A really moving thing happened during our regular Thursday afternoon peace
demo today. There were about five of us there, stretched along the
same rim of sidewalk at the big intersection outside the Federal Government
Building in town where we always stand. It was amazingly, gratifyingly
noisy, with a greater proportion of motorists “honking for peace” than I
remember, ever. I was trying to shout a few words of conversation
over my shoulder with my friend Virginia, while also holding up my “Honk
for Peace” sign to the traffic moving in from the right and waving and establishing eye contact with the drivers as they approached. (Waving: friendly; often provokes a response in kind; plus
it draws attention to us standing there.)
I didn’t notice a guy who
was walking along the sidewalk towards us till he stopped right near me and
said, “Thanks so much for doing this, guys, I’m just back from there.”
“Just back?” I said. “In the military?”
“Yes. Got back two months ago.”
I turned to face him, reached out my spare hand, and grabbed him by the arm.
“I am so glad you came back safe,” I said.
He looked as though he wanted to hug me, right there in the street. But I was holding
two signs in my left hand. Plus, well, hugging a strange guy on the
street didn’t feel right. So I kept holding his arm. “Where were
you?” I said
“Baghdad.”
“You doing okay now?”
“Well, it’s been hard finding work. People don’t want to hire me when
they hear I still have a commitment to the military.”
“That sucks! But how’s your head? You having any nightmares?”
“Some.”
“So make sure you get the help you need. Say, you want to stand here
with us a while? We’ve got some spare signs.”
“I’m not supposed to. I’m still in the reserves. But I’m really
glad you folks are here. That’s bad there.”
And then he walked away. Afterwards, of course I wished I’d followed
him, got his story, talked a bunch more to him. But we didn’t have
many demonstrators today (I guess because of the peace march we also held
last Monday.) So I had just decided to stay on-mission there instead.
After he’d left, my friend Heather looked at me and said, “That was so
moving. I almost cried.” Me, I was biting back tears too.
… The general karma these days feels as though the head of anti-war steam
is starting to rise faster and stronger than ever before. And
I don’t think it’s just here, in what some people call “the People’s Democratic
Republic of Charlottesville.” After all, what I’m looking at here are
trends, over time… Another example: three years ago, back at the beginning of the war,
when I put my pro-peace yard sign out next to our driveway, one of the main
things that happened was that people would steal it, or trash it, or rip
it out and throw it down the nearby swale…
Then yesterday, after 18 months of no anti-war yard sign (but a couple of election
ones in there along the way), I planted out one of the spiffy new signs that
C’vill Center for Peace and Justice has been selling. On one side it says
“End the war now” and on the other, “Wage peace.” (This time, they
remembered to put the CCPJ web address at the bottom of the sign, too. Great
work!)
So I put it out, and less than three hours afterwards I hear a ring at our doorbell.
I go answer it, and there’s a heavyset looking white guy standing there whom I’ve never
met before. “Excuse me, ma’am, but I wanted to ask where you get your
yard sign. I’d really like one like it.”
“Ya… what?”
“I want to know how to get one.”
So I told him I just, actually, “happened” to have a spare one in the garage.
Told him I needed to shut the door on him so the dog wouldn’t get out
on the street, and ran to get the spare sign from the garage to give it to
him.
Amazing.
We’ve been doing our pro-peace work consistently, rain and shine, ever
since before the war. It feels great right now to feel such a strong
shift in our direction.
Helena
Now that I had time to sit down and read the Mearsheimer Walt paper I find your peace movement more useful than its local effects might seem
You will have seen in today’s Haaretz that Harvard has disowned the paper and withdrawn permission for use of its logo on the work.
I found the following very logical piece of reasoning from the paper very reassuring because it lines up with my own thinking.
“As for so-called rogue states in the Middle East, they are not a dire threat to vital US interests, except inasmuch as they are a threat to Israel. Even if these states acquire nuclear weapons – which is obviously undesirable – neither America nor Israel could be blackmailed, because the blackmailer could not carry out the threat without suffering overwhelming retaliation. The danger of a nuclear handover to terrorists is equally remote, because a rogue state could not be sure the transfer would go undetected or that it would not be blamed and punished afterwards. The relationship with Israel actually makes it harder for the US to deal with these states. Israel’s nuclear arsenal is one reason some of its neighbours want nuclear weapons, and threatening them with regime change merely increases that desire.”
Thus undermining the principal causus belli of the moment must give pause for thought.
So on both sides of the coin both handing out Posters and publicising a rational analysis of the next moves in the Middle East well done!
What you learn from episodes like the War of Jenkins Ear is that there are periods where both sides actually want to have a war. What you are doing is blunting the cutting edge of this testosterone led urge to compound the folly of the Iraq adventure.
Helena,
Very moving. We, too, had a similar experience –albeit only months after the war started. A young man started talking to us while we were walking on the street, and it turned out he was just back from the war. Without going into details, let’s just say that it was obvious this fellow was going through a tremendous amount of mental anguish. I was both deeply sad, and furious with frustration at not having been able to stop the war before it started — for this man and for so many others.
Since then, I’ve started nursing school, and have been refocusing quite a bit on health issues and less on international affairs. (Also not posting on your blog!) Partly, it’s the immediacy of someone’s trauma that seems to drown out the “politics as usual” that keeps coming out of Washington.
But there’s no escaping the facts that (1) thousands of young Americans are coming back from Iraq physically and / or mentally brutalized, and (2) that this country doesn’t give a !@#%! about people who don’t have health insurance, or the veterans who need better benefits.
It continues to amaze me how easily we can throw away the lives of some of our most committed citizens based on abstractions, fear, and folly. Except that I suppose that’s been the course of human history.
Vivion, nice to hear from you again. Nursing school! That’s really exciting and important. Good luck with it!
So what’s the plan for dealing with the new government of Iraq if the US troops pull out in a month or so? What sort of Iraqi government will we, in effect, be installing?
Do you look forward to seeing the insurgents take over a portion of Iraq? All of it?
Another peace train, or more accurately caravan, just lost some steam.
A group of Israelis, Palestinians, and various other internationals decided to trek all the way from Israel through Egypt to Libya. They wanted to bring their message of peace to Tripoli.
It went well, until they arrived at the Libyan border. They were refused entry. Libya does not allow Israelis to set foot in the country.
Perhaps the “peace and justice” crowd should do something to protest the actions of the government of Libya.
Love your story of the sign in your yard.
Right after 9/11, like many people, my partner and I felt the need to give visual expression to what we feared (mostly our own government’s likely response.) So we put a sign in our front window reading “ENOUGH KILLING.” Frankly we were scared that we might get a rock through the window. And within hours, the door bell rang. A woman we had never seen before stood there, crying. She wanted one like the one in the window. So, without yet any organizational support, we knew we needed to do a small print run and we did.
As to the peace movement taking hold — I wish I believed that, but I think what we are seeing is general recognition in the US that we’re losing in Iraq (and maybe folks even notice also in the rest of the world). Folks then sensibly want to cut their losses. Good news, but not a peace movement.
I think the peace movement has been much hampered by the reality that there is no force people have access to in Iraq to be in support of. Folks like CPT who have the incredible guts to get close up can be in support of ordinary Iraqis who are just trying to survive. But all the more organized political actors in Iraq are just about equally poor partners to sensible peace activists. So U.S. peace activism is reduced to saying to our rulers: you got us in, now get us out! This kind of activism feels oddly disconnected from what is actually happening. Glad you are meeting the touring Iraqi women. This sort of thing helps.
Do also want to mention again that I was in a little anti-torture demonstration on Monday that seemed to me to fill something of the gap in peace movement activity between the little vigils and the big marches. We need to find ways to do more in that yawning chasm of potential activity.
You know guys
Nobody has asked what the War of Jenkin’s Ear was.
“Perhaps the “peace and justice” crowd should do something to protest the actions of the government of Libya.”
Perhaps Israelis should focus on cleaning up their own country’s act before traipsing all over the world preaching to others.
Shirin,
Do you agree with Gaddafi’s decision to bar entry to Israeli peace activists?
Of course it’s regrettable that Qadhafi’s people stopped the peace activist, Joshua. Duh. But you know what? Regrettable things happen all the time, every day of the week, all around the globe. And it’s not like these Israeli peace activists (or anyone else) are going to suffer any real damage as a result.
I prefer to reserve my expressions of “outrage”, and more importantly my activism, for abuses that have real and lasting consequences for people’s lives and are committed, moreover, with the aid of my tax dollars.
Indeed, I feel a strong responsibility to end such abuses. Do you, Joshua?
I haven’t seen you writing much here about US policy in Iraq, detainee issues, and so on. And I certainly haven’t seen you express much outrage over Israel’s policies in the occupied territories– which are very similar in many ways to Bush administration abuses in Iraq and are moreover enable by our tax dollars.
So spare us your hectoring on something that madman Qadhafi has done, and join the rest of the US peace-and-justice community in focusing on our real responsibilities. Please.
Helena and Shirin miss the point completely. The refusal of Libya to allow entry to the peace caravan is endemic of the larger problem, which is the racism and intolerance espoused by much of the region against its one neighbor that is not under Arab hegemony.
Refusing Israeli peace activists entry into Libya did not directly result in any deaths, for sure. But it is the attitude of Gadaffi and others that has resulted in much of the polarization and warfare that has broken out, which in fact hurts the Palestinians more than the Israelis.
The “Palestine Uber Alles” crowd regularly repeats that “the occupation” is the cause of all of these problems. But the occupation is more a symptom than a cause (although it leads to its own secondary effects). The ultimate cause of much of the blodshed in the middle east, and a serious cause of global instability at this point, is this intolerance and bigotry from sectors of the Arab world. It was the refusal to reconcile that caused the “Naqba,” the refusal to reconcile that caused the six day war, and the refusal to reconcile that led to such bloodshed over the past four years (although there is significantly greater injustice and bloodshed in other parts of the world compared to the Israeli Palestinian conflict).
This incident was just a small matter, but in a larger see of hatred and intolerance which is the root of the problem. It’s a shame that Helena can’t recognize it as such.
As for U.S. and Israeli policy? I opposed going to war in Iraq, have called for Rumsfeld’s resignation and really don’t see much to add. With respect to Israel, although I don’t agree with every action taken over the past several years, I do think Israel has acted with significantly more restraint than any other nation would do when faced with a similar threat. Of course, if you want the Israelis to be more like Russians, maybe they can try that to.
Helena, for you the “peace community” means blaming America and Israel for as much as possible. As a American citizen, I believe that criticism and reflection on this country is not only permissible, but patriotic. Your double standards, selective outrage, and hypocrisy, are not.
I actually went to and help organize peace vigils after 9/11. I realized that I could not affiliate with these people when the literature we distributed at “teach ins” contained blatant misstatements. My favorite one was that that the Soviet Union had not, in fact, invaded Afghanistan, but had merely “assisted its ally under a mutual defense agreement.” There’s just so much idiocy one can take.
I suspect that as the war drags on, more Americans will come to the realization that it was not a good idea, or at the very least just become impatient and demand that the country move on. But most people I know who oppose the war still have no interest in attending “peace vigils” or the like precisely because of the views of people like Helena.
most people I know who oppose the war still have no interest in attending “peace vigils” or the like precisely because of the views of people like Helena.
What an interesting and varied circle of friends you must have, Joshua! Can I meet them? Why don’t you set up a coffee and I can come and we can all talk together?
I for one have never claimed that the Soviets did not invade Afghanistan, and I don’t know anyone in my circle of friends who has so claimed… So what other great red herrings can you drag in to try to justify your lack of engagement with the question of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq?
Helena,
It’s not a red herring. It’s my experience with the “antiwar movement.”
You just don’t get it, do you?
It is obviously the intent of certain posters to turn this blog into a wasteland by hijacking every topic with their blather about how unfairly poor Israel is being treated. The sad thing is, it’s working. I can hardly bring myself to wade through this crap anymore to find the interesting bits.
However, WarrenW doesn’t disappoint. He still wants to make sure we “install” the right form of government for those Iraqis, who couldn’t possibly manage on their own. How do you feel the intallation is going so far, Warren?
Joshua,
With all due respect to Israeli peace activists, and with no respect at all to Qaddafi,
1. it is not, I think, at all uncommon for states to refuse entry to nationals of states with which they have hostile relations.
2. It seems rather hypocritical for Israelis to trek through Africa to bring the message of peace to Libya. Perhaps they ought to save their feet, and stay home until their own government gets the message.
3. It is rather impressive, I must say, how you manage to make any topic on earth an opportunity for some “Israelis good, Arabs bad” diatribe.
No, Joshua, you are the one who misses the point completely, and you also just don’t get it.
Aside from your obvious attempt to hijack (as John C. put it) this topic with your “Israelis good, Arabs bad” post, your whine about supposed “racism and intolerance espoused by much of the region against its one neighbor that is not under Arab hegemony” remark is misplaced on several levels:
1. It does not seem to occur to you that the reason for hostility toward Israel is not at all “racism and intolerance” (i.e. anti-Semitism, of course) OR the fact that Israel is not “under Arab hegemony”, but rather Israel’s own conduct toward non-Jews under its power, its greed for territory, its arrogance, and its its well-documented lifelong preference for beligerence and provocation rather than neighborliness. (Oddly enough, though there are a number of states in the neighborhood that are “not under Arab hegemony”, Israel is the only one that Arabs seem to have problems with.)
2. You have a hell of a nerve accusing Israel’s neighbors of racism given Israelis’ well-known racism not only toward Israel’s neighbors, not only toward the non-Jews whose land Israel occupies, not only toward non-Jewish (specifically “Arab”) citizens of Israel (see the recent survey that found over 40% of Israelis favouring segregation, and 61% saying they would not accept Arabs living in their building, and also see the article excerpted below), but even toward non-European Jews (yes, I know things have improved for non-Europeans in Israel, but there is still a long way to go).
The problem in the article below is hardly unique to this town, and in fact is rather mild compared to the problems faced by, for example, Palestinian Israelis living in unrecognized villages.
“Children’s Arab ethnicity disqualifies their entry into Jewish kindergarten
“Many Arab families living in the Jewish town of Harish have expressed extreme concern about the prevention of Arab children from enrolling in the local kindergarten. Mrs Abeer Mara’ane, an Arab mother, is still looking for a kindergarten to enrol her child. She sent a letter to the local council of Harish asking for reasons why her child was not allowed enrolment; till date, she hasn’t received a reply.
Mrs Mara’ane said, “We are facing a lot of obstacles in Harish and are also finding it hard to register our children in kindergartens in Arab towns as an alternative. We think that the officials of Harish should allow our children to enrol in the local kindergarten, as this is our hometown, and this is where we pay our taxes just as our Jewish neighbours do”.
It should be noted that Harish is located in Wadi ‘Ara and numbers 1500 residents, 200 of which are Arab. Since it was established, Arab children were prevented from enrolling in the kindergarten and as an alternative the Arab families had to register their children in neighbouring Arab towns.
Recently, some of the Arab towns are refusing to register the Arab children from Harish, stating that those children are not registered as residents of their town. One of the parents said, “They refused to register and accept my son because he’s an Arab and I was told, ‘You’d better go and register him in an Arab kindergarten’, but I replied that we live between Jews and my son plays with Jewish children and gets along with them well. I think that this behaviour is part of their measures to expel us from Harish. They do not want Arabs here.”
“Shirin”
“it is not, I think, at all uncommon for states to refuse entry to nationals of states with which they have hostile relations.”
Which begs the question, why should Libya maintain such a hostile posture? Whatever Israel’s flaws, Libya cannot justify a failure to maintain normal diplomatic relations. It has no territorial claims or other political grievances.
“It seems rather hypocritical for Israelis to trek through Africa to bring the message of peace to Libya. Perhaps they ought to save their feet, and stay home until their own government gets the message.”
Not at all hypocritical. Everyone’s society can use some improvement, and Israel is no exception. In the meantime, it is also necessary to help resolve conflicts between nations. In this case, the hatred that Israel receives from its racist neighbors also contributes to poor Jewish-Arab relations within Israel.
You seem to think that this was a bunch of Israelis trying to somehow shame Libya and say “look how great we are.” It was not, the delegation consisted of both Israelis, Palestinians and others. It was a win win for everyone.
“It is rather impressive, I must say, how you manage to make any topic on earth an opportunity for some “Israelis good, Arabs bad” diatribe.”
Again not at all, I was pointing out that it was unfortunate how the “peace train” was not gaining steam in some parts of the world, directly on topic.
Rather, it is you who, in response, go into one of your hysterical “let me find whatever article I can that makes Israel look bad” tirades.
It really is not a surpise that Helena, yourself, and the “Palestine Uber Alles” crowd continues to marginalize themselves.
2006-03-26 Christian Peace Team in action
Joshua,
“why should Libya maintain such a hostile posture? Whatever Israel’s flaws, Libya cannot justify a failure to maintain normal diplomatic relations. It has no territorial claims or other political grievances.”
Yes, yes, I know. Poor innocent Israel, though somewhat flawed, has always been friendly and kind, has bent over backward to be a good neighbor, and has given no reason at all for anyone to take a “hostile posture” toward it. Therefore the only possible bases for any hostility toward Israel are 1) pervasive virulent anti-Semitism, 2) Arab resentment of “the only state in the region” that is not under “Arab hegemony”. (Oh yes, and by the way, Joshua, in case you missed my point the first time, your statement that Israel is the only state in the region not under “Arab hegemony” is false on its face. Oddly enough, too, it is the only state in the region that maintains consistently poor relations with its neighbors.)
“Not at all hypocritical. Everyone’s society can use some improvement, and Israel is no exception.”
Then why are Israelis traipsing across Africa to try to help Libya improve its society instead of working on their own society? Libya is not even a close neighbor, has not been a major player in Israel’s conflict with the Arabs, and Qaddafi is hardly the most potentially receptive Arab head of state they could choose to try to deal with. You might even say that by choosing Libya they set themselves up for failure. If they really want peace why not stay home and deal with their own problems, which are, after all, far more immediate, and far more amenable to a solution?
“In the meantime, it is also necessary to help resolve conflicts between nations.”
And Libya, not geographically close, not a state with which Israel has that much direct conflict, and a state whose government is less likely than most to be receptive, was their first choice?
“In this case, the hatred that Israel receives from its racist neighbors also contributes to poor Jewish-Arab relations within Israel.”
1. Still trying to pay the anti-Semitism card here I see. You really ought to try to peddle that nonsense somewhere else where you have a chance of selling it. Most of the people here seem to understand very well that it is not racism toward Israel, but Israel’s own conduct – its greed for territory, its hostility, belligerance, racism, and bigotry that causes most of its troubles.
2. What causes poor Jewish-Arab relations within Israel is not anything on the part of Israel’s neighbors, but Israel’s historically poor and discriminatory treatment of its non-Jewish (and its Jewish non-European) residents/citizens, whom it considers not valued citizens, but rather openly labels a “demographic problem” . If Israel treated its non-Jewish citizens as valued, equal citizens rather than a threat to the “Jewish character” of the state, they would be quite happy with their lot, and it would not matter at all to them what the neighbors said or did.
“You seem to think that this was a bunch of Israelis trying to somehow shame Libya and say “look how great we are.” It was not, the delegation consisted of both Israelis, Palestinians and others. It was a win win for everyone.”
I do not pretend to know what motivated a group of Israelis to choose to go to Libya, of all places, instead of focusing on their own far more immediate, and far more potentially soluble problems. I do know how it looks, and I also know that their time and energy would be far better used working on their own problems.
“Again not at all, I was pointing out that it was unfortunate how the “peace train” was not gaining steam in some parts of the world, directly on topic.”
And you “just happened” to settle on an example that you could use to divert the topic from efforts to bring an end to the Bush administration’s ongoing aggression against Iraq to the usual “Israelis good, Arabs bad”, “Israelis peace-loving, Arabs not”. And all this despite the far greater ease with which you could have found numerous examples of the Israeli government’s constant habit of throwing the peace train into reverse. What a fortunate coincidence!
“Rather, it is you who, in response, go into one of your hysterical “let me find whatever article I can that makes Israel look bad” tirades.”
Just can’t resist throwing in a personal snipe, Joshua?
Not at all, Joshua. There is not, and never has been any hysteria, any effort to find anything or to make Israel look bad (Israel does an excellent job of that all by itself, and seems to be getting better at it over time), or any tirade. I just find deeply ironic your consisent attempts to use the racism charge to absolve Israel of responsiblity for its own conduct given the clear and demonstrable racism Israel and Israelis have exhibited throughout their history. There is no need to to search for articles. It so happens that the survey I referenced came out a few days ago, and the article I quoted crossed my desk just yesterday.
“It really is not a surpise that Helena, yourself, and the “Palestine Uber Alles” crowd continues to marginalize themselves.”
Goodness, Joshua, more childish personal snipes – and now you have to bring Helena into it? How willingly you show your weakness!
1. If you want to use a snarky label for those who advocate for Palestinian human and national rights, you ought to first try to find one that actually fits, and do try to be at least a little bit original. As I have pointed out to you before, unlike those of you who cannot relinquish the notion of Israeli supremacy and dominance, neither Helena nor I (nor anyone else here that I can think of) has ever advocated any kind of Palestinian dominance, or suggested that Palestinians are superior to Israelis. We have never asked for anything more than basic human rights and full independence for Palestinians within the pre-1967 war boundaries.
2. Objectively, it is not those who advocate for Palestinian human and national rights who are marginalizing ourselves. On the contrary, the evidence shows that as the public learns more of the facts, sees and understands the reality, it is those who continue to cling to the notion of Israel as the innocent victim/hero (however “flawed” it may be), and who continue to advocate Israeli dominance and supremacy, who are becoming increasingly marginalized.
Joshua, it’s time for you to relinquish the notion of Israeli supremacy and dominance. Because objectively that’s clearly what this is all about.
“Shirin”
I think the main problem is that you are either unaware of the facts or willfully distorting them as they relate to the “peace caravan.”
This was not a bunch of “Israelis traipsing” across the desert to Libya. This was a cooperative effort between Israelis, Palestinians and interested third parties. It was put together by “Breaking The Ice” a German organization that encourages groups in conflict to work together.
Why Libya? Because going from Jerusalem involved a rigorous trek through the desert that required the participants to bond and work together. The
same reason why in 2004, the same organization sponsored an Israeli-Palestinian delegation to climb a previously unclimbed mountain in Antarctica. The same reason why in 2005, the same organization brought Israeli and Palestinian teens on a 15 day trek through the Appalachian
mountains. Why? BECAUSE IT’S THERE.
This was not a case of “Israelis peace loving, Palestinians not.” This was a case of “Peace loving Israelis and Palestinians, rejected by an
autocratic racist regime.”
You have decided, apparently, that Israelis and Palestinians cannot cooperate together, unless perhaps it is back in Israel itself, railing
against whatever the anti-Israel Amen Corner considers to be the latest example of “Zionist aggression.” That’s really too bad, because you’ve essentially removed yourself from any and all meaningful ways of resolving
the conflict. I suppose that’s why you retreated from forums which treat both sides as equal participants (and where even Arab participants got fed up with your distortions), and instead choose to lurk on weblogs that try to serve as an echo chamber for your narrow, racist and one sided views.
I have to admit that I don’t have high expectations from you when it comes to discourse. But I also have to admit that I was a bit surprised that you would demean such a noble mission.
Joshua, it seems to me that you are throwing our red herrings instead of staying with the general topic.
Adult Dating Sex