Very true words, Ruth! Just read this article this afternoon and wanted to post here in case it’s useful for anyone. https://medium.com/@mushon/your-empathy-is-killing-us-1a50a4fc0488 <https://medium.com/@mushon/your-empathy-is-killing-us-1a50a4fc0488>
> On 10. Nov 2023, at 16:42, Ruth Catlow via NetBehaviour > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Alan, > > This post really helped me with a number of things... > > It helped me recognise how paralysed I have been by the combination of 2 > aspects of events in Israel/Palestine 1. the catastrophic violence and 2. > political propaganda. > > The violence perpetrated by states, armies, militias etc on civilians is > horrifying and grotesque. > Political propaganda is equally so. > > In the UK we have a home secretary who describes the London marches calling > for a ceasefire as "hate marches". Her message is carried and amplified by > ALL the mainstream British Newspapers - serious and tabloids alike - apart > from the Guardian and the Independent. So for the last week, our newsagents > have displayed wall-to-wall headlines that are designed to spread > misinformation and stir up fear and contempt along racial lines by recasting > peace protesters as dangerous, hateful, anti-British, antisemitic > extremists...part of a lefty conspiracy. > > The harm that these kinds of tactics do to both Muslim and Jewish communities > here is well understood. > <https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/antisemitic-islamophobic-offences-soar-london-after-israel-attacks-2023-10-20/> > It seems she is finally being sanctioned by her own Tory party but the > damage to people's sense of safety is immeasurable. > > > Your post also reminded me of the importance of constant work for imagining > and enacting routes to peace and justice from all quarters. No matter what > happens, we can be sure that if we stop talking to each other, trying to > understand what is happening, making our voices heard through all channels; > if we give up trying, there is really no hope. Therefore I was supergrateful > for your research into all the different peace strategies and tactics that > you have come across on these lines. > > You asked if art, music and discussion on lists help at a time like this. For > me, the answer is a resounding YES! > > Love and respect > Ruth > > On Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 8:48 AM Alan Sondheim via NetBehaviour > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > (apologies for so much posting recently, cutting back) > > > Thoughts on Israel/Palestine > > 0. Like everyone else, I've been ruminating more or less in > despair at the situation in Israel/Palestine. Until my mother > died, she was active in the Hadassah women's organization, > and made many trips to the Mid-East and Europe, working on > peace processes; I have many of her documents and some of her > talks here. In any case, thinking about the situation, > however naive I might be - > > 1. A two-state solution is absolutely necessary; nations need > self-governance all the way around. There's no reason that > the West Bank and Gaza cannot be united through physical and > eletronic internetworking that would be able to respond > quickly to crisis. > > 2. Israel must pull out of Gaza; what started as defense and > retribution has turned into a massacre on the order of > Dresden or the Warsaw ghetto. Beyond the politics there's an > outdated issue of saving face which is increasingly deadly. > > 3. I believe that Israel still has nuclear weapons, and these > should be off the table completely. A war of any sort in > these small areas can escalate into annihilation: to the > limit as I once wrote. > > 4. The hospital systems of Gaza and Israel should connect and > the wounded of all parties should be able to receive > immediate treatment. > > 5. Talks should begin on all of this, sidelining Netanyahu and > Hamas; there should be no room for absolutism. > > 6. Jerusalem, in parts, should be an international city; there > are a number of religions which are somewhat central there, > and there should be no competition. It would be governed both > as the capital of Israel and an important religious and > political center for Arabs, Christians, and Jews. > > 7. I would keep in relation to 6, the ultra-orthodox out of all > of this; their reasoning tends towards catastrophe, and, like > Netanyahu, they have no interest in anything other, I think, > than total annihilation of the Arabs. The same would hold for > any other religion as well. I'd argue for the UN to control > the temple mount, wailing wall, etc. > > 8. A great deal of all of this should center on the Jordan River > which has been known for a long time to be in a contention > that's damaging to everyone - instead there should be an > international agency composed of all the countries involved, > to find the best way to employ the water for agriculture and > so forth. Likewise Israeli desalinization plants should be > open to all. Articles I've read have indicated that this > might well be sustainable. > > 9. Cross-cultural education should be offered to all and perhaps > made mandatory; there are too many misrecognitions among > peoples that are resulting in the growths of hatreds. > Face-to-face peaceful encounters should be instituted; > there's already much too much false information online on > both side to result in anything other than a sense of > absolute warfare and enemies. > > 10. In terms of #2, the pull-out should be an immediate priority > and Israeli hospitals and other institutions should be open > to receiving the wounded. In other words, there must be > immediate steps taken, above all, to at least hint of a > periphery of reconciliation and cooperation; the land-mass > is too rugged, too alienating itself for anyone to prosper > without cooperation. > > 11. Obviously there should be term limits on Israeli leaders; > Netanyahu, who of course is corrupt, is going the way of all > strong-men, caressing the state, consolidating power, > ensuring his continuous re-election, and working with a > vengeful and underlying militarism that affects everything. > The fact that he listens to no one but himself in this > catastrophe - which he is now both creating and continuing - > indicates he has no desire for a peace process. I'm reminded > of Pogo, "We have met the enemy and he is us" - and this is > absolutely true in this situation, with perhaps the worst > collateral damage the world has seen since World War II; > again Dresden comes to mind. > > 12. There should be any number of "temporary" withdrawals on the > Israeli side, to see if Hamas could be contained or even > become part of the peace process. In other words, in order > to give peace a chance, you need a space for peace, a space > that would, at least for the moment, refuse recrimination in > the interests of the families and cultural institutions > caught up in the middle of all of this. (Remember John and > Yoko's bed.) > > 13. I wonder if lessons might not be derived from Hiroshima in > particular, a cultural backing-away, finding other paths to > process what is happening and what has happened. I remember > the long tradition of the Jewish Left in America, saw it > work out, at least for a while, in New York city, and > whether one might draw on that as well. We're on the brink > of inconceivable horror, even worse than the current > carpet-bombing and violent moving of populations from one > place to another, what I called at one point "annihilation: > to the limit." We live in a universal shtetl. > > 14. Finally, I'd even think of Thomas Merton, Liberation > Theology, the world's calling for peace over and over again, > so many protests, so much pain distributed everywhere, and > see if it would be possible to at least begin the peace > process. I cannot imagine what it must be like living in > Gaza with continuous bombing, etc. - no sleep, no clean > clothes, no shelter, and always in a resulting state of > inconceivable anxiety and danger, sleeplessness and lack of > medication, nowhere to go, constant contradictory orders, > and people dying or wounded everywhere around you - in other > words a phenomenological environment of pain, fear, > exhaustion, hunger, illness. That should be absolutely > paramount. > > 15. I know of course what I'm writing is a fiction, has no > ultimate meaning in terms of performativity; it's something > I've been thinking about for a lot time, way before August. > A final note, the simplest thing - everyone involved should > be talking, however where and when, with everyone involved. > And more than anything, this should be within a safe space > for listening as well. > > - Alan > > > __ > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > <https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour> > > > -- > Ruth Catlow > she/her > Co-director of Furtherfield & DECAL Decentralised Arts Lab > +44 (0) 77370 02879 > > Mastodon: @[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > *I will only agree to speak at events that are racially and gender balanced. > > **sending thanks > <https://www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-newsroom/press-releases/2019/november/think-before-you-thank-if-every-brit-sent-one-less-thank-you-email-a-day-we-would-save-16433-tonnes-of-carbon-a-year-the-same-as-81152-flights-to-madrid.html> > in advance > > Furtherfield disrupts and democratises art and technology through > exhibitions, labs & debate, for deep exploration, open tools & free thinking. > furtherfield.org <http://www.furtherfield.org/> > > DECAL Decentralised Arts Lab is an arts, blockchain & web 3.0 technologies > research hub > for fairer, more dynamic & connected cultural ecologies & economies now. > https://decal.furtherfield.org/ <https://decal.furtherfield.org/> > > Furtherfield is a Not-for-Profit Company Limited by Guarantee > Registered in England and Wales under the Company No.7005205. > Registered business address: Carbon Accountancy, 80-83 Long Lane, London, > EC1A 9ET. > > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
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