Healing Israel/Palestine

Running Across Palestine to Support Olive Farmers

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Fellow journalist Aaron Dennis and I will travel to the West Bank in February to document the “Run Across Palestine” – a 129-mile run over five days between Hebron and Jenin that seeks to raise awareness about the everyday struggles facing olive farmers in Palestine. Inspired by Tikkun’s mission to “build bridges between religious and secular progressives by delivering a forceful critique of all forms of exploitation, oppression and domination,” I’ll write a feature story about the project for Tikkun. The Run Across Palestine, a project of On The Ground, aims to reestablish sustainable olive growing practices in a place where the economy, culture and identity are rooted in the ancient tree. Forty-five percent of the agricultural land in the West Bank is used for growing olives, employing 100,000 Palestinians.The money raised by the run will go to fund the replanting of olive trees uprooted in recent years, and to fund scholarships for the children of the farmers. “The olive tree plays a very important role as a symbol of our perseverance,” said Run Across Palestine coordinator Vivien Sansour.

Culture

An Alarmist View of Post-Holocaust Thought

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… there sometimes is an unseemly self-centeredness among Jews in their vigilance against “moral equivalence” arguments in invoking the primacy of the Holocaust as compared with other mass crimes or nasty conflicts. … Yet complications abound; for example, even if one criticizes Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, they are in no way “genocidal,” ….

Healing Israel/Palestine

Newt's Audacity of 'Nope'

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Newt Gingrich asserts that the Palestinians are “an invented people.” … [But] all nations are “invented” in their formative stage. Whether due to geography, history, language, culture or religion, they obtain a level of self-consciousness as a distinct people….

Politics & Society

What If They Sent in Social Services to Help Occupations Instead of Riot Cops to Bust Heads?

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Call Mayor Bloomberg of NYC, Mayor Jean Quan of Oakland, or whoever is your mayor and suggest that they support the Occupy movement by providing encouragement to social workers, teachers, clergy and others to go down to the Occupy encampments and volunteer time and energy to help those who badly need this support!! Cities are cutting back on vitally needed social services, while at the same time, buying expensive military gear for their police departments. From AlterNet by Joshua Holland, “What If They Sent in Social Services to Help Occupations Instead of Riot Cops to Bust Heads?”:
Occupations across the country have struggled to feed and shelter the least fortunate among us, and then faced often violent police crackdowns at great taxpayer expense. Pause for a moment and imagine what might result if mayors sent in social workers to help people rather than riot police to bust some heads? In a society that tends to avert its gaze from the homeless, the hungry, the addicted and the mentally ill, the Occupy movement’s compassion has become an albatross around its neck.

Education

Hon. Keith Ellison, Jimmy Carter and Avrum Burg recommend "Embracing Israel/Palestine"

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A major modern conundrum is how the Arab/Israel conflict remains unresolved and, seemingly, unresolvable. In his latest book, Embracing Israel/Palestine, Rabbi Lerner suggests that a change in consciousness is crucial. He examines how the mutual demonization and discounting of each sides’ legitimate needs drive the debate, and he points to new ways of thinking that can lead to a solution.

Healing Israel/Palestine

What Country Commits Suicide?

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The drums of war with Iran will be beating increasingly loudly in the three months leading up to AIPAC’s policy conference early next March. The Republican candidates for president (with the exception of Texas Rep. Ron Paul) will try to outdo each other in professing devotion to Israel coupled with calls to inflict more “crippling sanctions” on Iran, while pledging to keep the war option “on the table.” The White House will dispatch deputies throughout the country to assure Democratic donors that the president is as hawkish on Iran as any Republican and that the war option is on his table, too. The AIPAC conference itself, with more than half of Congress, the president, and members of his cabinet in attendance, will be all about the Iranian threat. Speaker after speaker will claim that Iran is on the verge of possessing nuclear weapons that will be used to finish the work Hitler began.