Schwartz - An Idea for Jumpstarting a Nonviolent Intifada

I think the reasons why Nonviolence is so unpopular among the Palestinians is because a) Nonviolence is wrongly conceived as passive, which is due to the fact that b) its theories and success rates remain in languages they can't understand, specifically English and fus'ha Arabic, so that c) only an elite few can understand the ideas, which actually worsens the possibilities for Nonviolence even more because d) it lacks the true legitimacy that can only arise from the hearts and minds of the masses. Nonviolence's documents have never been translated into the amiyyah and disseminated, so that the people can read the ideas for themselves, debate and discuss the possibilities.

What I want to do is 1) make a sheet with eloquent excerpts from Gandhi, King, Mahmoud Taha, Badshah Khan and others that explain both the beliefs and tactics of Nonviolent action; 2) translate this sheet into the Palestinian amiyyah; 3) at the bottom of this sheet, place the Quranic verses regarding Cain and Abel (5.27-31); 4) and then go to Ramallah and pass them out: to put the ideas into their hands, help them to feel they they have another choice besides eternal suffering or eternal warring; and when they are thus empowered they might even organize among themselves, separate from the militias, and make this revolution theirs, and more, seek to liberate both themselves and Israel from this cycle of oppression and terror. And if they decide to just crumple up the pamphlets and toss the ideas away, then that's their choice, too.

Do you know anyone who can help me either a) translate these excerpts into the amiyyah and b) distribute them here in Palestine? If so, please leave a comment here or e-mail me at nyspaceman@writing.com.

Schwartz - Statement of Position Regarding Israel

Some of my readers fear I am tilting lopsidedly in a “pro-Palestinian” manner and would like me to make a statement clarifying my view of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Click on continue reading.

Well, first off, read my blog entries closer and you’ll see that almost always where I mention the plight of the Palestinians, I also mention the socioeconomic plights of the Sepharadim and Falashim, the racism toward Asian-African Jewry who have been petitioning for several years to be granted the same Right of Return as any other Jew, as well as exploitation of the Bedouin, Thai, Cambodian and African nannies, laborers and janitors. All these groups are discriminated against or manipulated in various ways by the Ashkenazi-centered nationalism of Avoda and Likud Zionism.

Second off, I’ve meditated on this next issue and have come to certain conclusions: if anyone is expecting from me an outright condemnation of Intifadist violence against civilians, they will be sorely disappointed for several reasons: 1) Read my blog entries closer and you’ll see that I am against all violence, especially when it is employed for political reasons, no matter how just the basic cause. I draw a sharp distinction between the use of force, i.e., international peacekeeping troops, national or personal defense, and radical nonviolent demonstrations, and the use of violence, that is to say, war, terrorism, genocide, occupation, assassination, rape and enforced impoverishment. 2) I will not waste any breath prefacing every criticism I make of the State of Israel (or for that matter, any state, government, political party, leader) with a ritualistic condemnation of terrorism. Doing so is as pointless, and worse, as morally, emotionally and intellectually weak as always prefacing every statement about the 1948 War with a condemnation of the Holocaust or a condemnation of European imperialism in the Middle East, or prefacing every statement about the Gulf Wars with a condemnation of Saddam Hussein, just because by not doing so I might hurt the feelings of some oversensitive and manipulative Jews, Arabs and Americans. Anyone with half a brain and an ounce of good ethics should understand that genocide, empire and dictatorship are evil, as is terrorism and all forms of political/politicized violence. Words have power; what you say is so often connected to the energy of your soul. So whenever there is the pressure to pay lip service to what-should-already-be-understood, that pressure can only be arising from a cynical and controlling source, that is to say, the warmongers and tyrants who try to compel history toward dubious ends and by their manipulation of mass media and political discourse try to marginalize all opposition to their schemes. Thus, any concession to them only weakens one’s own soul by burning the incense of your dignity upon the invisible altar of their megalomania. 3) Since most of my readers either believe in democracy or are living in democracies where peace and prosperity should be the highest collective ideals, the condemnation of Intifadist violence and all political/politicized violence should be understood implicitly, as something fundamental to everything I say and write. Anyone who asks or even demands of me or anyone else who is and has always been an advocate of democracy and human rights demonstrates a weakness in themselves, not I—a weakness in their own convictions and their own sense of self. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about, because I have cracked and whithered so many times in the past as well, demanding of everyone and everything a condemnation of this and that.

Third off, I am only critical of the State of Israel because I care. My mother has always said that there are many kinds of love, one of which she called “tough love,” a part of which is to constructively criticize the object of our affection, no matter how uncomfortable the subject—and since I am half Jewish, criticizing Israel is always difficult. And it irritates me that people believe it is possible for one to be “over critical” of a state or a government, as if these political entities have feelings, like a person, and might collapse if we happen to bring its attention to the big fat hairy wart it’s let grow on its nose... or the cancer it’s let fester in its heart. As some of the Founding Fathers of America believed, states and governments exist to meet the needs of their citizenry. When JFK proclaimed, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country,” he got it only half right and all wrong. A country can only keep our allegiance if it does not, on purpose or by neglect, hinder our potential. When a country fails to do this, the citizenry must rise up and bring about a change. But more importantly, each of us belongs to a larger community: the human species. Our fellowship in Mankind supersedes all psychological boundaries. In light of this, the political and cultural organizations of the world—the nation-states, kingdoms and republics, religions and societies—are simply an expression of the multifarious Human Spirit, as it tries in various ways to distribute its precious few resources in such a way that it can be existentially fruitful and multiply. Thus, nothing manmade is so sacred as to somehow be teflonesquely supreme, untaintable, because in the end there is always more room, more need, for perfection.

Because I am half-Jewish, many Jewish Israelis and Americans have asked if I am a Zionist. Well, while I recognize that, a) Zionism as an incredibly rich, multifaceted and unique philosophy and movement encompassing politics, religion and art, is not only a very old phenomenon but also grossly misunderstood in the modern era; b) that the particular type of political Zionism that went into the creation of the State of Israel was not the type dreamed by Theodor Herzl; and c) that it is perfectly possible to be a Zionist and believe in a two-state, even a single-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—I myself do not believe in Zionism. I believe in a Jewish Homeland, situated in the old British Mandate of Palestine, wherein Jews may live, work, vote and defend themselves freely, alongside other peoples, in particular the indigenous Arab populations. I do not believe in a Jewish State, that is to say, a polity based exclusively on Jewish ethnicity and culture. Why not? Because I believe that nationalism, be it American, Jewish, Arab, Southern Sudanese, Afghan, etc., is ultimately deficient because it is not universal but tribal. The great prophets and sages—Elijah, Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, Joseph Smith—always had in mind the ultimate fate and destiny of the human species. While they may have directed their energies to specific peoples and places, their eyes were always on the greater prize: truth, justice and redemption for all. This is why Israel inevitably must confront itself or be destroyed: as a strictly defined ethno-religious democracy, the contradictions of its ideology must be unwound, lest they wrap around the nation-state’s throat and choke it into stagnation and decay. For the last fifty years the State of Israel has been imbued with explosive experimental energy. But this electricity is becoming increasingly diffuse as militarism and bourgeoisie yuppism steadily grow more and more entrenched in the national psyche. The buoyancy of the nation-state is only surviving with the influx of millions upon millions of Russian immigrants; but eventually the geography will simply not be able to sustain a bigger demography than what presently exists, and the Israelis will have to reconfigure their historical narrative and their vision of their future, or perish under the terrible weight of their own slothfulness. Salvation will not be simple for the Israelis. They have usually tried to reconcile their ethno-religious nationalism with their universal democracy by either describing the State of Israel, like the kingdom of old, as a “light unto other nations,” as “chosen,” or simply “just another nation.” But they all know, deep down inside, that none of these solutions are sufficient. The answer, I believe, does not lie in rejecting these notions, but somehow reconfiguring them and combining them with new notions—as well as new political and demographic (i.e., a binational Arab-Jewish state) formulations—to unlock new possibilities.

* * *

I know these statements may be tough for some to read, especially for Americans. They won’t understand how I could possibly be saying these things, believing these things. Well, the Israelis and Palestinians have been teaching me a few things.

The Jewish Israelis have been teaching me a powerful lesson, one lost to most Americans: it is good to disagree. Division is okay.

Why is it that Americans demand “even-handedness”? Why is it that our leaders in the USA, especially those on the liberal/Left side of the ideological aisle, must always make huge concessions in the name of lovey-dovey “unity” and “bipartisanship,” as Kerry did after he lost the 2004 presidential election? Why is it that everyone in America seems to believe that if anyone disagrees with each other, the entire nation-state shall crumble?

The Israelis may do stupid, stupid things, but goddammit they are tough. For fifty years they have handled division amongst themselves while under military, economic and diplomatic siege on almost all sides—in fact, they have flourished! I think the division played a central role in their prosperity, helped them to be so strong.

Are Americans so soft and pampered, cuddled between hippie Canada and impoverished Mexico—not exactly fearsome warrior-states—that we can’t even tolerate a congressional or presidential candidate who’ll say, no proclaim “I think Bush, his administration and his kind of Republicans are liars, crooks, thieves, murderers and should be kicked out of office in every election, and failing that, impeached for their crimes against the American people and all the world”? In the battle for the salvation or damnation of a nation’s collective soul, there can be no surrender, and no time wasted for illusory shows of “bipartisanship.” Let there be division! Let us once more believe in the power of conversation, debate and argument! Unity shall arise of its own volition, not because we will it to!

And the Palestinians have been teaching me a powerful lesson in courage: to be the one who does stand up, to not tolerate the injustice and hypocrisy anymore, to say what he thinks, and to demand a change and never, never relent. And even if the tyrants rain fire and brimstone upon me for my insolence, I shan’t bow down. I shall raise my fist up to the fiery heavens, pen clutched tight, the moon of truth at my back, and split the atom of the Human Spirit with my words.

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I'm just curious to see how many people are actually reading this...


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