Daniel Lubetzky

Dion Nissenbaum from McClatchy Newspapers just posted a story about what we are doing for October 18th.  A lot of the questions in his interview made it quite clear that he was biased and apparently is friendly with the extremists that are attacking us, and throughout the course of the interview it was clear he already had reached some conclusions about the state of affairs and impugned that on me. 

This is a challenge, when you notice a reporter has a particular bent and wants you to answer questions conforming to his philosophy, and you try to bear their bias in mind to get them to understand your message.  It is difficult.

My thoughts:

• the first quote is mangled and I do not believe I said things as quoted and is probably out of context; at any rate, I meant to point out this is not a dreamy peacefest but a practical effort designed to once and for all do away with extremists and come up with practical solutions;
• the quote that is accurate and captures the sentiment shared by most people about the situation (even if it is negative) is that:

  [Those who advocate absolutist solutions and counter OneVoice's goals for an end to the conflict are '"a group of fringe extremists and false messiahs" who've led the region into a dead end.'

  "If you want this absolutist vision, keep it in your mind, but shut up and let us move on so those that want to end this conflict can move forward."

Advocates of a "one-state" non-solution (one state solution is an oxymorron b/c there is no such thing! You cannot solve this conflict through an absolutist position, certainly not unless you eradicate the other side) are posting in hatred-filled fringe blogs all their displeasure at our momentum, and falling into their own trap, exactly as we wanted all along.

By opposing the work of OneVoice they are slowly exposing themselves – and helping us gain more momentum!

We have been getting tons of new donations online – from people that only first heard about us after seeing the postings from these extremists, and got upset at their radicalism and rose up to help us overcome that!

This discussion is EXACTLY WHERE WE WANT TO HAVE IT…we are finally re-framing the conflict as it must be properly understood by people – not as a conflict of Jews vs. Muslims or Israelis vs. Palestinians, but as a conflict of the overwhelming majority of mainstream moderates that want an end to the conflict and are prepared to recognize their neighbors’ rights and humanity to achieve this, versus militant extremists or hatred-filled intellectual absolutists who insist on a "solution" that denies the humanity of the other side.  Extremism and absolutism is the enemy.

It’s only 10:32 am in Los Angeles and the day has already been a big roller-coaster of developments and emotions (can I turn the latter off?).

We started at 5:30am because our wonderful Adee Telem (who heads West Coast Outreach for OneVoice) decided we needed to be on an 8am flight from San Fran to LA.  People who know me know how much I love waking up early.

[Last night we came back from a great dinner with Sissy and Ted Geballe - the most lovely down-to-earth couple - they have been married for 65 years - and the type of friends that are there for you no matter what; I logged in my computer to catch up with email; I was trying mightily to answer all emails but had to sign off at 1am; I don't hold it against Adee that she made me sleep so little b/c she was still at it when I went to sleep: I was getting cc'd on a stream of emails from her to follow up with all those we met that day, from Yahoo to Google, TPG, The East Bay Jewish Federation and other donors/supporters].

As if little sleep was not enough to make you grumpy, I learned from Gil that one of the top Israeli singers that had committed to join us on Oct 18 had backed out, apparently because of financial demands we could not meet (all international performers who are helping us are doing so on a pro-bono basis, though we do have modest budgets to cover transportation and expenses and a small allowance for local talent).  This was a serious blow.

Then I got frantic upset calls from OneVoice Israel and OneVoice Palestine needing funds to pay deposits for some of the preparations of Oct 18 – they are right, I had to approve and send these a week ago and had not gotten to it.  Fortunately Shelley Shick is back from vacation to manage the financial flows of what is becoming a complex task (we started the movement with $100 donations from a handful of people and an all-volunteer cadre; now with 5 offices across three continents and 60 staff and consultants helping us gear for October 18 and to reach out to our new goal of one million signatories, Shelley now focuses strictly on managing all budgets, audits, inflows and outflows).  The financial stress is not insignificant.

But then the roller coaster started climbing up (or should it be rolling down, which is the fun part?).  Adee and I were walking in the LA Airport and saw Ted Danson.  I think Adee was a bit embarassed, but I introduced myself and explained what OneVoice was doing with One Million Voices To End the Conflict, and mentioned Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito are on the Board, along with Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman… and the Chief Palestinian Islamic Justice…  He recalled having heard about OneVoice, was very positive (and amused at learning I am a confused Mexican Jew in the middle of all this), and agreed to get involved.

Then David Levin called.  A major former head of State [edited out till public disclosure] has agreed to meet with our Israeli and Palestinian Youth Leaders in Jerusalem mid-October, a few days before our October 18th event.  This is a huge opportunity to highlight the human infrastructure of young moderates determined to seize back their lives.  So while it comes only days before the big event, we will make it work.

Fortunately David’s call came last.  Now I am energized again.  Would I have been able to feel this way if Gil’s news had come last? I don’t know.  All I know is that the last few months I feel like I am having far bigger emotional reactions to all developments, perhaps because so much is riding on it.  Do hormones act up at these times? Am I experiencing PMMMS – Pre-Massive-Mobilization-of-Moderates-Syndrome?  There is a new "definition" I am sure Darya will love.

Adee is driving while I wrote this blog post – we are on our way to meet Guy Oseary, an exceptionally successful young music and film production manager (to Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, etc) who is interested in exploring a way to popularize joint economic ventures to promote peace through business (akin to what I have been doing with PeaceWorks since 93).  Natalie Portman introduced us earlier in the summer in relation to the OneVoice Summit,  but Guy seems more interested in the economic development side.  Let’s hope he can also help us for next month!

Tamar Hermann produces a very valuable "Peace Index" that tracks vital signs in the mood of Israelis and Palestinians with regards to attitudes about ending the conflict, and moods and opinions regarding Israeli-Arab peace making.  Here, for example, is their Peace Index for July 2007.

But short of their professional work, I have four empirical indices that gage the mood of the people and the beat of the region surprisingly well.

The first is the Aboulafia Index.  Aboulafia is an Arab bakery in the entrance of Jaffo that used to be extraordinarily popular among Israelis in the early 90s.  You had to stand in line for several minutes to get one of their warm pieces of bread right out of their wood oven.  If you visited it in 2001 or 2002, it was stark: there was not one Israeli Jew to be found there, or for that matter almost anyone else.  Jews just did not visit Arab establishments in Jaffo those days. 

Today, Aboulafia is not what it used to be but it is certainly back to having a steady clientele, and Jaffo itself is becoming a very popular neighborhood, almost too popular as far as some Arab locals are concerned, who feel they will be pushed out by higher real estate pressures, akin to the pressures Hispanics are feeling in Spanish Harlem in Manhattan, and blacks are feeling in West Harlem.  But overall, at least as far as Jewish-Arab relations are concerned in Jaffo, things are significantly better than they used to be in 2002.  There is still a long way to go and there was a tough low after the divisive Lebanon war last summer, but some slow healing is taking place.

Then there is the Kalandia (or Qalandya) Checkpoint.  At times desolate and phantom-like, it is now bustling like never before.  The parking lot of Kalandya is my Kalandya-Meter to the state of business affairs in Ramallah.  Judging from my last few visits, the West Bank is witnessing a lot of activity and movement.  You couldn’t even find a spot, whereas in the lot was practically empty.  Here are a couple bad shots of the Kalandia parking lot:

By contrast, Erez Checkpoint is quiet, quiet, underlying the paucity of activity and transit between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

The Ben Gurion Airport’s level of activity, and hotel occupancy rates, are of course very good measurements of the perception of travelers about the safety of coming to Israel, though they have to be adjusted for seasonality.  Overall 2007 is marking steady increases in visits and travel.

Israeli Restaurant Activity is another important Index to sense the mood and safety comfort of Israelis. 

In Jerusalem, things are relatively quiet, better than in the early 2000s, but nothing like in Tel Aviv.

Nowadays, if you don’t have a reservation at a restaurant in Tel Aviv, you may not get a table.  Israelis are determined to live their lives.

Conventional wisdom definition for Naive: someone too innocent and
dreamy who thinks he or she can help change or impact socio-political
conditions or somehow alter the course of history or their surroundings.

In areas of conflict, it also tends to be used to counter someone who
does not think ‘the enemy’ is mono-chromatic or wholly arrayed to the
destruction of the other.

OV Definition for Naive: someone who believes 2 politicians alone can
bring peace to the region or otherwise resolve a nation’s ills;
someone who believes inaction is a luxury they can take, and does not
realize every day that moderates don’t take action they cede the
agenda to extremists who are passionate and committed enough to do
something.

Sent from my iPhone – pardon typos
.

Actionist: Someone who refuses to stand by and
instead chooses to take control over his own destiny, particularly as it refers
to matters that are ordinarily seen as beyond the power of individuals. Someone
who believes and knows that he can change the course of history based on the
power of his and his peers’ actions.

Why was the above new definition necessary? Because to the
best of my knowledge, there are a plethora of words to describe sullen fatalism,
but none to described determined activism and conviction as to the power of
individuals to change history.

The two definitions below do exist currently in the dictionary, and can be antonyms to the above:

Determinist: Anyone who submits to the belief thatthey are powerless to change their destiny

Fatalist: Anyone who submits to the belief that they are powerless to change their destiny

A business entity that explicitly and practically sets out to not just make money but also achieve some positive societal impact.

Archane tax systems have forced upon our minds and our legal structures the assumption that an entity has to either have profit-making as a goal OR be dedicated to benefiting society.   While there are many cases where positive social impact cannot be engineered or organized in a self-sustaining market-driven business model and requires a purely non-profit structure, this is not necessarily the case.  There are many positive ways to impact both the bottom line and the world at large.  Indeed, it is sometimes optimal to be able to help advance societal goals in a sustainable way that relies on market mechanisms to advance social goals also.

PeaceWorks is the first example I dabbled in to try to prove this concept.

There are many other companies (preceding and succeeding PeaceWorks) that are similarly structured.

This is a far more apt name than ‘Islamic’ or ‘Muslim’ or ‘Islamist’ or ’Islamic Fundamentalist’ Terrorists.  All these other terms give a mantle of legitimacy to those that do not deserve it and that have been rejected by mainstream Muslim authorities (even if many of us don’t know about it b/c these condemnations are not frequently enough broadcast by the media and less-forceful than they should be).

 Militants that kill innocent civilians in the name of religion should not be allowed to cower thereunder.  Instead, they should be exposed as the false messiahs that they actually are.

 By calling them “Pseudo-Islamic” Terrorists, we acknowledge the link they proclaim, but we explicitly deny the validity of that link, rob them from any legitimacy, and actually highlight their falsity and harm.

Resorting to violence to attain an absolutist vision which denies the
humanity of the other. See also Militant Absolutism.

We use this term at OneVoice to define in neutral non-partisan terms
that which the overwhelming majority of people (mainstream moderates)
need to counter to seize back the agenda for peace.
.

Doing something out of ‘self-interest’ but defining self-interest in a
broad enough and sufficiently long-term &/or sufficiently
consequential way that bears in mind societal impact.

Example: working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not
‘altruistic’ at all. It is based on the imperative to prevent a
tragic world for our offspring. It is based on the recognition that
if the conflict doesn’t get resolved, it will impact all of OUR lives
- and that if WE don’t take steps to end it – nobody will do it for us.
.

Someone who overwhelmingly prefers vegetarian dishes but who will
choose a rare meat or poultry dish when it looks exceptionally tasty.
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