It was very good to read this book.
It was very hard to read this book.
It was reassuring to read this book.
I don't want to ever talk about this book.
All I want is to talk about this book.
"When Violence strikes and community security is threatened"
Oh god..only the title...oh man..
I think that for this post I will concentrate on the parts that were reassuring:
One thing that was reassuring was the way the author described the process of healing through emotional discharge. Her descriptions were very much in lined with co counseling theory about healing. I was surprised to hear her perspective because I feel that many times in psychology this process is not explained in such a straight forward manner. How she talked about the importance of discharge and how many times this process is interrupted/stopped because people get scared to 'lose it' (or that somebody else is losing it) made allot of sense to me. I was also interesting to hear how science explains this process in the brain.
Also the author expressed doubt about the usefulness of labeling people with PTSD. I was glad to hear that this discussion is taking place in the psychology world because my family and I were harmed from the way the mental health system labels people who seems to be having 'too many feelings'. I really think that many times it doesn't help to label people with mental illnesses. I know that at least for me, and other people I know, it affected me in away that for most of my life it made feel like there was something inherently wrong with brain.
Another part that was interesting for me was the idea of the chosen trauma. Yoder writes: " Without an experience of justice, deliberate acts of harm often become 'choosen traumas', a shared traumatic event that is chosen to be kept alive through the generations and becomes an integral part of a group's identity. Chosen traumas are characterized by an obsessive sense of being wronged by the "other" and by a sense of entitlement" (p. 29)
This passage made me think about the Jewish people relationship with the holocaust. My first reaction while I was reading was thinking that this idea could easily be understood like there was something wrong with remembering and having many feelings about what happened. I wanted to defend myself and my people right away.
My next thought was about all the memorial day services that I have participated in since I was little and how the way they were conducted kind of traumatized me. The ceremonies keep the trauma alive and pass it to the young people. It is very confusing because it makes sense to learn about our history but there is defiantly a way in which we do it in Israel that is so intense and painful. Or is it the reality that is painful?
Can't think more about this book
Every page makes me gag
Hope to cry and laugh about it more with you holding my hand
Monday, November 14, 2011
Restorative Justice Seminar
I enjoyed and appreciated having Amanda talk with us. First because of how humble and receptive she was. I was struck by how open she was to our comments and suggestions. Second, I was intrigued by the practice of restorative justice, it seems very much in lined with other ideas and practices we learned this semester. I can see a common thread between RJ , ideas from the Moral Imagination, NVC and mediation. The common thread is the idea that healing and transformation of society is based on building strong and lasting relationships. In the Moral Imagination, Lederach writes about the importance of 'web watching' meaning recognizing how are people connected and utilizing these relationships in order to bring about change. In the process of mediation people are called to recognize their joint interests/needs and find solutions that will benefit both parties. Also the simple fact of people sitting together, talking things through and making a joint effort- this of itself means that people are trying to stay in some kind of relationship. In NVC we learned to listen to the deep needs of people and develop the capacity to 'stay in relationship' even if the other person is speaking 'Jackel' to us.
In Restorative Justice the goal is maintain and repair relationships and no put problems/people away. Instead, having to figure out a solution where people ca continue living together in relationship.
It's exciting to notice this interesting commonality between all this practices.
I especially liked to learn about RJ because it ventures out to areas of law and prison. It deals with hard topics and people who are generally labeled as the outskirts of society.I feel like this practice challenges ideas of good vs bad& reward vs punishment (which NVC also does). It reaches out to rehumanize people, even those who have harmed others. This practice aims to figure out how to not isolate these people but instead help them to find their place in the web of life.
In Restorative Justice the goal is maintain and repair relationships and no put problems/people away. Instead, having to figure out a solution where people ca continue living together in relationship.
It's exciting to notice this interesting commonality between all this practices.
I especially liked to learn about RJ because it ventures out to areas of law and prison. It deals with hard topics and people who are generally labeled as the outskirts of society.I feel like this practice challenges ideas of good vs bad& reward vs punishment (which NVC also does). It reaches out to rehumanize people, even those who have harmed others. This practice aims to figure out how to not isolate these people but instead help them to find their place in the web of life.
final project update
After considering a couple of different ideas for my final project I decided to go for the interviews. I feel that one of my initial interests fr this semester was to challenge my perspective about the Palestinian -Israeli conflict. I wanted to push myself and see where are the places where I get triggered, what is the stuff that is hard for me to talk about and where do I have a hard time listening? I think that a great place to start is through interviewing and listening to different people who are involved with the conflict.
My main objective is to get a bigger picture about this conflict- how did it start, who is involved and how/why, where is it going and what is a rational solution.
I want to do this through listening to different opinions and stories about the conflict from varied people.
One important point:
While conducting my research I began to notice a very interesting and challenging aspect of dealing with this conflict. As I started thinking about this conflict and exposing myself to the reality of the occupation and the history of how Israel was founded I had to start asking myself questions about my roll as an oppressor. Just dealing with oppressor 'stuff'/oppressive pattern is not easy by itself but I found it even trickier because of the way antisemitism affects Jews and how we have internalized it. What I mean by that is 1. Anti Jewish oppression and anti-Israel sentiment exists in the world yet many many times it is completely ignored! It is sometimes not mentioned even in the most progressive human rights gatherings. This fact makes it hard for people in Israel and for Jewish people in general to understand their own situation and to also be able to think well of the Palestinians.
2. As far as I can tell Jews in Israel are both in the roll of the oppressor and the roll of the oppressed. but the way that they are oppressed is hidden and ignored.
There is much more I want to understand and think about in this matter, but the point right now that I am shooting to figure out is how can we/I work on my oppressor stuff while not putting the Israeli's down beating ourselves up...more to come on this matter!
So far I have interviewed three people from the Boulder/Denver community!
The interviews where 2 hour long each and went very well. Each one had a completely different feel and shed light on different subjects. I am really excited to listen to them again and write my final paper!
I am also considering conducting one more interview that I think will be very important for my ability to work with this subject. This interview I want to do with one of the leaders of Jewish people in Co counseling. I think this will help me get a better picture of this whole oppressor/oppressed stuff.
My main objective is to get a bigger picture about this conflict- how did it start, who is involved and how/why, where is it going and what is a rational solution.
I want to do this through listening to different opinions and stories about the conflict from varied people.
One important point:
While conducting my research I began to notice a very interesting and challenging aspect of dealing with this conflict. As I started thinking about this conflict and exposing myself to the reality of the occupation and the history of how Israel was founded I had to start asking myself questions about my roll as an oppressor. Just dealing with oppressor 'stuff'/oppressive pattern is not easy by itself but I found it even trickier because of the way antisemitism affects Jews and how we have internalized it. What I mean by that is 1. Anti Jewish oppression and anti-Israel sentiment exists in the world yet many many times it is completely ignored! It is sometimes not mentioned even in the most progressive human rights gatherings. This fact makes it hard for people in Israel and for Jewish people in general to understand their own situation and to also be able to think well of the Palestinians.
2. As far as I can tell Jews in Israel are both in the roll of the oppressor and the roll of the oppressed. but the way that they are oppressed is hidden and ignored.
There is much more I want to understand and think about in this matter, but the point right now that I am shooting to figure out is how can we/I work on my oppressor stuff while not putting the Israeli's down beating ourselves up...more to come on this matter!
So far I have interviewed three people from the Boulder/Denver community!
The interviews where 2 hour long each and went very well. Each one had a completely different feel and shed light on different subjects. I am really excited to listen to them again and write my final paper!
I am also considering conducting one more interview that I think will be very important for my ability to work with this subject. This interview I want to do with one of the leaders of Jewish people in Co counseling. I think this will help me get a better picture of this whole oppressor/oppressed stuff.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Non violant communication- first thought
Wow I am blown away and hope to continue studying this practice. The ideas are so good and interesting. I bet that if I really try to put it into practice it will be hard and annoying sometimes but maybe it will also change my world...
I was surprised by the depth of thought from which this practice was born.
One of the ideas that was most interesting to me was about the moralistic judgments. The idea of wrong and right and how we judge each other according to these measures. Also I appreciated how Rosenberg traces this idea to religious traditions where human beings are considered inherently bad/sinful and that they need to work hard in order to be good or forgiven. There is something about the connection between these two theme that I still don't completely understand, but it's really interesting. Maybe the connection is because that both in Judaism and in Christianity there is a very clear wrong and right, things that you must do and must never do. Guilt, shame and regret are kind of expected and so is punishment or reward. The bible is full of stories that strengthen this world view. If that is how we judge ourselves in our relationship with the divine maybe that is why we do the same with one another? Interesting connection.
This world view of wrong and right/ reward and punishment is also very much learned through how our parents treat us when we are young people. Just as Rosenberg shows with his puppet animals in the video, young people are often taught through guilt, shaming, threatening and manipulation. I can see for myself that still today I do the dishes out of fear and guilt. Today I am 'scared' of what my roommates might say, but this fear was installed long ago and today I just 'pin' it on whoever is currently living with me (it doesn't really matter what their current attitude about the dishes is- I am still scared and worried).
I agree with you Candace, when you say that this practice is pretty radical. I can see how giving up the idea of wrong and right and giving up the tools of reward and punishment is a huge step into the unknown. It creates so much more space for life and for human beings to live in so many different ways. Just considering it, makes me see how reality and how we perceive it is actually so much more flexible, open and diverse then we usually let ourselves notice.
Also I can see the potential of this practice on a day to day level. Being able to identify feelings and needs and voicing them has potential to create so much vulnerability and closeness between people. I think it will require practice, courage, clarity and a large vocabulary!
I was surprised by the depth of thought from which this practice was born.
One of the ideas that was most interesting to me was about the moralistic judgments. The idea of wrong and right and how we judge each other according to these measures. Also I appreciated how Rosenberg traces this idea to religious traditions where human beings are considered inherently bad/sinful and that they need to work hard in order to be good or forgiven. There is something about the connection between these two theme that I still don't completely understand, but it's really interesting. Maybe the connection is because that both in Judaism and in Christianity there is a very clear wrong and right, things that you must do and must never do. Guilt, shame and regret are kind of expected and so is punishment or reward. The bible is full of stories that strengthen this world view. If that is how we judge ourselves in our relationship with the divine maybe that is why we do the same with one another? Interesting connection.
This world view of wrong and right/ reward and punishment is also very much learned through how our parents treat us when we are young people. Just as Rosenberg shows with his puppet animals in the video, young people are often taught through guilt, shaming, threatening and manipulation. I can see for myself that still today I do the dishes out of fear and guilt. Today I am 'scared' of what my roommates might say, but this fear was installed long ago and today I just 'pin' it on whoever is currently living with me (it doesn't really matter what their current attitude about the dishes is- I am still scared and worried).
I agree with you Candace, when you say that this practice is pretty radical. I can see how giving up the idea of wrong and right and giving up the tools of reward and punishment is a huge step into the unknown. It creates so much more space for life and for human beings to live in so many different ways. Just considering it, makes me see how reality and how we perceive it is actually so much more flexible, open and diverse then we usually let ourselves notice.
Also I can see the potential of this practice on a day to day level. Being able to identify feelings and needs and voicing them has potential to create so much vulnerability and closeness between people. I think it will require practice, courage, clarity and a large vocabulary!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
New Thoughts About My Project- What Do I Know About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?
I decided to make a list of things that I know about this conflict. The reason for that is the following: I noticed that when I think about this conflict it's sort of feels like a great big cloud in my mind, there is a feeling that it's too complicated for me to talk about and that I don't know enough to have an opinion. I know many Israeli's and American Jew who have the same feeling which makes me think that it's part of how the media and the ruling classes manage to keep this conflict going; by making us feel small and uninformed. Or as Lederach might say "we lost our voices".
So right now I am just gonna write what I know, it might be a mess sometimes , or too general but this is the beginning. The lines that I highlighted are fact that I want check and get more information about.
And so this is what I know so far:
1. Before 1948 there both Palestinians and Jews living in Israel. This has been the case for hundreds of years. Through different empires that rolled the land and colonialism both of these people hang on to this land.
2. The Jews have strong religious ties to this land, sacred sites, biblical stories that took place in Israel and a particular story that says that this land was specifically promised by god to the Jewish people.
3. Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, also have strong religious ties including sacred sites and also the deep ties people make with the earth after living of it for generations.
4. Israel has a very diverse population of Jews: secular Jews, religious Jews that among them there are many different sects- reform , orthodox, etc, Jews of color, Ashkenazim, Sephardi, Jews from different class background most of them working class or poor.
5. Israel has a diverse population of Arabs: Christians, Muslim, Druze. Sometimes, depending on where they live, Arabs define themselves or are being defined by the state of Israel as Arab- Israeli or as Palestinian.
6. Were it stands right now: Israel is a recognized state, we have a strong military (every young person has to go to the military unless they have some special circumstances). Since the establishment of Israel we have had several wars with or neighboring states. During these wars we concord some of their land, so far we gave back some of the concord territories and some not- like the Golan Heights for example.
7. Some of the conflict about giving back territories is about water. The Sea of Galilee is in the Golan Heights and it is one of Israel's only water sources.
8. About 20-30 years before the declaration of Israel as a state, Jews started to gather from all different places in the world and settle in Israel. They did so because of the raising antisemitism around the world , because of their religious belief that Israel is the promised land for the Jews and also because of the historical ties with Israel- Jews have been living there for a long time until they were driven away by numerous empires that rolled the land.
9. During the Holocaust more and more Jews sought a new life and a sanctuary in Israel which was then referred to as Palestine by many people. Their numbers were increasing, they started buying land from Palestinians and perhaps also just taking over land?
10. Violence started breaking out between the Jewish and Palestinian Population. The Palestinians resisted the new comers that were growing rapidly in numbers and the Jewish people were determined to settle the land which they viewed as theirs and create a new state.
11. There were all these different proposals regarding how to divide the land between the two people . One is especially famous as the division plan offered by the UN. In that original plan the land was divided more or less equally between the people and Jerusalem was to be an international city. This proposal was not excepted by the Palestinians and the neighboring Arab nations. Did the Jews except it?
12. What do I know about the situation today?
I know that after the deceleration of Israel as a new state a war broke out between the Jewish population and the Palestinians+ neighboring Arab countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt).
During that war about 700,000 Palestinian people were displaced and became refugees either inside Israel or in Refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. These Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their home and their property. They were never allowed back.
This is one of the cor issues of the conflict. It is referred to as Zchut Hashiva (the right to return). I think that many Palestinians still have hopes to return to their homes, or to their grandparents home. Maybe its more about having a home and not living in a damn refugee camp..I am not sure.
13. I also know that in the last 62 years Israel have been systematically taking more and more land from the Palestinians. Today their territories are divided by many road blocks and military presence. The military presence in and around the Palestinian territories is very disruptive to their lives. It prevents them from making a living and developing a better economic situation. It prevents people from getting a dissent education or any education. There is allot of poverty and basic human rights are not being met like freedom of movement, freedom to make a living, freedom to hold on to apiece of land that was an inheritance or was legally purchased by one.
14. There are many psychological implications of the occupation both on Palestinians and on Israeli Jews.
15 On the other side, the Jewish people in Israel suffer from a militarization of society, since so many people go through the army and are educated from early on that participating in the army in the moral and necessary thing to do. Further more, because our army in mainly dealing with civilian population in the up keep of the occupation what happens is that 18-20 year old boys and girls are put in a position of power , a position of an oppressor. I think this corrupt and confuses and hurts many Jewish young adult people.
When your job is to stand at a check point for 5-8 hours and determine who looks dangerous to you and whether people will get to their work/school today it is a huge challenge to keep your humanity.
TO BE CONTINUED...
So right now I am just gonna write what I know, it might be a mess sometimes , or too general but this is the beginning. The lines that I highlighted are fact that I want check and get more information about.
And so this is what I know so far:
1. Before 1948 there both Palestinians and Jews living in Israel. This has been the case for hundreds of years. Through different empires that rolled the land and colonialism both of these people hang on to this land.
2. The Jews have strong religious ties to this land, sacred sites, biblical stories that took place in Israel and a particular story that says that this land was specifically promised by god to the Jewish people.
3. Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, also have strong religious ties including sacred sites and also the deep ties people make with the earth after living of it for generations.
4. Israel has a very diverse population of Jews: secular Jews, religious Jews that among them there are many different sects- reform , orthodox, etc, Jews of color, Ashkenazim, Sephardi, Jews from different class background most of them working class or poor.
5. Israel has a diverse population of Arabs: Christians, Muslim, Druze. Sometimes, depending on where they live, Arabs define themselves or are being defined by the state of Israel as Arab- Israeli or as Palestinian.
6. Were it stands right now: Israel is a recognized state, we have a strong military (every young person has to go to the military unless they have some special circumstances). Since the establishment of Israel we have had several wars with or neighboring states. During these wars we concord some of their land, so far we gave back some of the concord territories and some not- like the Golan Heights for example.
7. Some of the conflict about giving back territories is about water. The Sea of Galilee is in the Golan Heights and it is one of Israel's only water sources.
8. About 20-30 years before the declaration of Israel as a state, Jews started to gather from all different places in the world and settle in Israel. They did so because of the raising antisemitism around the world , because of their religious belief that Israel is the promised land for the Jews and also because of the historical ties with Israel- Jews have been living there for a long time until they were driven away by numerous empires that rolled the land.
9. During the Holocaust more and more Jews sought a new life and a sanctuary in Israel which was then referred to as Palestine by many people. Their numbers were increasing, they started buying land from Palestinians and perhaps also just taking over land?
10. Violence started breaking out between the Jewish and Palestinian Population. The Palestinians resisted the new comers that were growing rapidly in numbers and the Jewish people were determined to settle the land which they viewed as theirs and create a new state.
11. There were all these different proposals regarding how to divide the land between the two people . One is especially famous as the division plan offered by the UN. In that original plan the land was divided more or less equally between the people and Jerusalem was to be an international city. This proposal was not excepted by the Palestinians and the neighboring Arab nations. Did the Jews except it?
12. What do I know about the situation today?I know that after the deceleration of Israel as a new state a war broke out between the Jewish population and the Palestinians+ neighboring Arab countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt).
During that war about 700,000 Palestinian people were displaced and became refugees either inside Israel or in Refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. These Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their home and their property. They were never allowed back.
This is one of the cor issues of the conflict. It is referred to as Zchut Hashiva (the right to return). I think that many Palestinians still have hopes to return to their homes, or to their grandparents home. Maybe its more about having a home and not living in a damn refugee camp..I am not sure.
13. I also know that in the last 62 years Israel have been systematically taking more and more land from the Palestinians. Today their territories are divided by many road blocks and military presence. The military presence in and around the Palestinian territories is very disruptive to their lives. It prevents them from making a living and developing a better economic situation. It prevents people from getting a dissent education or any education. There is allot of poverty and basic human rights are not being met like freedom of movement, freedom to make a living, freedom to hold on to apiece of land that was an inheritance or was legally purchased by one.
14. There are many psychological implications of the occupation both on Palestinians and on Israeli Jews.
15 On the other side, the Jewish people in Israel suffer from a militarization of society, since so many people go through the army and are educated from early on that participating in the army in the moral and necessary thing to do. Further more, because our army in mainly dealing with civilian population in the up keep of the occupation what happens is that 18-20 year old boys and girls are put in a position of power , a position of an oppressor. I think this corrupt and confuses and hurts many Jewish young adult people.
When your job is to stand at a check point for 5-8 hours and determine who looks dangerous to you and whether people will get to their work/school today it is a huge challenge to keep your humanity.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Monday, September 26, 2011
Thoughts and steps for my class project
Brain storming with Candace
Thinking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how I would want to
engage with it.
1. Considering contacting organizations that bring Palestinian and Israeli
youth together and seeing what I can offer to them.
2. Feeling that I want to learn more about the current situation and the
history of the conflict.
3. Noticing that I am drown to create a project that will involve art making
with community building.
Conclusion: I want to learn more about the conflict and build my capacity to
be present and useful when engaging with people who are involved in this
conflict. For that I want to build connections in the Boulder community with
people who are involved with the conflict and have different opinions and
ways of relating with it.
First experiment- Boulder-Nablus Sister City Project
This is a new initiative started by a few people from Boulder who wanted to
figure out a way to support some of the Palestinian community and get
involved with the conflict in a positive way. Two weeks ago I went to their
first meeting. It was a lovely event that included food music, explanations
about the project an mingling. These people from all different back grounds-
Palestinians, Muslim, Jewish and Christian Americans.
reflections on my own experience:
I was scared! I was the only Israeli Jew there. I t was amazing to notice
how every time I introduced myself to a new person my thought was:"are you
gonna attack me? are you gonna attack me?" I didn't know whether to say
where I am from or not. Its interesting to try and break down this feeling
of fear and the need to defend myself. I wonder how much of it is just
because I was the only Israeli there, how much is because of actual
experiences of attack me and my family had, how much is old distress..
In reality people were friendly and they were making an effort to focus the
meeting on positive possibilities of this project in oppose to blaming or
trashing Israel.
Next step: planning to go to the next meeting.
More research:
I found two summer camps that bring Palestinian and Israeli youth together:
Common ground in Denver and Creativity for Peace in Santa Fe.
Action: Started working on a cover letter and a resume to send to these
camps.
Reaching out: Contacting two Jewish woman who are leaders in the Jewish
community in Boulder and working on setting an interview with them.
Next step: Going to celebrate Rosh Hashana with Margery.
Watching a performance: Everyone has Tears/ Cynthia Sophiea
A performance created and performed by a Lebanese American woman,
expressing the experience of an Arab woman living in the states. She also
told stories from her relatives living in a Palestinian refugee camps and
brought different perspectives of Jews, Arab Israeli people from different
generations.
Reflections: Seeing this performance and taking part in the Q&A afterward
was really challenging and meaningful. I felt scared especially because most
of the crowed were Arab young adult men. Again I was the only Israeli there,
which makes me think that next time I am defiantly going to take a buddy
with me.
The actress did a great job in rehumanizing both sides of the conflict. As a
Jew it was really interesting to notice how much we have in common with Arab
and middle eastern culture. The food, the family, the mess the loudness the
warmth. Also so much of the struggles are the same. It was illuminating for
me to learn about how racism and anti Arab oppression hits Arabs in really
similar ways that it hits Jews. HAAAAAAAAAA!
Another thought:
Although I kind of know about the affects of the occupation, it is still
really had to hear about some of the things that Israel is doing to the
people of Palestine. When I turn my gaze to look at it I feel I get dizzy
and confused and kind of noeses . It feels like I am gonna go crazy if I
really face it.
One of the things to try and figure out is what makes sense to take responsibility for, how to not just go into cycles of guilt. Another is how to resist the things that don't make sense but not continue attacking the Jewish people, instead include them, include us.
New thoughts:
two weeks ago I went to see a Red Nose clown performance that was so amazing! Seeing the performance and also writing about Red Bastard made me remember how much I love clown and sparked my imagination. I am thinking of exploring a possibility to create a clown performance that touches on this conflict and perform it to the Naropa community and hopefully to more people in Boulder who are engaged with the conflict. I am thinking that might be a very honest way for me to explore where I really stand with it right now, my biases and fears. By performing it to an audience hopefully that will give more room for people to show where they are at with dealing with this reality.
Action: talk to Shoshana!
Brain storming with Candace
Thinking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how I would want to
engage with it.
1. Considering contacting organizations that bring Palestinian and Israeli
youth together and seeing what I can offer to them.
2. Feeling that I want to learn more about the current situation and the
history of the conflict.
3. Noticing that I am drown to create a project that will involve art making
with community building.
Conclusion: I want to learn more about the conflict and build my capacity to
be present and useful when engaging with people who are involved in this
conflict. For that I want to build connections in the Boulder community with
people who are involved with the conflict and have different opinions and
ways of relating with it.
First experiment- Boulder-Nablus Sister City Project
This is a new initiative started by a few people from Boulder who wanted to
figure out a way to support some of the Palestinian community and get
involved with the conflict in a positive way. Two weeks ago I went to their
first meeting. It was a lovely event that included food music, explanations
about the project an mingling. These people from all different back grounds-
Palestinians, Muslim, Jewish and Christian Americans.
reflections on my own experience:
I was scared! I was the only Israeli Jew there. I t was amazing to notice
how every time I introduced myself to a new person my thought was:"are you
gonna attack me? are you gonna attack me?" I didn't know whether to say
where I am from or not. Its interesting to try and break down this feeling
of fear and the need to defend myself. I wonder how much of it is just
because I was the only Israeli there, how much is because of actual
experiences of attack me and my family had, how much is old distress..
In reality people were friendly and they were making an effort to focus the
meeting on positive possibilities of this project in oppose to blaming or
trashing Israel.
Next step: planning to go to the next meeting.
More research:
I found two summer camps that bring Palestinian and Israeli youth together:
Common ground in Denver and Creativity for Peace in Santa Fe.
Action: Started working on a cover letter and a resume to send to these
camps.
Reaching out: Contacting two Jewish woman who are leaders in the Jewish
community in Boulder and working on setting an interview with them.
Next step: Going to celebrate Rosh Hashana with Margery.
Watching a performance: Everyone has Tears/ Cynthia Sophiea
A performance created and performed by a Lebanese American woman,
expressing the experience of an Arab woman living in the states. She also
told stories from her relatives living in a Palestinian refugee camps and
brought different perspectives of Jews, Arab Israeli people from different
generations.
Reflections: Seeing this performance and taking part in the Q&A afterward
was really challenging and meaningful. I felt scared especially because most
of the crowed were Arab young adult men. Again I was the only Israeli there,
which makes me think that next time I am defiantly going to take a buddy
with me.
The actress did a great job in rehumanizing both sides of the conflict. As a
Jew it was really interesting to notice how much we have in common with Arab
and middle eastern culture. The food, the family, the mess the loudness the
warmth. Also so much of the struggles are the same. It was illuminating for
me to learn about how racism and anti Arab oppression hits Arabs in really
similar ways that it hits Jews. HAAAAAAAAAA!
Another thought:
Although I kind of know about the affects of the occupation, it is still
really had to hear about some of the things that Israel is doing to the
people of Palestine. When I turn my gaze to look at it I feel I get dizzy
and confused and kind of noeses . It feels like I am gonna go crazy if I
really face it.
One of the things to try and figure out is what makes sense to take responsibility for, how to not just go into cycles of guilt. Another is how to resist the things that don't make sense but not continue attacking the Jewish people, instead include them, include us.
New thoughts:
two weeks ago I went to see a Red Nose clown performance that was so amazing! Seeing the performance and also writing about Red Bastard made me remember how much I love clown and sparked my imagination. I am thinking of exploring a possibility to create a clown performance that touches on this conflict and perform it to the Naropa community and hopefully to more people in Boulder who are engaged with the conflict. I am thinking that might be a very honest way for me to explore where I really stand with it right now, my biases and fears. By performing it to an audience hopefully that will give more room for people to show where they are at with dealing with this reality.
Action: talk to Shoshana!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Maya Lin
A couple of things I noticed:I noticed the potential art to bring about liberation, social change and healing. Maya Lin designed the memoriam in a way that created space for people to grieve, be together, notice the living and the dead, and the size and impact of the war. I also think that even all the voices that were crying that the memoriam was a disgrace were also an attempt to heal and sound another perspective about the experience of war.
The power of art to create a heated dialogue and to expose different view points in society is so great!
Another thing that I was struck by was how powerful and honest Maya Lyn is. Despite of young adults oppression("who would believe that such a young woman blah blah blah"....) sexism, racism and artist's oppression (!) she did not give up her vision and stood up steadily to protect her artistic statement and the world view that it contained. I was so impressed by her clarity and directness with which she spoke.
An Artist of The Moral Imagination
Red Bastard/ Eric Davis
Red Bastard is a one man Bouffon Performance that was directed by Sue Morrison and is performed by Eric Davis. Mr. Davis is considered one of the best performing clowns of our time. He has studied physical theater, Bouffon and improvisation and has been performing and teaching internationally. Mr. Davis has won several awards around the world for his clowning.
What is Bouffon?
In this bold style of performance called Bouffon, we find an excellent form for deconstructing and commenting on societal ills.
Grotesque in nature, often physically deformed, the bouffon is the outcast shunned by society and told to live outside of the village. On rare occasions, he is asked to perform for the pleasure of those who previously persecuted him. On these occasions the bouffon willingly accepts. (What choice does he have? Perform or be killed!) Thus this hideous creature enters the circle of society once more, light on his feet, eternally smiling with hateful eyes. Charming, entertaining and smart, he plans to take the piss out of you all!
http://www.redbastard.com/iWeb/redbastard.com/ABOUT.html
Eric Davis
What I loved about this piece was that Mr. Davis managed in an hour and half to play on the strings of my soul, to enliven and highlight many aspects of my humanity. In an hour and a half I fell in love, was scared, disgusted, tired, inspired, touched, saddened. He manged to get the audience to think outside the box, voice our dreams, challenge our inhibitions and try out new things. He showed us some of the places we limit ourselves and painted a bigger picture of what is possible for all of us.
May every performance do exactly that!
http://youtu.be/8TGBs6QCXDs
Monday, September 12, 2011
As an artist it is so empowering to read this weeks' chapters. In spite of all the feelings and ideas that came up for me, such as: artists are not important, art is a privilege not a necessity, art is a 'nice addition' but certainly not required, in spite of all of these John keeps holding out in that artists and the creative process are absolutely central for bringing about and sustaining social change. WHAT A CONTRADICTION!
Because of the reading I begun to look at the idea of a peace building process with a softer and wider gaze, which I would usually use when creating a performance. Letting mystery exist? letting delight and fun happen? following my instincts and my inner voice? I know how to do that stuff! Thinking about the possibility of applying these qualities to a peace building process is so exciting! Does this mean that I can take seemingly useless or irrational actions, take a risk and try something new? like playing a cello in a war wrecked neighborhood... How exciting!
In relation to this subject I really enjoyed what Lederach wrote about Naivete (p.115) " Naivete is not afraid of perceived as stupid and has the courage to raise basic questions, both of optimism when all seem impossible and common sense realism when everybody expects peace to happen because a paper was signed."
Also connected to the same idea Lederach writes " The artistic process is fun...There is no scientific evidence that seriousness leads to greater growth , maturity, or insight into the human condition than playfulness. " (p.160)
I absolutely loved these two observations and they remind of the roll the fool played in many different societies. The clown, or the folls' roll is/was to expose unspoken truth about humans and social constructs, to mirror, highlight and by doing so liberate people and allow societies to grow. From my experiences performing as a clown and also from watching others perform I can say that this roll demands the greatest vulnerability, an ability to laugh at one self and also the willingness to take a risk by pocking at social norms and truths people don't necessarily want to look at. I love how the roll of the clown embodies so many of the qualities Lederach describes as required for peace building.
I also appreciated the reminder that playfulness is many times more useful then going head first dead serious! I know this to be true from my experiences with healing through Co Counseling. In Co Counseling many times the way to heal and jiggle old patterns is to find some way to get the client laughing. It is as affective and as direct as crying or talking about it.
Because of the reading I begun to look at the idea of a peace building process with a softer and wider gaze, which I would usually use when creating a performance. Letting mystery exist? letting delight and fun happen? following my instincts and my inner voice? I know how to do that stuff! Thinking about the possibility of applying these qualities to a peace building process is so exciting! Does this mean that I can take seemingly useless or irrational actions, take a risk and try something new? like playing a cello in a war wrecked neighborhood... How exciting!
In relation to this subject I really enjoyed what Lederach wrote about Naivete (p.115) " Naivete is not afraid of perceived as stupid and has the courage to raise basic questions, both of optimism when all seem impossible and common sense realism when everybody expects peace to happen because a paper was signed."
Also connected to the same idea Lederach writes " The artistic process is fun...There is no scientific evidence that seriousness leads to greater growth , maturity, or insight into the human condition than playfulness. " (p.160)
I absolutely loved these two observations and they remind of the roll the fool played in many different societies. The clown, or the folls' roll is/was to expose unspoken truth about humans and social constructs, to mirror, highlight and by doing so liberate people and allow societies to grow. From my experiences performing as a clown and also from watching others perform I can say that this roll demands the greatest vulnerability, an ability to laugh at one self and also the willingness to take a risk by pocking at social norms and truths people don't necessarily want to look at. I love how the roll of the clown embodies so many of the qualities Lederach describes as required for peace building.
I also appreciated the reminder that playfulness is many times more useful then going head first dead serious! I know this to be true from my experiences with healing through Co Counseling. In Co Counseling many times the way to heal and jiggle old patterns is to find some way to get the client laughing. It is as affective and as direct as crying or talking about it.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The moral imagination- first thoughts
The Moral Imagination is so inspiring and dens! I would like to respond to a couple of ideas that stood out for me. Reading this book and simultaneously learning about recent events that are taking place in Israel is so exciting! Last Saturday about 400,000 People gathered all over Israel to protest for Social justice. Housing rates, workers rights and wages, mothers, elders, foreign workers, students, doctors, Arabs and Jews were all there! Fighting for a more rational and just society. HAAAA! I WISH I WAS THERE! Reading Lederach’s book and thinking about these events made me wonder: what was the turning point that led to this huge social upraise. The last time I was in Israel there was such a feeling of stagnation and hopelessness, who would believe that such a force was right under the surface. Was it the image of these young people in tents in the middle of Tel Aviv that inspired people, who never before went on the streets, to demonstrate? Were it the images streaming from North Africa and Egypt that enabled people to imagine new possibilities for themselves? I am really interested to understand what is it that makes a whole nation rise up seemingly out of the blue.
If you want to read a little more about the demonstration and see some pictures check this out:
Social activists: The revolution is here
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4102107,00.html
The tent revolution is Israel's only chance for a liberal state
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/the-tent-revolution-is-israel-s-only-chance-for-a-liberal-state-1.376261
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4102107,00.html
The tent revolution is Israel's only chance for a liberal state
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/the-tent-revolution-is-israel-s-only-chance-for-a-liberal-state-1.376261
A different but connected thought bubble:
One of the things that struck me the most from the reading was the main dilemma Lederach presents: how can we truly and deeply address the problems we are faced with yet not be bound by the ‘reality’ they suggest, but be able to imagine and create new possibilities for our lives? Lederach addresses this issue form another angle in ‘The Poetic Unfolding of the Human Spirit’. He quotes Pablo Neruda from his ‘Book of Questions’:
“ How can I heal if the violent has not ended?
But how long do I wait for violence to end before starting?”
These question Neruda articulated (and Lederach quoted) pierced through my heart because they are expressing exactly the tight and seemingly impossible situation Israeli’s and Palestinians are facing. How do we live in this present yet try to imagine a different possibility for ourselves? How do we engage this present in a way the will construct a different future?
The people in the 4 stories presented in the Moral Imagination demonstrated a few different qualities that I think enabled them to engage with conflict in this manner. It seemsto me like there was an ability to be in the present moment, maybe what Lederach would define as some kind of indifference, mixed with realistic hope. There was a seizing of opportunities and also there was a cultivation of relationships. Day to day close relationships, friendships, work and trade connections seem to be what made this vision come to life and become reality.
I think I can do that.
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