Editorials & Actions

True Wisdom From West Bank Palestinians

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Editor’s note: Sami Awad’s statement below provides an immediate and clear answer to those who think that there are no Palestinians with whom Israelis could work to build the preconditions for peace between Israel and Palestine. Awad’s endorsement of Tikkun’s book Embracing Israel/Palestine (available for kindle at Amazon.com and in hard copy from tikkun.org/eip) was rooted in the perspective he now outlines below—he shares our view that there is no possibility of peace until there is a fundamental transformation of consciousness and a healing of the post-traumatic stress disorder that afflicts many on all sides of this conflict. Sadly, many of the good-hearted organizations that have funded Israeli and Palestinian organizations and institutions that are doing good but very limited and narrowly focused reconciliation work have never fully grasped the need for a full-scale societal-wide consciousness-changing effort like that called for by Tikkun and by the Holy Land Trust Foundation. Such an effort has to operate at every level—pro-peace television, radio and print media, a political party that talks about love and generosity toward each side, a religious movement in each camp that is unequivocal in its affirmation of the humanity and needs of “the Other,” a campaign at every level to influence mass psychology, and the building of peace-oriented educational institutions and yeshivot from grammar and high school to universities in both Israel and Palestine. The right has worked at this kind of consciousness changing for the past forty-seven years, while the pro-peace forces have developed neither the strategy nor the funding base for this kind of campaign.

Editorials & Actions

What to Do About ISIS

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Start by recognizing where ISIS came from. The U.S. and its junior partners destroyed Iraq, left a sectarian division, poverty, desperation, and an illegitimate government in Baghdad that did not represent Sunnis or other groups. Then the U.S. armed and trained ISIS and allied groups in Syria.

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From Just War to Just Peace–a message from progressive Catholics

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From Just War to Just Peace: The Time Is Now
“Those who use the sword are sooner or later destroyed by it.”

– Matthew 27:52

 

“If we cannot know from the New Testament that Christ totally rejects violence, then we can know nothing of His person or message. It is the clearest of teachings.”

– Rev. John L. McKenzie, Biblical Scholar

 

“War is the suicide of humanity because it kills the heart and kills love.” – Pope Francis, June 2, 2013

 

As Catholic Christians, we call on our Church to embrace gospel nonviolence as the only stance consistent with Christian discipleship and to reject the just war tradition (JWT), as expressed, among other places, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (¶ 2309). The JWT is unChristian and obsolete. War undermines human development and human dignity.

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Cornel West on Obama, Hillary, Ferguson and More

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Exclusive: Cornel West talks Ferguson, Hillary, MSNBC — and unloads on the failed promise of Barack Obama
an interview by THOMAS FRANK in Salon.com

Cornel West teaches at Union Theological Seminary and is the author of Race Matters and (with Rabbi Michael Lerner) of Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin. Cornel West (Credit: Albert H. Teich via Shutterstock)

Cornel West is a professor at Union Theological Seminary and one of my favorite public intellectuals, a man who deals in penetrating analyses of current events, expressed in a pithy and highly quotable way. I first met him nearly six years ago, while the financial crisis and the presidential election were both under way, and I was much impressed by what he had to say. I got back in touch with him last week, to see how he assesses the nation’s progress since then. The conversation ranged from Washington, D.C., to Ferguson, Missouri, and although the picture of the nation was sometimes bleak, our talk ended on a surprising note.

Editorials & Actions

Holocaust Survivors Take Ad in NY Times to Condemn Israeli Assault on Gaza

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In a letter published today in The New York Times as an advertisement, 40 survivors of Nazi genocide and hundreds of their children are publicly deploring “the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza,” Israel’s ongoing occupation, and the troubling rise of systemic racism. The letter, a response to an advertisement posted recently by Eli Wiesel, in which Palestinians were portrayed as championing “child sacrifice,” is the first of its kind to be signed by so many Holocaust survivors, who are making waves by calling for a full boycott of Israel – roundly viewed as anathema by Jewish institutions in both the United States and Europe. Below is the full text of their letter:
As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of the Nazi genocide we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine. We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.

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Lev Grinberg on why Israel needs A New Model for dealing with Palestine

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A New Model Required
Lev Grinberg*
The Israeli government has drawn the IDF and the whole country into an unprecedented complicated situation that the country has seen since the disengagement. This is due to a fundamental misunderstanding:  the model of Gaza control which was built by Sharon in 2004 has collapsed. The model was based on aerial and marine blockade, closure of above-ground border crossings to the Strip and a below-ground supply of goods via tunnels. Al-Sissi changed the rules of the game by closing the tunnels, as a part of his internal struggle against the Moslem Brothers, pushing the Palestinians to a political re-alignment in a national agreement government. The question that rises is: How will the Israeli diplomacy adapt to the new circumstances?

Editorials & Actions

Focus on the Peacemakers–Thoughts About World War One

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The Search for Peace During World War One:
 by Neil Hollander
A hundred years ago, just after the First World War began, the Danish
anti-war film, Lay Down Your Arms, had its world premiere in New York. The film was faithfully based on a novel by Bertha von Süttner, who
was, at the time, one of the most famous women in the world. She had
been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905 and her anti-war book had
been published in 16 languages. It had gone through more than 40
editions and millions of people had read it. In this the centennial year of the beginning of the First World War
there has been, as one might expect, a wave of new books.

Editorials & Actions

Honoring the Animals With Whom We Share This Planet

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Editor’s note: Thanks to Rabbi David Seidenberg for developing this ritual. I would only add one thing: another way to show caring for the animals with whom we share this rapidly shrinking planet is to NOT EAT THEM!–Rabbi Michael Lerner
Honoring the Animals With Whom We Share This Planet
This year, the first of Elul 5774, Rosh Hashanah LaBeheimot — the New Year for the Animals, begins the evening of August 26, 2014 and continues through August 27. In ancient Israel, Rosh Hashanah LaBeheimot affected shepherds and cattle herders: domesticated animals (beheimot) born before this date were placed in one group for tithing, and those born after were placed in another group. But in our time, the New Year for the Animals is an opportunity to celebrate all animal life. Especially now that humanity’s impact is felt over the whole planet, and the livelihood and survival of wild animals (ḥayot) increasingly depends on our choices, we are responsible for their care, just as Noah became responsible for all the animals in the ark.

Editorials & Actions

Former Israeli soldier Idan Barir on Why It’s Hard to Believe Israel’s Claim That It Did Its Best to Minimize Civilian Deaths

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Why It’s Hard to Believe Israel’s Claim That It Did Its Best to Minimize Civilian Deaths
Among the difficult reports streaming in from Gaza over the past few weeks, two especially painful events have captured my attention. The first was the shelling of a UN school building in Jabaliya, where a number of families that had escaped or been forced to flee their homes had taken refuge. At least 15 civilians were killed, and dozens more wounded. Israel argued they were targeting an area from which fire had been directed at Israeli forces. The second was the bombing of a bustling market in the Shuja’iya neighborhood.

Editorials & Actions

Peace Rally in Tel Aviv draws thousands, Eyeless in Gaza by Uri Avnery, and Gush Shalom, chair of the Israeli peace movement

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Editor’s Note: For those who think all Israelis are rallying around the war efforts of the Netanyahu government, the big peace rally Saturday night in Tel Aviv comes as an important corrective! See the stories below. Also, please read Uri Avnery’s article that substantiates the point I’m about to make in the next paragraph. Avnery’s Gush Shalom peace movement helped create the intellectual foundation for this demonstration–which is what we in the Network of Spiritual Progressives also focus on: consciousness transformation. Consciousness transformation is the necessary prerequisite for building a transformed political reality.

Editorials & Actions

Israeli Extremists Protest Marriage of a Jewish Woman Who Converted to Islam to Marry Her Arab Husband

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Demonstrators face off outside Jewish-Arab wedding
Some 200 right-wing protesters demonstrated against what they called ‘assimilation in the Holy Land.’ A counter-demonstration was held by the entrance to the hall. By Ilan Lior | Aug. 18, 2014 | 10:55 AM 

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Editorials & Actions

Lack of Balance in Critiquing Israel and Hamas?

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Lack of Balance in Critiquing Israel vs. Hamas? by Mike Merryman-Lotze

August 11

Over the last month, as I have posted my comments and thoughts about what is happening in Gaza on Facebook a number of people have accused me of taking a one sided position on Israel and Palestine and of not acknowledging Palestinian violence against Israelis. I want to address this briefly. Everyone who has been involved in activism on this issue for an extended period of time has a particular moment that committed him or her to long-term activism.

Editorials & Actions

Hillary Clinton’s Foreign Policy Deception by Jeffrey D. Sachs

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Editor’s Note: We at Tikkun oppose military solutions to the world’s problems. Please read our proposed Global Marshall Plan at www.tikkun.org/gmp. –Rabbi Michael Lerner

Hillary Clinton’s Foreign Policy Deception  

Jeffrey D. Sachs

August 13, 2014

It’s said that the best defense is a good offense. This strategy probably lies behind Hillary Clinton’s recent takedown of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. After all, Clinton was a lead architect of that policy as Secretary of State, and the policies that she espoused until recently now lie in shambles. The most aggressive of her claims, that Obama’s unwillingness to give support to the Syrian rebels has led to the rise of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) — is not true.

Editorials & Actions

The P Word a poem by Abby Caplin

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“The P Word”

 

See,

I had a

hard time

writing

the word

Palestinian. It stops

civil discourse

for Jews. To say

the “P” word

during war,

means

you

are

a

traitor.  

In a recent short

at the Jewish

Film Festival,

a granddaughter reads

her film script

to her grandparents,

who fought

in the Jewish

underground

army

in 1948. In their hallway

hangs a mirror

which was plundered,

No, “taken,”

corrects her grandfather,

from a Palestinian,

No, “Arab,”

corrects her grandmother,

home.