In August 2005 the German periodical Der Speigel published an article outlining the points made by Jordanian journalist Fouad Hussein in his book “Al Zarqawi – The Second Generation of Al Qaeda”. Hussein is known for his contacts with senior Al Qaeda leaders and his ability to have them be open with him. He spent time in a Jordanian prison with Al Zarqawi. In the book he outlines Al Qaeda’s strategy for establishing an Islamic caliphate over a 20 year period. Here is the seven step plan as presented in Der Speigel :
· The First Phase Known as "the awakening" -- this has already been carried out and was supposed to have lasted from 2000 to 2003, or more precisely from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The aim of the attacks of 9/11 was to provoke the US into declaring war on the Islamic world and thereby "awakening" Muslims. "The first phase was judged by the strategists and masterminds behind al-Qaeda as very successful," writes Hussein. "The battle field was opened up and the Americans and their allies became a closer and easier target." The terrorist network is also reported as being satisfied that its message can now be heard "everywhere."
· The Second Phase "Opening Eyes" is, according to Hussein's definition, the period we are now in and should last through 2006. Hussein says the terrorists hope to make the western conspiracy aware of the "Islamic community." Hussein believes this is a phase in which al-Qaeda wants an organization to develop into a movement. The network is banking on recruiting young men during this period. Iraq should become the center for all global operations, with an "army" set up there and bases established in other Arabic states.
· The Third Phase This is described as "Arising and Standing Up" and should last from 2007 to 2010. "There will be a focus on Syria," prophesies Hussein, based on what his sources told him. The fighting cadres are supposedly already prepared and some are in Iraq. Attacks on Turkey and -- even more explosive -- in Israel are predicted. Al-Qaeda's masterminds hope that attacks on Israel will help the terrorist group become a recognized organization. The author also believes that countries neighboring Iraq, such as Jordan, are also in danger.
· The Fourth Phase Between 2010 and 2013, Hussein writes that al-Qaeda will aim to bring about the collapse of the hated Arabic governments. The estimate is that "the creeping loss of the regimes' power will lead to a steady growth in strength within al-Qaeda." At the same time attacks will be carried out against oil suppliers and the US economy will be targeted using cyber terrorism.
· The Fifth Phase This will be the point at which an Islamic state, or caliphate, can be declared. The plan is that by this time, between 2013 and 2016, Western influence in the Islamic world will be so reduced and Israel weakened so much, that resistance will not be feared. Al-Qaeda hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order.
· The Sixth Phase Hussein believes that from 2016 onwards there will be a period of "total confrontation." As soon as the caliphate has been declared the "Islamic army" it will instigate the "fight between the believers and the non-believers" which has so often been predicted by Osama bin Laden.
· The Seventh Phase This final stage is described as "definitive victory." Hussein writes that in the terrorists' eyes, because the rest of the world will be so beaten down by the "one-and-a-half million Muslims", the caliphate will undoubtedly succeed. This phase should be completed by 2020, although the war shouldn't last longer than two years.
The key to this plan according to Hussein is dragging the US into conflict with Iran; overextending its forces and creating chaos in the oil markets and thus disrupting western economies. I assume that the US government has read this play book. It doesn’t mean that we have to follow it. So far, however, we are pretty much on schedule. Al Qaeda has a plan. Do we?
Middle East
Al Qaeda
Monday, October 30, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Water, water nowhere
Frequently the conflicts in the Middle East are portrayed as religious conflicts; conflicts between Jews and Muslims, Muslims and Christians, Sunni and Shia etc. Although many of the conflicts certainly have a religious component, I would argue that they are more about competing claims for political and economic power, land, oil and water. As a resident of the arid mountain western United States, the water component certainly resonates with me. As we flew over the region on our first trip to Jordan, Marcia commented “I wonder why anyone wants to fight over this desolate piece of desert”. It seems to me that it looks a lot like southern Idaho. Four years ago when we were in Northern Jordan along the Syrian border, there was discussion about a Jordanian – Syrian plan to build a dam on the Yarmouk River which forms the Jordanian/Syrian border and is the primary tributary of the Jordan River. This plan seems to have legs as last week environmentalists were complaining in a Haaretz article that this would dry up the Jordan River. They are probably right. As you can 
see from this picture taken at the legendary baptismal site of Jesus, the Jordan is no longer the rushing river of our Sunday school images. The flow is now 10% of its historical level and as it is the primary source of water to the Dead Sea the decrease is causing the Dead Sea to recede 3 feet per year. There is even a plan to build a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea to refill it. As the Jordan River resource is depleted, Israel has become more and more dependent on the Eastern Aquifer on the West Bank for water resources not only for the settlements but also for Israel proper. Of the 46 MCM of water produced by Israeli wells inside the West Bank, 90% is used by the Israelis in the settlements and in Israel. Under Israeli law, Israelis are allowed to drill wells 250 ft deeper than Palestinians. This is conveniently enough to allow the Israelis to reach the aquifer, but not the Palestinians. The separation wall/fence is located so as to insure that access to the aquifer remains on the Israeli side of the barrier. None of this is sustainable by either side as the aquifer is being depleted at a rate higher than its recovery rate. This is a phenomenon familiar to those of us who live in the arid western U.S. Two maxims of the water conflicts in the west are “Water flows uphill towards money” and “Whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting over”. They seem to apply in the Middle East as well.
Israel
Palestine
see from this picture taken at the legendary baptismal site of Jesus, the Jordan is no longer the rushing river of our Sunday school images. The flow is now 10% of its historical level and as it is the primary source of water to the Dead Sea the decrease is causing the Dead Sea to recede 3 feet per year. There is even a plan to build a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea to refill it. As the Jordan River resource is depleted, Israel has become more and more dependent on the Eastern Aquifer on the West Bank for water resources not only for the settlements but also for Israel proper. Of the 46 MCM of water produced by Israeli wells inside the West Bank, 90% is used by the Israelis in the settlements and in Israel. Under Israeli law, Israelis are allowed to drill wells 250 ft deeper than Palestinians. This is conveniently enough to allow the Israelis to reach the aquifer, but not the Palestinians. The separation wall/fence is located so as to insure that access to the aquifer remains on the Israeli side of the barrier. None of this is sustainable by either side as the aquifer is being depleted at a rate higher than its recovery rate. This is a phenomenon familiar to those of us who live in the arid western U.S. Two maxims of the water conflicts in the west are “Water flows uphill towards money” and “Whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting over”. They seem to apply in the Middle East as well.Israel
Palestine
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
How to build a better city
One of the thoughts that has stayed with me since my trip to Israel and the West Bank with Palestinians in April is “now I have some idea what it was like to be black in the U.S. in the 1960’s”. This thought came back to me last week when I read an op ed piece in the center left Israeli English language paper Haaretz concerning land planning in Jerusalem. As I was reading the article, I wondered how its point of view would play in the U.S today. Using the miracles of modern technology I did a little editing. With apologies to the good folks of Richmond, Virginia I substituted the words Richmond for Jerusalem, Virginia for Israel, white for Jew and black for Palestinian. This is what I got.
A small Richmond is better
By Moshe Amirav
On October 17, the National Council for Planning and Construction is supposed to discuss a new plan that will change the face of Virginia's capital. At issue is the construction of 20,000 residential units west of Richmond, which will dramatically change the direction of the city's expansion and will weaken it economically and politically. The public uproar surrounding the new plan, which has led to the submission of 15,000 objections, stems from fear that the planning mistake of the 1970s is repeating itself. At that time, Virginia invested huge sums in the construction of about 40,000 residential units in East Richmond. These turned into seven neighborhoods, including Ramot, Gilo and Pisgat Ze'ev, which today house about 180,000 white residents. The plan, which was initiated by Golda Meir's government in order to "strengthen the capital," was severely criticized by all the experts. Thirty years later, its destructive consequences have become evident: From a compact city of 37 square kilometers, Richmomd has turned into a huge metropolis that covers 120 square kilometers, twice as large as the area of Tel Aviv and Haifa combined. Instead of channeling government investments into infrastructure, industry and tourism, they were channeled into the construction of these neighborhoods, which led to the flight of businessmen and the economic elites from the city.
During the past two decades, about 300,000 whites have left the city, most from the middle or upper class. Richmond has turned into the poorest city in Virginia, and today, white neighborhoods comprise only one-third of the city's eastern part. The other two-thirds house about a quarter of a million blacks, who have upended the demographic policy designed to reduce their proportions. The white majority has shrunk to only 66 percent, and there is a fear that in another 20 years, the city will be biracial- half its residents will be black. The idea that a "bigger Richmond" would strengthen the city turned out to be mistaken. A "small Richmomd" is preferable. Now, the National Council for Planning and Construction is about to repeat exactly the same mistake, but the consequences are liable to be far worse. A group of wealthy businessmen and a world-famous architect, Moshe Safdie, have joined forces to convince the municipality and the government that Richmond is not big enough, that it lacks built-up areas, and that 120,000 whites must urgently be brought to it. Here lies the trap of the mistaken idea: There is no need to enlarge the city; just the opposite - it should be made smaller. The solution is to strengthen the downtown area and invest in employment infrastructure, on one hand, and to relinquish the black neighborhoods, on the other. All the studies have proven that these two steps would strengthen the city economically and politically. They would raise the city's economic level from 90th (last) place, where it is now, to a respectable place in the top decile of Virginian cities. They would also increase the city's white majority from 66 percent to 96 percent and ensure white hegemony in the Virginian capital. But who listens to experts when wealthy businessmen promise the magic formula: the construction of 20,000 residential units on the slopes of the mountains west of the city? The consequences of the Safdie plan, which calls for these thousands of new apartments, are liable to be a disaster for the capital. The plan would destroy the green landscape west of the city, while the economically strong population that the entrepreneurs promise to bring from the coastal plain to Richmond will not come. Tens of thousands of whites will migrate from the city to private homes and cheap apartments in the luxury neighborhoods that will be built. The percentage of whites in the city will decline to 50 percent within the coming decade, and Richmond will collapse economically and politically. But now, just like 30 years ago, the experts' warnings will apparently be rejected under pressure of the entrepreneurs. Dozens of Knesset members from Labor, Yisrael Beiteinu, the National Religious Party and Meretz have signed a manifesto against the plan. But unless the interior minister and the prime minister intervene to stop the plan, or at least to downsize it, Richmond will continue on its planning march of folly, which holds that a "big Richmond" is the solution for strengthening the city.
I have no idea which program will be more effective insuring a Jewish (white) hegemony in Jerusalem but I think that even discussing this as a goal might cause a bit of an uproar in the U.S. But maybe not, we are learning a lot from the Israelis about how to deal with a minority population.
Israel
A small Richmond is better
By Moshe Amirav
On October 17, the National Council for Planning and Construction is supposed to discuss a new plan that will change the face of Virginia's capital. At issue is the construction of 20,000 residential units west of Richmond, which will dramatically change the direction of the city's expansion and will weaken it economically and politically. The public uproar surrounding the new plan, which has led to the submission of 15,000 objections, stems from fear that the planning mistake of the 1970s is repeating itself. At that time, Virginia invested huge sums in the construction of about 40,000 residential units in East Richmond. These turned into seven neighborhoods, including Ramot, Gilo and Pisgat Ze'ev, which today house about 180,000 white residents. The plan, which was initiated by Golda Meir's government in order to "strengthen the capital," was severely criticized by all the experts. Thirty years later, its destructive consequences have become evident: From a compact city of 37 square kilometers, Richmomd has turned into a huge metropolis that covers 120 square kilometers, twice as large as the area of Tel Aviv and Haifa combined. Instead of channeling government investments into infrastructure, industry and tourism, they were channeled into the construction of these neighborhoods, which led to the flight of businessmen and the economic elites from the city.
During the past two decades, about 300,000 whites have left the city, most from the middle or upper class. Richmond has turned into the poorest city in Virginia, and today, white neighborhoods comprise only one-third of the city's eastern part. The other two-thirds house about a quarter of a million blacks, who have upended the demographic policy designed to reduce their proportions. The white majority has shrunk to only 66 percent, and there is a fear that in another 20 years, the city will be biracial- half its residents will be black. The idea that a "bigger Richmond" would strengthen the city turned out to be mistaken. A "small Richmomd" is preferable. Now, the National Council for Planning and Construction is about to repeat exactly the same mistake, but the consequences are liable to be far worse. A group of wealthy businessmen and a world-famous architect, Moshe Safdie, have joined forces to convince the municipality and the government that Richmond is not big enough, that it lacks built-up areas, and that 120,000 whites must urgently be brought to it. Here lies the trap of the mistaken idea: There is no need to enlarge the city; just the opposite - it should be made smaller. The solution is to strengthen the downtown area and invest in employment infrastructure, on one hand, and to relinquish the black neighborhoods, on the other. All the studies have proven that these two steps would strengthen the city economically and politically. They would raise the city's economic level from 90th (last) place, where it is now, to a respectable place in the top decile of Virginian cities. They would also increase the city's white majority from 66 percent to 96 percent and ensure white hegemony in the Virginian capital. But who listens to experts when wealthy businessmen promise the magic formula: the construction of 20,000 residential units on the slopes of the mountains west of the city? The consequences of the Safdie plan, which calls for these thousands of new apartments, are liable to be a disaster for the capital. The plan would destroy the green landscape west of the city, while the economically strong population that the entrepreneurs promise to bring from the coastal plain to Richmond will not come. Tens of thousands of whites will migrate from the city to private homes and cheap apartments in the luxury neighborhoods that will be built. The percentage of whites in the city will decline to 50 percent within the coming decade, and Richmond will collapse economically and politically. But now, just like 30 years ago, the experts' warnings will apparently be rejected under pressure of the entrepreneurs. Dozens of Knesset members from Labor, Yisrael Beiteinu, the National Religious Party and Meretz have signed a manifesto against the plan. But unless the interior minister and the prime minister intervene to stop the plan, or at least to downsize it, Richmond will continue on its planning march of folly, which holds that a "big Richmond" is the solution for strengthening the city.
I have no idea which program will be more effective insuring a Jewish (white) hegemony in Jerusalem but I think that even discussing this as a goal might cause a bit of an uproar in the U.S. But maybe not, we are learning a lot from the Israelis about how to deal with a minority population.
Israel
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Parallel History
When Linda Biehl, mother of Amy Biehl, an American Fulbright scholar who was killed by a mob of young black men in South Africa, was in our community talking about forgiveness and reconciliation, she also talked about the history of the conflict in South Africa. She brought a Diane Sawyer “Turning Point” video which discussed the history of South Africa and its people. As I listened to this history, I was struck by the parallels between the history of the South African conflict and that of the current conflict in Israel/Palestine. Both countries were founded by religiously motivated Europeans who felt that God had given them this land. In South Africa they were Dutch Reform Protestants and in Israel Palestine it was European Jews. Both groups of Europeans drove the indigenous population from their land and isolated them as second class citizens in poverty stricken enclaves. The Afrikaans found Bible passages that told them that the two races should be separated and the radical Zionists have found passages that tell them that all of Palestine belongs to them. In both cases the oppressed and occupied indigenous populations have fought back both violently and nonviolently. Many leaders of the resisting populations have been killed and imprisoned by the governments established by the Europeans. In South Africa Nelson Mandela spent over 20 years in prison. In Israel/Palestine Marwan Bargouti has been sentenced to three life terms in prison. In both countries young American women were killed while participating in the struggle for justice and reconciliation; Amy Biehl in South Africa and Rachel Corrie in Israel/Palestine. Both women became heroines to the people that they were trying to help. However, the parallel tracks of history have diverged during the last two decades. Although South Africa still has many problems and there remains much residue of the apartheid regime, a just and democratic system of government has been established and blacks and whites live alongside each other in peace. This came about in large measure because of enlightened leadership on both sides and condemnation of and pressure on the white apartheid government by the developed countries of the west led by the U.S. In Israel/Palestine the developed west seems to accept the situation on the ground despite its contribution to instability in the region. In this case it might be good for the parallel tracks to converge and for history to repeat itself.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Email from Bethlehem
Last week I received an email from my friend Ashley Wilkinson. Ashley is an intern with the United Methodist Church working at the Wi’am Center for Conflict Resolution in Bethlehem on the West Bank. The Wi’am Center was our host for our visit to the West Bank and Israel in March and April. The Casa Nova Hotel that she refers to is the hotel that we stayed in while in Bethlehem. Somehow one has a different perspective on Israeli incursions and targeted killings when it happens to your friends and to people that you know.
Ashley writes:
On Tuesday, September 12, 2006 a little before 4:00 PM my boss received a phone call from his sister-in-law telling him that there were about 10 Israeli soldiers with dogs surrounding our homes and coming into our area. She lives in a street side home and my boss’s house is just behind hers – there is a small courtyard between the two homes, so his is not directly on the street. I live in a small apartment on the roof above his home. In front of me are the homes of his brothers and behind me are more homes.
Immediately after hanging up with her, my boss called his house to check on his kids. He has four kids – 14, 12, 11 and 9. The youngest answered the phone. He said he was scared, but okay. He advised them to stay put in the house and to stay away from the windows. If the soldiers knocked or asked to come in, then the kids should let them.
After this we jumped in the car and decided that we wanted to try to get home to be with the kids and to see what was going on. We contacted my boss’s wife, picked her up from work and headed towards their home. Along the way several people stopped us and told us either not to go home or to be careful because there were soldiers at our home.
As we entered Manger Square (which is an open area just up the hill from our home, and the central area for the Nativity Church, the Mosque, the Bethlehem municipality, the International Peace Center, restaurants, etc), we came to a halt behind an ambulance and a crowd of people. The people were looking down the hill trying to see what was going on. It was clear that this was as far as people were either willing to go, or as far as people were being permitted to go.
Not quite sure of what to do, we parked the car on the other side of Manger Square and decided to go wait inside a restaurant – the Casa Nova, a pilgrim guest house and restaurant run by the Franciscans – located next to the Church of the Nativity.
We remained there for the following 4 ½ hours and received updates by phone from the kids, as well as from people like us who were entering the restaurant and seeking shelter there . During our time there we heard loud explosions and lots of gunfire. At several points during the first 3 hours we had to close all the windows and doors because tear gas had been fired. Two of these tear gas canisters were shot into the courtyard of the Casa Nova.
We saw four people carried out of Manger Square and into either taxis or ambulances and then rushed off to hospitals. After about three hours, a few Israeli Army jeeps came into view. They were in the street just beneath the windows of the restaurant and they opened fire there. We obviously did not stay close enough to the windows to see what or who they were firing at, but it was very loud and felt very near. At this point several of us decided to go downstairs further so that we could be out of the way of any danger – as it felt like the jeeps were going to remain just 20 yards away. While downstairs we talked with my boss’s wife (an American who has lived here for the last 20 years) about other incursions and what they were like. We could still hear explosions every now and then.
We soon returned upstairs and were starting to leave to go back to the car when we heard some rapid gunfire that was VERY close to us. Naturally we retreated back into the building. We waited there for another 30 minutes or so.
When we finally felt it was safe to go to the car, just as we arrived at the car we heard more rapid gunfire – it was around 9:00 by this point. We jumped into the car and drove away from Manger Square. The kitchen had been closed at the Casa Nova, so we decided to go try to eat something since we were still unable to get home. Soon after we sat down to eat we received a phone call saying it was safe to go home. We did not arrive home until a little after 10:00 PM.
During the time that we stayed in the Casa Nova, we were in touch consistently with my boss’s kids, with his sister-in-law and with his nephew – all of whom were trapped inside their homes while the soldiers were present. Though the adults tried several times to leave their homes in order to go over to see the kids and simply sit with them, they were prevented from doing so. The courtyard between the homes is not very big – just a few steps from door to door. One of them was finally able to go sit with the kids, but he was threatened 2 or 3 times by the soldiers the moment he left his home.
During this time as well, my boss’s nephew (who has a view to the roof, where my apartment lies) told us that he could see the soldiers had gone into my apartment and were walking around inside and on the patio. Thus we knew they had either broken the door down or broken the lock in order to get in (it turns out it was the latter).
We also were informed while at the Casa Nova that a young boy of 13, Mohammad Ali Showria, was shot and died shortly after receiving the wound.
Upon arriving home we walked up to my apartment to find it very dirty and messy, though only one small trinket was broken. Some furniture was turned over and the bed comforter, couch cover and some old curtains that were in my closet had been taken out and thrown around. There was a lot of dirt (I suppose from the shoes), and it was clear that the soldiers had used the apartment as both a place of protection, but also as a place from which to perform their offensive. They had taken the windows out of their frames (thankfully they did not shatter them) and there were gun shell casings everywhere – especially near the windows and the doors.
Upon talking with the kids and neighbors, we learned that there were about 12 soldiers present and that they had basically set up camp in my apartment in order to fire on the home behind mine. This home apparently housed a young man who was wanted because the Israeli Army claimed he had participated in armed resistance activities. From what I hear, this young man was captured several hours before all the shooting came to an end. Why they continued their offensive, we do not know.
On Wednesday, September 13, I cleaned up my apartment and my boss came up with two of his sons to fix the lock. I heard and saw the funeral procession of Mohammad. His body, wrapped and held on the shoulders of his family, was carried from the hospital in town to the small village where he lived just 8 kilometers away. Reports say that he had been attempting to go home via the taxi station (just 30 yards up the hill from the location of our homes) when he was shot in the chest. All commercial businesses were closed on Wednesday in both a strike for the invasion by the Israeli Army and as a sign of solidarity and mourning for Mohammad’s family and the family of the young man who was taken.
Throughout the days Tuesday and Wednesday I took many photos and interviewed my boss and his wife with the office camera. I hope to compile these at a later date.
Ironically enough, September 12 was the second day of a 10-Day Celebration of Non-Violence which we were holding at the Wi’am Center where I work. And in the coming days we met to talk about issues of Justice and Peace, Non-Violence movements around the world, and the struggle that comes with the daily realities of Occupation.
In many ways I still feel bewildered one week after these events. In many ways I question if anyone cares.
Ashley writes:
On Tuesday, September 12, 2006 a little before 4:00 PM my boss received a phone call from his sister-in-law telling him that there were about 10 Israeli soldiers with dogs surrounding our homes and coming into our area. She lives in a street side home and my boss’s house is just behind hers – there is a small courtyard between the two homes, so his is not directly on the street. I live in a small apartment on the roof above his home. In front of me are the homes of his brothers and behind me are more homes.
Immediately after hanging up with her, my boss called his house to check on his kids. He has four kids – 14, 12, 11 and 9. The youngest answered the phone. He said he was scared, but okay. He advised them to stay put in the house and to stay away from the windows. If the soldiers knocked or asked to come in, then the kids should let them.
After this we jumped in the car and decided that we wanted to try to get home to be with the kids and to see what was going on. We contacted my boss’s wife, picked her up from work and headed towards their home. Along the way several people stopped us and told us either not to go home or to be careful because there were soldiers at our home.
As we entered Manger Square (which is an open area just up the hill from our home, and the central area for the Nativity Church, the Mosque, the Bethlehem municipality, the International Peace Center, restaurants, etc), we came to a halt behind an ambulance and a crowd of people. The people were looking down the hill trying to see what was going on. It was clear that this was as far as people were either willing to go, or as far as people were being permitted to go.
Not quite sure of what to do, we parked the car on the other side of Manger Square and decided to go wait inside a restaurant – the Casa Nova, a pilgrim guest house and restaurant run by the Franciscans – located next to the Church of the Nativity.
We remained there for the following 4 ½ hours and received updates by phone from the kids, as well as from people like us who were entering the restaurant and seeking shelter there . During our time there we heard loud explosions and lots of gunfire. At several points during the first 3 hours we had to close all the windows and doors because tear gas had been fired. Two of these tear gas canisters were shot into the courtyard of the Casa Nova.
We saw four people carried out of Manger Square and into either taxis or ambulances and then rushed off to hospitals. After about three hours, a few Israeli Army jeeps came into view. They were in the street just beneath the windows of the restaurant and they opened fire there. We obviously did not stay close enough to the windows to see what or who they were firing at, but it was very loud and felt very near. At this point several of us decided to go downstairs further so that we could be out of the way of any danger – as it felt like the jeeps were going to remain just 20 yards away. While downstairs we talked with my boss’s wife (an American who has lived here for the last 20 years) about other incursions and what they were like. We could still hear explosions every now and then.
We soon returned upstairs and were starting to leave to go back to the car when we heard some rapid gunfire that was VERY close to us. Naturally we retreated back into the building. We waited there for another 30 minutes or so.
When we finally felt it was safe to go to the car, just as we arrived at the car we heard more rapid gunfire – it was around 9:00 by this point. We jumped into the car and drove away from Manger Square. The kitchen had been closed at the Casa Nova, so we decided to go try to eat something since we were still unable to get home. Soon after we sat down to eat we received a phone call saying it was safe to go home. We did not arrive home until a little after 10:00 PM.
During the time that we stayed in the Casa Nova, we were in touch consistently with my boss’s kids, with his sister-in-law and with his nephew – all of whom were trapped inside their homes while the soldiers were present. Though the adults tried several times to leave their homes in order to go over to see the kids and simply sit with them, they were prevented from doing so. The courtyard between the homes is not very big – just a few steps from door to door. One of them was finally able to go sit with the kids, but he was threatened 2 or 3 times by the soldiers the moment he left his home.
During this time as well, my boss’s nephew (who has a view to the roof, where my apartment lies) told us that he could see the soldiers had gone into my apartment and were walking around inside and on the patio. Thus we knew they had either broken the door down or broken the lock in order to get in (it turns out it was the latter).
We also were informed while at the Casa Nova that a young boy of 13, Mohammad Ali Showria, was shot and died shortly after receiving the wound.
Upon arriving home we walked up to my apartment to find it very dirty and messy, though only one small trinket was broken. Some furniture was turned over and the bed comforter, couch cover and some old curtains that were in my closet had been taken out and thrown around. There was a lot of dirt (I suppose from the shoes), and it was clear that the soldiers had used the apartment as both a place of protection, but also as a place from which to perform their offensive. They had taken the windows out of their frames (thankfully they did not shatter them) and there were gun shell casings everywhere – especially near the windows and the doors.
Upon talking with the kids and neighbors, we learned that there were about 12 soldiers present and that they had basically set up camp in my apartment in order to fire on the home behind mine. This home apparently housed a young man who was wanted because the Israeli Army claimed he had participated in armed resistance activities. From what I hear, this young man was captured several hours before all the shooting came to an end. Why they continued their offensive, we do not know.
On Wednesday, September 13, I cleaned up my apartment and my boss came up with two of his sons to fix the lock. I heard and saw the funeral procession of Mohammad. His body, wrapped and held on the shoulders of his family, was carried from the hospital in town to the small village where he lived just 8 kilometers away. Reports say that he had been attempting to go home via the taxi station (just 30 yards up the hill from the location of our homes) when he was shot in the chest. All commercial businesses were closed on Wednesday in both a strike for the invasion by the Israeli Army and as a sign of solidarity and mourning for Mohammad’s family and the family of the young man who was taken.Throughout the days Tuesday and Wednesday I took many photos and interviewed my boss and his wife with the office camera. I hope to compile these at a later date.
Ironically enough, September 12 was the second day of a 10-Day Celebration of Non-Violence which we were holding at the Wi’am Center where I work. And in the coming days we met to talk about issues of Justice and Peace, Non-Violence movements around the world, and the struggle that comes with the daily realities of Occupation.
In many ways I still feel bewildered one week after these events. In many ways I question if anyone cares.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Sanctions
As the world debates what to do about the Iranian nuclear development program, sanctions are the most frequently discussed weapon to be wheeled out in this battle. It seems as though sanctions are the weapon of choice when we are mad at someone, but not so mad as to have a war. This is not a new phenomenon as sanctions have been used for many years in this way. The questions are : “What is the outcome that we expect from imposing sanctions on a country with which we have a disagreement?” and “Is the expected outcome likely and desirable?”. During the Cold War with the USSR we imposed a wheat embargo on the Soviet Union and ended up punishing American farmers who lost one of their best customers. We also boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow and ended up punishing a bunch of American athletes. The sanctions on Iraq during Sadaam Hussein’s regime impoverished ordinary Iraqis and enriched Sadaam and his cronies. Long running sanctions on North Korea have starved the peasants and have had no impact on the policies of the North Korean government. Do we expect that ordinary Iraqis and North Korean peasants will become angry and pick up their pitch forks and overthrow authoritarian governments supported by large well equipped armies? There are some examples of positive outcomes from sanctions. Sanctions may have an effect on democracies that have advanced economic systems that are well connected to the rest of the world. South Africa was such a case. Putting economic stress on the elite brought pressure for change. The sanctions did enrich some members of South African society as wealthy businessmen were able to purchase at fire sale prices the South African operations of international companies who pulled out. Sanctions would also most likely have an effect on Israel and lead to a behavior change, but that policy is not likely to happen. There are, however, de facto travel restrictions on military and political leaders of Israel who have been warned not to travel to Europe as they may be subject to arrest. There are numerous lawsuits in process in Europe against Israeli leaders for war crimes. Recently a retired Israeli army general could not get off his El Al flight in the UK for fear of arrest. Sanctions, however, will almost certainly not have much effect on Iran. They have an authoritarian government, lots of oil money, a very large customer, China, to support them and travel restrictions on the mullahs will probably not disturb them too much since they do not likely have plans for a European vacation. We perhaps should consider who we are punishing before we run out and initiate sanctions- ourselves, the poor, the elite, the government - might make a difference in our actions.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
God bless America
This week, as part of our remembrance of the 9/11 attacks, our community was privileged to have Linda Biehl in our midst to promote dialogue on the subjects of forgiveness and reconciliation. Linda is the mother of Amy Biehl, a young American Fulbright scholar, whose was murdered in 1993 in South Africa by a mob of black militants in the township of Gugulatu. She told an inspiring story of growing to understand her daughter and her love for South Africa and its people She also spoke of growing to understand and forgive her killers through participation in the process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the leadership of Bishop Desmond Tutu. The TRC was created after the demise of apartheid in South Africa to allow South Africans to deal with the atrocities that occurred on both sides and to promote amnesty and reconciliation for politically motivated crimes. This story touched almost everyone who heard her. The Biehls lived through the legalities of trying and convicting the perpetrators of their daughter’s murder and, 5 years later, of pleading for amnesty for them. In the process they developed a relationship of understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation with the killers of Amy. Two of the young men now work for the Amy Biehl Foundation. which endeavors to continue the work in South Africa that was so important to Amy. (If you are interested in more information on what they are trying to do click here.) Not everyone in the audience understood what the Bielhls were able to do. They said “How can you forgive that terrible crime?”; “Aren’t you condoning what they did?”. Linda’s response was “You can’t do anything about the past-you can only change the future” and “Amy showed us that individuals with a passion can make a difference and we are trying to honor her memory by continuing her work of helping those who are so oppressed and frustrated that they do things that they would not otherwise do”. This message of forgiveness and reconciliation is an important one to hear at a time when our media is filled with politicians exhorting us to hate the “Islamic fascists” and to condone the mistreatment of enemies who were “masterminds of 9/11”. As I recall there was some crazy Jew who was walking around the Middle East 2000 years ago saying nutty things like “love your neighbor” and “love your enemy”. He wasn’t saying things like God bless America, God bless Israel or God bless Iran. Instead he was saying things like God bless the meek and God bless the poor of spirit. Come to think of it, that got Him killed too.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Why Bother?
On the fifth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, there has been a lot of discussion about whether there will be another attack. Maybe if you are Usama Bin Laden you are asking the question “Why bother?”. The objective of terrorism as a tactic is to terrorize the civilian population of the target country in order to change behavior and to cause economic dislocation and civil discord. Usama Bin Laden achieved these objectives in spades with his attack on the U.S. on 9/11/2001. Not only did he inflict much more damage and injure and kill many more innocent people than he anticipated, but his timing was perfect. Although he probably didn’t realize it, by attacking two months before the U.S. elections, he insured that American politicians remind us every year of how dangerous the world is and how vulnerable we are. No need to instigate another attack; Americans can continue to relive the old one.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The Older Generation
Yesterday I received a phone call to tell me about the passing of my mother. It was not an unexpected call as she was 103 years old and had been in poor health for a number of years. Nevertheless, it is a milestone when the last family member of your parent’s generation passes away and suddenly you are part of the “older generation”. The same day James Zogby, a successful Lebanese American businessman, wrote an op ed piece for the Jordan Times on the same subject. His is a story, not only of the passing of generations, but also of immigration and its contribution to America. Although my mother’s family probably immigrated some time around the Pilgrims, succeeding generations of immigrants, legal and illegal have made enormous contributions to growth and well being of America. We turn them away to our peril.
James Zogby writes:
My father’s last remaining sibling, Wadih, passed away this summer at the age of 98. It was, for my family, a transformative event. Ammi Wadih was the youngest of the five brothers and two sisters who had come to America to begin a new life in the early part of the 20th century. With his death, my cousins and I became the “older generation”. And with this passing of the torch, we took time to reflect on our immigrants’ story.
Like many immigrant families, our story had an epic-like quality, combining a mix of adventure, bravery and commitment.
It began in 1910, when the oldest brother, Habib, at the age of fourteen, left Lebanon to come to America. Traveling with an uncle and a cousin, his mission was to find work and, he hoped, to prepare the ground for the others to join him in the New World.
World War I hit Lebanon hard and faced with economic problems and threats to their security, my grandfather, Roshide, led the family and others from their village to the relative security of the Bekaa Valley. There they settled and farmed until faced with advancing Turkish forces in 1916. They were forced into resistance. He died in that year and, as he was considered a hero by those whom he led, he was buried in a tomb in the Bekaa.
At war’s end, my grandmother took the family back to their village of Kfartay, and began plans to join Habib in America. As my father was the next oldest, it fell upon him to be the next to travel. Because he could not secure a visa, he found work on a ship to Marseille where he worked for six months until he secured a position on another ship leaving for New York. On landing in America in 1922, he disembarked and remained as an illegal immigrant (he secured amnesty and became a citizen in the 1930s).
Habib and Yousef were reunited and laid plans for the rest of the family to join them. Six months later, my grandmother and her other five children arrived. We have a photograph of their reunion in 1923. In it, there are five young men, two young women and my grandmother, clearly tired and almost gaunt after their month-long voyage, but also clearly excited about their reunion, after 13 years, and ready to begin their new life together in America.
And what a great life it has been. From one home and one small business, they multiplied and prospered. They produced a generation of professionals, businesspeople and public servants. And they remained a close family unit. Their story is an American story and it is one to be proud of.
And now the last of that great generation, Wadih, has passed away.
Though never formally educated, Wadih read The New York Times and several Arabic newspapers every day. He annually traveled to Lebanon and retained close ties with our family there, and he taught our family here to love and respect their heritage.
Because our father had died when we were still quite young, it was from Ammi Wadih that I learned about what life had been like in their village of Kfartay, where my grandfather was buried in the Bekaa, and the story of our family’s passage to America. It is a blessing that his stories have been preserved by Utica College in their oral history archives.
Wadih and his brothers and sisters taught us well. From them we learned to cherish the tremendous opportunities and freedoms they had found in America, and to continue to hold close to our hearts the land of their origins. The incredible trajectory of their lives, in just one generation, is always with us. From that one room, stone home with a hard mud floor clinging precariously to a steep hillside in Lebanon, to their lives, and our own, in America, it is a story worth remembering and retelling.
And, it was from that group of eight brave travelers that we also learned the importance of family and country. By their example, we learned the importance of helping and protecting each other, of remaining close, and of maintaining honour and avoiding shame.
They were a great generation. But their story, while extraordinary in many respects is also ordinary — it is the story of so many other families who came in similar ways to America and accomplished so many great things in this country.
While remembering them, it is, I feel, equally important to recall that this American story is still being played out in communities all across our country by new immigrants who are coming with the same hopes and the same determination to succeed. This is our American story
James Zogby writes:
My father’s last remaining sibling, Wadih, passed away this summer at the age of 98. It was, for my family, a transformative event. Ammi Wadih was the youngest of the five brothers and two sisters who had come to America to begin a new life in the early part of the 20th century. With his death, my cousins and I became the “older generation”. And with this passing of the torch, we took time to reflect on our immigrants’ story.
Like many immigrant families, our story had an epic-like quality, combining a mix of adventure, bravery and commitment.
It began in 1910, when the oldest brother, Habib, at the age of fourteen, left Lebanon to come to America. Traveling with an uncle and a cousin, his mission was to find work and, he hoped, to prepare the ground for the others to join him in the New World.
World War I hit Lebanon hard and faced with economic problems and threats to their security, my grandfather, Roshide, led the family and others from their village to the relative security of the Bekaa Valley. There they settled and farmed until faced with advancing Turkish forces in 1916. They were forced into resistance. He died in that year and, as he was considered a hero by those whom he led, he was buried in a tomb in the Bekaa.
At war’s end, my grandmother took the family back to their village of Kfartay, and began plans to join Habib in America. As my father was the next oldest, it fell upon him to be the next to travel. Because he could not secure a visa, he found work on a ship to Marseille where he worked for six months until he secured a position on another ship leaving for New York. On landing in America in 1922, he disembarked and remained as an illegal immigrant (he secured amnesty and became a citizen in the 1930s).
Habib and Yousef were reunited and laid plans for the rest of the family to join them. Six months later, my grandmother and her other five children arrived. We have a photograph of their reunion in 1923. In it, there are five young men, two young women and my grandmother, clearly tired and almost gaunt after their month-long voyage, but also clearly excited about their reunion, after 13 years, and ready to begin their new life together in America.
And what a great life it has been. From one home and one small business, they multiplied and prospered. They produced a generation of professionals, businesspeople and public servants. And they remained a close family unit. Their story is an American story and it is one to be proud of.
And now the last of that great generation, Wadih, has passed away.
Though never formally educated, Wadih read The New York Times and several Arabic newspapers every day. He annually traveled to Lebanon and retained close ties with our family there, and he taught our family here to love and respect their heritage.
Because our father had died when we were still quite young, it was from Ammi Wadih that I learned about what life had been like in their village of Kfartay, where my grandfather was buried in the Bekaa, and the story of our family’s passage to America. It is a blessing that his stories have been preserved by Utica College in their oral history archives.
Wadih and his brothers and sisters taught us well. From them we learned to cherish the tremendous opportunities and freedoms they had found in America, and to continue to hold close to our hearts the land of their origins. The incredible trajectory of their lives, in just one generation, is always with us. From that one room, stone home with a hard mud floor clinging precariously to a steep hillside in Lebanon, to their lives, and our own, in America, it is a story worth remembering and retelling.
And, it was from that group of eight brave travelers that we also learned the importance of family and country. By their example, we learned the importance of helping and protecting each other, of remaining close, and of maintaining honour and avoiding shame.
They were a great generation. But their story, while extraordinary in many respects is also ordinary — it is the story of so many other families who came in similar ways to America and accomplished so many great things in this country.
While remembering them, it is, I feel, equally important to recall that this American story is still being played out in communities all across our country by new immigrants who are coming with the same hopes and the same determination to succeed. This is our American story
Monday, August 28, 2006
Prisoners of History
I remember when I was in high school (pretty good long term memory for an old guy, hey) my history teacher saying “those that don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it”. This was an effort on her part to get someone who was mostly interested in math and science to show more interest in history. As I was preparing for our now canceled trip to North Korea, I was reading about the history of the relationship between North and South Korea and with the U.S. , Japan and China and how it informs what is going on today in that part of the world. In many ways all of the players know the history and are prisoners of it. Maybe, because they understand it, they are doomed to repeat it. The Koreans know exactly what happened with the Japanese invasion and occupation of Korea and this memory shapes the relationship between them and Japan in the modern era. North and South Korea have more in common with each other in this regard than they do with Japan. North Koreans can remember the history of the U.S. strategic bombing and destruction of their cities during the Korean War. This memory shapes their feelings toward the perceived threat that the U.S. presents and tends to drive their need for a strategic defense. The effect of remembered history on current policy is especially important in North Korea which is the most closed society in the world. There is no internet, radio and TV are controlled and no one can talk to foreigners. The history is, therefore, what the government makes it. There are many other examples of remembered history driving current attitudes and policies. As one who grew up in the eastern U.S., the history that I learned was taught from a European colonial prospective. When I arrived in the west, I realized that U.S. history as understood by Mexican Americans in New Mexico and Native American Indians gave them a completely different perspective on the moral values and decency of the government in Washington D.C. Kenneth Pollack, in his book “The Persian Puzzle” about modern Iran states that “Iranians can remember exactly why they should hate the U.S. for prior slights, both real and perceived. Americans, on the other hand, are serial amnesiacs. We know that we should hate someone, we just can’t remember why”. Perhaps this is because, as my son said after his return from a tour of duty with the Air Force in Aviano, Italy – “Dad, I realized that American history is an oxymoron.” Other cultures and countries have much more history and much longer memories. The Serbian-Kosovo conflict of the 1990’s was driven, in many ways by a battle between the Serbs and the Ottomans 600 years ago. Muslims remembered 12th century Christian invasions when George Bush declared a “Crusade” against terrorism after 9/11. Even if we remember history, the challenge is to understand it’s lessons properly. The Israelis remembered their success in driving the PLO out of Lebanon in 1982 and thought that this history applied to the current effort to drive Hezbollah out of Lebanon. They neglected to consider that in 1982 that they had the support of Shias in southern Lebanon who had been oppressed and tormented by the Palestinians. Hezbollah, supported and embedded in Shia culture, is a much different enemy and, thus, the current disastrous conflict. Our challenge, therefore, is to not only remember history, but to understand its lessons in a way that we are not doomed to repeat it even if we remember it.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Who won?
As the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has reached a stalemated cease fire everyone seems to be claiming victory. George Bush, Ehud Olmert, Hassan Nasrallah and Prime Minister Ahmadinejad of Iran have all announced that their side has emerged victorious in the military conflict. It seems to me that there can be no victors in a conflict where over 1000 innocent civilians have perished to reestablish in the words of Condi Rice the “status quo ante”. You might be able to argue that Hezbollah won because they didn’t lose and Israel lost because they didn’t win, but that is a pretty pyrrhic victory. It is, however, pretty clear who is winning the political battle. Hezbollah and Iran have emerged as the clear victors on the political front. While the west has dithered and the Lebanese government has talked, Hezbollah, with a blank check from Iran, is moving rapidly and efficiently to compensate people who have lost their homes to the Israeli bombardment with bundles of cash and promises to rebuild their homes. (Perhaps we should hire them to help with the response to the next major hurricane.) Hezbollah, Iran and the Syrians have established themselves as major players in the post conflict Middle East. Israel’s stated objective in the war was eliminate Hezbollah south of the Litna river and to destroy their arsenal and to prevent their rearming by Syria – mission impossible. Trying to drive Hezbollah out will not succeed has long as Lebanese Shia come back. It is like New York trying to drive Republicans out of Idaho. As soon as the people come back the Republicans come back. Hezbollah’s fighters are primarily reservists who keep their weapons in their closet and under their beds. When they are needed, they pick up their weapons and go fight. (To see an interview with one of these guys click here.) The long porous border between Syria and Lebanon makes any attempt to prevent rearmament a hopeless cause. The only way to accomplish the objectives is to talk to Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. Although the peace oriented left in Israel has lost its voice, (much as it has in the U.S.) the realists on the Israeli political scene are beginning to examine the concept of negotiations with Syria and Iran. Amir Peretz, the Israeli Defense Minister, has called for negotiations with Syria. (He was immediately attacked by members of his own party.) Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has appointed a “project manager” for possible negotiations with Syria. There certainly are those in Israel who are clamoring for another war with Lebanon and the current Israeli government will probably be short lived, but one hopes that reason will prevail. (To see the hawk point of view click here) Any negotiations with Syria will bring the Golan Heights into play. The Golan Heights is the strategic high ground in the Galilee. It is understandable why Israel would only agree to relinquish it as part of a firm peace agreement with Syria. Not a bad outcome. Peace agreements with Jordan and Israel have remained stable for a number of years. They may not like each other, but they live alongside each other. Condi Rice said that this conflict is “the birth pangs of a new Middle East”. It might not be the new Middle East that she envisioned and the birth did not need to be as painful, but she may have been right for the wrong reasons.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Message from the Galilee
I recently received a communication from my friend Abuna Elias Chacour, Bishop of the Melkite Catholic Church in the Middle East. I have been concerned about him and his community as his school and offices are in Ibillin in the northern Galilee, an area that has seen a great many rocket attacks during the current conflict. His letter provides a wonderful perspective on peace at a time when everyone else is talking about war. It is too bad that the governmental leaders involved don't have this prospective. As Abba Eban, former Israeli diplomat once said "People and governments usually do the wise thing, after they have exhausted all other possibilities"
Dear Beloved Friends,
We used to write newsletters about hope and development but this time the circumstances have changed drastically. We used to think that Galilee was very safe, even the safest in the Middle East. This is true with regards to the past. Presently for the past ten days we have the experience that we live and survive. It is because of mere luck nobody is any more safe from the rockets which rain everyday on the city of Haifa, they also fell in Nazareth, Akko, Nahariyah and almost all the cities, villages and settlements in the Galilee region. These rockets fall indiscriminately on anyone who happens to be at the place of their falling. Exactly as on the other side in Lebanon, no one is protected.
We find ourselves between the fires of hatred on both sides: the occupation and resistance. Both use the languages of hate and revenge and uncontrolled threats. They use the language of total destruction of the enemy. The result is the systematic destruction of the civil infrastructure of Lebanon with thousands of people sacrificed in an absurd way. On the other side equally absurd but a smaller destruction inside Israel and destabilization of everything in the country, add to that the tragedy and free hand to destroy whatever exists in Gaza and the West Bank. It is billions of dollars that have been wasted on the altar of war, pride and arrogance. All sides are angry, all sides are bitter, every side has its own claims, everyone is repeating with modern dimension the first crime we witness in the Bible. One brother was angry. He called his brother outside the house and killed him thinking that his anger will be eased. What happened is that the earth saturated with Abel's blood was crying to God for vengeance while God was asking, "Where is your brother? What have you done to your brother?" The same answer comes out, a denial of responsibility. At the same time a justification of the violence of killing. Today the same situation in their anger the political leaders fearing for their pride, bring out their armies and the machines of destruction, started this time also in Galilee. No one is sheltered; the first rocket fell short 200 meters away from where I was while traveling to Haifa.
Our message to you is a distressed one. Many lives have been lost, many properties destroyed, and many hopes shattered. Again, the Arab community in Galilee, and very specially the Christian community on the border with Lebanon, finds itself with no jobs, no livelihood and no shelter, unlike the neighboring Jewish settlements. Many among our community members were directly hit. Mainly in the villages of: Jish, Rama, Eilaboun, Fasuta, Miilya and Tarsheeha. Besides the several rockets that hit the heart of Nazareth and Haifa not to exclude Ibillin. Thanks be to God, that the students are at home on their summer holidays.
The reason for this conflagration is the conflict between the Lebanese resistant movement, the Hezbollah, and the Israeli government. Israel withdrew from South Lebanon keeping a piece of territory pretended by Israel, being Syrian territory but for Lebanon and Syria it is Lebanese territory. One more reason is the hundreds of Lebanese prisoners inside the Israeli jails. No way to get them free. Hezbollah kidnapped three Israeli soldiers hoping to negotiate and exchange of prisoners but the pride of Israel on one side and the stereotyped image of Hezbollah as being a terrorist movement, blinded the authorities from negotiating. Some say there was a pre-set agenda to find an excuse to invade Lebanon and destroy all the Hezbollah people. It appears that the Israelis were badly informed and the Hezbollah is stronger than what they thought and it enjoys the sympathy of the major part of the Lebanese population and the Arab Moslems who they have trained in guerrilla warfare and it seems that Israel has been humiliated since its creation. Instead of negotiating they used all the weapons they received from oversees to destroy and create havoc in Lebanon. The outcome is contrary to what they expected. The Lebanese population is more determined to help the resistance, the re-destruction of Beirut is a stronger rebirth of violence. Would it not have been better than an instantaneous reaction to wait some time, negotiate the liberation of the Israeli soldiers and save the population on both sides from that immense trouble and widespread destruction, and from the overwhelming fear and the immense economic waste?
We have now more reasons as Christians to voice out loud our mind and call for moderation and appeal to all sides to give up weapons and start negotiating. We feel it is our prime responsibility to get away from the pre-historic attitude and from awkward beliefs, "Tooth for tooth and eye for eye." In fact no one has anymore teeth to exchange or eyes to offer, we have no more teeth. We are blinded because we got deaf from the noise of explosions on both sides. No one hears anymore the whispers of children, frightened, scared to death before they are massacred!
Indeed we are not afraid for our lives, because sooner or later our lives will come to an end. We are rather concerned for our children and grandchildren who deserve life whether they are Jewish, Palestinians or Lebanese. Would they come to terms with military opinions and practice God's commandments or, God forbid, will they implement the Roman saying: "Man to Man is a Wolf". This is not what Christ lived for and taught his disciples. This is not what he believed and this is far from what he invited us to do, " Love your enemy, bless those who curse you and do not return evil for evil but good for evil.”
Allow me to thank you for your concern, your prayers and those who send us some money to help affected families. Your friendship makes a difference in our life and you continue giving us hope that there is so much goodness in human beings. Please keep in touch and be sure we shall be representing you in the building of justice and integrity with the hope to obtain peace and security for all sides here in the Middle East.
Be assured bombs shall stop, jet fighters shall be crippled. Children shall be able to play once again on the streets of our villages; they shall go to school to learn that "Together and only together they are stronger than the storm".
Yours sincerely with tears and hope,
Abuna Elias Chacour† Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee
President
Mar Elias Educational Institutions
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Acting like children
As I look at the ongoing 50 year conflict in the Middle East I can’t help but feel that the players are acting like a bunch of children. The “he hit me first” rhetoric that we hear so often reminds me of what I heard from my own children as they went through the sibling rivalry phase, but it didn’t take them fifty years to get over it. (fortunately) I am also, however, reminded that in one of my favorite bible verses in the Gospel known to the church as Mark, the Gospel writer has Jesus say “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall not enter it”. For me the writer is saying unless we have the open, accepting attitude of a little child we will not find the kingdom in our lives. In the words of the musical South Pacific “you have to be 
taught to hate and to fear”. That is why I was disturbed to see this picture of Israeli school children writing messages on artillery shells before they were fired into Lebanon which appeared last week in the Israeli English language paper Haaretz. This picture, along with many other graphic pictures from the conflict, has flashed around the Arab world on the internet. (If you are interested in what the Arab world is seeing, click here. Be aware that this is not the sanitized version of war that we get in U.S. on CNN and MSNBC. Parental guidance suggested.) The subject of the impact of this seemingly endless conflict on children was explored by the James Miller documentary Death in Gaza. We only see the Palestinian side as Miller was killed by Israeli soldiers before he could go to Israel to film the Israeli side of the conflict. In the film two young boys show how to make hand grenades from a cocktail of household chemicals and Coca Cola cans. They describe in detail how they had to score the can with a drill so that the explosion will create shrapnel which will be more effective in killing and maiming the targets. Another documentary film on the conflict, Jenin Jenin, describes the Israeli invasion of Jenin during the second intifada. In the film we meet a young girl, probably not much older than twelve, who is very attractive, very bright, very articulate and very angry. I remember thinking as I watched the film that the Israelis should probably be very afraid of her. These are the children who will grow up to be leaders of their societies. In the words of the Hebrew prophet Isaiah “a little child shall lead them”. The question is, where will they lead?.
Israel
Palestine
Middle East
taught to hate and to fear”. That is why I was disturbed to see this picture of Israeli school children writing messages on artillery shells before they were fired into Lebanon which appeared last week in the Israeli English language paper Haaretz. This picture, along with many other graphic pictures from the conflict, has flashed around the Arab world on the internet. (If you are interested in what the Arab world is seeing, click here. Be aware that this is not the sanitized version of war that we get in U.S. on CNN and MSNBC. Parental guidance suggested.) The subject of the impact of this seemingly endless conflict on children was explored by the James Miller documentary Death in Gaza. We only see the Palestinian side as Miller was killed by Israeli soldiers before he could go to Israel to film the Israeli side of the conflict. In the film two young boys show how to make hand grenades from a cocktail of household chemicals and Coca Cola cans. They describe in detail how they had to score the can with a drill so that the explosion will create shrapnel which will be more effective in killing and maiming the targets. Another documentary film on the conflict, Jenin Jenin, describes the Israeli invasion of Jenin during the second intifada. In the film we meet a young girl, probably not much older than twelve, who is very attractive, very bright, very articulate and very angry. I remember thinking as I watched the film that the Israelis should probably be very afraid of her. These are the children who will grow up to be leaders of their societies. In the words of the Hebrew prophet Isaiah “a little child shall lead them”. The question is, where will they lead?.Israel
Palestine
Middle East
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Whose war is this?
Today the New York Times reported that the U.S. is rushing shipments of missiles to Israel to support the aerial attack on Lebanon. (Evidently the Israelis are running short) As I read this article it occurred to me that one way to understand this conflict is as a proxy war between the U.S. and Iran. The U.S arms and finances the Jews and Iran arms and finances the Muslims. That way only the Israelis and Lebanese get to die and have their infrastructure destroyed while the Americans and Iranians can sit peacefully at home and watch. One wonders why the Israelis and Lebanese don’t say “Wait a minute, if you guys want to have a war, fight it yourselves”. Perhaps they love war so much that they would do it anyway without any help from the U.S. and Iran, but after a while they would be reduced fighting with swords. It could be different looking eye to eye with your enemy rather than dropping bombs or shooting missiles at people that you can not see. They could still kill each other, but they would be a lot less efficient at it. It’s possible that the Israelis may tire of fighting this war. My impression is that the Israelis are a lot like Americans when it comes to war. They are pretty tolerant of casualties on the other side, but a lot less tolerant of their own casualties. There was a large anti war rally in Tel Aviv today led by Israeli Arabs and left wing Jews. The unique thing about this rally was that it was not only anti-war, but also anti-American. The anti-American and anti-Bush slogans were reminiscent of the rallies in Arab capitals. “We will not die, we will not kill in the service of the United States.” (For more on this click here) Maybe the Israelis are beginning to realize that the U.S may not always have their best interests at heart. Is the U.S. saying “Go fight Hezbollah; we’re right behind you all the way”? If the Israelis back out before the “job is done”, maybe the U.S. needs a plan B. The U.S. could arm and finance the Lebanese Christians and Druze to fight Hezbollah. The U.S. has a history of proxy wars in recent years and the results have not been all that good. In the 90’s in Bosnia the U.S. armed the Christians and the Iranians armed and supported the Muslims. The result was that a lot of people died to reach today’s marginal state. In the 80’s the U.S. fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. In that case it was our Afghanis versus your Afghanis and the result was a failed state where only the Taliban, the war lords and Usama Bin Laden were happy. With Iraq at the top of the list of potential failed states in the region, the continued destruction in Lebanon and the possibility of a civil war will make what remains of Lebanon a prime candidate for the list. The only person who will be happy with that state of affairs will be Usama Bin Laden who will take advantage of the chaos to advance his war against the west and modernity.
Israel
Middle East
Israel
Middle East
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
One man’s opinion
I had hoped that I would be able to get by the Middle East and go on to other subjects. We had planned a trip to North Korea which would have provided a treasure trove of topics to explore, but courtesy of DPRK’s changing visa restrictions the trip was canceled. So, back to the Middle East. Several people have asked about my thoughts on the current escalating conflict in the region. With the caveats that it has been three months since I have been on the ground in Israel and the West Bank and so my first hand information is getting stale and nothing that you think about the situation in this region survives the next news cycle, here are some thoughts. When we were in Bethlehem the Italian Franciscan monk who managed the Casa Nova Pilgrimage Center on Manger Square where we stayed, told us that he expected a third intifada (uprising) to begin. He said that we did not need to worry as it would not happen right away, but that the ongoing targeted killings, military incursions and arrests/kidnappings by the Israeli forces were leading even moderate Palestinians to say “enough is enough”. He felt that the objective of the Israelis was to provoke the intifada in order to justify their position that they had no negotiating partner and that they would probably succeed. My own conversations with Palestinians led me to agree with him. The phrase “enough is enough” was pretty common. It was clear that once the intifada began, which it did with increased Qassam rocket attacks and the kidnapping of an Israel soldier, that the Israelis were prepared to strike Gaza with overwhelming force. At the same time they massed their forces on the Lebanese border in the north. It was easy to predict that this would provoke Hezbollah to take action to protect themselves from a preemptive Israeli attack and to accomplish their long stated objective of taking Israeli prisoners to trade for Lebanese prisoners and an accounting of the “disappeared”. Since at that time there were meetings between Hamas and Hezbollah in Damascus, there probably was a component of taking the pressure off of Hamas in Gaza and forcing the Israelis into a two front war. (The enemy of my enemy is my friend) The Israelis were always a little leery of the Lebanese situation given the disastrous consequences of their last invasion. Hezbollah in Lebanon is a different animal from Hamas in Gaza. With 30,000 trained fighters and 15000 rockets, some capable of reaching Tel Aviv, it is a formidable enemy capable of inflicting considerable damage. But war fever has infected Israel, (as one columnist said “We should be grateful to Hezbollah for giving us this window of opportunity to launch an offensive…”) and they struck devastating blows on Lebanese infrastructure and population centers. For awhile it appeared that Israel was also intent on bringing Syria into the conflict. They over flew Syrian territory (What would happen if the Syrians shot down an Israeli plane?) and attacked the Lebanese/Syrian border crossing. (They claimed that they only hit the Lebanese side, but it wasn’t clear that the Syrians would see the distinction.) For a few days I was convinced that we were not far from bringing in the Syrians and thereby their allies the Iranians (They’re not natural allies, but once again the enemy of my enemy is my friend) and that may still happen. If the Bush administration was right in their claims that Saddam Hussein’s WMD were not found because they were transferred to Syria, casualties would rapidly escalate from hundreds to thousands. The comparison that occurred to me was the beginning of WW I. The assassination of one man in an obscure part of Europe (Who knew where Serbia was?) led to the destruction of an entire generation of European men because no leaders had the political courage or will to make the difficult decisions necessary to prevent the conflagration. Everybody thought that it would be a quick easy little war. (As if such a thing exists) Here the kidnapping of one Israeli soldier could end up involving the whole region and the U.S. in a major conflict for the same reasons. This morning, however, it appears that some sanity may be returning. The Israelis, after initially rejecting the proposal by Britain and Russia for an international force in Lebanon because it would restrict their military options, appear to be softening their position. Martin Indyck’s comments appear to indicate that AIPAC will give the U.S. permission to support the force. The kicker will be that Hezbollah will have to be part of the solution and nobody wants to talk with them. The Syrians and Iranians will have to play and they have their own agendas. Can the U.S./Israel get by this problem? If the international force works and succeeds it may have long term positive results. (Optimist) It might spread to the West Bank and Gaza and give Palestinian fighters the space to disarm and then Israel would no longer have an excuse not to negotiate. (Israel’s worst nightmare) Nevertheless, hope springs eternal, until the next news cycle.
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Rethinking the war on terror
During our recent trip to New York City with our grandchildren, we visited some of the usual tourist attractions. Our eight year old granddaughter had advised us that it was her dream to visit the Statue of Liberty, so the Circle Line ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands was on the schedule. It also seemed to be on everybody else’s schedule as well as the lines snaked all the way through Battery Park. One of the reasons for the long lines was the extraordinarily tight security that was in place. The very sensitive metal detectors and searches that took place were even more stringent than those at most airports and required an enormous number of security personnel to accomplish. (Perhaps this was all necessary as some terrorist might want to fly the ferry into a building) If Usama Bin Laden and his people can see the enormous changes that they have brought about in the U.S. and realize the enormous unproductive use of resources that their actions have engendered, they must be very happy. Currently we are spending $720b a year or 25% of the federal budget in defense, security and intelligence. Compare this to the $14.5b we spend on diplomacy and the $64b we spend on education at the federal level. I wonder who is winning the “war on terror” and what is the “war on terror”? Shortly after the events of 9/11, President Bush declared a “global war on terror”. (I thought only Congress could declare war, but I won’t go there.) I thought at the time that this was probably not a useful way of framing the issue. He probably should have declared war on Al Quaida as terror is not an enemy, but a tactic used by politically motivated groups to achieve their objectives. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King – violence is the voice of the voiceless. When we lump ETA (the Basque separatist group), the IRA, Hamas, and Al Quaida together as terrorists, we miss their differing agendas and try to impose a one size fits all solution. Why do we do it? Well, the military-industrial complex likes it because it is a war you can never lose, but also a war you can never win. As long as we are engaged in a never ending “war on terror” we can justify huge defense expenditures and massive weapons procurement programs. Comparisons are often made between the situation in Iraq and the Vietnam War. I am not sure that comparison works, but it may work with the “war on terror”. It is a war for which we have no defined strategic objective; we don’t even know who the enemy is. We are reduced to defining progress in terms of body counts and terror cells broken up. Usama Bin Laden, on the other hand, does have a strategic objective. He wants to return to the Islamic Caliphate that existed prior to WW I. He will use whatever tactics he thinks will be effective in achieving that strategic objective, including terror. For that reason he may well win. The guy with the biggest gun doesn’t always win in an asymmetrical war. (For more than you wanted to know on this subject from people who are much smarter than I am click here)
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
The absurd and the tragic
So much of what is happening in the Middle East is so absurd that if it were not so tragic it would be funny. One thing that amazed me as we traveled through the West Bank was the dark sense of humor that our Palestinian friends have maintained through all of their tragedy. Maybe humor is the way out of this impasse. Do we need to laugh at what is going on? Some seem to be able to do that. When the Israeli Defense Forces bulldozed two toilets that had been built for homeless Palestinians by American relief agencies, I couldn’t understand the military importance of this venture. However, a Palestinian blogger opined that perhaps the reason for the destruction was that the noises coming from the toilets sounded like bombs going off. Recently the Israeli Air Force bombed an electrical power plant in Gaza. The military significance of this adventure was also not clear to me as all it did was make life miserable for 1.4 mm Palestinians in the sweltering Middle East summer. In this land of the absurd it has come to light that the plant was owned by a U.S. company and was insured by an agency of the U.S. government. (If you think that this is too absurd to be true, click here) So it appears that Americans will pay to build the plant, pay to blow it up, and then pay to rebuild it. At the risk of repeating myself, isn’t there a better way to waste taxpayer money? I am really trying to see the humor in all this. As one of my friends pointed out that rather than get angry, a better way to change our government’s policies is just to laugh at them and make them the butt of our jokes. Ha ha ha.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
American Girl - A marketing case study
I recently visited New York City (The Big Apple) with my grandchildren and their mother. One of the “adventures” on the schedule was a visit to American Girl Place, a Mecca for young girls ages 5 to 12. To me this store on Park Avenue is the epitome of great marketing. In the best Harvard Business School tradition, American Girl has identified the “decision making unit”, young girls, their mothers and grandmothers, ( It is not clear to me who the decision maker is) and has tailored a product and marketing message to each of them. For the girls are the dolls with matching clothes for the girls; for the mothers and grandmothers are the educational books and multicultural components. The fact that there is no sports bar for bored old grandfathers probably says something about our role in the process. This program certainly seems to be a marketing success. As our eight year old grand daughter said “Grandma, I think every girl in NYC will own an American Girl doll”. This may be a bit of a stretch as the dolls are $100 and it’s hard to get out without $100 of accessories. She may, nonetheless, be correct as it seemed as though every other girl on the street was carrying an American Girl doll. As I thought about the success of this marketing program, I was motivated to compare it to the effort of the US government to market our foreign policy in other parts of the world. We have budgeted $600 mm per year and assigned Karen Hughes, one of President Bush’s most trusted advisors to implement a public diplomacy initiative. Our government seems to have realized that encouraging democracy in countries where a large majority of the population does not like US policies is likely to result in the election of a government that is opposed to the US. We have seen the beginnings of this in the election of Hamas in the Palestinian Territories and the strong showing by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The US government, however, seems to have missed the most important part of an effective marketing program: developing a product that meets the needs and desires of the targeted customers. I don’t think that we can sell unconditional support for Israel and their policies and actions to the “Arab street”. Palestinians who have lived under occupation for 40 years will probably not buy an invasion and occupation of Iraq. Emerging democracies will not like a country who says that it supports democracy, but then tries to overthrow elected governments that it does not like (Consider Palestine and Venezuela). As a recent panel at the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School on U.S. Public Public Diplomacy toward The Arab-Muslim World concluded - "It's the policy stupid". I am not sure this $600mm is well spent. If you build a product that nobody wants, the best marketing program in the world will not sell it. As an Israeli blogger said in discussing the destruction by the Israeli army of toilets built by American Christian groups for Palestinians whose homes had been demolished: “Isn’t there a better way to waste taxpayer money?”.
Current Affairs
Current Affairs
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
A place of hope
Marcia recently wrote a piece for a book of essays on the lives of everyday Palestinians being compiled by a writer in the US to tell their story. I thought I would share her thoughts with you.
My husband and I have recently returned from the Middle East, more specifically the West Bank, the Galilee and Jordan. Although we have been to Jordan several times, this was our first experience in Israel and Palestine. To say that we were shocked and bewildered by what we saw is an understatement. The wall defies description and the military presence everywhere was disconcerting.
We were part of a small group of Christians from Colorado and Idaho. We spent four days on the West Bank as guests of the Wi’am Center, a Palestinian center for conflict resolution. We toured Hebron and Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We heard stories from our Palestinian hosts, a spokesperson for the Jewish settlement in Hebron, drivers, shopkeepers, Franciscans tending the holy sites and many, many others.
The person and place that for me exemplifies the dignity, love, resistance, perseverance and hope of the Palestinians is Pastor Mitri Raheb and Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. We met with him late in the afternoon after what was clearly a busy day for him. I have never heard anyone speak with more focus about mission. He is inspirational. He is a third generation Lutheran Palestinian trained in Germany, but totally committed to his people. He grew up in this church and it is glorious. He is clearly a successful fund-raiser. There is an art center, a school which serves Muslims and Christians, an art and music program, a health clinic, a guest house, a convention center and so much more. There are also bullet holes from the 2002 siege when Israeli tanks shelled the compound.
Bethlehem was under siege and then under curfew for four months in 2002. Curfews are still imposed at times today. “The Israelis intend to make this the largest outdoor prison in the world”, he says and “we intend to make it the best prison in the world…It is a place of hope in a hopeless situation.”
To do this, they are bringing beauty through the arts and music, economic skills and voicing a new, relevant theology to the Palestinians who are living in Bethlehem. He believes in proclaiming the power of the risen Lord, not crying or whining. “In Bethlehem where the word was made flesh, we need to put faith into action.” I purchased stained glass angels “resurrected” from windows that were shot out in 2002. A class recently graduated after two years of training to be tour guides in the holy land. They had remarkable by success taking the tour guide exam and now will be able to lead an “alternative tour” of the Holy Land, telling the Palestinian as well as the Israeli story. A nature park for picnics is being planned to encourage family outings. We saw art created by children. The most memorable for me was a picture of Santa not being able to get through a check point to bring Christmas presents to the children of Bethlehem. Their wellness center reached 10,000 people last year in a place devastated by high blood pressure, diabetes and depression caused by living under military occupation. Senior citizens are being cared for. Many are alone in Bethlehem because their children have emigrated to other places. Only 1.7 % of the population is Christian today in the land where Jesus walked and preached.
The school curriculum emphasizes the 5 “C’s”. Christian values, Critical thinking, Creativity, Communication, and Commitment to this community. They don’t teach a clash of civilizations. The idea of salvation by grace alone is important in a place where people think that how they dress, and what they eat and don’t drink will bring salvation. 58% of the pupils in the school are Muslims whose families also embrace these values.
In all of the conversations with Palestinians, I heard only a wish for peace- a desire to live just as normal teenagers, newly weds, parents, and grandparents live in unoccupied countries. I was in awe of their courage to begin new marriages and to raise children in the midst of the current situation. I did not hear a desire for retribution, or anger – only sadness, a wish to be treated as full citizens and a desire for change and a belief that things will, have to, get better.
Mitri quotes Martin Luther. “Even if I knew the world was ending tomorrow, I would go plant an apple tree today.” He said, “We plant olive trees. We need to take each day as a gift and plan as if the brightest future is yet to come”. In his book Bethlehem Besieged, he writes, “But if we plant an olive tree today, there will be shade for the children to play in, there will be oil to heal the wounds, and there will be branches to wave when peace arrives.”
He asked for our prayers and thanked us for coming. He told us that 98% of tourists who come to Israel do not come to the West Bank. Before the second intifada, a group or two a day would visit Christmas Lutheran Church. They are now fortunate if they have one group a month. As we walked back to Casa Nova on Manger Square from his church, an Apache helicopter flew overhead and reminded us what a tentative hold the Palestinians have on the land, their country, even their lives, on the West Bank. Apache helicopters are used for targeted killings of suspected enemies of Israel.
Because of Pastor Raheb, we left the West Bank with a mustard seed of hope after being depressed by all we saw and experienced there.
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
My husband and I have recently returned from the Middle East, more specifically the West Bank, the Galilee and Jordan. Although we have been to Jordan several times, this was our first experience in Israel and Palestine. To say that we were shocked and bewildered by what we saw is an understatement. The wall defies description and the military presence everywhere was disconcerting.
We were part of a small group of Christians from Colorado and Idaho. We spent four days on the West Bank as guests of the Wi’am Center, a Palestinian center for conflict resolution. We toured Hebron and Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We heard stories from our Palestinian hosts, a spokesperson for the Jewish settlement in Hebron, drivers, shopkeepers, Franciscans tending the holy sites and many, many others.
The person and place that for me exemplifies the dignity, love, resistance, perseverance and hope of the Palestinians is Pastor Mitri Raheb and Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. We met with him late in the afternoon after what was clearly a busy day for him. I have never heard anyone speak with more focus about mission. He is inspirational. He is a third generation Lutheran Palestinian trained in Germany, but totally committed to his people. He grew up in this church and it is glorious. He is clearly a successful fund-raiser. There is an art center, a school which serves Muslims and Christians, an art and music program, a health clinic, a guest house, a convention center and so much more. There are also bullet holes from the 2002 siege when Israeli tanks shelled the compound.
Bethlehem was under siege and then under curfew for four months in 2002. Curfews are still imposed at times today. “The Israelis intend to make this the largest outdoor prison in the world”, he says and “we intend to make it the best prison in the world…It is a place of hope in a hopeless situation.”
To do this, they are bringing beauty through the arts and music, economic skills and voicing a new, relevant theology to the Palestinians who are living in Bethlehem. He believes in proclaiming the power of the risen Lord, not crying or whining. “In Bethlehem where the word was made flesh, we need to put faith into action.” I purchased stained glass angels “resurrected” from windows that were shot out in 2002. A class recently graduated after two years of training to be tour guides in the holy land. They had remarkable by success taking the tour guide exam and now will be able to lead an “alternative tour” of the Holy Land, telling the Palestinian as well as the Israeli story. A nature park for picnics is being planned to encourage family outings. We saw art created by children. The most memorable for me was a picture of Santa not being able to get through a check point to bring Christmas presents to the children of Bethlehem. Their wellness center reached 10,000 people last year in a place devastated by high blood pressure, diabetes and depression caused by living under military occupation. Senior citizens are being cared for. Many are alone in Bethlehem because their children have emigrated to other places. Only 1.7 % of the population is Christian today in the land where Jesus walked and preached.
The school curriculum emphasizes the 5 “C’s”. Christian values, Critical thinking, Creativity, Communication, and Commitment to this community. They don’t teach a clash of civilizations. The idea of salvation by grace alone is important in a place where people think that how they dress, and what they eat and don’t drink will bring salvation. 58% of the pupils in the school are Muslims whose families also embrace these values.
In all of the conversations with Palestinians, I heard only a wish for peace- a desire to live just as normal teenagers, newly weds, parents, and grandparents live in unoccupied countries. I was in awe of their courage to begin new marriages and to raise children in the midst of the current situation. I did not hear a desire for retribution, or anger – only sadness, a wish to be treated as full citizens and a desire for change and a belief that things will, have to, get better.
Mitri quotes Martin Luther. “Even if I knew the world was ending tomorrow, I would go plant an apple tree today.” He said, “We plant olive trees. We need to take each day as a gift and plan as if the brightest future is yet to come”. In his book Bethlehem Besieged, he writes, “But if we plant an olive tree today, there will be shade for the children to play in, there will be oil to heal the wounds, and there will be branches to wave when peace arrives.”
He asked for our prayers and thanked us for coming. He told us that 98% of tourists who come to Israel do not come to the West Bank. Before the second intifada, a group or two a day would visit Christmas Lutheran Church. They are now fortunate if they have one group a month. As we walked back to Casa Nova on Manger Square from his church, an Apache helicopter flew overhead and reminded us what a tentative hold the Palestinians have on the land, their country, even their lives, on the West Bank. Apache helicopters are used for targeted killings of suspected enemies of Israel.
Because of Pastor Raheb, we left the West Bank with a mustard seed of hope after being depressed by all we saw and experienced there.
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
Thursday, June 15, 2006
A completely absurd idea - Part 3 What now?
In January Father (now Bishop) Elias Chacour, an Israeli, Palestinian, Melkite Catholic priest spoke at St Thomas Episcopal church in Sun Valley. Because the local Jewish community was upset over this presentation and therefore there was controversy surrounding it, the place was packed. The rabbi asked Father Chacour if he supported the “two state” solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Father Chacour answered, “I used to think that the two state solution was the best solution, now I am not so sure”. Reluctantly, this is the conclusion that I have also reached. I have grown to realize that 1.The Oslo peace process is dead (if it were ever alive), 2. Any “two state solution” that has borders acceptable to Palestinians is not politically feasible for the Israelis and 3. The “Quartet Road Map” lays out a road to nowhere. If this is the case, why are all western and some Arab governments insisting that Hamas accept the “two state solution”? I have no idea. A different “completely absurd” idea is beginning to surface among intellectuals, such as Edward Said, concerned with this issue. It is not a new idea, but rather a reinvigoration of an old idea originally supported by the PLO before the Oslo Accords and before the US and Israel helped to create Hamas to counter the PLO. (If you think that this is ridiculous, click here) The absurd idea is that the solution requires a single secular state in Palestine where Jews, Christians and Muslims live alongside one another as they have for centuries. A number of people have weighed in on this. The best and most thoughtful of these that I have found is “Alternative Palestinian Agenda” created by a University of Wisconsin graduate student. The idea may make sense to intellectuals in their ivory towers, but is it possible in the real world? I don’t know. I have given up making predictions in this part of the world. They never seem to survive the next news cycle. A number of different factions will oppose the idea. Many Jews will oppose it because it will require abandoning the Zionist concept of a Jewish state. Hamas and other Islamist groups will oppose it because they will have to give up the idea of an Islamic state. (Itzak Rabin once said “If the conflict is ever theologized, there never will be peace. For, to theological conflict, there are no compromises and therefore no solutions”.) Some will say that, after 40 years of occupation, the animosities are so deep that people of this land cannot live peacefully along side each other. (While traveling on the West Bank Zoughbi, our Palestinian leader, did, however, point out a great example of Palestinian-Israeli cooperation. It was a Palestinian automobile “chop shop”. The Israeli Russian Mafia steals the cars in Israel and brings them to the West Bank where the Palestinians cut them up. The completion of the wall will probably be bad for business.) The Palestinian “militants” will probably oppose it as it will require them to lay down their arms and seek a peaceful solution. This might be possible if the arms were surrendered to a UN peace keeping force, but it is unlikely that the Israelis would allow this. But to paraphrase Karl Marx: “Palestinians of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains”. Even if it is possible, how do we get there? As one who believes in the power of prayer, I would suggest that we need to pray that our Jewish/Israeli and Palestinian brothers and sisters come to their senses before they destroy themselves.
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
A completely absurd idea –Part 2 Reality on the ground
As we noted the last time, Israel in the last 20 years has succeeded in establishing in the territories that it occupied in 1967 facts on the ground which will be very difficult if not impossible to reverse. The current estimate of the cost to evacuate and relocate 40,000 settlers as required to begin the Kadima convergence/disengagement plan is $10b. This bill will be paid by the American taxpayer. By extension the 
cost to evacuate the 400,000 settlers currently on the West Bank will be $100b. (A low estimate as the other settlements are more elaborate and established – See picture) This is probably a number that, even if there were the political will in Israel to accomplish this evacuation, the American taxpayers would not swallow. Another reality for Israel is that, although it is militarily very strong and is supported by the strongest country in the world, it is strategically in a precarious position. It exists in an unstable area and is surrounded by neighbors who are hostile either to its existence or to its behavior. As Tony Judt, professor of history at NYU, points out: “Israel is utterly dependent on the United State for money, arms and diplomatic support. One or two states share common enemies with Israel; a handful of countries buy its weapons; a few others are defacto accomplices in ignoring international treaties and secretly manufacturing nuclear weapons. But outside Washington it has no friends – at the United Nations it cannot even count on the support of America’s staunchest allies.” International law is pretty clear that the Palestinians have a legal right to resist the occupation of their land. We have seen numerous examples of resistance, even violent resistance, to occupation in recent history – the French resistance to Nazi occupation, Chinese and Korean resistance to Japanese occupation. The issue, therefore, is not do the Palestinians have the right to resist, but what form should it take. There is much truth to the statement that the Palestinians have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Despite the fact that they are militarily weak, but diplomatically strong relative to their enemies, they have heretofore always opted for violent military resistance. Even though Palestinian leaders can claim that their violent resistance has forced Israel out of Lebanon and Gaza and forced Israel to abandon its strategic vision of a “greater Israel”, it has not succeeded in improving the lives of average Palestinians. Zionists will claim that there was a lot of vacant land in Palestine when Israel was founded. (A land with no people for a people with no land.), but a trip through this part of the world will make it clear that there is not a lot of unpopulated land. (Except maybe some pretty forbidding desert) There is one piece of land that seems to me to be completely unpopulated and that is the moral high ground. NY Times columnist Tom Friedman pointed out in his book From Beirut to Jerusalem that because of its brutal reaction to the first Palestinian intifada (uprising), Israel has forfeited the moral high ground. The question, therefore, is “Will the Palestinians seize this vacant piece of land, the moral high ground, and if so how?”. Some thoughts next time.
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
cost to evacuate the 400,000 settlers currently on the West Bank will be $100b. (A low estimate as the other settlements are more elaborate and established – See picture) This is probably a number that, even if there were the political will in Israel to accomplish this evacuation, the American taxpayers would not swallow. Another reality for Israel is that, although it is militarily very strong and is supported by the strongest country in the world, it is strategically in a precarious position. It exists in an unstable area and is surrounded by neighbors who are hostile either to its existence or to its behavior. As Tony Judt, professor of history at NYU, points out: “Israel is utterly dependent on the United State for money, arms and diplomatic support. One or two states share common enemies with Israel; a handful of countries buy its weapons; a few others are defacto accomplices in ignoring international treaties and secretly manufacturing nuclear weapons. But outside Washington it has no friends – at the United Nations it cannot even count on the support of America’s staunchest allies.” International law is pretty clear that the Palestinians have a legal right to resist the occupation of their land. We have seen numerous examples of resistance, even violent resistance, to occupation in recent history – the French resistance to Nazi occupation, Chinese and Korean resistance to Japanese occupation. The issue, therefore, is not do the Palestinians have the right to resist, but what form should it take. There is much truth to the statement that the Palestinians have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Despite the fact that they are militarily weak, but diplomatically strong relative to their enemies, they have heretofore always opted for violent military resistance. Even though Palestinian leaders can claim that their violent resistance has forced Israel out of Lebanon and Gaza and forced Israel to abandon its strategic vision of a “greater Israel”, it has not succeeded in improving the lives of average Palestinians. Zionists will claim that there was a lot of vacant land in Palestine when Israel was founded. (A land with no people for a people with no land.), but a trip through this part of the world will make it clear that there is not a lot of unpopulated land. (Except maybe some pretty forbidding desert) There is one piece of land that seems to me to be completely unpopulated and that is the moral high ground. NY Times columnist Tom Friedman pointed out in his book From Beirut to Jerusalem that because of its brutal reaction to the first Palestinian intifada (uprising), Israel has forfeited the moral high ground. The question, therefore, is “Will the Palestinians seize this vacant piece of land, the moral high ground, and if so how?”. Some thoughts next time.Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
A completely absurd proposal-Part 1 Where are we now?
One of the reasons that I began writing these essays was to force myself to be more coherent and consistent in my thinking about complex issues. Some might argue that this is an entirely hopeless endeavor, but I will continue to struggle along. This piece and the two that will follow are therefore mostly for me as I try to answer two of the questions that have frequently been posed to me since I have returned from Israel/Palestine. Do you think any solution is possible? What do you think should happen? Most will probably say enough, enough. Only Middle East junkies, who, unfortunately, I think I have become, will want to get through all the complexity. If you decide to leave here, thanks for listening to my rambles. See you in a few weeks. Back to the questions- My off the cuff, flippant answer was been: “The US needs to get the hell out”. But these are valid questions and they deserve more consideration. Lets start by looking at where we are now. People say that we need to return to the “peace process”. What “peace process”? In the thirteen years since the Oslo agreements in which Yassar Arafat gave up his strategic vision of a single secular state in return for a 
bunch of promises (none of them lived up to) and invitations to state dinners all over the world (I hope that the food and wine were good), the situation has continuously deteriorated. Neither side has lived up to its commitments and the proposed Palestinian state has been carved up into separate enclaves bounded by fences/walls, bypass roads and military reserves with no open borders and little internal communication and access. The Israeli governments of Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon have, since 1993, attempted to establish irreversible facts on the ground in the form of settlements and annexations. They have succeeded. There are now approximately 400,000 settlers east of the 1967 armistice line who would have to be evacuated in order to return to these borders. The evacuation scenario of 8000 settlers in Gaza last year gives one some sense of what this would look like. When we asked if evacuating the settlement in Hebron would create an Israeli civil war, the spokesperson said “I wouldn’t call it probable, but I would call it possible.” This scenario is not politically feasible for the Israelis. The Sharon/Ohmert convergence/disengagement plan “only” requires that 50 – 100 settlements be dismantled and 50-100,000 settlers be expelled from their homes. Even this plan has a lot of opposition in Israel. (Click here to see how much) The disengagement plan (see the map) creates untenable borders for the “Palestinian state” and will never be accepted by any Palestinian government be it Hamas, Fatah or a reincarnation of Yassar Arafat. Can the US help resolve this seemingly irresolvable situation? Simple answer- No! The US has no role as an 
effective mediator. A mediator needs to be unbiased, willing to listen to the interests of both sides without judgment and find the common ground. With over 50 years of uncritical support for one side of the conflict, the US cannot be seen by Palestinians as unbiased. At Camp David, Palestinian negotiators dealing with Ehud Barak, Bill Clinton and AIPAC staffers Dennis Ross and Martin Indyck felt like they were negotiating with both Israel and the US. (They were probably right) That leaves us with question – Where do we go from here? Easy answer – beats me, but let’s look at this next time.
Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
bunch of promises (none of them lived up to) and invitations to state dinners all over the world (I hope that the food and wine were good), the situation has continuously deteriorated. Neither side has lived up to its commitments and the proposed Palestinian state has been carved up into separate enclaves bounded by fences/walls, bypass roads and military reserves with no open borders and little internal communication and access. The Israeli governments of Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon have, since 1993, attempted to establish irreversible facts on the ground in the form of settlements and annexations. They have succeeded. There are now approximately 400,000 settlers east of the 1967 armistice line who would have to be evacuated in order to return to these borders. The evacuation scenario of 8000 settlers in Gaza last year gives one some sense of what this would look like. When we asked if evacuating the settlement in Hebron would create an Israeli civil war, the spokesperson said “I wouldn’t call it probable, but I would call it possible.” This scenario is not politically feasible for the Israelis. The Sharon/Ohmert convergence/disengagement plan “only” requires that 50 – 100 settlements be dismantled and 50-100,000 settlers be expelled from their homes. Even this plan has a lot of opposition in Israel. (Click here to see how much) The disengagement plan (see the map) creates untenable borders for the “Palestinian state” and will never be accepted by any Palestinian government be it Hamas, Fatah or a reincarnation of Yassar Arafat. Can the US help resolve this seemingly irresolvable situation? Simple answer- No! The US has no role as an 
effective mediator. A mediator needs to be unbiased, willing to listen to the interests of both sides without judgment and find the common ground. With over 50 years of uncritical support for one side of the conflict, the US cannot be seen by Palestinians as unbiased. At Camp David, Palestinian negotiators dealing with Ehud Barak, Bill Clinton and AIPAC staffers Dennis Ross and Martin Indyck felt like they were negotiating with both Israel and the US. (They were probably right) That leaves us with question – Where do we go from here? Easy answer – beats me, but let’s look at this next time.Israel
Palestine
Current Affairs
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The Grandmother Effect
During our time on the West Bank of Israel/Palestine, I spent a day in the West Bank city of Hebron. Hebron is the site of the traditional tomb of Abraham and is therefore a holy place to all three monotheistic faiths. In many ways Hebron is a microcosm of the conflict in Israel/Palestine. This seems appropriate as this conflict is a conflict within the dysfunctional family of Abraham. It probably would have been better if he had had only one wife. Hebron is in the southern portion of the West Bank 30 minutes or two hours south of Bethlehem (depending on whether you are on the Jewish by-pass road or the Palestinian road). In Hebron there is a Jewish settlement of about 500 settlers (mostly American) in a city of 150,000 Arabs. (mostly Muslim) The settlers here represent the radical religious right of Jewish Israelis. David Wilder (an American from New Jersey), the spokesperson for this settlement, told us that his two state solution was Israel/Palestine for the Jews and Texas for the Palestinians. (I am not sure that he has consulted with George Bush on this.) Because the settlement is east, from an Israeli perspective “outside”, of the separation barrier/wall, the settlers are guarded by 2000 Israeli soldiers and security personnel. The result of this situation is a very unstable and sometimes violent relationship between the two populations. For this reason an organization called “Christian Peacemaker Teams” (CPT) has sent a group to monitor the situation and “get in the way of violence”. They call this “the grandmother effect”. There are some things that you won’t do when your grandmother is watching. (I think that our grandchildren could relate to this.) One of the things that they do is walk the Palestinian children to school in order to keep them from being hassled by the settlers
or the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) at the checkpoints.John Lynes, a lawyer and a grandfather from the UK, told a story of needing to go to the market in order to prepare dinner. In order to get there, he had to pass down a street where the IDF and Palestinian “militants” were fighting each other. When they saw him, they stopped fighting and allowed him to pass. By the time he returned from the market, they were fighting again. Once again they stopped fighting and allowed him to pass only to resume when he was gone. Our Gospel reading for last Sunday was from the Gospel known to the church as John 15:13 “…no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”. CPT seems to me to be the embodiment of this philosophy of unconditional love. Sometimes they lay down their lives literally as did Tom Fox in Iraq (if you don’t know this story, click here), but mostly they just lay down their normal lives, like yours and mine, to go where they are needed. (For more on CPT click here) Grandfathers and grandmothers encouraged to apply.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Tractors
When I was growing up in rural upstate New York, my brother and I used to wake up in the summer to the “put-put-put” of a 2 cylinder John Deere tractor that our neighbor down the road used to till his fields. This tractor has a very distinctive sound as it has a very large fly wheel and it seems like the engine only fires about twice a minute. To this day the sound of this vintage tractor still conjures up visions of green tractors, green corn fields and the smell of fresh mowed hay. Our recent trip to the West Bank of Israel/Palestine exposed me to a whole different vision of tractors. The rumble of an Israeli armored bulldozer combined with the “rat-tat-tat” of machine guns presents a completely different scenario. The image of these huge yellow pieces of equipment painted over in
camouflage destroying olive groves, leveling houses and occasionally killing young American women (if you don’t know this story click here) can hardly be called bucolic. The destruction of homes and lives reeked by these tractors has brought the Caterpillar Company to the forefront of efforts by some liberal Protestant churches to encourage divestment from companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. (for more on this click here) When Caterpillar was contacted about this issue their response was that “we have no right to control how our customers use the pieces of equipment that we sell them.” For me it is hard to visualize what productive use could be made of an armored bulldozer with a machine gun on top. Maybe someone can enlighten me.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Shared Values
In a recent Washington Post op ed piece, "No, It's Not Anti-Semitic", columnist Richard Cohen comments on the controversy surrounding the paper on the Israel lobby by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Much of the criticism of Walt and Mearsheimer by such people as Eliot Cohen, professor at Johns Hopkins and Alan Dershowitz of Harvard argues that the paper reflects the anti-Semitism of the authors. In this piece Richard Cohen disagrees with this point of view. Instead he maintains that Mearsheimer and Walt’s argument that the Jewish community has a large influence on US policy is accurate. He states that “Israel’s special place is deserved, in my view, and not entirely the product of lobbying. Israel has earned it, and isn’t there something special about a relationship that is not based on oil or markets or strategic location but on shared values.” This got me to think that perhaps it is shared values that accounts for the US’s uncritical support for Israel and it’s policies. What might these shared values be? The first one that is usually cited is that we are both democracies, however flawed. This cannot be the only explanation as the Palestinian Territories and Iran are also democracies, however flawed. Another value that is frequently cited is that Israel is a strong ally of the US in the “war on terror”. In both countries this war effort defines “terror” very loosely including everyone from al Quada, ETA, Palestinians, the IRA, etc. in the same category. If your only tool is a hammer every problem looks like a nail. In both countries the war on terror is the number one foreign policy issue and justifies indefinite detentions of “militants” both citizens and non citizens. It also justifies surveillance, wire tapping and perhaps torture. Both countries also seem to believe that 40 ft walls will protect them from those who are different. We certainly do have shared values, but what kind of values are they? Are these the values that we want to teach our children? As I recall, there was a guy wandering around the Middle East 2000 years ago who had a different idea about what we should teach our children. It seems to me that Pastor Gary Arnold had it right. “Teach them to how to care about persons. Teach them to feel free enough to cry with others when they hurt. Teach them to offer helpful directions. Teach them to reach out and love, touch, and hold other persons when it feels like that is what you need to do. Teach them to be in touch with abiding values.” It seems that the values of our citizens and our governments are different. Our Arab friends when questioned about their feelings about Americans have often said “we know how to separate individuals from their government.” Why does that need to be?
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Reaching out
We, in the US, are often accused of being very insular and inward looking. Most of us only speak English and many of us have never traveled outside of the US. (Why should I do this when there is so much of this beautiful country that I have never seen?) We, however, are not the only ones with this attitude. The very conservative Gulf States in the Middle East keep many of their citizens, particularly the women, isolated from other cultures and the rest of the world. Recently, when I was in Jordan looking at some of the development projects with which I have been involved, we discussed with our friends at Habitat for Humanity-Jordan the upcoming work project by a group of very wealthy young women from an exclusive school in the UAE. They were concerned about what could be expected from these pampered and isolated young women. Could they lift the cement blocks? How would they interact with the people in the poor village? I said to Nancy at HFHJ "You have to send me an email after this work camp. This will be very interesting". I just received this email. What a great story of reaching outside your isolating borders. The story is at once uplifting and hopeful and also sad that they may never experience it again.
Nancy writes:
Happy Easter,
In this time of rebirth and transformation I have an incredible experience I
would like to celebrate with you. Last week we hosted the first all women's volunteer build in Jordan, maybe
the Middle East, but that has yet to be confirmed. The ladies were from
Sharjah College which is located in the United Arab Emirates, a small
country in the Persian Gulf. There were 12 students and 4 chaperones, one of
them being American. She was my main contact, Linda, an American teacher
with the school and she and I had many conversations about what this build
was going to look like given many factors. Some of those being that these
were wealthy young women, from very conservative families, one of them was a
princess from the current ruling family and they all wore the traditional head
scarf and robes. All but two of the girls had never traveled without a
member of their family before, several had never been in an airplane and for
most this would be the first and last trip of this nature. After graduation
they would be married and would not likely have this kind of opportunity
again.
We were anxious and apprehensive as to how this would all work out. Taking
young women into a poor community to build alongside men and members of a
community so vastly different than their world? Would they even be able to
lift a brick, much less be outside for hours at a time? By the end of the
very first day of building our fears were washed away in delight as we saw
the transformation of these women through their determination anopennessss.
As the staff sat together that evening we marveled at this and talked about
how we were going to have to change our build schedule to accommodate the
girls obvious ability to work harder than we had anticipated, this was a
challenge we were more than happy to have.
After the girls had dinner at night they gathered as a group to talk about
what they experienced that day. I wish I had the space here to share all of
these but will use this to share a few;
- Thuriyah - when I was walking back to the hotel from Petra I became very
sad because I realized this would be the last time that I would be on a trip
by myself. I love the way this trip makes me feel freedom, of just being me
and being able to be with my friends.
- Noorah (who actually is a princess) - I kept thinking all day about how
God made it possible for all these people from so many different places to
be here, today, right now, in the same place. I think that is amazing.
- Alawiah - I am so surprised at how easy it is to work around men, I don't
feel uncomfortable at all. I really like how different it is than being with
just women and people that I know well. It makes me feel good about myself.
(Linda tells me that this is an important chance for the girls who will be
allowed to take jobs and work in a place with men and women.)
- Moza - I am overwhelmed that people live like this. I have always known
there are poor people but have never seen them and could not have ever
dreamed that their lives would be like this. I feel so happy to have an
opportunity to help them and make a difference in how they live.
On a humorous note, Linda tells me that Noorah shows up at the airport with
her maid. When she realizes that she can't go through the check point with
her, she asks, who is going to carry my bags? Linda says, well you are.
Noorah says, OK, but I've never done that before. Later in the week she
tells Linda that she some of the things she has learned during the week were
to pack her own bags and do some laundry, she feels pretty proud of herself.
We all have different things to learn right?
The last day I sat in wonder as I watched with delight as these confident
young women, laughing, working side by side created contests to see who
could make more bricks. I also realize that being a woman has given me
incredible access to this whole experience and for that I am grateful.
This is grace, this is the kingdom.
Yours in love,
Nancy
This looks like the kingdom to me as well.
Jordan
Habitat for Humanity
UAE
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