Date:  6/22/09

To:

Re:  The United Nations and the Palestine Issue

And much of what you decried I also decried when we attacked Iraq with our “shock and awe” warfare.  I cried when I saw mothers holding their dead infants.  Dead, not because of a bomb, but because of a lack of medicine and/or milk because the bridges were blown up and there were no deliveries.  Hospitals were useless because they had no electricity or supplies.  Men who had been drafted against their will into the army were being killed and leaving wives and children with no means of support and bereft.  I was ashamed.

Many people will talk of 9/11 as being a watershed experience for them.  For me, the watershed experience was when we invaded Iraq.  I no longer wanted to be considered an American.  But I didn’t want to just stand back and say it was all the fault of Bush and the administration.  It was their fault, but it was also the fault of our society that allowed him to do this heinous act without any question.  So that is when I decided that I would no longer consider myself an American, or a member of any tribe or nation.  Instead I would consider myself a Global Citizen.

And then I did a lot of thinking as to what does it mean to be a Global Citizen.  And that is where I realized that the answer to that was in supporting the work of the United Nations.  Not the UN of the General Assembly (GA) or the Security Council (SC), but the work of the UN agencies – the WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, etc.  These agencies, in collaboration with the over 25,000 NGOs around the world are where the good in this world is being performed. 

I have written about the need for our society to have a paradigm change from one of competition and control to one of collaboration and cooperation.  Whether in our education, our jobs, our international relations, or whatever, we need to shift from focusing on competition and instead focus on working together.  And I have used the UN as a metaphor of that principle.  The Security Council and General Assembly are examples of the competition and control paradigm.  The US (especially under Bush) wanted nothing to do with the UN unless it could control it.  However the agencies were a model of what could be done through collaboration and cooperation.  For example, when the Tsunami hit, it was the work of the UN agencies and over 250 NGOs that made that so much more successful in its relief than we experienced with our own Hurricane Katrina. 

I have often used the model of the Rotary and the Polio Plus program.  Rotary started with just the polio program early in the 80′s but then, after seeing their success, the WHO joined with them and it became the Polio Plus program to eradicate not one but all five major childhood diseases.  What a model that program is.

When most people think of the UN and the Middle East, all they see is ineffectiveness.  Because of the US allowing Israel to thumb its nose at all of the UN’s resolutions condemning its settlements and “overkill” in its use of force against the Palestinians, the SC and GA are ineffective.  However most people do not realize that there is a tremendous amount of aid that is being given to all of the Palestinian refugees through the work of NGOs and the UN.  And the UN has been responsible for the hospitals and schools in the refugee camps and internment/Apartheid camps.  It is just a shame that this good that is being done is remedial and nothing can be done in a preventive way.  I find that the US complacency and even encouragement of Israeli policies to be shameful.  (What else can you call the US allowance of Israel to continue its encroachment with additional settlements but encouragement?) 

At the time of our invasion of Iraq, after doing some root-cause analysis, I realized a truth.  Those who were in favor of our “shock and awe” invasion were motivated by fear.  This is not including the Administration and others with their hidden agendas, but real people whom I knew as friends.  However those like myself who were against the aggressive and destructive actions were motivated by empathy.  And I realized that empathy is the greatest antidote to fear.  And that is why and how empathy became one of my four missions in life to learn and teach.  And I resolved that if I have a choice, and thank god I do have a choice, I would rather be known as a person who is motivated by empathy rather than motivated by fear. 

And I find the same truth in the Israeli/Palestine conflict.  And no, I don’t see Obama changing things in Palestine but instead he is allowing Israel to continue with their illegal settlements and disregard of Palestine as a separate autonomous State.

(Note:  The extremists in Israel are Zionists – so this does not include all Israelis as I know many Jews in the US and from Israel who are ashamed of what their government does.)

Date 6/22/09

To:

Re:  My Experience During Ramadan

About four or five years ago I decided to do something different.  Ever since 9/11 I have felt that the Muslims in our society were a maligned minority and have wished I could help in my own way.  When the month of Ramadan came around I thought I might have such an opportunity.  Although I don’t know much about their faith and traditions, I do know that during this month of fasting, they will break fast in the evening after sundown.  I also knew that often they would celebrate their breaking of fast with others – even of a non-Muslim faith.  I decided that I would like to break fast with a family during this month.  However I then realized how stratified my friendships were as I didn’t know any practicing Muslims.  I’m sure some of my friends may have been Muslims, but not overtly practicing where I could ask them if I could join them. 

So I went to the Unitarian Universalist (UU) minister in town and asked her if she knew of any Muslim families who would appreciate the opportunity of having a “stranger in their midst” for the breaking of their fast.  She did some investigating and found out that there was a community of Muslims which broke fast at a UU church in a nearby town.  They actually had a worship service there before the breaking of the fast.  She had contacted them and they agreed to let me come and be an observer to the service and then to join them in their meal.

Knowing nothing of this group, I was expecting it to be a diverse group of Muslims in the MetroWest part of Boston from many countries – kind of a Diaspora of Muslims.  I wasn’t expecting what I found.  When I got there, the entire group of about 50 was from India – the Northern part of India, of course.  So I observed the entire ceremony in a foreign language that I couldn’t even identify.  I’m not sure if it was an Indian language or possibly even Urdu.  But I sat on the sidelines and observed while the men and boys were up front and the women and girls were in the back of the room.  (Of course, they were all seated on the floor.)  It was fascinating to watch and I came away with two words:  respect, and reverence.  I was amazed at the respect I saw displayed – especially with the children to their elders.  And I was also impressed with the level of reverence which was displayed during the service whether it was during their prayers or listening to the readings, or listening to the leader (perhaps an Imam?).  It was an experience that although it made me feel exhilarated, it also made me feel disappointed in that I would have loved to have shared this experience with so many of my friends.  But I knew that would not happen.

Then we had a delicious meal and I joined them in sitting on the floor and talking to several of the fathers and even the boys.  It was a great community experience and I have cherished the opportunity that was given me by this group on that evening.  That’s when I learned that these people were from Northern India and were in the process of having a beautiful mosque built nearby and were using this church temporarily until the mosque was finished. 

This experience and these discussions also taught me of the hardships that occur when entire communities are divided by imposed, often arbitrary national boundaries – such as the separation of the Muslims in Northern India from the Muslims in Pakistan as a consequence of the country borders in 1947 (or 1948?).  When there is enmity between the groups on either side of the boundary and causing subsequent abuse to the minorities by the majorities in each country, people are separated from religious communities, friends, and even families.  A truth which I still feel when I consider what has been done in Palestine – especially with the building of the Israeli Wall which separates established communities and even families to say nothing about workers from their livelihoods. 

This experience, by the way, was part of my goal to learn empathy.  (I define empathy as really understanding what and why a person thinks and feels the way(s) that they do.)

David

Date 6/21/09

To:  YYY

Re:  Palestinian Election Monitoring

You might be interested to know that I was to have been an election monitor at the Palestinian elections back about January of 2006.  I am a Board member of the Nonviolent Peaceforce of Greater Boston and was all set to go.  I was to leave on Thursday and then go for two days of training with Jimmy Carter’s election monitoring center.  However that Tuesday, I found out from the travel agent (in Palestine) that the airline had never entered my booking reservation when the travel agent had sent it a couple of months prior.  As a result, I did not have a reservation after all and it would have cost me an additional $800 to get a reservation with such short notice.

I do not regret many things in my life (although there are many things I could regret if I wanted to).  But this is one of the few that I regret.  I was so excited at the prospect of being a part of that historic election and then to have all my plans crumble right before I was to go.  I wish now I had paid the additional $800.

David

Date:  6/21/09

To:  XXX

Re:  Article Entitled:  “Are We Bankrupting the Country?”

Like most demagoguery, this article has some truth, but not in proportion to the level of fear that it hypes.  This was created to generate fear, and not to disseminate information.  The talks that it mentions by these developing countries [the developing eight countries] is indeed important and should have been more evident in our Main Street Media as the possible ramifications could be great.  But this article only tries to bring out the fear factors and presents these possibilities as done deeds. 

Yes, they were talking about changing the currency and yes, that would severely affect our economy if they did.  However, China would wind up hurting financially if the value of the dollar dropped, so it is reluctant.  Yes, they were to discuss the currency of the IMF but that is useless as a traded currency, so that isn’t a likely prospect.  Russia is dependent on the price of oil so it will not make decisions which would devalue the price of oil.  Each of these countries has a favorite alternative, but none of them are the same as the others.  They are all separate in their desires for an alternative so it is unlikely that they will agree on an alternative.

But it is a start.  We must realize that the definition of Superpower has changed.  It used to reflect our being a military power.  But power in today’s world is not to be measured in terms of military strength.  (We are in two wars where our mighty military powers are not being used.)  This paradigm shift needs to be recognized and incorporated by our society.  Power in today’s world is to be measured in terms of financial power.  And the US is not a Superpower in the financial world, and will become even less powerful without a paradigm change. 

But the calamitous effects won’t come out of this week’s meetings like this article so joyously pronounces.  It seems to revel in its fear.  Always distrust an article like this that revels in the amount of fear and also cannot discuss without resorting to extreme emotion-packed adjectives to create emotional responses rather than rational responses.

David