Dove's Eye View

Israeli Court Orders Rerouting of Barrier

Yahoo! News - Israeli Court Orders Rerouting of Barrier.

This is a sign of hope. I can hear the voices already explaining why it's a ruse, a sop, not good enough. The Dove asserts that any victory under the rule of law is a sign of hope, because without justice under the law, no society can survive. The oppressors will be devastated along with those they oppress, who in their thirst for justice often end up punishing the innocent.

The Left Coaster: 2004 Election: Giddy with Optimism

Another blogger sees signs of hope: The Left Coaster: 2004 Election - Giddy with Optimism

Schadenfreude, or taking joy in the suffering of others, is not the Dove's preferred emotion. But in this case I make an exception, feeling that the mainstream media and a growing number of Americans are beginning to wake up, if just a little. I am not happy that George Bush is suffering. I am happy that the rest of the country notices the suffering he has caused.

That a man with Senator Kerry's experience might unseat the incumbent makes me giddy with optimism, too.

Juan Cole on Fahrenheit 9/11

The historian Juan Cole comments on Fahrenheit 9/11. He criticizes the logic of Moore's arguments re: the Saudis and Bush, then lauds the second half of the movie for presenting points of view on Iraq not usually seen on the news.

Electronic Intifada: Diaries

The ei: Diaries posted at Electronic Intifada, while portraying horrific conflict, are a sign of hope. Why? Because the people take reporting into their own hands. Because Jews and Arabs contribute. These diaries are not "balanced reporting", they are true journals, and thus offer a personal, immediate view inside Palestine.

Tikkun: The Current Thinking

Tikkun Magazine's website publishes a valuable collection of articles, many of them from Israel, on the situation in Israel/Palestine. Find them in Tikkun: The Current Thinking. Unfortunately, these pieces are not full of light and cheer, but they are all crucial to understanding the situation from a perspective not seen in the mainstream American press. Israelis are accustomed to reading information and analysis that would be too incendiary for American readers.

Tikkun does us a service by archiving these articles in one place.

Tikkun Solidarity Trip to Israel/Palestine

The Tikkun Solidarity Trip to Israel/Palestine is another act intended to increase understanding and nurture hope.

Culling from the itinerary, the group will go to Jerusalem (East and West), Ramallah, the Azza refugee camp, Bethlehem, Hebron, the Galilee, and an Arab village outside Haifa.

They will meet Jeff Halper from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom of Rabbis for Human Rights, President Yasser Arafat , Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, the cofounder for the Palestinian National Initiative, representatives from the Addamir Prisoner Support Center, members of Sabeel, the ecumenical Palestinian Center for Liberation Theology, the Mayor of Beit Sahour, Sami Awad and the Holy Land Trust staff, Hisham Sharabati, and Gush Shalom, among others.

They will also visit a settlement called Ephrata as well as the Sulha, a spiritual, musical, interfaith gathering that aims to heal and build trust by organizing community-oriented gatherings between Arabs and Jews in their own towns and villages.

I'm impressed with the range of people and places in this eight day tour, and wish my family obligations allowed me to go. (I wouldn't want to leave my husband and two small boys for so long). Good luck to those going, and a tip of the hat to Tikkun for organizing this.

The Head Heeb

The Head Heeb kindly posted to my blog today, which reminds me to add him to my blog roll. We don't always agree with each other, but he calls himself a "militant moderate", as in
this post. Militant moderate is one label I want to wear.

Head Heeb's focus is quite wide, with discussion of Africa and human rights, as well as Middle East peace issues. I find his perspective invaluable. He also has great links to blogs I wouldn't have found otherwise.

Israeli Soldiers Make Art Against Occupation

This New York Times article describes a recent art exhibit created by Israeli soldiers documenting harassment of Palestinians under occupation. A quote from the NYT follows, in case you aren't registered to the site:

When Israeli soldiers opened an exhibit this month documenting some of their own misdeeds while serving in the tense West Bank city of Hebron, they caused a brief stir.

At a photographic institute in Tel Aviv, the soldiers, all recently discharged, offer video testimony of gratuitous harassment and abuse of Palestinians, like firing tear gas just to get a reaction. Hanging on the wall are dozens of car keys confiscated from Hebron residents, a punishment both common and unauthorized, soldiers say. And a photo taken by a soldier shows graffiti, presumably written by civilians, which reads, "Arabs to the gas chambers."

You can read the Ha'aretz article describing the exhibit and the Israeli Defense Force's reaction to it on Aron's Israel Peace blog.

The Dove considers the exhibit itself a sign of hope. Making art to protest injustice is a creative, positive, life-affirming act. That the New York Times gives it any coverage at all is a good thing.

Peacechild Israel

Another group using culture to teach coexistence, this time inside Israel: Peacechild Israel.

At a time when the news is full of escalating violence, these efforts to build peaceful "facts on the ground" are seedlings of hope. Once again, art creates the vision that politicians fail to imagine.

My thanks to Len and Libby Traubman for this item. Visit their site for a list of more such articles they have archived over the years, and to sign up for their e-mails.

Dancing toward harmony

Len and Libby Traubman, tireless advocates for dialogue and peace, sent several hopeful items along. Read about Muslim and Jewish teens in Berkeley dancing together in J, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California.