Thru Other Eyes

Victims No More?! - An Open Letter To My Jewish Brothers And Sisters

(This article is somewhat longer than usual; if you prefer, download a printable version here.)

Dear Friends,

Thank you very much for the video you sent me called "An Open Letter To The World From Israel." Here's an open letter in return. Although we have sharply differing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general and perhaps even more divergent perspectives on the most recent war in Gaza, my respect and love for you always lead me to listen to your views with an open mind.

The video, with its catalogue of many of the most heinous dignities we Jews have faced through the centuries, is frankly a not very subtle playing of the ‘anti-Semite card.’ Apparently in your opinion - and from what I have seen and heard over the last three weeks, in the opinion of Israel, most of her citizens and much of world Jewry - what we have witnessed in Gaza, the events that led up to it and the reaction of many people and media around the world can best be viewed in the context of age-old and still present global anti-Semitism.

The last few days I have spent a great deal of time thinking very deeply about the significance, value and validity of playing the “anti-Semite card” anno 2009.

The March of History

Just heard this great quote while chatting with a few hundred thousand people from all over the world on the CNN.com/live-Facebook integrated application:

'Rosa Parks sat, so Martin Luther King, Jr. could walk, so Barack Obama could run, so the rest of us could fly!

George Bush Rides Into The Sunset, Not A Moment Too Soon

George, I wish I could say it was fun, but it wasn't. I wish I could say we will miss you, but we won't. Have a good life as you ponder each and every one of the many tens of millions of Americans and other people all over the world who no longer have so much chance for a good life thanks to you and what you have done and let happen. Sweet tortured dreams, my friend.

Happy Trails To You

A New American Dawn, A New Global Hope

Today, is a day for thanks and inspiration as we prepare to welcome tomorrow's dawn.....

Every day brings a new dawn with new chances for hope or despair but tomorrow, January 20, 2009, will be the dawning of a new hope for an America reborn. It is so fitting

Two Things I Wish I Had Heard and One I Wish I Hadn't

Yesterday I would have been a lot happier if I had heard two things coming out of the USA and a hell of a lot happier if I hadn't heard one thing coming out of Israel.

I See What You Don't See

All of a sudden we seem to be further from peace than at any time since the Oslo accords. The war in Gaza has recreated an impenetrable filter through which the two sides see two totally different realities. The light of mutual understanding and other-directed empathy, weak as it has often been, has now totally disappeared into a Bermuda triangle of violence, hate and fear.

I have long known that 'the usses and the thems' of the world will look at the same facts yet see totally different realities and create two totally different narratives. I have recently heard two things from Israel’s side and found two things in my email in-box that have made painfully clear that what Israel and many Jews see when looking outward is totally different from what many others see when looking towards Israel. Why are we caught up in this game of 'I see what you don't see?'

The Hundred Years' War

As those of you who know me know, at times like these my normal news junkie habit becomes an obsession. Perhaps not so healthy but, hey, that's me. Today I read this article in The Economist - "The hundred years' war" - which I can heartily recommend. In fact, I urge you to take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to read this very impartial view on the current war in Gaza in the context of the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. If you have an outspoken bias towards one side or the other, don't expect any knee-jerk confirmations of any singular point of view. Expect to see the conflict from a broader and more balanced perspective.

Feel free to come back and comment after reading the article.

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Mutual Prayers - Reaching Out To Each Other From Our Spiritual Core

I am tired. Sleepless nights. Tormented dreams. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. These are the things I am experiencing in these dark days of suffering, violence and death in the Promised Land.

At the end of a discussion with someone recently, my discussion partner lamented, "This is all so terrible, but what can we do?" We may be at the mercy of our political leaders and we may be imprisoned by the more extreme elements on all sides but there is much that we can do.

We can keep our minds and our hearts open to each other's humanity. We can share our feelings, our thoughts and our opinions. And we can use the courage, the strength and light that emanates from our universal spiritual core to search for common ground.

Allow me to share with you two things I read this morning on the website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: "A Jew's Prayer for the Children of Gaza" by columnist Bradley Burston and a reader's reply to his article entitled "A Palestinian's Prayer for Israel/ Beautiful Israel:"

"No Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza." Say What?

There is so much to say about the current war in Gaza, that I have been unable to put how things look thru my eyes into a coherent article. As I watched the ground invasion unfold through the night I followed several international TV news channels from Al Jazeera to CNN to the BBC and Sky as well as keeping up on what several bloggers with phone links to family and friends in the region were reporting.

What I saw and heard was extremely painful and disturbing. Besides the terrible human destruction, I am quite troubled by the absurd things that come out of the mouths of some of the spokespersons on both sides. To be honest, I don't have high expectations when Hamas spokespeople take to the airwaves but I do expect more of the Israelis and I therefore listen more critically to what they say.

Why? First of all, because they are 'my people' and my inclination is to look in the mirror before pointing fingers at others. Secondly, maybe I have more hunger for truth and transparency when an army marches off to take lives because I too have had a hand in this endless cycle of futile violence as an Israeli soldier. And thirdly, if Israel is to claim the moral high ground and present herself to the world as the true victim then the least it can do is to be open and transparent when it comes to her motives and actions. For these reasons I expect Israel to pass at least some minimum test of truth and logic in the press room.

It is one thing to try and win the international PR war with selective information, self-serving interpretation and the occasional mis-information. All sides do that. But it is another to so transparently cover callous feelings and inhumane actions in a deceitful cloak of moral and intellectual dishonesty. And on no point is that more painfully apparent than when Israel claims there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.