerable as any one person could be, equally ready to dialogue with the enraged as well as the affirming, willing to ask readers of her blog to donate money to help her pay her $2200 hotel bill, the first time since applying for her grad school scholarship in 1964 that she'd asked anyone for money.
Obsessions are like that. They don't count the cost. They just keep on keepin' on. And so she figures she'll do this for the rest of her life--keep on keepin' on.
This obsession to be seen and heard has been superseded by another, more compelling obsession: the need to do whatever she can to bring peace to our wounded world, to help people recognize their commonalities rather than their differences, to see the faces and hear the voices of those made invisible by wars, oppression and injustice, to become in her very person the change she wants to see in the world, to live life to the full, pushing through every boundary, crossing every border, letting love be her language and truth the scooter on which she rides.
US-Israeli War on Lebanon: Why a Ceasefire Is Not Enough
by Nadine Naber
To be published in upcoming September-October issue of Critical Moment
July 12, 2006
"On day one, they came first to the village of Dweir near Nabatiya in southern Lebanon where an Israeli plane dropped a bomb on the home of a Shia'a Muslim cleric. He was killed. So was his wife. So were eight of his children. One was decapitated. All they could find of a baby was its head and torso which a young villager brandished in fury in front of the cameras. Then the planes visited another home in Dweir and disposed of a family of seven" (The Independent).
August 4, 2006
"30 something workers killed today in Qaa, in the Bekaa, on the border with Homs Syria. They had just finished collecting apples, packing them to be put on board of a truck, and they were having lunch. The Israeli's wasted 2 air strikes on them. The first one hit some of them. The others [who were killed had] gathered to try and help out the wounded and take the dead bodies out." (In this case, almost all the dead were Syrian Kurds) (angryarab.blogspot.com)
Self-Defense or Offensive Destruction?
On July 12th, the Israeli army launched a massive attack on Lebanon. In one month, they have destroyed all of the key bridges and overpasses in the country, all three runways of Beirut's commercial airport, roads, power plants, cell phone towers, and factories. The attack has killed more than 1000 civilians (50% are children), wounded 6,000 and displaced over a million (a quarter of the population). It has destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure, including the destruction of entire villages and neighborhoods. It has created a humanitarian disaster in Lebanon (UN and NGO's are not able to supply people with resources since all of the major roads in the South have been hit). Ambulances cannot operate; food, gas and clean drinking water are running out; hospitals are threatened with running out of fuel.
Throughout its bombing campaign, the Israeli army dropped leaflets through fighter planes on areas of Southern Lebanon warning residents to immediately evacuate before they attack. Official Israeli discourse states that people have been killed because they refused to listen when they were told to leave. Yet Human Rights Watch reports that "many civilians have been unable to flee because they are sick, wounded, do not have the means to leave or are providing essential civil services" and because "the roads are under Israeli attack."
In one of many such cases, when Israeli loudspeakers warned residents to evacuate the village of Marwaheen, families attempted to head for safety and Israeli boats shelled the roads, hitting a pickup but wounding only the women and children in the back. Within minutes, an Israeli helicopter approached, firing a missile that blew the pickup to pieces as the passengers struggled to jump out. Twenty-three members of one family were killed and the only survivor was the brother's four-year-old niece, who suffered severe burns to much of her body. The dead stayed in the sun for hours until people could come and collect them.
At first, U.S. and Israeli leaders justified this war by claiming that two Israeli soldiers have been captured in Lebanon (They have also justified the current invasion of Gaza that killed over 150 Palestinians in Gaza--36 were minors and 20 were women--in July alone on the basis that one Israeli soldier was captured) (see btselem.org). Yet what they failed to report is that over 9,000 Palestinians and an untold number of Lebanese and other Arabs are being held illegally in Israeli prisons and at least 355 are children. Now that it has become ludicrous to justify the destruction of an entire country as a means to free two soldiers, the U.S. and Israel justify this war by claiming they are fighting "Muslim terrorists" who are full of hate and evil and want to destroy Israel.
According to Human Rights Watch, "The Israeli government has blamed Hezbollah for the high civilian casualty toll in Lebanon, insisting that Hezbollah fighters have hidden themselves and their weapons among the civilian population. However, in none of these cases of civilian deaths documented [in the Human Rights Report "Lebanon/Israel"] is there evidence to suggest that Hezbollah was operating in or around during or prior to the attack.
Historical Context
Official U.S. and Israeli discourse on the "terrorists" omits any meaningful discussion on Hizballah, such as who they are, what they represent, and the historical circumstances through which they were created. This is not surprising since "fighting Muslim terrorists" has become a code word for justifying U.S. and Israeli violence against Arab and Muslim civilians and crushing all forms of resistance to U.S.-Israeli policies.
Looking beyond the corporate U.S. media's blackout on the historical circumstances that produced Hizballah, it becomes clear that Israel has been violating Lebanon's sovereignty long before Hizballah existed, long before their capture of two Israeli soldiers--and that Hizballah was born out of resistance to Israel's violations of Lebanon's sovereignty. According to Zeina Zaatari (Voices of the Middle East, August 2),"The Assault started in 1948 with a seizing of 7 villages of south Lebanon alongside the dispossession of Palestinian people. Regular incursions into Lebanon and violations of Lebanon's water, land and air space have been a common practice by the Israeli state for decades. In 1968, Israel bombed the Beirut international airport destroying 13 Middle East airline planes.
Under the guise of expelling the PLO from Lebanon, Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. Israeli troops attacked West Beirut, killing 20,000 civilians, destroying homes and businesses, and displacing 400,000 people. This is the context out of which Hizballah was created. Following 1982, a number of small groups organized under the banner of Islam dedicated to fighting the Israeli occupation troops and by 1985, officially coalesced into Hizballah. In 1985, Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon, but continued to occupy southern Lebanon (in violation of UN resolutions that affirm that Lebanon is a sovereign country).
Khiam prison was a detention and interrogation camp during the years of the Israeli occupation in Southern Lebanon where thousands of Lebanese were held in Khiam without trial. According to Human Rights Watch in 1999, "Hundreds of Lebanese have been arbitrarily detained in Khiam without charge for indefinite periods of time. Many of the detainees, including women, have been tortured during interrogation and subjected to abysmal conditions of confinement...This prison is operated entirely outside the law...Israel is bound by its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to address the violations that continue to occur at Khiam" (October 28, 1999).
During the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, Hizballah was at the forefront of resistance to Israeli occupation. In 2000, the resistance movement forced Israel to withdraw from Lebanese land although Israel illegally continued to take water from the Litania river and maintain control over Shebaa Farms and Sharhuba Hills. Along with their "withdrawal" from southern Lebanon, Israel left over 300,000 landmines which have, since then, maimed children and killed farmers, fisherman, and shepherds since Israel refused to provide Lebanon with a map of the land mines.
Also since the "withdrawal," Lebanese prisoners, captured 27 years ago remain in Israeli jails. It is in this context that Hizballah captured two Israeli soldiers. According to Lara Deeb (merip.org), "Both sides, on occasion, have broken the 'rules of the game,' though UN observer reports of the numbers of border violations find that Israel has violated the Blue Line between the countries ten times more frequently than Hizballah has."
Beyond its resistance to Israel's occupation, Hizballah represents Lebanon's disenfranchised Shi'ite community (see Deeb, merip.org) and approximately 40% of the Lebanese population, and has profound roots in Lebanese society. According to Deeb, "Hizballah functions as an umbrella organization under which many social welfare institutions are run. Some of these institutions provide monthly support and supplemental nutritional, educational, housing and health assistance for the poor; others focus on supporting orphans; still others are devoted to reconstruction of war-damaged areas. There are also Hizballah-affiliated schools, clinics and low-cost hospitals, including a school for children with Down's syndrome." Destroying Hizballah would thus entail ethnic cleansing.
U.S.-Israeli Objectives
The U.S-Israeli war on Lebanon aimed to destroy popular resistance against Israeli occupation in order to create a proxy state buffered with a "colonized zone" (Israel calls this a "security zone"). Such has been the US-Israeli design for Lebanon for decades. One might ask, if the U.S. and Israel claim they are at war with Hizballah, then why have they completely destroyed Lebanon and bombed Christian neighborhoods where Hizballah is no where to be found? By blaming Hizballah for the destruction, the U.S. and Israel are trying to force the broader Lebanese population into war against Hizballah, thus igniting an internal confessional strife within Lebanon (just as what we have seen in the U.S. plan for Iraq).
The Bush administration is the primary supporter of the Israeli military. It has been sending laser-guided and bunker buster bombs to Israel with full knowledge of the rising death toll and has crushed all proposals for immediate cease-fire in every stage of this war.
As in previous histories of U.S. colonization and expansion, the U.S.'s current plan of "bringing democracy to the Middle East" has meant establishing and supporting puppet governments through military force and destroying those who are freely elected by their people. The majority of people in the Arab region--and throughout the world--fundamentally disagree with U.S. and Israeli policy on the issues of Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon and disagree with the regimes that the U.S. arms. These policies are based on injustice and inequality. The more injustice the U.S. and Israel bring to the region, the more people will identify with movements that defy U.S. and Israeli plans for the region (see As'ad Abu-Khalil, Voices of the Middle East, August 2nd).
U.S.-led Violence, Racism, and War
Since Israel has extended this war beyond its fight with Hizballah by killing civilians (including those in Christian villages where Hizballah is no where to be found) and destroying Lebanon, one does not need to take a position for or against Hizballah to take a stance for or against this war. One simply needs to consider supporting peace and life or supporting destruction and death. Yet when the leaders of the most powerful nation of the world use race, nation, or religion to grant some bodies more value than others; to grieve the death of some children, but not others; and to grant names and faces to some of the dead and not to others--we might ask whether calling for "life" or "peace"or "cease fire" is even enough.
In 1996, Madeline Albright claimed that the price of killing 5,000 Iraqi children per month was "worth it." In 2006, Condoleeza Rice referred to the destruction, displacement, and killing in Lebanon as the "birth pangs of the new Middle East" and John Bolton, US Ambassador to the UN stated that there is "no moral equivalence" between the deaths of Lebanese and the deaths of Israelis. You may have wondered why an Arab man held up a sign at a recent Ann Arbor protest that read, "Arabs Have Stem Cells Too." Perhaps it is because Bush claims that "every child born and unborn should be protected," yet intentionally supports the killing of Arab children. In Lebanon, Bush's message to the children has been: You are less than human. Your blood has no value. And pro-life doesn't apply to you.
On August 11, the Security Council approved resolution 1701 which calls for an end to the war and a cessation of hostilities. While the resolution calls for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon "in parallel" with the deployment of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces in the south, it fails to give an official deadline by which Israel should withdraw. It therefore fails to guarantee Israeli withdrawal. The resolution also gives Israel a green light to enact any military operation as long as it is in "self-defense." Yet since Israel has made no distinction between defensive and offensive wars and has historically defined all of its wars in the region as self-defense, there is no guarantee that this resolution will stop Israeli aggression in Lebanon.
While U.S. liberals celebrate the "cease fire," a number of questions remain unanswered: Why did the Security Council wait an entire month before intervening in the attacks against civilians, and why did the Security Council resolution fail to condemn the systematic killing of civilians? In the beginning of the war, the U.S. blocked the Security Council from calling for a ceasefire on the grounds that, "we must wait for the right conditions for a ceasefire." One month later, now that we are left with the destruction of Lebanon and no guarantee of an end to war, the U.S. accepted a "cease-fire" resolution. For Bush, what then is the difference between the right conditions for a "cease-fire" and the right conditions for bloodshed and war?
One hundred people die in Iraq per day. Over 4,000 Palestinians and over 1000 Israelis killed since 2000 alone. Over 7.2 million Palestinians have become refugees. How many more injustices do we need to hear about before people stop wondering why "they" hate "us?" In a message to the American people on July 31, Mayssoun Sukarieh writes from Lebanon, "We have lost faith in you because your democracy got exported to us with your missiles, and we are consuming them while you are consuming our news."
Nadine Naber is a co-founder and board member of Arab Movement of Women Arising for Justice (AMWAJ). She is an Assistant Professor of Arab American Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
To be published in upcoming September-October issue of Critical Moment
July 12, 2006
"On day one, they came first to the village of Dweir near Nabatiya in southern Lebanon where an Israeli plane dropped a bomb on the home of a Shia'a Muslim cleric. He was killed. So was his wife. So were eight of his children. One was decapitated. All they could find of a baby was its head and torso which a young villager brandished in fury in front of the cameras. Then the planes visited another home in Dweir and disposed of a family of seven" (The Independent).
August 4, 2006
"30 something workers killed today in Qaa, in the Bekaa, on the border with Homs Syria. They had just finished collecting apples, packing them to be put on board of a truck, and they were having lunch. The Israeli's wasted 2 air strikes on them. The first one hit some of them. The others [who were killed had] gathered to try and help out the wounded and take the dead bodies out." (In this case, almost all the dead were Syrian Kurds) (angryarab.blogspot.com)
Self-Defense or Offensive Destruction?
On July 12th, the Israeli army launched a massive attack on Lebanon. In one month, they have destroyed all of the key bridges and overpasses in the country, all three runways of Beirut's commercial airport, roads, power plants, cell phone towers, and factories. The attack has killed more than 1000 civilians (50% are children), wounded 6,000 and displaced over a million (a quarter of the population). It has destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure, including the destruction of entire villages and neighborhoods. It has created a humanitarian disaster in Lebanon (UN and NGO's are not able to supply people with resources since all of the major roads in the South have been hit). Ambulances cannot operate; food, gas and clean drinking water are running out; hospitals are threatened with running out of fuel.
Throughout its bombing campaign, the Israeli army dropped leaflets through fighter planes on areas of Southern Lebanon warning residents to immediately evacuate before they attack. Official Israeli discourse states that people have been killed because they refused to listen when they were told to leave. Yet Human Rights Watch reports that "many civilians have been unable to flee because they are sick, wounded, do not have the means to leave or are providing essential civil services" and because "the roads are under Israeli attack."
In one of many such cases, when Israeli loudspeakers warned residents to evacuate the village of Marwaheen, families attempted to head for safety and Israeli boats shelled the roads, hitting a pickup but wounding only the women and children in the back. Within minutes, an Israeli helicopter approached, firing a missile that blew the pickup to pieces as the passengers struggled to jump out. Twenty-three members of one family were killed and the only survivor was the brother's four-year-old niece, who suffered severe burns to much of her body. The dead stayed in the sun for hours until people could come and collect them.
At first, U.S. and Israeli leaders justified this war by claiming that two Israeli soldiers have been captured in Lebanon (They have also justified the current invasion of Gaza that killed over 150 Palestinians in Gaza--36 were minors and 20 were women--in July alone on the basis that one Israeli soldier was captured) (see btselem.org). Yet what they failed to report is that over 9,000 Palestinians and an untold number of Lebanese and other Arabs are being held illegally in Israeli prisons and at least 355 are children. Now that it has become ludicrous to justify the destruction of an entire country as a means to free two soldiers, the U.S. and Israel justify this war by claiming they are fighting "Muslim terrorists" who are full of hate and evil and want to destroy Israel.
According to Human Rights Watch, "The Israeli government has blamed Hezbollah for the high civilian casualty toll in Lebanon, insisting that Hezbollah fighters have hidden themselves and their weapons among the civilian population. However, in none of these cases of civilian deaths documented [in the Human Rights Report "Lebanon/Israel"] is there evidence to suggest that Hezbollah was operating in or around during or prior to the attack.
Historical Context
Official U.S. and Israeli discourse on the "terrorists" omits any meaningful discussion on Hizballah, such as who they are, what they represent, and the historical circumstances through which they were created. This is not surprising since "fighting Muslim terrorists" has become a code word for justifying U.S. and Israeli violence against Arab and Muslim civilians and crushing all forms of resistance to U.S.-Israeli policies.
Looking beyond the corporate U.S. media's blackout on the historical circumstances that produced Hizballah, it becomes clear that Israel has been violating Lebanon's sovereignty long before Hizballah existed, long before their capture of two Israeli soldiers--and that Hizballah was born out of resistance to Israel's violations of Lebanon's sovereignty. According to Zeina Zaatari (Voices of the Middle East, August 2),"The Assault started in 1948 with a seizing of 7 villages of south Lebanon alongside the dispossession of Palestinian people. Regular incursions into Lebanon and violations of Lebanon's water, land and air space have been a common practice by the Israeli state for decades. In 1968, Israel bombed the Beirut international airport destroying 13 Middle East airline planes.
Under the guise of expelling the PLO from Lebanon, Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. Israeli troops attacked West Beirut, killing 20,000 civilians, destroying homes and businesses, and displacing 400,000 people. This is the context out of which Hizballah was created. Following 1982, a number of small groups organized under the banner of Islam dedicated to fighting the Israeli occupation troops and by 1985, officially coalesced into Hizballah. In 1985, Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon, but continued to occupy southern Lebanon (in violation of UN resolutions that affirm that Lebanon is a sovereign country).
Khiam prison was a detention and interrogation camp during the years of the Israeli occupation in Southern Lebanon where thousands of Lebanese were held in Khiam without trial. According to Human Rights Watch in 1999, "Hundreds of Lebanese have been arbitrarily detained in Khiam without charge for indefinite periods of time. Many of the detainees, including women, have been tortured during interrogation and subjected to abysmal conditions of confinement...This prison is operated entirely outside the law...Israel is bound by its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to address the violations that continue to occur at Khiam" (October 28, 1999).
During the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, Hizballah was at the forefront of resistance to Israeli occupation. In 2000, the resistance movement forced Israel to withdraw from Lebanese land although Israel illegally continued to take water from the Litania river and maintain control over Shebaa Farms and Sharhuba Hills. Along with their "withdrawal" from southern Lebanon, Israel left over 300,000 landmines which have, since then, maimed children and killed farmers, fisherman, and shepherds since Israel refused to provide Lebanon with a map of the land mines.
Also since the "withdrawal," Lebanese prisoners, captured 27 years ago remain in Israeli jails. It is in this context that Hizballah captured two Israeli soldiers. According to Lara Deeb (merip.org), "Both sides, on occasion, have broken the 'rules of the game,' though UN observer reports of the numbers of border violations find that Israel has violated the Blue Line between the countries ten times more frequently than Hizballah has."
Beyond its resistance to Israel's occupation, Hizballah represents Lebanon's disenfranchised Shi'ite community (see Deeb, merip.org) and approximately 40% of the Lebanese population, and has profound roots in Lebanese society. According to Deeb, "Hizballah functions as an umbrella organization under which many social welfare institutions are run. Some of these institutions provide monthly support and supplemental nutritional, educational, housing and health assistance for the poor; others focus on supporting orphans; still others are devoted to reconstruction of war-damaged areas. There are also Hizballah-affiliated schools, clinics and low-cost hospitals, including a school for children with Down's syndrome." Destroying Hizballah would thus entail ethnic cleansing.
U.S.-Israeli Objectives
The U.S-Israeli war on Lebanon aimed to destroy popular resistance against Israeli occupation in order to create a proxy state buffered with a "colonized zone" (Israel calls this a "security zone"). Such has been the US-Israeli design for Lebanon for decades. One might ask, if the U.S. and Israel claim they are at war with Hizballah, then why have they completely destroyed Lebanon and bombed Christian neighborhoods where Hizballah is no where to be found? By blaming Hizballah for the destruction, the U.S. and Israel are trying to force the broader Lebanese population into war against Hizballah, thus igniting an internal confessional strife within Lebanon (just as what we have seen in the U.S. plan for Iraq).
The Bush administration is the primary supporter of the Israeli military. It has been sending laser-guided and bunker buster bombs to Israel with full knowledge of the rising death toll and has crushed all proposals for immediate cease-fire in every stage of this war.
As in previous histories of U.S. colonization and expansion, the U.S.'s current plan of "bringing democracy to the Middle East" has meant establishing and supporting puppet governments through military force and destroying those who are freely elected by their people. The majority of people in the Arab region--and throughout the world--fundamentally disagree with U.S. and Israeli policy on the issues of Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon and disagree with the regimes that the U.S. arms. These policies are based on injustice and inequality. The more injustice the U.S. and Israel bring to the region, the more people will identify with movements that defy U.S. and Israeli plans for the region (see As'ad Abu-Khalil, Voices of the Middle East, August 2nd).
U.S.-led Violence, Racism, and War
Since Israel has extended this war beyond its fight with Hizballah by killing civilians (including those in Christian villages where Hizballah is no where to be found) and destroying Lebanon, one does not need to take a position for or against Hizballah to take a stance for or against this war. One simply needs to consider supporting peace and life or supporting destruction and death. Yet when the leaders of the most powerful nation of the world use race, nation, or religion to grant some bodies more value than others; to grieve the death of some children, but not others; and to grant names and faces to some of the dead and not to others--we might ask whether calling for "life" or "peace"or "cease fire" is even enough.
In 1996, Madeline Albright claimed that the price of killing 5,000 Iraqi children per month was "worth it." In 2006, Condoleeza Rice referred to the destruction, displacement, and killing in Lebanon as the "birth pangs of the new Middle East" and John Bolton, US Ambassador to the UN stated that there is "no moral equivalence" between the deaths of Lebanese and the deaths of Israelis. You may have wondered why an Arab man held up a sign at a recent Ann Arbor protest that read, "Arabs Have Stem Cells Too." Perhaps it is because Bush claims that "every child born and unborn should be protected," yet intentionally supports the killing of Arab children. In Lebanon, Bush's message to the children has been: You are less than human. Your blood has no value. And pro-life doesn't apply to you.
On August 11, the Security Council approved resolution 1701 which calls for an end to the war and a cessation of hostilities. While the resolution calls for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon "in parallel" with the deployment of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces in the south, it fails to give an official deadline by which Israel should withdraw. It therefore fails to guarantee Israeli withdrawal. The resolution also gives Israel a green light to enact any military operation as long as it is in "self-defense." Yet since Israel has made no distinction between defensive and offensive wars and has historically defined all of its wars in the region as self-defense, there is no guarantee that this resolution will stop Israeli aggression in Lebanon.
While U.S. liberals celebrate the "cease fire," a number of questions remain unanswered: Why did the Security Council wait an entire month before intervening in the attacks against civilians, and why did the Security Council resolution fail to condemn the systematic killing of civilians? In the beginning of the war, the U.S. blocked the Security Council from calling for a ceasefire on the grounds that, "we must wait for the right conditions for a ceasefire." One month later, now that we are left with the destruction of Lebanon and no guarantee of an end to war, the U.S. accepted a "cease-fire" resolution. For Bush, what then is the difference between the right conditions for a "cease-fire" and the right conditions for bloodshed and war?
One hundred people die in Iraq per day. Over 4,000 Palestinians and over 1000 Israelis killed since 2000 alone. Over 7.2 million Palestinians have become refugees. How many more injustices do we need to hear about before people stop wondering why "they" hate "us?" In a message to the American people on July 31, Mayssoun Sukarieh writes from Lebanon, "We have lost faith in you because your democracy got exported to us with your missiles, and we are consuming them while you are consuming our news."
Nadine Naber is a co-founder and board member of Arab Movement of Women Arising for Justice (AMWAJ). She is an Assistant Professor of Arab American Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
What is lost...
My writing exercises from the retreat, continued:
Ah Lebanon, sparkling land on the shores of the deep blue-green Mediterranean sea. Land of hospitality, beauty, graciousness. Lost in 34 days. Destroyed in the blink of an eye.
The tallest bridge in the Middle East, the one that spanned a mountain pass, gone, rubble, bombed over and over again until it is no more.
The Beirut-Damascus highway from which were views of Lebanon's "breadbasket" cutting through the center of the country from north to south, with the accordion-pleated Syrian mountains hazy in the distance. A highway now closed, craters dotting it surface from Beirut to the Syrian border, craters deep and ugly as a cosmic cesspool.
Neighborhoods in South Beirut that were warrens of life, vehicles everyplace, even parked on sidewalks, people crowded onto streets, walking in the middle of the road with no noticeable concern over the cars, trucks and motorcycles trying to get around them, now mountains of rubble, people's bodies still to be found. Sana's girlfriend's apartment building among them for sure. Is it her body, her mother's body, her father's body, her sisters' and brothers' bodies, her grandmother and grandfather's bodies, her aunts', uncles' and cousins' bodies? Who was saved, who was crushed?
Central Beirut, finally reconstructed after the long civil war, cranes dotting the cosmopolitan skyline, pencil jottings of progress against a scarlet sunset sky, people busy preparing for the next day's Beirut Marathon, sidewalk cafes full of young people chatting as they sip lattes, the haunting sounds of the call to prayer, the mosque where Rabih and Sulaima went inside to pray, the almost-full moon creeping over the balcony's edge of the apartment house to the east of our parked car, everything safe, lovely, exotic and familiar all at the same time.
And now? What would I see today in the center of the city known as the Paris of the Middle East? Did the mosque that had survived since the 12th century survive this time around? I know the old lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula did not. What about the amusement park with its red-lit Ferris wheel? Gone or still there? I know the beautiful white sandy beaches are now black with oil, birds, turtles and fish dead on the shores. Oil out into the sea as far as the eye can see. No longer a lush blue-green, now black and murky with death.
All I can see is how it was, not as it is now, or as it might be tomorrow. I can't even imagine how long it will take for Lebanon to bring itself back to life this time, to restore itself to its former glory. How can these people who have suffered so much turn around and try to rebuild what they have lost? And to what purpose? So Israel can destroy them again and again and again? Israel with the help, support, bombs, money and encouragement of those who sit in positions of power in my own country.
Why bother? But I know they will because that's who they are. An indefatigable people, a people who never give up, who are unbowed by whatever tragedy befalls them. Decade after decade after decade, they pick themselves up and start over again. Rebuilding, re-dreaming, believing. I am the one who cannot imagine restoring what they have lost. But they can. I know they can. It's all they've ever done.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Three stories
For the next couple of days I'll be sharing some of what I wrote during the writers' retreat. This first offering includes three exercises that came forward in response to writing prompts given at different times on Friday, our first full day. When it came time to share our writings that night, I put the three together and told them in different voices. As many of you know, I was hoping in my retreat writings to begin to integrate all that I'd experienced during my Lebanon Peace Initiative. This was the start of that process.
Placing myself inside the head and then speaking in the voice of 16 year-old Sana who is now living with her family in Kuwait:
All I want is for the phone to ring and it to be for me. Is that too much to ask? I just want to hear Zeinab's voice on the other end of the line. I want her to ask me if I got question #3 on our history quiz. Or if I'd seen how Batul had played up to Mrs. King-Ahmed when she'd asked if her homework was done yet. Batul NEVER had her homework done on time.
God, but I miss her. And now I don't even know where she is. Or if she's still alive. And now that Mom has a new cell phone number, she couldn't find me even if she tried.
Has it really only been five weeks since our world fell apart? Five weeks since the phone rang and it was for me?
My best friend. The friend I waited for all those years. A friend who understood everything, who knew what I was going to say before I said it, who was like the sister I'd always wanted, like Lailah in Ann Arbor. Another best friend I lost.
I know Mom and Dad say I'll make another friend, but how long will it take this time? Patricia says she's going to work her "magic" to get me a friend really soon. She knew exactly how I felt. How did she know? I didn't say anything, but she knew.
Is it too much to ask for this? Should I be praying for my Mom, that she be given what she needs to make this new life in yet another country? Is it selfish for me to bother God with little things like a friend?
I mean we're lucky to be alive. We could have been killed. That road we were on getting out of Lebanon was bombed the next morning. We could have been on it when it was bombed. And what about our expired passports? Sami, Oussama and I could have been turned back at the Syrian border. What would Mom have done then? Would the bus have taken us back to Hammana?
So just wanting the phone to ring and having my friend's voice at the other end is incredibly self-centered. Like I ought to be thanking God, not asking him for more. We're so much luckier than so many people. Gosh, I don't even know about all the kids at school. Or the teachers. Or the doorman at the apartment. Or Fatima who cooked for us. Or our doctor. Or the grocer. Or anybody.
Why don't I think about them? Instead all I think about is myself.
Will I ever have a best friend again? Patricia thinks so. I hope she's right. Oh, how I hope she's right.
There's Mom's phone ringing again. Let it be for me. Please God, please. Let it be for me.
******************************
Placing myself inside the head and then speaking in the voice of the former Israeli settler I encountered on the last hour of the last day of my 18-day vigil in front of the White House:
What in the hell does she mean, "Israel out of Lebanon"? We belong there. Those people are all terrorists and they want us dead...they want me dead. They took my home away from me. All those Arabs are alike. They just want us dead and gone. Where does she come off telling me we should get out of Lebanon? Hell, they made me leave my home. They pulled me away kicking and screaming. I have no home. I have no home so why should they? Why the hell should they.
Get out of here with that sign, you fool! You don't know what you're talking about. You with your Christian-white hair and pale skin. You've got a home, why can't I? Why should we sit back and let those Arab terrorists bomb our people, make them run from their homes, make them live in shelters? We need to kill them all. They aren't human. They're subhuman. Take them out. Do whatever it takes to get them off our land. Lebanon, Palestine. It's all the same. They just want me dead and gone. And here's this goddamn woman telling me that Israel should get out of Lebanon!
Let her live there. Let her live in a country where all her neighbors want her dead. We have to defend ourselves. We Jews have always had to defend ourselves. Look at Hitler. Look at the Holocaust. Look at the Pogroms back in Russia. Look at the anti-Semitism here in the US. That's what she is--she's just a damn anti-Semite. She hates us Jews as much as her so-called "family" in Lebanon does. Family, hell. They're all terrorists. They want me dead. Even those kids. They're being raised to hate me. Hell, the maps in their schools don't even have Israel on them. That's what they want. They want our homeland to go back to those Arabs, those people who didn't do a thing to make it a good land before we got there. Hell, back then it was wasteland. And now? We Jews have made it the Promised Land...our land. That's what Yahweh intended. This is OUR land, not theirs.
Get Israel out of Lebanon? Hell, get those Arab terrorists out of our homeland. That's what has to happen!
***********************************
Telling Joey's story--the Iraq War veteran I met at the ice cream parlor one night--with a more hopeful ending than what really happened:
His first question was, "What does your sign say?" An hour later, he asked, "Do you think the President would sit down and talk to me? A man who fought in his war?" And finally, "Will I ever get over being crazy?"
Joey is 21 years old, blond hair cut short in the military-style. He has deep lines on his forehead that crease when he lifts his eyebrows. He loves chocolate ice cream, his blue-patterned Italian shirt that the army gave him when they released him this afternoon from the psych unit at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He hurried up as we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue late tonight. "You wouldn't walk down a street like this in Baghdad," he said, shaking his head and looking around him.
He feels safe at the Gifford's Ice Cream parlor where we met. "Let's go back there," he said after I'd shown him the White House.
When he'd asked the guard at the West Gate if he could see the president, what if instead of putting him off, he'd said, "Sure, son, come on in. I know Mr. Bush would want to thank you personally for fighting in his war."
Joey would have straightened his shoulders, held his head up high, puffed out his chest and smiled. The lines would have disappeared on his forehead. I would have waited for as long as it took for him to come back. Twenty minutes? Thirty? He wasn't asking for much, just a brief thank you from the man who he said had started the war that made him crazy.
I don't think I would have recognized him after those few minutes. He would have looked 21 not 51, happy not anxious. He would have been all there not riding on six instead of twelve cylinders. He would have almost skipped instead of skulked. He would have looked at me as he told me all about it, instead of scouring the street for snipers. His voice would have sounded confident instead of cowering in his closed-up throat.
Joey, whole, young, happy, optimistic, glad to be alive, looking forward to what came next. Joey as a young man just starting out in life. A young man with a wife who loved him and was waiting for him back home in Kentucky. Joey as he was before he went to fight in Mr. Bush's war.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Perfection!
Anya Achtenberg and Demetria Martinez's writers' retreat--"Yearning and Justice: Writing the Unlived Life"--at Leaven Center was exactly what I needed! And being in such a loving, talented, truth-filled circle of women only added to its perfection. Ten of the fourteen participants were returnees from last summer's retreat with Anya and Demetria, so we already knew and trusted one another. We were graced by the presence of four new women whose unique voices and gifts made our circle complete. Add to that the joy of being in a cedar-built lodge beside a river so grand that is its name, surrounded by 40 acres of meadows and forests with a gurgling creek and cattail-dotted pond, and you can see why I call it perfection. What follows is an exercise I wrote today, the last day of our retreat:
It wasn't the flat plate of white star-shaped blossoms that caught my eye that first morning, but the cupped hand of possibilities, the furry-green sphere dotted with black seeds, each awaiting its moment to shine. It was the safety with which they were being held, protected from any threats to their existence, that appealed to me, their being given the opportunity to screw up their courage before daring to emerge into fullness.
Nothing is more vulnerable than Queen Anne's Lace in full bloom on a meadow in August. It is a hand that says, "Here I am, world! Open to whatever comes."
After having been that open hand myself for eighteen days on the crowded sidewalks in front of the White House, I know how it feels. My sign was the flat plate of blossoms I offered the world. My body was the unprotected stalk on which it swayed. Once I took my sign and held it aloft, I was fair game. "Here I am, folks, come and get me." And they did, wondrously, challengingly, lovingly, terrifyingly.
So here I came four days ago, tired of being open and vulnerable. I wanted to be held protected and safe within the cupped hand of this land I know I can trust. Here I am safe. Here I can let down my guard. Here I can say what I think, not what I hope will allow for nonviolent dialogue.
Such dialogue is fine and good and necessary, but there comes the time when even the peacemaker must rest. When she who puts herself in the place of global connectedness can lay back and simply BE. Be held in the hand of a circle of women who see, hear, value and understand her in ways that will allow her all the time it takes to unfold into the mystery of her next blooming, time to form new seeds of hope, a more inclusive plate of blossoms, a stronger stalk on which to sway.
Held this way I can imagine the peace for which I yearn, a world where each person can bloom into their fullness knowing they will be accepted for who they are. A place were the words "Peace is possible" no longer make people shake their heads and sigh. A world where the unlived life can live.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
writers retreat
I'm off tomorrow (Thursday) for a four-day writers retreat at Leaven Center. It is being facilitated by Anya Achtenberg and Demetria Martinez, the writers with whom I took a similar workshop last summer. My hope/intention is to use their writing prompts to begin to express and integrate the powerful experiences of my 18-day Lebanon Peace Initiative.
This is how the retreat is described in the Leaven brochure:
August 17 - 21, 2006
Yearning and Justice: Writing the Unlived Life
Within each of us resides an unlived life hidden within the life we live in order to survive. This land of yearning is bordered by frustration, overwork, distraction, or violence ~ large and small. Nevertheless, a deep desire persists: to create and to fulfill all that we have not done or said, have not lived or been able to express.
Exploring our conscious and unconscious yearnings opens us to a rich source of creativity as we uncover the core of what we strain for as we write ~ to express the inexpressible. Writing the unlived life enables us to give expression to our longings for a world transformed where peace, justice, and community flourish, where there is safety and an end to unnecessary suffering, where each person's full potential is realized.
As storytellers and poets of this unlived life, we will work together to create the stories and poems, essays and articles, that convey aspects of our lives previously silenced or hidden. This workshop offers ideas for, and practice in, ways of accessing the unlived life so that we give birth to powerful images, complex characters, and a deepened analysis of the world around and within us. There will be room for many kinds of writing and many kinds of writers. We will read, write, and share our writing with one another (by choice, never by obligation).
Event is gender inclusive
Leaders: Demetria Martinez and Anya Achtenberg
Time: Thursday, 7 pm - Monday, 1 pm
Cost: $300 ($100 deposit and $200 balance due)
Demetria Martinez of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the author of a novel, Mother Tongue, winner of a Western States Book Award for fiction; and three collections of poetry, including Breathing Between the Lines. Mother Tongue is based in part upon her 1987 indictment in connection with the Sanctuary Movement. She is summer writing faculty at the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMass Boston. She lectures widely and writes a column about social justice issues for the National Catholic Reporter.
Anya Achtenberg lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has taught creative writing in many places, including New York, Boston, St. Paul, and Albuquerque. She is the recipient of numerous literary prizes. Her novella, The Stories of Devil-girl, was released on CD in 2003, and her second book of poetry, The Stone of Language, published by West End Press in 2004, includes poems awarded first prizes from Southern Poetry Review and Another Chicago Magazine. Her novel-in-progress, More Than The Wind, has been excerpted in Harvard Review.
See you next Monday evening...
This is how the retreat is described in the Leaven brochure:
August 17 - 21, 2006
Yearning and Justice: Writing the Unlived Life
Within each of us resides an unlived life hidden within the life we live in order to survive. This land of yearning is bordered by frustration, overwork, distraction, or violence ~ large and small. Nevertheless, a deep desire persists: to create and to fulfill all that we have not done or said, have not lived or been able to express.
Exploring our conscious and unconscious yearnings opens us to a rich source of creativity as we uncover the core of what we strain for as we write ~ to express the inexpressible. Writing the unlived life enables us to give expression to our longings for a world transformed where peace, justice, and community flourish, where there is safety and an end to unnecessary suffering, where each person's full potential is realized.
As storytellers and poets of this unlived life, we will work together to create the stories and poems, essays and articles, that convey aspects of our lives previously silenced or hidden. This workshop offers ideas for, and practice in, ways of accessing the unlived life so that we give birth to powerful images, complex characters, and a deepened analysis of the world around and within us. There will be room for many kinds of writing and many kinds of writers. We will read, write, and share our writing with one another (by choice, never by obligation).
Event is gender inclusive
Leaders: Demetria Martinez and Anya Achtenberg
Time: Thursday, 7 pm - Monday, 1 pm
Cost: $300 ($100 deposit and $200 balance due)
Demetria Martinez of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the author of a novel, Mother Tongue, winner of a Western States Book Award for fiction; and three collections of poetry, including Breathing Between the Lines. Mother Tongue is based in part upon her 1987 indictment in connection with the Sanctuary Movement. She is summer writing faculty at the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMass Boston. She lectures widely and writes a column about social justice issues for the National Catholic Reporter.
Anya Achtenberg lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has taught creative writing in many places, including New York, Boston, St. Paul, and Albuquerque. She is the recipient of numerous literary prizes. Her novella, The Stories of Devil-girl, was released on CD in 2003, and her second book of poetry, The Stone of Language, published by West End Press in 2004, includes poems awarded first prizes from Southern Poetry Review and Another Chicago Magazine. Her novel-in-progress, More Than The Wind, has been excerpted in Harvard Review.
See you next Monday evening...
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Israeli Leaders Fault Bush on War
By Robert Parry
August 13, 2006
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/081206.html
Amid the political and diplomatic fallout from Israel's faltering invasion of Lebanon, some Israeli officials are privately blaming President George W. Bush for egging Prime Minister Ehud Olmert into the ill-conceived military adventure against the Hezbollah militia in south Lebanon.
Bush conveyed his strong personal support for the military offensive during a White House meeting with Olmert on May 23, according to sources familiar with the thinking of senior Israeli leaders.
Olmert, who like Bush lacks direct wartime experience, agreed that a dose of military force against Hezbollah might damage the guerrilla group's influence in Lebanon and intimidate its allies, Iran and Syria, countries that Bush has identified as the chief obstacles to U.S. interests in the Middle East.
As part of Bush's determination to create a "new Middle East" - one that is more amenable to U.S. policies and desires - Bush even urged Israel to attack Syria, but the Olmert government refused to go that far, according to Israeli sources.
One source said some Israeli officials thought Bush's attack-Syria idea was "nuts" since much of the world would have seen the bombing campaign as overt aggression.
In an article on July 30, the Jerusalem Post referred to Bush's interest in a wider war involving Syria. Israeli "defense officials told the Post last week that they were receiving indications from the US that America would be interested in seeing Israel attack Syria," the newspaper reported.
While balking at an expanded war into Syria, Olmert did agree on the need to show military muscle in Lebanon as a prelude to facing down Iran over its nuclear program, which Olmert has called an "existential" threat to Israel.
With U.S. forces bogged down in Iraq, Bush and his neoconservative advisers saw the inclusion of Israeli forces as crucial for advancing a strategy that would punish Syria for supporting Iraqi insurgents, advance the confrontation with Iran and isolate Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
But the month-long war has failed to achieve its goals of destroying Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon or intimidating Iran and Syria.
Instead, Hezbollah guerrillas fought Israeli troops to a virtual standstill in villages near the border and much of the world saw Israel's bombing raids across Lebanon - which killed hundreds of civilians - as "disproportionate."
Now, as the conflict winds down, some Israeli officials are ruing the Olmert-Bush pact on May 23 and fault Bush for pushing Olmert into the conflict.
Building Pressure
Soon after the May 23 meeting in Washington, Israel began to ratchet up pressure on the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian territories and on Hezbollah and other Islamic militants in Lebanon. As part of this process, Israel staged low-key attacks in both Lebanon and Gaza. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com "A 'Pretext' War in Lebanon."]
The tit-for-tat violence led to the Hamas seizure of an Israeli soldier on June 24 and then to Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza. That, in turn, set the stage for Hezbollah's attack on an Israeli outpost and the capture of two more Israeli soldiers on July 12.
Hezbollah's July 12 raid became the trigger that Bush and Olmert had been waiting for. With the earlier attacks unknown or forgotten, Israel and the U.S. skillfully rallied international condemnation of Hezbollah for what was called an unprovoked attack and a "kidnapping" of Israeli soldiers.
Behind the international criticism of Hezbollah, Bush and Olmert justified an intense air campaign against Lebanese targets, killing civilians and destroying much of Lebanon's commercial infrastructure. Israeli troops also crossed into southern Lebanon with the intent of delivering a devastating military blow against Hezbollah, which retaliated by firing Katyusha rockets into Israel.
However, the Israeli operation was eerily reminiscent of the disastrous U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Like the U.S. assault, Israel relied heavily on "shock and awe" air power and committed an inadequate number of soldiers to the battle.
Israeli newspapers have been filled with complaints from soldiers who say some reservists weren't issued body armor while other soldiers found their equipment either inferior or inappropriate to the battlefield conditions.
Israeli troops also encountered fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas, who took a page from the Iraqi insurgents by using explosive booby traps and ambushes to inflict heavier than expected casualties on the Israelis.
Channel 2 in Israel disclosed that several top military commanders wrote a letter to Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the chief of staff, criticizing the war planning as chaotic and out of line with the combat training of the soldiers and officers. [Washington Post, Aug. 12, 2006]
One Israeli plan to use llamas to deliver supplies in the rugged terrain of south Lebanon turned into an embarrassment when the animals simply sat down.
Reporter Nahum Barnea, who traveled with an Israeli unit in south Lebanon, compared the battle to "the famous Tom and Jerry cartoons" with the powerful Israeli military playing the role of the cat Tom and the resourceful Hezbollah guerrillas playing the mouse Jerry. "In every conflict between them, Jerry wins," Barnea wrote.
Olmert Criticized
Back in Israel, some leading newspapers have begun calling for Olmert's resignation.
"If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more day," the newspaper Haaretz wrote in a front-page analysis. "You cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power.
"You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month and then say, 'Oops, I made a mistake.'" [See Washington Post, Aug. 12, 2006]
For his part, Bush spent July and early August fending off international demands for an immediate cease-fire. Bush wanted to give Olmert as much time as possible to bomb targets across Lebanon and dislodge Hezbollah forces in the south.
But instead of turning the Lebanese population against Hezbollah - as Washington and Tel Aviv had hoped - the devastation rallied public support behind Hezbollah.
As the month-long conflict took on the look of a public-relations disaster for Israel, the Bush administration dropped its resistance to international cease-fire demands and joined with France in crafting a United Nations plan for stopping the fighting.
Quoting "a senior administration official" with Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, the New York Times reported that "it increasingly seemed that Israel would not be able to achieve a military victory, a reality that led the Americans to get behind a cease-fire." [NYT, Aug. 12, 2006]
But the repercussions from Israel's failed Lebanon offensive are likely to continue. Olmert must now confront the political damage at home and the chief U.S. adversaries in the Middle East may be emboldened by the outcome, more than chastened.
As in the Iraq War, Bush has revealed again how reliance on tough talk and military might can sometimes undercut - not build up - U.S. influence in the strategically important Middle East.
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy &Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at Amazon.com, as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth.'
August 13, 2006
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/081206.html
Amid the political and diplomatic fallout from Israel's faltering invasion of Lebanon, some Israeli officials are privately blaming President George W. Bush for egging Prime Minister Ehud Olmert into the ill-conceived military adventure against the Hezbollah militia in south Lebanon.
Bush conveyed his strong personal support for the military offensive during a White House meeting with Olmert on May 23, according to sources familiar with the thinking of senior Israeli leaders.
Olmert, who like Bush lacks direct wartime experience, agreed that a dose of military force against Hezbollah might damage the guerrilla group's influence in Lebanon and intimidate its allies, Iran and Syria, countries that Bush has identified as the chief obstacles to U.S. interests in the Middle East.
As part of Bush's determination to create a "new Middle East" - one that is more amenable to U.S. policies and desires - Bush even urged Israel to attack Syria, but the Olmert government refused to go that far, according to Israeli sources.
One source said some Israeli officials thought Bush's attack-Syria idea was "nuts" since much of the world would have seen the bombing campaign as overt aggression.
In an article on July 30, the Jerusalem Post referred to Bush's interest in a wider war involving Syria. Israeli "defense officials told the Post last week that they were receiving indications from the US that America would be interested in seeing Israel attack Syria," the newspaper reported.
While balking at an expanded war into Syria, Olmert did agree on the need to show military muscle in Lebanon as a prelude to facing down Iran over its nuclear program, which Olmert has called an "existential" threat to Israel.
With U.S. forces bogged down in Iraq, Bush and his neoconservative advisers saw the inclusion of Israeli forces as crucial for advancing a strategy that would punish Syria for supporting Iraqi insurgents, advance the confrontation with Iran and isolate Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
But the month-long war has failed to achieve its goals of destroying Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon or intimidating Iran and Syria.
Instead, Hezbollah guerrillas fought Israeli troops to a virtual standstill in villages near the border and much of the world saw Israel's bombing raids across Lebanon - which killed hundreds of civilians - as "disproportionate."
Now, as the conflict winds down, some Israeli officials are ruing the Olmert-Bush pact on May 23 and fault Bush for pushing Olmert into the conflict.
Building Pressure
Soon after the May 23 meeting in Washington, Israel began to ratchet up pressure on the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian territories and on Hezbollah and other Islamic militants in Lebanon. As part of this process, Israel staged low-key attacks in both Lebanon and Gaza. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com "A 'Pretext' War in Lebanon."]
The tit-for-tat violence led to the Hamas seizure of an Israeli soldier on June 24 and then to Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza. That, in turn, set the stage for Hezbollah's attack on an Israeli outpost and the capture of two more Israeli soldiers on July 12.
Hezbollah's July 12 raid became the trigger that Bush and Olmert had been waiting for. With the earlier attacks unknown or forgotten, Israel and the U.S. skillfully rallied international condemnation of Hezbollah for what was called an unprovoked attack and a "kidnapping" of Israeli soldiers.
Behind the international criticism of Hezbollah, Bush and Olmert justified an intense air campaign against Lebanese targets, killing civilians and destroying much of Lebanon's commercial infrastructure. Israeli troops also crossed into southern Lebanon with the intent of delivering a devastating military blow against Hezbollah, which retaliated by firing Katyusha rockets into Israel.
However, the Israeli operation was eerily reminiscent of the disastrous U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Like the U.S. assault, Israel relied heavily on "shock and awe" air power and committed an inadequate number of soldiers to the battle.
Israeli newspapers have been filled with complaints from soldiers who say some reservists weren't issued body armor while other soldiers found their equipment either inferior or inappropriate to the battlefield conditions.
Israeli troops also encountered fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas, who took a page from the Iraqi insurgents by using explosive booby traps and ambushes to inflict heavier than expected casualties on the Israelis.
Channel 2 in Israel disclosed that several top military commanders wrote a letter to Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the chief of staff, criticizing the war planning as chaotic and out of line with the combat training of the soldiers and officers. [Washington Post, Aug. 12, 2006]
One Israeli plan to use llamas to deliver supplies in the rugged terrain of south Lebanon turned into an embarrassment when the animals simply sat down.
Reporter Nahum Barnea, who traveled with an Israeli unit in south Lebanon, compared the battle to "the famous Tom and Jerry cartoons" with the powerful Israeli military playing the role of the cat Tom and the resourceful Hezbollah guerrillas playing the mouse Jerry. "In every conflict between them, Jerry wins," Barnea wrote.
Olmert Criticized
Back in Israel, some leading newspapers have begun calling for Olmert's resignation.
"If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more day," the newspaper Haaretz wrote in a front-page analysis. "You cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power.
"You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month and then say, 'Oops, I made a mistake.'" [See Washington Post, Aug. 12, 2006]
For his part, Bush spent July and early August fending off international demands for an immediate cease-fire. Bush wanted to give Olmert as much time as possible to bomb targets across Lebanon and dislodge Hezbollah forces in the south.
But instead of turning the Lebanese population against Hezbollah - as Washington and Tel Aviv had hoped - the devastation rallied public support behind Hezbollah.
As the month-long conflict took on the look of a public-relations disaster for Israel, the Bush administration dropped its resistance to international cease-fire demands and joined with France in crafting a United Nations plan for stopping the fighting.
Quoting "a senior administration official" with Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, the New York Times reported that "it increasingly seemed that Israel would not be able to achieve a military victory, a reality that led the Americans to get behind a cease-fire." [NYT, Aug. 12, 2006]
But the repercussions from Israel's failed Lebanon offensive are likely to continue. Olmert must now confront the political damage at home and the chief U.S. adversaries in the Middle East may be emboldened by the outcome, more than chastened.
As in the Iraq War, Bush has revealed again how reliance on tough talk and military might can sometimes undercut - not build up - U.S. influence in the strategically important Middle East.
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy &Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at Amazon.com, as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth.'
Monday, August 14, 2006
Thank god they're safe
This is the first time I've cried since it all began. And they're tears of relief, not sadness.
I just got off the phone after talking with every single member of my family in Kuwait except Rabih who had to go to Qatar three days ago for a conference. Sami (14) whose voice had changed. Sulaima who told me only part of the story of their escape...the part up until they made it into Syria. Sana (16) who I've been most worried about and with good reason. Her heart is broken at losing her new best frind. After having lost her best friend in Ann Arbor, Michigan when she and her family were deported in July 2003, it had taken her until six months ago to find another girlfriend of her heart. And now? She has to start all over again. I promised her I'm going to work my very best magic and find her a best friend in Kuwait QUICKLY. Rami (12) who is a writer and whom I encouraged to write down all of his thoughts and feelings about what has happened. He said that sounded great, "Then I could get it out." Oussama (8) who said, "Don't worry about us, Patricia. We're OK now." He also said, "I miss you SO much, Patricia!" Little Braheem whose voice filled the phone with the babble of a two year-old. Braheem who apparently won't let his mother out of his sight, who screams if she puts on her scarf even just to pray or go outside to hang clothes.
Sulaima says she now stutters. Sana said she wakes up every hour throughout the night, and jumps even when she hears the sound of her alam clock ticking. Braheem who won't let his mother out of his sight.
The traumas of war.
After the International Airport five minutes from their apartment in a southern suburb of Beirut was bombed twice--the second, hitting the fuel tanks--Sulaima found a kindly old taxicab driver to take them the (normally) hour's drive up to the family home in Hammana on Mount Lebanon. They left the cat with their cook who lived nearby. But fifteen minutes after they arrived in Hammana, the Israelis started bombing that area. "Right next to our house," as they described it. TV towers, transformers, bridges, roads...all bombed. 20-25 bombs a day. In the middle of all this, Sulaima talked the elderly taxicab driver into driving her back down to Beirut so she could get the cat and gather up necessary papers and things.
I'd been worrying about the cat and how leaving him behind must be upsetting Sulaima and the kids. They'd gotten that little kitty while I was there last November and loved him dearly.
I told Sulaima I sure am glad I didn't know she was going back to Beirut after she'd gotten them up to Hammana or I would have freaked!
Anyway, she managed to connect with the Kuwaiti embassy and get them on a bus that was evacuating Kuwaiti citizens--Sulaima is Kuwaiti--after having lived through the bombardment of Hammana for three days. She paid the taxicab driver more money to drive the kitty cat back down to Beirut to their apartment. Apparently a family who had had to leave their home in the south of Lebanon is temporarily staying there, so they could take care of the cat. Sana said she's told her Dad that as soon as he can get to their old apartment, she wants him to get the cat and bring him to Kuwait. As she said, "He doesn't do well with strangers. Besides, he's a very emotional cat. He must be very depressed."
The worries of war.
If you remember, Rabih had been caught in Istanbul during all of this and couldn't find any way to get back home. So there was Sulaima, responsible for getting all five children safely out of Lebanon. The Kuwaiti bus was picking up passengers at the next village over from Hammana, so that worked out well. The bus took the only road that was still open into Syria, a road that was bombed and then closed the next morning. They waited six hours at the border and had to deal wth the fact that three of the kids' passports had expired. "It was crazy," Sulaima said, "people everyplace, crowds and crowds of people." But the border guards happily weren't sticking too closely to the rules and let the kids' expired passports go through.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. When the bus made a brief stop, one of the boys had to go to the bathroom, so he and Sulaima got off the bus and ran as quickly as they could to try to find a toilet. As she described it, "We finally found a small dirty room in a nearby building that had two tiny toilet stalls. I could hear a woman with an American accent saying to her son exactly what I was saying to mine--'Stand at the toilet, don't you dare sit down, and do your business!" She said, "We both laughed when we heard each other saying the same thing." But then they had to run to try to catch the bus--it was already moving away by the time they got there! But, thank god, it stopped and let them on.
That was as far as Sulaima had the time and energy to take me during this, our first long phone visit since their world came apart on July 12th. She said we'll pick up from here when we talk again. Which, by the way, can be on a regular basis. I recently bought a phone card online that lets me call Kuwait for 14 cents a minute! We talked for 50 minutes today for only $7. Amazing!
When I asked Sana if she'd been able to bring any of her precious things along on the journey, she said, "Yes, a few books and the journal a dear friend from Michigan gave me." That was the journal I'd given her when I'd visited last November.
Today was the first time I'd been able to talk with any of the kids since July 12th. Boy, did I need to hear their voices, to be able to tell them I loved them and hear the same back from them.
I've never before considered the possibility of visiting Kuwait, but now? The kids said it's been REALLY hot since they got there a couple of weeks ago, but I bet spring is lovely in Kuwait. Who knows where I might end up come April or May. Life has a way of surprising you if you let it.
Thank god they're safe.
I just got off the phone after talking with every single member of my family in Kuwait except Rabih who had to go to Qatar three days ago for a conference. Sami (14) whose voice had changed. Sulaima who told me only part of the story of their escape...the part up until they made it into Syria. Sana (16) who I've been most worried about and with good reason. Her heart is broken at losing her new best frind. After having lost her best friend in Ann Arbor, Michigan when she and her family were deported in July 2003, it had taken her until six months ago to find another girlfriend of her heart. And now? She has to start all over again. I promised her I'm going to work my very best magic and find her a best friend in Kuwait QUICKLY. Rami (12) who is a writer and whom I encouraged to write down all of his thoughts and feelings about what has happened. He said that sounded great, "Then I could get it out." Oussama (8) who said, "Don't worry about us, Patricia. We're OK now." He also said, "I miss you SO much, Patricia!" Little Braheem whose voice filled the phone with the babble of a two year-old. Braheem who apparently won't let his mother out of his sight, who screams if she puts on her scarf even just to pray or go outside to hang clothes.
Sulaima says she now stutters. Sana said she wakes up every hour throughout the night, and jumps even when she hears the sound of her alam clock ticking. Braheem who won't let his mother out of his sight.
The traumas of war.
After the International Airport five minutes from their apartment in a southern suburb of Beirut was bombed twice--the second, hitting the fuel tanks--Sulaima found a kindly old taxicab driver to take them the (normally) hour's drive up to the family home in Hammana on Mount Lebanon. They left the cat with their cook who lived nearby. But fifteen minutes after they arrived in Hammana, the Israelis started bombing that area. "Right next to our house," as they described it. TV towers, transformers, bridges, roads...all bombed. 20-25 bombs a day. In the middle of all this, Sulaima talked the elderly taxicab driver into driving her back down to Beirut so she could get the cat and gather up necessary papers and things.
I'd been worrying about the cat and how leaving him behind must be upsetting Sulaima and the kids. They'd gotten that little kitty while I was there last November and loved him dearly.
I told Sulaima I sure am glad I didn't know she was going back to Beirut after she'd gotten them up to Hammana or I would have freaked!
Anyway, she managed to connect with the Kuwaiti embassy and get them on a bus that was evacuating Kuwaiti citizens--Sulaima is Kuwaiti--after having lived through the bombardment of Hammana for three days. She paid the taxicab driver more money to drive the kitty cat back down to Beirut to their apartment. Apparently a family who had had to leave their home in the south of Lebanon is temporarily staying there, so they could take care of the cat. Sana said she's told her Dad that as soon as he can get to their old apartment, she wants him to get the cat and bring him to Kuwait. As she said, "He doesn't do well with strangers. Besides, he's a very emotional cat. He must be very depressed."
The worries of war.
If you remember, Rabih had been caught in Istanbul during all of this and couldn't find any way to get back home. So there was Sulaima, responsible for getting all five children safely out of Lebanon. The Kuwaiti bus was picking up passengers at the next village over from Hammana, so that worked out well. The bus took the only road that was still open into Syria, a road that was bombed and then closed the next morning. They waited six hours at the border and had to deal wth the fact that three of the kids' passports had expired. "It was crazy," Sulaima said, "people everyplace, crowds and crowds of people." But the border guards happily weren't sticking too closely to the rules and let the kids' expired passports go through.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. When the bus made a brief stop, one of the boys had to go to the bathroom, so he and Sulaima got off the bus and ran as quickly as they could to try to find a toilet. As she described it, "We finally found a small dirty room in a nearby building that had two tiny toilet stalls. I could hear a woman with an American accent saying to her son exactly what I was saying to mine--'Stand at the toilet, don't you dare sit down, and do your business!" She said, "We both laughed when we heard each other saying the same thing." But then they had to run to try to catch the bus--it was already moving away by the time they got there! But, thank god, it stopped and let them on.
That was as far as Sulaima had the time and energy to take me during this, our first long phone visit since their world came apart on July 12th. She said we'll pick up from here when we talk again. Which, by the way, can be on a regular basis. I recently bought a phone card online that lets me call Kuwait for 14 cents a minute! We talked for 50 minutes today for only $7. Amazing!
When I asked Sana if she'd been able to bring any of her precious things along on the journey, she said, "Yes, a few books and the journal a dear friend from Michigan gave me." That was the journal I'd given her when I'd visited last November.
Today was the first time I'd been able to talk with any of the kids since July 12th. Boy, did I need to hear their voices, to be able to tell them I loved them and hear the same back from them.
I've never before considered the possibility of visiting Kuwait, but now? The kids said it's been REALLY hot since they got there a couple of weeks ago, but I bet spring is lovely in Kuwait. Who knows where I might end up come April or May. Life has a way of surprising you if you let it.
Thank god they're safe.
My sisters present the truth
I felt like I'd come home again. Home to sisters who understood.
Yes, I've been fortunate to have friends and readers across the world who supported my Lebanon Peace Initiative with all their hearts. And a smaller community of dear folks who donated their hard-earned money to help me pay my $2200 hotel/parking bill for those 18 days of mounting a solitary vigil in Washington, DC in solidarity with my Lebanese sisters and brothers.
But, until yesterday, there had been few people I'd met or knew who shared the depth of my pain over what Israel and the US have been doing to Lebanon and its people for 33 days and nights. The death and destruction are unimaginable. And my knowing the gracious inhabitants of that exquisitely beautiful land that I'd visited just nine months ago made their suffering all the more real to me. Besides, the painful fact that dozens and dozens of children I know from the Dearborn school where I've volunteered since 2001 were actually IN Lebanon visiting family for the summer made each US-made bomb that Israel dropped on civilians feel like a personal attack on my loved ones. I still don't know if any of our students were killed or wounded. I don't even know if they were evacuated safely.
All this to say that my visceral response to Israel's massacre of the innocents--over 1000 civilians killed, a third of them children under the age of 12--has deep roots within my lived experience.
So, yesterday afternoon, when I met Lebanese-born women on the riverfront in Windsor, Ontario who, with their children, were mounting a public display of photos that showed the TRUE cost of this war on their homeland, we recognized one another as sisters.
Sunday was the third day of their vigil, a vigil they saw as a way to educate the public as to the TRUTH of Israel's war on Lebanon. The banner said it all: "Lebanon Resists! Here is the Truth You Don't See." It was framed by two flags: The Cedars of Lebanon and the Maple Leaf. Strung to the right of this banner were dozens of enlarged photos of Lebanese war victims, mainly women and children. Each photo was pasted to a poster on which were handwritten captions, some of them sarcastic, others angry, but most simply grief-stricken. It was a painful road to walk, but the organizers, Ghina and Aida, said over a hundred visitors had done so in the past three days.
My friend, Margaret Villamizar, coordinator of the Windsor Peace Coalition, had told the women about my 18-day vigil in front of the White House, so when I introduced myself and showed them my sign, they greeted me with enthusiasm. I then told them about my experiences during those 18 days, and a crowd of women, children and even one man gathered around, asking questions and taking in all that I had to say. We bonded deeply.
I stayed there for a couple of hours and before I left, we all exchanged contact information. I told them I'd like to be on their email list and join them in any actions they take on behalf of the Lebanese people. I also offered to share my experiences at their mosque if they thought that would be helpful.
And now let me offer you the opportunity to see the painful truth of what has happened during the past 33 days in Lebanon:
Yes, I've been fortunate to have friends and readers across the world who supported my Lebanon Peace Initiative with all their hearts. And a smaller community of dear folks who donated their hard-earned money to help me pay my $2200 hotel/parking bill for those 18 days of mounting a solitary vigil in Washington, DC in solidarity with my Lebanese sisters and brothers.
But, until yesterday, there had been few people I'd met or knew who shared the depth of my pain over what Israel and the US have been doing to Lebanon and its people for 33 days and nights. The death and destruction are unimaginable. And my knowing the gracious inhabitants of that exquisitely beautiful land that I'd visited just nine months ago made their suffering all the more real to me. Besides, the painful fact that dozens and dozens of children I know from the Dearborn school where I've volunteered since 2001 were actually IN Lebanon visiting family for the summer made each US-made bomb that Israel dropped on civilians feel like a personal attack on my loved ones. I still don't know if any of our students were killed or wounded. I don't even know if they were evacuated safely.
All this to say that my visceral response to Israel's massacre of the innocents--over 1000 civilians killed, a third of them children under the age of 12--has deep roots within my lived experience.
So, yesterday afternoon, when I met Lebanese-born women on the riverfront in Windsor, Ontario who, with their children, were mounting a public display of photos that showed the TRUE cost of this war on their homeland, we recognized one another as sisters.
Sunday was the third day of their vigil, a vigil they saw as a way to educate the public as to the TRUTH of Israel's war on Lebanon. The banner said it all: "Lebanon Resists! Here is the Truth You Don't See." It was framed by two flags: The Cedars of Lebanon and the Maple Leaf. Strung to the right of this banner were dozens of enlarged photos of Lebanese war victims, mainly women and children. Each photo was pasted to a poster on which were handwritten captions, some of them sarcastic, others angry, but most simply grief-stricken. It was a painful road to walk, but the organizers, Ghina and Aida, said over a hundred visitors had done so in the past three days.
My friend, Margaret Villamizar, coordinator of the Windsor Peace Coalition, had told the women about my 18-day vigil in front of the White House, so when I introduced myself and showed them my sign, they greeted me with enthusiasm. I then told them about my experiences during those 18 days, and a crowd of women, children and even one man gathered around, asking questions and taking in all that I had to say. We bonded deeply.
I stayed there for a couple of hours and before I left, we all exchanged contact information. I told them I'd like to be on their email list and join them in any actions they take on behalf of the Lebanese people. I also offered to share my experiences at their mosque if they thought that would be helpful.
And now let me offer you the opportunity to see the painful truth of what has happened during the past 33 days in Lebanon:
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Three voices
During the past month I've received emails from several readers who have unique, and in my opinion, important perspectives on what is currently happening in Lebanon and Israel. Here are three such voices:
From Mike, a second-generation Lebanese-American whom I met (along with his wife Gail) in front of the White House on July 31st...
Regarding Lebanon - the issue at hand - There is no peace without dignity... This is a truth at the deepest human level that supercedes all other qualifiers such as race, religion, and nationality. When people such as in Palestine in the 21st century live in 'refugee camps' while ten miles away cities in Israel are some of the most beautiful in the world, it doesn't take much to see that there a ripe environment for envy and animosty. Lack of that one fundamental - dignity - is the key ingredient in the recipe in people deciding to commit violence or acts of terror. No gun or bomb or tank will ever fix or cure this... In Israel's case, their military strategy has become a Harvard textbook case of winning all the battles, yet losing the war.
A middle class in the Arab world. It's my 'crazy idea' I tell everyone...>>... - This is something real that the US can help foster, using its economic might. Example - Lebanon - a strong Lebanon is a secure and sovereign Lebanon, not one that a gust of wind can knock over its fragile civil war scarred government. A strong Lebanon can be a real friend to Israel. A real middle class combats the one shortcoming - lack of dignity - that is so prevalant in many of the streets of the Middle East. People who have stability, and who can watch their children grow with a future and with dignity, do not get caught up in commiting acts violence, the killing of one's neighbors, or fall under the spell of things such as "basement Islam".
Religion is being used today as "a call to arms". Occupied peoples whether they were Catholics in France and western Europe under the Nazis, Jews during WWII in the Warsaw Ghetto, Muslims in Algiers in the 50s and 60s, etc. Even our very forefathers who founded this nation 225 years ago that gives us at home and so much of the world everything... These are all people who resisted occupation by any means necessary. It is only history that judges them as "heroes" or "terrorists". No American who I know who calls him or herself a true American, would Ever live under occupation... Certainly not ones who represent our nation today in uniform.
I fear that the overwhelming and unilateral backing of our ally Israel, ensures that the United States is no longer viewed as a moral superpower who can be looked upon by others in the world to be a bi-partisan judge in world matters. Congressional votes of 410-8 and senate votes of 100-0 are not simply backing an ally, or guaranteeing campaign money from the pro-Israeli lobby (which today dwarfs donations from Arab interests). With votes such as this, it more closely resembles - a battle line.
I fear that as a nation if we don't change our policies to remaining firm but always even-handed, always the moral example in the world, that we as a nation with all our hopes and strengths, may become like Israel - a nation barricaded into our own fortress, defending against and waiting for the next group of people plotting in their basements to harm us.
*************************************
From a Jewish American friend who lives in California...
I've kept up with your blog and support what you have been doing. Very courageous -- but then you've never been short on courage.
I don't agree with your positions entirely, but I do agree with many of them -- probably more than you would expect.
From what I know about the mid-east, the Israeli government's actions -- at best -- have been foolish when considering the long term. Obviously they have created many more terrorists for the future. And that's probably the kindest thing I could say about that.
I feel great empathy and regret for all innocent people in Lebanon, especially those who are displaced and who have had their lives destroyed or nearly destroyed for something they didn't cause.
[By the way, how are your family members doing now? You haven't mentioned them in weeks. How are they going to build new lives yet again? My family had to go through that during the Russian pogroms and again in the Holocaust, and resettling was never easy or pleasant.]
However, I find Ira Chernus' article VERY insulting, patronizing, and unbearably pompous and smug. I hope you don't really rely on it as a way to talk to your Jewish friends, because it feels WAY off base to me, and it will insult us for sure.
Here's the basic fact that is most important to me in the way my non-Jewish pro-peace friends talk about Israel:
NOT ALL JEWS SUPPORT THE POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, JUST AS NOT ALL AMERICANS SUPPORT THE POLICIES OF THE CURRENT U.S. GOVERNMENT.
I just wish that sentence could be repeated *each* time anybody talks about what Israel or the Jews are doing. Unfortunately it isn't mentioned most of the time, and therefore discussions promote anti-semitism, which hurts me and my family and just adds to the violence.
That's my basic beef with this whole discussion.
I'll bet Rabih and his family don't know or don't believe that there are many Jews who feel terrible about what has happened to him and his family -- and who never have and would never have supported the policies that caused their suffering.
I for one do not support the policies of the right-wing Israeli government. I do not like it when everybody constantly assumes that I do. I do not support George Bush. I do not like it when anybody assumes that I do.
I do, however, believe Israel has a right to exist. I do keenly feel the aftermath of the Holocaust and the pogroms and the diaspora. I think the 1948 Israeli boundaries, as impractical and artificial as they were, at least had *some* moral basis built on the idea that Palestine and Jerusalem could be split somewhat evenly between Jews and Arabs and based on a hope that they could somehow find a way to co-exist.
Unfortunately the ensuing wars changed those boundaries. I understand that if we visit Israel we see that those original boundaries appear geographically indefensible from Israel's standpoint, so Israel keeps feeling the practical (yet I believe immoral) need to expand them. That was especially easy in 1967 when the war (foolishly started by Arabs) gave Israel the very easy and convenient excuse to expand those boundaries and keep those territories away from non-Jews for the next 40 years. That was immoral on both sides and still causes problems today.
Lebanon is a heart-breaking and extremely complicated issue. But I cannot and will not support the destruction of that lovely country, nor the outrageous acts against innocent people there.
I'm not quite to this point yet, but I almost think that it would be better to try something extreme. My fantasy would be to give every person within 300 miles of Jerusalem a choice. Either take a vow to stay there and live in complete peace -- with no weapons allowed by anyone -- or be resettled somewhere else at the expense of the U.S. and any other governments who wish to contribute. Ring those 300 miles with a security fence and do not allow any weapons inside. Anybody who isn't peaceful gets expelled.
And if that doesn't work, then resettle everybody (peacefully and comfortably at our expense) and flood all areas within 300 miles of Jerusalem (probably including Mecca) with enough radioactive neutrons to make the area completely uninhabitable by humans for 300 years.
By then, all families with fresh memories of suffering would be dead and gone. Maybe we could all leave a document for the people of the 24th century saying that we hope at that time the land will be open only to people who demonstrate and pledge to the most peaceful and loving behavior.
In other words, the people of our era would agree together that we've all made a mess of it, and we will join together in all giving up the entire place so that future generations can enjoy it in peace. Meanwhile we can build some temporary replicas of the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock and other parts of it in other places (hey, if Las Vegas can do that, so can we).
Ironically, that might be Solomon's solution.
Oh, well, probably too utopian. But all other solutions are horrid and untenable and just supremely unfair, so why not?
Meanwhile, I just wish that everybody could realize and keep in mind that it is possible for many Jews to believe that Israel has a right to exist within its 1948 boundaries -- without also believing that anybody else should now suffer for that right.
************************************
From a Canadian reader who lives in British Columbia:
I have been thinking for several days on your question (somewhere in your blog) about the why of those people who do not see what is happening in Lebanon or might even support the bombings. My husband's Dad is one of those folks who says things like "If they support terrorists, then what do they expect if they are bombed?" and "Israel has a right to defend themselves from 'those people'", etc. After trying "rationally" to explain the situation and the whys and why-nots and only getting rhetoric in return, I had to think on it very carefully and see what my mind/intuition/heart/knowlege of history, etc. came up with.
These are a few thoughts:
1. There are many layers to this plan of war that Bush and co. is waging on the world. The first layer is their "war of terrorism" in which Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and now Hezbollah (sp?) become "the enemy" and folks are expected to substitute one name for another in their fear of the enemy.
The second layer is that of control and profit from oil/water/economies and this is more and more seen and acknowledged as the "true" reason for wars in the middle east. But, although this is certainly a "real" reason, the insanity and illogical actions are not entirely explained (to me) by even the second one.
I have just read a very illuminating book called "A Short History of Progress" which talks about the cyclical nature of civilizations, so I have now added a third layer to this war which seems, to me, to click other things into place. Fronted by "war on terrorism", shadowed by "oil/water/profit", the fervour and fanaticism I see unexplained by the first two layers, becomes clearer and, indeed, more logical (if there is such a term in this war) by out and out "holy war". This is the crusades all over again. The ability to lump all middle eastern countries, no matter how diverse, into one threatening peoples (even though some, like Iran and Iraq, have been at war with one another for years), the reason Bin Laden, Saddam or now Lebanese "terrorist" can be substituted, is because they are all of the Moslem Faith.
The United States is, at its heart, a Christian country, and, quite frankly, a fundamentalist Christian country, and peoples that worship a Manifestation. Mohamoud, who came after Christ, are heretics, infidels, expendable, need to be eradicated as "anti-Christs" (even though the Moslem faith accepts Christ, they have the audacity to add another Prophet after Him). Believe me, the economics are a nice sideline to this holy war, the same as people profitted by the first crusades. Ironically, the Moslems in the Middle East know this is a Holy War, and yet, many in the west, who don't want to think that this is that simplistic, or that such a politically incorrect thing as religous "racism" could be at the heart, think it is a matter of explaining how war is wrong. Bush knows that war is wrong, he just doesn't think it is wrong to make war on infidels, that it is exempted because they are the ungodly, repudiators of the "Christ only" fundamentalist philosophy, etc. That is why Bush is so dangerous--he thinks he has God and Christ on his side. He won't chose peace because, not only is war much more profitable, but he believes he is on a holy mission and that anything he and his buddies make from this war, is their reward from God for warring on the ungodly.
2. How does Israel fit into this? Jews are seen by fundamentalist Christians as those who have just not "seen the light' yet, not in the same vein as Moslems who know Christ and who have the audacity to add a Prophet beyond Christ. Israel is the perfect war tool for Bush and the United States. A country, armed and dangerous, ready to offend and be offended, ready, willing and waiting to war. Turn them in one direction and they will fight; turn them in another and they will fight in that direction. A catalyst for war with the infidels, a perfect fighting machine, expendable in the their own way because they're not Christians either, a country in which peace is impossible at the moment for many reasons. Although in the past, Israel has used the States, I think it is the other way round right now, the United States is using Israel.
3. Anne Wilson Shaeff's book, "When Society becomes an Addict" (or maybe it is "The Addictive Society") talks about how there many layers to a society that some see and some don't. Ask any person whether they would choose peace or war and most will choose peace, but, the reality is that many will not recognize war as war, nor indeed, know what peace means. This is a matter of education and illumination, which is why I think your role there is so important. Help people to ask the question: "what is peace?", "what is war?", and to recognize each when they see it. Thinking for themselves, and not (like my husband's Dad) believing every little bit of propoganda that they are fed.
From Mike, a second-generation Lebanese-American whom I met (along with his wife Gail) in front of the White House on July 31st...
Regarding Lebanon - the issue at hand - There is no peace without dignity... This is a truth at the deepest human level that supercedes all other qualifiers such as race, religion, and nationality. When people such as in Palestine in the 21st century live in 'refugee camps' while ten miles away cities in Israel are some of the most beautiful in the world, it doesn't take much to see that there a ripe environment for envy and animosty. Lack of that one fundamental - dignity - is the key ingredient in the recipe in people deciding to commit violence or acts of terror. No gun or bomb or tank will ever fix or cure this... In Israel's case, their military strategy has become a Harvard textbook case of winning all the battles, yet losing the war.
A middle class in the Arab world. It's my 'crazy idea' I tell everyone...
Religion is being used today as "a call to arms". Occupied peoples whether they were Catholics in France and western Europe under the Nazis, Jews during WWII in the Warsaw Ghetto, Muslims in Algiers in the 50s and 60s, etc. Even our very forefathers who founded this nation 225 years ago that gives us at home and so much of the world everything... These are all people who resisted occupation by any means necessary. It is only history that judges them as "heroes" or "terrorists". No American who I know who calls him or herself a true American, would Ever live under occupation... Certainly not ones who represent our nation today in uniform.
I fear that the overwhelming and unilateral backing of our ally Israel, ensures that the United States is no longer viewed as a moral superpower who can be looked upon by others in the world to be a bi-partisan judge in world matters. Congressional votes of 410-8 and senate votes of 100-0 are not simply backing an ally, or guaranteeing campaign money from the pro-Israeli lobby (which today dwarfs donations from Arab interests). With votes such as this, it more closely resembles - a battle line.
I fear that as a nation if we don't change our policies to remaining firm but always even-handed, always the moral example in the world, that we as a nation with all our hopes and strengths, may become like Israel - a nation barricaded into our own fortress, defending against and waiting for the next group of people plotting in their basements to harm us.
*************************************
From a Jewish American friend who lives in California...
I've kept up with your blog and support what you have been doing. Very courageous -- but then you've never been short on courage.
I don't agree with your positions entirely, but I do agree with many of them -- probably more than you would expect.
From what I know about the mid-east, the Israeli government's actions -- at best -- have been foolish when considering the long term. Obviously they have created many more terrorists for the future. And that's probably the kindest thing I could say about that.
I feel great empathy and regret for all innocent people in Lebanon, especially those who are displaced and who have had their lives destroyed or nearly destroyed for something they didn't cause.
[By the way, how are your family members doing now? You haven't mentioned them in weeks. How are they going to build new lives yet again? My family had to go through that during the Russian pogroms and again in the Holocaust, and resettling was never easy or pleasant.]
However, I find Ira Chernus' article VERY insulting, patronizing, and unbearably pompous and smug. I hope you don't really rely on it as a way to talk to your Jewish friends, because it feels WAY off base to me, and it will insult us for sure.
Here's the basic fact that is most important to me in the way my non-Jewish pro-peace friends talk about Israel:
NOT ALL JEWS SUPPORT THE POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, JUST AS NOT ALL AMERICANS SUPPORT THE POLICIES OF THE CURRENT U.S. GOVERNMENT.
I just wish that sentence could be repeated *each* time anybody talks about what Israel or the Jews are doing. Unfortunately it isn't mentioned most of the time, and therefore discussions promote anti-semitism, which hurts me and my family and just adds to the violence.
That's my basic beef with this whole discussion.
I'll bet Rabih and his family don't know or don't believe that there are many Jews who feel terrible about what has happened to him and his family -- and who never have and would never have supported the policies that caused their suffering.
I for one do not support the policies of the right-wing Israeli government. I do not like it when everybody constantly assumes that I do. I do not support George Bush. I do not like it when anybody assumes that I do.
I do, however, believe Israel has a right to exist. I do keenly feel the aftermath of the Holocaust and the pogroms and the diaspora. I think the 1948 Israeli boundaries, as impractical and artificial as they were, at least had *some* moral basis built on the idea that Palestine and Jerusalem could be split somewhat evenly between Jews and Arabs and based on a hope that they could somehow find a way to co-exist.
Unfortunately the ensuing wars changed those boundaries. I understand that if we visit Israel we see that those original boundaries appear geographically indefensible from Israel's standpoint, so Israel keeps feeling the practical (yet I believe immoral) need to expand them. That was especially easy in 1967 when the war (foolishly started by Arabs) gave Israel the very easy and convenient excuse to expand those boundaries and keep those territories away from non-Jews for the next 40 years. That was immoral on both sides and still causes problems today.
Lebanon is a heart-breaking and extremely complicated issue. But I cannot and will not support the destruction of that lovely country, nor the outrageous acts against innocent people there.
I'm not quite to this point yet, but I almost think that it would be better to try something extreme. My fantasy would be to give every person within 300 miles of Jerusalem a choice. Either take a vow to stay there and live in complete peace -- with no weapons allowed by anyone -- or be resettled somewhere else at the expense of the U.S. and any other governments who wish to contribute. Ring those 300 miles with a security fence and do not allow any weapons inside. Anybody who isn't peaceful gets expelled.
And if that doesn't work, then resettle everybody (peacefully and comfortably at our expense) and flood all areas within 300 miles of Jerusalem (probably including Mecca) with enough radioactive neutrons to make the area completely uninhabitable by humans for 300 years.
By then, all families with fresh memories of suffering would be dead and gone. Maybe we could all leave a document for the people of the 24th century saying that we hope at that time the land will be open only to people who demonstrate and pledge to the most peaceful and loving behavior.
In other words, the people of our era would agree together that we've all made a mess of it, and we will join together in all giving up the entire place so that future generations can enjoy it in peace. Meanwhile we can build some temporary replicas of the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock and other parts of it in other places (hey, if Las Vegas can do that, so can we).
Ironically, that might be Solomon's solution.
Oh, well, probably too utopian. But all other solutions are horrid and untenable and just supremely unfair, so why not?
Meanwhile, I just wish that everybody could realize and keep in mind that it is possible for many Jews to believe that Israel has a right to exist within its 1948 boundaries -- without also believing that anybody else should now suffer for that right.
************************************
From a Canadian reader who lives in British Columbia:
I have been thinking for several days on your question (somewhere in your blog) about the why of those people who do not see what is happening in Lebanon or might even support the bombings. My husband's Dad is one of those folks who says things like "If they support terrorists, then what do they expect if they are bombed?" and "Israel has a right to defend themselves from 'those people'", etc. After trying "rationally" to explain the situation and the whys and why-nots and only getting rhetoric in return, I had to think on it very carefully and see what my mind/intuition/heart/knowlege of history, etc. came up with.
These are a few thoughts:
1. There are many layers to this plan of war that Bush and co. is waging on the world. The first layer is their "war of terrorism" in which Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and now Hezbollah (sp?) become "the enemy" and folks are expected to substitute one name for another in their fear of the enemy.
The second layer is that of control and profit from oil/water/economies and this is more and more seen and acknowledged as the "true" reason for wars in the middle east. But, although this is certainly a "real" reason, the insanity and illogical actions are not entirely explained (to me) by even the second one.
I have just read a very illuminating book called "A Short History of Progress" which talks about the cyclical nature of civilizations, so I have now added a third layer to this war which seems, to me, to click other things into place. Fronted by "war on terrorism", shadowed by "oil/water/profit", the fervour and fanaticism I see unexplained by the first two layers, becomes clearer and, indeed, more logical (if there is such a term in this war) by out and out "holy war". This is the crusades all over again. The ability to lump all middle eastern countries, no matter how diverse, into one threatening peoples (even though some, like Iran and Iraq, have been at war with one another for years), the reason Bin Laden, Saddam or now Lebanese "terrorist" can be substituted, is because they are all of the Moslem Faith.
The United States is, at its heart, a Christian country, and, quite frankly, a fundamentalist Christian country, and peoples that worship a Manifestation. Mohamoud, who came after Christ, are heretics, infidels, expendable, need to be eradicated as "anti-Christs" (even though the Moslem faith accepts Christ, they have the audacity to add another Prophet after Him). Believe me, the economics are a nice sideline to this holy war, the same as people profitted by the first crusades. Ironically, the Moslems in the Middle East know this is a Holy War, and yet, many in the west, who don't want to think that this is that simplistic, or that such a politically incorrect thing as religous "racism" could be at the heart, think it is a matter of explaining how war is wrong. Bush knows that war is wrong, he just doesn't think it is wrong to make war on infidels, that it is exempted because they are the ungodly, repudiators of the "Christ only" fundamentalist philosophy, etc. That is why Bush is so dangerous--he thinks he has God and Christ on his side. He won't chose peace because, not only is war much more profitable, but he believes he is on a holy mission and that anything he and his buddies make from this war, is their reward from God for warring on the ungodly.
2. How does Israel fit into this? Jews are seen by fundamentalist Christians as those who have just not "seen the light' yet, not in the same vein as Moslems who know Christ and who have the audacity to add a Prophet beyond Christ. Israel is the perfect war tool for Bush and the United States. A country, armed and dangerous, ready to offend and be offended, ready, willing and waiting to war. Turn them in one direction and they will fight; turn them in another and they will fight in that direction. A catalyst for war with the infidels, a perfect fighting machine, expendable in the their own way because they're not Christians either, a country in which peace is impossible at the moment for many reasons. Although in the past, Israel has used the States, I think it is the other way round right now, the United States is using Israel.
3. Anne Wilson Shaeff's book, "When Society becomes an Addict" (or maybe it is "The Addictive Society") talks about how there many layers to a society that some see and some don't. Ask any person whether they would choose peace or war and most will choose peace, but, the reality is that many will not recognize war as war, nor indeed, know what peace means. This is a matter of education and illumination, which is why I think your role there is so important. Help people to ask the question: "what is peace?", "what is war?", and to recognize each when they see it. Thinking for themselves, and not (like my husband's Dad) believing every little bit of propoganda that they are fed.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
when a friend needs help
My friend Pat is now fast asleep in our front upstairs room. It is 6:45 PM. She spent last night in the emergency room of a local hospital. Chest pains. Again. She called me when she got back home at 1 PM today and I urged her to come stay with us for two weeks. There is too much stress where she lives and I fear if she doesn't listen to her body, she'll be putting herself at risk of a serious health crisis. There comes a time when you must say, "Enough is enough." When I picked her up a little over an hour ago, she looked gray. I felt like a knight on a white stallion rescuing the fair damsel. May she be safe.
What it's REALLY like in Lebanon
If you want firsthand accounts from women I know and trust of what it is like in Lebanon right now, go to the CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters blogs. Media Benjamin, Gael Murphy, Judith LeBlanc and Diane Wilson have been in Beirut since August 7th. They are currently part of a convoy of Lebanese and International civilians taking much needed food, water and medicines to the beseiged people in the south of Lebanon. You can follow their stories here.
Please TAKE ACTION to protect a civilian convoy carrying humanitarian aid to the south of Lebanon!
An email I received today from CODEPINK:
August 12, 2006
Dear Patricia,
CODEPINK women Medea Benjamin, Gael Murphy and Diane Wilson are risking their lives to bring aid to Southern Lebanon and to expose the atrocities, please help protect them in their passage.
Contact the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC and the Israeli Consulate in New York today to let them know that there is international attention on the Humanitarian Aid Convoy composed of Lebanese and U.S. citizens as well as other Internationals that plans to bring much needed aid to the thousands of civilians that are dying in Southern Lebanon from thirst, hunger and disease brought about by the bombing.
Let them know that we expect safe passage for this convoy - they must know the whole world is watching!
In Solidarity,
Allison, Anedra, Dana, Erin, Farida, Gael, Jodie, Katie, Laura, Medea, Meredith, Nancy, Rae, Samantha and Tiffany
CALL TODAY!
Amir Maimon - Minister-Counselor and Head of Department
Eynat Shlein-Michael - Counselor for Middle Eastern Affairs
Reuven Azar - Counselor for Political Affairs
Israel Embassy Washington DC Political Department
Tel: (202) 364-5581/2
Fax: (202) 364-5490
New York Israel Consulate General
Tel: (212) 499-5000
To read CODEPINK blogs from the Middle East, click here.
*************************************
Media, Gael and Diane are three women I grew to know and love during my vigil in front of the White House. Please help protect them!
And here is an email I received late last night/early this morning that was forwarded by Kim Redigan, the woman who wrote the powerful "Fire In Our Hearts" presentation I posted here while I was in DC. This is from Huwaida, who with her husband Adam Shapiro of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), is part of the convoy with Medea, Gael and Diane of CODEPINK.
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:31:40 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Update from Lebanon
Friends,
I haven't written much since arriving in Lebanon, and we're afraid this will be short. It is now hours before our convoy to the south of Lebanon takes off. Our eight days here have been sad, frustrating, infuriating, and inspiring all at the same time. As many of you know, I came here as part of a small group, which included my husband, Adam, to explore the utility of establishing an international civilian presence in Lebanon to support the people of Lebanon in confronting Israeli aggression against their country. After a week of lots of debate, organizing, politicking and arguing, we held our final preparation meeting at a cafe called Taa Marbouta. This is a cafe that was due to open on July 20th, but because of the attack on Lebanon, the owners changed their plans and instead converted the cafe into a relief center. In the same building, which still has a brothel on the 4th floor, there are 5 other floors of Lebanese citizens from the south forced to flee by Israeli bombardment and destruction of their homes. Tonight, well over 100 people came to participate in the final preparations, receive instructions, and pick up the rations of food and medicine that we will carry to villagers in the south. While not much in terms of sustainable relief, this effort is meant as a political act to reject Israel's efforts to impose its will and challenge the international community's complicity in the suffering of the Lebanese people.
Every night we hear the bombing by F-16 fighter jets, unmanned aircraft and missiles fired from unseen Israeli ships off the coast as the bombs smash into Beirut and its suburbs. Last night Israeli rockets brought down 3 apartment buildings in the Shayyah suburb of Beirut. While these buildings were empty, because Israel had warned the residents to leave the day before, is this not terrorization? Israel seeks to absolve itself of responsibility for the death of innocent civilians by dropping leaflets on entire villages, towns and cities telling people to leave or die. Should we consider this humane? Many of the 900,000 Lebanese civilians forced to flee their homes in the south and southern Beirut don’t have homes to go back to now. Over 1,000 Lebanese civilians who did not or could not flee have been killed. Monday night the Shayyah neighborhood was hit without warning - one building took a direct hit causing an adjacent building to collapse. Over 20 dead bodies were pulled from the rubble. I think that I have become somewhat immune to devastation. Last week we were in Al-Dahiya suburb of Beirut - normally home to tens of thousands of mostly poor Lebanese. Many of these residents first moved to Beirut as a result of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. As I walked through the rubble and looked down streets of destroyed buildings, I was reminded of the remnants of the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine, also reduced to rubble by Israel back in 2002. For pictures of Al-Dahiya, see:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/aishabain/album?.dir=/8a5cre2&.src=ph&.tok=phYB7TFBkGAFSzjJ
While the situation here in Lebanon differs from our experience in Palestine - aerial bombardment of the country versus occupation soldiers brutalizing people on the ground - the aggression I've witnessed is the same, the destruction of lives and livelihood is the same, the war crimes committed are the same, and the impunity with which Israel carries this all out is the same.
A few hours ago we learned that the Israeli military hit a convoy leaving Marjayoun (in the south) under UN 'protection', killing three. [reports now say at least 7 persons were killed and 36 wounded] It had received Israeli permission to move. The people here do not have any reason to believe that Israel will not hit a purely civilian convoy carrying relief. Indeed, UN workers have been killed by Israeli strikes, ambulances have been hit, and civilian homes have been targeted. But this initiative tomorrow represents the resolve of Lebanese civilians to reject Israel's dictates and stand up for their country and their people. We are all going knowing full well that Israel might hit us. And yet, one thing that we agreed upon is even if we are hit and suffer casualties, this campaign continues. If the convoy can continue on the same day, it will, if it cannot, we will reorganize and advance again another day.
We reject, on principle, any kind of coordination with the Israeli military, but we've done as much as we can to make it known to Israel that this is a civilian convoy. On CNN this morning I reiterated our plans and asked, in the face of this civilian act of resistance, "what will Israel do?"
Tonight a journalist asked me, "aren't you scared?" I answered honestly, "no." I really don't think about it. While this is a dangerous initiative, I believe that doing nothing is more dangerous. The United States, instead of backing an immediate ceasefire that could have saved hundreds of innocent lives, expedited a weapons transfer to Israel. For the past 4 weeks, the United Nations has been paralyzed; every day innocent civilians are being killed. When governments and international bodies fail to act, average civilians must. And so I am honored to be part of this convoy.
I am heartened by the love and dedication of the dozens of civilians from all over the world who traveled to Lebanon answering our call to join the civilian resistance; I am strengthened by the tens of thousands that will be demonstrating all over the world tomorrow; and I am proud to have worked with amazing people that are the spirit of Lebanon that will not
be defeated.
If you cannot reach Adam and me by cell phone, check our website for updates at:
www.lebanonsolidarity.org
For media, our Beirut media contact will be Rania Masri at:
+961-3-135279
In solidarity & struggle for justice,
Huwaida & Adam
August 12, 2006
Dear Patricia,
CODEPINK women Medea Benjamin, Gael Murphy and Diane Wilson are risking their lives to bring aid to Southern Lebanon and to expose the atrocities, please help protect them in their passage.
Contact the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC and the Israeli Consulate in New York today to let them know that there is international attention on the Humanitarian Aid Convoy composed of Lebanese and U.S. citizens as well as other Internationals that plans to bring much needed aid to the thousands of civilians that are dying in Southern Lebanon from thirst, hunger and disease brought about by the bombing.
Let them know that we expect safe passage for this convoy - they must know the whole world is watching!
In Solidarity,
Allison, Anedra, Dana, Erin, Farida, Gael, Jodie, Katie, Laura, Medea, Meredith, Nancy, Rae, Samantha and Tiffany
CALL TODAY!
Amir Maimon - Minister-Counselor and Head of Department
Eynat Shlein-Michael - Counselor for Middle Eastern Affairs
Reuven Azar - Counselor for Political Affairs
Israel Embassy Washington DC Political Department
Tel: (202) 364-5581/2
Fax: (202) 364-5490
New York Israel Consulate General
Tel: (212) 499-5000
To read CODEPINK blogs from the Middle East, click here.
*************************************
Media, Gael and Diane are three women I grew to know and love during my vigil in front of the White House. Please help protect them!
And here is an email I received late last night/early this morning that was forwarded by Kim Redigan, the woman who wrote the powerful "Fire In Our Hearts" presentation I posted here while I was in DC. This is from Huwaida, who with her husband Adam Shapiro of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), is part of the convoy with Medea, Gael and Diane of CODEPINK.
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:31:40 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Update from Lebanon
Friends,
I haven't written much since arriving in Lebanon, and we're afraid this will be short. It is now hours before our convoy to the south of Lebanon takes off. Our eight days here have been sad, frustrating, infuriating, and inspiring all at the same time. As many of you know, I came here as part of a small group, which included my husband, Adam, to explore the utility of establishing an international civilian presence in Lebanon to support the people of Lebanon in confronting Israeli aggression against their country. After a week of lots of debate, organizing, politicking and arguing, we held our final preparation meeting at a cafe called Taa Marbouta. This is a cafe that was due to open on July 20th, but because of the attack on Lebanon, the owners changed their plans and instead converted the cafe into a relief center. In the same building, which still has a brothel on the 4th floor, there are 5 other floors of Lebanese citizens from the south forced to flee by Israeli bombardment and destruction of their homes. Tonight, well over 100 people came to participate in the final preparations, receive instructions, and pick up the rations of food and medicine that we will carry to villagers in the south. While not much in terms of sustainable relief, this effort is meant as a political act to reject Israel's efforts to impose its will and challenge the international community's complicity in the suffering of the Lebanese people.
Every night we hear the bombing by F-16 fighter jets, unmanned aircraft and missiles fired from unseen Israeli ships off the coast as the bombs smash into Beirut and its suburbs. Last night Israeli rockets brought down 3 apartment buildings in the Shayyah suburb of Beirut. While these buildings were empty, because Israel had warned the residents to leave the day before, is this not terrorization? Israel seeks to absolve itself of responsibility for the death of innocent civilians by dropping leaflets on entire villages, towns and cities telling people to leave or die. Should we consider this humane? Many of the 900,000 Lebanese civilians forced to flee their homes in the south and southern Beirut don’t have homes to go back to now. Over 1,000 Lebanese civilians who did not or could not flee have been killed. Monday night the Shayyah neighborhood was hit without warning - one building took a direct hit causing an adjacent building to collapse. Over 20 dead bodies were pulled from the rubble. I think that I have become somewhat immune to devastation. Last week we were in Al-Dahiya suburb of Beirut - normally home to tens of thousands of mostly poor Lebanese. Many of these residents first moved to Beirut as a result of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. As I walked through the rubble and looked down streets of destroyed buildings, I was reminded of the remnants of the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine, also reduced to rubble by Israel back in 2002. For pictures of Al-Dahiya, see:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/aishabain/album?.dir=/8a5cre2&.src=ph&.tok=phYB7TFBkGAFSzjJ
While the situation here in Lebanon differs from our experience in Palestine - aerial bombardment of the country versus occupation soldiers brutalizing people on the ground - the aggression I've witnessed is the same, the destruction of lives and livelihood is the same, the war crimes committed are the same, and the impunity with which Israel carries this all out is the same.
A few hours ago we learned that the Israeli military hit a convoy leaving Marjayoun (in the south) under UN 'protection', killing three. [reports now say at least 7 persons were killed and 36 wounded] It had received Israeli permission to move. The people here do not have any reason to believe that Israel will not hit a purely civilian convoy carrying relief. Indeed, UN workers have been killed by Israeli strikes, ambulances have been hit, and civilian homes have been targeted. But this initiative tomorrow represents the resolve of Lebanese civilians to reject Israel's dictates and stand up for their country and their people. We are all going knowing full well that Israel might hit us. And yet, one thing that we agreed upon is even if we are hit and suffer casualties, this campaign continues. If the convoy can continue on the same day, it will, if it cannot, we will reorganize and advance again another day.
We reject, on principle, any kind of coordination with the Israeli military, but we've done as much as we can to make it known to Israel that this is a civilian convoy. On CNN this morning I reiterated our plans and asked, in the face of this civilian act of resistance, "what will Israel do?"
Tonight a journalist asked me, "aren't you scared?" I answered honestly, "no." I really don't think about it. While this is a dangerous initiative, I believe that doing nothing is more dangerous. The United States, instead of backing an immediate ceasefire that could have saved hundreds of innocent lives, expedited a weapons transfer to Israel. For the past 4 weeks, the United Nations has been paralyzed; every day innocent civilians are being killed. When governments and international bodies fail to act, average civilians must. And so I am honored to be part of this convoy.
I am heartened by the love and dedication of the dozens of civilians from all over the world who traveled to Lebanon answering our call to join the civilian resistance; I am strengthened by the tens of thousands that will be demonstrating all over the world tomorrow; and I am proud to have worked with amazing people that are the spirit of Lebanon that will not
be defeated.
If you cannot reach Adam and me by cell phone, check our website for updates at:
www.lebanonsolidarity.org
For media, our Beirut media contact will be Rania Masri at:
+961-3-135279
In solidarity & struggle for justice,
Huwaida & Adam
Friday, August 11, 2006
One step at a time...
Whenever I'm immersed in something that means a lot to me, I'm apt to push myself to my limits without realizing it. Then when it comes time to slow down or stop, I hit the wall. The past three weeks are a good example.
I drove the 560 miles to and from Washington, DC by myself. Spent 4-6 hours every day out under the hot sun during a heat wave where temperatures were regularly climbing into the high 90s F. Not just sitting there, either, but fielding whatever came my way, from wonderfully positive to extremely hostile responses to my signs about an issue that triggered strong feelings in people. The main thing was that I never knew from one minute to the next what was coming. That takes a lot of energy.
I engaged in dialogues that demanded total attention and listening skills I was learning on the spot. Then every night and/or early the next morning, I'd put up my photos and write blog entries that would take hours to compose. Sometimes I wouldn't get to bed until 2 AM and then I'd be up the next morning at 9 AM or earlier, ready to do it all again. This went on for 18 days, day in and day out.
During that time my eating habits evolved into a unique pattern. Until I'd finish my vigil for the day, I'd only consume fluids--juice, Gatorade and lots of water. Then I'd go out for a lovely meal--DC has great ethnic restaurants--before going back to the hotel. There were a number of reasons why I chose this way of eating. I'm sure being with the CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters--some of whom were into their third week of a water or fluids-only fast--influenced me. I also found that my mind and intention remained more clear when I didn't eat during my vigils.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this 18-day vigil was that I was doing it on my own. Yes, there were loving sister and brother activists out there in front of the White House who supported me, but I was doing the actual work of vigiling/inviting dialogue by myself. By choice, I might add. The few times that someone came to stand with me, I was chagrined to find their ways of responding to negative comments was different from mine--argumentative instead of nonviolent dialoguing. That defeated the purpose of my being out there at all. So I'd generally set myself up in a spot by the White House fence where I was not too close to other activists. Everyone respected and seemed to understand my desire to do this on my own.
When I see all of this written out in one place, I can see why I'm tired.
I've now been home three full days. For the past two days, I've had to take serious naps. Knock-out, sound-sleeping naps of 2-3 hours each. Even today when I so wanted to go over to Windsor, Ontario to support the Lebanese women and children who were demonstrating on behalf of their friends and relatives in Lebanon who are suffering and dying, I just couldn't do it. After spending a lovely day at the beach with my friend MorganRose and her seven year-old grandson Brock, I was a wipe-out. I had to go to bed at 4:30 PM and sleep for over two hours. Luckily they were content being on their own, so we were able to continue our visit later.
As it turned out, I'm glad I didn't go off to Windsor. Brock and Eddie really enjoy one another and it was lots of fun having dinner together. If I listen, my body usually leads me where I need to go. I know it did today. I obviously needed this time of community and laughter more than I needed another demo. At least for now. I've got some healing and recuperation to attend to before I jump back into an activist mode.
Since returning home, Eddie has been a great comfort to me. I've also had two visits with good friends--Pat last night and MorganRose today--both of whom brought me homecooked food to ease my transition back into my "normal" life. This is going to take time. The process can't be rushed.
So I swim laps and go off for scoots on these beautiful days, but what I'm finding most healing is simply sitting beside the lake. How fortunate I am to live by a big body of water. Of course, that's why Ed and I bought our house here 35 years ago...because of its proximity to the lake.
I'm reading Gandhi whose call to nonviolence is making more sense than ever before. It's like I know it from the inside. Satyagraha--the pursuit of truth--is no longer an abstraction. I think Gandhi is going to help me assimilate what changed within me during those three weeks in Washington, DC. I'm only beginning to get it. But when I do, I want to share my learnings with others. This idea of mounting a solitary vigil that invites dialogue is not new, but it is rather rare. I'd like to encourage others to try it. I guess that's why I'm grateful I had that tough experience on Sunday. If I'm going to ask others to do what I did for 18 days, I want to be realistic about the risks. And maybe come up with suggestions for making it less so.
Oh yes, I have a lot of work to do here.
I drove the 560 miles to and from Washington, DC by myself. Spent 4-6 hours every day out under the hot sun during a heat wave where temperatures were regularly climbing into the high 90s F. Not just sitting there, either, but fielding whatever came my way, from wonderfully positive to extremely hostile responses to my signs about an issue that triggered strong feelings in people. The main thing was that I never knew from one minute to the next what was coming. That takes a lot of energy.
I engaged in dialogues that demanded total attention and listening skills I was learning on the spot. Then every night and/or early the next morning, I'd put up my photos and write blog entries that would take hours to compose. Sometimes I wouldn't get to bed until 2 AM and then I'd be up the next morning at 9 AM or earlier, ready to do it all again. This went on for 18 days, day in and day out.
During that time my eating habits evolved into a unique pattern. Until I'd finish my vigil for the day, I'd only consume fluids--juice, Gatorade and lots of water. Then I'd go out for a lovely meal--DC has great ethnic restaurants--before going back to the hotel. There were a number of reasons why I chose this way of eating. I'm sure being with the CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters--some of whom were into their third week of a water or fluids-only fast--influenced me. I also found that my mind and intention remained more clear when I didn't eat during my vigils.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this 18-day vigil was that I was doing it on my own. Yes, there were loving sister and brother activists out there in front of the White House who supported me, but I was doing the actual work of vigiling/inviting dialogue by myself. By choice, I might add. The few times that someone came to stand with me, I was chagrined to find their ways of responding to negative comments was different from mine--argumentative instead of nonviolent dialoguing. That defeated the purpose of my being out there at all. So I'd generally set myself up in a spot by the White House fence where I was not too close to other activists. Everyone respected and seemed to understand my desire to do this on my own.
When I see all of this written out in one place, I can see why I'm tired.
I've now been home three full days. For the past two days, I've had to take serious naps. Knock-out, sound-sleeping naps of 2-3 hours each. Even today when I so wanted to go over to Windsor, Ontario to support the Lebanese women and children who were demonstrating on behalf of their friends and relatives in Lebanon who are suffering and dying, I just couldn't do it. After spending a lovely day at the beach with my friend MorganRose and her seven year-old grandson Brock, I was a wipe-out. I had to go to bed at 4:30 PM and sleep for over two hours. Luckily they were content being on their own, so we were able to continue our visit later.
As it turned out, I'm glad I didn't go off to Windsor. Brock and Eddie really enjoy one another and it was lots of fun having dinner together. If I listen, my body usually leads me where I need to go. I know it did today. I obviously needed this time of community and laughter more than I needed another demo. At least for now. I've got some healing and recuperation to attend to before I jump back into an activist mode.
Since returning home, Eddie has been a great comfort to me. I've also had two visits with good friends--Pat last night and MorganRose today--both of whom brought me homecooked food to ease my transition back into my "normal" life. This is going to take time. The process can't be rushed.
So I swim laps and go off for scoots on these beautiful days, but what I'm finding most healing is simply sitting beside the lake. How fortunate I am to live by a big body of water. Of course, that's why Ed and I bought our house here 35 years ago...because of its proximity to the lake.
I'm reading Gandhi whose call to nonviolence is making more sense than ever before. It's like I know it from the inside. Satyagraha--the pursuit of truth--is no longer an abstraction. I think Gandhi is going to help me assimilate what changed within me during those three weeks in Washington, DC. I'm only beginning to get it. But when I do, I want to share my learnings with others. This idea of mounting a solitary vigil that invites dialogue is not new, but it is rather rare. I'd like to encourage others to try it. I guess that's why I'm grateful I had that tough experience on Sunday. If I'm going to ask others to do what I did for 18 days, I want to be realistic about the risks. And maybe come up with suggestions for making it less so.
Oh yes, I have a lot of work to do here.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
None of us wants to lose our friends over this...
As he has done before, Ira Chernus has just written an article that speaks to a concern with which I have been struggling for the past month. His article, "How to Talk to Your Jewish Friends About Israel" is just what I needed to hear. Perhaps it will help you too.
How to Talk to Your Jewish Friends About Israel
by Ira Chernus
"I can talk to my Jewish friends about anything -- except Israel. When that subject comes up, they just shut down."
I've heard this complaint from so many people, so many times, that I want to offer a few suggestions about how to talk to your "pro-Israel" Jewish friends. I hope this will be helpful to everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, who is critical of Israel's war policy and wants to move public opinion toward peace.
First, you can think about your own reasons for raising the subject. Are you just trying to express yourself -- to bear moral witness or vent moral outrage? Or do you want to help your Jewish friends think about Israel's actions in a new, more peace-oriented way? Let's assume it's the latter.
That means you aren't just trying to score points and win the debate. So there's no reason to go on the attack. Even though you may have most of the right and justice on your side, take it slow and easy. If you put your Jewish friends on the defensive, they are likely to close their ears, eyes, and minds. That's what we all do when we feel defensive about anything.
And many of your friends probably feel defensive when it comes to Israel. They are defending themselves against the voice of their own conscience. They are morally sensitive people. That's what is so frustrating. They care deeply about social justice in every other arena. But there is something peculiar about this Israel thing that seems to throw their normal ethical compass out of whack.
That "something" is a very complicated mix of factors. Part of it is a lifetime's worth of socialization. They've been raised in a community that assumes -- without question, as an article of faith -- that Israel really is fighting for its life. They've been taught to see Israel as an innocent victim, surrounded by irrational, barbaric anti-semites bent on destroying it. So all Israel can do is fight back.
Your friends have been told this so many times, by so many people, in so many ways that it will take an immense mental shift to begin to question it. Imagine someone trying to convince you that the sun rises in the west, and you'll begin to understand what an effort you are asking them to make.
At the same time, your friends still have that ethical compass. They are bound to be disturbed by the pictures they see on television. They know that the Lebanese and Palestinians are suffering far worse than the Israelis. They don't value Jewish life more than Arab life. (If they did, they wouldn't be your friends, right?) Read more...
How to Talk to Your Jewish Friends About Israel
by Ira Chernus
"I can talk to my Jewish friends about anything -- except Israel. When that subject comes up, they just shut down."
I've heard this complaint from so many people, so many times, that I want to offer a few suggestions about how to talk to your "pro-Israel" Jewish friends. I hope this will be helpful to everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, who is critical of Israel's war policy and wants to move public opinion toward peace.
First, you can think about your own reasons for raising the subject. Are you just trying to express yourself -- to bear moral witness or vent moral outrage? Or do you want to help your Jewish friends think about Israel's actions in a new, more peace-oriented way? Let's assume it's the latter.
That means you aren't just trying to score points and win the debate. So there's no reason to go on the attack. Even though you may have most of the right and justice on your side, take it slow and easy. If you put your Jewish friends on the defensive, they are likely to close their ears, eyes, and minds. That's what we all do when we feel defensive about anything.
And many of your friends probably feel defensive when it comes to Israel. They are defending themselves against the voice of their own conscience. They are morally sensitive people. That's what is so frustrating. They care deeply about social justice in every other arena. But there is something peculiar about this Israel thing that seems to throw their normal ethical compass out of whack.
That "something" is a very complicated mix of factors. Part of it is a lifetime's worth of socialization. They've been raised in a community that assumes -- without question, as an article of faith -- that Israel really is fighting for its life. They've been taught to see Israel as an innocent victim, surrounded by irrational, barbaric anti-semites bent on destroying it. So all Israel can do is fight back.
Your friends have been told this so many times, by so many people, in so many ways that it will take an immense mental shift to begin to question it. Imagine someone trying to convince you that the sun rises in the west, and you'll begin to understand what an effort you are asking them to make.
At the same time, your friends still have that ethical compass. They are bound to be disturbed by the pictures they see on television. They know that the Lebanese and Palestinians are suffering far worse than the Israelis. They don't value Jewish life more than Arab life. (If they did, they wouldn't be your friends, right?) Read more...
an educated analysis of the Israel-Lebanon war
An Op-Ed article in today's UK Guardian:
It is Lebanon, not Israel, that faces a threat to its existence in this war
--The Franco-US resolution is an absurdity: it would give Israel immunity while denying Lebanon the right to defend itself--
Ahmad Samih Khalidi
Thursday August 10, 2006
The Guardian
As Lebanon is brought to its knees, and Israeli leaders promise yet more of the same, there is something truly extraordinary about the manner in which the war on Lebanon is being portrayed as a war for Israel's survival, as if it were the existence of the Jewish state that were at risk.
Whatever else it may be, this is a war between palpable unequals: a giant nuclear-armed power with the most advanced western military hardware and a potential ground force of up to 650,000 trained men, against a tiny third-world guerrilla force of around 5,000 fighters, armed largely with second-hand former eastern bloc hardware (the first Katyusha rockets were developed in the early 1940s) and castoffs from Iran and Syria.
The idea that the latter can pose an existential threat to the former, under any foreseeable circumstances, is risible at best and disingenuous at worst. While it can hardly be comfortable for northern Israel's civilian population to be forced into shelters for four weeks, the physical safety of the overwhelming majority - unlike that of their counterparts in much of Lebanon - has never been seriously at stake. And while Hizbullah's supposed targeting of Israeli civilians has yielded relatively few victims, Israel's repeated "mistakes" in Lebanon have maintained a civilian death rate of about 100 Lebanese to every three Israelis. The opposite side of this coin is that while Israel's hi-tech "surgical strikes" have killed hundreds more civilians than Hizbullah fighters, the Lebanese resistance's low-tech weapons have killed about three times as many Israeli soldiers as civilians.
After yesterday's decision to expand the ground war all the way up to the Litani river and beyond, Israel's constantly shifting war plan is now moving away from its initial relatively cautious phase and has plunged headlong into grand-scale politico-strategic engineering. What Israel now seeks is less of a secure border, and more of a major rearrangement of the Lebanese domestic scene that will crush resistance not only in Lebanon, but by extension in Palestine as well, and wherever else it may exist across the seething Arab Muslim world.
If Hizbullah, as many have argued, is indeed the people of south Lebanon and the voice of Shia Lebanese empowerment, then the Israelis seem to believe that the best means of defeating them is to disperse them, uproot the communities in which they thrive, and destroy the infrastructure that sustains them and provides them with their means of livelihood.
That is why Israel has been pounding away at the Shia areas of south Beirut that Hizbullah evacuated even before the bombing began. That is why it is attacking Shia population centres in the Beka'a valley in the east of the country. And that is why it is deliberately depopulating south Lebanon, driving almost a million civilians northwards in the hope of destroying what remains of the area's infrastructure, so as to make it impossible for its residents to return home any time in the near future. As in Gaza - which has been hit by 12,000 artillery shells over the past six weeks - Israel is creating a system of free fire and buffer zones, where it will be free to act in response to any "provocation".
Sadly, there is really not much new here. Depopulation is a longstanding Israeli expedient, used sometimes for grand strategic purposes, as in the 1948 war in Palestine, and at other times for less grandiose aims, but no less painfully, as in Lebanon in the 1978, 1982 and 1996 invasions.
The difference this time is in the purposeful destruction of the social and economic structure of the south, and the rest of the country. With no popular sea to swim in, Hizbullah's fighters will have been denied a secure social base for a long time to come. And now there seems to be the additional goal of creating a new socio-demographic reality in Lebanon, one that will make an impact on the already fragile domestic confessional and sectarian balance. After "cleansing" the south, Israel expects the rest of Lebanon, with support from the international community, to continue the elimination of Hizbullah - politically if possible, but by force of arms if necessary.
The fact is that it is now Lebanon that faces an existential threat. And with that comes the threat of a serious meltdown in the Levant that will have inevitable repercussions, from Syria to Iraq with its disaffected Shia masses. And it is precisely because of these grave dangers that the initial Franco-US draft security council resolution is so outrageous.
The draft effectively gives immunity to Israel's occupying forces, denies Hizbullah, or any other Lebanese party, the right to resist the continued violation of Lebanese sovereignty and soil, says not a word about an Israeli withdrawal, and does nothing to bring the population back to their homes and thus safeguard Lebanon's domestic balance and political future.
How any of this could be expected to appeal to the Lebanese, how an undefeated Hizbullah is meant to concur, and how this could have been seen as "a step in the right direction" as suggested by prime minister Blair, beggars belief. And why the strongest military power in the region needs another layer of defence via an international force, to secure it from the weakest and least powerful party in the area, is simply beyond argument or reason.
The only conclusion must be that the real purpose of the British-backed Franco-US manoeuvre is a deliberate and calculated western attempt to rescue Israel's ill-conceived war from the jaws of political and moral defeat. It is also meant to threaten the Lebanese with dire consequences for refusing to rise up against the party that is defending their very soil and homes. And it is further intended to send a message to Tehran and Damascus that those who act with such violence in Lebanon, as well as Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, are ready to do the same in Iran and Syria as well.
The UN may yet come to its senses, and stitch together a resolution that has a minimum chance of success. Its initial, absurd draft may have been intended to produce a second modified draft that the Arabs, Lebanese and Hizbullah would find very hard to refuse.
But even if Lebanon survives intact, the hatred of its battered and bloodied population for those on the other side of the border will have intensified, and a whole new generation of Lebanese will have grown up knowing nothing of Israel but its pitiless aerial bombardment and indiscriminate destruction. Far from being a war for its survival, Israel has by its actions over the past month only increased the long-term threat to its own security.
Ahmad Samih Khalidi is a senior associate member of St Antony's College, Oxford, a former Palestinian negotiator and the co-author, with Hussein Agha, of A Framework for a Palestinian National Security Doctrine (Chatham House, 2006)
aswk@yahoo.com
It is Lebanon, not Israel, that faces a threat to its existence in this war
--The Franco-US resolution is an absurdity: it would give Israel immunity while denying Lebanon the right to defend itself--
Ahmad Samih Khalidi
Thursday August 10, 2006
The Guardian
As Lebanon is brought to its knees, and Israeli leaders promise yet more of the same, there is something truly extraordinary about the manner in which the war on Lebanon is being portrayed as a war for Israel's survival, as if it were the existence of the Jewish state that were at risk.
Whatever else it may be, this is a war between palpable unequals: a giant nuclear-armed power with the most advanced western military hardware and a potential ground force of up to 650,000 trained men, against a tiny third-world guerrilla force of around 5,000 fighters, armed largely with second-hand former eastern bloc hardware (the first Katyusha rockets were developed in the early 1940s) and castoffs from Iran and Syria.
The idea that the latter can pose an existential threat to the former, under any foreseeable circumstances, is risible at best and disingenuous at worst. While it can hardly be comfortable for northern Israel's civilian population to be forced into shelters for four weeks, the physical safety of the overwhelming majority - unlike that of their counterparts in much of Lebanon - has never been seriously at stake. And while Hizbullah's supposed targeting of Israeli civilians has yielded relatively few victims, Israel's repeated "mistakes" in Lebanon have maintained a civilian death rate of about 100 Lebanese to every three Israelis. The opposite side of this coin is that while Israel's hi-tech "surgical strikes" have killed hundreds more civilians than Hizbullah fighters, the Lebanese resistance's low-tech weapons have killed about three times as many Israeli soldiers as civilians.
After yesterday's decision to expand the ground war all the way up to the Litani river and beyond, Israel's constantly shifting war plan is now moving away from its initial relatively cautious phase and has plunged headlong into grand-scale politico-strategic engineering. What Israel now seeks is less of a secure border, and more of a major rearrangement of the Lebanese domestic scene that will crush resistance not only in Lebanon, but by extension in Palestine as well, and wherever else it may exist across the seething Arab Muslim world.
If Hizbullah, as many have argued, is indeed the people of south Lebanon and the voice of Shia Lebanese empowerment, then the Israelis seem to believe that the best means of defeating them is to disperse them, uproot the communities in which they thrive, and destroy the infrastructure that sustains them and provides them with their means of livelihood.
That is why Israel has been pounding away at the Shia areas of south Beirut that Hizbullah evacuated even before the bombing began. That is why it is attacking Shia population centres in the Beka'a valley in the east of the country. And that is why it is deliberately depopulating south Lebanon, driving almost a million civilians northwards in the hope of destroying what remains of the area's infrastructure, so as to make it impossible for its residents to return home any time in the near future. As in Gaza - which has been hit by 12,000 artillery shells over the past six weeks - Israel is creating a system of free fire and buffer zones, where it will be free to act in response to any "provocation".
Sadly, there is really not much new here. Depopulation is a longstanding Israeli expedient, used sometimes for grand strategic purposes, as in the 1948 war in Palestine, and at other times for less grandiose aims, but no less painfully, as in Lebanon in the 1978, 1982 and 1996 invasions.
The difference this time is in the purposeful destruction of the social and economic structure of the south, and the rest of the country. With no popular sea to swim in, Hizbullah's fighters will have been denied a secure social base for a long time to come. And now there seems to be the additional goal of creating a new socio-demographic reality in Lebanon, one that will make an impact on the already fragile domestic confessional and sectarian balance. After "cleansing" the south, Israel expects the rest of Lebanon, with support from the international community, to continue the elimination of Hizbullah - politically if possible, but by force of arms if necessary.
The fact is that it is now Lebanon that faces an existential threat. And with that comes the threat of a serious meltdown in the Levant that will have inevitable repercussions, from Syria to Iraq with its disaffected Shia masses. And it is precisely because of these grave dangers that the initial Franco-US draft security council resolution is so outrageous.
The draft effectively gives immunity to Israel's occupying forces, denies Hizbullah, or any other Lebanese party, the right to resist the continued violation of Lebanese sovereignty and soil, says not a word about an Israeli withdrawal, and does nothing to bring the population back to their homes and thus safeguard Lebanon's domestic balance and political future.
How any of this could be expected to appeal to the Lebanese, how an undefeated Hizbullah is meant to concur, and how this could have been seen as "a step in the right direction" as suggested by prime minister Blair, beggars belief. And why the strongest military power in the region needs another layer of defence via an international force, to secure it from the weakest and least powerful party in the area, is simply beyond argument or reason.
The only conclusion must be that the real purpose of the British-backed Franco-US manoeuvre is a deliberate and calculated western attempt to rescue Israel's ill-conceived war from the jaws of political and moral defeat. It is also meant to threaten the Lebanese with dire consequences for refusing to rise up against the party that is defending their very soil and homes. And it is further intended to send a message to Tehran and Damascus that those who act with such violence in Lebanon, as well as Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, are ready to do the same in Iran and Syria as well.
The UN may yet come to its senses, and stitch together a resolution that has a minimum chance of success. Its initial, absurd draft may have been intended to produce a second modified draft that the Arabs, Lebanese and Hizbullah would find very hard to refuse.
But even if Lebanon survives intact, the hatred of its battered and bloodied population for those on the other side of the border will have intensified, and a whole new generation of Lebanese will have grown up knowing nothing of Israel but its pitiless aerial bombardment and indiscriminate destruction. Far from being a war for its survival, Israel has by its actions over the past month only increased the long-term threat to its own security.
Ahmad Samih Khalidi is a senior associate member of St Antony's College, Oxford, a former Palestinian negotiator and the co-author, with Hussein Agha, of A Framework for a Palestinian National Security Doctrine (Chatham House, 2006)
aswk@yahoo.com
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
public opinion
Tonight I read an article--"Are the Words 'Israel' and 'Jews' Synonymous?"--by filmmaker/blogger, Danny Schechter. In it, he writes:
"There is a well-financed Israeli lobby that funds politicians and dominates the op-ed pages. What else explains the dramatic difference in public opinion in this country and overseas? Why do polls show Americans and Israelis backing the war while the world calls for a cease fire?"
My recent 14 days in front of the White House and 4 days vigiling in front of the US Senate and House Office Buildings, gave me a unique perspective on national and international public opinion about the war between Israel and Lebanon. I'd guess I spoke with or heard comments from at least 500 individuals, families and groups from the US and countries from every continent in the world. I saw and was seen by tens of thousands. I'd say 99% of the people who passed me either in front of the White House or on Capitol Hill read my signs. That's how it is when you're out there by yourself--words capture people's attention. Often they've read your sign before their inner censor tells them not to waste their time.
What I found after informally collating the responses I received from this good-sized sample is just what Danny Schechter said--Israelis and Americans are alone in their support of Israel's destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure, closing off all access in and out of the country, setting up a major humanitarian crisis, causing a quarter of the country's residents to become refugees, and killing over 900 Lebanese, most of them civilians. And every day this situation gets more and more horrific.
Every European, Asian, African, Latin American, Canadian and non-Israeli Middle Easterner I met "gets it." Except for two young men from Australia, everyone else decried what they saw as Israel's disproportionate use of force to "try to regain two captured soldiers." Actually no one, except Americans, believes that is the reason for such a massive military operation. Everyone else, even Israelis, see much more going on here. It's only Americans who would say, "Well, who started it!" as if they were talking about a fight on a playground.
I found only one pro-Israeli American who knew much of anything about the history of the region, and his information was biased from years of working for the State Department (often where CIA operatives say they work). When I'd try to tell the others about even the past 24 years of Lebanese-Israeli relations--in particular, Israel's attacks on and occupation of Southern Lebanon from 1982-2000, about how Hezbollah came into being during that time as a resistance movement to Israel's occupation and massacres of Palestinian refugees in the area, and how Israel continued to bomb that region regularly even after they'd stopped occupying it in 2000--the Americans' eyes would glaze over and they'd just keep repeating their "But you've got to get rid of terrorists (Hezbollah) any way you can!" mantra. It was like talking to a parrot that had been trained to say only one thing.
Of course there were also a small number of Americans who "got it," but they were definitely in the minority.
Except for one Israeli Buddhist who believes violence breeds violence and all wars must cease, every Israeli I met supported everything their military was doing in Lebanon. Even "leftist" Israelis who had been fighting for Gaza to be given back to the Palestinians, believed in the necessity of stopping Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Northern Israel by any means available, including destroying all of Lebanon and killing civilians as well as terrorists. They all said what I heard from Americans too--"Hezbollah is using civilians as shields." Haven't I heard that someplace before? Like in American propaganda about Iraq?
I know the American mainstream media is full of pro-Israel propaganda, but I don't buy it: why do they? Most of us in the United States have access to the internet. That's where I get all my news. Why don't my fellow country-persons do the same? Are they afraid of what they'll see? Do they want to keep their blinders on so they won't have to see the horrors their country is part of? Or are they just not interested. Do they really care more about what Mel Gibson said to a policeman when he was drunk, and what some movie star's baby looks like, than the carnage their country is supporting with shipments of bombs, fighter planes, gifts of money ($2.5 billion per year), and international "diplomacy" intended to keep the war going until Israel has accomplished its ever-expanding "mission"?
I can understand Israelis supporting this war on Lebanon. After all, they feel under threat of attack by rockets. I gather that 39 Israeli civilians have been killed thus far. People in Northern Israel have fled their homes; others spend their time in bomb shelters. People are afraid and fear always fans the flames of hatred.
But Americans? What is their excuse? Misinformation, ignorance, White House PR, Israeli lobbyists' propaganda, gullibility, disinterest? Who knows. All I know is that my sister and brother Americans are out of step with the world community. Again.
"There is a well-financed Israeli lobby that funds politicians and dominates the op-ed pages. What else explains the dramatic difference in public opinion in this country and overseas? Why do polls show Americans and Israelis backing the war while the world calls for a cease fire?"
My recent 14 days in front of the White House and 4 days vigiling in front of the US Senate and House Office Buildings, gave me a unique perspective on national and international public opinion about the war between Israel and Lebanon. I'd guess I spoke with or heard comments from at least 500 individuals, families and groups from the US and countries from every continent in the world. I saw and was seen by tens of thousands. I'd say 99% of the people who passed me either in front of the White House or on Capitol Hill read my signs. That's how it is when you're out there by yourself--words capture people's attention. Often they've read your sign before their inner censor tells them not to waste their time.
What I found after informally collating the responses I received from this good-sized sample is just what Danny Schechter said--Israelis and Americans are alone in their support of Israel's destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure, closing off all access in and out of the country, setting up a major humanitarian crisis, causing a quarter of the country's residents to become refugees, and killing over 900 Lebanese, most of them civilians. And every day this situation gets more and more horrific.
Every European, Asian, African, Latin American, Canadian and non-Israeli Middle Easterner I met "gets it." Except for two young men from Australia, everyone else decried what they saw as Israel's disproportionate use of force to "try to regain two captured soldiers." Actually no one, except Americans, believes that is the reason for such a massive military operation. Everyone else, even Israelis, see much more going on here. It's only Americans who would say, "Well, who started it!" as if they were talking about a fight on a playground.
I found only one pro-Israeli American who knew much of anything about the history of the region, and his information was biased from years of working for the State Department (often where CIA operatives say they work). When I'd try to tell the others about even the past 24 years of Lebanese-Israeli relations--in particular, Israel's attacks on and occupation of Southern Lebanon from 1982-2000, about how Hezbollah came into being during that time as a resistance movement to Israel's occupation and massacres of Palestinian refugees in the area, and how Israel continued to bomb that region regularly even after they'd stopped occupying it in 2000--the Americans' eyes would glaze over and they'd just keep repeating their "But you've got to get rid of terrorists (Hezbollah) any way you can!" mantra. It was like talking to a parrot that had been trained to say only one thing.
Of course there were also a small number of Americans who "got it," but they were definitely in the minority.
Except for one Israeli Buddhist who believes violence breeds violence and all wars must cease, every Israeli I met supported everything their military was doing in Lebanon. Even "leftist" Israelis who had been fighting for Gaza to be given back to the Palestinians, believed in the necessity of stopping Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Northern Israel by any means available, including destroying all of Lebanon and killing civilians as well as terrorists. They all said what I heard from Americans too--"Hezbollah is using civilians as shields." Haven't I heard that someplace before? Like in American propaganda about Iraq?
I know the American mainstream media is full of pro-Israel propaganda, but I don't buy it: why do they? Most of us in the United States have access to the internet. That's where I get all my news. Why don't my fellow country-persons do the same? Are they afraid of what they'll see? Do they want to keep their blinders on so they won't have to see the horrors their country is part of? Or are they just not interested. Do they really care more about what Mel Gibson said to a policeman when he was drunk, and what some movie star's baby looks like, than the carnage their country is supporting with shipments of bombs, fighter planes, gifts of money ($2.5 billion per year), and international "diplomacy" intended to keep the war going until Israel has accomplished its ever-expanding "mission"?
I can understand Israelis supporting this war on Lebanon. After all, they feel under threat of attack by rockets. I gather that 39 Israeli civilians have been killed thus far. People in Northern Israel have fled their homes; others spend their time in bomb shelters. People are afraid and fear always fans the flames of hatred.
But Americans? What is their excuse? Misinformation, ignorance, White House PR, Israeli lobbyists' propaganda, gullibility, disinterest? Who knows. All I know is that my sister and brother Americans are out of step with the world community. Again.
Not everyone agrees...
Just as there is dissent here in the United States over the actions of our president and members of his administration, so too there are those in Israel who decry what Olmert is currently doing in their name. You will not read their views printed in mainstream press accounts coming out of Israel any more than you read the views of our country's dissenters in US mainstream newspapers. But that's where the internet comes in.
From Israel, Yigal Sarena writes:
A most unnecessary war
Experienced pols and cautious Americans could have avoided this war
Yigal Sarena
It has always appeared to me that in war, wisdom comes after the fact. After the destruction and the mourning. Afterwards, summation reports appear to outline just how stupid we were, books are written about all the mistakes we made, and about just how we allowed ourselves to be dragged into a trap it will take 10 or 20 years to extricate ourselves from.
Gaza and Lebanon are traps we return to periodically. The cemeteries I visit each year on Memorial Day to visit my friends' graves - Tzupar, Tziki, Ori and Mintz - are full of casualties from Gaza and Lebanon.
Now, too. We are facing a wholly extraneous war. Previous wars were followed by deterioration, failed negotiations, political freeze. The July, 2006 war was followed by elections - in Israel and the PA.
No leaders
In both places there is a vacuum of leadership. Leaders are confused and arrogant, and security forces are sitting with itchy fingers and looking for action.
The crushing of Beirut and the destruction of Nahariya will be the most unnecessary war we've ever fought. Every thing that happens could have been predicted and prevented, if only we'd had experienced politicians to act alongside restrained Americans.
This is a war that has quickly disintegrated due to armed militias and a strong army, hurt and seething for revenge and lacking all stops.
Failure to capitalize
The recent past, following the blood-soaked second intifada, is full of our own mistakes. The death of Yasser Arafat that so many people waited for was not capitalized on. Israel failed to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas, and the Fatah party prepared for elections emasculated. Israel and the United States supported those elections, and Hamas emerged victorious.
We pulled out of Gaza unilaterally and left Gaza a wasteland. I have visited Gaza many times since the pullout and send the hell of hunger, the misery. It is a pressure cooker with no release valve.
"A cat pushed into a corner becomes a panther," goes the Arab saying. The miserable Gaza panther fires its annoying tin-can Qassams as a call of poverty from those choking, those who lack answers.
Boomerang
But when the army's pride took a blow and Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, the army hit back with all its might. Instead of negotiations, patience and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, our forces have killed about 100 Gazans over the last month, many, many of them civilians, including women and children.
The reaction came as a boomerang from Lebanon, the only Arab country with a strong, effective army, that came along and humiliated the IDF by hitting a weak spot.
In Lebanon, as in Gaza, the army made its decision and responded. The civilian echelon, which was so weakened during the intifada it just about disappeared, is just about invisible.
All the gains from the Lebanon and Gaza were lost in the blink of an eye. All that would seem left for us now is to consider the developments of new tragedy, of stupidity and blindness on both sides, both of whom lack wise leaders who could put out the fire before it consumes us all.
Here in the United States are dissenting voices as well. I have heard several times from a reader/friend who is being torn in two over what is happening between Lebanon, Gaza and Israel. As a Jewish American woman, she was raised to see Israel as her homeland. And now? She sees it destroying its neighbors in brutal ways she cannot support or even tolerate.
Where can Amerian Jews like my friend find a voice? One place is Jewish Voice for Peace, a well-respected coalition of individuals and groups who are saying publicly to Israel's PM Olmert--and President Bush, his cat's paw--Not In Our Names!
Just because we belong to a certain tribe, religion or nation, that does not mean we have to give over to them our power to decide for ourselves what is right and just and moral. Each human person must reflect deeply within his/her own heart to discover what she/he believes, and then act upon those beliefs. Going against one's own people is the hardest task given to anyone who dares to think for him/herself. But if we go against our own beliefs in order to stay a member in good standing within our group, we will lose our souls. Even if we see both sides but know in our depths that what is being done in our names is wrong, we will pay a high price if we silently go along with it.
I know this from the inside because my beliefs and actions have cut me off from members of my own family. This makes me sad but if I were to do it any differently, something deep inside me would die. I cannot do that. I must stay true to myself. So must we all.
From Israel, Yigal Sarena writes:
A most unnecessary war
Experienced pols and cautious Americans could have avoided this war
Yigal Sarena
It has always appeared to me that in war, wisdom comes after the fact. After the destruction and the mourning. Afterwards, summation reports appear to outline just how stupid we were, books are written about all the mistakes we made, and about just how we allowed ourselves to be dragged into a trap it will take 10 or 20 years to extricate ourselves from.
Gaza and Lebanon are traps we return to periodically. The cemeteries I visit each year on Memorial Day to visit my friends' graves - Tzupar, Tziki, Ori and Mintz - are full of casualties from Gaza and Lebanon.
Now, too. We are facing a wholly extraneous war. Previous wars were followed by deterioration, failed negotiations, political freeze. The July, 2006 war was followed by elections - in Israel and the PA.
No leaders
In both places there is a vacuum of leadership. Leaders are confused and arrogant, and security forces are sitting with itchy fingers and looking for action.
The crushing of Beirut and the destruction of Nahariya will be the most unnecessary war we've ever fought. Every thing that happens could have been predicted and prevented, if only we'd had experienced politicians to act alongside restrained Americans.
This is a war that has quickly disintegrated due to armed militias and a strong army, hurt and seething for revenge and lacking all stops.
Failure to capitalize
The recent past, following the blood-soaked second intifada, is full of our own mistakes. The death of Yasser Arafat that so many people waited for was not capitalized on. Israel failed to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas, and the Fatah party prepared for elections emasculated. Israel and the United States supported those elections, and Hamas emerged victorious.
We pulled out of Gaza unilaterally and left Gaza a wasteland. I have visited Gaza many times since the pullout and send the hell of hunger, the misery. It is a pressure cooker with no release valve.
"A cat pushed into a corner becomes a panther," goes the Arab saying. The miserable Gaza panther fires its annoying tin-can Qassams as a call of poverty from those choking, those who lack answers.
Boomerang
But when the army's pride took a blow and Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, the army hit back with all its might. Instead of negotiations, patience and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, our forces have killed about 100 Gazans over the last month, many, many of them civilians, including women and children.
The reaction came as a boomerang from Lebanon, the only Arab country with a strong, effective army, that came along and humiliated the IDF by hitting a weak spot.
In Lebanon, as in Gaza, the army made its decision and responded. The civilian echelon, which was so weakened during the intifada it just about disappeared, is just about invisible.
All the gains from the Lebanon and Gaza were lost in the blink of an eye. All that would seem left for us now is to consider the developments of new tragedy, of stupidity and blindness on both sides, both of whom lack wise leaders who could put out the fire before it consumes us all.
Here in the United States are dissenting voices as well. I have heard several times from a reader/friend who is being torn in two over what is happening between Lebanon, Gaza and Israel. As a Jewish American woman, she was raised to see Israel as her homeland. And now? She sees it destroying its neighbors in brutal ways she cannot support or even tolerate.
Where can Amerian Jews like my friend find a voice? One place is Jewish Voice for Peace, a well-respected coalition of individuals and groups who are saying publicly to Israel's PM Olmert--and President Bush, his cat's paw--Not In Our Names!
Just because we belong to a certain tribe, religion or nation, that does not mean we have to give over to them our power to decide for ourselves what is right and just and moral. Each human person must reflect deeply within his/her own heart to discover what she/he believes, and then act upon those beliefs. Going against one's own people is the hardest task given to anyone who dares to think for him/herself. But if we go against our own beliefs in order to stay a member in good standing within our group, we will lose our souls. Even if we see both sides but know in our depths that what is being done in our names is wrong, we will pay a high price if we silently go along with it.
I know this from the inside because my beliefs and actions have cut me off from members of my own family. This makes me sad but if I were to do it any differently, something deep inside me would die. I cannot do that. I must stay true to myself. So must we all.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Home. The sweetest word in any language.
Home, to me, now means a place of safety and refuge. A place where I can relax, where I do not need to worry about being hated or attacked verbally or physically. A place where I am not apprehensive; where I can let down my guard.
It was only on the two-day drive home that I realized how stressful my solitary vigil had been...and how traumatized I was by Sunday's experience with the Israeli Zionists, especially the former settler who'd been removed from Gaza. When I think of him, all I see is pure hate. And, believe me, when you've seen the real thing, you never forget it. This was the face of war, the face of death. He even said that the Lebanese--ALL of whom he insisted were terrorists--are not human, "subhuman" he called them. When you see another human person in this way, it becomes too easy to kill them.
At the motel last night I watched part of the video, "The Da Vinci Code." But I had to turn it off. Not only was it stupid, but it showed too much hatred. After seeing the real thing--only three feet from my face--I never want to see it again. Not in myself, not in another person, and certainly not portrayed as "entertainment." There is nothing entertaining about hatred. I now know that in a way I never did before.
All this and more ran through my mind as I drove the 560 miles home. Thank goddess I had these two days by myself to begin what I anticipate being a long period of assimilating all that I learned and experienced in the last 18 days. I'm glad I did what I did, and I'm glad it's done. For now anyway.
When I arrived home, my dear Eddie drove from his office to welcome me and unpack my car. Talk about a sight for sore eyes! After we'd talked over some unfinished business between us, he went back to the office. I checked my mail and phone messages. But my true reward was to come--a lap swim in the park pool. Boy, did I need that!
Scooting out to sit by the water after my swim, I just "happened" to meet a woman who said she remembered me from peace events. We got to talking and I told her about my vigil in DC. She responded with such an understanding of the situation and appreciation of what I'd done that I ended up asking how it was she knew so much about Lebanon's history with Israel. Well, before her divorce, she'd been married to a Palestinian man. I felt like I was meeting a sister. And she lives just a few miles from me! As you can imagine, we'll soon be getting together for a nice long talk.
Ah, the water. And the wind. There was a wonderfully strong north wind coming off the lake. I stood up and let it blow through me. I felt it clearing away all the toxins I'd picked up in that--to me--incredibly toxic city of Washington, DC. Now I really was home.
I voted at the city offices next door to our house, set the table for dinner, began to read this week's issue of The Nation, greeted Eddie when he came home at 7:30 PM, enjoyed our dinner and walk together, sang "Tea For Two" with him at the piano, and came upstairs to my laptop about 9:30 PM. It's now 11:44 PM and I'd like to go to bed. My very own bed!
But first, I'll show you some photos from the trip. The first set is from Sideling Hill in northern Maryland. I took those pictures about an hour and a half into yesterday's trip.
Today it was the clouds that caught my eye. These pictures were taken at a rest stop in eastern Ohio.
It was only on the two-day drive home that I realized how stressful my solitary vigil had been...and how traumatized I was by Sunday's experience with the Israeli Zionists, especially the former settler who'd been removed from Gaza. When I think of him, all I see is pure hate. And, believe me, when you've seen the real thing, you never forget it. This was the face of war, the face of death. He even said that the Lebanese--ALL of whom he insisted were terrorists--are not human, "subhuman" he called them. When you see another human person in this way, it becomes too easy to kill them.
At the motel last night I watched part of the video, "The Da Vinci Code." But I had to turn it off. Not only was it stupid, but it showed too much hatred. After seeing the real thing--only three feet from my face--I never want to see it again. Not in myself, not in another person, and certainly not portrayed as "entertainment." There is nothing entertaining about hatred. I now know that in a way I never did before.
All this and more ran through my mind as I drove the 560 miles home. Thank goddess I had these two days by myself to begin what I anticipate being a long period of assimilating all that I learned and experienced in the last 18 days. I'm glad I did what I did, and I'm glad it's done. For now anyway.
When I arrived home, my dear Eddie drove from his office to welcome me and unpack my car. Talk about a sight for sore eyes! After we'd talked over some unfinished business between us, he went back to the office. I checked my mail and phone messages. But my true reward was to come--a lap swim in the park pool. Boy, did I need that!
Scooting out to sit by the water after my swim, I just "happened" to meet a woman who said she remembered me from peace events. We got to talking and I told her about my vigil in DC. She responded with such an understanding of the situation and appreciation of what I'd done that I ended up asking how it was she knew so much about Lebanon's history with Israel. Well, before her divorce, she'd been married to a Palestinian man. I felt like I was meeting a sister. And she lives just a few miles from me! As you can imagine, we'll soon be getting together for a nice long talk.
Ah, the water. And the wind. There was a wonderfully strong north wind coming off the lake. I stood up and let it blow through me. I felt it clearing away all the toxins I'd picked up in that--to me--incredibly toxic city of Washington, DC. Now I really was home.
I voted at the city offices next door to our house, set the table for dinner, began to read this week's issue of The Nation, greeted Eddie when he came home at 7:30 PM, enjoyed our dinner and walk together, sang "Tea For Two" with him at the piano, and came upstairs to my laptop about 9:30 PM. It's now 11:44 PM and I'd like to go to bed. My very own bed!
But first, I'll show you some photos from the trip. The first set is from Sideling Hill in northern Maryland. I took those pictures about an hour and a half into yesterday's trip.
Today it was the clouds that caught my eye. These pictures were taken at a rest stop in eastern Ohio.
Monday, August 07, 2006
"I choose my own way to burn"
It is now Monday morning and I have just finished rereading Kim Redigan's magnificent discussion of peace, "Fire in our Hearts." I want to conclude this final entry of my Washington, DC-based "Lebanon Peace Initiative" with a quote from Kim's presentation.
These are the words of Sophie Scholl who was part of the White Rose movement that resisted the Nazi Party. In February 1943, 21-year-old Sophie was arrested, sentenced to death, and beheaded.
The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men (and women) who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves - or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.
These are the words of Sophie Scholl who was part of the White Rose movement that resisted the Nazi Party. In February 1943, 21-year-old Sophie was arrested, sentenced to death, and beheaded.
The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men (and women) who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves - or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Day 18 of my Lebanon Peace Initiative
On this, the last full day of my 18-day vigil in front of the White House, I was given my final exam. And I passed. It was, without question, the hardest exam I've ever taken, but that made sense, for I have learned more during this Intensive Course on Non-Violent Dialogue than any such "course" I've ever taken before.
Until late in the afternoon it had been a positively glorious day. Perfect weather and crowds of visitors. I'd received lots of affirmative responses to my signs by, not only Europeans and other persons from around the world, but Americans as well. There seemed to be a shift of attitude among Americans--at least some of them--a sense that folks were waking up to the horrors being perpetrated on Lebanon by Israel.
Now I need to make it clear here that I do NOT support Hezbollah. I decry its rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. I want Hezbollah disarmed, as did most Lebanese prior to July 12th. The fear and suffering the Israeli people are experiencing pains me deeply. Violence only breeds more violence. Killing is ALWAYS wrong.
That being said, Israel's residents may be fearing rocket attacks that could kill or wound them, but their country is still intact. Their government is strong. Their roads and highways are open. Their planes and trains are running. They can get food and medicines if they need them. Their citizens can leave and return to their country whenever they please. Goods can cross their borders with ease. In short, their infrastructure is operating as it always has.
And Lebanon? In three and a half weeks, the country has been destroyed. It is under seige. Over a quarter of its population--at least a million people--have been displaced. Many are refugees, either in other countries or in the city of Beirut. All major roads and highways have been bombed so heavily that they are closed. Airports--most significantly the International Airport in Beirut--have been destroyed. No one can get in or out of the country: all escape routes have been bombed to smitherines. A humanitarian crisis is at hand because food and medicines cannot get into the country. Even when they do, any attempts to transport or distribute such aid is impossible. There are no roads on which to transport them and even if there were, all such vehicles are under threat of attack by Israeli bomber planes. It has happened already. Convoys of aid have been targeted and bombed. International aid workers have been killed, food and medicines blown up. Especially in southern Lebanon, the part of the country that Israeli generals have said they intend to level completely so that no building or any live persons will remain. This is their intention, and it is being accomplished.
I'm sorry but there is no absolutely NO comparison between what the people of Israel are experiencing and what the people and entire country of Lebanon are experiencing in this so-called "war."
And how can it be called a war when one side has the latest weapons/bomber planes/bombs the USA--weapons capitol of the world--can develop and sell? And the other side? Rockets with a range of 4 miles. Maybe even 1000s of rockets, but still. How can a rocket be compared to a 5000 pound laser-guided "bunker buster" bomb? Not to mention the cluster bombs and white phosphorus bombs that it has been proven Israel is using against Lebanese civilians...both of which are outlawed for such use by every international treaty on the books.
No, this is not a war; it is a massacre. It is a seige. It is a crime against humanity.
And what does the man sitting in that pristine white mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue do about it? He speeds up orders of bunker buster bombs to Israel so they can use them against Lebanon. He refuses to let the international community call for a no-strings-attached immediate ceasefire, a ceasefire that, had it been enacted when every member of the UN Security Council save one--the US of A--wanted it, would have saved 37 children and 12 women who were taking refuge in a building in Qana. He holds hands with the prime minister of a country that has set out to destroy its neighbor.
And the American people are led to believe this is just another example of Good vs. Evil, "You're with us (Israel) or you're with the terrorists (the Lebanese)." And the vast majority of our well-meaning, unbelievably gullible citizens buy it hook, line and sinker. The Bush White House has learned its 9/11 lesson well. All you have to do is use the "T" word (Terrorist), and you can make the American people believe any darn thing you tell them. Just push that well-worn "fear" button, and they're yours to do with as you please.
So the American people are told by FOX News and others, to ignore what's happening to the Lebanese people and their country, and only identify with the poor Israelis who are having to go to shelters and living in fear of rocket attacks. 9/11 all over again. An innocent people under attack by terrorists. The fact that these particular "terrorists" were created to resist Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon--an occupation that included its share of civilian massacres--is never mentioned. No, the Israeli people are innocents, and Hezbollah is just like al-Qaeda...out to get anyone they can.
Sorry for the rant, but all this has been festering in me for 18 days...with no place to put it. I certainly couldn't bring this to my dialogues, especially with persons from Israel. Not and keep things open between us. Not and stay in the place of non-violence and love.
And that brings me to this afternoon's "final exam." The primary test question was: Can I meet hatred with love? And I'm grateful to say, I did. In the face of the most virulent hatred I've ever encountered, I managed to stand my ground, did not flee, retaliate in kind, or dissolve into tears. I was surrounded by a group of angry--in one case, utterly enraged--Israeli Zionists and I made it through with my humanity intact.
Do you remember seeing newspaper photos of the Israeli settlers in Gaza who were pulled from their homes, screaming and fighting after the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had ordered Gaza to be cleared of Israeli settlements? I met one of them today. If I were to try to describe the venomous hatred that spewed forth from this poor man, I doubt if you could believe it. But I won't try. All I want to say is that I met his hatred with love. And that is what I mean about passing my final exam.
May I add that it was not just one man either. I was surrounded by three adult men, and one teenaged and four younger boys. And I mean literally surrounded. They were in my face. And except for one man from a group holding a "Stop Killing--Ceasefire Now" banner across the street, I was totally alone. And that fellow only stayed long enough to pass out some flyers and engage in a bit of argument with a couple of the Zionist men. Then he was gone.
Not only did I manage to meet their hatred with love but I even encouraged--and got--a bit of dialogue going. It wasn't easy but I didn't give up. After the former settler had vented more of his fury, I'd ask for "my turn," and he'd hold his tongue for a couple of seconds.
I brought up Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr. and Gandhi. They argued it was too late for that, that you could never respond nonviolently to people whose only wish was to have you dead. "But," I reminded them, "that's exactly what Dr. King was doing when he met the beatings, killings and hatred with love." I told them several times that I was feeling no hatred towards them, only love. And I kept repeating, "I'm so sorry that you have suffered." I also said that I was seeing a lot of hatred in them, and how sad that made me.
After the longest 15 minutes of my life, I could see we were making no headway. If anything, this venting of rage was engendering ever more hatred in my Israeli brothers. I finally said, "I think we've gone as far as we can. Let's call it a day." I was shaking with relief when they finally left.
The two young men of Palestinian descent who soon joined me could not have known how much I needed their presence at that moment. And when I found out they were from Michigan and were best friends with Fadi, a young Palestinian man whom I'd met at Rabih's first immigration court hearing on December 19, 2001, I felt like they were family. One of them said to me, "You may have felt alone here, but you never were. People from around the world are with you." I know he's right.
So tomorrow (Monday) I start my 2-day drive home to Detroit. I am ready. I think I've done all I can do here. For now anyway.
Here are some of the wonderful people I met during this VERY full day:
Photos #1-4 are of folks I met from Dearborn, Michigan, Chicago (originally from the Czech Republic), Spain, and Russia.
Photo #5 is of an amazing group of young people from Indonesia and the US with their trainer, Lorraine Warren. They are participating in an international camp in Bedford, Virginia that is called the Global Youth Village. Check it out--it looks magnificent!
Photo #6 is of the "Let Us Talk Fast" people, a coalition of Lebanese, Israeli and Palestinian professors and human rights advocates who want a ceasefire now in the Middle East. They started a relay of fasting on Wednesday, August 2, and are taking their banner/vigil in front of the US State Department during the week and to the White House on the weekends.
Photo #7 is of my Palestinian friends who comforted me. Jay, my brother vigiler, was also there for me when I needed a listening ear. I was not alone.
Until late in the afternoon it had been a positively glorious day. Perfect weather and crowds of visitors. I'd received lots of affirmative responses to my signs by, not only Europeans and other persons from around the world, but Americans as well. There seemed to be a shift of attitude among Americans--at least some of them--a sense that folks were waking up to the horrors being perpetrated on Lebanon by Israel.
Now I need to make it clear here that I do NOT support Hezbollah. I decry its rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. I want Hezbollah disarmed, as did most Lebanese prior to July 12th. The fear and suffering the Israeli people are experiencing pains me deeply. Violence only breeds more violence. Killing is ALWAYS wrong.
That being said, Israel's residents may be fearing rocket attacks that could kill or wound them, but their country is still intact. Their government is strong. Their roads and highways are open. Their planes and trains are running. They can get food and medicines if they need them. Their citizens can leave and return to their country whenever they please. Goods can cross their borders with ease. In short, their infrastructure is operating as it always has.
And Lebanon? In three and a half weeks, the country has been destroyed. It is under seige. Over a quarter of its population--at least a million people--have been displaced. Many are refugees, either in other countries or in the city of Beirut. All major roads and highways have been bombed so heavily that they are closed. Airports--most significantly the International Airport in Beirut--have been destroyed. No one can get in or out of the country: all escape routes have been bombed to smitherines. A humanitarian crisis is at hand because food and medicines cannot get into the country. Even when they do, any attempts to transport or distribute such aid is impossible. There are no roads on which to transport them and even if there were, all such vehicles are under threat of attack by Israeli bomber planes. It has happened already. Convoys of aid have been targeted and bombed. International aid workers have been killed, food and medicines blown up. Especially in southern Lebanon, the part of the country that Israeli generals have said they intend to level completely so that no building or any live persons will remain. This is their intention, and it is being accomplished.
I'm sorry but there is no absolutely NO comparison between what the people of Israel are experiencing and what the people and entire country of Lebanon are experiencing in this so-called "war."
And how can it be called a war when one side has the latest weapons/bomber planes/bombs the USA--weapons capitol of the world--can develop and sell? And the other side? Rockets with a range of 4 miles. Maybe even 1000s of rockets, but still. How can a rocket be compared to a 5000 pound laser-guided "bunker buster" bomb? Not to mention the cluster bombs and white phosphorus bombs that it has been proven Israel is using against Lebanese civilians...both of which are outlawed for such use by every international treaty on the books.
No, this is not a war; it is a massacre. It is a seige. It is a crime against humanity.
And what does the man sitting in that pristine white mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue do about it? He speeds up orders of bunker buster bombs to Israel so they can use them against Lebanon. He refuses to let the international community call for a no-strings-attached immediate ceasefire, a ceasefire that, had it been enacted when every member of the UN Security Council save one--the US of A--wanted it, would have saved 37 children and 12 women who were taking refuge in a building in Qana. He holds hands with the prime minister of a country that has set out to destroy its neighbor.
And the American people are led to believe this is just another example of Good vs. Evil, "You're with us (Israel) or you're with the terrorists (the Lebanese)." And the vast majority of our well-meaning, unbelievably gullible citizens buy it hook, line and sinker. The Bush White House has learned its 9/11 lesson well. All you have to do is use the "T" word (Terrorist), and you can make the American people believe any darn thing you tell them. Just push that well-worn "fear" button, and they're yours to do with as you please.
So the American people are told by FOX News and others, to ignore what's happening to the Lebanese people and their country, and only identify with the poor Israelis who are having to go to shelters and living in fear of rocket attacks. 9/11 all over again. An innocent people under attack by terrorists. The fact that these particular "terrorists" were created to resist Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon--an occupation that included its share of civilian massacres--is never mentioned. No, the Israeli people are innocents, and Hezbollah is just like al-Qaeda...out to get anyone they can.
Sorry for the rant, but all this has been festering in me for 18 days...with no place to put it. I certainly couldn't bring this to my dialogues, especially with persons from Israel. Not and keep things open between us. Not and stay in the place of non-violence and love.
And that brings me to this afternoon's "final exam." The primary test question was: Can I meet hatred with love? And I'm grateful to say, I did. In the face of the most virulent hatred I've ever encountered, I managed to stand my ground, did not flee, retaliate in kind, or dissolve into tears. I was surrounded by a group of angry--in one case, utterly enraged--Israeli Zionists and I made it through with my humanity intact.
Do you remember seeing newspaper photos of the Israeli settlers in Gaza who were pulled from their homes, screaming and fighting after the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had ordered Gaza to be cleared of Israeli settlements? I met one of them today. If I were to try to describe the venomous hatred that spewed forth from this poor man, I doubt if you could believe it. But I won't try. All I want to say is that I met his hatred with love. And that is what I mean about passing my final exam.
May I add that it was not just one man either. I was surrounded by three adult men, and one teenaged and four younger boys. And I mean literally surrounded. They were in my face. And except for one man from a group holding a "Stop Killing--Ceasefire Now" banner across the street, I was totally alone. And that fellow only stayed long enough to pass out some flyers and engage in a bit of argument with a couple of the Zionist men. Then he was gone.
Not only did I manage to meet their hatred with love but I even encouraged--and got--a bit of dialogue going. It wasn't easy but I didn't give up. After the former settler had vented more of his fury, I'd ask for "my turn," and he'd hold his tongue for a couple of seconds.
I brought up Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr. and Gandhi. They argued it was too late for that, that you could never respond nonviolently to people whose only wish was to have you dead. "But," I reminded them, "that's exactly what Dr. King was doing when he met the beatings, killings and hatred with love." I told them several times that I was feeling no hatred towards them, only love. And I kept repeating, "I'm so sorry that you have suffered." I also said that I was seeing a lot of hatred in them, and how sad that made me.
After the longest 15 minutes of my life, I could see we were making no headway. If anything, this venting of rage was engendering ever more hatred in my Israeli brothers. I finally said, "I think we've gone as far as we can. Let's call it a day." I was shaking with relief when they finally left.
The two young men of Palestinian descent who soon joined me could not have known how much I needed their presence at that moment. And when I found out they were from Michigan and were best friends with Fadi, a young Palestinian man whom I'd met at Rabih's first immigration court hearing on December 19, 2001, I felt like they were family. One of them said to me, "You may have felt alone here, but you never were. People from around the world are with you." I know he's right.
So tomorrow (Monday) I start my 2-day drive home to Detroit. I am ready. I think I've done all I can do here. For now anyway.
Here are some of the wonderful people I met during this VERY full day:
Photos #1-4 are of folks I met from Dearborn, Michigan, Chicago (originally from the Czech Republic), Spain, and Russia.
Photo #5 is of an amazing group of young people from Indonesia and the US with their trainer, Lorraine Warren. They are participating in an international camp in Bedford, Virginia that is called the Global Youth Village. Check it out--it looks magnificent!
Photo #6 is of the "Let Us Talk Fast" people, a coalition of Lebanese, Israeli and Palestinian professors and human rights advocates who want a ceasefire now in the Middle East. They started a relay of fasting on Wednesday, August 2, and are taking their banner/vigil in front of the US State Department during the week and to the White House on the weekends.
Photo #7 is of my Palestinian friends who comforted me. Jay, my brother vigiler, was also there for me when I needed a listening ear. I was not alone.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Day 17 of my Lebanon Peace Initiative
When I got to the 15th Street entrance to the White House today about 11 AM, it was blocked off with yellow tape. I scooted over and asked a policeman what was going on. He answered, "An unattended package." I asked how long it had been closed and he said, "About fifteen minutes." Since there was no telling how long it would be closed off, I just kept scooting up 15th towards K Street.
After a block or two I came to a barber shop. I'd had to cancel last Wednesday's appointment for a haircut with Leesa in Windsor, Ontario, so I was sitting there considering whether or not to go in. A lovely African-American woman with a terrific short haircut saw me and said, "They're good. Ask for Darrell at the farthest chair from the door." So I did.
I was the only woman in the place. All the barbers--five of them--and the customers were African-American men. They couldn't have been nicer to me. I felt very welcome. After about ten minutes--during which time Patrice (one of the barbers) and I had become buddies--Darrell was ready for me.
He helped me transfer into the rather tall barber chair--he said he'd worked in PT and it showed in his knowing exactly how to help--and took the time to listen carefully to what I wanted. He asked how long it had been since my last cut. When I said, "Four weeks," he assured me, "Then I know how to do what you're used to." And he did.
He gave me a great cut, but even more than that, Darrell and I met on a deep level. It's hard to describe how this kind of thing happens, but sometimes it just does.
When Darrell found out we'd both been born in the Walter Reed Army Hospital--he in 1961 and I in 1942--he said, "So that's why we've reconnected today." He was most interested to hear that the hospital had been built on my great-grandfather's farm. We also connected about Detroit. He'd played as a wide receiver with the Detroit Lions after college for a year and a half.
Here's a picture of Darrell and Denita, the woman whom I'd met outside.
I scooted right down to the White House after leaving the barber shop. The street was open and there were crowds milling around in front. But before taking my usual place at the fence, I scooted over to my tree to make some calls.
My nephew John, his wife Kirsten and my two grand-nieces, one of whom (Katie) I'd not yet seen because she'd just been born on June 29, were planning to meet me today and I wanted to see what time that might be happening. I got through to them and we settled on an early supper together at my favorite restaurant, the Elephant & Castle on Pennsylvania Avenue at 12th.
Then I scooted over to say hello to Concepcion and Jay, my friends. Jay hadn't been at his post yesterday and I just wanted to be sure he was OK. As it turned out, he'd been invited to spend the day at a friend's home, quite a lovely thing for a fellow whose "home" is outside in the park.
I then saw what looked like an apparation: the CODEPINK banners laid out on the ground and some friends--old and new--sitting around talking. It was SO good to see them again!
After a brief visit, I scooted across the street with my sign and took my place at the fence in front of the White House.
In the early afternoon, the US Park Police hustled everyone off the sidewalk and street in front of the White House and kept it off limits for the rest of the day. When I'd seen them do this before it was a temporary thing, usually when the motorcade of a visiting dignitary was entering or leaving the White House grounds. But this was different in that it went on for hours.
I suspect the problem had to do with construction that was going over by the West Gate. My guess is they had to keep that gate open so the bulldozer could do its work. The police were giving out no information when asked.
I took this opportunity to hang out with my CODEPINK friends. Maria was there, an activist from New Mexico who had been arrested in the March action at the Pentagon. I also met Carolyn, a CODEPINK member who lives in DC, a young man--I forget his name--who's new in town and had just come from the weekly Society of Friends' peace vigil that is held every Saturday from 12-1 in front of the Capitol, and a couple who are new to the movement but seemed to be wanting to do more. Katy, CODEPINK's DC coordinator, my friend Jerry, and Danielle, a faithful protester for peace whom I've seen countless times over the past 17 days, were also part of the community conversation there under the trees.
After a lovely break, I scooted down to where crowds of international and national visitors were gathering beside Concepcion's station on the Lafayette Park side of the street, eager to take pictures of themselves in front of the White House. There I sat in the rather warm sun for a couple more hours.
During that time I got lots of thank you's, thumbs up, requests to take my picture both alone and with supporters beside me, and only one negative comment. That pass-by snide remark didn't even refer to my sign but simply echoed the tired old Rush Limbaugh refrain that these protesters should "get a job." When I hear such things, I often wonder what they're thinking. After all, it was a Saturday afternoon and I didn't see them working. Interestingly enough, my being obviously of retirement age and disabled doesn't seem to interfere with their need to put me down. Ah well, sometimes it's easier to ridicule what you don't understand than to try to understand it.
I met folks from the Netherlands (photo #1), from Brazil (photo #2), and a family of Palestinians who now live in the US (photo #3). All these folks were appreciative of my being there, but especially the Palestinian family. We had a real meeting of mind and heart.
Eva, with whom I'd made a date to get together this afternoon, showed up on her bike just in time to take the picture of my new Palestinian friends. She sat with me until I said I was done for the day. The sun was rather brutal. She and I then biked/scooted over to Gifford's Ice Cream parlor for a most welcome milkshake and conversation.
I'd first met Eva a week ago Friday during one of my Capitol Hill vigils. At that time she was with a Tibetan refugee with whom she was working at the International Campaign for Tibet. It had been Eva's suggestion that I ask for donations to help defray my hotel bill. We'd been in touch by email and phone since then, and I wanted to get to know her better. I suspected she had a real story to tell...and I was right.
Eva has been living and working in countries around the world for years. Her most recent work had been in South Korea where she spent several years. But in the course of our conversation, places like Tunisia, Tibet and other farflung parts of the world came up. Now she is discerning what will be next. The International Campaign for Tibet, where she's been an intern for the past three months, has offered her a full-time position. At the same time, Eva is feeling deeply drawn to Palestine, in particular to working with the International Solidarity Movement. I know she'll make a good choice. I sense that Eva is one who follows her passion, a passion for truth and justice that always serves the greater whole.
At 6 PM I got a call from my nephew John that they were leaving their home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and would be meeting me at the restaurant in a half hour. Eva and I said goodbye--knowing we'll stay in touch--and I put on my aunt/great aunt "hat."
We had such fun! Katie, the new baby, is a love--very mellow and a real sleeper. I only saw her eyes open for a moment. Little Betty is her own bright, funny, engaging self. And I love John and Kirsten. They're terrific parents and awake/aware individuals when it comes to world affairs. After 17 days of being in a purely activist mode, it was sweet to sit back and just be a loving aunt. Here are some pictures of our time together.
After a block or two I came to a barber shop. I'd had to cancel last Wednesday's appointment for a haircut with Leesa in Windsor, Ontario, so I was sitting there considering whether or not to go in. A lovely African-American woman with a terrific short haircut saw me and said, "They're good. Ask for Darrell at the farthest chair from the door." So I did.
I was the only woman in the place. All the barbers--five of them--and the customers were African-American men. They couldn't have been nicer to me. I felt very welcome. After about ten minutes--during which time Patrice (one of the barbers) and I had become buddies--Darrell was ready for me.
He helped me transfer into the rather tall barber chair--he said he'd worked in PT and it showed in his knowing exactly how to help--and took the time to listen carefully to what I wanted. He asked how long it had been since my last cut. When I said, "Four weeks," he assured me, "Then I know how to do what you're used to." And he did.
He gave me a great cut, but even more than that, Darrell and I met on a deep level. It's hard to describe how this kind of thing happens, but sometimes it just does.
When Darrell found out we'd both been born in the Walter Reed Army Hospital--he in 1961 and I in 1942--he said, "So that's why we've reconnected today." He was most interested to hear that the hospital had been built on my great-grandfather's farm. We also connected about Detroit. He'd played as a wide receiver with the Detroit Lions after college for a year and a half.
Here's a picture of Darrell and Denita, the woman whom I'd met outside.
I scooted right down to the White House after leaving the barber shop. The street was open and there were crowds milling around in front. But before taking my usual place at the fence, I scooted over to my tree to make some calls.
My nephew John, his wife Kirsten and my two grand-nieces, one of whom (Katie) I'd not yet seen because she'd just been born on June 29, were planning to meet me today and I wanted to see what time that might be happening. I got through to them and we settled on an early supper together at my favorite restaurant, the Elephant & Castle on Pennsylvania Avenue at 12th.
Then I scooted over to say hello to Concepcion and Jay, my friends. Jay hadn't been at his post yesterday and I just wanted to be sure he was OK. As it turned out, he'd been invited to spend the day at a friend's home, quite a lovely thing for a fellow whose "home" is outside in the park.
I then saw what looked like an apparation: the CODEPINK banners laid out on the ground and some friends--old and new--sitting around talking. It was SO good to see them again!
After a brief visit, I scooted across the street with my sign and took my place at the fence in front of the White House.
In the early afternoon, the US Park Police hustled everyone off the sidewalk and street in front of the White House and kept it off limits for the rest of the day. When I'd seen them do this before it was a temporary thing, usually when the motorcade of a visiting dignitary was entering or leaving the White House grounds. But this was different in that it went on for hours.
I suspect the problem had to do with construction that was going over by the West Gate. My guess is they had to keep that gate open so the bulldozer could do its work. The police were giving out no information when asked.
I took this opportunity to hang out with my CODEPINK friends. Maria was there, an activist from New Mexico who had been arrested in the March action at the Pentagon. I also met Carolyn, a CODEPINK member who lives in DC, a young man--I forget his name--who's new in town and had just come from the weekly Society of Friends' peace vigil that is held every Saturday from 12-1 in front of the Capitol, and a couple who are new to the movement but seemed to be wanting to do more. Katy, CODEPINK's DC coordinator, my friend Jerry, and Danielle, a faithful protester for peace whom I've seen countless times over the past 17 days, were also part of the community conversation there under the trees.
After a lovely break, I scooted down to where crowds of international and national visitors were gathering beside Concepcion's station on the Lafayette Park side of the street, eager to take pictures of themselves in front of the White House. There I sat in the rather warm sun for a couple more hours.
During that time I got lots of thank you's, thumbs up, requests to take my picture both alone and with supporters beside me, and only one negative comment. That pass-by snide remark didn't even refer to my sign but simply echoed the tired old Rush Limbaugh refrain that these protesters should "get a job." When I hear such things, I often wonder what they're thinking. After all, it was a Saturday afternoon and I didn't see them working. Interestingly enough, my being obviously of retirement age and disabled doesn't seem to interfere with their need to put me down. Ah well, sometimes it's easier to ridicule what you don't understand than to try to understand it.
I met folks from the Netherlands (photo #1), from Brazil (photo #2), and a family of Palestinians who now live in the US (photo #3). All these folks were appreciative of my being there, but especially the Palestinian family. We had a real meeting of mind and heart.
Eva, with whom I'd made a date to get together this afternoon, showed up on her bike just in time to take the picture of my new Palestinian friends. She sat with me until I said I was done for the day. The sun was rather brutal. She and I then biked/scooted over to Gifford's Ice Cream parlor for a most welcome milkshake and conversation.
I'd first met Eva a week ago Friday during one of my Capitol Hill vigils. At that time she was with a Tibetan refugee with whom she was working at the International Campaign for Tibet. It had been Eva's suggestion that I ask for donations to help defray my hotel bill. We'd been in touch by email and phone since then, and I wanted to get to know her better. I suspected she had a real story to tell...and I was right.
Eva has been living and working in countries around the world for years. Her most recent work had been in South Korea where she spent several years. But in the course of our conversation, places like Tunisia, Tibet and other farflung parts of the world came up. Now she is discerning what will be next. The International Campaign for Tibet, where she's been an intern for the past three months, has offered her a full-time position. At the same time, Eva is feeling deeply drawn to Palestine, in particular to working with the International Solidarity Movement. I know she'll make a good choice. I sense that Eva is one who follows her passion, a passion for truth and justice that always serves the greater whole.
At 6 PM I got a call from my nephew John that they were leaving their home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and would be meeting me at the restaurant in a half hour. Eva and I said goodbye--knowing we'll stay in touch--and I put on my aunt/great aunt "hat."
We had such fun! Katie, the new baby, is a love--very mellow and a real sleeper. I only saw her eyes open for a moment. Little Betty is her own bright, funny, engaging self. And I love John and Kirsten. They're terrific parents and awake/aware individuals when it comes to world affairs. After 17 days of being in a purely activist mode, it was sweet to sit back and just be a loving aunt. Here are some pictures of our time together.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Day 16 of my Lebanon Peace Initiative
The day started with a phone interview with the news director of CHYR-FM, a Leamington, Ontario radio station. He had read about my protest in a Virgina newspaper, and was interested because Windsor, Ontario had been mentioned.
He asked three questions: 1) What's been the response of people to my signs?; 2) What has been the police response to my protest; and 3) How long do I plan to stay?
I was happy to report that I've gotten 100% positive responses from the Canadians I've met. But then I gave a more detailed answer regarding the Israeli and American responses I've received. I also talked about the place of the media in forming opinions, especially here in the States. I told about the morning "check-in" the US Park Police do with me every day, and shared about Thomas having been arrested by the police yesterday. When I answered the question about how long I'll be staying, I mentioned what my hotel/parking bill will be. I heard him gasp. I then told him about the generosity of friends and strangers who are helping me with donations.
I got to the White House about 10:30 AM and started my vigil. Almost immediately, some folks from Wales came up to tell me how much they agreed with my sign. But then an Israeli woman broke in to say how wrong it is for me to present only one side to this: that the Israelis are suffering greatly too and why don't I have a sign about that? I started to say I understood, but before I could finish my sentence, she said, "You DON'T understand!" Then one of the men from Wales started "defending" me but it came across in a confrontational way. She left, visibily upset.
After she'd left, I thanked the man for trying to stand up for me but told him what I would have said if I'd been given the chance. I told him this was what I was looking for: dialogue with people who see things differently. He apologized for interfering, but said her tone of voice had really upset him. I said I understood but had heard far worse than that.
But I was left feeling uneasy. This had been a missed opportunity. So I scooted off to try to catch up with her and her two children. I managed to do so.
I started out by apologizing for the man who had started arguing with her. I said I wanted to hear what she wanted to say. She told me that, as an Israeli, she is feeling all the American media ever talks and writes about is the suffering and destruction in Lebanon, that they never talk about how much the people in Israel are suffering. She said my sign had hurt and upset her children very much. She said, "I feel like we are invisible here in the United States, no one cares about us or hears our voices."
I responded by saying that I had not known this was what she and her people were feeling. I was sorry for that.
I then recalled the front page of the Washington Post that I'd seen on my scoot over to the White House this morning. On it had been a large photo and two lead articles about Israel having suffered attacks by Hezbollah on Thursday that had caused the most Israeli civilian deaths of any single day since the war on Lebanon had begun.
I asked if she'd seen the Washington Post this morning. She said no. I encouraged her to do so because the front page had featured a photo and two lead articles about the suffering of the people of Israel.
She had to get back on her tour bus, but before we parted she said, "I hope your family is safe." I said the same to her.
An hour or so later two young men from Australia stopped to discuss the situation in Lebanon. They sounded a lot like Americans with their talk of needing to kill the terrorists and such. This time I talked too much instead of asking questions and trying to learn what they thought, but I guess you can't get it right every time.
So here is the photo section of today's entry:
One of the Chinese tour guides always makes a point of bringing his folks over to where I'm sitting with my sign and explains to them why I am there. The people from China seem surprised that I can protest like this without fear of arrest. When the guide first saw me here last week he asked detailed questios about how the police respond to my protest. The things I take for granted! This is a photo of a young Chinese woman who heartily agreed with my call for peace.
Perhaps the most gratiying of all my encounters during these 16 days came at 12:30 PM today when a group of nine youngsters, who appeared to be aged 9-13, came up and asked me to explain what was going on between Israel and Lebanon. They each wore a nametag with "National Youth Leadership Council" printed on it. Later in our conversation, I learned from Alex, their adult coordinator, that these students had come from around the country to participate in a six-day youth leadership training program here in Washington, DC. Except for that brief exchange, Alec stayed out of sight and let the kids carry the ball. And carry the ball they did!
These girls and boys asked the most informed, carefully considered questions I've heard since this latest phase of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict started on July 12th. And they listened wiith full attention to my answers. I also asked them questions, one of which was, "Tell me what you think about the situation there?"
Their questions included 1) How should a country respond to terrorist attacks?; 2) What if it's true that Hezbollah had first fired rockets from a location close to the building that was bombed in Qana? Maybe Israel didn't know there were innocent people hiding there.; and 3) How do you explain Israel having been given Arab land in 1948? What part does that play in what's going on today?
These were just a few of their questions. They set up such a teacher-student relationship with me that they'd even raise their hands and wait to be called upon before asking a question. Believe me, I used all the experience I'd gained during my five years as a classroom volunteer at the K-5 school in Dearborn!
All this was happening right in the middle of the DC Catholic Workers' weekly vigil for peace in front of the White House. We'd not had the best introduction to one another anyway, so my guess is they were not delighted with my spontaneous classroom being set up in what I think they consider to be their space. But it couldn't be helped. The kids were there and what was happening was pure gift...at least to the kids and me.
By the way, I answered their question about Hezbollah setting up rocket-launching sites in civilian areas by bringing it into their own personal experience. I said, "If someone in your neighborhood--maybe someone you didn't even know--started shooting at the police, would it be fair for the police to shoot and kill everyone in the neighborhood in retaliation?" All the kids shook their heads no.
I'd say our "sidewalk class" must have gone on for at least 10-15 minutes, and these young people were with me 100% the whole time. Talk about a sign of hope! As I told them at the end of our time together, my meeting young people who ask deep questions and think for themselves is the most encouraging thing I've seen during my entire vigil. Being critical thinkers is what is needed today. And they're doing it! I commended them highly. And then we took pictures.
After our time together I took a break under my tree to rest and reflect. I also called my friend Dorothy in California to tell her what had just happened. Ed, Dorothy, Morgan Rose in Toledo, Ohio, and Nan in Hannibal, Missouri have been my phone support team since I've been here in DC. My cell phone bill is going to be astronomical but it's been worth every penny. I couldn't be doing what I'm doing without the support of dear Eddie and my friends.
Speaking of support, you, my faithful readers, have been most generous in your financial support of my work here. Including individuals who have spontaneously given me cash here at my vigil--including two of the National Youth Leadership Council students--as of now there are six Friends of my Lebanon Peace Initiative. My deepest gratitude to all who, through donations, emails, prayers and good thoughts, are helping me do what I can to bring peace to Lebanon and Israel.
At 2 PM I was done. It happened suddenly but I respected the message my body/mind/spirit was giving me. That message was; "Get me to some water!"
As you know if you're a regular reader, I live close to a huge lake at home and swim at least twice a week winter and summer. My body and spirit need water like a duck needs water. I had not even seen any body of water bigger than a fountain in 18 days. All of a sudden, I was DYING to see real live water!
So I scooted in the direction of the Tidal Basin over by the Lincoln Memorial. I found something else that was even better: a body of water that had a small island in the middle with grass and trees. Heaven! I spent at least an hour parked in the shade beside the water, with soft cooling breezes in my face, birds singing in the trees, ducks and geese in the water and close to me on the shore, with my shoes off and my bare feet planted firmly on the earth. It was JUST what I needed.
After I'd had my fill, I scooted over to my favorite Italian restaurant for an early supper of salad and pizza. Then I went back to my hotel room and did some work on the computer.
Strangely enough I discovered that the sidebar here on my blog was missing, and probably had been missing all day. That's what has my photo, contact info, links and archives on it. After trying different things, I found the problem was with the photo of me with my "Israel out of Lebanon" sign. If I replaced this photo with the one of me holding a sign about the war in Iraq, everything was fine. Had I been hit by a pro-Israel hacker or is there some technical explanation for this? I tried changing the web address to that particular photo, but it still caused the whole sidebar to disappear. Strange.
About 6 PM I got a call from my Iranian friend Sahar and we got together for dessert at a cafe several blocks away. I took the following picture on Pennsylvania Avenue near 11th Street as I was scooting back to my hotel for the night.
He asked three questions: 1) What's been the response of people to my signs?; 2) What has been the police response to my protest; and 3) How long do I plan to stay?
I was happy to report that I've gotten 100% positive responses from the Canadians I've met. But then I gave a more detailed answer regarding the Israeli and American responses I've received. I also talked about the place of the media in forming opinions, especially here in the States. I told about the morning "check-in" the US Park Police do with me every day, and shared about Thomas having been arrested by the police yesterday. When I answered the question about how long I'll be staying, I mentioned what my hotel/parking bill will be. I heard him gasp. I then told him about the generosity of friends and strangers who are helping me with donations.
I got to the White House about 10:30 AM and started my vigil. Almost immediately, some folks from Wales came up to tell me how much they agreed with my sign. But then an Israeli woman broke in to say how wrong it is for me to present only one side to this: that the Israelis are suffering greatly too and why don't I have a sign about that? I started to say I understood, but before I could finish my sentence, she said, "You DON'T understand!" Then one of the men from Wales started "defending" me but it came across in a confrontational way. She left, visibily upset.
After she'd left, I thanked the man for trying to stand up for me but told him what I would have said if I'd been given the chance. I told him this was what I was looking for: dialogue with people who see things differently. He apologized for interfering, but said her tone of voice had really upset him. I said I understood but had heard far worse than that.
But I was left feeling uneasy. This had been a missed opportunity. So I scooted off to try to catch up with her and her two children. I managed to do so.
I started out by apologizing for the man who had started arguing with her. I said I wanted to hear what she wanted to say. She told me that, as an Israeli, she is feeling all the American media ever talks and writes about is the suffering and destruction in Lebanon, that they never talk about how much the people in Israel are suffering. She said my sign had hurt and upset her children very much. She said, "I feel like we are invisible here in the United States, no one cares about us or hears our voices."
I responded by saying that I had not known this was what she and her people were feeling. I was sorry for that.
I then recalled the front page of the Washington Post that I'd seen on my scoot over to the White House this morning. On it had been a large photo and two lead articles about Israel having suffered attacks by Hezbollah on Thursday that had caused the most Israeli civilian deaths of any single day since the war on Lebanon had begun.
I asked if she'd seen the Washington Post this morning. She said no. I encouraged her to do so because the front page had featured a photo and two lead articles about the suffering of the people of Israel.
She had to get back on her tour bus, but before we parted she said, "I hope your family is safe." I said the same to her.
An hour or so later two young men from Australia stopped to discuss the situation in Lebanon. They sounded a lot like Americans with their talk of needing to kill the terrorists and such. This time I talked too much instead of asking questions and trying to learn what they thought, but I guess you can't get it right every time.
So here is the photo section of today's entry:
One of the Chinese tour guides always makes a point of bringing his folks over to where I'm sitting with my sign and explains to them why I am there. The people from China seem surprised that I can protest like this without fear of arrest. When the guide first saw me here last week he asked detailed questios about how the police respond to my protest. The things I take for granted! This is a photo of a young Chinese woman who heartily agreed with my call for peace.
Perhaps the most gratiying of all my encounters during these 16 days came at 12:30 PM today when a group of nine youngsters, who appeared to be aged 9-13, came up and asked me to explain what was going on between Israel and Lebanon. They each wore a nametag with "National Youth Leadership Council" printed on it. Later in our conversation, I learned from Alex, their adult coordinator, that these students had come from around the country to participate in a six-day youth leadership training program here in Washington, DC. Except for that brief exchange, Alec stayed out of sight and let the kids carry the ball. And carry the ball they did!
These girls and boys asked the most informed, carefully considered questions I've heard since this latest phase of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict started on July 12th. And they listened wiith full attention to my answers. I also asked them questions, one of which was, "Tell me what you think about the situation there?"
Their questions included 1) How should a country respond to terrorist attacks?; 2) What if it's true that Hezbollah had first fired rockets from a location close to the building that was bombed in Qana? Maybe Israel didn't know there were innocent people hiding there.; and 3) How do you explain Israel having been given Arab land in 1948? What part does that play in what's going on today?
These were just a few of their questions. They set up such a teacher-student relationship with me that they'd even raise their hands and wait to be called upon before asking a question. Believe me, I used all the experience I'd gained during my five years as a classroom volunteer at the K-5 school in Dearborn!
All this was happening right in the middle of the DC Catholic Workers' weekly vigil for peace in front of the White House. We'd not had the best introduction to one another anyway, so my guess is they were not delighted with my spontaneous classroom being set up in what I think they consider to be their space. But it couldn't be helped. The kids were there and what was happening was pure gift...at least to the kids and me.
By the way, I answered their question about Hezbollah setting up rocket-launching sites in civilian areas by bringing it into their own personal experience. I said, "If someone in your neighborhood--maybe someone you didn't even know--started shooting at the police, would it be fair for the police to shoot and kill everyone in the neighborhood in retaliation?" All the kids shook their heads no.
I'd say our "sidewalk class" must have gone on for at least 10-15 minutes, and these young people were with me 100% the whole time. Talk about a sign of hope! As I told them at the end of our time together, my meeting young people who ask deep questions and think for themselves is the most encouraging thing I've seen during my entire vigil. Being critical thinkers is what is needed today. And they're doing it! I commended them highly. And then we took pictures.
After our time together I took a break under my tree to rest and reflect. I also called my friend Dorothy in California to tell her what had just happened. Ed, Dorothy, Morgan Rose in Toledo, Ohio, and Nan in Hannibal, Missouri have been my phone support team since I've been here in DC. My cell phone bill is going to be astronomical but it's been worth every penny. I couldn't be doing what I'm doing without the support of dear Eddie and my friends.
Speaking of support, you, my faithful readers, have been most generous in your financial support of my work here. Including individuals who have spontaneously given me cash here at my vigil--including two of the National Youth Leadership Council students--as of now there are six Friends of my Lebanon Peace Initiative. My deepest gratitude to all who, through donations, emails, prayers and good thoughts, are helping me do what I can to bring peace to Lebanon and Israel.
At 2 PM I was done. It happened suddenly but I respected the message my body/mind/spirit was giving me. That message was; "Get me to some water!"
As you know if you're a regular reader, I live close to a huge lake at home and swim at least twice a week winter and summer. My body and spirit need water like a duck needs water. I had not even seen any body of water bigger than a fountain in 18 days. All of a sudden, I was DYING to see real live water!
So I scooted in the direction of the Tidal Basin over by the Lincoln Memorial. I found something else that was even better: a body of water that had a small island in the middle with grass and trees. Heaven! I spent at least an hour parked in the shade beside the water, with soft cooling breezes in my face, birds singing in the trees, ducks and geese in the water and close to me on the shore, with my shoes off and my bare feet planted firmly on the earth. It was JUST what I needed.
After I'd had my fill, I scooted over to my favorite Italian restaurant for an early supper of salad and pizza. Then I went back to my hotel room and did some work on the computer.
Strangely enough I discovered that the sidebar here on my blog was missing, and probably had been missing all day. That's what has my photo, contact info, links and archives on it. After trying different things, I found the problem was with the photo of me with my "Israel out of Lebanon" sign. If I replaced this photo with the one of me holding a sign about the war in Iraq, everything was fine. Had I been hit by a pro-Israel hacker or is there some technical explanation for this? I tried changing the web address to that particular photo, but it still caused the whole sidebar to disappear. Strange.
About 6 PM I got a call from my Iranian friend Sahar and we got together for dessert at a cafe several blocks away. I took the following picture on Pennsylvania Avenue near 11th Street as I was scooting back to my hotel for the night.
Words to send me out on the streets to work for peace...
The following is an email I received last night from one of our world's most authentic peacemakers. After reading and reflecting on her message this morning, I feel ready to continue doing my work for peace here in front of the house where decisions are made in all our names. May the fire of her words resonate in my heart, open my ears and eyes, and burn me free of any self-interest, fears or hatreds as I face the world of violence with the courage of love. May it be so.
Patricia,
I am so uplifted after having spoken with you and reading your great blogsite. How I wish I were there with you!
I am forwarding a talk I gave last week at an event in Dearborn. I couldn't seem to write the speech until the morning of the event when the following just poured out. I am sending it to you as a sign of my solidarity for all you are . . . and all you are doing. Pass my love onto those with whom you come into contact.
Love,
Kim
Fire in Our Hearts
Kim Redigan
(Yoga for Peace - July 22, 2006)
Right now the world is on fire. Fire caused by weapons that are only a projection of hearts that have not yet learned to love. More specifically, by hearts that are hardened by fear. The fear of the other. The fear of not getting what one wants. The fear of losing what one has Most of all, the fear of dying. There is no doubt that what is playing out in our world today points to a larger existential problem - especially in our country.
I have been asked to speak today about peace and justice and to share stories of hope. While there are many specifics to discuss, I think there is a fundamental issue that underlies the conflicts and violence in which the United States is involved. I believe that the greatest obstacle to peace in this nation is the illusory belief that violence can bring about some sort of security when, in fact, life, by its nature, is insecure. We cannot bring about security by acquiring things and then building walls and missiles to protest these possessions. We cannot insure security by bombing others before they bomb us or by designing missile shields. No . . . at the heart of peacemaking is the acknowledgment that life is insecure. I think once we really internalize this and accept the fact that the only time we are guaranteed is this moment, then we are internally free to do the work of peace.
I recall the day of September 11, 2001. I am a teacher and was at school that day. After hearing the news, I walked into the teachers' lounge to see how my colleagues were doing. Everyone was in a state of shock except for our Spanish teacher, Anna. Anna had recently migrated to the States from a Latin American country where violence, torture, assassinations, and death are routine. I will never forget Anna's words on 9/11 - spoken not out of any kind of callousness or lack of compassion - but words that contained much truth. She simply said, "Welcome to the rest of the world." While the attacks of 9-11 were truly horrific, Americans seem to forget that thousands are killed everyday around the globe as a result of negligence: food not shared, water not made available, medicines denied. In Anna's country, Colombia, humans rights workers and labor organizers continue to be tortured and killed, often by paramilitaries trained here in the United States at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia using weapons sold by our government.
My point is that while we were rightly outraged by the events of 9-11, there was an opportunity buried in that tragedy to ask hard and serious questions about our role in the world community. My prayer was that our nation would have the maturity to engage in deep and painful self-examination. My hope was that our nation would have the wisdom to open its heart to grief rather than tighten its fists in retaliation. While our country's leaders opted for belligerence, I think that many, many people in this nation awakened to their call as peacemakers that terrible day in a way that was quite profound.
While most of the violence practiced by our nation comes from its desire to keep what it has and acquire more - more possessions and, especially, more power - much of the violence we see coming from other parts of the world is the inevitable violence that occurs when the world community turns a deaf ear to oppression and injustice. This is best expressed by the poet Langston Hughes who wrote:
What happens to a dream deferred?/Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore--And then run?/Does it stink like rotten meat?/ Or crust and sugar over--like a syrupy sweet?/ Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
In the wake of 9-11, our nation's leaders talked a lot about "connecting the dots," but have we taken the time to connect the dots of injustice - the dots of suffering - the dots of oppression - the dots of dreams deferred? If we really want to understand the explosions that are rocking our world, it behooves us to understand what others are trying to say even when they speak the language of violence. This may be a hard language to listen to, but it is a language borne of frustration and despair.
The big question that needs to be asked in places of violence is Why? A question seldom asked in our hurry to retaliate and a question that holds the key to peace. Unless we listen deeply to those we call enemies, those who hate and even hurt us, we have no hope for peace. Personally, I find our nation's inability or unwillingness to take stock of itself our saddest legacy. The presumption of superiority and the arrogance of claiming - demanding - for itself what it is unwilling to grant others fuels the fires of resentment and anger that many in the world hold toward our country. If we are unwilling to look at our own weaknesses, our own hypocrisies, our own shortcomings, it is unlikely that we will muster the maturity to listen to the criticism of those we call "enemy." This is a fatal mistake. Our presumed enemies can be our greatest teachers if we can gain the spiritual maturity to listen to what they have to say.
I have found that in the classroom it is often the most disruptive, angry, and difficult student who has the most to teach me. Beneath the surface, such students often have serious needs, concerns, hurts that are crying to be attended to. Am I going to use violence against such a student or am I going to humble myself and listen deeply to his grievances? If we take the time to listen to those we perhaps find most threatening, we open the door to real peacemaking that contains within it the power of radical transformation. Martin Luther King expressed it well when he said:
Compassion and nonviolence help us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of those who are called the opposition.
To speak of peace without also looking at injustice rings hollow. While we all acknowledge the importance of inner peace and recognize the need to create a peaceful environment for ourselves and our families, we must take it farther. The cultivation of inner peace must reach outward to the furthermost corners of our neighborhoods, cities, and world to help heal the injustices of our brothers and sisters. Can I really have peace when my neighbor is oppressed? Can I seek serenity for myself without sharing the struggles of those around the world who are crying out - sometimes violently - to have their grievances heard?
For Martin Luther King, the answer is no. We are a world community, completely interdependent. It is impossible to create a peaceful bubble for ourselves that excludes the pain of others. As King says:
As long as there is poverty in the world I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars. As long as diseases run rampant and millions of people in this world cannot expect to live more than twenty-eight or thirty years, I can never be totally healthy even if I just got a good check-up at the Mayo Clinic. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the way our world is made. No individual or nation can stand out boasting of being independent. We are interdependent.
That we could recognize the truth of these words! I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be! We are interdependent. This means that the struggles of our brothers and sisters are our struggles as well. It means that in cases of injustice and inequality, we must take a position. Earlier in life I believed that a detached neutrality was at the heart of peacemaking. A philosophy in which I could stand outside the dirty world of politics and wrap myself in a spiritual blanket of my own making. Once upon a time I thought that choosing sides was the antithesis of peacemaking, but I have grown into a new understanding. Bishop Desmond Tutu, a deeply spiritual man who was engaged in the struggle against apartheid in his country of South Africa expresses perfectly why neutrality cannot be a basis for peacemaking. He says:
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has his foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
As my understanding of peacemaking has grown, I have embraced fully Bishop Tutu's position. As a person deeply committed to nonviolence that means that I must take certain risks for justice if I am to really be a woman of peace in situations of injustice and oppression. Unless those of us who condemn violence are willing to risk our own lives fighting for justice using nonviolent means, we cannot in good conscience condemn others who resort to violence in their struggles.
How often I wonder is the violence we see in our world today simply the consequence of cowardice and indifference on the part of those of us who say we want peace. We cannot have a soft, easy peace in which we shield our eyes from the very real injustices suffered by our brothers and sisters. Many are surprised that Mahatma Gandhi himself said, I believe that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. These are hard words coming from Gandhi, but they are at the heart of what it means to be a real peacemaker.
Ultimately, in the face of oppression and injustice, we have only three options:
The first is acquiescence, which means accepting the injustice, doing nothing, cowering under the boot of the oppressor. This is the option that both Gandhi and King condemned as the coward's way.
The second and most popular option in our world is the option of retaliation. The old "eye for an eye" scenario that we know all too well. This is the way of death. The false belief that violence is somehow redemptive and can bring about peace. This option fails to recognize the fact that seeds of violence cannot produce the plant of peace and that violent means never result in peaceful ends. This way never works as we finding out so tragically in our world today.
The third option - and the road less traveled - but a road that more and more people are choosing to walk - is the path of nonviolent resistance. This means not acquiescing, not striking back, but rather, consciously choosing to stand up to one's oppressor nonviolently. This is the only option that preserves the dignity of both the oppressor and the oppressed and that paves the way for real reconciliation. Listen, once again, to a rather long quote by Martin Luther King. This is what real peacemaking looks like:
I've seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and I've seen hate on the faces of too many sheriffs, too many White Citizens Councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate, myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: "We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you. We cannot in good conscience obey your unjust laws and abide by the unjust system, because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good, and so throw us in jail and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country and make it appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for integration, but we'll still love you. But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.
In King's words, we hear echoes from the beatitudes: Blessed are the peaceMAKERs. Not the peaceLOVERS. Not the peaceSEEKERS. No . . . the peaceMAKERS. This suggests that the road to peace involves active engagement and participation. Getting our hands dirty. Our great teachers, including King and Gandhi, teach us that peace is anything but passive and cowardly. As one of my favorite tee shirts reads, Peace Takes Guts. I am convinced that until those of us who desire peace are willing to take the same risks as those who believe in the efficacy of violence, we will only see the violence in our world escalate.
Currently, I am on a thirty-day fast in solidarity with friends who are walking this third road - the road of nonviolent resistance - in West Bank village called Bil'in. Just over a year ago, I spent time in this small Palestinian village where over half the village's land has been stolen so that the Israeli government can build a towering wall and on the other side a large settlement. This land theft is illegal under international law, but the world community has remained mute.
Facing this gross injustice, the people of Bil'in have only three options: roll over and acquiesce, respond violently, or resist nonviolently. Led by a young man of the village, Mohammed Kuttab, the people of Bil'in organized a popular committee and are opting to walk in the footsteps of Gandhi and King. They are resisting this injustice with all their might, but they are resisting nonviolently. Like Gandhi, like King, they are paying dearly for their resistance, but they carry on.
It is hard to describe what life under occupation is like: road closures, checkpoints, arrests without due process, home demolitions, collective punishment, beatings, and torture. The Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem meticulously documents abuses in the territories. It is not a pretty picture. Hence, for a village to resist nonviolently in the face of such power requires a great deal of courage and creativity.
Each week the people of Bil'in hold a Friday protest at the site of the wall, usually with a specific theme. One week protestors chained themselves to the olive trees that were about to be bulldozed, another week, they marched with mirrors on which were written messages of both love and resistance that reflected onto the shields carried by the soldiers who confronted them. Another week, a renowned concert pianist and Holocaust survivor from Holland had a large piano shipped to Bil'in and held a concert at the wall's construction site as an act of resistance. Just last Friday, our friend Mansour from the neighboring village of Biddu, got married at the site, although the wedding was disrupted when Israeli soldiers broke up the celebration with tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber bullets. Three summers ago, Mansour, a nonviolent trainer with the International Solidarity Movement, witnessed the killing of six protestors from his own village during its own nonviolent campaign against the wall.
What makes the story of Bi'in, and other Palestinian villages like it, such a sign of hope is that their struggle has attracted the attention of many peacemakers from around the world, including Israel. These Palestinians are joined each Friday by Israelis and internationals who are willing to take a stand for the kind of justice that leads to real peace. One night when the Army drove into town to arrest those who had organized the demonstration earlier in the day, the people of Bil'in and their supporters greeted the Jeeps and soldiers with a midnight volleyball game in the middle of the road. Last December, the village built a peace camp at the site of the wall and invited settlers to come down from the settlements and get to know their neighbors.
This kind of nonviolent resistance provokes a crisis, as King said it would, but also wears down the oppressor. In fact, the response to nonviolent resistance often becomes even more harsh and violent as those resisting hold firm because those holding the guns simply do not know what to do with a group of people who refuse to back down despite the punishment meted out. Mohammed and many others in the village as well as Israeli and international activists have been beaten, shot at, arrested, and interrogated, yet they do not back down. This is exactly the kind of noncooperation of which King spoke.
Does it work? Last autumn an Israeli soldier stepped out of line and stood with the protesters. Others have refused military service in the territories. Over time, one's conscience cannot remain unaffected watching others suffer for the sake of justice. The way of nonviolence is not the way of expediency and fast results, but rather the slow and often painful route of wearing down one's opponent by appealing to his conscience.
Sadly, this story and others like it receive little coverage in our papers. Our textbooks are full of tales of war but contain so little on peace. It is a shame that high school students know the names of generals but know little about Gandhi. I am fasting, in part, to draw attention to this nonviolent struggle in the village of Bil'in, or, as I call it, the Birmingham of Palestine. As peacemakers, we must pass these stories on to others since they give us sustenance and strength and hope.
As peacemakers, we must also do our homework. Like King, I too have a dream and my dream is that every American would really study - widely, deeply, seriously - the later writings of Dr. King. The Dr. King who named the real axis of evil in our world: militarism, consumerism, and racism. The King who told us to get on the right side of the world revolution, and who urged us to shift from a thing-oriented to a person-oriented society. The King who declared that a nation that continues to spend more money year after year on military defense than on programs of social justice is approaching spiritual death. The King who stated that our nation is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Read King's speech, "A Time to Break Silence," delivered exactly one year before his martyrdom and substitute the word Vietnam with Iraq. It is one of my greatest heartbreaks that the radical, prophetic Martin Luther King has been reduced to a kind man who had a dream. His spirituality, his analysis, and his critique of where our country is headed is more timely now than ever.
I know that many of you here today are spiritual people grounded in meditation, prayer, breathing. This is the other side of action and the wellspring of our work. All peacemakers start their work from a place of contemplation. When we ground this work in contemplation, however you define it, we come to understand that we are indeed interdependent and part of the same human family. Through our spiritual practices, whatever they may be, we slow down enough to look deeply at our world, allowing our hearts to be broken.
The French philosopher, Simone Weil, said "It is looking that saves," and she was right. Looking closely at our world, our brothers and sisters, and our own selves saves us from selfishness, from greed, from violence. When we look upon our wounded planet, we allow our hearts to be broken and wounded themselves. To look is to suffer, and to suffer is to know compassion, the root of all real peacemaking.
So today, I invite you to look closely. Look at what is going on in the Middle East. Look at what is happening to our beloved planet. Look deeply at our communities, our schools, and our families. If we look long enough to allow our hearts to be broken, we will find that our lives are really not our own. We will discover that it is not about our personal survival, our reputations, or our possessions. Rather, as all the world's religious and humanist traditions teach, it's about letting go of our own agendas and making ourselves available to our human family with all the compassion - and passion - our hearts can hold.
I opened this talk by saying the world is on fire - and it is. Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and many other places.
There is another kind of fire, however, that is raging through our world - a fire that you will never see on CNN News or Fox TV. A fire that has far more power than any weapon that humans can devise. We saw the flames of this fire on February 15, 2003 when millions around the globe turned out to say NO! to war and the pronouncement was made that this movement constitutes the world's second superpower. Each time an individual or a group breathes, speaks, or acts for peace this fire is fanned.
I think we find that when we allow our hearts to be broken, they become big enough to hold the holy fire of compassion that burns away the fear and indifference that hold us back from acting for peace and justice and freedom and reconciliation.
I would like to close with the words of a woman who allowed her heart to be both broken and filled with this holy fire, Sophie Scholl. Sophie was part of the White Rose movement that resisted the Nazi Party. In February 1943, 21-year-old Sophie was arrested, sentenced to death, and beheaded. These are her words.
The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men (and women) who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves - or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.
May all of us choose to burn with a desire to work for peace, justice, and healing in our world.
May we become flaming torches in a world aching to see some light.
Kim Redigan
"Love is not the starving of whole populations. Love is not the bombardment of open cities. Love is not killing, it is the laying down of one's life for one's friends. Our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount, which means that we will try to be peacemakers." Dorothy Day
Patricia,
I am so uplifted after having spoken with you and reading your great blogsite. How I wish I were there with you!
I am forwarding a talk I gave last week at an event in Dearborn. I couldn't seem to write the speech until the morning of the event when the following just poured out. I am sending it to you as a sign of my solidarity for all you are . . . and all you are doing. Pass my love onto those with whom you come into contact.
Love,
Kim
Fire in Our Hearts
Kim Redigan
(Yoga for Peace - July 22, 2006)
Right now the world is on fire. Fire caused by weapons that are only a projection of hearts that have not yet learned to love. More specifically, by hearts that are hardened by fear. The fear of the other. The fear of not getting what one wants. The fear of losing what one has Most of all, the fear of dying. There is no doubt that what is playing out in our world today points to a larger existential problem - especially in our country.
I have been asked to speak today about peace and justice and to share stories of hope. While there are many specifics to discuss, I think there is a fundamental issue that underlies the conflicts and violence in which the United States is involved. I believe that the greatest obstacle to peace in this nation is the illusory belief that violence can bring about some sort of security when, in fact, life, by its nature, is insecure. We cannot bring about security by acquiring things and then building walls and missiles to protest these possessions. We cannot insure security by bombing others before they bomb us or by designing missile shields. No . . . at the heart of peacemaking is the acknowledgment that life is insecure. I think once we really internalize this and accept the fact that the only time we are guaranteed is this moment, then we are internally free to do the work of peace.
I recall the day of September 11, 2001. I am a teacher and was at school that day. After hearing the news, I walked into the teachers' lounge to see how my colleagues were doing. Everyone was in a state of shock except for our Spanish teacher, Anna. Anna had recently migrated to the States from a Latin American country where violence, torture, assassinations, and death are routine. I will never forget Anna's words on 9/11 - spoken not out of any kind of callousness or lack of compassion - but words that contained much truth. She simply said, "Welcome to the rest of the world." While the attacks of 9-11 were truly horrific, Americans seem to forget that thousands are killed everyday around the globe as a result of negligence: food not shared, water not made available, medicines denied. In Anna's country, Colombia, humans rights workers and labor organizers continue to be tortured and killed, often by paramilitaries trained here in the United States at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia using weapons sold by our government.
My point is that while we were rightly outraged by the events of 9-11, there was an opportunity buried in that tragedy to ask hard and serious questions about our role in the world community. My prayer was that our nation would have the maturity to engage in deep and painful self-examination. My hope was that our nation would have the wisdom to open its heart to grief rather than tighten its fists in retaliation. While our country's leaders opted for belligerence, I think that many, many people in this nation awakened to their call as peacemakers that terrible day in a way that was quite profound.
While most of the violence practiced by our nation comes from its desire to keep what it has and acquire more - more possessions and, especially, more power - much of the violence we see coming from other parts of the world is the inevitable violence that occurs when the world community turns a deaf ear to oppression and injustice. This is best expressed by the poet Langston Hughes who wrote:
What happens to a dream deferred?/Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore--And then run?/Does it stink like rotten meat?/ Or crust and sugar over--like a syrupy sweet?/ Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
In the wake of 9-11, our nation's leaders talked a lot about "connecting the dots," but have we taken the time to connect the dots of injustice - the dots of suffering - the dots of oppression - the dots of dreams deferred? If we really want to understand the explosions that are rocking our world, it behooves us to understand what others are trying to say even when they speak the language of violence. This may be a hard language to listen to, but it is a language borne of frustration and despair.
The big question that needs to be asked in places of violence is Why? A question seldom asked in our hurry to retaliate and a question that holds the key to peace. Unless we listen deeply to those we call enemies, those who hate and even hurt us, we have no hope for peace. Personally, I find our nation's inability or unwillingness to take stock of itself our saddest legacy. The presumption of superiority and the arrogance of claiming - demanding - for itself what it is unwilling to grant others fuels the fires of resentment and anger that many in the world hold toward our country. If we are unwilling to look at our own weaknesses, our own hypocrisies, our own shortcomings, it is unlikely that we will muster the maturity to listen to the criticism of those we call "enemy." This is a fatal mistake. Our presumed enemies can be our greatest teachers if we can gain the spiritual maturity to listen to what they have to say.
I have found that in the classroom it is often the most disruptive, angry, and difficult student who has the most to teach me. Beneath the surface, such students often have serious needs, concerns, hurts that are crying to be attended to. Am I going to use violence against such a student or am I going to humble myself and listen deeply to his grievances? If we take the time to listen to those we perhaps find most threatening, we open the door to real peacemaking that contains within it the power of radical transformation. Martin Luther King expressed it well when he said:
Compassion and nonviolence help us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of those who are called the opposition.
To speak of peace without also looking at injustice rings hollow. While we all acknowledge the importance of inner peace and recognize the need to create a peaceful environment for ourselves and our families, we must take it farther. The cultivation of inner peace must reach outward to the furthermost corners of our neighborhoods, cities, and world to help heal the injustices of our brothers and sisters. Can I really have peace when my neighbor is oppressed? Can I seek serenity for myself without sharing the struggles of those around the world who are crying out - sometimes violently - to have their grievances heard?
For Martin Luther King, the answer is no. We are a world community, completely interdependent. It is impossible to create a peaceful bubble for ourselves that excludes the pain of others. As King says:
As long as there is poverty in the world I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars. As long as diseases run rampant and millions of people in this world cannot expect to live more than twenty-eight or thirty years, I can never be totally healthy even if I just got a good check-up at the Mayo Clinic. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the way our world is made. No individual or nation can stand out boasting of being independent. We are interdependent.
That we could recognize the truth of these words! I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be! We are interdependent. This means that the struggles of our brothers and sisters are our struggles as well. It means that in cases of injustice and inequality, we must take a position. Earlier in life I believed that a detached neutrality was at the heart of peacemaking. A philosophy in which I could stand outside the dirty world of politics and wrap myself in a spiritual blanket of my own making. Once upon a time I thought that choosing sides was the antithesis of peacemaking, but I have grown into a new understanding. Bishop Desmond Tutu, a deeply spiritual man who was engaged in the struggle against apartheid in his country of South Africa expresses perfectly why neutrality cannot be a basis for peacemaking. He says:
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has his foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
As my understanding of peacemaking has grown, I have embraced fully Bishop Tutu's position. As a person deeply committed to nonviolence that means that I must take certain risks for justice if I am to really be a woman of peace in situations of injustice and oppression. Unless those of us who condemn violence are willing to risk our own lives fighting for justice using nonviolent means, we cannot in good conscience condemn others who resort to violence in their struggles.
How often I wonder is the violence we see in our world today simply the consequence of cowardice and indifference on the part of those of us who say we want peace. We cannot have a soft, easy peace in which we shield our eyes from the very real injustices suffered by our brothers and sisters. Many are surprised that Mahatma Gandhi himself said, I believe that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. These are hard words coming from Gandhi, but they are at the heart of what it means to be a real peacemaker.
Ultimately, in the face of oppression and injustice, we have only three options:
The first is acquiescence, which means accepting the injustice, doing nothing, cowering under the boot of the oppressor. This is the option that both Gandhi and King condemned as the coward's way.
The second and most popular option in our world is the option of retaliation. The old "eye for an eye" scenario that we know all too well. This is the way of death. The false belief that violence is somehow redemptive and can bring about peace. This option fails to recognize the fact that seeds of violence cannot produce the plant of peace and that violent means never result in peaceful ends. This way never works as we finding out so tragically in our world today.
The third option - and the road less traveled - but a road that more and more people are choosing to walk - is the path of nonviolent resistance. This means not acquiescing, not striking back, but rather, consciously choosing to stand up to one's oppressor nonviolently. This is the only option that preserves the dignity of both the oppressor and the oppressed and that paves the way for real reconciliation. Listen, once again, to a rather long quote by Martin Luther King. This is what real peacemaking looks like:
I've seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and I've seen hate on the faces of too many sheriffs, too many White Citizens Councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate, myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: "We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you. We cannot in good conscience obey your unjust laws and abide by the unjust system, because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good, and so throw us in jail and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country and make it appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for integration, but we'll still love you. But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.
In King's words, we hear echoes from the beatitudes: Blessed are the peaceMAKERs. Not the peaceLOVERS. Not the peaceSEEKERS. No . . . the peaceMAKERS. This suggests that the road to peace involves active engagement and participation. Getting our hands dirty. Our great teachers, including King and Gandhi, teach us that peace is anything but passive and cowardly. As one of my favorite tee shirts reads, Peace Takes Guts. I am convinced that until those of us who desire peace are willing to take the same risks as those who believe in the efficacy of violence, we will only see the violence in our world escalate.
Currently, I am on a thirty-day fast in solidarity with friends who are walking this third road - the road of nonviolent resistance - in West Bank village called Bil'in. Just over a year ago, I spent time in this small Palestinian village where over half the village's land has been stolen so that the Israeli government can build a towering wall and on the other side a large settlement. This land theft is illegal under international law, but the world community has remained mute.
Facing this gross injustice, the people of Bil'in have only three options: roll over and acquiesce, respond violently, or resist nonviolently. Led by a young man of the village, Mohammed Kuttab, the people of Bil'in organized a popular committee and are opting to walk in the footsteps of Gandhi and King. They are resisting this injustice with all their might, but they are resisting nonviolently. Like Gandhi, like King, they are paying dearly for their resistance, but they carry on.
It is hard to describe what life under occupation is like: road closures, checkpoints, arrests without due process, home demolitions, collective punishment, beatings, and torture. The Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem meticulously documents abuses in the territories. It is not a pretty picture. Hence, for a village to resist nonviolently in the face of such power requires a great deal of courage and creativity.
Each week the people of Bil'in hold a Friday protest at the site of the wall, usually with a specific theme. One week protestors chained themselves to the olive trees that were about to be bulldozed, another week, they marched with mirrors on which were written messages of both love and resistance that reflected onto the shields carried by the soldiers who confronted them. Another week, a renowned concert pianist and Holocaust survivor from Holland had a large piano shipped to Bil'in and held a concert at the wall's construction site as an act of resistance. Just last Friday, our friend Mansour from the neighboring village of Biddu, got married at the site, although the wedding was disrupted when Israeli soldiers broke up the celebration with tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber bullets. Three summers ago, Mansour, a nonviolent trainer with the International Solidarity Movement, witnessed the killing of six protestors from his own village during its own nonviolent campaign against the wall.
What makes the story of Bi'in, and other Palestinian villages like it, such a sign of hope is that their struggle has attracted the attention of many peacemakers from around the world, including Israel. These Palestinians are joined each Friday by Israelis and internationals who are willing to take a stand for the kind of justice that leads to real peace. One night when the Army drove into town to arrest those who had organized the demonstration earlier in the day, the people of Bil'in and their supporters greeted the Jeeps and soldiers with a midnight volleyball game in the middle of the road. Last December, the village built a peace camp at the site of the wall and invited settlers to come down from the settlements and get to know their neighbors.
This kind of nonviolent resistance provokes a crisis, as King said it would, but also wears down the oppressor. In fact, the response to nonviolent resistance often becomes even more harsh and violent as those resisting hold firm because those holding the guns simply do not know what to do with a group of people who refuse to back down despite the punishment meted out. Mohammed and many others in the village as well as Israeli and international activists have been beaten, shot at, arrested, and interrogated, yet they do not back down. This is exactly the kind of noncooperation of which King spoke.
Does it work? Last autumn an Israeli soldier stepped out of line and stood with the protesters. Others have refused military service in the territories. Over time, one's conscience cannot remain unaffected watching others suffer for the sake of justice. The way of nonviolence is not the way of expediency and fast results, but rather the slow and often painful route of wearing down one's opponent by appealing to his conscience.
Sadly, this story and others like it receive little coverage in our papers. Our textbooks are full of tales of war but contain so little on peace. It is a shame that high school students know the names of generals but know little about Gandhi. I am fasting, in part, to draw attention to this nonviolent struggle in the village of Bil'in, or, as I call it, the Birmingham of Palestine. As peacemakers, we must pass these stories on to others since they give us sustenance and strength and hope.
As peacemakers, we must also do our homework. Like King, I too have a dream and my dream is that every American would really study - widely, deeply, seriously - the later writings of Dr. King. The Dr. King who named the real axis of evil in our world: militarism, consumerism, and racism. The King who told us to get on the right side of the world revolution, and who urged us to shift from a thing-oriented to a person-oriented society. The King who declared that a nation that continues to spend more money year after year on military defense than on programs of social justice is approaching spiritual death. The King who stated that our nation is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Read King's speech, "A Time to Break Silence," delivered exactly one year before his martyrdom and substitute the word Vietnam with Iraq. It is one of my greatest heartbreaks that the radical, prophetic Martin Luther King has been reduced to a kind man who had a dream. His spirituality, his analysis, and his critique of where our country is headed is more timely now than ever.
I know that many of you here today are spiritual people grounded in meditation, prayer, breathing. This is the other side of action and the wellspring of our work. All peacemakers start their work from a place of contemplation. When we ground this work in contemplation, however you define it, we come to understand that we are indeed interdependent and part of the same human family. Through our spiritual practices, whatever they may be, we slow down enough to look deeply at our world, allowing our hearts to be broken.
The French philosopher, Simone Weil, said "It is looking that saves," and she was right. Looking closely at our world, our brothers and sisters, and our own selves saves us from selfishness, from greed, from violence. When we look upon our wounded planet, we allow our hearts to be broken and wounded themselves. To look is to suffer, and to suffer is to know compassion, the root of all real peacemaking.
So today, I invite you to look closely. Look at what is going on in the Middle East. Look at what is happening to our beloved planet. Look deeply at our communities, our schools, and our families. If we look long enough to allow our hearts to be broken, we will find that our lives are really not our own. We will discover that it is not about our personal survival, our reputations, or our possessions. Rather, as all the world's religious and humanist traditions teach, it's about letting go of our own agendas and making ourselves available to our human family with all the compassion - and passion - our hearts can hold.
I opened this talk by saying the world is on fire - and it is. Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and many other places.
There is another kind of fire, however, that is raging through our world - a fire that you will never see on CNN News or Fox TV. A fire that has far more power than any weapon that humans can devise. We saw the flames of this fire on February 15, 2003 when millions around the globe turned out to say NO! to war and the pronouncement was made that this movement constitutes the world's second superpower. Each time an individual or a group breathes, speaks, or acts for peace this fire is fanned.
I think we find that when we allow our hearts to be broken, they become big enough to hold the holy fire of compassion that burns away the fear and indifference that hold us back from acting for peace and justice and freedom and reconciliation.
I would like to close with the words of a woman who allowed her heart to be both broken and filled with this holy fire, Sophie Scholl. Sophie was part of the White Rose movement that resisted the Nazi Party. In February 1943, 21-year-old Sophie was arrested, sentenced to death, and beheaded. These are her words.
The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men (and women) who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves - or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.
May all of us choose to burn with a desire to work for peace, justice, and healing in our world.
May we become flaming torches in a world aching to see some light.
Kim Redigan
"Love is not the starving of whole populations. Love is not the bombardment of open cities. Love is not killing, it is the laying down of one's life for one's friends. Our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount, which means that we will try to be peacemakers." Dorothy Day
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Day 15 of my Lebanon Peace Initiative
Today I want to introduce you to my sisters and brothers of conscience who stand or sit in front of the White House fence or across the street in Lafayette Park 24/7, daily, weekly or occasionally. We look out for one another and I feel honored to be in their company.
Photo #1 is of Thomas with his faithful companion. Thomas and Concepcion do six-hour shifts to keep their 25 year-continuous peace presence in Lafayette Park going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This morning he told me that yesterday, for the first time in 25 years, he was arrested. His "crime"? Not having ID on him! Since when is THAT a law??!! It was a new US Park Police Officer who arrested him and I gather Thomas has requested to go before a judge. Knowing Thomas, that judge had better be prepared for a Constitutional Crisis. Wish I could be here to support him.
Photo #2 is of Concepcion. Faithful, dedicated, passionate speaker/presence for peace and truth.
Photo #3 is of Jay who is on Day 26 of a fluid-only fast for Darfur. He has been here at his post in Lafayette Park 24/7 for 77 days. A spiritually evolved, passionate denouncer of the genocide in Darfur, Jay has given up all material possessions except his cell phone and laptop. He now lives in the park. On his right is Mike, a Maryknoll (missionary order of priests) seminarian who has been with Jay 24/7 for five days. During that time he has been fasting as well. To Mike's right is Gabriel.
Photo #4 is of David, a regular here in front of the White House who started carrying this sign last Saturday. He comes during his lunch hours and on the weekends. A real person of conscience.
Photo #5 is of Drew, whom I first met at the CODEPINK/Troops Home Faster's closing ceremony/send-off on Tuesday. He came by today during his lunch hour to give me a freezing cold bottle of watermelon/kiwi-flavored water. Fantabulous! Jerry, on his left, has been visiting me every day since the fasters left. A real friend. He is retired from the government and is a tireless organizer/worker for Truth. Mr. Bush's lies are his special area of concern.
Photo #6 is of the woman I call Peace-Runner. She spends every lunch hour, no matter how hot, running back and forth in front of the White House holding up her fingers in a peace sign.
Photo #7 is of Rick who wants Bush to be impeached and a constitutional amendment to make him President. His Vice-Presidential choice is Senator Russ Feingold. Rick has a bunch of signs, many of them very tongue-in-cheek. He is here every afternoon.
Photo #8 is of Gabriel who has been hanging out with Jay but mounted his own protest in front of the White House fence this afternoon.
Photo #9 is of Roslyn and Stan. Stan is a gentle soul who often sings hymns like "His Eye is on the Sparrow"--in a beautiful voice, I might add--as he stands. I see him here every day. Roslyn is usually part of the Catholic Worker vigils. This was the first time I'd seen her with Stan; he's usually by himself. Today she was singing softly along with him. These folks are a real healing presence in front of a dwelling that emits a toxicity that's palpable.
Photo #10 is of Bowra Chance, a Vietnamese man who is out here every day for hours. His sign is a bit hard to understand but I gather it has to do with some sort of federal payments he is owed by the government. He always greets me with a big smile.
Photo #11 is of Ann from St. Michael's, on the Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore. Today was the first time I've seen her here. She said she only shows up when she gets too disgusted to stay home. I understand.
My additional photos are of visitors to our Nation's Capitol whom I met today.
The first photo is of a man who not only wanted to have his picture taken with me and my sign, but felt so strongly about it that he wanted to help me hold it. I forget what country he was from.
The second photo is of Jonabel with her sons Michael and Joseph. They now live in California but Jonabel was originally from the Philippines. She said her brother is in the military so she and her sons pray for peace every night. They don't want him to have to go to war. Jonabel tucked a $20 bill into my scooter basket to help with my expenses. Such a gentle, loving soul. Aren't they beautiful?
The final picture of the day is of Roberto and Sylvia from Italy. They were part of a large Italian tour group that surprised me by crowding around me and my sign as soon as they got in front of the White House. Sylvia told me I was famous. I asked what she meant, and she replied, "The Italian tour guides tell everyone all about you, the woman who is out here every day for pacem." I wonder if she knew what a gift she gave me.
I don't have a picture of Joan, a wonderful woman I'd mentioned after we'd first met on Saturday. She came by today and we arranged to have dinner together tomorrow night. But, instead of tomorrow, Joan showed up in my hotel lobby tonight, so we went to McDonald's--her choice--so she could get a chicken salad. I'd already eaten, but thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her better. She is such a radiant spirit.
Photo #1 is of Thomas with his faithful companion. Thomas and Concepcion do six-hour shifts to keep their 25 year-continuous peace presence in Lafayette Park going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This morning he told me that yesterday, for the first time in 25 years, he was arrested. His "crime"? Not having ID on him! Since when is THAT a law??!! It was a new US Park Police Officer who arrested him and I gather Thomas has requested to go before a judge. Knowing Thomas, that judge had better be prepared for a Constitutional Crisis. Wish I could be here to support him.
Photo #2 is of Concepcion. Faithful, dedicated, passionate speaker/presence for peace and truth.
Photo #3 is of Jay who is on Day 26 of a fluid-only fast for Darfur. He has been here at his post in Lafayette Park 24/7 for 77 days. A spiritually evolved, passionate denouncer of the genocide in Darfur, Jay has given up all material possessions except his cell phone and laptop. He now lives in the park. On his right is Mike, a Maryknoll (missionary order of priests) seminarian who has been with Jay 24/7 for five days. During that time he has been fasting as well. To Mike's right is Gabriel.
Photo #4 is of David, a regular here in front of the White House who started carrying this sign last Saturday. He comes during his lunch hours and on the weekends. A real person of conscience.
Photo #5 is of Drew, whom I first met at the CODEPINK/Troops Home Faster's closing ceremony/send-off on Tuesday. He came by today during his lunch hour to give me a freezing cold bottle of watermelon/kiwi-flavored water. Fantabulous! Jerry, on his left, has been visiting me every day since the fasters left. A real friend. He is retired from the government and is a tireless organizer/worker for Truth. Mr. Bush's lies are his special area of concern.
Photo #6 is of the woman I call Peace-Runner. She spends every lunch hour, no matter how hot, running back and forth in front of the White House holding up her fingers in a peace sign.
Photo #7 is of Rick who wants Bush to be impeached and a constitutional amendment to make him President. His Vice-Presidential choice is Senator Russ Feingold. Rick has a bunch of signs, many of them very tongue-in-cheek. He is here every afternoon.
Photo #8 is of Gabriel who has been hanging out with Jay but mounted his own protest in front of the White House fence this afternoon.
Photo #9 is of Roslyn and Stan. Stan is a gentle soul who often sings hymns like "His Eye is on the Sparrow"--in a beautiful voice, I might add--as he stands. I see him here every day. Roslyn is usually part of the Catholic Worker vigils. This was the first time I'd seen her with Stan; he's usually by himself. Today she was singing softly along with him. These folks are a real healing presence in front of a dwelling that emits a toxicity that's palpable.
Photo #10 is of Bowra Chance, a Vietnamese man who is out here every day for hours. His sign is a bit hard to understand but I gather it has to do with some sort of federal payments he is owed by the government. He always greets me with a big smile.
Photo #11 is of Ann from St. Michael's, on the Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore. Today was the first time I've seen her here. She said she only shows up when she gets too disgusted to stay home. I understand.
My additional photos are of visitors to our Nation's Capitol whom I met today.
The first photo is of a man who not only wanted to have his picture taken with me and my sign, but felt so strongly about it that he wanted to help me hold it. I forget what country he was from.
The second photo is of Jonabel with her sons Michael and Joseph. They now live in California but Jonabel was originally from the Philippines. She said her brother is in the military so she and her sons pray for peace every night. They don't want him to have to go to war. Jonabel tucked a $20 bill into my scooter basket to help with my expenses. Such a gentle, loving soul. Aren't they beautiful?
The final picture of the day is of Roberto and Sylvia from Italy. They were part of a large Italian tour group that surprised me by crowding around me and my sign as soon as they got in front of the White House. Sylvia told me I was famous. I asked what she meant, and she replied, "The Italian tour guides tell everyone all about you, the woman who is out here every day for pacem." I wonder if she knew what a gift she gave me.
I don't have a picture of Joan, a wonderful woman I'd mentioned after we'd first met on Saturday. She came by today and we arranged to have dinner together tomorrow night. But, instead of tomorrow, Joan showed up in my hotel lobby tonight, so we went to McDonald's--her choice--so she could get a chicken salad. I'd already eaten, but thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her better. She is such a radiant spirit.
in the news...
After a long hot day in front of the White House--100 degrees for much of my 6 hours there--I returned to my trusty laptop in my lovely air-conditioned hotel room to find that the Scripps Howard News Service had published Cristina Ramirez's profile of me yesterday and a newspaper in Texas had already run with it. It remains to be seen if other papers will pick it up too.
Cristina's article is called "Raging granny's White House protest nears end" and starts with the words:
"Roll over, Cindy Sheehan. There's a new protester camped out at the White House these days."
You can check it out by going to http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RAGINGGRANNY-08-02-06
Gee whiz!
Cristina's article is called "Raging granny's White House protest nears end" and starts with the words:
"Roll over, Cindy Sheehan. There's a new protester camped out at the White House these days."
You can check it out by going to http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RAGINGGRANNY-08-02-06
Gee whiz!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Day 14 of my Lebanon Peace Initiative
This was my quietest, most relaxing day yet. I started out earlier than usual, trying to beat the heat. I held my sign in front of the White House for a little over two hours, and didn't hear one negative comment. Wow! That's a first. Actually, I received lots of positive feedback ranging from smiles, thumbs-up, thank you's, including a couple of good conversations.
One was with Norman and Maria from Sussex, England. Norman's comment about his prime minister and my president was: "Blair and Bush don't get the plot." Well said, in a dry British kind of way.
Two other conversations were with folks from China. There were LOTS of tour groups from China in front of the White House this morning. I also met people from Peru, Belgium and Germany. The German family took several photos of themselves with me and my sign. The teenaged girl told me they're going to submit these photos to a newspaper contest back in Germany that is calling for the best travel photos. I hope they win.
One of my activist friends, Jerry, stopped by to say hi. It was good to see a familiar face.
At noon I decided to scoot back to my hotel for a couple of hours' break from the heat. By then it was officially 99 degrees F. Once I got to the computer, I was a goner. I still had to prepare the photos and write yesterday's blog entry. Believe it or not, that took me until 6:30 PM! It had been a VERY full day!
I had a nice phone visit with Eddie--we generally talk twice a day--and then took off for dinner. I decided to try a Greek/Turkish/Lebanese restaurant that was recommended by the hotel. It turned out to be a trendy, crowded, noisy place with terrific food. I enjoyed myself very much. By then it had cooled off a bit--probably only about 94 degrees at 8 PM--so I took a good long scoot over to Dupont Circle. It felt good to be outside, moving around...without a sign!
I only took two photos today: the first of Norman and Maria from the UK, and the second of a statue that needed plastic galoshes for its feet because it was getting a touch-up.
One was with Norman and Maria from Sussex, England. Norman's comment about his prime minister and my president was: "Blair and Bush don't get the plot." Well said, in a dry British kind of way.
Two other conversations were with folks from China. There were LOTS of tour groups from China in front of the White House this morning. I also met people from Peru, Belgium and Germany. The German family took several photos of themselves with me and my sign. The teenaged girl told me they're going to submit these photos to a newspaper contest back in Germany that is calling for the best travel photos. I hope they win.
One of my activist friends, Jerry, stopped by to say hi. It was good to see a familiar face.
At noon I decided to scoot back to my hotel for a couple of hours' break from the heat. By then it was officially 99 degrees F. Once I got to the computer, I was a goner. I still had to prepare the photos and write yesterday's blog entry. Believe it or not, that took me until 6:30 PM! It had been a VERY full day!
I had a nice phone visit with Eddie--we generally talk twice a day--and then took off for dinner. I decided to try a Greek/Turkish/Lebanese restaurant that was recommended by the hotel. It turned out to be a trendy, crowded, noisy place with terrific food. I enjoyed myself very much. By then it had cooled off a bit--probably only about 94 degrees at 8 PM--so I took a good long scoot over to Dupont Circle. It felt good to be outside, moving around...without a sign!
I only took two photos today: the first of Norman and Maria from the UK, and the second of a statue that needed plastic galoshes for its feet because it was getting a touch-up.
middle of the night maunderings
It's now 2:30 AM. I went to bed early, slept soundly for a couple of hours, then found myself awake and unable to go back to sleep. I came to my laptop here in my Washington, DC room, downloaded today's photos--59 of them--and then went over to truthout.org to read the latest news/views.
I started with a brief article about the CODE PINK/Troops Home Fasters' historic trip that they'll be starting later today to meet with members of the Iraqi Parlament in Amman, Jordan. A delegation of 14 individuals--many of whom I now know as friends--have accepted an invitation by representatives of the Iraqi Parliament who want to show them the 28-point peace plan that has been signed by all the major factions in Iraq. Apparently the Bush White House refuses to acknowledge its existence because it includes a call for the immediate withdrawal of American troops, compensation payments to victims and their families, and amnesty for some members of the insurgency. As I heard retired Col. Ann Wright, an Army officer and diplomat for decades, say today, these are conditions that are included in every peace treaty she's ever seen. But they don't suit Mr. Bush and friends, so they're ignoring it. Have you seen any news coverage of this Peace Plan? I haven't. At least not until now. But, knowing CODE PINK, you will. Believe me, we ALL will.
Isn't this a magnificent sign of hope? That grassroots people who are committed to peace-- a good number of this delegation have just completed their 29th day of fasting and will break their fast at a meal with their Iraqi hosts on Friday--are representing our country, instead of the warmongers who got us into this mess in the first place? Now that's what I call cause for celebration! And celebrate we did...at a touching, enthusiastic, prayerful, power-filled and loving Closing Ceremony/Send Off at noon on Tuesday (yesterday). I will tell you all about it and share photos on my Day 13 Lebanon Peace Initiative blog entry.
But this early morning/night I am feeling the pain of what is happening in Lebanon. I just finished reading Dahr Jamail's account of what he saw and heard in a hospital in Sidon in Southern Lebanon. When I read the stories of real life people who have been caught in the middle of this bloodbath, I am increduous that the American people are allowing their government to support this massacre with weapons, words and money. God! How can they? Where is their humanity?
Someone I talked with during my vigil today said that he believes our people have lost their humanity. Do you think that's true? I must admit the vast majority of Americans who respond to my "Israel OUT of Lebanon!!!" sign do NOT want Israel out of Lebanon but instead want them to destroy that "terrorist" group Hezbollah in any way they can. Whatever are they thinking? ARE they thinking? I suspect not. Sometimes I'll hear," You don't know what you're talking about!" I heard that from a pink-dressed American tourist with pink lipstick and carefully-coiffed blond hair yesterday. What does SHE know about it? What she hears on FOX News?
I don't respond openly to such comments but it's hard not to judge these kind of folks as gullible-bordering-on-ignorant. Not the most peace-filled judgement, I'd say. My becoming a person of peace is obviously still a work in progress.
Before going to bed, I called a member of my birth family. Even though this individual lives in the DC metropolitan area, I had not called until now. Mainly because I'd been asked when we last met that I never again mention my work for peace--actually not even use the word "peace" at all--because she/he felt that if he/she knew anything about my work, it might put him/her at risk of being questioned by the FBI or some such. Since all I'm thinking/eating/sleeping these days is my work for peace, I didn't see how we could manage much of a conversation. We did fine in our brief phone call but I said I didn't think we'd better try to get together this trip because I'm too immersed in my work--I didn't mention the word peace--not to talk about it. And I wanted to respect the guidelines she/he had set the last time we'd met.
I expect this phone call and the feelings it engendered contributed to my waking up and not being able to get back to sleep. This always gets me where I live. It's tough to have a member of your birth family "dis" everything you find meaningful in life. Yes, I tell myself I have wonderful support from my dear Eddie, friends, families-of-choice, sisters and brothers from around the world--a man I met from Ethiopia today said, "You are not alone in this"--you still wish those who'd known you as a child could respect you and your life's work.
Ah well, it is what it is. I'm at least grateful I called. I was tempted not to. But I did. That counts for something.
My goodness, I guess you're getting a taste of my middle-of-the-night blues here. It doesn't happen often but I expect most people would understand. We all have our down times.
I know what's also eating at me. I am going to miss the CODE PINK/Troops Home Fasters terribly. They've been my support community since I first got here a week ago last Thursday. Always sitting under their tree, ready to hear any story I had to tell about who I'd met out on my vigil, always welcoming me into their circle of love. It was pretty darn lonely this afternoon (Sorry--Tuesday afternoon) after they'd packed up and left. I feel like a baby bird who's been kicked out of the nest. I know I can fly but I've just got to get the hang of doing it on my own.
Everything is a learning here. Another image that comes to mind is a balloon being blown up bigger than ever before. Like that balloon, the more stretched I become, the thinner my skin. It's going to take me some time to get used to this new shape.
Before I forget, Ray McGovern, one of my new friends, has written an excellent analysis of the Bush administration's support of the Israeli destruction of Lebanon and the current situation in Iraq. I recommend it highly.
It's now after 4 AM and I feel ready to go back to bed. Thanks for listening...
I started with a brief article about the CODE PINK/Troops Home Fasters' historic trip that they'll be starting later today to meet with members of the Iraqi Parlament in Amman, Jordan. A delegation of 14 individuals--many of whom I now know as friends--have accepted an invitation by representatives of the Iraqi Parliament who want to show them the 28-point peace plan that has been signed by all the major factions in Iraq. Apparently the Bush White House refuses to acknowledge its existence because it includes a call for the immediate withdrawal of American troops, compensation payments to victims and their families, and amnesty for some members of the insurgency. As I heard retired Col. Ann Wright, an Army officer and diplomat for decades, say today, these are conditions that are included in every peace treaty she's ever seen. But they don't suit Mr. Bush and friends, so they're ignoring it. Have you seen any news coverage of this Peace Plan? I haven't. At least not until now. But, knowing CODE PINK, you will. Believe me, we ALL will.
Isn't this a magnificent sign of hope? That grassroots people who are committed to peace-- a good number of this delegation have just completed their 29th day of fasting and will break their fast at a meal with their Iraqi hosts on Friday--are representing our country, instead of the warmongers who got us into this mess in the first place? Now that's what I call cause for celebration! And celebrate we did...at a touching, enthusiastic, prayerful, power-filled and loving Closing Ceremony/Send Off at noon on Tuesday (yesterday). I will tell you all about it and share photos on my Day 13 Lebanon Peace Initiative blog entry.
But this early morning/night I am feeling the pain of what is happening in Lebanon. I just finished reading Dahr Jamail's account of what he saw and heard in a hospital in Sidon in Southern Lebanon. When I read the stories of real life people who have been caught in the middle of this bloodbath, I am increduous that the American people are allowing their government to support this massacre with weapons, words and money. God! How can they? Where is their humanity?
Someone I talked with during my vigil today said that he believes our people have lost their humanity. Do you think that's true? I must admit the vast majority of Americans who respond to my "Israel OUT of Lebanon!!!" sign do NOT want Israel out of Lebanon but instead want them to destroy that "terrorist" group Hezbollah in any way they can. Whatever are they thinking? ARE they thinking? I suspect not. Sometimes I'll hear," You don't know what you're talking about!" I heard that from a pink-dressed American tourist with pink lipstick and carefully-coiffed blond hair yesterday. What does SHE know about it? What she hears on FOX News?
I don't respond openly to such comments but it's hard not to judge these kind of folks as gullible-bordering-on-ignorant. Not the most peace-filled judgement, I'd say. My becoming a person of peace is obviously still a work in progress.
Before going to bed, I called a member of my birth family. Even though this individual lives in the DC metropolitan area, I had not called until now. Mainly because I'd been asked when we last met that I never again mention my work for peace--actually not even use the word "peace" at all--because she/he felt that if he/she knew anything about my work, it might put him/her at risk of being questioned by the FBI or some such. Since all I'm thinking/eating/sleeping these days is my work for peace, I didn't see how we could manage much of a conversation. We did fine in our brief phone call but I said I didn't think we'd better try to get together this trip because I'm too immersed in my work--I didn't mention the word peace--not to talk about it. And I wanted to respect the guidelines she/he had set the last time we'd met.
I expect this phone call and the feelings it engendered contributed to my waking up and not being able to get back to sleep. This always gets me where I live. It's tough to have a member of your birth family "dis" everything you find meaningful in life. Yes, I tell myself I have wonderful support from my dear Eddie, friends, families-of-choice, sisters and brothers from around the world--a man I met from Ethiopia today said, "You are not alone in this"--you still wish those who'd known you as a child could respect you and your life's work.
Ah well, it is what it is. I'm at least grateful I called. I was tempted not to. But I did. That counts for something.
My goodness, I guess you're getting a taste of my middle-of-the-night blues here. It doesn't happen often but I expect most people would understand. We all have our down times.
I know what's also eating at me. I am going to miss the CODE PINK/Troops Home Fasters terribly. They've been my support community since I first got here a week ago last Thursday. Always sitting under their tree, ready to hear any story I had to tell about who I'd met out on my vigil, always welcoming me into their circle of love. It was pretty darn lonely this afternoon (Sorry--Tuesday afternoon) after they'd packed up and left. I feel like a baby bird who's been kicked out of the nest. I know I can fly but I've just got to get the hang of doing it on my own.
Everything is a learning here. Another image that comes to mind is a balloon being blown up bigger than ever before. Like that balloon, the more stretched I become, the thinner my skin. It's going to take me some time to get used to this new shape.
Before I forget, Ray McGovern, one of my new friends, has written an excellent analysis of the Bush administration's support of the Israeli destruction of Lebanon and the current situation in Iraq. I recommend it highly.
It's now after 4 AM and I feel ready to go back to bed. Thanks for listening...
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Day 13 of my Lebanon Peace Initiative
I guess it was 100 degrees F. here today but, to me, yesterday felt worse and that was only 96 degrees. Of course, when you're in the middle of DC on city streets, it's at least five degrees warmer than out at the airport where the official readings are taken. Yesterday was literally like being inside an oven, but today? Hot but not brutal. I guess that's becoming my index now--the brutality quotient. I was out in it today from 9:30 AM until I went for an early supper--sushi--about 5:30 PM. After supper I scooted around the sweltering city--it's 96 degrees as I write this at 7 PM--on my way to Giffords Ice Cream parlor where I got a lemon & coconut milkshake. Talk about refreshing!
As I was scooting down 11th street between F and E Streets, a man on roller blades stopped and said he thougt he knew me. I asked him from where, and he said we'd met on the Metro going in to a big antiwar demo a number of years ago. He introduced himself as Tony from Public Access TV. Then I remembered. It was October 26, 2002, and I was making what ended up being my last trip to see my mother. I was on the Metro going into DC that Saturday morning to attend the massive antiwar march and rally being held at the Mall. Tony was sitting next to my scooter and we really hit it off. So much so that he remembered me almost four years later!
He said he's been seeing me in front of the White House all week. I told him about my family in Lebanon and how I came to be here. He said in all his life he has never seen anything as atrocious as how the US is supporting Israel in its destruction of that country. He said what a lot of people I know are saying--that this has obviously been planned for a long long time, and Israel was just waiting for an excuse to implement it. He then asked if I've had any media attention. I told him about Cristina Ramirez--who came today to ask me more questions and take more pictures--and the profile she's writing for the Scripps Howard News Service. Also about the intervew on Latin America TV, and the one with Alec Reese of the London Daily Telegraph. Tony said, "What about Amy Goodman?" I told him I'd sent Democracy Now! an email last Sunday telling them what I was doing, but Tony said, "I'll take care of it. I know Amy, in fact she used my studio when she was first starting out. I'll contact one of her staff members and tell them about you."
If I end up on Democracy Now!, I'm going to freak out! Amy Goodman is my all time shero. But, to be honest, I think it's extremely unlikely. She's got her hands full with all that's going on in the world. I don't know how she chooses which story to highlight; everything is important.
For me today there were two stories to highlight: 1) The closing ceremony/send off for the CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters; and 2) a challenging and gratifying dialogue I had with Bruce and his three young daughters from Pennsylvania. First let me tell you about the ceremony and send off.
Diane Wilson, whose idea it was to have this fast to bring the troops home from Iraq, had said from the beginning that you never know what a longterm fast might lead to. How right she was!
A week ago the fasters, many of them members of CODEPINK, were camped out in front of the Iraqi Embassy for days trying to get a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Al Maliki who was in town to see GW Bush and speak to Congress. Cindy Sheehan was there. Medea Benjamin, and the whole community of fasters were there. The Iraqi ambassador had come outside to talk with them twice. He'd promised he would arrange a meeting with the PM. It never happened. Instead, something much more significant appeared out of the blue: an invitation to meet with members of the Iraqi Parliament in Amman, Jordan!
They'd heard about the deep commitment to the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the Troops Home Fasters--who at that point were into their third week of a hunger strike--and the longterm actions by CODEPINK for the same purpose, and had apparently decided this was a good group to bring their 28-point Peace Plan to the people of the United States.
This plan--that had already been signed by ALL the factions of Iraq's religious and political society--was being ignored by the Bush administration because it contained several conditions they didn't like. Withdrawal of the troops and an end to the occupation for one. Reparations paid to victims and their families for another. Amnesty for the insurgents for a third. All conditions agreed upon by representatives of diverse groups in Iraq that hadn't been able to agree on much of anything until now.
The CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters accepted this invitation and set out to make it happen. And they did! In less than a week no less. An amazing accomplishment.
There is a delegation of 14 individuals--a mix of CODEPINK fasters and representatives of other groups--who will be leaving Washington, DC on Wednesday for their journey to Amman, Jordan. On Friday they'll meet with the Iraqi Parliamentarians. The fasters--some of whom at that time will be on Day 32--will break their fast at a meal together. Some members of the CODEPINK/Fasters delegation hope to go on to Damascus and Beirut. Most will be returning to the States on Sunday, August 6.
When I heard of this extraordinary opportunity I thought, if our government doesn't represent our own and the world's best interests, by damn, we'll do it ourselves! Power to the people!
So today was the final day for the CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters under their tree--it will ALWAYS be their tree--and at least 50 supporters and fasters gathered to celebrate their contributions to peace in the world. Two Catholic bishops and a director of a peace group from Japan joined us. They're in Washington, DC to try to stop the Bush administration's efforts to eliminate Article 19 of the Japanese constitution that prohibits military involvement at home and abroad. Obviously the Bushies want more "allies" in their never-ending wars on terror. Their Pax Christi USA liason said that the US also wants to build military bases in Japan, something that is prohibited as long as Article 19 remains as law. An Iraqi-American woman also joined us.
We started by going around this ever-expanding circle and saying our name, where we're from, whether we'd fasted and, if so, for how long, and a little bit about our connection to CODEPINK and the fasters. It soon became obvious that these CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters have touched people in deep and lasting ways. They've certainly touched me. I'm going to miss them tremendously.
After we'd gone around the circle, Katie, the DC coodinator for CODEPINK, gave each person a pink ribbon. When we'd all received one, she invited us to tie it to the wrist of the person on our left. I asked that mine be tied onto the basket of my scooter. I want to have it as a reminder of these courageous people for as long as this paper ribbon survives.
Next, Martha read from the book I'd given five of the fasters as a send-off gift. This was my friend Nan Merrill's "Peace Planet: Light for Our World", with reflections written (prayed over) by Nan and photographs chosen by Barbara Taylor for each country in the world. Martha read the reflections for Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. They were amazingly apt.
If you'd be interested in ordering this jewel of a book, send a check made out to Friends of Silence (US currency only) to FOS Peace and Prayer Gift Shop, 200 Rock Street, Hannibal, MO 63401. Enclose $15 for orders to be mailed within the US (shipping/handling is included). Email them at FriendsofSilence@sbcglobal.net for info regarding orders to be mailed outside the country, or for large volume orders.
Fr. Louie was then asked to offer a prayer. Even I, a non-religious person, liked his prayer. Louie is the real thing.
Col. Ann Wright, our indefatigable CODEPINK rally and march leader, then took up her trusty bullhorn and led us with our signs and banners onto Pennsylvania Avenue directly in front of the White House. We set up quite a sound with our "Stop the killing; Stop the Wars" and "Bring them Home Now!" chants. Then we posed for our final group portrait...for this time anyway.
I stayed on the sidewalk to start my daily vigil while the others went back to the tree to complete the closing ceremony/send off. I could hear them clapping from time to time. It comforted me to have them still there under their tree, especially as I experienced the next highlight of my day: my dialogue with Bruce from Pennsylvania.
In 13 days out on the sidewalks with my sign in front of the White House and the Senate and House Office Buildings, only once had an American who objected to my message--"Israel OUT of Lebanon!!!'--stopped to talk with me about it. As I'd said before, most of the time I'd hear snide comments as people hurried by. When I'd ask if they wanted to talk, they'd keep on going. Israelis, on the other hand, almost always stopped to talk, which I appreciated. These dialogues would be tough, but they never violated the rules of respectful attention to one another. If you've been been a reular read of late, you know that only twice did dialogue prove impossible. In both cases, the women (and one child) were too angry/hostile/upset to do anything but rant.
But today, Bruce stopped and entered into a true dialogue. His three daughters, 12 year-old Hannah, and the 11 year-old twins, Sarah and Savannah, were with him.
Bruce strongly objected to my sign, saying that if we don't eliminate the terrorists over there, they'll come and attack us at home. He brought up the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, and the killing of hundreds of US Marines in Beirut in 1983, both of which were seen as terrorist attacks. Bruce's position, repeatedly stated by him and his daughters, is that there comes a time when you have to go to war against terrorists and kill every one of them in order to stay safe.
I asked if he could tell me when war has ever destroyed a terrorist group. From what I see, it always increases their strength, determination and numbers.
Bruce said we just haven't mounted a large enough war to destroy them all yet. That's what he thinks has to happen now.
As you can imagine, this was not an easy discussion, and it was soon drawing a crowd of onlookers. One man was filming it with his camcorder. But our voices never rose and we never attaced one another personally, which, to me, is the sign of a good dialogue.
I asked Bruce where he gets his news. He mentioned ABC, CBS and FOX. His daughters said, "Daddy listens to a lot of radio too." Bruce then said he's a truck driver and he does listen to a lot of radio talk shows, but he tries to get different perspectives, even listening to Air America sometimes. But he said he can only stand it for ten minutes before he has to change the dial. He said I needed to listen to different viewpoints too.
While Bruce and I were discussing these tough issues, occasionally one of his daughters would say something about having to kill terrorists before they killed you, and things like that. I responded to them by saying it made me so sad to hear them talking like that. I asked Bruce, "Are you teaching your daughters to believe everything you believe?" He said, "Yes, until they're old enough to make up their own minds."
I brought up nonviolent resistance as practiced by Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bruce said he admires both of these men and he always wants things to be handled nonviolently if at all possible. But he said, "There comes a time when that doesn't work anymore. And that's where we're at today." He then brought out the the same example an Israei man had given me last Saturday--"So what do you do when someone comes into your house and attacks your child? Won't you try to kill them first?"
I'd thought about this since my talk with the Israeli man on Saturday, and said, "I'm going to answer your question with a question. If that were to happen, would it mean you'd go and kill all the members of the attacker's village as well? Because it seems to me that's exactly what Israel is doing in Lebanon today."
Bruce just said, "If I thought those villagers were protecting the attacker, you're darn right I'd kill them too."
This exchange went on for a long time, and people surrounded us, listening. I finally said to Bruce's daughters, "Girls, I want you to remember that today you met a woman who does not believe in war or killing, not under any circumstances. Please never forget that."
Bruce said, "I'm going to be sure they always remember this day."
We agreed we'd gone as far as we could go. We shook hands and they walked away.
The man who'd been filming the exchange stayed, as did his friends (family?). I asked where they were from and the younger man said, "Ethiopia." I said, "Were you able to follow what was beng said?" He replied,"Yes, you were speaking for peace." They asked someone walking by to take our picture together. I then asked that our picture be taken with my camera too.
About 15-20 minutes later, the girls--Hannah, Sarah and Savannah, came up and asked if they could take a picture of me and my sign. I said, "Of course." I then asked if I could take their picture and they called their Dad over to be in the picture too. Bruce and I agreed we'd had a good dialogue, and then we spent some time getting to know one another. We all hugged goodbye.
THIS is why I'm here.
And here are today's photos. I think you'll be able to figure out who is who after having read the stories.
As I was scooting down 11th street between F and E Streets, a man on roller blades stopped and said he thougt he knew me. I asked him from where, and he said we'd met on the Metro going in to a big antiwar demo a number of years ago. He introduced himself as Tony from Public Access TV. Then I remembered. It was October 26, 2002, and I was making what ended up being my last trip to see my mother. I was on the Metro going into DC that Saturday morning to attend the massive antiwar march and rally being held at the Mall. Tony was sitting next to my scooter and we really hit it off. So much so that he remembered me almost four years later!
He said he's been seeing me in front of the White House all week. I told him about my family in Lebanon and how I came to be here. He said in all his life he has never seen anything as atrocious as how the US is supporting Israel in its destruction of that country. He said what a lot of people I know are saying--that this has obviously been planned for a long long time, and Israel was just waiting for an excuse to implement it. He then asked if I've had any media attention. I told him about Cristina Ramirez--who came today to ask me more questions and take more pictures--and the profile she's writing for the Scripps Howard News Service. Also about the intervew on Latin America TV, and the one with Alec Reese of the London Daily Telegraph. Tony said, "What about Amy Goodman?" I told him I'd sent Democracy Now! an email last Sunday telling them what I was doing, but Tony said, "I'll take care of it. I know Amy, in fact she used my studio when she was first starting out. I'll contact one of her staff members and tell them about you."
If I end up on Democracy Now!, I'm going to freak out! Amy Goodman is my all time shero. But, to be honest, I think it's extremely unlikely. She's got her hands full with all that's going on in the world. I don't know how she chooses which story to highlight; everything is important.
For me today there were two stories to highlight: 1) The closing ceremony/send off for the CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters; and 2) a challenging and gratifying dialogue I had with Bruce and his three young daughters from Pennsylvania. First let me tell you about the ceremony and send off.
Diane Wilson, whose idea it was to have this fast to bring the troops home from Iraq, had said from the beginning that you never know what a longterm fast might lead to. How right she was!
A week ago the fasters, many of them members of CODEPINK, were camped out in front of the Iraqi Embassy for days trying to get a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Al Maliki who was in town to see GW Bush and speak to Congress. Cindy Sheehan was there. Medea Benjamin, and the whole community of fasters were there. The Iraqi ambassador had come outside to talk with them twice. He'd promised he would arrange a meeting with the PM. It never happened. Instead, something much more significant appeared out of the blue: an invitation to meet with members of the Iraqi Parliament in Amman, Jordan!
They'd heard about the deep commitment to the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the Troops Home Fasters--who at that point were into their third week of a hunger strike--and the longterm actions by CODEPINK for the same purpose, and had apparently decided this was a good group to bring their 28-point Peace Plan to the people of the United States.
This plan--that had already been signed by ALL the factions of Iraq's religious and political society--was being ignored by the Bush administration because it contained several conditions they didn't like. Withdrawal of the troops and an end to the occupation for one. Reparations paid to victims and their families for another. Amnesty for the insurgents for a third. All conditions agreed upon by representatives of diverse groups in Iraq that hadn't been able to agree on much of anything until now.
The CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters accepted this invitation and set out to make it happen. And they did! In less than a week no less. An amazing accomplishment.
There is a delegation of 14 individuals--a mix of CODEPINK fasters and representatives of other groups--who will be leaving Washington, DC on Wednesday for their journey to Amman, Jordan. On Friday they'll meet with the Iraqi Parliamentarians. The fasters--some of whom at that time will be on Day 32--will break their fast at a meal together. Some members of the CODEPINK/Fasters delegation hope to go on to Damascus and Beirut. Most will be returning to the States on Sunday, August 6.
When I heard of this extraordinary opportunity I thought, if our government doesn't represent our own and the world's best interests, by damn, we'll do it ourselves! Power to the people!
So today was the final day for the CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters under their tree--it will ALWAYS be their tree--and at least 50 supporters and fasters gathered to celebrate their contributions to peace in the world. Two Catholic bishops and a director of a peace group from Japan joined us. They're in Washington, DC to try to stop the Bush administration's efforts to eliminate Article 19 of the Japanese constitution that prohibits military involvement at home and abroad. Obviously the Bushies want more "allies" in their never-ending wars on terror. Their Pax Christi USA liason said that the US also wants to build military bases in Japan, something that is prohibited as long as Article 19 remains as law. An Iraqi-American woman also joined us.
We started by going around this ever-expanding circle and saying our name, where we're from, whether we'd fasted and, if so, for how long, and a little bit about our connection to CODEPINK and the fasters. It soon became obvious that these CODEPINK/Troops Home Fasters have touched people in deep and lasting ways. They've certainly touched me. I'm going to miss them tremendously.
After we'd gone around the circle, Katie, the DC coodinator for CODEPINK, gave each person a pink ribbon. When we'd all received one, she invited us to tie it to the wrist of the person on our left. I asked that mine be tied onto the basket of my scooter. I want to have it as a reminder of these courageous people for as long as this paper ribbon survives.
Next, Martha read from the book I'd given five of the fasters as a send-off gift. This was my friend Nan Merrill's "Peace Planet: Light for Our World", with reflections written (prayed over) by Nan and photographs chosen by Barbara Taylor for each country in the world. Martha read the reflections for Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. They were amazingly apt.
If you'd be interested in ordering this jewel of a book, send a check made out to Friends of Silence (US currency only) to FOS Peace and Prayer Gift Shop, 200 Rock Street, Hannibal, MO 63401. Enclose $15 for orders to be mailed within the US (shipping/handling is included). Email them at FriendsofSilence@sbcglobal.net for info regarding orders to be mailed outside the country, or for large volume orders.
Fr. Louie was then asked to offer a prayer. Even I, a non-religious person, liked his prayer. Louie is the real thing.
Col. Ann Wright, our indefatigable CODEPINK rally and march leader, then took up her trusty bullhorn and led us with our signs and banners onto Pennsylvania Avenue directly in front of the White House. We set up quite a sound with our "Stop the killing; Stop the Wars" and "Bring them Home Now!" chants. Then we posed for our final group portrait...for this time anyway.
I stayed on the sidewalk to start my daily vigil while the others went back to the tree to complete the closing ceremony/send off. I could hear them clapping from time to time. It comforted me to have them still there under their tree, especially as I experienced the next highlight of my day: my dialogue with Bruce from Pennsylvania.
In 13 days out on the sidewalks with my sign in front of the White House and the Senate and House Office Buildings, only once had an American who objected to my message--"Israel OUT of Lebanon!!!'--stopped to talk with me about it. As I'd said before, most of the time I'd hear snide comments as people hurried by. When I'd ask if they wanted to talk, they'd keep on going. Israelis, on the other hand, almost always stopped to talk, which I appreciated. These dialogues would be tough, but they never violated the rules of respectful attention to one another. If you've been been a reular read of late, you know that only twice did dialogue prove impossible. In both cases, the women (and one child) were too angry/hostile/upset to do anything but rant.
But today, Bruce stopped and entered into a true dialogue. His three daughters, 12 year-old Hannah, and the 11 year-old twins, Sarah and Savannah, were with him.
Bruce strongly objected to my sign, saying that if we don't eliminate the terrorists over there, they'll come and attack us at home. He brought up the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, and the killing of hundreds of US Marines in Beirut in 1983, both of which were seen as terrorist attacks. Bruce's position, repeatedly stated by him and his daughters, is that there comes a time when you have to go to war against terrorists and kill every one of them in order to stay safe.
I asked if he could tell me when war has ever destroyed a terrorist group. From what I see, it always increases their strength, determination and numbers.
Bruce said we just haven't mounted a large enough war to destroy them all yet. That's what he thinks has to happen now.
As you can imagine, this was not an easy discussion, and it was soon drawing a crowd of onlookers. One man was filming it with his camcorder. But our voices never rose and we never attaced one another personally, which, to me, is the sign of a good dialogue.
I asked Bruce where he gets his news. He mentioned ABC, CBS and FOX. His daughters said, "Daddy listens to a lot of radio too." Bruce then said he's a truck driver and he does listen to a lot of radio talk shows, but he tries to get different perspectives, even listening to Air America sometimes. But he said he can only stand it for ten minutes before he has to change the dial. He said I needed to listen to different viewpoints too.
While Bruce and I were discussing these tough issues, occasionally one of his daughters would say something about having to kill terrorists before they killed you, and things like that. I responded to them by saying it made me so sad to hear them talking like that. I asked Bruce, "Are you teaching your daughters to believe everything you believe?" He said, "Yes, until they're old enough to make up their own minds."
I brought up nonviolent resistance as practiced by Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bruce said he admires both of these men and he always wants things to be handled nonviolently if at all possible. But he said, "There comes a time when that doesn't work anymore. And that's where we're at today." He then brought out the the same example an Israei man had given me last Saturday--"So what do you do when someone comes into your house and attacks your child? Won't you try to kill them first?"
I'd thought about this since my talk with the Israeli man on Saturday, and said, "I'm going to answer your question with a question. If that were to happen, would it mean you'd go and kill all the members of the attacker's village as well? Because it seems to me that's exactly what Israel is doing in Lebanon today."
Bruce just said, "If I thought those villagers were protecting the attacker, you're darn right I'd kill them too."
This exchange went on for a long time, and people surrounded us, listening. I finally said to Bruce's daughters, "Girls, I want you to remember that today you met a woman who does not believe in war or killing, not under any circumstances. Please never forget that."
Bruce said, "I'm going to be sure they always remember this day."
We agreed we'd gone as far as we could go. We shook hands and they walked away.
The man who'd been filming the exchange stayed, as did his friends (family?). I asked where they were from and the younger man said, "Ethiopia." I said, "Were you able to follow what was beng said?" He replied,"Yes, you were speaking for peace." They asked someone walking by to take our picture together. I then asked that our picture be taken with my camera too.
About 15-20 minutes later, the girls--Hannah, Sarah and Savannah, came up and asked if they could take a picture of me and my sign. I said, "Of course." I then asked if I could take their picture and they called their Dad over to be in the picture too. Bruce and I agreed we'd had a good dialogue, and then we spent some time getting to know one another. We all hugged goodbye.
THIS is why I'm here.
And here are today's photos. I think you'll be able to figure out who is who after having read the stories.
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