|
Publication of the Research/Action Team on Nonviolent
Large Systems Change, |
|
Home Subscribe Funding About the Journal Editorial Team Questions/Feedback Links Past Issues Current Issue |
|
TABLE OF CONTENTS Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D.: God Has Spoken: An open letter to the Palestinian Prime Minister designate Ismail Haniya Marc Gopin, "Testing Hamas and a Saudi Option” Robert
Malley, "Making the Best of Hamas' Victory” Jerome M. Segal, "Avoiding ambiguity on the 'right to exist'” George S.
Hishmeh, "Hamas and the Irish Model” Nazir Majali, " Pressuring Hamas” Maggie
Mitchell Salem, " For Better or for Worse” Gideon
Eshet, "Drinking from Toilets: Is it Wise to Refuse Talks with Hamas if the Price is Typhoid and Cholera?” Rami G. Khouri, "A
Historical Verge, or Back to
Patricia Golan, "Solar
Energy Lights up a Rami Khouri, “Respond to Racism and Death with Humanity and Life” Rabbi Jeremy Rose, "Olive Trees” Letter from
ENCASA/Emergency Network of Cuban American Scholars and Artists for Change in U.S.-Cuba Policy Kamran Mofid, "An Open Letter to G8 Leaders: Why World
Poverty is a Justice Issue First, and then an Economic Matter” |
Vol. XX, No.3
Spring 2006 Nonviolent Change Journal
helps to network the peace community: providing dialoguing, exchanges of
ideas, articles, reviews, reports and announcements of the activities of
peace related groups and meetings, reviews of world developments relating to
nonviolent change and resource information concerning the development of
human relations on the basis of mutual respect. GOD HAS SPOKEN: An open letter to the Palestinian Prime Minister designate
Ismail Haniya Alon Ben-Meir—February 21, 2006 I am addressing
this letter to you because you are known to be a pragmatic man and also a
believer. Use your pragmatism and belief in God to alter the destiny of your
people and walk them to the “promised land” because they have suffered
enough. The long history
of the Holy Land attests to the fact that no other land has seen so much
glory and despair or touched the souls of so many. It is a land that has
shaped the destiny of its inhabitants and witnessed the rise and fall of many
ancient empires, including the Assyrian, Persian, Babylonian, Roman, Greek,
and the You must know that
neither Israelis nor Palestinians can have it all: It is impossible in the
profoundest sense to build one's home on the ruins of another’s. The
self-consuming cycle of violence must stop. For nearly a century, Israelis
and Palestinians have been at war. During the time they have inflicted
terrible wounds on each other. Governed by misguided leaders, the two peoples
have acted out of blind hatred and animosity, poisoning generation after
generation. Today cold-blooded murders, suicide bombings, stabbings,
abductions, and other hideous crimes perpetrated by one side are countered by
the other side with demolition of homes, detentions, targeted killings,
expulsions, and daily humiliations, each of these actions defying the very
premise of the religious connection of both peoples to the land. So its
sacred soil is defiled. Let me share
with you my own humble observations: Every time I travel to the Holy Land, I
visit the Haram Al-Sharif, the Across an
invisible, deepening emotional divide, Arabs and Jews weep silently for the
loss of loved ones, victims of merciless violent conflict, and pray for an
end to the tragedy that has befallen them. Separate, yet together in their
yearning, both peoples pray for peace. Here they are, the holiest shrines for
Jews and Muslims, juxtaposed, with no possibility of either side altering
anything in these sacred settings. Every stone, every gesture or movement has
the same message: There is no escape from cohabitation, no way out of
coexistence. Separate but inseparable, this is the destiny of Jews and Muslims.
The echoes of Arab and Jewish prayers mingle in the air, reaching out to the
same God. The Islamic Resistance Movement platform “believes that the The dream of
Israelis to live in their ancient homeland and that of Palestinians to have a
state of their own do not cancel each other out. Rather, they provide the
sole basis for sharing the land equitably, though under separate rule. The
ancient world thrust Israelis and Palestinians together. Now, in our own
time, the children of Abraham have returned home to join their cousins. This
is neither an historical accident nor an aberration of time and space. The
Wall and the Dome of the Rock summoned them together long before the first
Palestinian youth and Israeli child died in the current inferno. The radicals
on both sides must remember that the campaign to dislodge each other from the
land will fail because Israeli-Palestinian coexistence is an historic reality
anchored in a religious promise more powerful than blind fanaticism and
deeper than their perverted convictions. This is the most compelling reason
why the pain and anguish must now end. The salvation of the souls of both
peoples and the redemption of the soil must be the task at hand. I ask you: How
many more deaths of Israelis and Palestinians must God witness in silence?
How much more blood must spill? How much more destruction and despair must
these two peoples endure? How could this land, the cradle of three great
religions, have become the killing fields for its sons and daughters, victims
of extremism, delusion, and the tragic denial of each others' rights? Hamas
can kill another hundred or a thousand Israelis; thousands of Palestinians
can be expelled or shot to death, but then what? Israelis and Palestinians
will be left still facing each other. As both sides reposition themselves,
they will be talking with one another, simply because there is no other option. Except the hatred will run even
deeper, and mutual fear and suspicion will extinguish the last vestiges of
trust, taint every gesture and action. The loss of human live and the
sustained suffering will have taken their toll, further scarring hearts and
minds, making negotiations increasingly intractable. Mr. Haniya, the
truth is that In this holy
setting, a breakthrough vision must be summoned to create a larger picture of
promise. Please remember that if the religious teachings and practice you
ardently invoke in support of your historic rights have any bearing on the
outcome, then God has already spoken. P.S. I will be
happy to meet with you to present in person the merits of my argument. Alon Ben-Meir is professor
of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU and is the
Middle East Project Director at the World Policy Institute, New York.
alon@alonben-meir.com TESTING AND A SAUDI
OPTION Marc Gopin Source: Common
Ground News Service (http://www.commongroundnews.org/), February 21, 2006. Distributed by
Common Ground News Service with publication of this article. Washington, DC -
Troubling questions abound in light of the Hamas victory, but the imperative
now is to decide on a course of action that is morally defensible. Is it wise
to permit Hamas, or any group with a militia that regularly attacks
civilians, to participate in democratic elections? Most pundits in the There are
questions that the Palestinian people must face such as what will be the fate
of moderates, Christians, democrats and atheists in a state run by Hamas. But
the fact is that 40% of Palestinians united in a vote for change and the
recent, incredible revelations of massive PA corruption while people starved
more than explains the vote. The fact is that most did not vote for an
Islamic state but the question is will they get more than they bargained for,
as did the people who supported the revolutionaries in It is time to
test the parameters of Hamas‚ intentions. The This may be a
moment for King Abdullah of There is an
argument to be made that this moves things toward where they always should
have been, not a What will be the
true test for Hamas? Not recognition of This could have
revolutionary implications in terms of the direction of Islamicism across the
world. It would put Hamas and The trouble at
this point is that whenever a violent party in a resistance movement agrees
to a ceasefire a competitor takes up the mantle of legitimacy through
violence in the minds of the masses. There are already signs that Fateh and
the Al-Aqsa Brigades, not to mention Islamic Jihad, are filling that role. There is one
important element of this scenario to be worked out and this involves the
important insight of Rabbi Menahem Fruman. Hamas instinctively cannot cope,
as of now, with the idea of recognizing any apostate state, let alone Marc Gopin is the James Laue Professor of
World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at MAKING
THE BEST OF HAMAS' VICTORY Robert Malley Source: The February 19, 2006. Distributed by the Common Ground News Service with
permission to republish. The reaction reflects opposition to bankrolling an organization that
has neither recognized If dealt with wisely, the Islamists' victory could present an
opportunity for the Hamas' victory undoubtedly presents the Paradoxically, Hamas' electoral landslide might optimize conditions
for its political transition, for victory is likely to inhibit it far more
than would have defeat. The more Hamas exercises government responsibility,
the less it is likely to revert to violence; the greater its electoral
mandate, the lesser its freedom of action. The Islamists ran on a campaign of effective government and promised
to improve Palestinians' lives; they cannot do that if the international
community turns its back. They need to reassure anxious Palestinian security
forces and the defeated Fatah movement; they cannot do that if they pursue an
aggressive domestic agenda. Most of all, they must prove their way works; they cannot do that if
conflict escalates. Renewed attacks against Israelis would lead to a swift
and far-reaching response and ravage whatever hope the Islamists have for
their turn at the helm. Far better, for all these reasons, to have the Islamists in the PA
instead of opposing it. What they could afford from the outside they cannot
similarly get away with from within. Even on the diplomatic front, Hamas' victory is not necessarily a
fatal setback. The Islamists' approach is more in tune with current Israeli
thinking than the PA's loftier goal of a negotiated permanent peace ever was. In its penchant for unilateralism and partiality toward a long-term
interim deal, And in the unlikely event that the possibility of a comprehensive
agreement were to be resurrected in the near future, does anyone believe that
it could succeed over Hamas' opposition? Ultimately, a sustainable peace
might not be possible with the Islamists. But it plainly will be impossible
without them. For the Don't talk to Hamas, for there is no reason to reward its outlook. But
don't ostracize or actively undermine a Hamas-backed PA, either. Instead, deal with President Mahmoud Abbas and ministries that are not
directly in Hamas' hands. Don't discourage third-party unofficial contacts
with the Islamist organization in an attempt to moderate it. And judge the
experiment based chiefly on what the Islamists do - whether quiet is
maintained, who is named to the Cabinet and whether the government's platform
respects past agreements and accepts peaceful dealings with The objective should be to set conditions that will be hard for the
Islamists to accept but equally hard for them to reject. If this seems like a
hard pill to swallow, consider the alternative: a threat to halt all aid
unless Hamas wholly changes its stripes. The elections made plain the limitations of outside threats and
pressure. The Islamists won in part because of dissatisfaction with the PA,
disgust at corruption and frustration at Fatah's performance. But more than
that, and more important, the vote expressed anger at years of humiliation
and loss of self-respect because of Israeli settlement expansion, Yasser
Arafat's imprisonment, Israel's incursions, Western lecturing and, most
recently and tellingly, the threat of an aid cut off in the event of an
Islamist success. Hamas, which benefited mightily from this deep-seated aspiration for
dignity, is not about to betray it, and the Palestinian people, which put
Hamas in power, are not about to blame the Islamists if they fail because of
international hostility. An inflexible approach to the PA would carry other perils. Hamas,
searching for a substitute source of funds, might turn to Iran or, convinced
that it is being set up for failure, drop its political gambit and return to
the familiarity of armed confrontation. Without the leverage of Western
funding, without the responsibility to ensure it keeps flowing, Hamas will be
less constrained and freer to revert to past practice. Should the PA go bankrupt - if As for the prospect of the PA's collapse, poverty and despair
strengthened Hamas in the past, and there is every reason to suspect they
would do so again in the future. Even those most hostile to Hamas, whether in
The Bush administration obviously didn't want a Hamas victory and
wasn't prepared for it. But bringing the more militant segment of Palestinian
society into the political fray, maintaining the truce, boosting the U.S.
democracy agenda and promoting reform are not the worst hand the United
States could have been dealt. President Bush's effort to promote democracy in the Rob Malley, who was
special assistant to President Bill Clinton for Arab-Israeli affairs, directs
the Middle East program at the International Crisis Group. His e-mail is rmalley@crisisgroup.org. AVOIDING THE AMBIGUITY
ON THE 'RIGHT TO EXIST' Jerome M. Segal Source: Haaretz (www.haaretz.com), March 18,
2006. Distributed by the Common Ground News Service with permission to
republish. Maryland - In
the summer and fall of 1988, when contact between U.S. officials and the PLO
was not allowed by law and policy, I was one of a number of private
individuals who traveled to Tunis to see if there was a way in which the PLO
could accept the three conditions that were required before dialogue with
them would be permitted: acceptance of UN Security Council Resolutions 242
and 338, a renunciation of terrorism, and recognition of Israel's right to
exist. Recent statements by I recall one
conversation with PLO leaders in particular. I was meeting with Khalid
al-Hassan, one of the senior leaders in Fatah and a moderate. Hassan said the
PLO could accept the first two conditions, but the third, recognizing Yet, Hassan's
point was well taken. First of all, the concept of a state having a right to
exist was, and is, outside the conceptual bounds of existing international
law. It had no standing meaning. Was the right being referred to a legal
right or a moral right? And more fundamentally, did it refer to a right to
have come into existence, or a right to remain in existence? When Hassan said
the affirmation of What the PLO did
not say, then or ever, was that Moreover, from
the point of view of policy, the question of PLO views about Ultimately, in
December of 1988, a month after the Declaration of Independence, specific
statements by the PLO were accepted by the Reagan administration as
fulfillment of the three conditions, and the U.S.-PLO dialogue began. It is
instructive to consider exactly how the PLO dealt with the "right to
exist" condition. The key event was a special meeting of the UN General
Assembly, which convened in Reporters
attending the press conference assumed that this, too, would prove an inadequate
effort. To their surprise, hours later, the State Department announced that
the What Arafat did
was to take the thoroughly ambiguous concept of "right to exist"
and imbed it within the familiar notion that existing states have a right to
exist in peace and security. Moreover, he linked Interestingly, One lesson in
all this is that words matter. Verbal preconditions, either by cynical
intention or inadvertence, can ensure that groups seeking to come in from the
cold are kept outside. The conditions that the PLO met in 1988 were imposed
in 1975, thirteen years earlier. A strong case can be made that as
preconditions for contact and dialogue, they retarded rather than hastened
the evolution of the PLO. With respect to
Hamas, it may be that the same is true. For instance, Hamas has indicated its
willingness, under certain conditions, to enter into a long-term truce with If, despite
their questionable wisdom, various verbal affirmations are required as a
precondition to contact and negotiations, great care should be taken in how they
are formulated. Surely it would be best to avoid the ambiguities of
"right to exist". Don't ask or expect Palestinians to accept the
same moral narratives that are held by Israeli Jews and friends of Finally, if the objective
is to promote the evolution of Hamas, then it would be wise to shift the
focus from verbal affirmations to a focus on behavior (e.g. no suicide
bombings) and their committing to a process that could potentially lead to an
end-of-conflict agreement. For instance, it could be required that Hamas
specifically affirm: a) that Mahmoud Abbas, as head of the PLO, is the
recognized Palestinian agent for negotiations with Israel, and b) that Hamas
would accept as binding any negotiated treaty that was approved in a
referendum of the Palestinian people. *Jerome M. Segal
is a Senior Research Scholar at the HAMAS
AND THE IRISH MODEL George S. Hishmeh Source: The Jordan Times (www.jordantimes.com). February 24-25, 2006. Distributed by the
Common Ground News Service with permission to republish. Washington DC - Before she embarked on her three-country tour of the
Arab world, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice invited for the first time a
handful of Arab print correspondents for a roundtable discussion about the
region's concerns, primarily the ascendancy of Hamas and Iran's nuclear
ambitions. An articulate speaker, the top American diplomat underscored
headline-grabbing Rice acknowledged that the Hamas' landslide victory in last month's
parliamentary elections represented the Palestinian people's desire for
change "after more than a decade of corrupt leadership that did not
address their needs". She, however, maintained that both President
Mahmoud Abbas and his Finance Minister Salam Fayyad had tried but "were
not able to fully transform" Fateh, the predominant Palestinian party,
and the Palestinian Authority and "deal with the (deteriorating)
security situation in Her punch line during the session: "The obligation of the
international community is to say that the only path to a good and peaceful
life (in Palestine) is to have a government that is prepared to seek a
two-state solution, that is prepared to recognise the other party to that
two-state solution. You can't say you want the destruction of Whether Rice's views will find any positive response in the countries
she was visiting - In a column published in The Washington Post last Monday, the former
president said that "the likely results will be to alienate already
oppressed and innocent Palestinians, to incite and to increase the domestic
influence and international esteem of Hamas". The Bush administration and Although it is understandable that Rice should feel that Hamas cannot
have "one foot in violence and terrorism and another foot in the
political process", one must not forget the Irish model which included
both Sein Fein, the political wing, and the Irish Republican Army. Richard
Haas of Brookings Institution and a former presidential aide in the
administration of George Bush, Sr., sees the challenge nowadays as
"find(ing) a way gradually to bring (Hamas) into the (political)
tent", in the same way "the United States, Britain and Ireland
successfully worked with (Sein Fein/IRA) and over the course of more than a
decade (and) essentially moved that group into the political process". George S. Hishmeh is
an Arab American columnist based in Nazir Majali Source: Haaretz (www.haaretz.com), February 21, 2006.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service with permission to republish. Tel Aviv - After all, this policy of putting massive pressure on the Palestinians
so that they will pressure their leaders has failed in the past. The idea to
freeze tax revenues - which is actually Palestinian money and not some sort
of Israeli aid, as one may think sometimes by the way this threat is
presented - was tried out for about a year. Since the 1967 war, through the
first intifada and to this day, Israel's leaders have tried all sorts of
pressure: from moderate physical pressure to radical pressure, closures,
curfews, roadblocks, arrests, targeted killings, closing the gates to
Palestinian workers, offensive operations, the uprooting of trees, the
demolition of houses and more. All this has brought about the rise of Hamas
rule in the Palestinian territories and the creation of Hezbollah in Nazir Majali is a
journalist, author, and a commentator on Israeli affairs. With Father Emile
Shufani from MIDDLE EAST DIPLOMACY
FOR BETTER OR WORSE Maggie Mitchell Salem Source: In the case of Palestinian
elections, voters struck back at chaotic governance, corrupt leadership and
societal decay by voting in, perhaps unwittingly, Hamas. As one Palestinian
minister put it, "They wanted to slap us; they ended up amputating a
leg." The meddling in-laws,
Washington and Tel Aviv, were certainly more of a hindrance than a help. They
belatedly backed the woefully deficient incumbents, Fatah, though for the
preceding year they did little to sustain and effectively undercut President
Mahmoud Abbas‚ authority. On Saturday,
Hamas formally took charge of the Palestinian National Authority, a milestone
in the history of the Palestinian people. Some worry that it could become
their tombstone. The EU,
particularly On Tuesday a
front page article in the New York Times revealed that a plan is afoot in
both capitals to starve the PNA of funds and international support. Such a
tactic is collective punishment dressed up as bilateral sanctions. The real
objective is to compel 150,000 civil servants, and the roughly 900,000
relatives their salaries support, to take to the streets, demand the
government resign, spark new elections and return Fatah. Yet the "you
reap what you sow" policy (i.e., Palestinians elected Hamas, so
Palestinians suffer the consequences) is a dangerous, double-edged sword that
should not be wielded without adequate appreciation for the possible
outcomes. With over 70% of the Palestinians hovering just above or well below
the poverty line, they may well blame Hamas for their economic strangulation,
particularly if the party fails to adopt a compromise position. In such an
event, the scenario outlined above is plausible. Yet this
seemingly perfect plan has a significant downside. Fatah will not reform. Why
should they? The process is painful and destabilizing in the short-term as
positions are cut, security services reordered and patronage excesses curbed.
What's the incentive? They are assured that the reins of power (and the
government purse) are theirs to misuse and plunder at will. But what if
Hamas does endeavor to make a few but not all of the changes demanded by Tel
Aviv and Washington? Hamas leadership may shrewdly decide to buy some time by
adopting Ariel Sharon's strategy. Were this to
occur, then Palestinians may just as easily turn their anger on Washington
and Tel Aviv. The streets of Ramallah and Countries
bordering The potential
for Hamas to outflank the Oddly enough,
one of the less obvious results of the election seems to have escaped
strategists' attention: Hamas did not win or failed to secure large margins
in towns and municipalities that it already controls. In other words, were
sound minds to prevail, they might counsel patience. Hamas showed remarkable
discipline in the run-up to the elections and maintained the ceasefire with Fortunately,
there are a few individuals with enough sense, and perhaps enough
"wasta", to urge Bush to reconsider. In an interview last week,
former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer said, "we have principles,
we're not going to deal with terrorists, and we're not going to deal with parties
which don't recognize * Maggie
Mitchell Salem is a political and communications consultant based in DRINKING FROM THE TOILET: IS IT WISE TO REFUSE
TALKS WITH HAMAS IF THE PRICE IS TYPHOID AND CHOLERA? Gideon Eshet Source: Ynet (ynetnews.com),
February 16, 2006. Distributed by the Common Ground News Service with
permission to republish. Tel Aviv
- There was a large demonstration last month in This is also
related to Hamas. Suddenly, after the carnival of pluralism that enveloped us
during the Swimming with
sewage It's a
geographic issue. When a Palestinian goes to the bathroom in In the West Bank
- 40 million cubic meters - the chances of This is also a
matter of geography: Treating the
problem Foreign
governments have provided millions of dollars in aid for the Palestinians to
build sewage treatment plants. Now that the Palestinian government is in
financial crisis - that will only get worse in the near future if Israeli interest It is in Squaring the
circle will require a creative solution. We can continue refusing to talk to
Hamas about politics. We need not talk about final status agreements, interim
agreements, the war on terror. But it would be stupid to refuse talks about
sewage. The appropriate and wise thing to do, before our declaration that
"We're not talking to Hamas" becomes holier than God Himself, would
be to talk to Hamas. This dialogue
can also focus on something else. Palestinian tax money that we collect on
their behalf should be used for a joint Israel-Hamas waste management
project. Because from our perspective, a Hamas member who builds such a plant
is just like that Iranian bus driver - he is undermining the anti-Israeli
regime. If not, we can stick to being right, and suffer the consequences of
malaria and cholera. Gideon Eshet is a Yedioth Ahronoth
journalist and regular commentator on economic affairs. A
HISTORICAL VERGE, OR BACK TO Rami G. Khouri Source: The Daily Star (www.dailystar.com.lb), February 22, 2006. Distributed by the
Common Ground News Service with permission to republish. Decisions made today may be equally fateful. How the At stake here are several major issues: the future direction of the
democratic wave that is slowly moving throughout the Middle East; the fate of
America's credibility with the Arab-Islamic world on promoting freedom and
democracy; the possibility of achieving a negotiated Arab-Israeli peace in
the coming years; the balance between, on the one hand, the majority of
mainstream political Islamists such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and,
on the other hand, radical terrorists like Osama bin Laden; the legitimacy
and staying power of most so-called "moderate" Arab regimes that
are close to the U.S.; and the situation Washington faces in Iraq and in its
so-called "global war on terror." Not surprisingly, the Bush administration's response to Hamas was a main
theme at the annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum in My own sense is that the Hamas victory provides a rare historical
opportunity to achieve goals that all the main parties should welcome -
Israelis, Palestinians, Americans and Europeans. The best possible scenario
would be for the The If the U.S. follows Israel by isolating and sanctioning Hamas and
punishing the Palestinians for electing it, the potential consequences are
grim: the government in Palestine could collapse and chaos might reign again;
most Arabs (and people throughout the entire world) would deem the U.S.
totally unreliable and non-credible in its talk of promoting democracy;
radical terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda would win more converts from frustrated
Islamists who would feel that they followed the more moderate Hamas line to
no avail; anti-American sentiment and militancy would rise throughout the
region; the exposed U.S. position in Iraq would become increasingly difficult
and dangerous; anti-American populism championed by Syria and Iran would
expand rapidly, and find grim new forms of expression; and, Arab regimes
friendly to the U.S. would become more exposed and vulnerable to their own
peoples' anger. The choice is laden with momentous consequences. Rami G. Khouri
writes a regular commentary for The Daily Star. SOLAR
ENERGY LIGHTS UP A Patricia Golan Source: Israel21c (www.israel21c.org),February
12, 2006. Distributed by the Common Ground News Service with permission to
republish. But behind the anonymity of the village is an achievement that makes
it unique. It recently became the first community in the country - and in the
world - to be outfitted with a multipurpose solar electricity system for
providing power to the entire village. The project, initiated by The Ministry of National Infrastructure, The
Negev Development Authority and MK Shimon Peres' office for developing the
Negev and Situated at the foothills of the Hebron Hills, Drijat is the only
Palestinian Arab village in the Until recently Drijat, like many other Arab communities in the To accomplish this, they hired Interdan, a private Israeli
natural-electricity company, to carry out the actual installation and
management of the project. The energy is collected by eight solar
photovoltaic panels fitted on the rooftops, then stored in a DC battery
system which converts it to AC. It provides a stable current of the same
quality as the electric company provides (or would provide were it hooked up
to the village!) according to Interdan, the batteries will supply electricity
at night and on cloudy days - for four days without direct sunlight, a rare
occurrence in the Negev desert. "What is unique is that we are trying to convert the entire
village to a modern solar village, not just installing individual systems to
run telephones, like they do in Africa," Gil Nezer, Interdan's marketing
director, told ISRAEL21c. What this system can't support are air conditioners and heaters which
would quickly consume all the stored up energy. Generators are still used at
night. "The hope is to reduce the use of generators once the whole
village is connected to solar panels," says Nezer. "The main thing
is that we can use electricity during the day." That fact has already stared changing the lives of the residents.
Housewife Tagrid Abu Hamad shows us around her spacious home which has been
outfitted with one of the solar systems. "Now the kids have something to
do during the day - they can watch TV or use the computer. I don't have to
worry about them," she told ISRAEL21c. "We used to light candles,
and this is dangerous." Tagrid's neighbour, Nasser Abu Hamad, agrees. "This is particularly
important for the children. Instead of roaming around outside, and the
parents not knowing where they are, they can watch TV or use the computer.
And it helps them study." Now with the installation of solar electricity systems, after relying
on noisy, unstable and polluting private generators for years, the residents
will be able to use household appliances powered by natural "green"
electricity, even at night or on cloudy days. So far, the system - manufactured by the Canadian company Xantrex -
has been installed in 20 of the 100 households, the science and computer
rooms of the local school, the mosque and the streetlights in the village. The village is also now illuminated with streetlights powered by solar
panels atop poles fixed along the streets. Abu Hamad says that in the past it
was uncomfortable coming home late at night. "Everything was shut down
and dark. Now the village is lit up and you can see everything. There's a
feeling of more security." Also visible at night for the first time is the
village mosque - its green dome dramatically lit up. Abu Hamad is convinced
this is the first mosque in the world that is powered by solar panels. The long process by which the Drijat families decided who would get
the initial units had its own social dynamics. The key was how many family
members were living in a house, but those with seriously ill family members
were pushed to the top of the list. The requirements for solar energy - sun,
wind and high levels of radiation - are readily available in the region, but
have been left largely untapped for energy production. Interdan's Nezer says
the company hopes Drijat will serve as a model for spreading solar
electricity throughout Patricia Golan is a
journalist based in RESPOND TO RACISM AND
DEATH WITH HUMANITY AND LIFE Rami Khouri Source: The Jordan Times
(www.jordantimes.com), February 17-18, 2006. Distributed by the Common Ground
News Service with permission to republish. One of the most
unnecessary, unfortunate and dangerous aspects of this matter has been the
slow introduction into the discussion of the issue of the Holocaust by
various Arabs, Iranians and other Muslims, and the counter-accusations that
this is simply a new form of rabid anti-Semitism. Sadly, this is
not an isolated or unusual phenomenon. It occurs often, whenever a
contemporary political or religious argument in the Middle East touches on This trajectory
seems to be at work again these days in relation to the Danish cartoons, in
particular in view of the announcement Monday that one of This is a most
disturbing development at the moral level, and extremely counterproductive at
the political level. It will surely escalate the existing penchant of
sinister polemicists and provocateurs on both sides to transform a legitimate
debate about religiously offensive cartoons into a mindless, destructive
mud-slinging match about whether Jews should live or die, and whether Muslims
and Arabs were fully human, moral and rational. Both parties
that foment this anti-Jewish, anti-Islamic frenzy are equally despicable. It
is bad enough that devious or ignorant minds in Denmark and other Western
places have resorted to arguments as press freedom and secular modernity to
rationalize the blasphemous, insulting cartoons about the Prophet Mohammad
and Islam. It is equally regrettable that some Iranians and others in this
region should respond with the same sort of gutter behavior. The last thing
we need now is for an Iranian newspaper to sponsor a contest on Holocaust
cartoons, or for websites in The appropriate
antidote to ˜ Start a
worldwide drive to support Palestinian universities under Israeli occupation. ˜ Promote a
global support system for Palestinians in occupied ˜ Mobilize the
lawyers and judges of the world to challenge Israeli practices in credible
courts of law. ˜ Build 1,000
new nursery schools for Palestinian children. ˜ Launch a high-profile
campaign for the whole world to engage peacefully with the new,
democratically elected Palestinian government to be formed soon. ˜ Sponsor
institutions that allow Christians, Muslims and Jews in ˜ Start a
serious international academic program that would study the parallels between
the Israeli colonization and control of the occupied territories with the
parallel apartheid system that ultimately collapsed in ˜ Demand
diplomatic action to ensure free export lanes for Palestinian agricultural
produce. ˜ Match a
well-off family in the world with a needy Palestinian family in occupied
lands or in Palestinian refugee camps, to ensure that every Palestinian boy
and girl has enough money to complete secondary education, and has a chance
to go to college or post-secondary vocational school. We should
respond to the inhumanity of the insulting cartoons and the ugly emotions
behind them by affirming our commitment to life, truth and positive human
values. Rami G. Khouri writes a regular commentary
for The Daily Star. OLIVE TREES Rabbi Jeremy Rose Source: Common
Ground News Service (http://www.commongroundnews.org/), February 23, 2006.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service with permission to publish. There are biblical
laws against cutting down trees needlessly. Mankind is compared to the tree
of the field, growing slowly, producing and nourishing yet easily cut off in
an instant. In the Talmud there is the famous story of a man planting a carob
tree that will not bear fruit in his lifetime saying, ŒI found a world with
trees in it that my grandparents planted, so I must provide similarly for my
grandchildren.‚ Vandals have
been destroying Arab olive trees in Judea and "Over the
past year there have been dozens of sabotage incidents of Palestinian-owned
olive groves by settlers. As recently as last month more than 1,000 olive
trees have been cut down on six different occasions. Attorney General
Menachem Mazuz told the cabinet that In a second
story, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz noted he has ordered the
establishment of a special team to investigate the destruction of over 2,000
olive trees belonging to Palestinians in the "Mofaz said
in the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that, following the findings of an
investigation into the matter, he ordered security forces to increase their
presence in areas where trees have been destroyed, to carry out a policy of
quick and effective arrests and to compensate the Palestinian tree
owners". The Jerusalem
Post, not at all left wing, had the following report on January 13th: "While the
army plans to launch special operations to catch the perpetrators, officials
on Thursday slammed what they called the police's constant failure to arrest
the suspects. On Tuesday, head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval
Diskin criticized the police's failure to effectively prevent settlers from
vandalizing Palestinian olive orchards.‚ Who are
'settlers'? It‚s a general term that is applied to anyone living beyond the
old 1967 armistice borders. But it covers a range of people from religious to
secular, economic settlers to ideological ones, aggressive to spiritual,
pacifist mystics, criminals to law-abiding innocents. Sadly, amongst them are
to be found those who resist the democratic process in Whenever I read
irrational, vituperative attacks on Zionism or "The simple
answer is that the accusations are baseless. It would be hard to find another
set of baseless rumors turned into 'news'. Not a single Israeli settler has
been convicted of damaging Arab trees [That‚s like saying no one in As if
tight-fisted Israeli exchequers under economic pressure are going to dole out
compensation for no good reason!!! Sadly our world is full of irrational
fanatics. We need to remember that we have our own. Rabbi Jeremy Rosen is Professor and
Chairman, The Faculty for Comparative Religion in LETTER FROM ENCASA FOR
CHANGE OF Dear colleagues, Attached below
is a declaration by a newly formed group–-an Emergency Network of Cuban
American Scholars and Artists for Change in U.S.-Cuba Policy
(ENCASA/US-CUBA). The statement, which
is self-explanatory, was drafted by a steering committee (listed below) that
has met and worked over the past several weeks, with a sense of urgency, to
mobilize the largely silent and silenced voice of academics and professionals
and to stimulate concerted action aimed to reverse a politically failed and
morally bankrupt U.S.-Cuba policy–-as most recently reflected in the arrogant
and extreme 2004 Report to the
President: Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba (which had the
temerity even to redefine away our own families in Cuba). We are
collecting the names of both
non-Cuban American and Cuban
American intellectuals and academics, scholars and artists, who
support our call for a reversal of U.S.-Cuba policy, and who want to see
educational and cultural exchanges with If you agree in principle with the attached
statement, please e-mail your name, title, and institutional
affiliation/profession to <mailto:cubapuente@aol.com>
cubapuente@aol.com, and indicate (in the subject line
or the text of your e-mail) whether you are or are not Cuban American (since
we are maintaining two separate lists). We want to act
quickly to generate as many names as possible, and continue this recruitment
effort over the next few weeks, starting at the Latin American Studies
Association meetings in Let us not
abdicate our moral responsibility to speak our truth to power, or allow a
clique that does not represent our views to continue to claim that they speak
for all Cuban Americans (or for all USAmericans, for that matter), or
continue to remain silent and intimidated in our homes and ivory towers when
an incessant stream of outrages continues to be perpetrated in our name. Let us instead speak up and act as moral
agents and catalysts for change. We hope to hear
from you as soon as possible. Muchas
gracias, Rubén G. Rumbaut p.s. Members of the steering committee include
María Isabel Alfonso and Lillian Manzor (University of Miami); Ruth Behar
(University of Michigan); Marta Caminero-Santangelo (University of Kansas);
Max Castro (Independent Scholar); María Cristina García (Cornell University);
Liz Cerejido, Guillermo Grenier and Lisandro Pérez (Florida International
University); Félix Masud-Piloto (DePaul University); Rubén G. Rumbaut
(University of California, Irvine); and Silvia Wilhelm (Executive Director,
Puentes Cubanos). Rubén G. Rumbaut, Professor of Sociology and
Co-Director, Center for Research on Immigration, Population, and Public
Policy, 3151 AN OPEN LETTER
TO G8 LEADERS: WHY WORLD
POVERTY IS A JUSTICE ISSUE FIRST AND THEN AN ECONOMIC
MATTER Kamran Mofid , Friday,
June17, 2005 Republished with the author's permission Dear Honourable Presidents and Prime Ministers, Overcoming poverty is not
a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a
fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While
poverty persists, there is no true freedom. — Nelson Mandela The most basic right of
all humanity is to eat three decent meals a day. Hunger is actually the worst
weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year. There
will be no peace without development and no development without social
justice. — Luiz da Silva Poverty is a breeding ground
for discontent. There is a sense of injustice. We have got to act if we are
going to avoid the development of terrorist cells. — Gordon Brown Until he extends the
circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find
peace. — Albert Schweitzer The continuous existence of such high levels of abject poverty
in This open letter is a message from Africa, the Africans, in
association with their non-African brethrens who recently attended an
international conference, Africa: the Quest for Justice and Peace, which was
held in The right way to eliminate poverty and heal our broken world: 1- To make poverty history is mainly mobilized around the
concept of justice. In many cases, challenging injustice is the first step
towards the elimination of poverty. To do justice is to feel the pain and to
become one with the sufferer; is to ask fundamental questions about the roots
of injustice and to fight for their removals. It is then that poverty can be
eliminated. 2- All manners of policies and theories have been tested on 3- Material wellbeing, economic growth and wealth creation are
important. But, to create a world of true happiness, peace and wellbeing, wealth
must be created for a noble reason. Economics, commerce and trade, without a
true understanding of the aspirations of the people it is affecting, cannot
bring justice to all. Social transformation can be achieved only when
unselfish love, spirituality and a rigorous pursuit of justice are embraced.
Moreover, Millennium Development Goals, Commission for Africa recommendations
and more will only be achieved when unselfish love and the pursuit of justice
guides the motivations, not more free trade or more privatization for
example. Here the wise words of Albert Einstein ring true: “The world cannot
get out of its current state of crisis with the same thinking that got it
there in the first place”. 4- We need a “Spiritual Revolution” so that as Archbishop
William Temple once so eloquently remarked, “The art of government in fact is
the art of so ordering life that self-interest prompts what justice demands”.
If we truly want to change the world for the better, all of us, the
politicians, business community, workers, men and women, young and old, must
truly become better ourselves. We must share a common understanding of the
potential for each one of us to become self-directed, empowered and active in
defining this time in the world as an opportunity for positive change and
healing. We can achieve a culture of peace by giving thanks, spreading joy,
sharing love and understanding, seeing miracles, discovering goodness,
embracing kindness and forgiveness, practicing patience, teaching tolerance,
encouraging laughter, celebrating and respecting the diversity of cultures
and religions and peacefully resolving conflicts. We must each of us become
an instrument of peace. It is worth remembering the centuries-old wisdom of the
Persian poet, Sa’di: Human beings are like
parts of a body Created from the same
essence. When one part is hurt
and in pain, The others cannot
remain in peace and be quiet. If the misery of others
leaves you indifferent And with no feelings of
sorrow, You cannot be called a
human being. Ideals into practice: Healing the Scar of Africa: The acknowledgement of God, Ultimate Reality, or the One. Our
lives are grounded in an Ultimate Reality, the source of the sacredness of
all life and of the spiritual power, hope, and trust that we discover in
prayer or meditation, in word or silence, and in our striving for just
relationships with all existence. The investment of Spiritual Capital. The most powerful way for
faith and spiritual communities to influence beliefs, norms and institutions
is through prophetic voice and public action. Highly visible faith and
interfaith affirmation of the great spiritual truths of peace, justice, and
the sacredness of the Earth and all life can make a tremendous contribution
to Globalisation for the Common Good. Action and service by spiritual and
faith communities and groups can provide a vital source of inspiration and
energy for the healing of the world. The practice of selfless Love. The most important point of
convergence shared by the world’s great spiritual traditions is to be found
in the practice and power of selfless love for all humanity. It is the
wellspring of the best hope for a better future. The cultivation of interfaith Dialogue and Engagement. It is
absolutely vital that religious and spiritual communities come together with
one another in honest and open dialogue. It is also essential that these
communities enter into dialogue with secular groups, organizations and
governments working for a better world. Religious and spiritual communities -
in mutual respect and partnership - must engage the critical issues that face
the planetary community as the 21st century unfolds. The nurturing of cultures of Peace. True cultural evolution is
perhaps best measured in the growing rejection of violent approaches to
conflict resolution in favour of the cultivation of the infrastructures of
forgiveness, reconciliation and peace. Our greatest contribution to the
future lies in ensuring that our children grow to maturity in cultures of
peace. The struggle for Justice. Justice is the heart of all
creation. It is the profound feeling of oneness with all other beings in the
universe. Today, it finds its most vital expression in social and economic
fairness, concern for others and the vigorous defence of human rights. The realization of Gender Partnership. Challenging the
assumptions and infrastructures of patriarchy is essential to cultural
evolution. Women and men, living and working together in harmony and equity,
can build stronger, more creative religious communities and societies. The path of Sustainability. In this rapidly changing world,
our reverence for the Earth will determine the fate of the entire community
of planetary life. This deep, visionary and unconditional caring for what is
yet to come, is the love of life embedded in ecological sustainability. The commitment to Service. Service is our link to spirit.
Personal action for a better world is the discernable manifestation of the
divine in the human. The essence of service is the grace of giving. We give
because giving is how life begins and how it continues. This process will
enhance personal responsibility for the common good. We affirm that economics is, above all, concerned with human
well-being and happiness in society and with care for the Earth. This cannot
be separated from moral and spiritual considerations. The idea of a
“value-free” economics is spurious. It demonstrates a complete
misunderstanding of what it means to be a human being. ---- The choice is yours. Please make it happen. In contrast to the
people of Europe who have been able to reject the “spiritually” impoverished
proposed EU Constitution, the people of Kamran Mofid, PhD
(ECON), Founder-Convenor, An Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation for the
Common Good (www.commongood.info).
|