Gush Shalom, an Israeli peace organization whose name means, "The Peace Bloc," has amassed a large number of Israelis to its cause, "The establishment of two states - one Jewish and one Palestinian - living side by side in peace in what used to be Palestine." The primary enemies of Gush Shalom are those groups and individuals who disagree with its goals and its methods for achieving those goals.
Guush Shalom performs many useful services in the cause for peace. Uri Avneri, the leading writer/activist in the movement, writes his messages of achieving the desired peace with a strong pen. He describes the affronts to Arab citizens of Israel with clarity and truth. Others also write, lecture, march in parades, stand in rallies, and work to protect Arab rights in Israel and to educate to a peaceful solution to more than a century of Arab (often violoent) opposition to Zionism, the conversion of The Ancient Biblical Land of Israel into a modern homeland for the Jewish People.
The opposition to Gush Shalom can be delineated by the political parties to which those opponents attach themselves. One of the pillars of these myriad parties is a clearly stated belief that the Jews of Israel, the Israelis, have such a measure of security from Arab/Palestinian attack, that nothing be done by the State that would jeopardize the safety and well-being of its inhabitants, and further, (depending on the party or parties) that no peace agreement be entered onto that might enhance by the Arabs or the Israeli government the potential military capability of the Palestinians who would form their own state alongside Israel.
In addition, on national, ethnic, and religious sides of the conflict are extremists who see no solution that can possibly be mutually acceptable. This is disproportionately true for the religious elements on both sides of the conflict. Every rock is holy. Every trespass is a desecration. Two parties cannot occupy the same space at the same time, ever.
So, though Jewish extremists are essentially defensive, Arab extremists call for death to the Jews; an obviously incompatible situation. Herein lies the source for the enormous conflicts in Jewish life and Israeli politics. There is no apparent "Live and Let Live," on the Arab side of the conflict. The vast majority of Arabs and now Iranian Muslims and other Islamists call for death to the Jews, and the Israelis of all political stripes know this, yet GS believes there is a fair way out of the conflict. That way, according to GS, is fairly.
In the face of entrenched regimes and religiously educated populations intent on the anihilation of the Jewish People, it would appear that the fanatic idealism of GS will not provide a foundation for peace for Israel and the Palestinians. The mirage of rapprochement has borne little fruit. The polls show little trust and lots of animosity.
The questions that muat be answered before approching the peace table are these; Who erodes talk of peace? Who promotes war and hatred? Who benefits from these positions?
These are not questions of what is fair, how to redress old grievances, how to assure security, how to promote peace? These are foundational questions that address the causes of war, the incitements of hatred and terror, the issue of legitamacy. Gush Shalom's efforts to "Make Nice" have little to zero impact on the outcome of war and peace any more thasn the terror of religious belief has.
Wealth and power are the determinants of war and peace. How many religionists want peace between Islam and Judaism? How many Arab national regimes must fall before peace can realistically be discussed and achieved? How are the arms merchants to be reined in away from this wealth-producing conflict?
The crude South African expression of farting against thunder is what is taking place here. Gush Shalom is close to being irrelevant. Their goals are desireable; their nethods a mirage.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
WHEN WILL PEACE COME
LETTER TO THE NY TIMES
WHEN WILL PEACE COME -
”Carlo Strenger”s analysis, “TALKING-CURE DIPLOMACY,” omits the truism that war will continue forever because there is money to be made in it. We live in a world of constant conflict, much of it based on religious differences supported by huge amounts of money that in turn bring wealth to the few while the many are killed and dying.
The Arab-Israeli conflict will never end. All the parties to the conflict never sit at the same table. And, aside from Israel, those of the parties who do sit at the peace table have little power to affect the outcome of their meetings. That is simply because the beneficiaries of the conflict happily support it and see no good reason to end it. Only their wealth will be spilled at the peace table; not their blood. And it is the wealthy who are and control the body-politic.
So long as the Arab/Muslim world continues to show death-dealing animosity to Israel's existence, Israel will simply continue to prepare itself for war. When the bombs stop falling on Israel, when the Saudi text-books that show Israel's destruction as a good thing to young Arab minds are amended to teach peace, when the oligarchies of the Arab world show a willingness to normalize political and economic relations with Israel, when every Muslim and Arab terrorist organization created by the wealthy ceases its active war against the Jews and Israel, when the new nuclear-powered Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinajad, ceases his denial of the Holocaust to loud applause by the Muslim world, and when 85% of the Palestinians cease to wish for, work for, pray for, the destruction of Israel and death to the Jews, peace will come.
Israel’s power lies in its ability to say, “Yes.” And the Yes comes because of the benefits it can bring to those who are powerful and control the wealth of the country. Even so, were the decision in the hands of Israel's religious bloc, they and their Arab brethren in war, will operate to destroy peace.
Acceptance of the “Other,” in all its ramifications, cannot be attained through Pschology 101 nor religious teachings, through propaganda of the wealth-controlled media, through the profits of the arms makers and arms merchants, and finally, from the existing political hierarchies that control and are controlled by wealth. Rejection is the password to all peaceful manifestations. The mistrust of the other by the masses, engendered, supported, and educated by the power elites of the warring nations, will continue forever as a “necessity” of national defense, patriotism, and religious purity.
Following that state of affairs, the peace movements and the terrorist organizations serve up the citizenry of their countries as tender food for warlords, enthusiastically waving their banners, marching in rallies, occasionally contributing their lives for the cause, always unaware of the legalized power of war-mongers laughing at their naivete. For those who know, know that if by mistake peace is achieved, it will be short-lived.
WHEN WILL PEACE COME -
”Carlo Strenger”s analysis, “TALKING-CURE DIPLOMACY,” omits the truism that war will continue forever because there is money to be made in it. We live in a world of constant conflict, much of it based on religious differences supported by huge amounts of money that in turn bring wealth to the few while the many are killed and dying.
The Arab-Israeli conflict will never end. All the parties to the conflict never sit at the same table. And, aside from Israel, those of the parties who do sit at the peace table have little power to affect the outcome of their meetings. That is simply because the beneficiaries of the conflict happily support it and see no good reason to end it. Only their wealth will be spilled at the peace table; not their blood. And it is the wealthy who are and control the body-politic.
So long as the Arab/Muslim world continues to show death-dealing animosity to Israel's existence, Israel will simply continue to prepare itself for war. When the bombs stop falling on Israel, when the Saudi text-books that show Israel's destruction as a good thing to young Arab minds are amended to teach peace, when the oligarchies of the Arab world show a willingness to normalize political and economic relations with Israel, when every Muslim and Arab terrorist organization created by the wealthy ceases its active war against the Jews and Israel, when the new nuclear-powered Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinajad, ceases his denial of the Holocaust to loud applause by the Muslim world, and when 85% of the Palestinians cease to wish for, work for, pray for, the destruction of Israel and death to the Jews, peace will come.
Israel’s power lies in its ability to say, “Yes.” And the Yes comes because of the benefits it can bring to those who are powerful and control the wealth of the country. Even so, were the decision in the hands of Israel's religious bloc, they and their Arab brethren in war, will operate to destroy peace.
Acceptance of the “Other,” in all its ramifications, cannot be attained through Pschology 101 nor religious teachings, through propaganda of the wealth-controlled media, through the profits of the arms makers and arms merchants, and finally, from the existing political hierarchies that control and are controlled by wealth. Rejection is the password to all peaceful manifestations. The mistrust of the other by the masses, engendered, supported, and educated by the power elites of the warring nations, will continue forever as a “necessity” of national defense, patriotism, and religious purity.
Following that state of affairs, the peace movements and the terrorist organizations serve up the citizenry of their countries as tender food for warlords, enthusiastically waving their banners, marching in rallies, occasionally contributing their lives for the cause, always unaware of the legalized power of war-mongers laughing at their naivete. For those who know, know that if by mistake peace is achieved, it will be short-lived.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
HOW THE WORLD WORKS
THE SYSTEMS AND FORMULAS OF THE WORLD
Have you ever thought about how the world works, that is, our world on the planet Earth? And did you ever think about how the world worked in the past, before telephones and airplanes, and before cars and trucks were invented? How did peoples and countries communicate with each other, if they did communicate with each other? What did they try to do to make their lives comfortable and how did they measure success in the world of ten thousand years ago and five thousand years ago? Who and how did what in the many different societies that existed over the millennia since mankind emerged from caves and started living in homes that they built on land that they owned and farmed, using tools that they made and materials that they pulled from the earth? And how were leaders chosen, if they were chosen? Who rose to the top and how did they rise to the top of their societies?
Our world generally operates within systems and uses formulas to achieve local successes. The systems are interconnected and the formulas are similar from nation to nation and from one international entity to another. The international connection enables trade for mutual benefit and the internal systems are designed to accommodate differences such as currency, language and cultures, economic level, and political establishments. Except in cases of rogue states or states that are in the process of violent change or collapsing, these statements hold true.
Natural resources like oil that are in huge universal demand and huge populations that provide low cost labor, skew the systems and formulas as much as internal warfare, regime change, and major natural disasters do over shorter time periods. The drive for power and wealth acquisition brings a measure of tranquility to international exchanges that benefit the elites in whatever combination of nations are engaged.
Internal systems and formulas are based on how wealth and allegiance are achieved. Variations between and within the systems reflect the nature of a nation’s wealth, history, government, culture, people, and often, religion. The history, language, natural resources, and geography of a nation are key determinants of wealth acquisition. A typical formula has multi-generational power continuation that regardless of huge disparities in wealth distribution, auger for economic stability. That power can be embedded in government or in royal symbolism or in religious unity within a country. Governments as a matter of course represent power elites that invest the money to obtain government sinecures for their lackeys. “What is good for General Motors is good for the country,” used to be considered instructions for government functioning. With General Motors teetering on bankruptcy at the end of 2008, the slogan requires a name change, perhaps to the more truthful and realistic, “What’s good for the wealthy and powerful, is good for the country.”
Success is measured in accumulation of wealth just as failure is measured in loss of wealth.
Have you ever thought about how the world works, that is, our world on the planet Earth? And did you ever think about how the world worked in the past, before telephones and airplanes, and before cars and trucks were invented? How did peoples and countries communicate with each other, if they did communicate with each other? What did they try to do to make their lives comfortable and how did they measure success in the world of ten thousand years ago and five thousand years ago? Who and how did what in the many different societies that existed over the millennia since mankind emerged from caves and started living in homes that they built on land that they owned and farmed, using tools that they made and materials that they pulled from the earth? And how were leaders chosen, if they were chosen? Who rose to the top and how did they rise to the top of their societies?
Our world generally operates within systems and uses formulas to achieve local successes. The systems are interconnected and the formulas are similar from nation to nation and from one international entity to another. The international connection enables trade for mutual benefit and the internal systems are designed to accommodate differences such as currency, language and cultures, economic level, and political establishments. Except in cases of rogue states or states that are in the process of violent change or collapsing, these statements hold true.
Natural resources like oil that are in huge universal demand and huge populations that provide low cost labor, skew the systems and formulas as much as internal warfare, regime change, and major natural disasters do over shorter time periods. The drive for power and wealth acquisition brings a measure of tranquility to international exchanges that benefit the elites in whatever combination of nations are engaged.
Internal systems and formulas are based on how wealth and allegiance are achieved. Variations between and within the systems reflect the nature of a nation’s wealth, history, government, culture, people, and often, religion. The history, language, natural resources, and geography of a nation are key determinants of wealth acquisition. A typical formula has multi-generational power continuation that regardless of huge disparities in wealth distribution, auger for economic stability. That power can be embedded in government or in royal symbolism or in religious unity within a country. Governments as a matter of course represent power elites that invest the money to obtain government sinecures for their lackeys. “What is good for General Motors is good for the country,” used to be considered instructions for government functioning. With General Motors teetering on bankruptcy at the end of 2008, the slogan requires a name change, perhaps to the more truthful and realistic, “What’s good for the wealthy and powerful, is good for the country.”
Success is measured in accumulation of wealth just as failure is measured in loss of wealth.
RELIGIOUS SADISM
Adherents of many religions, from the flock to the shepherd, find satisfaction in cruelty to others ostensibly mandated by the commandments and the laws passed down to the present day practitioners of cruelty. From self-flagellation to torture of others in the fulfillment of their God’s requirements as they and the factotums of their faith dictate, cruelty and the infliction of pain fulfill their sense of piety and obeisance to their God.
The lash, the wheel, stoning, the long fall from the precipice and the fire at the stake, all fill the need for the infliction of unbearable pain and for the deep satisfaction that comes from observing and sharing in the rituals of one’s religion, however cruel.
From the days of Egyptian Pharaohs’ lash, through the Roman practice of feeding Christians to lions to the roaring approval of the coliseum’s crowds, to Torquemada’s re-education of recalcitrant non-believers and the burning of Joan of Arc at the stake to the immense approval of the supposedly more religious observers, cruelty and the infliction of severe and deadly pain were religious norms.
These early tortures served as tutorials for today’s Islamic practices to obtain adherence to Koranic requirements for modesty, abstinence, killing of Jews and Westerners, and obeisance to law as dictated by the Imams of the religion.
The early Hebrews substituted a lamb for their sacrificial offerings and ceased that act of cruelty with the second destruction of their temple and the destruction of temple worship. Such sacrifices acquired the name of “Sa-ir l’aza’zel,” “Emissary to Hell,” in recognition of the inhumanity of the act. And in precognition of events in 2008 and 2009, Hell was located in Gaza.
Apparently, civilization does not require the elimination of cruelty in religious practice for the so-called civilized world is mum in the face of an enormous variety of cruel and painful religious practices.
The lash, the wheel, stoning, the long fall from the precipice and the fire at the stake, all fill the need for the infliction of unbearable pain and for the deep satisfaction that comes from observing and sharing in the rituals of one’s religion, however cruel.
From the days of Egyptian Pharaohs’ lash, through the Roman practice of feeding Christians to lions to the roaring approval of the coliseum’s crowds, to Torquemada’s re-education of recalcitrant non-believers and the burning of Joan of Arc at the stake to the immense approval of the supposedly more religious observers, cruelty and the infliction of severe and deadly pain were religious norms.
These early tortures served as tutorials for today’s Islamic practices to obtain adherence to Koranic requirements for modesty, abstinence, killing of Jews and Westerners, and obeisance to law as dictated by the Imams of the religion.
The early Hebrews substituted a lamb for their sacrificial offerings and ceased that act of cruelty with the second destruction of their temple and the destruction of temple worship. Such sacrifices acquired the name of “Sa-ir l’aza’zel,” “Emissary to Hell,” in recognition of the inhumanity of the act. And in precognition of events in 2008 and 2009, Hell was located in Gaza.
Apparently, civilization does not require the elimination of cruelty in religious practice for the so-called civilized world is mum in the face of an enormous variety of cruel and painful religious practices.
Monday, February 23, 2009
HISTORY vs TRUTH
The time frame of history begins with pictures on the walls of caves and ends at today's newspaper and website writings and pictures. Oral history, however close to the truth of the past it may be, relies on the vagaries of memories and limited presentations to small audiences.
The need for written records matched the growth of settled populations and competition fostered by accumulation of wealth. Mercantilism and religion joined forces to increase their control over populations and wealth. Somehow, the history of financial dealings and transactions, and the word of God, became entwined. The leaders of both these forces relied on the past for their present power; the one for stories of success and the other for stories of communication with God.
Quite obviously, conflicting needs led to conflicting accounts of past events and transactions. The very definition of truth became fungible. The statements of high priests were the ineffable truth. The wealthy and powerful, by force of position created the truth. Thus, the history of events and transactions became subject to the needs and desires of the victors of wars or the people who paid the writers to create the history of events. Kings, Pharaohs, High Priests, Emperors, and their minions, dictated history and history thus became what was written.
If we call what was, the truth, and we call what was written, history, it becomes readily apparent that the two may not be identical. This can be demonstrated by two versions of the same event as depicted by winners and losers of wars.
As a starting point, Israel's "War of Independence" became Palestinian Arabs' "Naquba" or "Tragedy." Israel describes the exodus of the Palestinians as responsive to the demands of the invading Arab armies to clear the way for them to throw the Jews into the sea. The Palestinians assert that the Jews attacked the civilian population mercilessly, forcing them to flee into exile and leave their homes and homeland for the refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries. Both histories have become immutable truths. Both truths are immutable history to their believers.
More familiar but with fewer details, which is the "true history," the two-faced history of America's westward movement from the initial landings of Europeans on the east coast through the declarations of statehood of the western territories of what is now the United States of America or the tragic history of the slaughter and theft of their lands of Native Americans in that same period?
The lesson to be learned here is that the "Truth" and "History" of the same events may be at variance and this syndrome has been repeated from the beginning of recorded events and shall always be repeated. That history repeats itself is the nature of history. A corollary is that power uses history to guide its actions in the present and thus, contrary to Santayana's warning, knowingly repeats the lessons learned from history. With this in mind, a search for the facets of events as seen by those affecting them and affected by them is mandated, keeping in mind that the powerful, usually the "winners," write the histories though the truth might lie elsewhere.
The need for written records matched the growth of settled populations and competition fostered by accumulation of wealth. Mercantilism and religion joined forces to increase their control over populations and wealth. Somehow, the history of financial dealings and transactions, and the word of God, became entwined. The leaders of both these forces relied on the past for their present power; the one for stories of success and the other for stories of communication with God.
Quite obviously, conflicting needs led to conflicting accounts of past events and transactions. The very definition of truth became fungible. The statements of high priests were the ineffable truth. The wealthy and powerful, by force of position created the truth. Thus, the history of events and transactions became subject to the needs and desires of the victors of wars or the people who paid the writers to create the history of events. Kings, Pharaohs, High Priests, Emperors, and their minions, dictated history and history thus became what was written.
If we call what was, the truth, and we call what was written, history, it becomes readily apparent that the two may not be identical. This can be demonstrated by two versions of the same event as depicted by winners and losers of wars.
As a starting point, Israel's "War of Independence" became Palestinian Arabs' "Naquba" or "Tragedy." Israel describes the exodus of the Palestinians as responsive to the demands of the invading Arab armies to clear the way for them to throw the Jews into the sea. The Palestinians assert that the Jews attacked the civilian population mercilessly, forcing them to flee into exile and leave their homes and homeland for the refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries. Both histories have become immutable truths. Both truths are immutable history to their believers.
More familiar but with fewer details, which is the "true history," the two-faced history of America's westward movement from the initial landings of Europeans on the east coast through the declarations of statehood of the western territories of what is now the United States of America or the tragic history of the slaughter and theft of their lands of Native Americans in that same period?
The lesson to be learned here is that the "Truth" and "History" of the same events may be at variance and this syndrome has been repeated from the beginning of recorded events and shall always be repeated. That history repeats itself is the nature of history. A corollary is that power uses history to guide its actions in the present and thus, contrary to Santayana's warning, knowingly repeats the lessons learned from history. With this in mind, a search for the facets of events as seen by those affecting them and affected by them is mandated, keeping in mind that the powerful, usually the "winners," write the histories though the truth might lie elsewhere.
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