Category: Choice

From the River to the Sea

“From the River to the Sea” has become the latest casualty in the war of indoctrination. Congress has enacted a resolution calling the words “from the river to the sea” anti-Semitic, while adding millions to Israel’s defense and robbing United States citizens of proper care. But more significantly it comes as Congress supports the ongoing genocide of Palestinians and repression of pro-Palestinian voices grows. 

Lazy thinking. That’s how we’ve arrived here. 

Post WWII western countries wished to be rid of the Jewish refugees. The refugees were relocated to Israel and a Jewish state was recognized by the UN in 1948.

What could have possibly gone wrong with that decision?

Already a hotbed of division, Israel expanded its territory with violence and displacement of the indigenous Palestinian people. May 15 is known as Nakba, the day of observance of Palestinian “ethnic cleansing” and land theft that occurred then and continues now.

True to their imperialistic nature, the US, Great Britain and others, supported Israel to engage in resource grabbing. This included oil and soon will be for the natural gas off the coast of Palestine – that they have just acquired through removal, and killing of Palestinians and destruction of Gaza.

“Keeping the peace” meant condemning the Palestinians to brutal occupation, because Israel is a nationalistic state, not a democracy. Palestinians who live in Israel do not share the same freedoms as Israelis. Checkpoints, water rationing and illegal Israeli settlers’ ongoing violence to Palestinians and their land have only escalated over the past 16 years. Like the apartheid state of South Africa – that the US was reluctant to see abolished – we have continued to pour billions yearly into the defense of Israel and have been willing to witness the eradication of Palestinian lands and lives.

The brutal attack by Hamas on October 7 was anexcuse for more land theft and genocide. These are not empty words. Look at the reality, not the smear campaign of corporate media, not the profiteering war mongers and their congressional lackies.  I have never condoned the violence of October 7, and I will never accept the genocide that has been perpetrated by Israel since that day. 

“From the River to the Sea” is used by both sides. Israel has been able to dominate the narrative – both there and here in the US. It is time to turn the narrative around. It is time to pursue peace and stop listening to the voices of hate.

We have some unlearning to do…

And for some levity in the chaos.

Revolution of Kindness

I read the news to know what’s happening in the world, and to get a laugh between sighs and shaking my head. The 45th president is now selling Bibles. And Joe Biden is willing to risk his presidency because he can’t end his bro-mance with Netanyahu. Those are the laughs. The truths are more sinister. 

The 45th president continues to be supported by people willing and eager to be led. People willing to tear apart our nation rather than work towards a republic of diversity, equity and inclusion. The laugh is that many of them brag of being “saved”. 

Rather than supporting the pussy-grabbing pres, you would think they would be keen to keep Biden in office. His love affair with Israel is right on track with the death wish of Zionist Christians – as the blood of Palestinians runs in the streets and the US remains complicit in genocide – these folks rally for the Rapture.

The Liberals, who fear the Right, sacrifice righteous anti-war and other humane positions on immigration, the environment and more because they don’t want to lose elections – or is it because they don’t want to lose their status quo lifestyles? 

Wisdom has guided us throughout human history, but we have been slow to listen and to learn. We’d rather be led. We’d rather be comfortable. This unconscious living isn’t working very well these days, is it?

Yet it is very apparent that if a drop more kindness could erupt in our hearts as quickly as our anger and our judgement, the ways we live together could change. We could usher in ways of peace. This cultivation of kindness is not out of reach. So, what will it take to bring on this revolution?

A little stepping back, a little more questioning, a little more knowing and a lot less believing; it will take listening to yourself, not the slick salesmen. It will take a keen desire to be human again.

For those who yearn to be human again, I suggest the following:

Prem Rawat, world-renowned peace educator. And TPRF‘s Peace Education Program.

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.  

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?

  1. “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.

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.

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…

The Dangerous Game of Retaliation

It’s said, no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. However, this understanding does not apply when the two things are in total opposition and yet both are equally true.

It’s possible to hold the awareness that the Hamas brutal attacks on Israeli settlers and the indiscriminate and unrelenting bombing of Palestinians by the Israeli military are equally barbaric. 

Both are true.  

This dangerous game of retaliation that has claimed the lives of over 6500 Palestinians including 2700 children does not exist in a vacuum. Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid to reach those in need is not going unnoticed. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is correctly calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.

The reality is that this has happened far too many times in our collective history. This over powering of captive people, this theft of land, and this total inability to seek peaceful resolution has all been done before. And there are countless peoples throughout the world who reckon with the generational traumas of inhuman colonizing.  

What we all know is this: Violence begets violence and defiance and resistance are the outcome of reckless power and inhumanity. It’s a cycle that we can no longer afford to give way to. 

There are those speaking up for a new approach. Polls indicate two-thirds of United States voters are calling for a ceasefire and thirteen members of Congress introduced a resolution calling for ceasefire “to save Palestinian and Israeli lives”. 

More voices are needed. Yes, two horrible things can both be true. But more powerful than these two truths is the greater reality that all human beings want peace. It’s time we work for it. 

Our Choice

Innocents are dying and humanity keeps revealing the horrific side of our nature. We shake our heads and mutter silent prayers for the killing to end, while others of us pray that the other side may be annihilated. 

It is an old and bitter story that repeats again and again. Humanity boasts of great accomplishments and colonizers race to conquer space yet human kind has not found a way to live and let live.

What is it in our nature that finds it easy to take sides? What kind of ignorance do we harbor? What kind of hatred feeds us?

Why is the voice of peace, that so many cherish, compliant to the voices of war? Are the distractions so great that we cannot take a moment from our busy and entertaining lives to declare an end to the inhumanity? 

You see it is true; whatever happens to one happens to all. We may not feel it; we may be able to ignore it, but the disregard for life eats away at us. Our inability to stand firmly in the river of peace that surely is available to all of us continues to allow ignorance to win.

Many will say, “War is inevitable”. But I say, “What is inevitable is our capitulation, not war”. War can be stopped if we find the passion to do so. War will be stopped when we unify behind passion for living and when we understand the precious gift that every life holds, that every breath promises.

No, we are in the thick of it now. Endless wars and the acceptance of genocide are about as low as we can go.

People say, “God save us”. And God responds, “Save yourselves. You’ve been given everything you need.”

And the choice, as always, is ours.