Dove's Eye View

Hope?

Looking for signs of hope in this world full of flaws is a fool's game. The Dove knows it. Of course humanity is flawed and continues to provide us reasons for despair.

The latest killings worldwide are so sad, so unnecessary, so wrong: in Israel, in Palestine, in Russia, in Iraq.

Perhaps the path our leaders are taking does not work?

Perhaps we could try peace, reconciliation, negotiation and compromise?

I said it in the comments and I'll say it again, in a new way: no gulag, no wall, no army, no air force, no occupation, no pacification will put an end to the cycle of violence in Israel (or Iraq, or Russia, or even my hometown of Oakland, where the gun murder rate has begun to climb after a long descent).

In September of 2001, Tikkun published an essay of mine, reflecting upon the death of my Lebanese grandmother at the hands of an enraged mob of Palestinian refugees. I wanted to convey in that piece that injustice creates more violence, that the innocent die for the sins or errors of others, that suffering creates more suffering. I pleaded with Israelis and American Jews not to let Israel sink into the quagmire that Lebanon suffered during its long civil war.

I wrote the piece just after the beginning of the second intifada in fall of 2000, when I feared that the misery of the Palestinians threatened to bring apocalyptic war upon the whole of Israel. It was unbelievable coincidence that the piece ran in the September 2001 issue. The message applied to myself, to my own country, the United States.

The first e-mails I got from my New York City friends starting September 12, 2001 all said the same thing: however bad this attack is, we don't need to kill people to make it better.

In the three years since September 11, 2001, has the world become a safer place? Has the Bush war on terror created peace and security in Afghanistan, Osama's home, or anywhere in the Middle East?

When your elected representatives make war upon others, you may suffer consequences nobody foresaw.

It's always a tragedy when the innocent die. Let us honor all our dead by raising up our voices and demanding change. Only peace and justice bring true security.

The Dove is going to come out as a follower of mystics: true peace cannot be found in the material world. Peace radiates from the still center. You must search within.

AIDS: A sign of hope

The Head Heeb sees a sign of hope regarding the spread of AIDS in Africa. Seems that prevention messages are beginning to get through, and the rate of new infections is dropping, at least in Swaziland. Observers see a trend.

The Dove's brother, an environmental scientist, asserts that humans are in the end smart enough to figure out ways to save ourselves. The Dove can only hope...this article seems to confirm little brother's theory.

Thanks to Jonathan Edelstein, the Head Heeb, for the tip.

Critical Mass NYC: Protesters: 100 Cyclists Are Arrested

The New York Times reports 100 Cyclists Are Arrested as Thousands Ride in Protest.

Seems that the Critical Mass bicycle ride we know so well in San Francisco for the last decade or more has a sister event in New York City. On the last Friday of every month, bicyclists take to the streets at rush hour in large numbers, slowing motor vehicle traffic and ambling along.

"The main thing we are pushing is that bikes need to be thought of as an integral part of how people get around," said Brandon Neubauer, an organizer with the group. "We are just trying to raise awareness in the city that bikes need to be looked at and respected."

Read the whole article for descriptions of inventive protests scheduled for the coming days, including "Ring Out the Republicans", in which regular citizens bring bells to the area around Ground Zero and make lots of noise.

God, I still love New York, and New Yorkers, too.

This article is a sign of hope because the Dove loves civil disobedience and environmental issues; Critical Mass combines both of them. The only time the Dove remembers being "caught" in a Critical Mass ride was before she owned a car; the enormous stream of cyclists, roller bladers and other self-propelled vehicles made her laugh with delight.

Arab Journalist: Engage American Jews

Youssef Ibrahim, a former reporter for the New York Times, writes in the Beirut Daily Star: Engage American Jews, all else has failed the Arab world.

"Why talk to American Jews? Because they are a diverse, powerful and focused community. Many among them are fair and moderate and will not insist on crushing the other side, knowing they have already won. American Jews have made it repeatedly clear they agree on one thing: the need to assure the safety of Israel. There is nothing wrong with that, as Arabs and Muslims, similarly, claim that their main interest is the well-being of the Palestinians, and now that of their Iraqi brethren.

"Within these parameters, the American-Jewish community holds a multitude of views on Israel and how best to defend its interests. Many of these views run counter to those of the current Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and in fact meet halfway with those of moderate Arabs. More important, it is naive and self-defeating to see American Jews as mere puppets of Israel. American Jews can tell Israel what to do because they pay for Israel's economic well-being, and have pressured Israel many times in the past to change its policies, as we saw during the 1956 Suez crisis and, more recently, during the Oslo process."

Software Freedom Day - Aug. 28, 2004

Bet you didn't know the Dove was a secret geek, did you? Well, only a dilletante geek. The Dove doesn't actually use Linux, but she likes the idea: open source software, available free to anyone who can get online to download it. Now Software Freedom Day - Aug. 28, 2004 aims to make Linux operating systems and allied software available around the world to people who can't afford to buy Microsoft products.

Here's Linux Egypt, and Linux Israel.

Dan Gilmor wrote "Open Source Helps Education Effort in the Third World" in the San Jose Mercury News last year. He says:

"In Africa, in Asia, in much of the world -- especially in the developing nations -- open source is looking like the best way to usher in the information age. Money, flexibility and plain old independence from a monopolist's clutches are a powerful combination.

"Around the globe, educators, companies and governments are getting tired of paying the Microsoft tax, which tends to rise inexorably, and sending the money to America. They don't like the upgrade cycle, especially when older computers run Linux just fine. They want to inspire more software innovation at home, and suspect Linux may be the best platform in a world where Microsoft also takes most of the profits in Windows application software."

The Linux site reports:

"In large parts of the world where the average per capita income is often less than the cost of a computer, the current phenomenal price of software turns millions into "pirates". In these parts of the globe, words such as free or low cost are not necessarily associated with low-quality, but offer to include millions who otherwise would be simply left out in the cold. ... "For instance, a couple of hundred thousand copies of GNU/Linux have been distributed across India, through local popular computer magazines, at a price of just around $2. That includes both the cost of a slick magazine and CD. This software can, of course, be legally copied across as many computers as needed. ... "Pakistan Ministry of Science and Technology advisor Salman Ansari says that some 50,000 low cost computers are to be installed in schools and colleges all over Pakistan. These will be PII computers, each being sourced for less than $100 a piece, he says.

The Dove's old Windows NT hand-me-down clunks along, its "borrowed" software sprouting bugs like barnacles. An unused PC running Red Hat Linux hides in the attic, from a phase when hubbie was practicing his Linux skills. I now consider making the switch.

Why are there no other Arab countries besides Egypt participating in software freedom day? Brunei is Muslim, not Arab; Macedonia, India and Nigeria are represented. Are my Arab high-tech brothers (and some sisters) so swayed by the brand Microsoft that they don't consider Linux? Don't Arabs need to wean themselves from American technological hegemony? Just because something is lower priced doesn't mean it's inferior. The technology on a $21,000 Toyota Prius is quite superior to that of a much more expensive Cadillac Escalade.

Catch the wave of the future, folks.

Jewish Voice for Peace: Take Action!

The JVP sent an e-mail urging action on a Senate bill that supports Israel's separation wall: Take Action: Vote Against Senate Bill Supporting the Wall.

Thank God for Mitchell Plitnick, Liat Weingart and Cecile Surasky at the Jewish Voice for Peace. They are tireless, effective organizers, and their hearts are in exactly the right place.

Ancient Arabic Manuscripts Online

Borre Ludvigsen, the Norwegian webmaster and Renaissance man who grew up in Mieh-Mieh, Lebanon, called me the other day to chat.

I asked what's new on his site, the Levant Cultural Server (Al Mashriq). Borre's been putting up digitized images of ancient Arabic manuscripts as part of the Digital Documentation Center at the American University of Beirut *.

The linked manuscript is a text on the interpretation of dreams, written by Ibrahim bin Yahya bin Gannan al-Maqdisi, probably in Syria or Iraq in the fourteenth century. The Sigmund Freud of the Arab world? Or was Freud the Ibrahim al-Maqdisi of the West? Click on the pages to see more of the manuscript.
The index lists the six books available now for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy.

*(AUB note: Dad's alma mater; Mom taught there in the 1990s)

Lynn Freed in NYC

Lynn Freed's publicist furnished her NYC appearances promoting her new book "The Curse of the Appropriate Man."

Sept. 28th, 7:30 p.m.
BARNES & NOBLE
4 Astor Place
New York, NY 10003

Sept. 26th at 7 p.m.
KGB BAR
85 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

Ms. Freed's writing is an absolute delight. Perhaps you saw her essay on V.S. Naipaul this past year in the NY Times Book Review. The interview to which I linked reveals that she likes some of the same writers I do, such as the not so trendy Anthony Trollope and Mavis Gallant.

The Middle East connection, if there is one at all, is a Syrian character in her novel "The House of Women." The Dove just likes her passion and her range. No domestic miniaturist she!

Gandhi Grandson Rally in Palestine

Previously blogged, but Gush Shalom sends an email notice with details. What follows is the email itself:

"Friday, Aug. 27: Special event in Abu-Dis in the honour of
DR ARON GANDHI

The grandson of the great Mahatma Gandhi and himself the director of the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, Aron Gandhi is right now visiting our region & will participate in a big rally for peace, non-violence and cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian peace forces.

Meeting point: Al-Quds University, from where we will march towards the offices of Abu Ala, the Palestinian Prime Minister. There Abu Ala and Dr Gandhi will join us and together we will walk towards the Wall next to
Ras Qubsa.

Speakers in the rally:
-- Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala)
-- Dr Aron Gandhi
-- Uri Avnery (Gush Shalom)
-- A Ta'ayush representative
-- Shawki Al-Hatib

Gush Shalom actvists & supporters are invited to take part in the festive event together with peace seekers of other groups - to demonstrate our persistence in the non-violent struggle as the way to peace and the end of the occupation - of Israelis and Palestinians together.

Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery writes about the Palestinian hunger strikers in Israel, and the response of Tzahi Hanegbi, an Israeli minister who stated he doesn't care of the strikers starve to death. Avnery is himself a former Israeli underground fighter, and speaks from his experience.

"Years ago, when the Hebrew underground organizations were fighting the British regime in Palestine, we demanded that our prisoners be accorded the rights of POWs. The British did not accept this, but in practice prisoners were generally treated as if they were POWs. The captured underground fighters could enrol for correspondence courses, and in fact, many of them completed their studies in law and other professions in British prison camps.

"One of the prisoners at that time was Geula Cohen, Tzahi Hanegbi’s mother. It would be interesting to know how she and her Stern Group comrades would have reacted if a British police commander had declared that he didn’t give a damn if she died in prison. Probably they would have tried to assassinate him. Fortunately, the British behaved otherwise. They even brought her to a hospital for treatment (where she promptly escaped with the help of Arab villagers.)

"A humane treatment of political prisoners is preferable even for purely pragmatic reasons. Ex-prisoners are now filling the upper ranks of the Palestinian Authority. Men who have spent 10, 15 and even 20 years in Israeli jails have become political leaders, ministers and mayors. They speak fluent Hebrew and know Israel well. Almost all of them now belong to the moderate Palestinian camp, advocating co-existence between Israel and a Palestinian state. They also head the forces seeking democracy and reforms in the Palestinian Authority. The fair treatment they got at the time by the prison personnel must have contributed to this."

Thanks to Aron's Israel Peace Weblog for the link.