Happy New Year
The last few days of 2008 were pretty gruesome, because on top of Everything Else, Israel decided to start bombing Palestinians who live in Gaza. I am no Middle East expert but the term "shooting fish in a barrel" comes to mind, only the fish are people, and we all have to watch and feel complicit because the U.S. officially sanctions Israel's claim, "They started it."
And why wouldn't we? That was our justification for turning Iraq into a pile of rubble separated by blast walls which just opened the world's largest U.S. embassy-cum-impenetrable-fortress. The bully always blames his victim.
Just typing these words makes me want to weep. God knows the effect of chronic anguish on my internal organs. Thank that same non-existant god, or rather, Patanjali, for yoga, which gets the lymph flowing again. And of course, singing, which alleviates all the woes of existence.
Where was I?
I want to scream and kill people when I think of what Israel's doing with our okay, nay, our blessing, nay, our backing. Instead I do nothing. Instead I go to work and phone people up who have come to see at least one show at Cal Shakes and try to get them to donate some money, to fill out the half of our budgetary pie not covered by ticket sales. (Standard operating procedure for non-profit regional theaters.)
Do you have any idea what it's like asking for money from people who (1) just lost their job, (2) can't pay their mortgage, (3) are watching retirement savings evaporate, (4) everyone else is asking for money? I'm amazed any of them pick up their phones, which many of them don't.
The real heart-breaker for me here is that if no one donates, I don't get commission, which is minuscule, but better than nothing, because otherwise I'm left with the pitiful pittance of the base salary, which would barely feed a rat.
The stress of making these phone calls has caused me more than once to lose my voice. When I'm making the calls, I don't realize how tense I am. Only when I come off a shift exhausted from sitting and dialing and trying to charm snakes do I realize this job is impossible. I mean, it cannot be done. There is no money out there. Well, there is, somewhere. But not at the houses I've got the numbers to.
There was something perfect about the desperation all of us calling felt at the undoableness of the task we were so cruelly underpaid to perform. Some sadistic symmetry in our poverty, our pleas on behalf of an arts organization, and the resistance, the refusal we met with from people who were still trying to gauge the extent of their own personal financial crises.
But it sure beat the hell out of being bombed.
Direct hit on a mosque in Gaza.
Comments [62]
You're the true shaman,
You're the true shaman, Lezbeth! foggedabout the details, what is this REALLY about!
Thanks for your sage insight!
Patrice
Sorry, sometimes I don't know
Sorry, sometimes I don't know where I'm supposed to post to respond to a specific energy.
Could your exhaustion/reluctance signal that this is no longer the way to do things?
I said in another post, that the Israeli/Palestine conflict is a hologram. This does not diminish the horrible loss that the Palestinians incur. (yes I do show my "personality" preferences).
Yet, this is the universe's way of showing us that the conflicts are self-defeating (just like the Civil War).
Again, whether it is my spiritual belief or denial, this is just the another form of duality (my favorite word, with my second being discrimination!).
Maybe you're tired of supporting something (not the issue, but the need to be of service, help the underdog, take care of everyone) that is represented by your ennui.
The old way is not going to work much longer--even the liberal, kind-hearted, angry protestor archetype If we are warriors, which I believe you and I ARE, we need to embrace it from a higher perspective. It may not even mean that you act or write differently, but that your reasons/understandings for doing so evolve.
I might sound like the ultimate asshole, but I think that your Kali spirit and essence are so needed on this planet. Don't play the game the old way, by being the outcast Kassandra spirit, but by being the voice of wisdom and confidence and solid truth (like an old tree). It may appear to be the same expression in the world, but the thing that changes is your inner relationship to this role and purpose.
You got it going on, sistah!
Patrice
CHERE DORNAC, COUCOU oh if
CHERE DORNAC, COUCOU
oh if only we could meet in a cafe & drink an espresso & eat a croissant together...
there was one classic anti-semitic comment on this blog which really threw me.
of course you're right. and don't think we're so peaceful here or we don't have NUT JOBS. i'd say half the population at least is certifiably NUTS. i mean zero sense of reality or reasoning power. or knowledge of history or geography. c'est FOU & afollant.
not like you and me.
To Erin, comment below. I
To Erin, comment below.
I didn't say we would lose our friendship with Israeli-Palestinians war.
I just said "be careful".
That's all.
I repeated many times that OF COURSE bombing Palestinians is awful and disgusting, but if people begin to go on saying that all jews are responsible for that, it's dishonesty!
Jews have written things about this abusive tool of WW2. Some voices exist to say "NO" to the war, also amongst jews.
That's all.
So, thank you to recall that (you did, didn't you?).
Today,btw, there was a protest against Israel in Paris, from "Republique" to "Bastille".
A LOT of women were covered with a veil.
You know, when they do this war in France, you see some islamists coming out, showing out and how women have to dress.
It's not a peaceful place like in America.
And, yes, of course, it's not as dangerous as in Israel.
But please,be careful... some people take advantage of EACH crisis.
last add: my arabs friends are against these islamists, I fight on their side.
responding to comment below
responding to comment below
i just still want to believe in this human project.
dornac i don't want to lose
dornac
i don't want to lose you as a virtual friend over Gaza. but as the friendship consists in honest exchange...
"confusion" is inevitable when Crime masks itself with Victimhood, involving the whole world in its lie via planned propaganda.
the US got a reputation for freedom fighting in WW2 but the Nazis were the last fascists we ever fought! we've been on the side of the fascists ever since. but somehow this hasn't sunk in until maybe now. we promulgate the "confusion" we're anti-fascist so we can merrily go along our fascist way. no matter how matter outrages we commit, they're always seen as an exception, "a few rotten apples."
ditto, the jews & the holocaust. no matter how murderous israelis/zionists are to arabs, they retain jewish-victim status. our "confusion" and of course our GUILT serve as a smokescreen so they can actually starve Palestinians to death & then bomb them back to rubble & somehow... Israelis are still the endangered species? huh?
too big a subject
the human project... is it
the human project... is it worth it? all the lies we've told each other about "God" and virtue... not just the contemporary West's plan to subjugate & exploit but the notion of higher values... this is at stake... or universal cynicism & despair
Of course it's awful, I
Of course it's awful, I didn't say the contrary.
We just have to recall not to make confusions.
PR = public relations =
PR = public relations = propaganda.
forgive my impatience with Israel; it's become synonymous with U.S. in my mind. except their economy's booming.
israel conducted a PR campaign to "sell" this invasion, to make sure media uses the same sound bytes. part of their strategy has been to cash in on anti-holocaust goodwill but that well's run dry. it's like us trying to cash in on WW2-heroics. IT'S OVER. now we're the bad guys. get used to it. i can't. it's so awful.
Yes thank you to recall some
Yes thank you to recall some obvious things: Jews are not all extrem right wing.
About risks of antisemistism:
We have to be VERY careful when we talk/write now we are in CRISIS.
During crisis, "les masques tombent" (masks are falling), because during a crisis, people try to find a scapegoat, and say bullshits in a sort of panic.
When Prop 8 passed we heard "Black people voted for prop8".
Now Isralians' army is bombing and we see the dark shadow of antisemitism passing around with clichés about jews.
In France, there is already a car which has been burnt and thrown on a synagogue, just after what happened to Palestinians.
A colleague of mine said that in one of his classes, a young man said that he was so excited against what happened to Palestinians that he wanted to attack jews IN HIS OWN COUNTRY OF FRANCE!! Fortunatelly, the whole class booed him.
Dangerous situations need to be careful, because racists and antisemits feel free to express themselves. You can't say "words in the air" about that, during crisis, every word counts.
P.S. Of course, everybody doesn't agree with Weber (Fernand Braudel, Jacques Attali for instance).
(nb: what is "israel PR"?)
This really shocked
This really shocked me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1M4eH9Kk7I
Mahatma Gandhi said : What
Mahatma Gandhi said :
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
yes, so much Erin the meaning
yes, so much Erin
the meaning of democracy, the weigh of human lives, a state born from our guilt, the increasingly power of shiite in middle east, so much...
ooh i need to read this Weber
ooh i need to read this Weber "Protestant Work Ethic." (not being protestant, i was never burdened with a work ethic.) merci, dornac.
je suis navrée que tu te sentais seule.
there's a huge difference between jews + zionists, a distinction often lost, not incidentally cuz israel PR wants it lost.
merci for sharing your own
merci for sharing your own firsthand experience. i have none, only firsthand guilt. (catholic, not jewish variety.)
what's at stake... so much...
Hamas government has been
Hamas government has been "democratically" elected after a brutal bloody campaign of terror against FATAH ....
i don't justify at all this
i don't justify at all this new war against palestinian people in Gaza. I don't approve at all the strategy of violence of Israel and its unconditional supports (the whole western world) in occupied territories since 1967. Today, the massive bombing of Gaza population HAS NO JUSTIFICATION. (massive bombings of civil populations can't never be justified)
i just said that Palestinians in Gaza must question their own government and choices as Burg and some others still do in Israel. In my job, i can see refugees from Gaza i know the fucking hell is that minuscule part of the world where 1,5 million people try to survive. They escape (and it's not easy to escape Gaza) Hamas daily terror.
What is at stake on both sides, in Israel and in Palestinian territories, is democracy and we all failed.
I see your point, because it
I see your point, because it was an injust process that led Palestine to the present situation where the area magically turned into Israel's house: 1948 -- when Truman recognized Israel's independence, yes. But in 1947 it was Palestine that was partitioned by the UN - Jewish and Arab, 2 separate states. Though the partition plan itself was shoddy (Palestine looked more like Frankenstein on a map, different parts stitched and sewn together), and Israel quickly expanded its borders WELL over what the UN originally planned. So yeah, you're right and of course it does look like Palestine is in the spare room with threat of complete eviction. And with the United States as the landlord... ha! How fortunately appropriate that term is to portray our country's presumptuous nature... landlord.
Also agree with the statement on warmongering. Abroad as well. Raise your hand if you're a Congressman with a child in Iraq and behold the air stagnancy.
Thanks. I was feeling
Thanks. I was feeling alone.
Add: Let's go back to Max Weber
except Palestine doesn't have
except Palestine doesn't have a house. they got put in Israel's spare room in 1948 & now they're being evicted only there's nowhere to go.
the same argument should be used on warmongering: "kill your own family if you want, but keep your violence at home"
News today is worse, still.
News today is worse, still. 60 more targets in Gaza struck? The U.N. is suspending its aid activity in Palestine? The light at the end of the tunnel is flickering out?
No, it's not (the light at the end of the tunnel part, that is. The rest is miserably true.). But it's pretty freaking bleak at this point, definitely. The United States-Israel relations undoubtedly complicate and hinder our relations with all other Arab states. It's like we've got this huge crush on Israel and she's so pretty that we're not thinking clearly. The root, again, goes back to a lot of Americans' ridiculous conviction that the United States is in fact a theocracy, and not a democracy. AND EVEN FURTHER, that ALL the world should operate under our Christian God as well. It's very "missionary" of us. So the Christian support of the Zionist movement means that we're backing Israel all up in Palestine's grill.
*Sidenote: Doesn't it make you think of all the times you've heard, "What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business, but keep it [the gay, hot sex] out of mine."? I mean, who do you think is saying this? My guess is it's mostly coming from right-winged conservatives, the very same people that are supporting Israel TAKING OVER the spare room of Palestine's house and saying "Yep, this is where we live now, God said so." Hypocritical much?
I'm so tired of the United States blundering around in the foreign relations department, especially when the inevitable problems resulting from said blundering are so capable of being deflated. If we could just leave the cross and the bias at home, we might actually start thinking rationally, and stop pissing people off. OR we could start acting like the "Christ" as he appears to be in the Bible, and love our neighbors, stop killing each other... and turn water into wine?
Sad how the latter actually seems like more of a possibility than former.
merci. it got a bit better.
merci. it got a bit better. we switched from fundraising to subscription renewals.
Hamas is a democratically
Hamas is a democratically elected representative of the Palestinian people. it's not for "us" to have "many things to say" when these "reasons" are used to justify genocide.
fascinating article by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21670.htm
contextualizes Hamas' threat to Israeli plans to steal newly discovered natural gas reserves off Gaza.
the more i read the more the Israeli mindset & modus operandi locksteps U.S. in Iraq. there's a similar disparity in deaths (100 to 1 in Iraq) and of course military might. a rocket is answered by several tonnes of bombs. but no media uses David vs Goliath to illustrate this disparity.
Robert Fisk is great on the longview. he's been covering it forever. he's heard all the Israeli lies, over & over.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-d...
really scary insights by Naomi Klein into post-9/11 security state entrepreneurship for which Palestinians serve as guinea pigs to Israel's booming industry.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070702/klein
"stop killing my people" is often one of the last things such a leader is heard to say. e.g., Native Americans.
mike whitney lays out the HYPOCRISY of Israel's "self-defense" (our rationale for destroying Iraq) with citations from a broad range of articles
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21663.htm
Yes I do agree, of course
Yes I do agree, of course "Anyone pointing a weapon at an unarmed civilian, especially children, is wrong."
Thanks PK. Could no longer
Thanks PK. Could no longer keep away from Ms Erin's provocations
xx
thanks for mentioning avraham
thanks for mentioning avraham burg's book.
this man says important and disturbing things to his own people.
maybe palestinians need someone like him. there's no voices on the other side to say : stop and think a little ! though there're many things to say about the way Hamas rules Gaza strip : corruption, terror against palestinian people, islamic indoctrination.
last year, Palestinian Writers' Union urged Arabic publishers to boycott book fair in Paris because Israeli writers were the guests of honour.
too bad
Thank you for giving us the 3
Thank you for giving us the 3 C's — clear, concise, and compelling. And as far as the US Evangelicals, I remember in the early 80's when Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor. The first person Manachim Begin called was not Ronald Reagan, but Jerry Falwell. He wanted Falwell to "explain to the Christian public the reasons for the bombing."
Tonight, I was again disgusted by Rachel Maddow's reporting. When discussing Israel's refusal to allow journalists in to Gaza to report, she implied it was a reasonable war time strategy. This is not the same tune she sang when the US tries to keep reporters from reporting in Iraq or Afghanistan.
We are star stuff. We are the universe made manifest trying to figure itself out. ~ Delenn
Dear Erin, i'm sorry to hear
Dear Erin, i'm sorry to hear about your hard time at job, that sound painful. courage.
-Do not follow me, I'M LOST-
Really? There are 200
Really? There are 200 million Jews in the world. We have one seriously bloated government if most of them hold "important positions" within the US government. As a Jew myself, I am hardly what one would call rich or wealthy, by any stretch of the imagination.
I really hate stereotypes, especially when they get applied to me.
While the Zionist Movement in its current incarnation does have a very effective force of lobbyists, believe it or not most of them are not Jews. Much of the support for Israel today comes from primarily evangelical fundamentalist "Christians," as well as defense and energy industries owned by like-minded conservatives.
After seeing men with their
After seeing men with their heads torn off and another man, still alive, moaning as his head kept falling into its own pool of blood (on Liveleak.com – shows what's REALLY happening in Gaza, search: Gaza video) I cannot imagine what emotional/psychological trauma children who witness this are going through. Is it any wonder they're willing to strap on bombs and kill themselves and everyone around them after seeing stuff like that?
watch this amazing ray of hope for a few (parts 1 & 2):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0IxE2lgLuI&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3FRSfB9BHU&feature=channel_page
"the gays" should do things
"the gays" should do things differently...schmoozing, ok
pay-offs and bribes – no
Anyone pointing a weapon at
Anyone pointing a weapon at an unarmed civilian, especially children, is wrong.
And, this war, taken as a whole, has been going on since 1777. It's only since WWII that it took on religious overtones. However, the goal has always been the same. Jews want a homeland for Jews only. Arabs see Israel as a European colony. First the US v. USSR, now the US v. Iran, use the area to test out new weapons, doctrines, and tactics. Religious Zealots see this as a conflict between good and evil, with the same outcome, the end of the world.
The Palestinians? Not one side ever bothered to ask them what they want, mainly because the either do not care, or because they know what the answer will be, that everyone go away and let them go back to their homes and live in peace. I know that doesn't sound particularly realistic, but every Palestinian I know says pretty much that same thing.
Talk about a loaded
Talk about a loaded question!
I would advise you Wiki this one. This is a war that has been going on since 1777, and the factors are very convoluted and complex. It is important to get the whole story, and there is literally no room here to do that.
The gist of it is this: Zionist Jews want a homeland, Europe wanted to rid itself of Jews, the US Evangelical Fundamentalist movement sees the rise of Israel as critical to their religious aims, the Arabs believe this is just a continuation of European colonization, etc. Throughout the whole fracking mess, not one person ever considered the existing population, the Palestinians, and how all these policies, pogroms, diasporas, etc. would effect them.
232 years later, and it's still a fracking mess.
Hello Echobeach. Great to
Hello Echobeach. Great to see you here.
xoxo -PK
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
I cannot fit 'man's
I cannot fit 'man's inhumanity to man' into my head anymore, I am just glad that at long last, due in no small part to the internet, people are waking up to what is being done in their name by their governments.
Frightening prospect not mentioned yet: the funding and condonement of the conflict by the US Bush administration and some sections of US society is connected to the 'end of days' belief. The people for whom this is a 'real' prospect see the conflict as a 'necessary' stepping stone on the path to the rapture. In other words, it is being not only helped, but manufactured, to bring about the 'end timers'' beliefs. A long but simplified documentary here. Makes frightening viewing for those who may not have realised this before:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lWKiP6Qfflo
p.s I need to add that I
p.s I need to add that I feel intense sympathy for the innocent civilians that have been caught up in this conflict. It makes me very sad and angry to see mosques and schools bombed and I don't support these actions from Israel.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
I think that Hamas and Israel
I think that Hamas and Israel are both being bullies. Hamas leaders have this oddly aggressive "bravado" attitude that isn't earning them a lot of sympathy. You are very right about the non-existent news trickling over here to us, which is why I don't fully understand the situation. However, Moon had a great point in mentioning the Israel lobby in Washington.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
unfortunately, if a state is
unfortunately, if a state is unwilling to acknowledge that actions taken last week, last year, or the past decades were wrong , it is highly unlikely that the present or future actions will be any different. There has to be accountability for crimes and violations of international law that have been committed, and steps taken to mend the damage done. The US blocking any United Nations action or even statements when Israel violates international law is reprehensible and makes the US complicit.
As the information that trickles into the states is close to non-existent, i'll provide a link to the Israeli Human Rights organization B'tselem - for some historical and present information
http://www.btselem.org/english/ . Hard to see Israel as being bullied, rather than being the bully.
here's something by Nafeez
here's something by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, Executive Director Institute for Policy Research & Development
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21670.htm
here's Avrum Burg, scion of one of Israel's founding families, who claims Jewish State has lost its sense of moral purpose: his new book The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Rise from Its Ashes (Palgrave/MacMillan)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1869325,00.html
& of course Robert Fisk in London's Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-d...
& this overview of reliable media coverage:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21663.htm
Knowing about it or not, it's
Knowing about it or not, it's really hard to decide who is on the right side or the wrong side, to decipher all the implied actions.
Israël is surrounded by ennemies. Palestinians need independance.
I think both of Israel and Palestine have to be recognized, but it's so easy to say it... and they fight since 1948.
So, you just feel hurt and powerless.
Aahhhh...that does explain a
Aahhhh...that does explain a lot. And YES you do know shit.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
Yes, mam, you do know
Yes, mam, you do know shit......please let me know when a lesbian lobbyist job becomes available....
@kdhales
I don't claim to know shit,
I don't claim to know shit, but the Israel lobby is the largest and most well funded lobby in Washington. Perhaps even bigger than oil.
... the gays should actually take a page from their play book if we want any support from govn't.
tweet me tweeps @gracemoon
May this song serve as an
May this song serve as an inspiration for all of us who pray for shalom-salam-peace...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_i2F2LlF8
Can someone who has studied
Can someone who has studied the history of this conflict please explain to me why the US supports all of the actions of Israel without question? I don't defend Hamas or their actions, but it really looks as if Israel has a long history of reacting disproportionately to the threat from Hamas. Years ago, Hamas kidnapped an Iaraeli soldier and Israel repsonded with violence and now Israel has bombed mosques, schools, killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians and we support them with no question.
What am I missing?
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
War is money! Oh geez, I'm
War is money! Oh geez, I'm getting off here and going for a walk - get some fresh air and sunshine - think happy thoughts.....
Southern belles and fried catfish,
Tex
@kdhales
The US also blocked a UN
The US also blocked a UN resolution to call for a ceasefire. Talk about complicit!
Follow me, if you dare: @theKELword
Thanks to call out Yvonne. I
Thanks to call out Yvonne. I really hope to see her here.
Hey, Erin, come on over and
Hey, Erin, come on over and down to Texas! We'll make room for ya....turn this into an iconoclastic condo for the causes! Maybe a change of scenery will help your feelings....we'll get in the suv one day and hop on over to New Mexico and visit Kelly while she's still there - pitch some yurts - powwow around the fire. Hey, Kelly! Ready for some company - some camping for the greater good?
Feel better, my friend.....I am sending good karma your way as I type.....turning your despair to hope.......we need you
Looking for a belle to convert,
Tex
@kdhales
I've been sooo torn over the
I've been sooo torn over the fighting in the Middle East. I'm not sure about all the nuances and the every day to day struggles of both sides.
I don't think Israel should be bombing the crap out of Gaza. Did they even make a peep at why? Or even give them warning or asked them any questions...like stop doing such and such or we will bomb you?
What is the goal of these bombings - other then to just kill, and what do they think the bombing will lead to?
That area has long gone been over populated.
it reminds me of an over crowded house of family with siblings that have a hard time with being next to one another, because a lack of the ability to share.
Israel has been bullied for years. But I still don't see this justification for killing hundreds and wounding thousands ....out of no where. I want Israel to be able to move forward. And I want Palestine to be able to move forward. Talking with one another is key in moving forward. Being able to talk with one another without bringing up the past or acting on the past. And letting the past be the past.
I love Israel...and Palestine. I want them to talk with one another and learn to be a part of the same community. And learn that they are not that different from one another. I'm tired of the killing.