Category: Humanity

Send Aid Not Arms

Growing up in a Christian household, I took the benevolent teachings of Jesus Christ to heart. “Love they neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39) was instilled in me. Fortunately, there were models of kindness and people of faith to counter the hypocrisy that too often accompanies religion.  

Today the stark divisions of faith versus belief have brought us to a grotesque masquerade of power which has nothing to do with “Love thy neighbor.” If that basic teaching were understood and practiced, those of Christian faith would be rallying behind an end to the Palestinian genocide, not remaining silent. Or even worse, there are those who champion the slaughter as the forerunner that beckons the “next coming”.

Zionism, the belief of the divine right to kill and displace people, has no place in humanity. Whether Christian Zionism or Jewish Zionism, those who harbor ill will and use God as their excuse to plunder and murder are not in keeping with the great possibility of being human.

Love thy neighbor as thyself. If we have not discovered our rich essence as human beings, we cannot love. We must know, not simply believe, that we are sparks of the divine clothed in temporary bodies and given this one opportunity to love.

It’s been over one year. People are being starved. The United Nations has denounced the Israeli tactics as violations of human rights and on December 12, 2024 passed a resolution demanding immediate ceasefire and expressed support of UNRWA. South Africa and most nations of the world have declared that Israeli leadership is conducting genocide. We, in the United States, are complicit in war crimes as our dollars, weaponry and intelligence continues to support the inhuman slaughter of Palestinians. And once again, the US and Israel voted against the resolution, which passed with 158 votes of the 193 member assembly. Nine votes against and 13 abstentions

Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/12/un-general-assembly-demands-immediate-ceasefire-in-gaza-supports-unrwa#ixzz8uA7lIMYF

Soon we will be led by Christian Zionists chosen by Donald Trump.

The silence of Christians who are not Zionist must end. We need your voice to end this madness. Let us chose to send aid not arms. Let love of humanity win.

Support of UNRWA. Support of Human Rights.

photo of child – “Growing up in Gaza” – from Al Jazerra.

The Potter’s Hands

There’s a story about a potter’s wheel. As the potter spins the wheel, she lays her hand into the clay to hold it steady while with the other hand she slaps and shapes the outside of the clay into the vessel she chooses. This analogy is to our lives. We are the clay on the potter’s wheel. And on the outside, we are tempered in ways we cannot imagine. Yet it is the firm and steadfast grip that holds us from within that is as important to the shaping of our lives. 

Fear these days is palpable. Governments are struggling and militarism and violence have become the human go-to. Systems that we have relied upon, however ill equipped, are proving unworthy of our trust. And fledgling testaments to the possibility of human greatness, such as the United Nation’s Geneva Conventions of War, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are being challenged and sidelined by power grabs and our collective inability to change course.

In this chaotic moment, the distinction of what is happening to us on the outside versus the strength and sureness of the inside is worthy of our attention. We may not be able to stop the downward spiral that seems to be gripping humanity, but we can begin to slow it down. We can lean into the internal hand that holds us and recognize it as universal. We can remember our interconnectedness to all of life and begin again to remake our world from the inside, out. We can allow the outside to reflect the strength and vision of that internal hand. We can allow the wisdom of the potter lead, not the fates of ill-will and inhumanity. 

It’s our choice.

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photo by Ahmed Kassem : Pottery hand made craft by young girl in Tunis village in Fayoum Egypt

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

A New Day is Upon Us

Black youth in ten different states received personalized messages telling them they will be taken to plantations to pick cotton. If you want to learn more about this check news outlets for details – while you still can, of course. News agencies, who challenge the incoming administration, are preparing for cuts in funding and diminished licensing. 

Married gay couples are seeking legal advice to protect their union, and trans people, the prime escape goats for heterosexual fear, are being bullied and far worse.  Calls to suicide hot lines for LGBTQ+ youth are up as much as 700%.  And let’s not forget about the round up of our neighbors and friends as deportations begin.

And maybe you didn’t see this coming. Maybe you feel safe in a white and sanitized world. Maybe you believed no one could be “chosen” and cause so much harm. But here we are. 

Because a “promise made is a promise kept” says the incoming 47th president. So, let’s see what else has been promised that will unite us and help the healing of this country. As the divide and conquer continues unchecked and the majority of the MAGA world seems content with prayers, I doubt many will speak up when they come for our neighbors. Just like old time Germany and how did that poem go? First they came for the Catholics, but I wasn’t Catholic, so I did nothing. They came for the gays, but I wasn’t gay, so I did nothing. I wasn’t Jewish, so when they came for them, I did nothing. And there was no one to help when they came for me. 

There are consequences when we give away empathy and compassion; consequences when leaders are permitted to act out of vendetta; and there are consequences when our humanity and individual sovereignty are relinquished.

It might all be hyperbole. The rantings of an old man drunk with power. But what about us? What choices will we make in this new day? Our choices or lack thereof brought us here. It will be our choices – and our humanity – that will save us.

Elections Are Over

And now we begin…

Elections are over. And God will be given the credit or the blame. That’s the way we play it.

We prefer not taking responsibility; and accountability is out of the question.

The Democratic leadership shut the door on Arab Americans and others demanding our government stop arming Israel’s genocide. They turned their backs on the working class. These were fatal errors.

Trump played his hand quite well, convincing people he doesn’t mean them when he speaks of deportations and making people forget about his Muslim bans. Got to give it to him, he’s slick. Now we get Elon slashing experts from the government and, Kennedy in charge of our health.

But don’t, please don’t tell me it’s because you prayed or didn’t pray hard enough.

Don’t blame your God for your ignorance.

You have a brain. and in you there is a heart still beating, so compassion and empathy must be there somewhere. Find them.

We had choice, many choices for many years and we squandered them away.

We had the choice to end racism. We threw gasoline on that fire. Signs read “Back the Blue”; they do not read “Stop Killing Black People”.  And after 500 years, Biden apologizes for Federal Indian Boarding Schools – while remaining complicit in Israel’s genocide. Jimmy Carter warned us to walk away from fossil fuels, but greed got in the way. Now it’s “Drill baby drill”.

We have been selfish. Now we will see where our selfishness leads.

We can still choose a way out – learning from one another, caring for one another, celebrating the preciousness of life and protecting this incredible home we call Earth – could do it. 

Our humanity must become our resistance. Unity our strength.

Cutting Our Ties to Terror

A new terror has descended on the world as Israel unleashed the simultaneous explosions of pagers followed by a second day of explosions of walkie talkies in Lebanon.

Israel’s defense minister claims this is a “new era” in Israel’s war effort. The simultaneous pager explosions on Hezbollah fighters killed at least thirty-seven and wounded 3400. Hospitals were overwhelmed by amputees, eye injuries and more. The second day of attacks came through walkie talkies and killed at least 20 and injured 450. And while Israel is not claiming the second round of explosions, this new form of terror and dominance is rocking Lebanon, the region and the world.

The United Nations Human Rights chief said this, “Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings… violates international human rights law and… international humanitarian law.”

And now the question falls to us, the citizens of the United States, whose government has for the past eleven months supplied Israel with war machines and money to carry out what is being denounced world-wide as crimes against humanity, what will we do?

Will we continue to allow our government free reign in support of the terrorist regime that Israel has become? Or will we demand peace? If we believe the story line that Israel needs our help in self – defense, then when do we acknowledge the need of those who are being illegally attacked as needing the same kind of defense?

The entire argument is insane. War will never bring peace. Supporting violence will only beget violence. The Biden administration would do well to cut ties with terror.

And we would be wise to ensure it.

By Al Jazeera English – Growing Up in Gaza, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17512081

Listen to Bernie and learn why we need to stop sending Israel supporters he introduces a resolution to block another $20 billion arms sale to Israel. He says, “We must end our complicity in the immoral & illegal war against Palestinians.”

I agree.

Where Are the Voices for Peace

Thousands of dead, millions displaced and stalled peace talks. These are the headlines out of Sudan. Aid trucks are not given adequate passage to reach innocent women and children and the story of war repeats itself ad nauseum.

The same story plays out as Israel now invades the West Bank. Palestinians refer to this as another Nakba.  And the cries for ceasefire continue to be ignored and the world continues to watch and the United States continues to fund this genocide. Some watch in horror, some with disregard.

Most disconcerting are the proclamations of the leaders. In Sudan’s case, Al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army refuses to attend peace talks and has said that the fighting will continue for 100 years and there will be no forgiving the Rapid Support Forces as the civil war wages on. 

Israel’s Foreign Minister Katz calls for the mass displacement of Palestinians in what had been the more secure West Bank. He wrote, “We need to deal with the threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza…This is a war for everything and we must win it,”.

Somewhere, somehow, someone must find a way to stand for peace. People are following these ruthless leaders. Soldiers willingly give their time, bodies and lives for senseless power grabbing greed.

Somewhere, somehow, someone must stand for peace.

The United States has been among the many powers who have led by force. We have touted war as a means of achieving peace. There can be nothing more ridiculous and insane. 

Sudanese and Palestinian people are the latest victims in the human history of conquest and violence. When we finally work as hard for peace as we do for war, this dynamic will change. 

Check out these voices for peace:

The Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice – a network of over eighty organizations advancing a sustainable world free from violence and injustice.

The Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine – a coalition of over eighty organizations working towards ceasefire in Palestine and a US arms embargo to Israel.

And for a personal dive into our humanity and peace: The Prem Rawat Foundation’s Peace Education Program

You can listen to my conversation with Palestinian American Muhammad Kharbush, “And Still They Survive.” Born in 1948, the year of the Nakba, Muhammad gives his oral history of the past 76 years. Thanks to WDRT studio.

Our Diversity is Our Strength

I believe and often say, “Our diversity is our strength”. Now that has become a tag line of the Democratic Party. If you think about it, that wasn’t something that could have been said by many candidates throughout our history. It is hard to accept diversity when you are not accepting the differences among us. It is hard to champion diversity when the push towards status quo sameness is drilled into us from birth. It is impossible to honor diversity when fear of other is used from the pulpit and political soap box to provide scape goats for the powerful to hide behind. 

But there it was, loud and clear, “Our diversity is our strength”. Words are easy to mimic; more difficult to understand and nearly impossible to bring to fruition. But here it is, a clarion call to the wise to recognize what Nature has always taught. We are here because of what has come before and what will come after. We’re intrinsically tied to all living things. When one is elevated, we’re all elevated. And while we may not recognize it, when one is harmed, we too, are harmed.

The United States has been an experiment in humanity and we are by all accounts in a critical moment. Can we the people, recognize the value of “the other”. Can we care for “the other”? 

Our collective history is fraught with genocide of Indigenous peoples, slavery and other ongoing racial injustices. Our debates about helping immigrants is hypocritical and ironic, given the reality that most of us are born of settlers who infiltrated this land and its peoples.

Thought has its own evolution. And while the ideals of unity, compassion and caring are not new, maybe the time has come for their acceptance. Perhaps a wider audience is now ready for a new reality that’s not merely lip service. Time and actions will tell.

And high on the list must be the end of the apartheid of Palestinian people. We must end racism here and we must not support any forms of it throughout the world. Come on DNC, honor what the vast majority of our citizens want: #CeasefireNow and stop supplying Israel with war machines. Anything less is the continuation of a ruthless and inhuman history. This is now ours to change.

We are waking up.

I remain hopeful. Do the right thing.

When Silence is Betrayal

The United States has contracted a $20 billion arms sale to Israel to be granted over the next few years. This, while Biden is “hopeful” that a ceasefire can be reached. This, while Iran and Hezbollah have said if a permanent ceasefire is reached, they’ll stop attacking. This, while Netanyahu continues his bloody rampage on innocent civilians and refuses a permanent ceasefire. A permanent ceasefire would bring the end to genocide. A permanent ceasefire would allow for the return of Palestinians who were forced to leave since the Nakba. 

A permanent ceasefire would demand the Israeli troops leave Gaza and allow the Palestinian people to find their dead, bury their dead and begin to rebuild their homeland and their lives.

The indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza has been calculated and intentional. The destruction and theft of Palestinian homes in the West Bank by illegal Israeli settlers is also intentional.

The majority of the world are rejecting the genocidal extreme right-wing government of Israel. Most have recognized this onslaught of violence towards Palestinians amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Only the United States administration and Congress have remained unequivocally tied to the murderess regime. (See this map of countries that recognize Palestine statehood.)

It’s said the United States is protecting its interests. What interests are these that require the slaughter of 17,000 children – that we are aware of – and it is likely that too many more lay under the rubble that were once homes, communities, schools, mosques and hospitals.

The spin has been as intentional as the bombing. Polls show an increasing number of citizens demand a ceasefire and oppose more military aid to Israel. We are the majority and our government – all sides – would do well to oblige our demands.

May the peace talks in Doha, bring a permanent ceasefire, a return of all hostages and prisoners, a free Palestine and steps towards peace for everyone in the region.

Kissing a War Criminal’s Ass

The brag on Capitol Hill is that Netanyahu has now addressed the joint session of Congress more times than Winston Churchill. For nearly ten months, the extremist right-wing prime minister has extracted civilian punishment on the people of Gaza for the attack by Hamas that killed 1200 and took 240 hostages. The Palestinian death toll nears 40,000 with many believing it’s closer to 186,000. 

The indiscriminate slaughter of innocents, predominantly women and children, and the very targeted murders of journalists, professors, and medical personnel along with the total destruction of infrastructure has led to the accusations of crimes against humanity.

Recently the head prosecutor of the International Court of Justice applied for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. The process could take months. But the starvation, dehydration and epidemics ravaging displaced Palestinians means the people are running out of time.

Biden has been in lock step with Netanyahu while the majority of our citizens have demanded immediate ceasefire and are now calling for an arms embargo. Yet the joint session of Congress invited this war criminal to speak. Bibi didn’t offer anything new. He didn’t accept Biden’s offer to secure a ceasefire and his cabinet last week rejected the suggestion of a two-state solution.

Kudos to the over 100 legislators who boycotted the speech. Their refusal to stand and applaud a war criminal was patriotic and human. Bravo to the thousands of humans, including the hundreds pepper sprayed and arrested, for daring to expose the depravity of genocide and our complicity with it.*

Biden still has time to rectify his inhuman support of an unhinged prime minister. He has the capacity to pressure Israel to end this madness. It’s up to each of us to demand he do so. 

  • Since the initial writing of this piece, the main stream media news has shifted to condemn all Pro-Palestinian protesters, who stood up against our Joint Session of Congress welcoming a war criminal, and who have for the past 10 months demanded a ceasefire on innocent civilians and an end to US military support of Israel – as agents of Hamas and Iran.
  • These are blatant lies demonizing college students, rabbis and all people of conscience who have from the beginning challenged US complicity in this genocide – because of a few.
  • My writings since the horrific attack by Hamas on Oct 7, have never supported Hamas. Not will I ever support the actions of the right-wing Netanyahu and the illegal settlers that are displacing and killing Palestinian people.
  • We must rise to our humanity and stop allowing intentional media driven storylines to destroy the anti-violence, and anti-war – for all peoples’ sake. Palestinians, Israelis and us. We must STOP aiding Israeli military. NO MORE BOMBS for GENOCIDE.

We All Belong.

Recently I took a deep dive into the humanity that surrounds me. At the Juneteenth celebration I heard a Black spoken word artist tell the lynching of Mary Turner. I had never heard of this shocking cruelty. There are so many ugly moments buried in our history. Racism is the insane result of human ignorance. Bringing light to the darkness and holding memories in Love lead us to transformation.

I also learned a bit more about a new friend’s struggle. She lives where many chose to ignore the pain brought to her Jewish family by unkind ignorance. A photo of teenage males with arms raised in Nazi salute was given a pass by many. Excuses do not erase the fear of underlying hate.

The final blow of humanity gone mad was a story about a woman in Texas who tried to drown a three-year-old Palestinian child. The assailant declared the child doesn’t belong here. I have dear friends, whose children are half Palestinian. I have listened to them as they reckon with the derangement of hatred that knows no boundaries and the ignorance of uncaring that surrounds us. Note to the ignorant: We All Belong.

But here is the sweet truth of it. The Black poet is using his artistry to heal himself and everyone he touches. For him, Love is the sacred key that releases the darkness.

And my new friend and her family, chose to not run away, but sought comfort and allegiance in the diversity of people who have also felt exclusion and prefer community. 

And while my friends are facing the stark reality of Palestinian isolation and fear, they are simultaneously finding their voice and their strength to prevail. May a community of goodwill continue to surround them.

I have no doubt they will all chose humanity over hatred. I’m proud to know them all. In any way that I can I’ll help dispel the ignorance of separation that torments humankind. I suggest we all do the same.

Whether we like it or not we share this fragile and exquisite planet for a brief moment in time.

May Love Prevail.

And while we are still in Pride Month, I want to extend my forgiveness to those people who friend me on Facebook, but attack Queer love and lives on that medium. Whatever ignorance you harbor about diversity does not come from God. Not yours or anyone else’s. There is One Love and it manifests in many forms. Now, please forgive yourself and lets move on.