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Rabbi Menahem Frohman of Tekoa

Orthodox Jewish leader Rabbi Menahem Frohman made an impassioned appeal today for American Jews to embrace Senator Obama as a harbinger of peace in the Middle East. Amidst controversial reports coming out of Israel that most Americans there voted for McCain Rabbi Frohman’s religious prayers stand out as exceptional. Most of those polled are Orthdox, and this dovetails American trends in which Orthodox Jews are mostly voting for McCain. Here is the video from the Kotel, the Western Wall of the ancient Jewish Temple in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Prayers in the Old City of Jerusalem for Obama

We live in an age in which religion as an ideology has been weaponized by at least some people in every culture and civilization. But sometimes one sees exceptions, passionate expressions of piety that are for peace, not war, for love, not hatred. The constant in history is that anything powerful is corrupting, and it is certainly the case that religion is a powerful human experience. What we do not know is where ultimately this power will lead the Middle East. For in the long run religious values in the West also gave rise to Enlightenment virtues, to a belief in the abolition of slavery, and to a belief in freedom. We simply do not know what will evolve, but we must look for signs of what is possible in the future.

Iraq has rejected the United States’ use of its territory as a base from which to attack Syria. That is interesting because I thought that the justification for the attack was to defend Iraq from foreign fighters. No one has a greater stake in repelling foreign fighters than the Iraqis themselves. Though, wisely, they realize that building a peaceful relationship with their neighbors is far more effective than killing a few people and weakening the sovereignty of neighboring states.

Coverage of the incident is receiving increasing attention and analysis. I have done some of my own digging as to the source of the attack. It seems that most people assume that this attack across an international border could not have been done without the express approval of the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But it is possible that the Vice President authorized it and presented it to Bush as a done deal. We cannot know. But the timing this week, before the election, seems quite deliberate. There was no compelling military reason to do this this week or this month when just recently American military leaders had indicated that numbers of fighters from Syria were significantly down from two years ago.

Syrian Patrol in Abu Kamal on the Iraqi Border

The timing is amazing from a neoconservative point of view, a few days before the American elections. Right now, after years of scrupulously avoiding crossing into Syrian territory, the American military receives instructions to invade a town in Syria and kill 8 people.

A U.S. military official confirmed late Sunday an American helicopter attack in an area along Syria’s border with Iraq, which left 8 people dead and three people wounded.

Syria condemned the attack, which it called “serious aggression.”

We are closer than ever before to serious conversations between Israel and Syria, Syria has recognized an international border with Lebanon for the first time in modern history, and this is horrifying to neoconservatives who ran Washington for the last decade. They need to use force and force only to conquer Iraq, Iran and Syria. And they need to promote a conception of the American presidency that is focused on the use of military force. It is vital to their conception of American hegemony. It is as opposite from a realist’s interests in exploring common interests internationally, with both allies and adversaries, as one could imagine.

What better way to move the American people back to a neoconservative view than by provoking a Syrian/American conflict days before one of the most fateful elections in American history. Most Americans are fed up with foreign wars, unbelievable debt from those wars, and economic failure. Yet if we can provoke Syria into retaliating against the United States somehow, then we can terrify the American people enough right now before the elections. Then they will vote from fear, not from the perspective of pragmatism and realism, and certainly not from a position of vision and hope. It has happened before in history.

I hope the Syrian regime sees this as bait, that they do not take the bait, that they do not become pawns in an internal American struggle that will only hurt them in the long run. And I hope the American people catch on to those who are attempting to manipulate them with tactics of fear.

The Iraqi/Syrian border: an appropriate place to decide an American election?

A very moving article by Maureen Dowd on Powell’s performance on television. It really represents a turning point, in my opinion, in the history of conservative America. Powell has called out the haters in his own Republican political party. He asks the right question, finally, ‘what if Obama were a Muslim’? What difference should it make in democratic America. What does trouble me is that Powell falls into a trip that many conservatives around the world fall into, he bonds based on a sharing of war with other men. I understand that he bonded with this Muslim soldier, but I wish it was not over war and death. Here is the picture that Powell stared at for an hour and that led to his epiphany:

American Soldier

Powell

This editorial from the New York Times should be read in conjunction with Gary Wills’ trenchant analysis of Cheney’s aspiration for what conservatives have called ‘the unitary executive’, a doctrine that was responsible for nothing less than the catastrophe in Iraq, the torture, Guantanamo Bay, and scores of violations of the intent of the framers of the United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Wills writes:

All these policies were driven by the unitary executive theory of the Constitution, which emanated from David Addington in Vice President Cheney’s office. Charlie Savage has documented that four Supreme Court justices are already enthusiastic supporters of the unitary theory—Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas. It takes only a fifth justice to solder that theory into place for the foreseeable future. This would be the most thorough reworking and distortion of the Constitution in all our history.

The stakes are staggering. That is why the Republicans are so desperate to win this year. If they fail, not only will their previous encroachments be endangered, but the investigation of illegal acts will be removed from protection by presidential veto. Nothing short of wholesale pardons by the outgoing president can give many people cover for acts they undertook on the assurance that the unitary executive was exempt from congressional action. This prospect is so terrifying that John McCain has taken over the thuggish tactics that defeated him in 2000. The Republicans have everything to lose….

There is something terrifying in the fact that a sweeping presidential power that is rejected even by an early advocate of the unitary executive is now accepted by four of the nine Supreme Court justices. Add a fifth justice to them, and the Constitution will be under the severest siege in its history. There can be no higher stakes.

Bill of Rights

There is something exquisitely beautiful and terrifying that the choice that Americans are about to make is central to whether the United States will be an aggressive force for conflict in the world, but also, perhaps unbeknown to most Americans, this is a choice that may save their democracy from a steep slide into an authoritarian regime unprecedented in its history. By doing the right thing by others around the world they may be also saving their children from a steady deterioration of American freedom.

And perhaps the financial crisis is well timed to restore Americans to their senses on a host of issues, from the environment, to war, to civil liberties. Perhaps 9/11 was not a wake-up call, as the right wing has argued. Perhaps it was a soporific, putting Americans to sleep, lulled into violence and war as the solution to all problems of good and evil due to a misguided president and a dark vice president. Perhaps it is the financial crisis that has woken them up, despite themselves, just in time, and will put us back into a realistic approach to a complicated world.

Akko from the Sea

Wonderful article by Avnery entitled “Is Akko Burning?”, with the usual insight. Only thing I would add to understanding the tragedy in Akko, as well as racial situations in America, is that intentionally or unintentionally, racism is always bred when an underprivileged wing of the dominant race or religious group, like the poor ethnic Jewish groups in Acre, or the poorer ethnic groups in America’s poor sections, always become the ‘front lines’ of the race war of a country, against some group that they can see as beneath even them. I have seen this in the ‘religious’ conflict in Belfast as well. Poor against poor, grievance against grievance. Cynically, the Mayor and others have pitted Jews who are bitter about Gaza, or about their financial condition, against the Arabs in Akko. Cynically, there are indeed Islamists and Arab politicians who have done the same, everyone using grievances, financial instability and disappointments to get votes through anger and hatred.

Once again, it is hatred and fear that are the enemy not people. The election in the United States, the most powerful and richest nation on earth, is still boiling down in its waning days to the choice between the politics of hatred and fear versus the politics of hope, reason, and good will. We do not know which will win. Both are powerful human drivers.

It takes the will of every one of us to overcome the politics of fear and hatred. Every one of us in every country. There is not a peacemaker in Israel and Palestine who should not spend just one day in Acre in the coming year to bind its wounds, to link its citizens in new ways. There should be a virtual community linked on Facebook and Mepeace of citizens of Acre as a testimony to our will to overcome the politics of fear and hatred with the politics of reason, hope and love. I will go when I come back.

Above all is what my friend Arik Kabillio has recommended. If there were a single member of Knesset who represented Acre instead of representing ethnic parties, if Israel switched to a system where each Member of Parliament represented a district rather than an ideology or racial group, we could be in a completely different place. It is time for Israel to truly become a representative democracy where one representative must respond to the complaints and needs of his town or district, and ALL its diverse citizens, if he/she wants to be re-elected. So we have here a need for hope and reason to overcome fear and hatred, a need to eliminate the structures of politics that currently encourage the worst in political/racial manipulation, and a need for a new structure that will begin to reflect a better democracy for all its citizens.

Joseph Nye reports correctly that Bin Laden skewed the last election in favor of Bush against Kerry by six points due to a strategically released tape right before the election. It is in Bin Laden’s interest to keep a war of civilizations going, which means keeping a Neo-Conservative in the White House. This serves the Civil War he is conducting within Islam. My trouble with this is, what does this say about the American electorate? Why can people be so easily persuaded to become paranoid because one extremist releases a tape? It says that too many of us are manipulated by fear rather than reasoned thinking. We need an electorate in the United States, the most powerful nation on earth, that is up to the challenge of wielding all that global power more wisely.

The Obama campaign should consider apportioning some of those millions of dollars in advertising right now to an advertisement that could undermine any foreign attempt to skew the American elections with an act or threat of terrorism. There is no way that we should be manipulated this way as a people, but we need not be if this kind of manipulation is anticipated ahead of time.  A strong advertisement about confronting global extremists in a measured way, embracing the rule of law globally, would be wise.

In the long run we have a lot of work to do on the education of America about confronting the conflicts and violence of the world with wisdom, not fear or paranoia. Most of all, the new President must lead us far away from the old President’s fixation on dividing everyone and everything in the world into absolute categories of good and evil. Bush’s approach and its accompanying self-righteousness, has a long pedigree in human history. And, quite paradoxically, it has done more to spark the ‘evil’ of mass violence.

Nye continues:

Some voters worry that even though Mr. Obama might be good for US soft power, he might not understand hard power. Mr. Obama’s statements in the two presidential debates suggest that he gets it. He has promised to give priority to finding and killing Mr bin Laden but there is more to the story. Niccolò Machiavelli said that it is more important for a prince to be feared than to be loved but we sometimes forget that the opposite of love is not fear, but hatred. Machiavelli made it clear hatred is something a prince should avoid at all costs. Smart power is the ability to combine hard and soft power into an effective strategy.

Both Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama have impressive hard power political and organizational skills, or they would not be where they are today. After all, Mr McCain has a military background and Mr. Obama came up through the rough and tumble of Chicago politics. More­over, Mr. Obama’s campaign has set a new standard for political organization. But on the crucial soft power skills of emotional intelligence, vision and communication, Mr. Obama has the edge as reflected in the global polls and that must be giving Mr bin Laden a headache. In the next few weeks, as the remaining undecided voters have to make up their minds, Mr bin Laden may again be tempted to enter the fray. Given the scale of the financial crisis, it might take more than a video tape to refocus the attention of the American electorate this year but we should be alert to Mr bin Laden’s temptation and the danger it presents.

Clash of Civilizations?

The tragic riots in Acre that started on Yom Kippur demand our attention. Middle East coverage of the riots provides all too clear an example of the divide in perspective defined by the very nature of the conflict.

Riots between Arabs and Jews have plagued the Israeli town of Akko for days now. There has been outrageous behavior and frightening experiences for everyone. The facts of what really happened will be contested, as is expected in this ongoing conflict of Arabs and Jews. But…

John Lennon once said,
“Well I tell them there’s no problem, only solutions.”

With this in mind, here is something going on in Akko that unfortunately, you won’t read about in the newspapers:

“Peace Sukkah in Akko/Sulha Tent
Thursday, October 16, 12:00
Tentative meeting place: Outside Akko Theater
(please contact Orly for a final location 054-210-3139)

Join us in promoting reconciliation among Akko residents. 
If you want to see the crisis as an opportunity for a meeting, getting closer and reform, join us in a conversation, in creating a space which allows sharing of pain and hopes for reconciliation between Palestinians and Jews.

Activity time:
Thursday, October 16, 13:00 – 21:00
Friday, October 17, 08:00 – 15:00
For more info please contact Orly 054-210-3139 or on Facebook
Hope to see you there,
The Sulha & Sulhita Family and Al Tarik Organization”

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Oh and by the way, somehow the local media outlets somehow forgot to mention this one too:

“The Citizens’ Accord Forum

Invites you to

A Sukka (tabernacle) of peace and reconciliation, accord and dialogue.
For all ages, all religious denominations, all political views,
For all the residents of Akko – Arabs and Jews
And for everyone who understands that we must switch tracks
That we must not go down the road of violent conflict

The Sukka will be open its door today, on the eve of the holyday, at the Rabin Square in the Old City of Akko, and will remain open throughout Sukkot.

In the Sukka:

Dialogue encounters between Jewish and Arab youth, organized by the Kibbutz Movement and Hashomer Hatzair youth movement.

Study encounters for Jewish, Moslem and Christian religious leaders, organized by the Citizens’ Accord Movement and led by Sheikh Abdallah Nimer Darwish and Rabbi Michael Melchior.

Art, culture and music events initiated and organized by the Coexistence Network – an initiative of the Abraham Fund and the Citizens’ Accord Forum.

For a short video clip on the construction of the Sukka please click here.

A timetable of the activities in the Sukka:

Monday-Tuesday, 13-14 October

Throughout the day Visits by Jewish and Arab schools and youth groups for joint activities

Wednesday, 15 October

11.00-12.00
“Seeds of Peace” – joint activities for Jewish and Arab youth.

12.30-14.30
“Inter Religious Encounters” – study sessions for religious leaders

14.30-15.30
Break

15.00-16.00
Drum Circle

16.30-18.30
A theatre workshop for youth

18.00
A theatrical event

The public is invited to visit the Sukka and participate in the activities.

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“Well I tell them there’s no problem, only SOLUTIONS.” –John Lennon

To be fair to the press, here is a nice entry on the peace Sukkah in Akko.

This is a wonderful video about yet another way that people without any training in conflict resolution or diplomacy can become a part of the solution rather than part of the problem when it comes to global conflicts. I call them citizen diplomats, and I think they represent the infinite and creative ways that individuals can choose to move beyond the boundaries of group hatreds and fears.

A Slim Peace

Starting after the Muslim Ramadan and the Jewish New Year, group of Palestinian and Israeli women will be meeting face to face in Jerusalem. Not for political reasons, not to cast blame on who’s right or wrong in the Middle East conflict – these women will be focusing on their waistline, and sharing a simple and common desire to lose weight.

“A Slim Peace” is a group founded in 2006 by Yael Luttwak, a 36-year-old American-Israeli filmmaker who grew up in Washington D.C. Struggling with her own weight issues in Israel, she rounded up a group of 14 Israeli and Palestinian women to document their shared experiences, as they met in Jerusalem over a six week period.While Weight Watchers in Israel was one of the first Weight Watchers branches to set up shop outside the U.S., Palestinian women only recently – thanks to American TV – have started grappling with the importance of healthy eating and dieting.

Learning about the ‘enemy’

Luttwak’s documentary – screened in New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival and around the world – exposes in a humorous way, the surprising connections these Israeli and Palestinian women make while learning about exercise, better nutrition, and the benefits of a homegrown Mediterranean diet. Some women even discovered that they had more in common with the “enemy” than they did with their own neighbors.

“Before, the only Israelis I knew were soldiers at checkpoints, I thought they were all brutal,” Palestinian student Enas Smoom told news service Reuters: “But in the group, we forget we are Israelis and Palestinians – we are just women talking about nutrition.”