Benjamin Franklin was the first recorded person to call himself "an extreme moderate."
He was thus a true predecessor to the OneVoice Movement, in highlighting the imperative of action and determination from mainstream citizenry.
Our leaders in Gaza have expanded on their recent campaign and are reaching out to more and more places. Below are a couple of pictures from their most recent town hall meeting in Jabaliyah Refugee Camp, building on the message of empowering citizens to propel a two-state-agreement.
Ruben Navarrette is one of the most insightful writers I’ve encountered lately. His column on Obama and his Pastor does a better job at analyzing the relationship and its meaning than most.
Overall Obama is an extraordinarily inspiring figure, and his message is the right message for our times. McCain’s principled leadership is also inspiring, and it is clear he puts the nation ahead of himself. But Obama seems to be more in tune with what this nation and world need.
That said, Obama will need to confront two major issues which otherwise will be his undoing.
On one side stands his positions on Iraq and Iran. This may sound counterintuitive, because it is part of what propelled him and distinguished him from Clinton and McCain. But increasingly, Americans are aligning themselves to McCain’s perspective that, now that the US is in Iraq, it can only leave in tandem with success and stability for the Iraqi government and people. John Vinocur persuasively argues that Obama’s current policy responses may not be persuasive. Obama’s positions on Iran also expose him to perceptions of naivete and are frankly somewhat scary. Does he understand the fundamentally divisive ideological framework from which Iran’s current rulers rule with totalitarianism and hegemonic ambition?
The second and potentially most damaging issue that Obama will need to overcome is his close relationship to his Pastor, a man whose statements on America (not to mention other issues) would be reprehensible to most Americans. Obama did an excellent job addressing issues of race and religion and was extraordinarily classy in how he managed the issue, but it may not be enough, as this opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal points out to the depth of the problem with having a potential US President sit by while his Minister spews out such hatred.
We are very proud and grateful of SKOLL’s generous and energizing support of our social entrepreneurship, as detailed here.
It may surprise many, but OneVoice continues its work and its message for a two-state solution through empowerment of the ordinary citizens on both sides who are fed up and want this conflict to end once and for all.
Below are a few pictures from recent town hall meetings conducted by our executive leadership in Gaza.
The title of the workshop was "Examining the Palestinians’ National Aspirations and the Two States for Two People Alternative."
A prior workshop in Deir El Balah in Central Gaza took place earlier in the month and an outline of what was discussed can be read by expanding this posting (clicking "more")…
Anyone who didn’t listen to Obama’s speech on "race" and "religion" in Philadelphia today (March 18 2007) MUST do so. You can see it here. It proves the depth of this candidate, and the hope he can bring to America and the world.
This guy is such an exceptional human being, such an elegant "mentsch", such a sincerely noble politician, truly dedicated to uniting us for a common cause.
Skeptics should listen to his speech before raising their eyebrows.
You can learn a lot about Obama in what he says as much as in what he does not say. He doesn’t pander. He is earnest. He is gutsy. He is truthful. He is real. Bravo to the man!
Peter Samuelson is one of those rare living angels who rove the earth, who never forget to treat every human being with respect, who always try to help make others better beings and better off, and daily, constantly innovating to fight suffering. He inspired a lot of great quotes worthy of sharing.
Many signs point to Hezbollah’s increasing presence in the Palestinian territories, a sharp departure to Arafat’s model of Palestinian nationalism being the realm of Palestinian groups only. This is among the most serious (and least addressed) developments over the last few years.
My friend Andy Komaroff shared this beautiful poem tonight at the rehearsal dinner for my wedding:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling