Dena Eakles

Kindness and Sanity

Ramadan is the most cherished of Islamic holidays and begins on March 10 and continues to April 9. During this time members of the faith fast during daylight hours. It’s a time devoted to prayer and contemplation.

With this as a backdrop, South Africa has urged the International Court of Justice to order Israel’s compliance with measures issued in January. These measures ordered Israel to halt acts that may be deemed genocidal against Palestinians. The new South African request noted “The threat of all-out famine has now materialized” and asked the court to order Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches the starving masses.

In Cairo, ceasefire talks continue between Hamas and Israel – with intermittent stalls. This as children are dying of starvation due to shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Also, in acknowledgement of Ramadan, Britain is circulating a United Nations ceasefire petition for both sides of the Sudanese civil war that has raged the past year with thousands being killed and displaced. At this time, the United States seems poised to agree with this Sudanese ceasefire request.

Yet our country has been a holdout in demanding ceasefire in Gaza. We remain in staunch support of the horrific actions against the Palestinian people. We’ve allowed Israeli characterizations of Palestinians as less than human to enter our discourse. We believe the false narratives of Hamas using Palestinians as shields and ignore Israel’s outright murders of Palestinian civilians and even of their own.

We’ve allowed hatred and retribution to win.

There’s still time to do the right thing. Cities and counties are passing ceasefire resolutions and Democrats are voting uncommitted in a united voice against Biden’s support of genocide. As in reference, in Wisconsin the primary vote on April 2 is for “uninstructed”, if someone wants to voice a call for ceasefire.

Sanity must prevail.

South Africa to bring the US and Britain before the ICJ for Complicity in committing genocide.

Don’t Be Numb

There’s a preciousness to life. One that can be missed if all we’re doing is running around and fixing broken pieces. There are a lot of broken pieces. Like shards of glass the insanity of violence cuts through us. Sometimes we’ve been cut so badly that we can’t feel anymore. We’ve grown numb. Thoughts about heaven and righteous language about “God’s will” give us a pass on feeling. Humanity suffers from ineptitude and God is our excuse for apathy.

We can lay this genocide of Palestinians at the feet of God. We’ve been indoctrinated into believing that God gave the land to the Jews and so this ethnic cleansing must be God’s will, right?

For the most part, Israeli’s have been kept from knowing Palestinians and have accepted that the indigenous people of Gaza are inferior and to be feared. And citizens of the United States, whose infatuation with war seems insatiable, eagerly devour the reminders of the horrific October 7th Hamas attack – with little to no recognition of the suffering of millions of human beings. Human beings, not terrorists. Human beings whose lives have been entrapped for generations in displacement, murder and subjugation. Palestinians in apartheid.

It would take one call from Biden to end this nightmare. And maybe a few calls to the arms brokers and energy giants. Or one united shout out from our citizenry to stop funding this genocide.

The world is watching. It was watching when Aaron Bushnell, the twenty-five-year-old airman engulfed his body in flames and shouted “Free Palestine.”

Life is precious. All of life is precious. And as a friend told me, “God is not a real estate broker.”

But you know that. Don’t let yourself go numb.

Where Sanity Resides

People sometimes question my sanity for living remotely. “Aren’t you bored?”, they ask. Boredom. That was something I gave up long ago. The spin that the fear of boredom can send us on is deplorable. I’m beginning to believe boredom is where insanity begins. It’s that slippery slope of insatiable and unfulfilled desire. It’s a call to normalcy that’s anything but normal. When we declare boredom, we relinquish our power of choice. And the dance of effort that is required to end boredom robs us of deeper awareness.

I prefer to live in wonder. I prefer exuberance. I prefer to live in defiance of a world that tells me more about boredom than about ecstasy.

I prefer to live where sanity resides. And yes, that doesn’t mean I must live in the middle of nowhere, but nowhere called me and this is where I chose to make my stand.

And my stand is for peace, within myself and around me.

So where does sanity reside? Clearly, it’s not found on the social media shuffle. You won’t find it on any newsstand, television commentary or zine. Although John Stewart is back on the Daily Show and his few minutes offers the closest bit of sanity – for those unafraid of his absolute version of sacrilege. But no, that is feigned sanity. And while the laughs help cover the sadness of a world gone mad, they also lend themselves to cynicism. And cynicism is one step removed from boredom and not a place I choose to linger.

Sanity resides in the heart. It’s the groundswell of knowing that all is and will be well. Its kin to clarity and has no words. And in the land of no words lies our peace.

When Will It Be Enough

As it stands the United States is now complicit in attempted genocide because of our unquestioning support of Israel. The International Court of Justice’s statement regarding the South African case on genocide proves that.

But that’s not enough, by bombing Yemen, Iraq and Syria we are enticing Iran into a larger war, while Biden continues to claim that isn’t so.

But that is not enough, on supposed information linking twelve Hamas fighters to the UN aid agency for Palestine, which has 13,000 employees, the United States and nine of its allies have withdrawn financial support of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

But that’s not enough, UNWRA aid is expected to run out by the end of February, the remaining Palestinians will face starvation, dehydration and death.

But that’s not enough, because as I speak Israel is bombing some of the last zones where Palestinians were told they would be safe, Over 27,000 people dead with an estimated 8-10,000 buried in the rubble, a totally destroyed landscape…no functioning colleges, hospitals, schools…

But that’s not enough, while all of this is happening both sides of the political aisle are rushing to send Israel 17.6 billion dollars to help continue Israel’s genocide.

And that’s not enough for the inhuman leadership that we have elected. Now they are attempting to enact barbaric treatment of asylum seekers and refugees at our southern border.

And that’s not enough, no, none of it has been enough to make the citizens of this country decry the lies, the inhumanity and the greed of our legislators.

When will it be enough? What will it take before we realize what is happening to the Palestinians is happening because of our silence?

The Challenge

I get it. No one wants to hear about the slaughter of innocent people day in and out. No one wants to hear that women and children are the highest casualties of the nearly 27,000 dead and 66,000 wounded.

No one wants to believe the United States could be on the wrong side of this devastation, even as the International Criminal Justices’ nearly unanimous decisions to deter Israel may implicate us in acts of genocide. We still want to believe we’re the good guys.

And on top of the slaughtering of innocents with our bombs, the United States government has led nine of its allies to halt funds to the UN agency, UNWRA, that provides supplies to six million Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and those who are refugees in neighboring countries. Our government took no time to consider if the allegations leveled at the agency were true or not, nor did we consider the suffering we would be subjecting to innocent lives.

Seems we are unable to slow Netanyahu’s reign of terror, but are quite capable of derailing food and life saving provisions to survivors.

And while the cries for permanent ceasefire echo around the world, there’s still a deafening silence in the media of our country.

So here’s the challenge. Its time we stop waiting for our government to do the right thing. Its time we demand of our clergy and all humanitarian agencies and organizations to unite in one voice denouncing this senseless violence.

We must break free of the propaganda that allows us to sleep walk through this blood bath. If you recognize that you have a voice and that every life counts, step up to your humanity and find a way to say, “No more”.

Here are some things that you can do:

If you are of a Christian faith, urge your clergy to help save lives. Here is a petition by Mennonites that welcomes all Christians to stand in conscientious objection to the violence of war.

If you live in Wisconsin, learn about and participate in the rallies, press releases, and actions happening around the state at the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine. With over 60 diverse organizations educating about and uplifting Palestine while demanding ceasefire and an end to occupation.

Learn from Palestinians, not the media. Friends of Tent of Nations. FOTONNA provides grassroots support through the Tent of Nations, a peace project located on Daher’s Vineyard – a 100-acre farm located about six miles from Bethlehem in the West Bank.

Listen to my interview with Akram Abed on WDRTCommunity Radio show, Conversations, to understand life from a Palestinian point of view.

Sign petitions calling for ceasefire by Amnesty or OXFAM or a host of local and national organizations that are working towards that end.

Challenge your own personal beliefs and the indoctrination that allow us to go immediately to war and violence. Challenge your legislators to find peaceful solutions. We can do this. But it will take everyone who cares to speak up.

Olive fields in as-Samu. Photo compliments of Wikimedia Commons share alike license.

Redeem the Power of Love

The International Court of Justice will rule on the provisional requests made by South Africa in its genocide case against Israel this Friday, January 26 (6 am CST). You can listen here.

The case of genocide could take years to decide, but one of the provisions asked for ceasefire.

Another case will begin in Oakland, California on the same day. The case is Defense for Children International – Palestine versus Biden’s administration and calls for an end to the killing of innocents.

You can hear it here. The federal hearing on the case against Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin will begin at 11 am CST.

Apparently, it takes court orders – that may or may not be complied with – to get world powers to cease their violence on civilians and children. Apparently, we have not yet understood we’re one people living on one planet and what happens to one happens to all.

We have not understood the fruitlessness of war. But most importantly we have not understood the strength of our humanity. We’re being called to know that strength. We are called to know the depth of our compassion and the power of our collective will to change.

It’s not anti-Semitic to say stop killing innocent people. It’s pro-human to call for a permanent ceasefire and to begin to repair the harm and the collective fears of everyone. It’s wisdom to recognize the only winners in this bloodbath are those profiting from war machines. It’s imperative to realize that it’s a land grab for resources, as are all wars.

Humanity seems bent on self-destruction. Yet, historically, it has been the effort towards peace that has eventually succeeded. We are beyond having a single leader save the day. It’s up to each one of us to redeem the power of love and to return to what is possible.

Somewhere in the neutrality and in the power of being human, we can be triumphant. Let us try.

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

Who Will We Be?

I sat out Martin Luther King Day this year. Beyond Vietnam plays in my head plenty, as does his revulsion of the silent left*. The debates on social media were traps: would Martin be on the side of Israel or on the side of Palestine? Equipped with quotes of justification we reduce the genius of the man to a snapshot designed to serve our needs.

No I couldn’t urge the day of service this year. I wasn’t touched by Biden feeding the poor after serving up a speech marking 100 days of bombing Gaza – and only being able to talk about the hostages still held by Hamas, not a word about 24,000 Palestinian dead and counting.

No, I wasn’t able to scroll through the memes inviting us to our higher angels. One though, did catch my eye. It asked, “Will you live up to the quote you are posting today for the rest of the year?”

Martin paid for his wisdom. He took the hits and continued to follow his path of nonviolence. He refused to succumb to power and wrote some of his most important understandings inside the walls of jails. He watched as the friends deserted him for his too much caring for the poor or for victims of a rich man’s war.

They buried his work for years, thinking they might snuff out the humanity, the urgency, and the recognition that we had indeed gone to far into our materialism and too far from our hearts. I think people spend too much time pondering MLK and not enough time putting knowledge to task.

He showed us how to live; how to examine; how to be forthright and above all how to be human.

And now it is our turn. Who will we be?

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Evolution of Compassion

South Africa took the bold step to bring a case against Israel for the conduct and the intent to commit genocide against the Palestinian people before the International Court of Justice. The extensive legal document asserted that Israel’s conduct towards the people of Gaza is a breach of the 1948 Geneva Conventions regarding genocide. Israeli war operations and the intent voiced by Israel’s leading politicians were given as examples of inciting and not preventing genocide. The concluding request of South Africa’s application to the court asked that Israel immediately cease military operations in Gaza.

In legal terms this case is an evolutionary step forward regardless of outcome. It is one that calls for a legal standing based on human obligations “owed to all”. If granted, it would allow the court to begin to enforce human rights treaties that have long gone unchecked. The Geneva Conventions of 1948 marked the first time nations agreed upon what constitutes genocide. This ruling could finally give power to that understanding.

The International Criminal Court also began investigating Israel’s abuses of international humanitarian law. It does not have jurisdiction over the Geneva Conventions, as does the ICJ. While primarily focused on the warring activities since, October 7, the South African application to the ICJ does not excuse Hamas, but does elaborate on the seventy-five years of apartheid, the fifty–six years of hostile occupation and the sixteen year blockade of Gaza.

Why South Africa? South Africa’s experience of and the dismantling of apartheid gives it unparalleled status to be the convener of this legal remedy. And what is the system of apartheid used in South Africa’s past and by Israel today? When one group of people asserts power over others through unequal treatment under the law, discrimination due to ethnicity, race or religion, and uses brutal military force to maintain control, these are practices of apartheid.

The case before the ICJ began Thursday, January 11. The court may ask Israel to cease the bombardment by Feb 12. Here are the other nations in support of South Africa’s application.

This is an important time to speak out. We have it within our reach to uphold human principles of dignity, preservation of life and the pursuit of peace. Peace will never be achieved through military means.

May the ICJ recognize the case against Israel and act to end the genocide. May our evolution of compassion continue to grow as we realize the power of peace and begin to demand it.

The Promise and Risk of South Africa’s Case Against Israel

Bernie Sanders calls on Congress to block funding to Israel. Contact your senators and urge them to support Bernie Sanders bill S. Res. 504 on Tuesday, January 16 at 5:30 pm EST.

The flag of South Africa. Honoring their commitment to humanity and human rights.

The Indoctrination of Choosing Sides

It doesn’t seem to matter how high the numbers of dead, or how many are women and children. The statistics of war crimes committed don’t seem to budge the dial of compassion. We treat the threat of broader war breaking out in the region as if it’s anticipated. I’ve thought a lot about it and I’ve come to this: we’re stuck in the indoctrination of choosing sides. We’ve been groomed to be pro-Israel; therefore we are immune to any criticism of their most right wing government.

I’ve tried to understand our willingness to be the loudest and most powerful opposition to a permanent ceasefire. The best I can come up with is this: we are stuck in the indoctrination of choosing sides. From an early age we compete and the duality of “us and them” is drilled into our being. And if we are the praying types, we learn to ask god for his/her/their blessings as we attempt to defeat our opponents – as if any god would be inclined to chose one side over the other. Do we think that god is tallying up the prayers and the one who gets the most will win?

I was taught to be a critical thinker and so it’s my nature to follow arguments to their conclusion. This is not a conclusion that makes any sense.

And then there are the intellectual arguments to justify our choice. I witnessed it when Putin decided to invade Ukraine with people dragging up history to defend the slaughtering of innocents. And now again with Netanyahu and his accomplice Biden, we are witnessing the same ridiculous arguments as these war criminals carry on their bloody conquests.

Perhaps it is time we choose the third side: being human.

There are those fighting back against genocide.

Before people get their knickers in a twist, I have nothing against Little League or sports in general. It is the heightened fervor of competition and “us and them” that I question.

Photo of Little League World Series 2007 compliments of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ruhrfisch

A Wish for Us

Another year ends and wishes for good will and peace abound. So I will add my wishes for each of you, those I know and love and those that I don’t know but together we share this earth, her abundance, the air, water and our human kinship.

My wish is that we take time away from busyness and remember how precious is each moment; that we appreciate silence and its simplicity. And that we cultivate the inherent wisdom we hold to transform the world anew.

My hope is that as we come to love and respect ourselves we will realize the interconnectedness of the human family, realize we are one race and end the ignorance of separation and superiority.

That we will find the courage to break the chains of belief and allow for new vision and dreams to manifest. And that we challenge the stories that keep us locked into war as a resolution of conflict and the ideas of scarcity that lead the powerful toward conquest.

That we listen to marginalized people who are facing the destruction of the earth and their ways of life and find the determination to end the use of fossil fuels. This we must do in loving recognition for those who will come after us.

Ultimately let us find creative ways to break our silence and speak power to justice recognizing we can do more than pray. We’ve been given all the tools we need to make life on earth better for everyone. Let’s do it.

Mostly I wish for us to discover the gifts that lie in our own hearts and to ignore the doubts that tell us peace cannot be.

If we can throw off the shackles of belief.

If we can feel even one drop more our humanity.

If we can challenge the lies we have been told.

If we can recognize our comfort should not be bound in another’s sacrifice…

If and only if…

We will make this world a better place for everyone.

In 2024, find the courage and the clarity to be human.

Sign on to the numerous petitions demanding a permanent ceasefire and an end to all financial support of Israel’s war on civilians.

Amnesty International

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

Take time to read more than US propaganda. Think about it. And act.

Hear other voices like Democracy Now.

We can make 2024 the year we move towards peace.

Author: Dena Eakles