Two interesting Websites and Ariel Sharon
Hop Louie Street Art in Stockholm (Via Wooster)
And
From Monuments To Masses (File under Music, via Zach)
In light of Ariel Sharon's numerous strokes, we hope that everyone goes and checks out the history of Sabra and Shatila. We must be careful to remind ourselves, as well as those around us, that Sharon was no more a "man of peace" then Bush is. The fact that he is dying does not mean that we must be silent as he, as well as history, are re-worked into an inversion of political reality. There have been hundreds of Palestinians, as well as Israeli Jews, that have been killed in a conflict that he is one of the key architects and masters of. A "man of peace" would've looked towards post-apartheid South Africa as a model instead of apartheid South Africa.
While the situation in Palestine/Israel is difficult, there are a few standards that all people working towards justice must agree to, namely: the right of return is a right and not a privilege that can be granted or revoked, that we cannot accept two tiers of justice for the Israelis and the Palestinians, and last, that security and peace are not the highest goal if they are gutted of justice and founded on slavery. When Bush & Co. talk about peace as the highest goal, we must recall that the master can find the plantation peaceful and found Nat Turner terrorizing.
We know that there are people doing good work in the area, the first that comes to mind is Mustafa Barghouti. We had the privilege of seeing Dr. Barghouthi speak in the United States. It was for a largely Arab crowd and he was clearly speaking his mind. What we saw was amazing. If Dr. Barghouthi was in the mainstream press more often, I think a lot of Americans would be astounded. Not to reduce it to hyperbole, but it was like watching a Ghandi or King. He is pretty amazing (You can read some of his articles here). Instead of mourning the Bulldozer, let's spend the time examining real solutions for peace and justice.
And
From Monuments To Masses (File under Music, via Zach)
In light of Ariel Sharon's numerous strokes, we hope that everyone goes and checks out the history of Sabra and Shatila. We must be careful to remind ourselves, as well as those around us, that Sharon was no more a "man of peace" then Bush is. The fact that he is dying does not mean that we must be silent as he, as well as history, are re-worked into an inversion of political reality. There have been hundreds of Palestinians, as well as Israeli Jews, that have been killed in a conflict that he is one of the key architects and masters of. A "man of peace" would've looked towards post-apartheid South Africa as a model instead of apartheid South Africa.
While the situation in Palestine/Israel is difficult, there are a few standards that all people working towards justice must agree to, namely: the right of return is a right and not a privilege that can be granted or revoked, that we cannot accept two tiers of justice for the Israelis and the Palestinians, and last, that security and peace are not the highest goal if they are gutted of justice and founded on slavery. When Bush & Co. talk about peace as the highest goal, we must recall that the master can find the plantation peaceful and found Nat Turner terrorizing.
We know that there are people doing good work in the area, the first that comes to mind is Mustafa Barghouti. We had the privilege of seeing Dr. Barghouthi speak in the United States. It was for a largely Arab crowd and he was clearly speaking his mind. What we saw was amazing. If Dr. Barghouthi was in the mainstream press more often, I think a lot of Americans would be astounded. Not to reduce it to hyperbole, but it was like watching a Ghandi or King. He is pretty amazing (You can read some of his articles here). Instead of mourning the Bulldozer, let's spend the time examining real solutions for peace and justice.
posted by History Is A Weapon at 9:37 AM
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