A thought came to me today while I was reading Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish's book, "I Shall Not Hate", and having just read the newspaper about Syria and the growing tensions between Israel and Egypt (due to an accidental killing of Egyptians during an Israeli reprisal raid against Palestinian terrorist attacks):
The argument of some in Israel and the US is that we should fear the "Arab Spring", because it may let loose the "anti-Israel & anti-West" side of the Muslim Arabs and put them in power or influence.
I'm seeing this from another angle or perspective:
Basically it is this: If the dispute between Palestinians and Israelis was today fully settled, there would be absolutely nothing to fear in the Arab Spring.
This statement doesn't blame one side over another (in the failure to resolve the dispute). I've heard both sides of the argument and the only thing I blame is intransigence.
From reading Dr. Abuelaish and from what I see in the polls in Israel and Palestine, I believe that the people are ready to settle.
If the 2 sides had settled by now, we'd all be welcoming the Arab Spring in open arms, wouldn't we? We'd have states in the Mideast closer to the Israeli and democratic Arab model than we have today. Isn't this what we want, especially if neither side regards the other as a threat?
If you do fear the Arab Spring, what is your response? (If you believe I am naive, read my very first post.)
I'll have a review of Dr. Abuelaish's book in a future post.
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Somebody Else's Troubles
I heard of replay of an old Steve Goodman song from the 1970's - "Somebody Else's Troubles". I decided to re-print the lyrics with one change on the third verse making it more appopros for today. In case you haven't heard of him, Steve wrote "City Of New Orleans" and was considered by many to be one of the best solo performers of his time. He was a high-school classmate of Hillary Rodham. Died of leukemia in 1984. This song makes a terriffic statement
Yesterday I went downtown and saw an old-time picture show
And the hero got a pie in the face.
He didn't like that and he stormed around the screen,
But everybody else was laughin' in that place.
That's cause it ain't hard to get along with somebody else's troubles
And they don't make you lose any sleep at night
As long as fate is out there burstin' somebody else's bubbles.
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything is gonna be alright.
Did you ever pay for something that you didn't do ?
And did you ever figure out the reason why ?
And when the doctor says this gonna hurt me a lot more than this hurts you,
Did you ever figure out that that's a lie ?
He knows it ain't too hard to get along with somebody else's troubles
And they don't make you lose any sleep at night
As long as fate is out there burstin'somebody' else's bubbles.
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything will be alright.
And I saw the politician, follow his party line,
He said, "We all have to tighten up our belts."
But he didn't look any thinner than he did a year ago
And I wonder just how hungry that man felt.
He knows it ain't too hard to get along with somebody else's troubles,
They don't make you lose any sleep at night.
Just as long as fate is out there burstin'somebody' else's bubbles.
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything is gonna be alright.
So I asked the undertaker what it took to make him laugh
When all he ever saw is people cryin'.
First he hands me a bunch of flowers that he'd received on my behalf
He said, "Steve, business just gets better all the time."
And it ain't too hard it to get along with somebody else's troubles,
They don't make you lose any sleep at night.
As long as fate is out there burstin' somebody else's bubbles
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything is gonna alright.
Yesterday I went downtown and saw an old-time picture show
And the hero got a pie in the face.
He didn't like that and he stormed around the screen,
But everybody else was laughin' in that place.
That's cause it ain't hard to get along with somebody else's troubles
And they don't make you lose any sleep at night
As long as fate is out there burstin' somebody else's bubbles.
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything is gonna be alright.
Did you ever pay for something that you didn't do ?
And did you ever figure out the reason why ?
And when the doctor says this gonna hurt me a lot more than this hurts you,
Did you ever figure out that that's a lie ?
He knows it ain't too hard to get along with somebody else's troubles
And they don't make you lose any sleep at night
As long as fate is out there burstin'somebody' else's bubbles.
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything will be alright.
And I saw the politician, follow his party line,
He said, "We all have to tighten up our belts."
But he didn't look any thinner than he did a year ago
And I wonder just how hungry that man felt.
He knows it ain't too hard to get along with somebody else's troubles,
They don't make you lose any sleep at night.
Just as long as fate is out there burstin'somebody' else's bubbles.
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything is gonna be alright.
So I asked the undertaker what it took to make him laugh
When all he ever saw is people cryin'.
First he hands me a bunch of flowers that he'd received on my behalf
He said, "Steve, business just gets better all the time."
And it ain't too hard it to get along with somebody else's troubles,
They don't make you lose any sleep at night.
As long as fate is out there burstin' somebody else's bubbles
Everything is gonna be alright.
And everything is gonna alright.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
After The Latest Deluge - time for a new Party
The major storm has passed, and we're picking up the pieces.
Congress passed the debt ceiling increase, contingent on many budget cuts. Both Republicans and Democrats are spinning their respective positions, and it's time for vacations.
It is yet to be seen whether or not I will have a job past November, when the DOD contract I am on runs out. I'm reasonably confident I'll either be refunded or find something else. But I am concerned about many Americans who have been made more vulnerable in the past few months.
Unemployment is very high. Layoffs have been slowing down (except for companies like Merck, who laid off 15,000), but the jobs have not been coming back. I do not see any slowing of foreclosure rates.
Yet the safety nets are being torn by those who believe we cannot afford them. As I've stated in an earlier post - what we do with our "pie" of money is totally our choice. Pure capitalism - everyone fending for themselves with little government intervention - is one of the choices. Whatever is chosen, some people gain and some people lose.
The reason some people lose is not necessarily because they don't try or know how to win. Think of a child brought up in a community of lower-income people and who gets a substandard education. Should we blame this child for being behind when he/she reaches adulthood? Let's consider our values about this.
So how do we create our pie, and how do we divide it up? I don't have the exact answer, but I definitely would like to see as large a pie as possible divided in an "equitable" (not "evenly") way. Here's where tough choices come in since you don't want to shrink the pie or cause the worst-off to have the smaller slices.
The budget deal (along with other policy decisions in the past year) is a "tradeoff" that will, unfortunately, impact those who can least afford it the most. What will be hit? Schools, housing, and the safety nets. What won't be hit? taxes on those who have high-paying jobs or investments.
It's clear how the tradeoff works in this case. And believe me, we really did have choices.
So we got worried about our debt. We focused less on unemployment. Funny, because interest rates did not go up. In fact, I'll be refinancing this week at almost an all-time low. The housing market doesn't suck because of government debt. It sucks because there was a bubble that burst (for reasons pointed out very well in the movie "Inside Job").
This Congress had choices. The Republicans had choices. The Democrats had choices. The President had choices.
I have come to the conclusion that it is time for another political party to take shape. It needs to be focused on the "center", acknowledging that everyone has responsibilities towards both themselves and others. I'm only beginning to think about who would lead this, but the name Colin Powell comes to mind. (Others are people like Bob Kerrey and Warren Rudman). Whoever it is must be on the bully pulpit at all times, clearly showing us direction.
On another subject: Congress wants a debt-elimination commission. Who to head it better than Bill Clinton? (sorry, Clinton haters, he IS the best man for the job)
More to come. Thanks for reading.
Congress passed the debt ceiling increase, contingent on many budget cuts. Both Republicans and Democrats are spinning their respective positions, and it's time for vacations.
It is yet to be seen whether or not I will have a job past November, when the DOD contract I am on runs out. I'm reasonably confident I'll either be refunded or find something else. But I am concerned about many Americans who have been made more vulnerable in the past few months.
Unemployment is very high. Layoffs have been slowing down (except for companies like Merck, who laid off 15,000), but the jobs have not been coming back. I do not see any slowing of foreclosure rates.
Yet the safety nets are being torn by those who believe we cannot afford them. As I've stated in an earlier post - what we do with our "pie" of money is totally our choice. Pure capitalism - everyone fending for themselves with little government intervention - is one of the choices. Whatever is chosen, some people gain and some people lose.
The reason some people lose is not necessarily because they don't try or know how to win. Think of a child brought up in a community of lower-income people and who gets a substandard education. Should we blame this child for being behind when he/she reaches adulthood? Let's consider our values about this.
So how do we create our pie, and how do we divide it up? I don't have the exact answer, but I definitely would like to see as large a pie as possible divided in an "equitable" (not "evenly") way. Here's where tough choices come in since you don't want to shrink the pie or cause the worst-off to have the smaller slices.
The budget deal (along with other policy decisions in the past year) is a "tradeoff" that will, unfortunately, impact those who can least afford it the most. What will be hit? Schools, housing, and the safety nets. What won't be hit? taxes on those who have high-paying jobs or investments.
It's clear how the tradeoff works in this case. And believe me, we really did have choices.
So we got worried about our debt. We focused less on unemployment. Funny, because interest rates did not go up. In fact, I'll be refinancing this week at almost an all-time low. The housing market doesn't suck because of government debt. It sucks because there was a bubble that burst (for reasons pointed out very well in the movie "Inside Job").
This Congress had choices. The Republicans had choices. The Democrats had choices. The President had choices.
I have come to the conclusion that it is time for another political party to take shape. It needs to be focused on the "center", acknowledging that everyone has responsibilities towards both themselves and others. I'm only beginning to think about who would lead this, but the name Colin Powell comes to mind. (Others are people like Bob Kerrey and Warren Rudman). Whoever it is must be on the bully pulpit at all times, clearly showing us direction.
On another subject: Congress wants a debt-elimination commission. Who to head it better than Bill Clinton? (sorry, Clinton haters, he IS the best man for the job)
More to come. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Intransigence
If you care about Israel or Palestine, here is some must-see TV.
The link below is to a a video that features a debate-discussion between Palestinian diplomat Saib Ariqat and an Israeli TV reporter:
It tells, perhaps, the whole story about what is going so wrong over in this region.
To me, it boils down to one word:
intransigence.
By both sides.
Both sides repeat their very emotional arguments. Although they are civil, you can feel the enormous tension. (You can assume that many of the arguments made by the Israeli journalist represent the government's position.)
The Palestinians need to hear the words "67 borders with land swaps", and "stopping settlements" - otherwise there is no trust. The Israelis have to hear "Jewish state", or there is no trust.
I firmly believe that the people of both countries would be willing to trade intransigence for peace. Just ask them..well, they've already been asked and they said so (see my earlier post).
Yes, Israelis would like to see the status quo changed. If we say to them "You can increase your prosperity, as from now on you would have to pay less taxes (less defense spending) and thus have even more economic freedom and security", wouldn't they take it?
Yes, Palestinians want out of their poverty and political isolation. If we say to them "You can have a free country that is world-accepted and your children can have a better future", wouldn't they take it?
So what is everyone waiting for?
The Answer: The leaders - who think only from their narrow nationalistic perspective.
The Answer: The leaders - who think only from their narrow nationalistic perspective.
With that comes the problem of the allowance of mainstream media to showcase the extreme viewpoints without adequate rebuttal time for the moderates (see my NY Times letter of September 2006). We see the flotillas and riots, not the people working behind the scenes for reconciliation. For every segment that displays the negative, why not interview someone like Dr. Abuelaish?
President Obama, unlike his predecessor, is, from day one, attempting to get each side to moderate their views. For this he is being told that he is not a "friend".
President Obama, unlike his predecessor, is, from day one, attempting to get each side to moderate their views. For this he is being told that he is not a "friend".
"J Street" and "Peace Now" does some good, but we need a unified, grass-roots multi-national, multi-religious movement that can overcome purely nationalistic ones. If someone can point me to them, please reply to this post.
Thanks for reading.
P.S. My senator, Ben Cardin, wants Congress to state that they oppose the move by the Palestinians at the UN in September. I also believe that the Palestinian Government is making a mistake (it will only increase the intransigence) but if Cardin adds to the bill a call for a stop of Israeli settlements, a call for full (yes, repeated) Palestinian recognition of a Jewish state, and an agreement based on 1967-with-land-swaps, I would gladly support it. In its present form it is one-sided and does nothing for peace (which I assume Cardin really wants). I want everything to be win-win. (BTW: J Street supports the UN move - I differ with J Street)
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