Monday, March 30, 2009

Remember when I was really naive?

Oh, hope. It tends to take a beating.

But it's also a stubborn mother f-er.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

a (belated but favorite) picture from Barcelona

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and a few feet away...
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Israel Disputes Soldiers’ Accounts of Gaza Abuses

An article today counteracts the media whirlwind of accustions that Israel acted wrongfully in the Gaza conflict.

“When we entered houses, we actually cleaned up the place,” said Yishai Goldflam, 32, a religiously observant film student in Jerusalem whose open letter to the Palestinian owners of the house he occupied for some days was published in the newspaper Maariv. “There are always idiots who do immoral things. But they don’t represent the majority. I remember once when a soldier wanted to take a Coke from a store, and he was stopped by his fellow soldiers because it was the wrong thing to do.”

Yaron Ezrahi, a political theorist who lectures military commanders, said they rejected the notion of willful abuse by their troops. But the commanders say more civilians died than should have and attribute it to two factors: faulty intelligence that led to attacking the wrong houses, and a failure, after warning Palestinians to leave, to provide safe escape routes.

Personally, I can't say that I believe there is a a systematic effort by Israel to destroy Palestinians. But I don't doubt that there are some Israelis who would believe in such a thing; I don't like the attitudes from a lot of Israelis commenting on message boards in the wake of accusations that IDF acted wrongfully. The unwillingness to believe anything other than "IDF is the most moral army in the world", to do anything but revere the Israeli talking points, frustrates me. Of course...all of these things can be said, really, about any society; like the quote above says, there are always immoral idiots. I guess the hope is that people would realize that, and instead of trying to defend the idiots, try to understand how others might feel now because of those idiots, and try to understand all of the different biases going in from themselves and others, and try to focus as much on useful dialogue as on defending their own original stances.

Here is the open letter that Yishai Goldflam wrote: I am the soldier who slept in your home.
I am convinced that you hate me with unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire to hear what I have to say. At the same time, it is important for me to say the following in the hope that there is even the minutest chance that you will hear me.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Palestinians Serenade Survivors in Israel

There is not just hate and violence.

DREAM Act being reintroduced this week

by Sen. Richard Durbin and Sen. Richard Lugar.

From Citizen Orange.

Also, here is Citizen Orange's argument in favor of the DREAM Act.

Turkey's Sudan decision

As a temporary member of the United Nations' Security Council, which might vote on a motion to defer the ICC's warrant, Turkey may soon find itself having to take a definitive position on the issue. According to an article by Hurriyet's Barcin Yinanc, Ankara is leaning towards voting in favor of a deferral, something that could become a sticking point between it and Washington, which opposes putting off the warrant.

From Instanbul Calling.

Gaza-Sderot- new, post-conflict videos!

There are four new videos from each side. Here is the first video.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Congratulations, Mugabe!!!

You are the world's worst dictator!

Mugabe would like to thank torture and greed, without which none of this would have been possible.

Sorry, al-Bashir; maybe next year.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Speaking in fewer tongues

A third of the world's languages are at risk

AROUND a quarter of the world's population speaks just three languages: Mandarin, English and Spanish. But out of the 6,700 of the world's identified languages, nearly 2,500 are deemed at risk according to UNESCO, the UN's cultural body. The imposition of a colonial language long ago in big countries such as Brazil and America is still endangering the diversity of native tongues. In America, 53 languages have become extinct since 1950, more than in any other country.

From the Economist.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Daedalus

Also, when I'm not overdosing on Beirut (just kidding, that's not possible), I have this song stuck in my head. Thanks to Sadie's little brother for introducing it to Sadie, thanks to Sadie for introducing it to me, you're welcome to you from me.

Gaza-Sderot: A Tale of Two Cities

Ok, even better, even better (in fact I've deleted the other documentary, as this type of concept is what I should be focusing on instead), and this documentary project is brilliant for puposely humanizing both sides. This was filmed just before the start of the conflict in December.

It's also great because it is broken down on the website into short clips from each day, from both sides.

Here is an article about it from Time Magazine.

Watch it! Also for those in Austin this week for SXSW- it is showing on the 17th.

I wish I knew how to embed this, but I am too computer/internets ignorant- but I am so enthusiastic about this! Go watch it!

And also, this blog- Life Must Go On in Gaza and Sderot- is so great. Go read it!

(Ok, ok, I'm on a roll- here is another good exchange from over a year ago between two young women, one each from Sderot and Gaza. I'll stop adding links now because I need to step. away. from the computer.)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

When Jobs Disappear

History implies that high unemployment is not just an economic problem but also a political tinderbox. Weak labour markets risk fanning xenophobia, particularly in Europe, where this is the first downturn since immigration soared. China’s leadership is terrified by the prospect of social unrest from rising joblessness, particularly among the urban elite.

From the Economist.

Did the ICC do the right thing in issuing the warrant for al-Bashir's arrest?

The people of Darur think so:
Darfuris themselves are well aware of how they might be punished for backing the ICC; yet, despite the indictment of two Darfuri rebel leaders along with members of the government in Khartoum, it is hard to find anyone aside from Mr Bashir’s few Arab supporters in the main towns who opposes the court’s action. Justice matters even—perhaps especially—to people who have nothing.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Misc. beautiful stuff: Alhambra, Beirut

Something really beautiful I got to see in Grenada a few weeks ago- the Alhambra.
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Too bad my memory card was full or else I would have taken so many more pictures.

Something else really beautiful is this new Beirut song I've gone playing practically on repeat:


This song was apparently on Natalie Portman's charity compilation CD back in late 2007, which I think should be a lesson to us all that doing good makes beautiful music (oh yeah and Natalie Portman is one of the coolest people ever)

Friday, March 6, 2009

Prayers with Tsvangirai

Car-truck crash kills Zimbabwe prime minister's wife, injures him
"I'm skeptical about any motor vehicle accident in Zimbabwe involving an opposition figure," said Tom McDonald, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe from 1997 to 2001. "President Mugabe has a history of strange car accidents when someone lo and behold dies -- it's sort of his M.O. of how they get rid of people they don't like."

al-Bashir, a real stand-up guy

ACT NOW; Tell Secretary Clinton to prioritize Darfur

Confronting myself

I have a confession to make. I am not proud of what I am about to admit, but, especially in light of my last post, I think I should admit it. Maybe it will hurt my credibility, but in the end I hope it actually helps it.

I was in London the summer of 2006. I was probably even more of a typical American tourist than I'd like to imagine. My friend and I were on one of those bus tours when we hit terrible traffic and were forced off the bus. There was apparently "some protest" going on, which was clogging the streets. Frustrated and probably still cranky from jet-lag (and the culture shock that happens, even in a Texas to London transition, as a silly 21-yr old girl who has never really been anywhere), we started to wander the streets. That's when we crossed paths with the protest. It was quite a sight to behold: people yelling, signs supporting Hezbollah.

"So...what's this all about?" my friend asked me.

And that's when I responded with, quite literally, every single little bit of knowledge I had on the matter: "Oh, Hezbollah is a terrorist group at war with Israel. They're supporting terrorists, isn't that nice?" And off we went, after snapping a few pictures, probably to find some chips or pints.

I did not know a lick of information about why these protesters were angry, what they knew, what their family and friends knew or had experienced. I did not even know what the war was about. And I judged the shit out them. Because I knew all I needed to know: Hezbollah = terrorist.

Now, I like to think I have grown up a little bit since then, and will at least make an attempt to learn about a situation before I get some opinion going about it. But I have to say, when you confront your own biases and your own mental shortcuts and your own cultural upbringing, and you start to see how they have failed....well, not only yourself but the rest of the world, in a way...it's hard to commit yourself again.

And then when you do...

I recently took a trip to Spain with my wonderful friend Sadie, during which I brought up the Facebook responses I got after posting the Palestinian death toll during the war. Sadie, who is Jewish, helped me understand something that I had not previously understood to the extent I should have: the way I went about conveying the message I wanted to convey was divisive. Although in my own head I wanted to address and bring attention to the human catastrophe happening, with some topics, especially ones as inherently sensitive as Israel/Palestine, the way you deliver a message can be just as important as what you say. Do I regret posting the death toll? I don't regret my thoughts on the matter, and I still hope that I opened up some eyes or at least made people think a little bit more about the situation. I do wish that I had found a less divisive way to do so, or at least fully recognized at the time how divisive the message was. In the end, after all, what I hope for is peace rather than division.

So in what may come as shocking news to some of my Facebook friends, it turns out that I support (....or at least don't NOT support) the decision of the U.S., Israel, and other countries to pull out of the Durban II conference due to its perceived Anti-Semitism. Sure, let's tackle discrimination. Let's tackle whatever you would call the way Israel treats Palestinians. But it shouldn't be done with finger-pointing and pretextual conferences. And Israel does deserve some recognition of its security concerns. This conference promises to fan the flames, and that is not something I think is necessary. To put it lightly.

Anyway. I am headed to Paris again this weekend (oh, how I love that city!), because the Paris Half-Marathon is Sunday. I will not be running in it after all; I incurred an injury a little over a month ago and have only been able to (gently) resume running this week. But...I had already booked the trip, so it is still a great opportunity to go see the wonderful city and cheer on Sadie.