Daniel Lubetzky

"The only limits are those of vision."

- James Broughton

• The goal is to ensure that Annapolis is not treated as a one-time photo opportunity but as what the people demand: a systematic, ongoing, uninterrupted process, with professional negotiation teams committed exclusively to the completion of a comprehensive agreement between the Israeli and Palestinian Heads of State for a  two state solution that will bring about a viable Palestinian State within the context of a permanent peace agreement with Israel.

Annapolis Predictions:

• The only thing one can predict in the Middle East is the unpredictability of events;
• many are trying to lower expectations about Annapolis, and it is said that the leaders were unable to draft a joint statement to read at the end, but a positive statement from President Bush could set the process on the right course, and what is imperative is that the leaders COMMIT TO AN ONGOING PROCESS AND TO TRY TO CRAFT AN AGREEMENT WITHIN A YEAR

I loved this aspirational challenge for all of us:

"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."

— John Bunyon

"When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit-
It’s when things go wrong that you must not quit."

- Unknown

I received this poem in spanish from my friend Ary Kahan (I have tried to translate it into English in parentheses)

Los locos dan festines (The Crazy throw feasts)

Y los cuerdos son los invitados. (And the Sane are guests)

Los locos viven inventando mundos (The Crazy live inventing worlds)

Y los cuerdos en mundos inventados. (while the Sane live in invented worlds)

Los locos crean castillos (The Crazy create castles)

Y los cuerdos los habitan. (which the Sane inhabit)

Los locos son mitad sueño (The Crazy are half dream)

Y los cuerdos sueño a la mitad. (And the Sane dream halfway)

Los locos crean la música (The Crazy create the music)

Y los cuerdos son los escuchas. (and the Sane are the ones who hear it)

Los locos son personajes (The Crazy are characters)

Y los cuerdos los actores. (And the Sane are actors)

Los locos son la poesía (The Crazy are poetry)

Los cuerdos quienes redactan. (And the Sane are redactors)

Los locos son la pintura (The Crazy are the painting)

Y los cuerdos solo pintan. (And the Sane just paint)

Los locos viven en muchos mundos (The Crazy live in many worlds)

Y los cuerdos en la tierra. (And the Sane live on earth)

Los locos se sienten libres (The Crazy feel free)

Y los cuerdos los encierran. (And the Sane enclose them)

¿Y Tu a qué grupo perteneces? (And you, which group do you belong to?)

Autor/Author: Ary Kahan

"If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good."

— Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

"Never doubt that the work of a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Mead

‘’I was a military man for 27 years. I waged war as long as there was no chance for peace…I believe there is now a chance for peace, a great chance, and we must take advantage of it for those standing here, and for those who are not here – and they are many. I have always believed that the majority of the people want peace and are ready to take a chance for peace."

Yitzhak Rabin Speech at a Tel Aviv peace rally, hours before he was shot, November 4, 1995

It is interesting to see how society reminisces about its leaders.  The contrast is often striking between how we relate to leaders during their lives and after they’ve passed on, particularly if their passing was not natural.

Yitzhak Rabin was not murdered amidst an environment of unwavering support towards him, as we’d like to think.  He was murdered after years of demonization by extremist groups that called him a traitor and called for his life.

I was blessed to meet Yitzhak Rabin twice, and both times were telling of what he signified.

The first time I "met" him briefly in person was at the lobby of the Tel Aviv Hilton, as he was walking down the steps, in the late fall of 1993, shortly after the Oslo Accords.  I had just graduated from law school and was doing research on a legislative proposal for fostering joint ventures among Arabs and Israelis.

When I saw Rabin in the lobby, walking with just one young guy to his side, I was so excited I ran towards him and waved a thumbs up sign at him from the top of the stairs, screaming out "Prime Minister Rabin, you are awesome."

He looked at me with suspicion and disappointment (bordering on disdain), and waved me off, making a facial expression that could best be translated to "get a life and do something productive."

I actually rather admired that this matter-of-fact leader had no time or patience to play the hero.  He had shit to do.  And he expected others to do their part also.

What is the role of the people?  This is what Rabin said during a Congressional Address in 1994 regarding his negotiations with King Hussein of Jordan:

“Who shapes the face of history – leaders or circumstances? My answer to you is: We all shape the face of history. We, the People. We the farmers behind our plows, the teachers in our classrooms, the doctors saving lives, the scientists at our computers, the workers on the assembly line, the builders on our scaffolds. We, the mothers blinking back tears as our sons are drafted into the army; we, the fathers who stay awake at night worried and anxious for our children’s safety. We, Jews and Arabs. We, Israelis and Jordanians. We, the people, we shape the face of history.”

The second time I met Yitzhak Rabin was at my first World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan, in 1995.  It was the day where different countries in the region host luncheons.  Israel was hosting a lunch, Saudi Arabia was hosting a lunch, Qatar was hosting a lunch, Egypt was hosting a lunch, and so on.  What was striking, and unseen before or hence, was that the Israel lunch was the most popular one, and Arab leaders from across the region were jockeying for a ticket.  It was a sign of the times – tangible prospects that this region would see peace soon, Israel would be integrated in the Middle East business map, as would Palestine, and the world would be a better place.

Less than a week later, while walking into dinner at a hotel in London with my girlfriend, the entire lobby fell silent.  We asked what had happened.  Yitzhak Rabin had been assassinated.

I have to imagine the pain we felt in our gut and in our heart that night must have been akin to the moment when JFK was assassinated.

As I wrote in an entry earlier in the year,  when a friend wondered aloud if Rabin even left a legacy, I agreed it remains to be seen.  And I pointed out it is up to us, the people, to ensure one.

This poem is an apt warning to the dangers of political apathy and inaction when someone other than yourself is being persecuted…

First they came for the Communists,
- but I was not a communist so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists,
- but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews,
- but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Catholics,
- but I was not a Catholic, so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

This poem is attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.  For more info, take a look at the wikipedia entry here.