Author: Dena Eakles

Enjoying Life. Plan on keeping it that way.

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.

Christmas is Cancelled

Christmas is Cancelled in Bethlehem. That is the declaration made by heads of the Christian churches in Palestine. Home to Christians since the first century, it’s the oldest Christian community in the world. Due to the violence and the genocide reigning down upon the people of Gaza, Christmas is cancelled.

There will be no public displays of celebration. Instead Christians mourn their dead, as do their Muslim neighbors, as Israel’s indiscriminate slaughter of civilians continues. 

The most recent assassination was a Christian mother and daughter seeking refuge in a convent of nuns. Holy Family Parish had become a shelter for the disabled and infirmed. There an Israeli Defense Soldier gunned them down. Pope Francis has decried this murder as an act of “terrorism”. 

On October 19th, during Israel’s ongoing slaughter of civilians, Christians sought safety from the constant bombardment and fled to a Greek Orthodox Church. Israel targeted the assembly hall killing 20 people and injuring 14. This is an example of the murder spree launched by Netanyahu on what is considered Gaza’s open-air prison. Nearly 20,000 civilians have been killed, 70% women and children with 1.8 million displaced. The Israeli military has cut off water, fuel and electricity and by maintaining closed borders are starving those they have not killed. 

The Christians of Gaza are asking for peace, as are their Muslim neighbors. Peace will not come through military means and the slaughter of innocents. Now as we celebrate the Light of the world, isn’t it incumbent upon us to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Holy Land? Isn’t it time to allow the possibility of peace to take hold throughout our world? We owe it to one another and to our Creator to restore good will and peace. 

Call for a permanent ceasefire now and stop funding Israel’s war.

President Biden    202-456 -1111              Congressman Van Orden   608 -782-2558         Senator Tammy Baldwin   608-796-0045   Senator Ron Johnson    608-240-9629

An Open Letter from Palestinian Christians to Western Church Leaders and Theologians
Wisconsin Christians for Justice in Palestine: Decry the horrific killing of children in Gaza and call on people of conscience to demand immediate ceasefire
Wisconsin Christians for Justice in Palestine.

A Cry for Moral Reckoning

The world watches as the death toll of civilian Palestinians surpasses 18,000. At the UN, 153 countries voted for ceasefire, 23 abstained and eight countries – a few of them tiny islands – voted with the United States and Israel to maintain the ongoing genocide. 

The vote demonstrates the isolation that is beginning to encompass the United States and Israel. 

Christian Palestinians who have suffered in this reign of terror have an open letter to Christians worldwide. They decry the willful tolerance to violence that too many people of faith have adopted over the past three months. They debunk the lies that allow for the United States and western media’s collusion with Israel. And they cry out for moral reckoning. 

Cop28 has ended along with the dream that the world would unify to end the use of fossil fuels. Instead we are urged to “transition” to natural gas. Indigenous leaders and climate activists from around the world also drafted an open letter regarding the genocide of Palestinians. They remind us that colonizing has always been the excuse for genocide and the stealing of land. 

It was in their letter that I learned of Israel’s twelve permits recently granted for natural gas drilling. They were extended to Great Britain’s BP and Italy’s ENI among others. The lies about the need to remove Hamas and the forced removal of Palestinian civilians for their “safety” made sense in this context. Israel wants to cash in on the “transition” away from fossil fuels. When power and greed lead, human beings are dispensable.

What we are seeing is this: people of peace, people of faith, people who are demanding an end to land theft and to genocide are not being silent. May we all eliminate the beliefs that allow for the slaughter of human beings for greed and power. 

That is our first challenge and then united we will stand.

Viva humanity.

Please take time to listen to my WDRT Conversation with Janan Najeeb, Executive Director of Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition regarding Palestine today, the historical context and the urgency for all of us to return to our humanity.

Our Resistance is Peace

We have learned the ways of war. We are good at dividing and conquering and we rely on our ability to shame or ignore those who are different or oppose us – even among people on our “side”. Violence has become the human default in word and deed. 

We’ve backed ourselves into a corner and we continue to try to punch our way out.

As we witness the grotesque slaughter of civilian Palestinians – mostly women and children – and the ongoing violence to so many people throughout the world, we are left with the undeniable reality that we must change course. 

However lofty our goals, however righteous our positions, without recognition of our shared humanity we will always fail to achieve the lasting peace we seek.

Whether we like it or not, whether we approve or not, we are one people, one planet. And we are destroying her. Through extraction of resources and the murdering of our people we are turning this garden into an unlivable hell.

There is a simple truth we need to embrace. There are more people wanting peace than the few who are destroying that possibility. And if so, then how do the peaceful find one another? How do we allow each of us the dignity to live as we choose? 

Most importantly: how do we end the violence that has become our choice for resolution?

There’s only one remedy for this sickness of humankind. Those who have the courage and the ability must create new ways of coexistence. Through love and compassion we must revive the power of peace in our lives and let that become humanity’s highest goal. 

Peace is possible. Let this be our resistance. 

Image of Gandhi at the Salt March, 1930.

Let us return to the power of resistance through peace. Each of us.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

As many bow their heads in gratitude for all the good that has been given perhaps we can add a prayer that our thankfulness may generate seeds of kindness. As we count our blessings, let us also ask for the courage and strength to become caretakers of the earth and all of her people.

Let us allow our piety to become compassion and ask that our love give way to empathy.

Let us recognize our interconnectedness and put an end to the transgression of separation.

We do this because we can. We can throw off the cloak of our lessor selves, the part that fears the other because we do not know who we are. The self that harbors seeds of hatred  – sometimes planted before we were even born – can be shed. We do not have to be a slave to lessor ideals and beliefs. We can choose to be free of ignorance.

We can choose to know.

We are beings of love. Underneath the facades and the masks we wear, we share the same longings and the same needs. We all need good food, clean water and air. We need to feel safe as we walk through life in our own unique and diverse ways. We need peace.

And so as we bow our heads, let us pray for the innocents throughout the world who are being slaughtered by hatred that is fueled by power and greed. Let us recognize that we as a country have been complicit in creating war machines, funding governments and escalating violence rather than seeking peaceful resolution. Let us ask forgiveness for our ignorance and if and when possible, let us take a stand to change course. 

Demand a permanent ceasefire now from both sides in Gaza.   

The Insanity of War

Once again there is nothing new to report. Dominant cultures act out of dominance and humanity is forsaken.

It’s said the Nazis learned the ways of legalizing the mistreatment of human beings from their study of the United States government and military’s treatment of indigenous people. 

Accounts of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing are rampant in our history. From the moment colonizers landed on these shores, Native people were systematically removed by ignorance or by plan.

In 1830, Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act forced the relocation of 60,000 Cherokees and other tribes. Known as the Trail of Tears the presidential orders were brutally carried out by the United States military.

And there are still those among us who glamorize the legendary Kit Carson whose scorched earth policy on the Dine or Navajo people were followed by numerous and deadly, violent forced removals. This ethnic cleansing or genocide was driven by ignorance, greed and racism and gave way to the Navajo Long Walk. 

Sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it?

Land acquisition, resource plundering and cultural assimilation are the root of dominant culture and continue throughout the world.

Intentional and willful killing, displacement of innocents, destruction of non-military homes and other civilian enclaves such as hospitals, all fall within the realm of war crimes as ratified in the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

The retaliation of the Israeli government to the terrorist attack by Hamas has resulted in widespread war crimes from both sides. President Biden’s continued support in word and in financial aid to Israel constitutes an extension of those war crimes – and by default on all of us as citizens.  

Isn’t it time we emerge from the insanity of war?

The signing of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which established laws regarding war crimes.

Maybe it’s time we make war a crime…

Give Peace A Chance

There’s a story about a person who placed a stick on the ground and asked, “How do you make this stick smaller without touching it?”  People took some time to think about it, and then one person jumped up, ran outside, came back and placed a bigger stick next to the now, smaller one. 

In this time of reckoning, we grapple with the slaughter of innocents on both sides and the horrible reality that the vicious cycle of violence is something we have grown to accept. We can no longer allow the status quo of power and might to be victor. It’s time we lay a bigger stick.

And what can possibly be the bigger stick? It’s surely not more arms and more killing. It can only be through compassion and kindness that the gross wounds of humankind can begin to heal. It can only be with a relentless force of love and peace that we can stop the cycle of pain among the brotherhood of humanity. 

It will only be with the keen awareness and understanding that we are here to help one another, not get in each other’s way. This can happen when we receive and rejoice in our diversity and see it as the strength that in fact it is.  

Acknowledging that peace is not only possible but that it is also a sacred right. It is something available to us, nestled within us and available to manifest around us. We must dare to allow our greater aspirations not be diminished by what has been. We are no longer asking to “Give Peace a Chance”. We’re demanding it.

Ceasefire Now.

If you have not yet signed onto a petition for a ceasefire in Gaza, do it now. Every voice counts.

Demand a ceasefire by all parties to end civilian suffering

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-ceasefire-now?source=IG_ceasefire

Laying a bigger stick is a story I heard from Prem Rawat and it continues to guide me.

Life Offers More Than This

We continue to allow the slaughter of innocent Palestinians. Our government supports the Israeli military’s unchecked retaliation for the October 7th massacre of Israeli lives.

We continue to confuse anti-war sentiments with anti-Semitism.

We continue to confuse the government of Israel with all Jewish people.

We continue to confuse the militaristic Hamas with all Palestinians. 

These confusions allow us to ignore the genocidal intent of the Israeli government, and the unlawful actions of the Israeli military. These confusions allow us to ignore the brutality of Hamas and the repercussions it has caused.

They ensure that United States citizens remain distracted and unable to unanimously call for ceasefire, which is the only humane solution at this time.

People who seek peaceful resolution understand that the violence perpetrated by Hamas was horrific and inhuman, as are the actions of the Israeli military.

We recognize that anti-Semitism should not be tolerated, nor should Islamophobia.

People who seek peace are not intimidated, nor distracted by the propaganda from either side.   

People who ask the United States government to stop funding the Israeli military are attempting to change the paradigm of a government that has supported military violence against innocent people throughout our history.

If you’re still on the fence about the slaughter of innocents, you’re misled from your humanity and away from the possibility of peace. 

Life offers more than this to all of us. 

Don’t ask me to turn my eyes or to bury my head in the sand. I can appreciate existence and feel the futility of ignorance. I’m not afraid of this duality.