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December 28, 2008 at 08:55:34
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 12/28/08: by Rabbi Arthur Waskow Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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On the one hand, Jews throughout the world were reading in synagogue the Prophetic vision of Zechariah, no stranger to exile and humiliation, writing from the midst of the Babylonian Captivity 2500 years ago and looking forward to the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the relighting of its Menorah --- both of which had been destroyed by Babylonian militarism. This rebuilding and relighting, Zechariah proclaimed, must be achieved not by mobilizing might and power against Babylonia but by drawing on the Infinite Spirit, God's power. A vision reinforced by the Rabbis who chose the passage to be read on the holy day that might easily fall into a celebration of the military might and power of the Maccabees. On the other hand --- on the very same day!! -- at least 225 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombs in one more attempt to quell by might and power the use of violence (on a much smaller scale) by Hamas, in what Hamas sees as itself a retaliation against the Israeli blockade and semi-starvation of the people of Gaza. There is plenty to bewail and plenty to examine in the details of this crossroads-moment in the history between our two Families of Abraham. Tonight (Saturday night) I cannot gather the strength to do this -- having just, after a pleasant Shabbat of synagogue and family dreidling, discovered this crushing news. We will look more deeeply together into these choices, in the next several days. 
But what I can do now is simply ask us all to face the choices, to experience the deadly vertigo of choice between these choices.
A hard but necessary moment to send you the blessings of shalom, salaam, peace. --- Arthur
Two texts:
"Not by Might, and not by Power --- but by My Breathing Spirit, says YHWH Infinite." -- Zechariah 4: 6.
OR -- New York Times, December 27, 2008:
"GAZA - Waves of Israeli airstrikes destroyed Hamas security facilities in Gaza on Saturday in a crushing response to the group's rocket fire, killing more than 225 - the highest one-day toll in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in decades.
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"The center of Gaza City was a scene of chaotic horror, with rubble everywhere, sirens wailing, and women shrieking as dozens of mutilated bodies were laid out on the pavement and in the lobby of Shifa Hospital so that family members could identify them. The dead included civilians, including several construction workers and at least two children in school uniforms."Dozens of rockets struck southern Israel after the airstrikes in Gaza, sending residents underground. One man was killed in the town of Netivot, the first death from rocket fire since it intensified a week ago, and four were wounded.
"Israeli military officials said the airstrikes, which went on into the night, were the start of what could be days or even months of an effort to force Hamas to end its rocket barrages into southern Israel. The operation could include ground forces, a senior Israeli security official said."
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| 22 comments |
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Empty Rhetoric
The lofty readings that may take place in the synagogues are just as empty as the lofty rhetoric about Peace and Brotherhood I hear in Christian churches on Christmas Eve or Day, while both countries are bombing the Hell out of their occupied victims at the same time, Israel in Gaza and the US in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Both are joined at the hip anyway and now act with almost identical murderous, Fascist paradigms of extreme hatred and destruction. Domination and destruction are the essence of their philosophies. The Earth must vomit out these children of Cain. by Mac McKinney (53 articles, 113 quicklinks, 240 diaries, 1413 comments [31 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 10:15:11 AM  (0+)
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Reply: Oh, Mac--what a deep. thoughtful response!
you are a profound thinker!! By the way--fascist is not capitalized by BobM (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 1:27:26 PM (0+)
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Reply: Mac,
Your comment is precisely correct. Although I do not refer to the Bible very often... your reference speaks a truth to me. The US and Israel are very similar currently in their expression evil to the world. But I don't go to a church or a synagogue or any other 'temple' ... if only to not have to hear the hypocrisy. by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1359 comments [400 recommended, 8 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 10:40:08 PM (0+)
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Peace and Justice through Empathy
Peace my brother, Arthur. No, I am not an Arab or Jew, but I consider you my brother, as a human being. We have to empathize with the needs and dreams of both sides. We should follow the rule suggested by Rawl; making judgment about this conflict behind the "veil of ignorance." What if I were a Jew living in Israel? Or, what if I were a Palestinian living in Gaza strip? I have already written a section on this in the end of my book, Manifesto for Islamic Reform... by Edip Yuksel (17 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 90 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 10:16:59 AM (0+)
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Rabbi, Your Words are Welcome
"Fortifications are monuments to stupidity." [G.Patton] Israel built the walls to keep out the Palestinians not to conquer them. Walls slow tanks. "I never pay for the same ground twice." [G.Patton] We withdrew unilaterally from Gaza junking our settlements. The Arabs kicked off the 2006 War by kidnapping our soldier still held hostage. We asked them not to touch us to go away. They hit us with 3000 rockets in 2008. They mocked us for our quiet ways walking with the Torah. They mocked us for sending food and medical supplies while they stockpiled rockets. MLK trumps evil every time in America. Alas, in the Middle East they would have beheaded him. With Tzipi Livni I look forward to the day when the Palestinians grow up to shed their 'freedom fighter' leaders to become good neighbors. by Jason Paz (68 articles, 88 quicklinks, 112 diaries, 1386 comments [97 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 2:33:19 PM (0+)
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Reply: A Little Revisonism?
Yes, Israel withdrew from Gaza, meanwhile extending settlements elsewhere, meanwhile turning Gaza into a giant open-air prison. Yes, one Israeli was taken prisoner, two killed and then Israel bombed Lebanon for 30 days, killing over a thousand, wrecking half the country. Proportionate? No. Psychotic? Yes. Mocking the Torah? For centuries Islam honored the Torah and still does. Israeli settlers and bigots mock Moslems constantly. MLK didn't come to a very happy ending in this country did he? by Mac McKinney (53 articles, 113 quicklinks, 240 diaries, 1413 comments [31 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 9:20:05 PM (0+)
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"Not by Might, and not by Power..."
Mac - I'm trying to keep up. Currently, who are the children of Cain as per your comment? Thanks, Jane by Jane Schiff (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 74 diaries, 80 comments) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 2:46:08 PM (0+)
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Reply: Childen of Cain
Children of Cain is just my metaphor for States whose ideology embraces mass murder as a routine strategy, murder as the working paradigm. by Mac McKinney (53 articles, 113 quicklinks, 240 diaries, 1413 comments [31 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 5:41:14 PM (0+)
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Reply: "Not by Might, and not by Power..."
Mac, thanks for the explanation. So - just to confirm, you are saying the U.S. and Israel are the children of Cain. However, it still leaves me with another question. What do you mean - in a literal sense - that "the Earth must vomit out?" (see below) "The Earth must vomit out these children of Cain." Thanks, Jane by Jane Schiff (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 74 diaries, 80 comments) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 7:51:38 PM (0+)
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Reply: Vomit Out
I am not going to go into a ten page treatise on the last five thousand years of Patriarchy, but when I say the Earth must vomit them out, I mean this entire violent, patriarchal ethos of domination and destruction that has been especially perfected in America and Israel, whose leaders think they are underwritten by God to lord it over humanity, has got to be expunged. If we don't do it politically, I think the Universe will do it graphically. by Mac McKinney (53 articles, 113 quicklinks, 240 diaries, 1413 comments [31 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 9:08:02 PM (0+)
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Reply: Oh by the Way
In case you are trying to put words in my mouth, I said the United States and Israel are Children of Cain, not The children of Cain. Cain is a revered figure in many states. by Mac McKinney (53 articles, 113 quicklinks, 240 diaries, 1413 comments [31 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Dec 28, 2008 at 9:11:25 PM (0+)
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Reply: WITHOUT NO DEFENSE AND NO WARNING
THIS IS ABOUT AS CRIMINAL AS IT GETS http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10057.shtml by MARGARET BASET (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 345 comments [45 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 5:39:07 AM (0+)
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Not by Might? Gee, Rabbi, what about Hamas?
I hereby invite the Waskows to come and live for a month in Sderot, where they can put their money where their mouth is and see how they feel having rockets rain down on them day after day. We Jews in Israel are sick and tired of people making excuses for Hamas war crimes (yes, firing thousands of rockets at unarmed civilians over 8 years is indeed a war crime). What makes us more sick are the Waskows of the world - where they hell have you been for the past 8 years? What efforts have you made to get the Palestinians to stop shooting at our women and children? The answer, of course, is little or nothing. And, of course, you have no answer to the fact that Hamas not only refuses dialogue about peace, Hamas official policy is to "never" make peace with Israel. So while people like you rant and rave about Israeli "aggression" and the "blockade" and you spread the lies of "semi-starvation" - the truth is that Palestinians keep shooting at us. Sorry, Rabbi Waskow, but this time the solution is might and power, because talking with these people was tried and did not work. If you don't like it, then after you have moved to Sderot for a while you are also invited to walk across the border to Gaza and engage Hamas in dialogue. You'll quickly find that unless you are backed up my might and power, it is mission impossible. by Joe Ben Avraham (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 75 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 6:43:54 AM (0+)
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Reply: Sympathies but What Dialogue?
I sympathize with your having to live in a de facto war zone, although it is not quite comparable to London during the Blitz is it? Be that as it may, what attempts to talk to "those people"? Who are you trying to kid? I have been following Israel's relations toward Palestinians for decades and Israel's peace talks are about as genuine as the Great White Father in Washington's peace talks with American Indians in the 19th Century, you know, a little piece of this and a little piece of that on the reservations we bequeath you in our largesse, while your settlers steadily steal more land and your government plots how to completely eliminate Palestinians from "Greater Israel". Gaza is like the Warsaw Ghetto and the Palestinians are your troublesome Jews, aren't they? Ironic isn't it? by Mac McKinney (53 articles, 113 quicklinks, 240 diaries, 1413 comments [31 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 7:31:47 AM (0+)
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Reply: SIMPLE;
“Anyone who steals a country on the basis that he's "chosen by God" is by definition insane.” --JB Campbell by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 1:23:58 PM (0+)
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But by Pigs that Fly!
...AND their enablers, both here and in Israel! Funny, how Chris Floyd's article from the other day, "Hell in the Holy Land" is ALREADY "Unavailable" on this server! FUNNY, how when Israel mass-murders it's always for their "Defense" Now, I guess the kill-ratio that's acceptable for these Zionist PIGS is more like 200 arabs for ONE of their Precious God-Chosen Carcasses! This is what happens to a People to whom their POSSESSIONS are more important than human LIFE, not mention their immortal souls! by Bia Winter (6 articles, 2 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 756 comments [119 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 9:08:05 AM (0+)
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There is no excuse
When I was a small child and would do something unacceptable, my mother would say, "there is no excuse for that". As a child, I never really thought much about the statement but as an adult, I realized how very powerful it is. Both sides in this conflict or at fault------there is NO excuse, so do not tell me who did this and who did that. There is no excuse. Change. Both sides must change, and offer no excuse for their past actions-----"there is no excuse". Dr. King died without ever using violence, as did Ghandi and the change brought about by Dr. King, will be celebrated around the world on Jan. 20. Stop the killing----there is no excuse, so offer none. by virginius "gin" arnold (18 articles, 7 quicklinks, 47 diaries, 516 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 9:19:45 AM (0+)
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Did
this article just disapear from headlines???? by virginius "gin" arnold (18 articles, 7 quicklinks, 47 diaries, 516 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 9:32:06 AM (0+)
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Reply: You were not interested in asking "Who"?
"FUNNY", how things "they" don't want you to see just "Disappear". by Bia Winter (6 articles, 2 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 756 comments [119 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 9:39:03 AM (0+)
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Reply: Is this censorship or playing to the advertisers
Damn funny but there was another similar piece that i cannot find either. If someone is censoring then I do not need to make contributions. by virginius "gin" arnold (18 articles, 7 quicklinks, 47 diaries, 516 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 9:56:01 AM (0+)
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Reply: I got
mail from an editor I had asked this question and "they" said that they had had problems even getting into the queue. by virginius "gin" arnold (18 articles, 7 quicklinks, 47 diaries, 516 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 29, 2008 at 11:49:06 AM (0+)
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Reply: articles stay headlined a maximum of 24 hours
look at the time the article was posted and the time of your question about it no longer being headlined. No need for conspiracy theories. by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008 at 10:16:27 PM (0+)
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