Wednesday 7 January 2009

A summary of events

If you don't understand the major ins and outs of the Gaza conflict, or the situation in Israel/Palestine in general, today's Guardian has a great article that goes into various aspects of it.

The bonus is that it's written by Avi Shlaim, a professor of international relations at Oxford and an Israeli.

'How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe'

Dialogue

Since the weekend, I've been having the most amazing e-mail dialogue with a total stranger, thanks to the wonders of the internet.

Having posted my protest photos on flickr on Sunday, I received a comment on one of them from an Israeli girl in Haifa, who asked how I had become so interested in the Palestinian situation. It wasn't a confrontational comment, simply a genuine enquiry, so I replied and every day this week has seen a continuation of the conversation. It's not angry or attacking, just two people sharing their thoughts regarding a conflict that they don't agree with, but for different reasons.

I'm not going to say much (because I have other plans for this dialogue in the future and I've not asked her permission to show the messages in full), but I just wanted to share with you a few of her comments that have really got me thinking.

Firstly, challenging my belief in pacifism:
"I wish I had the privilege to be a pacifist. I can't. For every fact that you will raise, I have a thousand counter backs. That only shows you that both sides are right- Israeli and Palestinians. There is not only one truth as there is not only one solution."

Secondly, an interesting philosophical dilemma:
"Now i wish to ask you a question. Is there a difference between a situation with the same result, but with different intentions? When a terror bomber explodes himself on a bus wishing to kill many people, including children, or when a soldiar wishing to kill someone with blood on his hand mistakenly kills a child, does it count that the first guy wished for it and the second one didn't?"

I've replied to both these comments with my own views and feelings, but philosophically, it's hard. Pacifism is an idealistic belief which hasn't yet seen any success in political circles, as many years of studying history has taught me. Similarly, I believe that all killing is wrong, but that God will judge those who kill in the end. But accidents do happen, and I have sympathy for soldiers who kill civillians unintentionally. I have even more sympathy for soldiers forced to be in the military, like those in Israel on their compulsory military service.

The bottom line is that I'm really grateful that this person has got in touch with me and is leading me into a fascinating and challenging discussion about something that I am hugely passionate about. And I'm even more grateful that it's happening in a peaceful and non-confrontational way.

Tuesday 6 January 2009

And I need you to start small in...Palestine

This is a Christmas Poem written by one of my colleagues for our office Christmas service. I was really moved by it at the time (especially as the was an image of the nativity against the background of the Wall on the screen as he read it) and asked for a copy - not realising he had written it himself. I asked him for a copy and got it when I came back to work yesterday.

And the Father said to Jesus…

I’m having a re-think, I need to reorganise,
So I need you to be flexible as part of that exercise.
Don’t worry if you feel you’re not fully skilled
Personnel provide training, it’s part of the deal.

It’s a big job of course, it’s about life and death.
It will mean incarnation among those who have breath -
In Iraq and the Congo, as well as Come Dancers,
Sublime, ridiculous; life’s poorest, financiers.
They all have their life, yet will all die in time,
And I need you to start small in - Palestine.

It’s a big job of course, it’s about saving the earth,
From itself, from each other; new values, new worth,
Where there’s love for each other, where peace will reign;
There’ll be justice for all, even joy through the pain.
Where all work together, people cease saying ‘mine’,
And the best place to start work is in – Palestine.

It’s a big job of course, and it must involve Hope,
If it works as expected, not sure how you’ll cope.
I won’t leave you alone, watch out for the dove!
But in order to save them, it needs demonstrable love -
Beyond anything, anywhere, in the annals of time,
And the best place to show hope is in – Palestine.

It’s a fixed term contract, with negotiable wages
Mary’s expecting you, as are the three sages.
You’ll start work in a manger, but rise to Team Leader.
And as for your targets, we’ll review those next Easter.

MPK
Dec 2008

Saturday 3 January 2009

Glimpses of the demo

Just a few of my favourite images from today. I have a particular thing for taking photos of signs I like.


The rest of them are here.

Standing Up to be Counted

Today thousands of people marched from Embankment to Trafalgar Square showing their support of Palestine, and demanding a response from the international community to the violence in Gaza.

As I write, media reports are concentrating on arrests made at the end of a subsequent protest at the Israeli Embassy and are putting the number of people at the march at around 6,000. In fact, the police this afternoon estimated it at 50,000 - I know, I heard it announced in Trafalgar Square, where I stood in the freezing cold to show my solidarity.

It's highly likely that today's demonstration was actually the largest ever to take place in the UK in support of Palestine. It was an eclectic mix of the Stop the War Coalition; Islamic groups; Rabbis for Peace; Socialist Workers and Christian Groups. There were families with small children as well as a diverse range of races. (See the adjacent photo of child's placard.) It was peaceful and people were cheerful.

To hear on my return home that Israeli ground troops have entered Gaza was rather galling.


At the same time, I've also discovered a set of three Gaza related cartoons on
Asbo Jesus- this is my favourite:



The praying for peace continues.

Thursday 1 January 2009

Gaza Demo

Having failed to make any of the protests outside the Israeli Embassy this week, I'm planning on going to one this Saturday in Parliament Square.

Here are the details:
Saturday 3rd January, assembling at the Embankment at 12.30pm.

More info from
Stand Up For Gaza.