Monthly Archives: April 2008

Abir’s Garden

Posted on April 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

Last year I posted a heartbreaking article by Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian whose 10 year old daughter Abir (right) was killed by a rubber bullet by Israeli border police in the West Bank town of Anata. Bassam is a co-founder of Combatants for Peace – an important coexistence organization made of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants – and in his article, he eloquently wrote of his desire to channel his grief to pursue justice and peace, rather than revenge:

We know that to serve our people, we must fight not each other but the hatred between us. We must find a way to share this land each people holds in the depths of its soul, to build two states side by side. Only then will the mourning end.

I will not rest until the soldier responsible for my daughter’s death is put on trial, and made to face what he has done. I will see to it that the world does not forget my daughter, my lovely Abir.

But I will not seek vengeance. No, I will continue the work I have undertaken with my Israeli brothers. I will fight with all I have within me to see that Abir’s name, Abir’s blood, becomes the bridge that finally closes the gap between us, the bridge that allows Israelis and Palestinians to finally, inshallah, live in peace.

If I could tell my daughter anything, I would make her that promise. And I would tell her that I love her very, very much.

An update: this past February, members of Combatants for Peace held a memorial service for Abir and dedicated Abir’s Garden – a playground at the Anata School for Girls. The project is being sponsored by the Rebuilding Alliance, an NGO that rebuilds homes and communities in areas of war and occupation.

At the the Abir’s Garden website, you can find out how to donate olive and fruit trees and paving stones for the playground. There is also information on how you can advocate for justice in the case of Abir’s killing, which has been officially closed by the Israeli authorities.

Of this latest effort, Bassam writes the following:

I’m not going to lose my common sense, my direction, only because I’ve lost my heart, my child. I will do all I can to protect her friends, both Palestinian and Israeli. They are all our children.

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Posted in Children's Rights, Coexistence, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine, Peace

Critical Jews News Department

Posted on April 28, 2008 | Leave a comment

Never mind the recent Pew Religious Landscape Survey or Jimmy Carter’s recent trip to the Middle East – I’d say the most critical Jewish news item of recent days is a British tabloid report that David and Victoria “Posh” Beckham are sending their son Cruz to a Jewish day school in Los Angeles.

According to the report, Beckham himself has a Jewish mother and has referred to himself as “half-Jewish,” but that the Beckhams have “no plans to educate Cruz in the Jewish faith.” Here, however, is my favorite quote from the article:

The LA Galaxy star has the Hebrew phrase: “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine” etched on his left forearm, next to “Victoria,” mis-spelt in Hindi.

Opting for taste and restraint, The Sun chose not reveal the name of the school in question…

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Posted in Current Events, Judaism, Religion

Tilting at Windmills?

Posted on April 27, 2008 | 2 Comments

I just finished reading a fascinating article in the European Jewish Press that spotlighted a Jewish historian’s theory that the legendary Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes belonged to a family of conversos – Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity or face expulsion from Spain after 1492.

Historian Abraham Haim, an expert on Sephardic history and culture, claims that Cervantes’ classic “Don Quixote de la Mancha” contains numerous Jewish references and reflects “the silence experienced by a Jewish soul.”

Haim points to a number of examples from “Don Quixote,” including Kabbalistic symbolism, references to the Sukkot festival, and an “almost literal translation of an entire page of Talmud.” For me, the most interesting aspect of his theory is the claim that Cervantes wrote some of this Jewish content in code in order to avoid persecution by the Inquisition:

At the beginning of the book, for example, when describing Don Quixote’s diet, reference is made to “duelos y quebrantos” – literally “suffering and brokenness”– on Saturdays.

This has a double meaning: on the one hand, it is the term–still used to this day by Moroccan Jews–for the eggs and broken bits of grain that some Sephardis add to the pot. But it can also refer to the sadness felt by those forced to leave Spain.

Apparently this is not the first time that a scholar has made such a claim, but it seems to be the most authoritative yet. Perhaps this is common knowledge in academic circles, but it’s the first time I’ve heard of it – and I’m fascinated by the suggestion that we could possibly add “Don Quixote” to the canon of classic Jewish literature…

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Posted in Judaism, Religion, Sephardic Judaism

Back on the Syria Track?

Posted on April 24, 2008 | 1 Comment

Could there be something in the air between Israel and Syria? We’ve receiving reports that the two countries have been back channeling with the help of Turkey for some time – and now Syrian President Assad has told a Qatar newspaper that Turkish involvement had yielded an Israeli offer to withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for a peace treaty.

The inevitable diplomatic two-step has already begun. Olmert’s office does not confirm or deny anything, and the report has already set off a political firestorm in Israeli political circles. But the momentum seems to be continuing. For his part, Assad is saying direct talks could not happen without US involvement – but that this could never happen until a new US President takes office. (No surprise there…)

I’ve blogged about Syrian – Israeli peace efforts before, but I’ll restate my own two cents for the record: I believe an accord would go a long way to stablize the region, improve the climate for Israeli-Palestinian talks, and further mitigate the influence of Iran. Is Assad serious? There’s only one way to find out. As I am fond of saying, where there’s talk, there’s hope.

Click here for an AP article on the latest developments.

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Posted in Iran, Israel, Peace, Politics, Syria

Trash is Cash

Posted on April 22, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you’re looking for a meaningful way to celebrate Earth Day 2008, here’s an inspiring project worthy of your support. Taka ni Pato (“Trash is Cash”) is an income-generating, solid waste management and recycling project that removes more than 2000 tons of trash each year from a slum in Kenya.

More than 700,000 people live in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, which is large as NYC’s Central Park, yet lacks basic government services such as trash removal, sewage, and clean water. Through Taka ni Pato, however, garbage is becoming a resource in Kibera. TNP promotes solid waste management and public awareness about recycling, and creates jobs for youth that collect trash. At present, TNP engages more than 100 young people, providing them with the tools necessary to clean up their communities, creating a healthier environment while generating income for individual economic development.

If you’d like to support TNP in their efforts to create a more environmentally and economically sustainable community, click here. $25 will buy two shovels and a rake for clean ups; $75 buys a wheel barrel for transporting trash; $100 helps pay rent for land used to sort and store recyclable materials.

You should also know that TNP is but one of many important initiatives sponsored by Carolina for Kiberia – an amazing NGO run out of the University of North Carolina that was named a Time Magazine and Gates Foundation “Hero of Global Health.”

Make a difference this Earth Day! Anyone out there have a favorite environmental effort they’d like to share?

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Posted in Environmentalism, Global Activism, Poverty, Water

Resist the Politics of Fear!

Posted on April 22, 2008 | 1 Comment

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.
(Dorothy Thompson)

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
(Eleanor Roosevelt)

The world is a narrow bridge, but the main thing is not to fear.
(Rabbi Nachman of Breslov)

I’m offering the quotes above as something of an antidote to the politics of fear that are once again gracing the airwaves. Apparently with things on the line in the Pennsylvania primary, Hilary Clinton has released an ad (above) that features a series of fear-inducing images – including one of the ubiquitous Osama Bin Laden. She also recently appeared on Good Morning America to remind us all that the US has the capacity to “obliterate” Iran.

No matter who you may vote for, I urge you to resist the temptation to give in to political fearmongering which, truth be told, really didn’t serve us all that well in the last two elections. And no matter what you might think about the state of our world, I implore you, as Reb Nachman reminds us above, not to succumb your basest fears. If you’re looking for a different way, here’s an insight from Burmese Human Rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi (one of the bravest people on the planet):

“Fear is not the natural state of civilized people.”

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Posted in Current Events, Fear, Iran, Politics, Terrorism

More 21st Century Pesach News

Posted on April 17, 2008 | 2 Comments

Here’s a great sign of our Passover times: the JTA reported today that an Arab teenager recently won an annual Pesach contest in Israel:

Malek Sharkiyeh, a Muslim ninth-grader from Acco, took the $300 prize this week in a competition by Israel’s ORT school system for Haggadah illustrations.

“The subject of the Haggadah exhilarated me,” Sharkiyeh told Ma’ariv on Thursday. “I like to draw, and that’s why it was natural for me to take part in a drawing contest.”

I think this story is yet another example of the universal power of the Exodus story – and how it has the real potential to bring peoples together in common purpose. In this instance, I’m particularly reminded of the Sarejevo Haggadah - the venerable medieval illustrated text that has captured the imagination of Jews, Muslims and Christians alike for centuries (see above).

Mazel Tov/Mabrouk, Malek!

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Posted in Current Events, Interfaith, Israel, Judaism, Pesach, Religion

Remembering Tibet on Pesach

Posted on April 16, 2008 | 7 Comments

I recently came across this intruiging new campaign for raising awareness about the Chinese occupation of Tibet at the seder table this year. It’s called “An Unlit Candle: Solidarity with Tibet at Passover.” Their website instructs thus:

Since 1950, the Chinese military has brutally occupied Tibet. Hundreds of thousands have died. Thousands have been jailed, tortured, raped. Countless monasteries have been destroyed.

And now, as the Chinese Olympic torch is met with protests around the globe, we call on you to join the effort to shed light on Tibet’s suffering by extinguishing a torch of your own.

We call on all Jews to include an unlit candle on their Seder Tables this year. The candle symbolizes both the Olympic torch, whose light has been dimmed, and the unmet hopes of a people still living without freedom.

The point is not just to have another symbol on your table.  Rather, as with the rest of the Seder, the point is to stimulate discussion and action.  When your loved ones ask about the unlit candle on the Seder table, talk with them about the Tibetans’ struggle for freedom. Demand that the Chinese government meet with the Dalai Lama, who has condemned all acts of violence, who asks only for autonomy for his people, and who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent efforts. Demand that the Chinese regime immediately lift restrictions on Tibetan religious and political expression. And ask our leaders not to attend the Olympics’ opening ceremony, and our athletes to display symbols of solidarity with Tibet.

Click here for the site. It’s certainly a worthy symbolic statement, tho I am disappointed it doesn’t really include any concrete action components. Click here for some campaigns sponsored by Free Tibet that you can promote at your seder as well…

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Posted in Human Rights, Judaism, Religion

Head Down J Street!

Posted on April 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

As I mentioned in a post last week, J Street – the new pro-Peace, pro Israel PAC – has now been officially launched! Click above for their new video, here for their website, and here for their press release. Here’s a quote from the latter:

J Street is the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.

J Street was founded to promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israel conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. We support a new direction for American policy in the Middle East and a broad public and policy debate about the U.S. role in the region.

J Street represents Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, as well as the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own – two states living side-by-side in peace and security. We believe ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the best interests of Israel, the United States, the Palestinians, and the region as a whole.

J Street supports diplomatic solutions over military ones, including in Iran; multilateral over unilateral approaches to conflict resolution; and dialogue over confrontation with a wide range of countries and actors when conflicts do arise.

The day we’ve been hoping for has arrived: the creation of a Israel PAC that actually reflects the opinions of the majority of American Jews. Here’s hoping that J Street finds much support and success…

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Posted in Israel, Palestine, Peace, Politics

Yet Another Carter Brouhaha

Posted on April 14, 2008 | 1 Comment

Jimmy Carter is once again arousing the ire of certain self-proclaimed spokespeople for the Jewish people. Now it involves his current trip to the Middle East and his plan to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal later this week. Well, here is one humble rabbi who’d like to go on record as at least one member of the Jewish community who applauds Carter’s efforts at peacemaking – and his willingness to wade into territory that most diplomats are too timid to tread.

The bottom line? The only long-term solution to the current Gaza mess is to engage with Hamas who is, whether we like it or not, the governing authority in Gaza. (For an eloquent analysis of this point, read this recent letter to Condoleeza Rice from the Israel Policy Forum.)

To those who accuse Carter of over-favoring the Palestinians, it should be noted that he made a point of visiting with the family of Hezbollah hostage Gilad Shalit. He also visited Sderot (see the picture above of him examining Qassam missles). Afterwards, he was quoted as saying:

I think it’s a despicable crime for any deliberate effort to be made to kill innocent civilians, and my hope is there will be a cease-fire soon.

While it might be expected that Carter might not be thrown a welcome party by Israel’s current administration, I was particularly troubled to read in Ha’aretz that:

Shin Bet security service has declined to assist Carter during his visit, U.S. sources close to the matter said on Monday.

An American source described the snub as an “unprecedented” breach between the Shin Bet and the U.S. Secret Service, which protects all current and former U.S. presidents, as well as Israeli leaders when they visit the United States.

Government sources on Monday described the lack of Shin Bet during Carter’s visit to Sderot, an area often hit by rockets from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, as particularly “problematic”.

Sad but not surprising: a world-renowned diplomat who has an actual track record of brokering an Arab-Israeli peace is snubbed (and worse) for his efforts. With the current peace process moving at a glacial pace, I’d say we can ill afford our Jewish communal Carter-phobia…

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Posted in Israel, Palestine, Peace, Politics