Healing Israel/Palestine

Obama Will Do Anything For Israel…But He Won't Do That

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Not intending to go to war in Iran (a war Israel has been pushing for years), Obama avoids any suggestion that the occupation must end. Sure, Secretary of State John Kerry has both been dispatched to the region and is talking up the necessity for peace. But few take his effort seriously, largely because he emphasizes economic initiatives (fine with Israel) rather than ending settlements and the occupation. The administration remains very careful not to make Israel and its supporters here angry.

Culture

Summer's Gone, or The Bliss of Suburbia

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The irony: I moved to the suburbs and bought a house with a yard so I could grow a garden. I moved to a place where I envisioned long solitary walks. A writer’s dream. I imagined peaceful summers.
I came from Manhattan because the noise and bustle crushed my soul.
Yet the noise is here, every moment, everywhere. My neighbors run machines, buzz buzz buzz. We cannot leave windows open, sleep in a hammock, or read a book in the shade.

Environment

'The Talk' — How to Tell Your 8-Year-Old About Climate Change

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Bennett agrees that parents play a critical role in responding to climate change, but she said it’s not enough to limit climate action to the home sphere. Groups like Hoyos’ help to connect parents to the public sphere, where they can influence policymakers.
For Ian Kim, the parent grappling with how to talk to his daughter about climate change, those conversations are the foundation for breeding leadership.

Christianity

The Church's Second Birthday

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Have you ever had to reinvent yourself? I have. I am sure that many of you have. The phrase has a peculiarly American flavor, as if oneself were the hero of the whole project—designer, director, and finished product. But re-invention is just a phrase; the experience to which it refers has always belonged to the human predicament. Of such is the story of Arjuna—Odysseus—Jacob—Job—Jesus in the wilderness—Jesus before the Cross. Re-invention comes to this.

art

New Film on Hannah Arendt: Eichmann, Zionism & Other Controversies

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… the new film (“Hannah Arendt”) … lends credence to the simplistic notion that her controversial portrait of Adolf Eichmann at his Jerusalem trial was a mark of great insight. She didn’t merit the abuse that she suffered as a result; … but her most significant conclusions were drawn from the very limited range of Holocaust scholarship available to her in the early 1960s. …

Politics & Society

He's Got His Act Together: Standing Pat on Guantanamo?

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It’s remarkable how President Obama, pressed heavily by activism and public commentary on the crisis of Guantanamo, can make a major speech offering the most minor and insufficient of actions toward remediation of one of the worst human rights outrages of the past decade. Thankfully the passionate outcry missing from Obama’s presentation was provided by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the activist group Code Pink. For a decade now, activists of Code Pink have made every effort to be a loud, theatrically in-your-face voice for the conscience of the United States. For a decade now, their cri de coeur for the world has resounded in Congress, in front of the White House, nationwide and abroad.

Culture

65 Years Post-Holocaust, Germany Is the World's Most Popular Country (While Israel Barely Beats North Korea)

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However, the painful truth is this: while Germany as a country and a societal entity has largely (though not entirely) moved beyond the historical atrocities committed by the Nazis, the same unfortunately cannot be said for Israel. Israel’s continued subjugation of the Palestinians – its brutal occupation, illegal settlement enterprise, theft of Palestinian lands, and disinterest in pursuing peace initiatives – has inspired the world to look upon Israel with frustration and disdain.

Gender and Sexuality

'Undocuqueers' at Crossroads Over Immigration, Gay Rights

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President Obama has voiced his support for LGBT rights to be included in any comprehensive immigration bill. But Leahy’s amendment has been sharply criticized by members of the Gang of Eight, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida. While some national organizations support the amendment publicly, he said, behind closed doors there’s pushback against it.

Islam

America's Chosen Muslims

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While the voices of moderate Islam are many, they are not a cohesive or collective voice because Muslims apart from the Ahmadiyya Community are not unified under a single leadership. They disagree among themselves regarding religion, tradition and practices, and those disagreements become obvious to others. Without unity in the Muslim “Ummah” or community, radicalization and extremism is common because youth fall through the cracks. Each Imam guides his own flock without any idea of what’s going on in the mosque next door. Perhaps that’s the way of most religious groups. The Ahmadiyya Community on the other hand, has the organizational skills and unified approach to get things done on a local and national level, thereby gaining the attention of policy makers and media alike. They have a single message and a common goal: to bring about the rise of moderate, peaceful Islam.