Tikkun Daily Blog Archive (https://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2014/08/page/5/)
As political battles rage around the world and suffering continues, where does our hope fall? Is hope a realization for the future or something that can be seen in the present? Mark Kirschbaum explains how Messianic hope is a meant as a possibility for a just present.
Terror management theorists explain how when we feel small and humiliated, we’ll do anything to feel big. A piece on the psychology behind what makes people act destructively and what we can do to change this cycle of violence.
After an unnecessary congressional vote regarding a $225 million appropriation to “replenish” Israel’s Iron Dome system, one thing is clear, the sole reason for the vote was to enable AIPAC and its House and Senate cutouts to demonstrate their support for the war and their unfailing loyalties to the Israeli government.
The recent botched executions of three death row inmates have brought the death penalty issue under intense scrutiny once again. Sister Helen Prejean, who has been a spiritual adviser to many death row inmates and is the author of Dead Man Walking, shared her thoughts on the latest executions with NAM health editor Viji Sundaram.
Yesterday’s (August 4th) conference call with Sami Awad, a Palestinian non-violent peace activist, was illuminating, informative and exactly what we need during this time of horrific violence. If you didn’t have a chance to listen in on the call, we’ve uploaded the entire recording to Tikkun Daily.
If we act from a loving and generous place, seeking to overcome behaviors that were previously perceived as disrespectful and humiliating, that the icebergs of anger and hate (some of which our behavior helped to create) can melt away and people’s hearts can once again turn toward love and justice for all.
Amidst this seemingly hopeless situation Sabine Lichtenfels, co-founder of a peace research center called Tamera in Portugal, initiated what she calls a “vision camp” in the West Bank. It had mainly one goal: to create and maintain humaneness, trust, and equal exchange between Israel and Palestine.
I can’t keep up with my inbox. This is an entirely new and foreign experience – over 100 messages have been streaming in each day for the past week, and there is little sign of this pace slowing. All of these messages are being sent by strangers, the vast majority of them are coming from American Jews, and most contain a singular message:
“I feel like you are my voice right now.” – 27-year-old from Philadelphia
As a writer and author, I’ve been humbled by occasional notes from strangers, from people both praising me or cursing me for my words, opinions and political positions. However, what’s happening right now is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
I had a depressing conversation with a young man (thirties) last night. I had just heard the report that the “kidnapped” soldier was dead and that, as I had expected, Netanyahu had lied about him right from the beginning. His purpose was to use the soldier to get President Obama to authorize more war, and, if you saw Obama’s Friday press conference, it worked like a charm. It’s so obvious. A soldier disappeared after an ambush.
Israel has decided to unilaterally end its Gaza operation without a diplomatic agreement or a substantive change in its hostile relationship with Hamas and Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. It has decided to cease talking, and instead will rely on its “deterrence” capabilities – missile strikes and a continued blockade of Gaza – moving forward. Meaning: Israel has officially lost a tragic ‘war’ it did not need to begin, a war Hamas did not want but in the end fully embraced as well, making both parties culpable for all that now remains. Or no longer remains. Israel’s loss is the worst possible outcome for all parties involved, from Palestinians in Gaza to Israelis in Tel Aviv and beyond.