Daniel Lubetzky

After Senator Clinton gave an extraordinary speech at the DNC, hitting
every chord in endorsing Senator Obama for President, I flipped
channels between the different news stations to listen to reactions to
what to me qualified as mastery.

CNN & MSNBC seemed in agreement this was an epochal, historic speech.
But it was striking to hear the interpretations that the FOX team was
ascribing to her speech. Bill Kristol led by claiming it was an almost
shockingly minimalist endorsement that reflected her lack of trust in
Obama. Everyone followed like a chorus of propaganda you’d expect to
hear from Saddam Hussein’s military attache, or from Soviet or Chinese
officials disconnected from independent thought. Did we listen to the
same speech?

I wondered if I had lost the nuance. So today I listened to the entire
speech again. It was even better than I imagined. It was warm, it was
selfless, it was sincere and passionate in its strong endorsement of
Obama.

As an independent, I am often struck at how partisan extremists lose
sight of reality and see things the way they want to. This was a prime
example.

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A great argument against protectionism is contained in the last
paragraph of this insightful article by Michael Cox and Richard Aim
from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas: ‘You Are What You Spend’, New
York Times, Feb 10 2008, p.14.

The article also establishes that consumption levels are a much better
measure of relative economic wellbeing and poverty than income
comparisons.

And it points out that global trade benefits all consumers by making
goods cheaper and more accessible, particularly impacting those with
lower income levels.

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Some time this century, more people than not will share a multi-
cultural or multi-national identity.

Either they or one or both of their parents or grandparents will have
been born in a different country from where they reside, and will
share cultural, national, ethnic and/or religious affinities with more
than one group.

This fact alone will increase respect and understanding for the other,
and will call for new ways to organize and govern in order to embrace
the shared challenges that human civilization will face.

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Dissatisfaction is the source of creativity

- Shimon Peres, at Davos Shabbat dinner, giving one of his best
speeches, from Israel’s history and 60th Anniversary, to humanity and
Judaism, all impromptu

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The fact that Mit Romney’s advisors include Pat Buchanan’s sister is
plain scary.

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Tough to decide which candidate will do a better job for the US, and
the stakes are higher than ever. At issue are global environmental,
socio-political and economic challenges as big as we’ve ever seen.

In that context, Hilary’s experience, judgement and strength of
character are important.

Then McCain shows something I admire a lot: courage, principle,
humanity, and reason. He strikes me as doing public service for the
right reasons – to serve his country – more than most other candidates.

Obama inspires hope and would be a unifying force not just within the
US, but also globally. He’d cause the world to re-think the way they
see the US, which is desperately needed.

And Bill Richardson is a good guy and a real caring leader.

Since his Meet the Press interview, Giuiliani has scared me more and
more. I admired him as mayor of my city way before 9/11. He did a
great job fighting crime and strengthening the city. But he seems
increasingly disingenuous and his macho tirade would backfire in our
world.

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Below is a Press Release Released by OneVoice Palestine Earlier This Week.  I will provide an English version in the next post.

بيان صحفي
الرئيس عباس يؤكد أن برنامج "صوتنا فلسطين"
يتوافق مع برنامجه السياسي

د. صائب عريقات يوضح بأن أهداف "صوتنا فلسطين"
تتوافق مع رؤية الرئيس لتحقيق دولة فلسطينية
المطرب إلهام المدفعي
يستنكر التقارير الخاطئة، و يؤكد دعمه الشديد لمؤسسة "صوتنا"

رام الله – 18/10/2007 – في مؤتمر صحفي عقد اليوم أوضح الدكتور صائب عريقات، كبير المفاوضين الفلسطينيين، و المتحدث باسم الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس، أن الرئيس محمود عباس طلب منه توضيح أن "صوتنا فلسطين" هي منظمة غير حكومية ملتزمة بمواقف الرئيس عباس. و كان ذلك خلال المؤتمر الصحفي الذي عقده بشان الزيارة الأخيرة التي قامت بها وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية كوندوليزا رايس إلى الشرق الأوسط.

“ قال الدكتور عريقات " ان منظمة “صوتنا فلسطين" هي أحدى المنظمات غير الحكومية التي لديها كل الحق في العمل.

وأوضح عريقات بأن المنظمة كانت قد أرسلت دعوات لحضور مهرجان " صوتنا فلسطين " تحت رعاية الرئيس، دون الحصول على موافقة رسمية، لكنه أضاف أن البرنامج السياسي لمؤسسة " صوتنا فلسطين" ، وبعد أن قرأه سيادة الرئيس أبو مازن، رأى بان برنامج المؤسسة يعكس برنامج الرئيس الفلسطيني والأهداف الفلسطينية."

وأضاف عريقات "بود [الرئيس عباس] أن يؤكد مجددا دعمه الكامل لتلك المنظمات غير الحكومية و مؤسسات المجتمع المدني التي تعمل من اجل الديمقراطية، وثقافة السلام، وإنهاء الاحتلال على أساس حل الدولتين.

كما أوضح الدكتور عريقات أن الكثير من اللغط قد حصل حول برنامج "صوتنا فلسطين". وقال خلافا لما كان قد نشر على نطاق واسع فإن "(الرئيس عباس ) قرأ برنامج المؤسسة وأن هذا البرنامج يتماشى مع برنامجه السياسي لإنهاء الاحتلال الذي بدأ عام 1967 على أساس دولتين لشعبين: دولة فلسطينية وعاصمتها القدس الشرقية إلى جانب دولة إسرائيلية و ذلك على أساس حدود 67. وحل المسائل العالقة في إطار مفاوضات الوضع الدائم: كالقدس والحدود واللاجئين والمستوطنات، و بما يتفق مع قرارات مجلس الأمن الدولي.

هذا وحري بالذكر أن الفنان العربي الهام المدفعي نفى اليوم وفي تصريح رسمي من مكتبه وصل لصوتنا فلسطين نسخة عنه أن يكون قد قاطع المهرجان الجماهيري الذي كان من المقرر أن يقام في أريحا في الثامن عشر من تشرين الأول. وقال المدفعي" أنفي الادعاءات التي تقول أني رفضت الانضمام للمهرجان الذي تنظمه صوتنا فلسطين. وقال المدفعي" أنادي كل مجموعات "المقاطعة" أن تتّوقّف عن تهديد و ترويع الفنّانين وأن تحترم حرية الجميع، لقد تلقيت الكثير من المكالمات الهاتفية والتّحذيرات و التهديدات من "المجموعات" التي تعارض الزيارة". وأضاف المدفعي" إنني آسف على كوني غير قادرٍ أن أشارك صوتنا فلسطين جهودها في إيصال صوت الشّعب الفلسطينيّ لإنهاء الاحتلال، و للسّلام في المنطقة، و كنت آمل أن تحل جميع الأمور اللوجستية و قضايا السفر بما فيها الحصول على تأشيرات الفيزا لفرقتي لأتمكن من الغناء مع الشعب الفلسطيني و شعوب العالم أنشودة السلام، والعدالة والكرامة والاحترام، والأمل."

إن "صوتنا فلسطين" هي جزء من حركة شعبية يتجاوز عدد الموقعين على برنامجها 600،000 مواطن، ليس في فلسطين والعالم العربي فقط، وإنما يشمل ذلك المواطنين المتضامنين في جميع أنحاء أمريكا وأوروبا وإسرائيل، والذين يؤمنون بضرورة إنهاء الصراع و حث و دعم قياداتهم من أجل البدء بمفاوضات فورية ، و بدون توقف حتى التوصل إلى اتفاق دولتين.

وبهذا الصدد تعيد صوتنا فلسطين تأكيدها على الثوابت الرئيسية منها الإيمان المطلق أنه لا سلام مع الاحتلال، وأن إنهاء الاحتلال هو الحلقة الأولى لقيام الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة القابلة للحياة في حدود 1967 وعاصمتها القدس. وتشدد صوتنا فلسطين على أن إنهاء الاحتلال يتطلب بذل أقصى الجهود لضم المزيد من الإسرائيليين إلى معسكر السلام الإسرائيلي، حيث أن إنهاء الاحتلال هو مصلحة للشعبين، وان الاحتلال لن يزول دون إحداث تغيير جذري وحاسم في الشارع الإسرائيلي لصالح قيام الدولة الفلسطينية.

ويضم مجلس أمناء "صوتنا فلسطين" كلا من الشيخ تيسير التميمي قاضي قضاة فلسطين،السيد ياسر محمود عباس ، الدكتور صائب عريقات رئيس دائرة شؤون المفاوضات، وعشرات من كبار الشخصيات الفلسطينية الاعتبارية و الدينية.

When Palestinian and Arab artists who are friends of the OneVoice Movement advise us that extremists are calling to intimidate them and threaten them to boycott the OneVoice Summit, if we publish this, the extremists will only redouble their efforts.

The fact is – and this is 100% the case – that all Palestinian and Arab artists that I have ever talked to, privately tell me how angered they are at the extremists and radicals that are pushing them and attacking them and intimidating them and threatening them.

What are we to do in those circumstances? We don’t want to expose them further.

The overwhelming majority of Palestinian and Arab artists, like the mainstream population only even more because artists tend to be even more humanitarian, cherish the day peace will come.  They are Palestinian nationalists that demand justice and an end to the occupation.  But they are also human beings that recognize the humanity on both sides and the imperative of a just negotiated two-state solution.

As we geared up for our campaign, and the PFLP and Islamic Jihad and the Boycott campaign started attacking OneVoice Palestine and condemning its efforts and calling our artists, several Palestinian Ministers and dignitaries on our Board started counteracting them and called every one of our partners and we had firm commitments from them ALL to appear, except for one.

We also had a list with almost a dozen additional musicians willing to participate, subject to this having the blessing and imprimatur of our senior leaders.

But we had decided not to disclose their names to protect them from further intimidation.

It is interesting that some boycotters now claim they prevailed but insist they didn’t intimidate or threaten anyone.

Prevailed how? By preventing voices of moderation and reason from expressing themselves?

Prevailing how? By preventing the world from hearing from and seeing the good people of Palestine hoping for their rights to be affirmed?

The OneVoice Movement regrets that the Jericho Summit that was to be hosted by OneVoice Palestine on October 18^th as part of its www.OneMillionVoices.org campaign is postponed due to security considerations.

This is a serious setback to the 600,000 Palestinian and Israeli signatories to the OneVoice Mandate, and to the millions of moderates in the region and worldwide who recognize the imperative of ending the conflict through a two-state solution.

The global responsibility of amplifying voices of moderates to help them seize back the agenda for conflict resolution is only further highlighted by this development.

The OneVoice Summit in Tel Aviv and echo events worldwide will continue as planned, as will the overall campaign, One Million Voices To End The Conflict, across Israel and Palestine.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/11/africa/ME-GEN-Palestinians-Canceled-Concert.php

After a year of very hard work to build the OneVoice Summit: One
Million Voices To End The Conflict, things were approaching the
haywire (is that the right expression?) and looking quite hairy. A
top Arab Head of State who had committed to lead had backed out,
hurting morale and momentum. No musical talent had firmly signed up.

People were literally panicking. Yes, the grassroots effort was
picking up powerfully, but without some dignitaries or celebs, the
media would not give this meaningful coverage, which in turn would
decrease popular participation and hurt the message.

So much hard work, so much dedication from a wonderful team across
three continents, so much riding not just for OneVoice but for the
mission. Were we going to disappoint ourselves and our supporters?
Were we going to fail when the stakes are so high?

In the meantime Hamas has been increasing its attacks on Palestinian
President Abbas, calling him an illegitimate traitor and questioning
his mandate to negotiate with Olmert. Is the November conference
going to be another wasted photo opportunity without a clear forceful
mandate from the people?

Some good things started happening.

The Palestinian line up was cemented earlier, with Ilham Madfai, a top
Arab musician beloved by the Palestinian people, agreeing to come
(thanks to M Morad’s intro), and inspiring leading Palestinian
performers to join. It doesn’t hurt that George Ibrahim, legendary
Palestinian maverick of arts, was driving the artistic line-up.

But the Israeli local line up was all still contingent and shaky.

Many had already discounted our chances two months ago. It’s too
close. People are scared to come. We heard it all.

But our partners stayed steadfast. Shuki Weiss invested himself.
Chris Wangro gave it all he had. And Michael Lang, well, the guy is
the coolest pickle around (like the Fonz)…

I asked Michael Lang if he was worried we were running out of time.
He said, “you know, it always seems like its going to unravel, and
then somehow things always come together at the end.”

Prophetic words of destiny? Or sheer determination? Or both?

All of a sudden good things started to happen.

My friend Yasmine Shihata told me Bryan Adams had heard about this,
and wanted to find a way to help us push to end all the suffering.
Now he will be performing both in Jericho and Tel Aviv.

Michael briefed Rage Against The Machine and they really connected
with the message of – enough with excuses and failures of leadership,
let the people stand and, well, rage against the machine! Though they
won’t all be able to come their lead hopefully will.

Michael also reached the Foo Fighters, and Perry Farrel of Jane’s
Addiction, who understood the importance of mobilizing the moderate
voices to demand an end to the conflict and will hopefully send a
contingent.

Shuki confirmed Machina and Ehud Banay – and started getting phone
calls from dozens others. Now we have the biggest musical line-up in
Israeli history – precisely bc this is not about music alone, but
about something far bigger that brings us all together.

Our surfing partners, Doc and David Paskowitz of Surfing for Peace,
signed up Kelly Slater, the biggest surfing star in the world, who in
turn will hopefully help bring some of the rockers…

Now we have the fortunate problem of making choices.

Same is true on dignitary front, which I’ll blog about separately.

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