rivervision

i bought the book “a wall in palestine” today. i noticed it a few weeks and have been putting off buying it, but today i finally gave in. i just started reading it this afternoon. it’s good. and even in the first few pages, it’s horribly heartbreaking. i’m not sure i’ll be able to get through the whole book simply because i feel so helpless here in the US to the situation there. here’s a sample grabbed from a longer post about the book at Mondoweiss – the speaker is talking about how life is now with the wall up, the causes of the problems she discusses is the wall.:

“The problem today is deciding whether or not I should keep my school open. The majority of my students and teachers living in East Jerusalem can no longer come, for lack of transportation. I still owe the bank twenty-five thousand dollars. How am I going to pay them back if I lose a good part of my students? In a single year, seventy-seven out of two hundred have left. I had thirty- four students in sixth grade before the wall. Now I have six. And I have to pay my teachers, who are working even if they have only a handful of students. How will I manage?”

here’s the publisher’s website for the book with an excerpt too.

You know those ‘Free Tibet’ stickers that people have on their cars? I would like one that says ‘Free Palestine’ and/or ‘Free Iraq’ and/or ‘Free Afghanistan’.

from joy in palestine is this video from nicholas kristoff about the situation in the south hebron hills for the palestinians and bedouins.
joy comments:

But Kristof sure missed the mark at the very end of his piece. He says that settler attack Palestinians because they’re scared. He says that a number of settlers have been killed by Palestinians living in the area. Well, as far as I know, that number is two. Two. Let’s be honest, while settlers certainly use fear to marshal their supporters, they attack Palestinians because they want to drive them off of the land. That’s what their own statements indicate.

Nonetheless, I was glad to take look at what Kristof says and how he says it. There are a couple of arguments he makes that I think are worth using.

go watch the video, especially if you are an american or a brit. learn the truth of occupation. and while you are imagining it, imagine that’s you and your family instead of strangers living in those tents.

and from the livesay’s who are counting the days until they get back home to haiti, this video about the tent cities that people are living in 6 months after the earthquake.

and again, go watch the video, imagine that being you and your loved ones in those tents, again, especially if you are an american.

maybe one of these videos will cause you to take action in the caribbean or occupied palestine, or your local animal shelter or food pantry. maybe one of these videos will get you to start reading more about your country’s part in the humanitarian disaster in both countries, or another country. maybe watching one of these videos will help you to count your blessings and to hold one that you love closer, or reach out to one that you love who needs it. i don’t care what watching one of these videos causes you to do, i just hope they cause you to do something besides just getting through your day as you usually do. if you are someone like me who is already doing something [i'm not doing a lot these days, but i do continue to educate myself, it's not a lot, but it's something]? i hope that these videos just encourage you to keep doing what you are doing.

take some time, give it a watch.

here’s a good explanation of the occupation of palestine by nobel peace prize winner jimmy carter. it’s worth 2 minutes of your time. promise.

she’s written a piece for the electronic intifada, alice walker.. yes, that alice walker – of the color purple. it’s good, and hopeful. here’s an excerpt:

from “You will have no protection”

“What would that look like, be like, today, in this situation between Palestine and Israel? This “impasse” that has dragged on for decades. This “conflict” that would have ended in a week if humanity as a whole had acted in defense of justice everywhere on the globe. Which maybe we are learning! It would look like the granddaughter of Rosa Parks, the grandson of Martin Luther King. It would look like spending our money only where we can spend our lives in peace and happiness; freely sharing whatever we have with our friends.

It would be to support boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel to End the Occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and by this effort begin to soothe the pain and attend the sorrows of a people wrongly treated for generations. This action would also remind Israel that we have seen it lose its way and have called to it, often with love, and we have not been heard. In fact, we have reached out to it only to encounter slander, insult and, too frequently, bodily harm”

i’ve been reading the news as it comes out about the israeli attack on the gaza freedom flotilla. there are of course two sides to it. there’s the side of those who were attacked and then the side of those who did the attacking. i try to read with an open mind – the side of the attacker. i try to believe that the activists had weapons and were planning an attack from the moment they knew that the israeli defense force (IDF) was surrounding them. i try to believe in the innocence of the individual IDF members, even though what they were doing – trying to stop this flotilla in international waters – was clearly illegal. seeing both sides, in my opinion, is the pacifist thing to do. rather than attacking back, just listen and learn. this is their perspective on things, this is their narrative. i have my perspective, my narrative, and i want it listened to as well.

joy in palestine, though, reminds us of the israeli spin machine.

“A friend of mine was charged with “assault with a baby,” because when they demolished his house for the 3rd time, he handed his daughter to a soldier. He said, “I don’t have anyone where for her to sleep. You take her.” Another friend of mine was speaking at a completely nonviolent. He was beaten until his ribs were broken and then he was charged with assaulting a police officer. At his trial the police officer who testified admitted he wasn’t there and couldn’t even find the area where the demo took place on a map. My friend still went to jail.”

i am reminded of the american spin machine. the one that took us to occupation of iraq and afghanistan, and into so many places where we caused atrocities. it’s powerful and convincing. those spin machines are coming from legitimate governments versus the words of activists and their legitimate organizations but who don’t have the power of legitimacy of nationhood behind them. it’s easier for the general public, the masses, to be convinced by the governments, especially in the case of palestine, where for 60 years they have been painted as the attackers of the innocent and oppressed israelis. how can the state of israel be an attacker? look at the centuries of oppression, pogroms, and holocausts committed against the people who the country was created for. how can such an oppressed people ever become the oppressed?

i haven’t finished paulo freire’s “pedagogy of the oppressed” but i have gotten far enough to read where he talks about how rather than learning how not to oppress, those who have been oppressed learn how to oppress. it’s a powerful comment and drawing from my experience in the LGBTA community i can see it. i can see the oppression in my own behavior and language. when we are powerless, we want power, and we express that power in the ways we learned. thus it makes sense, to me at least, that israel would act the way it does, and for its spin machine to spin as fast as possible so that it can legitimize its actions. the state of israel, and my own state, needs to be right.

and so what do we do with all the reports coming in the aftermath of the attack on the flotilla? i can’t speak for we, i can speak for me. me, i read them – as many as i can. i mourn the dead and injured, i can read the spin with an open mind acknowledging that even peace activists can be moved to violence when threatened, i can be grateful that this attack is causing a greater dialogue about the siege on gaza, i can continue to pray that the suffering of the palestinians and israelis will stop, soon. that’s easy though. i’m quite distanced from all of that. i can also take what i’m thinking about peace and oppression in israel and palestine and apply it to my own life and try to hold those who inflict (perceived) injury on me in light rather than dark. i can spend time thinking about the impacts of peace in my personal life on peace in the bigger world.

that’s all hippy-dippy-touchy-feely-crap, i know that. it’s not practical. but in times like this – when the world is full of such uncertainty and people suffering all over because of the actions of others of us – we need a bit of the touchy-feely-hippy-dippy-crap. we need some hope and peace.

and i’ll finish with this, sabeel’s (short) litany for gaza:

Eternal God, arbiter of justice and champion of peace, reach into the deep pit of violence, despair, and ruthlessness that shapes the lives of so many in Palestine and Israel. The nations are in an uproar, kingdoms totter, people cry out.

You, O God, are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Grant, O God, healing to the men and women injured during the Israeli military assault. Bring grace and consolation to those who mourn the dead.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled.

God who has proclaimed release to the captives and freedom to the oppressed, may all who have been taken prisoner for their involvement in the flotilla return safely home. We remember these and others who are unjustly detained.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, who has sent me to proclaim release to the captives…and to let the oppressed go free.

Lord of all, make known to all in Palestine and Israel that your love extends to all people, that might is not right, that fear begets fear, that love conquers all. Give hope to the many who, in love, speak and act boldly for justice.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

God of Justice, we pray that the nations of the world will no longer stand idly by, but uphold the rights of the oppressed in Gaza, the West Bank, and around the globe . We, the peoples of many lands, “reaffirm [our] faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.” [UN Charter: Preamble]

Your judgements are just, O Lord, you will hold all nations accountable for what they have done, and also for what they have left undone.

God who offers life in abundance, break the chains of injustice that shackle the people of Gaza. May the blockade that limits food and medicine, toys and cement, culture and trade, friendships and families be swiftly ended. May the people of Gaza and of the West Bank be brought together in unity.

They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. For like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. [Isaiah 65]

God of equity, who knows no distinction between race or creed or colour, help us to be ever impatient in our encounter with injustice and abuse. As ambassadors for Christ, do not allow our hearts to be hardened, but let us live your message of justice, peace and reconciliation. We remember the words of your prophet: “The effect of justice will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” [Isaiah 32:16-18]

God, in your grace, transform the world.

hmm. the second of my favorite topics these days (the first being dad) – the weather — the 40 degree F, dusting of snow 2/3 the way down the mountain that i can see outside my bedroom window, 24 of may spring weather here in utah. yes, i am enjoying the sound of the rain at night, and i’m glad that, while utah is still probably in drought conditions that all this water – in frozen and liquid forms – is probably making things better. i just wish the frozen forms would go away and that when it rained that it was warmer out so that i could enjoy the rain in my sandals.

i’m also glad that the birds are back. since i live on the 2nd floor of an old house my cats and i are up where the birds are in the trees around the house, so all day and night i’m treated with their sounds. i FINALLY put blankets in the window sill so that the cats have some place to lounge while watching the birds. when it’s warmer they lounge there anyways, but i’m hoping this will encourage more lounging and watching because the looks on their faces when they are watching the birds means that they are terribly interested. if i were a cat i’d never leave the window because the birds are so active.

while weather and dad have been in the forefront of my mind these days i’m still thinking a lot about palestine. i found this image at the palestine monitor. see those yellow spots? that’s the only area in all of that land that is controlled by the palestinian authority. note they aren’t contiguous, not even in the west bank. that means that control over the area that is supposed to be palestine really is in the hands of the israeli’s. that’s called occupation of what is supposed to be palestine. i’m not sure why it is right and just. i do not like the fact that my tax dollars are helping to pay for this occupation. of course, though, tax dollars are also paying for the occupation of iraq and afghanistan as well. you should go read the whole article at the palestine monitor on the checkpoints in the occupied palestinian territories. (click the image to see it bigger so you can read the explanation text).

(btw, i am not using this image with permission. if the good folks at the palestine monitor want me to take it down, i will, just email me – brookesblog at rivervision dot com).

i was reading somewhere.. a haiti blog, or a recent news story about haiti.. and they were talking about the tent cities that have popped up all over the country. somewhere (not that post i linked to) some writer said something along the lines of “unfortunately for many poor haitians they will be living in tents for years.”  the very next thought i had was “hmm. maybe they can learn something from the palestinians about how to do that.”  is that crude, or disturbing or rude? or stating the truth? 60 years living in refugee camps that started out as tents. i don’t want to offend any palestinians who may read this. i only hope the haitians living in their idp camps don’t become a permanent thing.