Daniel Lubetzky

Anyone who has been following the news today about the Gaza flotilla debacle and the tragic course of events, including the loss of lives, of hopes, and of peaceful respectful relations would not be faulted for being gloomy and depressed and for throwing in the towel, thinking that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is just not going to be resolved and war is going to doom that region for eternity.

Perhaps it’s the contrarian in me, but I’ve heard this tune and just when things start getting as ugly as they seem to be getting now in the Middle East, an opportunity starts arising to awaken people into their power for positive change – in this case based on a two state solution that recognizes the rights of both peoples.

Behind the scenes, OneVoice has been preparing a campaign to inspire Palestinians and Israelis to visualize a two state solution: Imagine 2018.  I shared this campaign with Sir Paul McCartney earlier today and he recognized its potential to shake people out of their complacency or fatalism and into action.

You could argue this is not the time to launch such a campaign – that it is the time to solemnly mourn.  And to recognize that there are major impediments, not the least of which is Hamas control of Gaza (a proxy of Iran) and ideological settlers taking Israel and its government hostage.

But maybe this IS the time to take action.  For otherwise we will be victims to follies and extremism and partisanship forever. 

Maybe the time has come to break those shackles of absolutism and rancor, and to start saying, let’s stop making excuses about why peace is never going to come about, and let’s start building the foundations – in our visions, in our minds, and on the ground – to just make it happen.  Two states for two proud peoples.  It may not happen overnight. And it may not happen across the entire land at the same time.  But you have to start somewhere.

I just re-read an essay I wrote (as therapy, I guess) back on September 11, 2001 and a couple days after, trying to capture the thoughts and feelings of New Yorkers after the World Trade Center terrorist attack.

It is worth remembering what the city and its people went through.

It is worth honoring the heroes and the fallen.

And it is worth reflecting on how we can deny a victory to the terrorists, back then and today, not just by apprehending them, but also by the lives we lead and how we lead them.

The original essay, Etiquette and Resilience in the Face of Calamity, is in the PeaceWorks Foods archives.  A copy is pasted below.

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by Adeena Schlussel

This great video will be shown at the opening plenary of the Rio Forum, before 2000 civil society and world leaders.  Watch Darya speak about OneVoice and Daniel speak about PeaceWorks Foods as a model to harness market forces to bring people together.  Others featured in the video include the UN Secretary General and the President of Brazil.

At KIND, PeaceWorks, and OneVoice, almost by definition, I think our team members are motivated by the desire to make the world a better place, and the empowerment and joy comes with the journey.

And yet I found myself really intrigued to follow this video that breaks down these implicit assumptions and helps us all understand – what drives us, and how can we "manage" in the most motivating and empowering way?

And the priestess spoke again and said:
Speak to us of Reason and Passion.

And he answered, saying:
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon
which your reason and your judgment wage
war against your passion and your appetite.

Would that I could be your peacemaker
in your soul, that I might turn the discord
and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.

But how shall I, unless you yourselves be
also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?

Your reason and your passion are the rudder
and the sails of your seafaring soul.
If either your sails or your rudder be broken,
you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill
in mid-seas.

For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining;
and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns
to its own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion,
that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason,
that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection,
and like the phoenix rise above it own ashes.

I would have you consider your own judgement
and your appetite even as you would two
loved guests in your house.
Surely you wouldn’t honor one guest above the other;
for he who is more mindful of one loses
the love and the faith of both.

Among the hills, when you sit in the cool
shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace
and serenity of distant fields and meadows
then let your heart say in silence,
"God rests in reason".

And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind
shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning
proclaim the majesty of the sky, then let your heart
say in awe, "God moves in passion."

And since you are a breath in God’s sphere,
and a leaf in God’s forest, you too
should rest in reason and move in passion.

–Gibran Khalil Gibran, The Prophet, on Reason and Passion

(thanks to Uncle Jorge and Sioma Waisburd for sharing this)

"He who controls others may be powerful, 
but he who has  mastered himself is mightier still." 

–Lao Tzu (forwarded by Len & Libby Traubman)

With extremism being particularly rampant among some religious followers who become increasingly zealous about their convictions and practices, and with the cartoonish tensions created by black and white contrasts set out by desensitized uber-capitalism vs. new age parsimoniousness, I was struck by the depth and timeliness of these contrasting messages:

With regard to all human traits, the middle of the road is the right path.  For example: Do not be hot-tempered, easily angered.  Nor, on the other hand, should you be unfeeling like a corpse.  Rather, take the middle of the road: keep an even disposition, reserving your anger for occasions when it is truly warranted.  Similarly, do not cultivate a desire for luxuries; keep your eye fixed only on genuine necessities.  In giving to others, do not hold back what you can afford, but do not give so lavishly that you yourself will be impoverished.  Avoid both hysterical gaiety and somber dejection, and instead be calmly joyful always, showing a cheerful countenance.  Act similarly with regard to all the dispositions.  This is the path followed by the wise.

- Maimonides, 12th Century

And

…this path, the one that avoids extremes, is called the ‘path of God,’ and Abraham taught his descendants to follow it.  Whoever follows it gains goodness and blessing, as it is said, "For I have known him, that he might command his children and those who follow him to keep the Lord’s path, doing justice and right, that the Lord may fulfill for Abraham the divine purpose (Genesis 18.19)."

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

- Winston Churchill

(as seen in http://ny-forum.com/)

From a conversation I had last spring with Scott Weber, who heads Interpeace.org:

“The calm following certain decisive war victories is dangerous as it masks the factors that can fuel future violent conflict and civil war in the future.”

Scott M. Weber, Director-General, Interpeace

On the other side, I have also heard people argue, persuasively if not popularly, the following viewpoint:

There is some irony in recognizing that, while negotiations bring a just process that can be better defended and that people can buy into, in general, after a "decisive victory" of one side, peace is more sustainable than in a "negotiated peace", which may be harder to sustain…

Amman (the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) recently hosted a comedy festival organized by Arab-American comedians.

Beyond being a constructive exercise, it exposed the need to encourage more introspection and independent thinking in Arab education, which is not just valuable to comedy (self-deprecating humor, sarcastic humor) as the article points out, but would also strengthen democratic institutions and foster entrepreneurial values, innovation, and balance of power.