PM Netanyahu's foreign policy speech- Peace without justice or equality

Here is a link to the full text of Israeli PM Netanyahu's speech delivered yesterday on the subject of peace and the future of the region.

If you know who Netanyahu is and follow his political history at all, you won't be surprised by what he says. He begins his speech by stating that no one in Israel wants to live in a state of conflict and that everyone wants peace. Then, as one would expect, he blames the current situation of perpetuated occupation and conflict entirely on the Palestinian people and violence. This is followed by calling for the total demilitarization of the future Palestinian state, Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the Jewish state, and no right of return of the Palestinian refugees. Essentially, all the issues that need to be compromised on by both parties in order to achieve peace, Netanyahu slammed the door on instead.

The comparison that first popped into my head after reading this speech might be a little dramatic, but I'm writing it anyway. I couldn't help but think of the hospitals for the poor, disabled, and mentally handicapped that were established in the American southeast in the early 1900s. I learned about in my high school US history class and never forgot about them. Apparently, they were the first instance of eugenics used on humans. Yes, the Nazis got the idea from us. People would either send their family members there, or the state would put them in these hospitals/homes, and when/if they were released, they would be completely sterile. If you were a lower class woman who the government just didn't want to deal with and saw your kind as big downer on the country, then your right to procreate was taken from you.

Maybe it's a loose comparison, but this is what I first thought of when I read of Netanyahu's desire to have "two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighborly relations and mutual respect..." but with an entirely demilitarized Palestinian state. He wants peace and equality, but only if the Palestinian people are freed as something less than what they ought to be.

As my boss also reminded me, a definition of a state in modern political theory is an organization that has "a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory." If Palestinians have no force, then they can't have a state. Sure, it's scary to think of Palestine as a "Hamastan" as Netanyahu put it, but that's part of being a modern, sovereign state, and it's frankly the only chance the people here have at acheiving true and lasting peace. He just has to learn to be a good diplomat, learn how to compromise, and how to treat your neighbors with respect. Then, the chances are are good that they won't want to blow him up :)

Feeling the hate in Jerusalem- a video

I'm embarrassed by this video, both for my country and it's frighteningly obnoxious, narrow-minded, and not to mention vulgar young people. Shudder.

My personal favorite is "I'm a political science major!" "So you know you're sh*t, right!?" "Yeah, I know my sh*t!!" "Do you know who Benjamin Netanyahu is?" "No..." Oh noooooo! It hurts, it really does.

I spend so little time interacting with the young American Zionists of this world, so it end up being truly shocking when I get glimpses of this kind of mentality. When I go back to the US, I hope to try and play some kind of part in educating the Jewish and general community on the realities of this conflict. But if THIS is what I'm going to be up against, I can't help but want to run screaming in the opposite direction!
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I'm editing this post and adding another video because I think it is related to the all of the extreme, senseless talk from the first video:



If a Fox newscaster is calling this kind of criticism "wrong, ridiculous, preposterous," then I think that says it all.

Is it just me, or is it disturbing that the same rhetoric is being used by both the crazies that write into Fox news and these kids studying abroad in Jerusalem??

Ni'lin and Bi'lin- The Wild West of the West Bank

This video is made by a film maker that I know here, it's great and I think really captures how insane, lawless, and chaotic this place can be.

Occupation of Ni'lin, Palestine - May 22, 2009 from Sheryle C on Vimeo.

Notice how the Israeli soldiers at one point are dodging the fire coming from their own troop. Or how that little baby's eyes were red from tear gas. This town place is lawless. The soldiers are allowed to/told to fire without discretion, and that's exactly what they do. No one holds them accountable, no one tells them to do otherwise. It's terrifying.

What everyone's saying

Good piece in the NYTimes that covers a lot of the Israeli media reactions to the speech

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/weekend-opinionator-obama-in-cairo-as-seen-from-tel-aviv/?scp=9&sq=obama%20cairo&st=cse

Obama in Cairo

"So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation..."

Yes, tears did well up.

Needless to say, I think this speech was great. It was as important for the Western world to hear Obama's ode to Muslim history and it's connection with American values as it was for the Muslim world to hear it.

I'm hoping that instead of being scared that Obama has abandoned Israeli interests by giving this speech, Jewish Israelis can see hope and lasting peace by supporting his efforts.

Jewish Israeli extremists using racist propaganda to defend their own racism

(Picture from Haaretz)


Yesterday there was a demonstration outside the US consulate in Jerusalem at which Israeli Jewish extremists rallied against Obama, calling him an antisemite and a Jew-hater. To make their point, they were using some of the most racist arguments I've heard in a while.

From the Haaretz article, "Nadia Matar, the Belgian-born co-chair of Women in Green, which organized the event, made a point of repeatedly mentioning Obama' middle name, Hussein, because "we have to remind ourselves that he received an Islamic education in Indonesia." "

This reminds me of a conversation I had here on the US election day. I ran into this American Jewish girl I had met the week before, who was here to study Torah for a year. She was nice, and we had sort of clicked, so I carelessly and overexcitedly entered into the conversation with, "Aren't you so excited!? I can't wait! I know he's going to win." Or something along those lines. The look on her face let me know that I should have tested the water before jumping into this pool, and she said, "But his dad is a Muslim...how will he ever defend Israel?" Need I really say more?

The group who helping to run the rally at the consulate, Hazit, is an ultra-extremist-settler organization that carries out some of the more offensive rallies and actions in this countries. Baruch Marzel is a big figure in Hazit, which you can easily tell by his enormous dedication page on the site. Marzel is originally from the states and was the right-hand-man for the leader of Kach, a Jewish extremist group considered to be a terrorist organization by the US, Canada, the EU, and Israel. There is no compromise with this organization. They want all of Israel, end of story.

I don't really have any commentary, because this article and the accompanying image speaks for itself.

Read the article here.

Environmentalism strikes again

(Picture of the Jordan Valley from some random website)


Apparently Jordan's Queen Rania has made a commitment to transform at least 5% of Jordan's farms to be organic by 2014. This is great news.

Many criticize Jordan's royal couple for being weak leaders who take on projects and policies that aim to please the US and remain as neutral as possible. I often agree. But putting all of that aside (I'm not feeling up to) I think any move that points the country to a more environmentally sound direction is a good one. Some of the most delicious fruit I've ever had has been in Jordan, grown in the Jordan Valley. Wouldn't it be great to know that this fruit was grown with minimal harm done to the environment? Plus, it seems that Israel (especially some of the settlements in the West Bank) is the front runner for organic food production in the region. It would be nice to see some competition from it's neighbors.

I hope that this is the beginning of a slightly more "green" Jordanian culture, but I have to be doubtful. My American version of environmentalism and dealing with droughts while living in Colorado entails strategies such as, "if it's yellow it's mellow, if it's brown flush it down," taking military showers (turning off the water when you're scrubbing down), or bringing my own bags to the market. From my experience living there, a culture of modesty, lack of exposure, and just plain ol' habit trumps the green friendly lifestyle. I'm fairly certain a typical middle-class Jordanian family would have a hard time, a very hard time, not flushing every time they pee. But every Jordanian knows that there's almost no water and from what I've seen, they do try to use it sparingly. Would new water-saving green habits pick up in this country, and it's just a marketing issue? Not sure.

Get over it

This is my angry post.

I live here because I want to understand the details of this conflict. What is so darn special about these ancient sites, the history, this place, and why isn't there peace? Tackling these issues is awe-inspiring and completely exhausting. I'm trying to think of an analogy for how it makes me feel. Maybe like being on one of those booths with dollar bills flying around, and you're supposed to grab as many as you can. And sure, it probably feels great who you get a handful, but then you instantaneously realize that there is still soooo many bills to get, and there is no way you will get them all. It's both really rewarding, but you still leave knowing that you didn't get them all, and wishing you could have done better. Intellectually, that's how this place is. It can be addictive, because every issue leads you to 20 more sub-issues, and one can't help but become totally fascinated and overwhelmed.

That is...until, like the title of this blog, I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's like hearing 30 people yelling at you all at the same time, and there is no way to reconcile what they are saying. And then, I simply run out of stamina. My interest and compassion for all of the people and forces at work comes to a screeching, impulsive halt. My mind becomes overwhelmed and then my body, a feeling in my chest kicks in, and I just want to scream, "oh, why can't you all just get OVER it!?"

For whatever reason, this was my reaction after reading this article in the Times today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/world/middleeast/10jerusalem.html?pagewanted=1

It's about how the Jerusalem municipality is planning to essentially take over the city and usurp Palestinian land for historical park, all with the argument that there is archeologically-proven Jewish history on this land. It's been the center of Jewish life for 3000 years, and by God, we will keep it that way!

Puh-leeeaaasse. I understand preserving archeological remains for its own sake, but this ego, this "stake" that the Israeli conservatives have invested in this issue makes me sick. Peoples' lives, their homes, their land, their children's futures, their dignity are all put at stake because a minority of conservative, religious Israeli Jews just don't know how to share the sand box with the other kids in the class.

Sure, Jerusalem might have been the capitol of the Jewish nation way back when, but neither this land nor the Jewish people are the same as 2000 years ago. For a myriad of reasons not to be belittled (Holocaust, anti-semitism, etc) Jews are scattered all over the world now, and don't really have an interest in moving to the militaristic, rude, and arrid eretz yisrael.

A slew of quotes comes to mind that we often learn at a young age.."change is the only constant," "times they are a changin'," or yes, even the ever-faithful "sharing is caring." Hell, just go type in "change quotes" in google, and you realize that almost every great thinker in the history of the world has realized that change is not only a good thing, but inevitable.

It is time for Israel to get it's head out of the sandbox, graduate from kindergarten, and realize that nothing stays the same.

Palestinian festival- an oxymoron?

One of the best parts of the warm seasons are the reasons people find to hold festivals. In the states, I'm most acquainted with music festivals. My most recent being Telluride Bluegrass last summer, which was faaaantastic. Here, it's less about camping out, barbeque, and beer, and more about local cultures that well..just need to be celebrated. A shining example of this is the Artas Lettuce festival that I attended last weekend. Located in the small Palestinian town of Artas in the West Bank, next to Bethlehem, this festival was sooo great. The actual festivities were sort of anticlimactic- many speeches in Arabic about Palestinian agrarian pride and then some student dancing performances- but the quirkiness of the lettuce-ness was great. Instead of slushies, cotton candy, or cokes that kids normally run around with at this kind of this, there were children everywhere with huge pieces of lettuce in their hands, munching away.

I have recently lost my camera (stolen), so I have no photos of my own that show you the town, which is nestled in this tiny canyon, or of the homes that reach up the hills and fields of produce packed in the heart of the valley, or of adorable kids holding lettuce leaves bigger than their heads, the huge church in the center of the town with a field of crops at its base, or of either of the two families that invited me for coffee in their homes. But, hopefully you can try to imagine :)
Here are two photos of the town that I found online:





But wait- this festival was in a Palestinian town in the West Bank, so there is of course an upsetting political dimension that I cannot leave out. Directly next to it, on the other side of a ridge is the Jewish Israeli settlement of Efrat. As the separation wall is soon to be built in the area, the plans threaten to include much of what is Palestinian-owned land in Artas into the area of Efrat, on the other side of the future wall. On a tour of Artas with a man who owns a chunk of the disputed land, he told us the details of his fights with the IDF and settlers. Stories of him being beaten and pinned to the ground by a soldier standing on his neck, lengthy interrogations, various protests and ensuing violence. His battle sucks.

When the man speaking to us mentioned the name of the neighboring settlement, Efrat, I immediately thought of my Passover seder. That amazing, lovely family that organized the Passover dinner in Tzfat that I attended lives there. This man, who speaks of getting his neck stood on by soldiers, is being tormented by the impending threat of my lovely passover family taking his land.

Of course! Of course that's what's happening. Because nothing here is simple. There is no such thing as a just a passover seder, or just a spring festival. It is a passover dinner run by extremist settlers, and a spring festival that celebrates lettuce produced on land that will most likely be taken from its farmers before next spring comes.

And just when I thought I was having fun...

The Mexico Flu

So it's official- the swine flu has come to Israel. An Israeli man who was traveling in Mexico brought it back with him, and has been quarantined and is recovering well. Read about it here.

The more exciting part of the article for me is that the Deputy Health minister and a member of the ultra-orthodox community is calling for a name change in Israel from "Swine Flu" to "Mexico Flu," since pig is not kosher. Apparently "kosher" encompasses actually verbalizing an unkosher thing, such as pig. The religious hospital down the road from me has already started calling it the Mexico flu. I just hope this deputy minister is devoting as much energy to the actual problem as he his to its name.

Oh right, I'm in Israel

Living here, I've grown to be mostly desensitized to cultural differences, however, this week there was one thing that really shook me out of my comfort and made me remember exactly where I was.

This week holds three of Israel's big national holidays: Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day (for fallen soldiers) and then Independence Day. The sequencing of the three is deliberate, as well is how close they fall to each other. In honor of these days, there is a country-wide siren (the same siren that also goes off for bomb scares) that goes off for about 2 minutes each holiday, during which everything stops. Everything. Cars, conversations, radio, tv, public buses. It_ is_so_bizarre. Here is a link to a short article and video of the siren-time. It's not very interesting to watch, as it is a video of the nothing that happens during the siren, but it might give you some idea of what it's like.



You're supposed to stand up, which I did, but mostly to hang myself out the window and gawk at the rest of the city and remember that I'm definitely not in Denver anymore!

Earth day in the holy land

This past Thursday I went to a fantastic Earth Day event in Tel Aviv. The event, held in Rabin Square in the middle of the city, was a huge public concert, featuring the Balkan Beat Box, a hugely popular Israeli band that tours all over the world. This band seems to be the pride and joy of this country, as there's not much from Israel, culturally speaking, that makes a global impression (for instance, when Waltz With Bashir was nominated for the Oscar for best int'l film, it was huuuuge news here). The crowd at this show was PUMPED, to say the least, and it was great to be there.

Anyway, the whole thing was powered by left over felafel oil, which is SO perfect and Israeli it almost hurts, and about 20 cyclists off the the side of stage. The big kick off was with a crowd-wide count down at the end of which the office building behind the stage and a large part of the city shut off its lights for one hour.

With all of the bullsh*t that happens in this country, I have to say that the environmentalism here is hopeful. Traveling in other middle eastern countries, this awareness has yet to catch on. I remember one example of a cab driver in Jordan who I pleaded with so that he wouldn't throw his apple core out the window and his response was "Oh, you Americans!" then he laughed at me like I had made some kind of adorable joke, and proceeded to casually toss it to the side of the road. I didn't argue.

I suppose there are many reasons for this disparity in environmental awareness within this region- socio-economic, cultural, geographic, etc. Not to mention the American and European social and cultural presence.

Check out this link to read more about the event

My past life...regulating usurious loans

Last year while working at a non-profit that focuses on public policy research, I spent a lot of time and energy researching payday loans. In a move of shameless self-promotion, but also to help inform you what payday loans are, here is a link to a report that I worked on (and the opinions I express in this blog do not represent the opinions of the Bell Policy Center).

Anyway, I still get these Google email alerts for anything in the news about payday loans. They are mostly advertisements for payday loans (no thank you) but occasionally, especially as the state legislative sessions move along, there are more articles about good legislation that's aiming to rein these lenders in.

Here is one in the New York Times written by Luis V. Gutierrez, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

Even though I'm here, I can't stop caring about this issue. I consider it especially shameful because it is legal in most states, and it is flat our usury and exploitation. I and hope to continue to raise awareness via this blog and through prolonged harassment of my friends and family :)

Let me know if you have any questions, because I would be happy to answer them.

Israeli rudeness

I came across this article recently and I was both refreshed to hear someone so pointedly write about Israeli culture and a little disappointed at his take on Israeli unity:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/opinion/17brooks.html?scp=9&sq=israel&st=cse

When I first came to Israel with the intent of staying for a while, the gruffness of people really threw me off. There is so munch antagonism everywhere you go! Granted, most of it isn't whole-hearted, it's just how people function. It's a country founded on this sense of defense and need to fervently fight for everything you have, so that inevitably translates into small, daily tasks, like getting the girl behind the counter to make you your latte, or having people look over your shoulder as you type in your SSN at the bank in order to make sure you're doing it right (yes, really). My roommates have more than once told me, "you're so nice...everything we ever make to eat, you always say 'it's great, good job!' " That's just how I know to interact with people. When someone slaves away on a meal, you don't eat it and then tell them how they could have done better. You eat it and say it's lovely, because they have worked hard and deserve a compliment. But no, no- that just not how it works here.

Anyway, the author writes a good article on the nature of this "tough love" culture, but I think he idealizes the Israeli unity. To start, Israel is TINY, I think it's about the size of New Jersey. So it's not a reach to assume that there will be some cultural similarities that are consistent throughout the country. Also, I've had more than one conversation with young Israelis here about how there isn't much that unifies this country other than being "Jewish" (whatever that means and assuming we aren't including the Palestinian-Israeli citizens), and a definition of themselves as not Arab/Palestinian. It's that they are all scared stiff of the larger, Arab threat that in their minds can obliterate everything they know in 2 seconds. The author calls this an "intense sense of national mission," but I call it outright fear that is then seamlessly transformed (via army service and other cultural indoctrinations) into an intense need to preserve their Jewish state against the "other."

To sum it up, this article is well written and perceptive, but don't let it be the defining voice on Israeli unity, or lack there of.

Immoral environmentalism-electric cars in Israel?

*I have changed this post from the originial because of feedback that the end didn't make sense. It's somewhat of a rant still, but I tried to rein it in. :)

Choosing between causes has been a constant struggle for me, as I think it is for many 20-somethings right now. Specifically, choosing between environmental causes or human ones? Do I devote myself and my career to urgent environmental action, or trying to achieve justice for people? Really, it sounds so self-righteous, "What shall my cause today be?" But it's how I feel. Environment is the environment, it's the biggest victim I can think of. When I read about it or watch an informative video, I'm motivated to take action and join a worth-while project. But then I just can't get over how humans can look other humans straight in the eye, and still proceed to kill them, starve them, ruin them.

This dualism or "clash of causes" has recently popped up after I watched this TED speech by Better Place CEO Shai Agassi and now I'm all stirred up. It's 20 minutes, but I promise you it's worth your time.

Agassi's speech outlines his grand plan to widely distribute and create a sustainable infrastructure for electric cars. It's amazing, and I champion him and his vision. A few countries have committed to building this electric car system, and Israel was first. As Agassi is originally from Israel, this makes sense. There are already some charging or "swapping" stations here (I plan to seek them out and admire). I'm proud of Peres for being so forward thinking and into this cause.

However, the closing point of Agassi's speech bothers me. He compares our current need to transition away from our oil-dependent economy to the past need to transition away from slave-based economy. It wasn't only the economically progressive approach that also helped usher in the industrial revolution, but it was the moral choice. He closes with an urgent call to support our transition to electric cars, "If we don't, then we will lose our economy right after we have lost our morality."

Agassi doesn't seem to have extended the definition of "morality" to how a state treats the people within its borders, specifically in his home country. In this land, morality has long-since been reduced to an almost entirely relative term, and the economy is already headed for the crapper. But how can you argue with his logic? If you do, then you might as well go out and get yourself a slave. I agree with his argument though- environmental causes are moral and economic, so we should all get our heads out of the sand and support them. But what about when the environmental causes are morally compromised? What are you supposed to do then??

Alright, in this situation, I cannot expect Agassi to boycott, divest, or sanction (check out the BDS movement here) his own homeland, but it raises questions about the future of green businesses world-wide. The organic food movement in the US comes to mind. When it originally started to gain momentum, it was with the idea that it would small-scale and community oriented- a way to not only to eat well and improve our health, but to strengthen our civil society. Then, after a couple of decades, when there was now a market demand for organic food, it because industrialized, exploitative, and barely even "organic" anymore. Migrant workers on the big industrial farms are paid almost nothing, the farms are huge, the machines used to harvest pollute, and there is barely any more connection between the consumer and the source.

I know that any kind of business, whether it's environment-friendly or not, relies mostly on the laws of our economy to thrive. As I see it, this entails a certain amount blindness to the human aspect of the investment, as long as the region is stable and the labor is cheap. Call me a commie, I thought that there was some element of socio-political justice ingrained in the environmental movement, which would mean that investors look at not only a good economic opportunity, but also the human situation. They would maybe ask questions like, does this country treat it's people well, or am I supporting an unjust socio-political infrastructure by dumping money into this business, in this place. Am I really that naive to have assumed this? If so, then that's that. But if not, and this is supposed to be a pretense for the up-and-coming green businesses, then it seems, as usual, that all bets are off when it comes to this country and this conflict.

Article about new electric cars in Israel

Palestinian man shot dead on Friday

This past friday, Basem Abu Rahme, a 29 year old Palestinian man was killed during a demonstration against the wall in the village of Bi'lin. Basem was shot in the chest with a high velocity tear gas canister by Israeli soldiers. If this sounds familiar, it's probably because a similar shooting occurred just last month to American activist Tristan Anderson, who was shot in the head with the same type of canister, and is still in critical condition.

Here is a link to an article written about the event, and a movie documenting his shooting.

Notice that you see a wound in his chest as he's lying on the ground, but no canister. This is because this tear gas canister:
is inside of him. There is a REASON why you don't shoot these things at people. Because they are fucking fast and huge, and can kill someone if you hit him/her. Apparently these soldiers just don't care.

Also notice the list of those who were killed in the past during protests against the wall.

My friend who was at the demonstration gave me a shaky, teary-eyed account of what she saw. She said that she was about 20 meters away from Rahme when he was shot, and that she saw the soldier aim the tear gas launchers directly at the people (this is instead of shooting them in an arc, like they are supposed to be fired). When people started yelling for help, the soldiers kept firing the gas at them, keeping them away from Rahme. She said, "And the worst part is that nothing will happen to this soldier. We have pictures of him shooting the canister, but we're in Israel, and he'll be protected."

That's how it works. Ni'lin and Bi'lin are Israel's wild west. There is no rule of law there. Soldiers do what they want, and protesters are the ones who suffer, recieving absolutely no justice for their pain.

I don't really know what to say or what kind of reflection I have on this event other that pure anger and an intense urge to make this soldier and the system that supports him pay for what he did. How do we live in a world where this is acceptable?? Where people die... really die for no reason other than someone else decides to shoot. How do we let this happen?

Passover, sun-fun, and Tzfat

A lot has happened this past week and half, but among the highlights were the Sun blessing festival (Birkat Hachama) and Passover that I spent in Tzfat with friends.

Tzfat is sort of a hub for those who study Kabbalah, which can be summed up at Jewish mysticism. Yes, Madonna has recently become a fan and apparently studies it in some way, and even tried to buy a house in Tzfat, only to be rejected by the town's municipality (phew!). It's also a huge artist colony, and the overlap of art and intense mystic religious study has created some seriously, seeeriously incredible people. This is the second time I've been, and both times I have considered throwing all of my worldly ambitions to the wind and simply settling down and getting lost in this town for the rest of my life. This might happen some day, but for now I'll just blog about it :)

So my Passover seder was led by an Orthodox family, which means that it was, among other things, very very long. Seders as I knew them growing up were fun, sing-songy, an excuse for the grown-ups to drink a lot, and an opportunity to eat a lot of good Jewish cooking. This was the same, plus four additional hours of religious explanation for what this holiday is about. Definitely a long "groooaaan" involved, but it was a great learning experience to see how the religious-religious people do it. Frankly, I was so hungry, tired, and tipsy that I barely remember anything significant, but I do know that there is a lot of wisdom, appreciation for our community as well as our sheer existance encompassed in this holiday.

So moving on from my sort of blacked out seder, a little tidbit to share that I learned while there was the Jewish concept of giving and the meaning of wealth. When we say "give" the opposite we would automatically think of is "take," right? Not so much in Judaism. The dualism in Jewish thought is "give and receive." As a sociology major, this kind of stuff is like spiritual catnip. There is a term in Hebrew called "tzedaka." Anyone who grew up even sort of Jewish is probably familiar with it. I always considered it to mean "charity." There's a tzedaka box in many homes, you make them in Hebrew school, your synagogue usually collects for certain tzedaka-related causes. It does mean charity in Hebrew, but the root of the word literally means "justice." The idea of giving to those who are less fortunate has less to do with you being a generous person and more about doing what needs to be done to make things a little more right than they currently are. Yessss.

A big questions I have is if this concept of justice count for non-Jews, too. I know that Orthodox Jews consider Jewish souls to be at a higher level than non-Jewish souls (as do most religions with their respective peeps I think), so does this idea of evening the scale count for the souls who aren't really up there with the Jewish souls?

Some sun blessing pics. Soooo wonderful:

Passover and Sun festival- Chag Sameach!

(Sunset in Tzfat/Safed from this past summer)

While I know we say "next year in Jerusalem" every year on Passover, I'm headed out of J-town for the holiday and up to a small super-spiritual/religious artist town in the north called Tzfat (or Safed in Arabic) instead. I just can't pass up the amazing events that are going on this year.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning is the sun's "birthday" according to Judaism. Jewish mysticism says that every 28 years, the sun returns to the same position that it was in when it was born on the 4th day of creation. This year, it happens to be on the first day of Passover, so the week-long holiday coincides with this week-long festival that honors the sun. I'm choosing not to care about whether I'm a believer in all of this or not, and just getting really excited about this cool overlap in events and heading up to Tzfat to celebrate in a big "Sun Blessing Festival!" Putting my own reservations aside, I am excited to be in a place where everyone is so excited to connect with nature and their own spirituality. Along with deciding to stay and work towards ending the Israeli occupation, this kind of thing is the OTHER reason why I'm here. Spiritual awesome-ness in the holy land. Plus, I'm a Leo, which is a sun-sign, so I figure I owe to my zodiac roots to check it out ;)

I hope to do some hiking around on some of the many trails out there after and then head down to Sinai for the rest of the vacation.

May your Passover, Easter, or any life-event this coming week be full of compassion and gratitude.

Ultimate Peace cont'd

Simply put, this event was great.

Read an article about it by Al-Jazeera here- it gives a good summary of the project and it's goals, etc.

Read about the "spirit of the game" and what makes ultimate super-awesome here

I volunteered with Ultimate Peace on Thursday, which is when 140 Palestinian and Israeli kids, through the Peres Peace Center, came to Tel Aviv to learn how to play Ultimate. Previous to this day, the group of about 20 American ultimate coaches who came with Ultimate Peace visited villages in Israel and the West Bank, introducing the sport to the kids in their home towns. Then they hosted a workshop on Wednesday for Israeli and int'l ultimate players to work on their frisbee skills. The idea was to teach kids the sport, and then work on the older players' skills as well, all to help frisbee take hold in the country.

On Thursday, the kids seemed to have a blast learning the game. A full day in the sun running around can be a little tough on anyone, and these kids were fantastic the whole time, with high spirits. I worked with the younger girls, aged about 9-11 I think, and they had such enthusiasm! While my group was great, I did here from one coach that there were a few Israeli kids in his group who simply refused to play with their Palestinian team mates, saying that they were "stupid." It was upsetting to hear about, but frankly I'm surprised that this was the only incident, and consider it a success nonetheless. If being part of this program allowed even some of them to forget their differences and what separates them from the other, even if it was for an hour, or 10 minutes of the day, then that's something. It's worth it.

The last two days of the event was a big hat tournament for all of the Israeli and int'l ultimate players. There is some serious talent in this country for ultimate, and it would be great to see them bring some tough competition to the world championships.

My reflection on the event so far is that while there is an urgent need to end the occupation and avoid "normalizing" the issue, but there is also a need to help make any change sustainable. Even if the occupation ended tomorrow, that doesn't change the fact that both sides have stopped seeing the other as human. It's projects like this that help to change that. Plus, ultimate is the best :)

(The girls taking a rest after a frisbee relay race)

Ultimate (frisbee) Peace in the Middle East

Many people I still meet laugh at me when I say I've played ultimate frisbee competitively for years, but they just don't know. It's awesome, competitive and really damn hard. No, it's not something I play with my dog. Yes, there are rreeaaal rules, and it involves running. A lot of running, and a lot of skill. Yes, just as much as soccer/football. And basketball. Check it out here.

So there is this event I'm volunteering for this week, and I think it's pretty innovative. www.ultimatepeace.org. I have yet to experience what it is like, but I will blog about it after :)

Basically, the rules of ultimate frisbee are mostly self-refereed. There is no ref on the field that blows his/her whistle and calls a foul. It's self-called and then resolved right then and there on the field. Part of the magic of ultimate is that the calls on the field mostly never lead to any kind of fight and is resolved in a peaceful, respectful way. It's all done in the "spirit of the game" that encompasses respect for yourself, your fellow players, and a good, healthy competition.

Anyway, the theory behind this event, as I see it, is to teach Palestinian and Israeli kids how to play ultimate and in the process, teach them how to engage in a form of interaction and competition where they realize it IS possible to co-exist and even compete, but in a way that encourages respect for what you're engaged in and for each other. Not a bad idea.

I'm mostly excited about this event, but one thing that nags at me about it is this concept here of "normalizing" the occupation. A lot of activists are wary of many peace-making programs because they don't specifically address ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and people. Like, trying to raise the quality of life for Palestinians as it is under the occupation instead of simply trying to END the occupation. Does this make sense? Examples of this are programs that aim to foster "coexistance" or Israelis and Palestinians showing artwork together, or a joint summer camp for kids...or the Ultimate Peace project. Many people don't see this hand-holding type of project as useful. I understand this. People are being killed. People are being arrested and held without their rights. Homes are being demolished and families are left with nothing. Ending the occupation is urgent to say the least. And when you see these things first hand all you want to do is go make someone pay the consequences for what is being done to these people. You want to make it END! But does that mean this kind of program isn't useful? Not sure.

I know Israelis who haven't had a real conversation with an Arab person other than when they were in army, serving in the oPt (occupied Palestinian territories), and had a gun in their hand. They have no concept of these people other than how they saw them when they were in a position of command over them. This is sad. How can you really value, really really understand the human-ness of someone unless you talk to them, and experience them on equal ground?

Anyway, I'm eager to see how this project goes, and how these kids take to it. Look for it on CNN international because they're covering the story!