8-27-2014 ENCOUNTERING PEACE: A time to destroy, a time to build – Gershon Baskin Jerusalem Post

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/ENCOUNTERING-PEACE-A-time-to-destroy-a-time-to-build-372551

…

It is hard to imagine how Hamas could declare victory and mean it. It is hard to imagine that anyone in the Gaza Strip could share that opinion. But that is the way it is. Hamas entered this war at its weakest position in the past seven years and emerged, at least for the moment, stronger than ever. Hamas's strength is not measured by how many rockets or tunnels it has left, or how many of its commanders or soldiers have survived.

 

Hamas's strength is measured by the support that it receives from Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza, and from the Arab world…

 

 

The people of Israel and especially those living next to Gaza must also now be given the chance to rebuild and to live with hope that this will be the last round of war from Gaza against them. No one could tolerate living with what they went through. In this next chapter, the real heroes will not be the soldiers who went to war and demonstrated their courage and risked their lives, but those who now have the courage, on both sides, to reach out beyond the geography of fear and hatred to those on the other side of the border in a new partnership of determination to build, not to destroy. Reaching out is something that every single one of us can do, even from our desks, through our computers and smart phones. The time for hate has gone. Now is the time to rebuild.

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

11-17-2014 This is not yet an intifada, Palestinians say - Philip Weiss Mondoweiss

11-17-2014 This is not yet an intifada, Palestinians say - Philip Weiss Mondoweiss http://mondoweiss.net/2014/11/netanyahus-intifada?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=3819b326ea-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-3819b326ea-398495333 There is not yet a third intifada, Palestinians in East Jerusalem say. But there could be an organized uprising if Jewish zealots' incitements about the Al Aqsa mosque continue. In interviews, these Palestinians say that Israel's escalation of violence in East Jerusalem has isolated and terrified neighborhoods. "There is no security. You are afraid economically, politically, and physically." And the individual acts of violence by maddened Palestinians who feel they have nothing to lose reflects the universal demand for human dignity…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member
Read more

2-6-2014 On the Ugly Side of the Wall - Bill Fletcher, Jr. Tavis Smiley Show

http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/bill-fletcher-jr-traveling-through-palestine/   Last month, a small delegation of African American artists traveled through Israel and Palestine to get a firsthand look at the daily lives of Palestinians. What they saw shocked and angered them, and their eyewitness accounts are sure to spark debate here as heated as any confrontation in the Middle East. Bill Fletcher Jr., senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, led the delegation and shares his perspective on the region. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member
Read more

10-22-21015 Israel’s descent into unmasked, right wing extremism: A new generation rises to fight occupation, settler-colonialism, apartheid - Omar Barghouti Salon

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/22/israels_descent_into_unmasked_right_wing_extremism_a_new_generation_rises_to_fight_occupation_settler_colonialism_apartheid/     This Palestinian resistance is a spontaneous reaction to the most racist, far-right government in Israel's history…The question of Palestine is one of resistance against a colonial, apartheid regime.… Concerted, widespread, sustained nonviolent pressure that is anchored in international law and universal principles of human rights is needed, particularly in the form of boycott, divestment and sanctions, or BDS [and perhaps] a military embargo, for instance, similar to the one imposed on apartheid South Africa,…After such a "de-escalation," perhaps we can pursue the goal of freedom, justice and equality... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member
Read more