Me too! "Yes and" as a way to progress beyond the inflammatory "Yes but", the inadequate "Oh dear", and the dreadful "It's complicated", as a way to stop putting peoples suffering in competition, and instead witness and hold parallel realities with compassion.
Wonderful Gretta - Thank you! On Fri, Nov 10, 2023 at 5:30 PM Ann Light via NetBehaviour < [email protected]> wrote: > Dear Gretta, > > I cannot tell you how grateful I am to you for sharing this link. It so > well sums up my own frustrations with what is being said all around me and > neatly offers a way of thinking and speaking that might actually make a > difference. My boss has called out "several antisemitic incidents" at my > place of work and says that now there are both Jewish and Palestinian > students feeling unsafe. This was obviously going to happen but how > unnecessary and how sad. > Thank you for being awesome and epic and putting this our way, > Ann > > On Fri, Nov 10, 2023 at 3:50 PM Gretta Louw via NetBehaviour < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> 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 >> >> >> >> >> >> 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]> 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] >>> 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] >> >> *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/ >> >> 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 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NetBehaviour mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >> > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > 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] *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/ 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.
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