Palestine

I knew very little about the Palestine/Israel conflict until I read a book a few years ago entitled, “Our Way to Fight” by Michael Riordan.  I’m not claiming to be any kind of expert now, but that book gave a viewpoint of activists, in their own words, who are working for peace in the region, both Israelis and Palestinians.

There is no doubt that this ongoing conflict is complex.  However, it is obvious that there is one side with a huge advantage.  While Hamas terrorists fire rockets into Israel, they are quite literally outgunned by a very powerful Israeli military.  Unfortunately, it is not the Hamas rocket shooters who are paying the ultimate price for the rocket attacks; it is hundreds of Palestinian civilians, many of them children.  Israel somehow thinks it is justified to retaliate by committing indiscriminate genocide against the people of Palestine. 

Before this recent flare-up of events, there has been a slow simmering boil up of tension in the region.  Why would Palestine attack a much larger and better armed foe, when it is obvious the outcome will not be good?  It’s not because they have a death wish; in fact, I believe they are fighting for their lives.  They may be taking a knife to a gun fight, but it’s all they have. 

Palestine has been living under crippling sanctions for decades under the iron fist of Israel, and shamefully, this oppression has been funded and supported by the United States.  Thanks to our habitual propping up of despots and dictators, Israel has become a powerhouse of military might.  Are we so naïve to think they are not abusing that power?

Many people are unaware of the conditions under which Palestinians are forced to live.  They are content to assume that since the Jews are “God’s chosen people,” then whatever they do is okay.  This kind of simplistic and lazy thinking is costing many innocent lives. 

Palestine is screaming for help, and instead of listening, or even taking the time to research the situation, it is being turned into partisan bickering.  This is shameful.

What if we had responded this way to Hitler’s siege of Europe?  Would it matter if this were happening closer to home?  How would you feel if a neighboring country decided that the farm your family had owned for generations belonged to them?  They kicked you out into the street, destroyed your buildings and farm equipment, and moved in people from their own country?  What if, in order to travel to the next county, or even town, you had to sit for hours at a checkpoint set up by that other country, even if it meant not being able to get to a needed surgery, or other critical surface?  And if you protested, it may mean being shot and killed, or your family being killed?  What if your child needed medicine, but the ship carrying those needed supplies was turned away by the neighboring country, just because they could?  This isn’t a sudden, unwarranted attack by Hamas; it’s a response to a crippling and deadly occupation.

Palestinians, and even their Israeli allies, are assassinated, or disappear.  This isn’t about the Jews having a homeland; it’s about Israel committing atrocities against their neighbors and us turning a blind eye, or worst yet, twisting Bible scripture to justify the murder of innocents.

Most Palestinians don’t back Hamas, the militant group responsible for the rockets being fired, which have done very little collateral damage in comparison to the bloody siege instituted by Israel against the Palestinian people.  That may change as the people of Palestine’s outrage grows at the atrocities being committed.   From npr.org:

" 'We faced two Israeli wars before but this one is the most bloodiest and most cruel,' said Abu Awni, 38, of Gaza City. 'Civilians are attacked in their homes. I'm against Hamas, but when Israel is killing my family, then I will join Hamas.'

" 'The world must wake up and stop consuming Israeli propaganda,' he added. 'More than half of the population in Gaza is not affiliated with Hamas. But we have been collectively punished.' "

Frankly, I’m NOT consuming Israeli propaganda.  I think what they are doing is disgusting and we must all speak out against it, and hold our elected officials accountable for aiding and abetting this murderous rampage with our tax dollars.  We have blood on our hands.

Just yesterday, Israel bombed a hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing four people.  As of yesterday, the death toll of Palestinians had risen to over 570, and at least 3,350 wounded.  The death toll in Israel as of that same date was 27, only two of them civilians.  Now they are conducting a ground campaign, raiding West Bank towns and villages and arresting hundreds of citizens, including children.

I believe that Hamas would have never gained power in a population that was not being horrifically oppressed in the first place.  The recent cease-fire that was rejected by Hamas was not rejected because more Palestinians want to die; it was rejected because Israel refuses to lift the seven-year blockade over Gaza, which has crippled society in Gaza, and resulted in immense human suffering.  

David does not usually pick a fight with Goliath.  This is a fight for survival against a death crush.  I watched a video last night of a spider quickly wrapping up a bee, which was helpless.  In a desperate attempt to save its own life, against insurmountable odds while covered in a sheath of webbing, the bee used its last bit of energy to try to sting the spider.  Did that make the bee the aggressor?  At some point, the bee knew it was hopeless, but it continued to use the last of its life force to try to survive.  Palestine doesn’t have fighter planes, or state-of-the-art war equipment, which we have generously helped fund for Israel.  Yet they are in the throes of hell and trying to survive.  All the while, Israel commences air strikes against hospitals, homes, and other places that are decidedly not terrorist targets.  Theirs is a campaign of terror against an entire people, with the intent to wipe them off the face of the earth.

In reading Michael Riordan’s aforementioned book, I heard the voices of Israelis who have seen the truth, who have witnessed the ongoing injustices committed by their own government.  They are appalled and horrified at these crimes against humanity.  I join them in their outrage, and I hope that others will take the time to research this situation, while keeping in mind that someone’s innocent children are being murdered here.

While I realize this conflict is long-term and complex, I cannot remain silent to the Israeli government’s horrific actions against the Palestinian people, or my own government’s complicity in this.  I hope others will join me in speaking out.  This is about more than sticking up for the underdog; it’s about the same spirit that led the world to combat Hitler’s outrageous treatment of the Jews and many others in the earlier part of the 20^th century.  Nobody with a conscience should stand for this.

Groups such as Combatants for Peace, Rabbis for Human Rights, and ICAHD (the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions) are comprised of both Israelis and Palestinians working toward justice and equality in the region.   Here are some other groups doing good work, and some ways to help:

http://www.palestinefreedom.org/
http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/features/25-ways-help-palestine-refugees
http://www.gazamom.com/2009/01/what-you-can-do-10-way-to-help-gazapalestine-2/
http://www.pchrgaza.org/about/help.html
http://interfaithpeacebuilders.org/
http://www.codepink4peace.org/
Here’s a link to sign a petition to our government to help put a stop to this madness:  http://codepink.salsalabs.com/o/424/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=7216

A cursory search of the internet will find many other resources to learn about the situation and assist the victims of the Gaza massacre.  I hope you will join me.

Mother's Day, after a week of hard thinking

Mother’s Day has been over for almost a week, but it’s still on my mind.  I’ve been thinking so much lately about the privilege of peace, and of all those mothers who live in terror and horror that I never have to even think about.

At the heart of my starting this blog was a desire to write about the privilege of peace.  I wanted to write a book about it, but that proved to be far more time consuming than the bite-sized chunks that a blog entails.

My premise is based in oppression theory.  We all have privilege that we are unaware of.  Some people get very defensive when you point out that they have privilege, and those same people get upset when folks who don’t have as much privilege as they do aren’t getting as far in life, because they don’t experience the invisible glass ceiling that others live with.

My introduction to this topic was the work of Peggy McIntosh, who wrote about white privilege.  I never considered myself a racist by any means, and it was very unsettling to entertain the concept that I was walking around with privilege just by being white.  One of her seminal works is the list of white privilege, which is a real eye-opener.  Go ahead, take a minute and read it the 50-item list of the daily effects of white privilege:

http://amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html

It never occurred to me that these things weren’t true for others until it was pointed out, because I was in the majority and my experience was the “norm.”  Thus began some research into privilege, and I found lists for male privilege, able-bodied privilege, thin privilege, class privilege, hetero privilege, you name it.  The majority of us move in and out of privilege throughout our lives in one way or another, and that comes with some responsibility.  As a white, hetero person, I feel a strong sense of obligation to be an ally and supporter of people who are LGBT or persons of color.  Because I have built-in credibility that I did nothing to earn, the least I can do is use it to do the right thing, right?

I have taught classes on oppression theory, and I could write pages and pages about this issue alone.  People who deny their unearned privilege aren’t doing the world any favors.  It just is what it is, and rather than be defensive and deny it, isn’t it better to work together to create a society where nobody feels marginalized?

Looking at this from a global view, it’s important to realize there is additional privilege that nobody is really talking about, and that is what I call the privilege of peace.  While our lives aren’t perfect, we also are living in bombed out buildings, or in non-stop terror of imminent attacks and death.  We do not have to worry that we will put our child on a school bus in the morning, and that bus will be bombed, or the school will be bombed and our child will not come home because of wide-spread terror and war.  We don’t have to worry that soldiers will bust into our home, drag off our loved ones to torture and death.  We don’t have to worry that our sons and daughters will be forced to be child soldiers, or that we will have to watch them slowly die of hunger or disease because some corrupt government or regime is withholding food or medicine for political gain.  We don’t have to wonder if our unborn child will be born with deadly deformities because of the U.S. military using chemical weapons such as white phosphorus in our neighborhoods.  We have the amazing luxury of thinking and dreaming ahead, planning concerts and events and outings without worrying about whether we will survive the day.

Yet nobody is talking about it.  We think the world is a lot bigger than it is, and let’s face it, all that misery and drama is a lot less upsetting if we pretend it isn’t happening, and maybe those other people on the “other” side of the world don’t matter quite as much as we do.  We can turn on the TV or the computer and tune it out, and be glad it isn’t us.  Well, some people can do that, but I just can’t.

I spent Mother’s Day thinking about this, because I was thinking about how being a mother, and a grandmother, changed my life completely.  I learned so much from those little people about what love really means.  This isn’t exclusive to Americans; this is a universal experience.  The mothers of those little girls kidnapped in Nigeria are enduring the kind of hell I can’t imagine.  The temptation, because it’s so horrific, is to say, “Thank God that’s not my little girl,” shudder, then try not to think about it.  But we must.  We must realize that by being able to push it out of our mind, we have privilege.  Those mothers don’t have that privilege. 

If we are really going to honor mothers on Mother’s Day, we need to remember all of the mothers.  We need to acknowledge the universal things we humans have in common, and know that people in war-torn regions love their children just as much as we do.  Then we need to commit ourselves to not being part of the cause of their pain.

Considering the fact that the U.S. far outspends the rest of the world on “defense,” (see this link: http://pgpf.org/Chart-Archive/0053_defense-comparison), and there aren’t any bombs dropping on us, it’s reasonable to assume that we are a big part of the problem.  We have the privilege of all this wealth and we are using it to make the lives of others hell, all over the world.  The figures don’t include the money we make by selling arms to despots and tyrants to use against their own people, so we are complicit in that as well.  And as long as we’re talking complicity, we are complicit if we are aware of these things and aren’t speaking out against them.

On Mother’s Day, my heart went out to mother’s everywhere who were suffering.  I reaffirmed my commitment to devote my life to ending war, whatever it takes.  I’m ashamed to be one of the oppressors, and I’m ashamed that my government has caused so much pain and suffering and death for others.  And on behalf of my country, I apologize to mothers everywhere.  I’m aware of my privilege, and I will be an ally, even if it means alienating other Americans who refuse to see their own privilege.  I will continue to speak out about the atrocities being funded by my tax dollars, and I know of many others who feel the same way I do.

The only way we are going to change things, the only way to end war, is for there to be no profit and no glory in fighting.  Pointing out this concept to people may result in you being called Un-American or unpatriotic, or other silly things, but let the name-callers say what they will because you will be speaking truth; some just can't handle it, and that's their problem.  At the heart of this is remembering that some people will have a tragic Mother's Day indeed, and live that tragedy every day, and those of us who don't have a moral obligation to try to stop that.

Thank You, Bill O'Reilly

Looking back over my life, I recall many cringe-worthy moments, mostly composed of ill-informed good intentions.  We're all on that continuum, hopefully learning and growing, but never really "arrived."  I expect plenty of cringe-worthy moments in my future as well, and I'm okay with that, as long as I learn from them, right?  So I can forgive myself for once not knowing what I know now, and for once having been a Fox News viewer. 

In 2003, many of us were watching the war on TV.  "Shock and Awe" was the phrase trumpeted repeatedly on the news, as we flew our yellow ribbons and hoped for the quick "liberation" of Iraq.  The news anchors described the bombings with more than a hint of glee.  They seemed more focused on the technological advances that enabled us to watch the war than on the war itself.   As I watched the dazzling display of pyrotechnics on my TV screen, I couldn't help but notice something missing in the reporting: the Iraqi people.  The light show I was watching was surely connected to painful explosions, death, and destruction of property and lives, yet there was little to no mention of that.  The interviews were largely with U.S. correspondents in deserted streets or motel rooms.  Nobody seemed to ask opinions of the people who actually lived there, but those bombs and missiles were hitting somebody.  I found I just couldn't watch for very long, and an ugly sad feeling was growing inside me, that some fundamental truth was being ignored.  An awareness was growing of an unearned privilege: of not living in a war zone.  I felt a little guilty.

I continued watching Bill O'Reilly's talk show, the "No-Spin Zone," which may well be the most inaccurate description of a show in the entire television industry.  I began to notice that Bill seemed to get lots of kudos for being snarky and mean-spirited.  I noticed that he liked to talk over, interrupt, and belittle his guests.  And it always seemed to be an intelligent, well-spoken guest who was simply trying to complete a statement I was interested in hearing.  I began wondering what he was so frantic to stifle.  It became annoying to hear him refer to anyone he disagreed with as a "pinhead," which seemed more in keeping with the behavior of an unschooled adolescent than a professional commentator.

It was Bill's childish behavior that led me to question his credibility.  The more fact-checking I did, the more disgusted I became with the obscene ways that Bill was spinning and distorting facts.  Bill was lying his tail off, and his cohorts were no better.  I noticed that on Fox News in general, anyone who asked questions that I would ask, such as how liberated the Iraqi people really felt, was ridiculed, yelled over, and roundly dismissed as unpatriotic.

In the course of seeking truth, I rediscovered my old love of reading.  Having always gravitated toward non-fiction, it was a short trip to find articles exposing the truth about the war.  Reading the words of returning U.S. combat veterans and ordinary Iraqi and Afghani people validated my earlier concerns.  My nation had been acting like a bully and I had been unwittingly complicit.  I had always believed strongly in justice and equality, but now I understood patriotism vs. nationalism.  Thanks to Bill O'Reilly, I now also understood news vs. commentary.  There were three t hings to do: quit watching the propaganda machine that is Fox News, keep reading and learning, and speak out against the war machine.

Had he been more likeable, perhaps a little easier to defend, I may have hung around Fox News a little longer, wanting to deny the painful truth and believe them.   So... thank you, Bill O'Reilly, for being indefensible.  Thank you for exemplifying what spin looks like.  Thank you for being rude, arrogant, spiteful, and smug.  Thank you for showing me what laziness in fact-checking looks like, because it made it easy to see the opposite in my sources later.  Thank you especially for being so blatant about it.  Your "news" broadcasts focus mostly on the ego of the broadcaster, rather than actual events, and your buffoonery makes it impossible to take you seriously.  At least it's entertaining if one feels that clowns make great newscasters.  Thank you most of all for re-awakening my love of reading and research, even if it eventually debunked your lies, and created a passionate peacemonger, which I'm sure was not your intention.  In spite of yourself, you managed to serve the higher good for this truth-seeker, and for that I am grateful.

Sincerely, a peace activist who values truth, equality, and justice, or as you would call it, a pinhead.  

Response from Senator Merkley

For anyone interested, here is the response I received today from Sen. Jeff Merkley in regard to my email about Syria:

Dear Romy,

Thank you for your earlier email to me on the violence in Syria and the possibility of U.S. military intervention. I appreciate having heard from you and I want to share with you my thoughts as the situation continues to develop.

As I wrote in my previous message to you and have said in my public comments, I have had serious reservations about the proposed military action in response to Syria's chemical weapons attack on its citizens.  I have spent hours meeting with the President, Vice President, and officials from the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence services, and those discussions have not resolved my concerns about the wisdom of the proposed plans. If the Senate votes on the resolution (S.J.Res.21) authorizing that proposed plan, I will oppose it.

I share the President's belief that the use of chemical weapons by Syria is horrific. But it demands a strong international diplomatic response incorporating an array of political and economic actions. The goal should be to deter any additional use by Syria or any other nation. The international community should hold Syria to its promise to transfer its chemical weapons stockpile to international control. While achieving this goal will be challenging, I applaud the progress the administration has made towards its goal in the last few days.

Thank you, again, for sharing your thoughts with me. I hope that you will continue to reach out to me about the issues that are most important to you.

All my best,

Jeffrey A. Merkley
United States Senator

Write your legislators!!

I recently wrote to Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley with my concerns about possible U.S. military action in Syria.  He wrote me a well-reasoned response, while still leaving room to consider military action.  To me, this is not acceptable.  As his tax-paying constituent, who has seen an overwhelming lack of support for U.S. military action, I think he needed to hear a stronger message.  Therefore, here is my reply to his email:

Good evening, Senator Merkley,
Thank you for my response to my concerns about Syria.  It sounds like you have been very diligent in exploring a very complex situation.  My views on this are less complex.  I was against military action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and everywhere else, and am now against military action in Syria.  I am not some Johnny-come-lately who is anti-war because "it was Obama's idea."  To be fair though, this is not a partisan issue; I literally have not heard a single one of my friends on either side of the aisle defend the idea of attacking Syria.  The concept of "limited strikes" leaves me with the same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as the image seared into my brain of G.W. Bush in his ill-fitting flight suit, proclaiming "Mission Accomplished."  I'm not buying it for one minute.
Our military was founded to protect our country.  It was the clear intent of the founding fathers to wisely mind our own business.  Since then, the war profiteers have convinced decision makers otherwise, much to the horror of the people in the countries we occupy.  I have yet to hear exactly what attack Syria has launched on us that we need to defend.
I currently have a young friend, an Iraqi refugee, who has traveled to Syria to support the people.  The people of Syria DO NOT want us there.  Since they are the proported victims of the attack (and there is contention about who exactly used the chemical weapons in the first place), shouldn't the victims have a say as to whether or not they will be further victimized?  The people of Syria are being used as human shields; any attack on our part will merely further the corrupt agenda of the current regime.
Why is it that force is our first option instead of our last?  What have we gained by this?  I can tell you, sir, what we have lost... we have lost our standing and reputation internationally.  We have lost generations of young men and women to combat, suicide, chronic disabilities and illness, exposure to deadly chemicals, PTSD, broken families, and ruined lives.  Sadly, the children are watching, and our society's children are being raised on war, and learning that force is the way to solve problems... gee, I wonder why we have so much violence!  We have destroyed our economy, while people are jobless and homeless in the streets.  In Tillamook, our local Salvation Army Food Bank is shutting down, another victim of the war economy reality.  Last Saturday, I spoke to a friend of mine, a middle aged woman raising grandchildren, who was in tears, because she doesn't know how she is going to survive without the food bank.  We don't have the dollars to feed Oregonians, but we have them to send missiles to strike innocent people?!  As your constituent, while I respect your research and willingness to see all sides, I am also waiting for you to condemn any military action in Syria, or anywhere.
We have sprayed chemical weapons such as white phosphorus, in violation of international law, near civilian populations such as Fallujah, causing some of the most horrific birth defects imaginable, not to mention the soaring illness rates in those areas.  We use a drone program with an 80% accuracy rate.  Would 80% be accurate enough for you if it were in your neighborhood?  We have bombed villages, killed countless innocent people, destroyed schools, hospitals, entire neighborhoods, in our bloodthirst for the "terrorists."  Then as the children's bodies are buried, we call it "collateral damage."  Can you imagine, for one moment, trying to raise children in one of the places we invade?  The horror is unthinkable.
Enough is enough!!!!  Please speak out against this newest threat by the U.S.  It is becoming increasingly obvious to the entire world who the real terrorists are.  The Syrian people don't need our kind of "intervention."  Better yet, let's provide the war dollars to the agencies who are actually reaching out and providing food and medical care.  The profiteers will be mad, but they are obscenely wealthy already.  It's not our job, and never was, to police the entire world and play God in the process.  I am in full agreement with you that the international community needs to join together to address human rights abuses in Syria; I just think for once we need to be creative and find a non-military way to do so.
I am against all war, I am against this war, and, to quote a bumper sticker, I am already against the next war.  Please join me in opposing more death and destruction. 
Thank you for your time, again, and your willingness to hear all sides of the issue.  That is why I voted for you.
Sincerely,
Romy Carver

The Empire Strikes Back (Against the Defenseless)

I remember as a kid being asked, “If you could push a button for a million dollars, but someone in China would die, would you do it?”   I had to really think about that.  There is no way I would consider actually “killing” someone, but pushing a button, and never having to see that person’s face, witness his pain, or know his story as a fellow human being might be different.  When my friends and I pondered that question, I thought about that person having a family, and a life.  What if someone could push a button and do that to me?  So if they didn’t have the right to do that to me, how could I do it, even to a stranger?  Some of my friends had different opinions, saying, “Who cares?  You’d never know the person.  Maybe they were dying anyway… besides, it’s a million dollars!” 

I didn’t have the words to articulate what I know now: that every living, breathing human deserves to live.  That pushing a button to kill someone on the other side of the world is still killing.  And that brings me to drones.

Our warmonger-owned media would love for us to adopt the thinking that some anonymous human on the other side of the world doesn’t matter.  But that is operating from the false assumption that we are not interconnected, and that killing is okay if you don’t have to watch the person die.  A tidy, sanitized death that we don’t have to witness... except we don’t get the million dollars; the warmongers do.

They would like us to believe that the people being killed are “terrorists,” because somehow the fact that they have been thus labelled justifies their murder.  But what makes a terrorist?  For the sake of the drone program, any male over 18 years of age in the strike zone is a terrorist.  So if our government deems you deserving of death via remote control, and your 18-year-old son is home at the time, he is now considered a terrorist too.  Comes in pretty handy when they are counting “civilian” deaths.  Conveniently, this 18 year old is no longer counted as a civilian.  It has nothing to do with terrorist activity, or even knowledge of terrorist activity; it’s all about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Drones have only an 80% accuracy rate.  If that doesn’t sound so bad, think about how comfortable you would be if the drone was pointed at your next door neighbor.  You are no longer a person if the drone hits your home and kills your family; you are now “collateral damage.”  Every instance of collateral damage means a funeral, means orphans, means people burying their babies, and the trauma of a community dealing with a murder.  In this case, the murderer is not being held accountable.  And for those people who allude to the sanctity of life while protesting abortion, please know that fetuses die in our unethical wars too.

We have a great deal of invisible privilege living here in the U.S., because we don’t have to live in a war zone.  Nobody deserves to wonder if they are going to be killed in a car bombing that day, to be constantly vigilant, to wonder if soldiers are going to kick down their door and drag away their father, or brother, or son to be “interrogated,” yet that is the reality in the countries we are invading and occupying.  This is what we create.  Yet somehow, we call them the terrorists.  The same people who say they don't trust the government don't seem to question the government when it deems a random person across the world as a terrorist.  That is the luxury of living in America.

More people have been upset about the drone program targeting American citizens, but I am upset about the drone program targeting anybody!  Who are we to play God?  If you want to murder someone, at least have the guts to do it to his face, not shoot a missile from the other side of the planet and take out his family and friends.  What kind of cowardice have we produced, and who are these inventors of death, who make their living finding increasingly cold-hearted ways to take the lives of others, while removing themselves conveniently from the situation?

Brandon Bryant, a former drone pilot, now suffers from PTSD.  He quit the drone program, after witnessing the death of a child as the result of a drone he fired.  And that was just a vague camera image in infrared.  He did not have to hear the screams, or see the fear and pain in the child’s face, or witness the grief of the families of the dead.  Nevertheless, the knowledge of his own role in this moral outrage has ruined his life.  As aggressors, we also pay the price of this senseless killing, and it is a blight on our social conscience.  As Howard Zinn would say, “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”  And make no mistake, these are innocent people, even the ones labelled as terrorists.  Isn’t it supposed to be “innocent until proven guilty?”  Have they been brought to trial, have they had a chance to defend themselves, or is this the New American Way… judge, jury, and executioner?  

The Obama administration admitted yesterday that four U.S. Citizens had been killed by drones, one of whom was specifically targeted.  While not excusing the one who was targeted, were the other three an accident?  Why are we doing this?  Today, the President promises to CURTAIL the drone program.  A new classified policy guidance signed by Pres. Obama will sharply curtail the instances when unmanned aircraft can be used to attack in places that are not overt war zones: countries like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.  That is not enough.  Every human being on this planet deserves to not be murdered, and a drone murder is still murder.  This must be discontinued.  This is not a video game; it’s human life.  Would it bring you comfort if you were cradling the body of your dead child to be told we had “curtailed” drone attacks?

If you agree with me that this is irresponsible and inhumane, please click on the links below, which will take you to petitions.  Feel free to add your own links if you are aware of other petitions.  As a conscientious American, I cannot defend the drone program in any form.

To ask for further scaling back of drone operations, via Codepink:

http://codepink.salsalabs.com/o/424/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7102

To ask for the suspension of the Customs and Border Protection domestic drone surveillance program:

http://epic.org/drones_petition/

A change.org petition asking for the suspension of drone strikes on suspected terrorists:

https://www.change.org/petitions/no-more-drone-strikes

Here is the link to information about the book, "Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control" by Medea Benjamin:
http://www.codepinkalert.org//article.php?id=6064

Choosing a Tribe

It all started with Howard Zinn.  A few years ago, I stumbled across a book entitled, “A Power Governments Cannot Suppress,” by a man named Howard Zinn.  The title sounded enticing, so I did something out of character and bought it without having opened it.

The book sat idle for a few weeks as I tried to find time to read it.  I discovered it was a selection of essays, making it easier to read in bits and pieces.  I started reading a chapter each night at bedtime and was quickly hooked. 

Zinn wrote with passion, and articulated concepts I had often felt swirling wordlessly around inside me; his words were a call to action.  I felt like I saw his soul, and admired his steely resolve of integrity, combined with genuine warmth and compassion.  I found myself dog-earing pages, and underlining and starring section after section of his words.  I had found a hero.

My “do-gooder” nature over the years has earned me some good-natured ribbing and the nickname of “Mrs. Justice” from my kids, but Howard Zinn understood.  His words validated my need for “do-gooding,” but also struck a deeper chord, because Zinn was a historian extraordinaire.  He gave a voice to those historically voiceless, and I realized that they are us, and all of us depend on all of us to do something.  Anything and everything makes a difference.  As Zinn illustrated in story after story, common people like you and me were the ones who changed the world, not leaders and politicians.  Not only do we have the right to be do-gooders; we have a responsibility.  I should probably mention here that I really hated history class, and skipped school at every opportunity to avoid it; now history had come alive.

About four days into my nightly Zinn-reading routine, I had a powerful and vivid dream.  I was part of an ancient and powerful nomadic tribe, living in a plains area.  Another smaller, peaceful tribe lived nearby, and I had become friends with a little boy from that tribe, about eight years old (I’m not sure of my age or gender in this dream; I guess it wasn’t relevant).  For some time, my tribe had been tormenting this other tribe, and I watched in unspeakable horror as adults from my own tribe beat this boy brutally, then drowned him in a stream, laughing raucously.  I knew in that moment that I was leaving my tribe, to live with the smaller, weaker tribe.  I also knew the decision would result in my death, but I was at peace with that; it was better than being one of the killers, and I would die standing with MY people.

I woke in tears.  I didn’t see the outcome of the dream and didn’t need to.  I had chosen my tribe.

After that night, I began standing peace vigil, and reading and learning all I could about creating peace… writings by politicians, faith leaders, former soldiers, people living in war zones, and ordinary folks like Peace Pilgrim.  I try to be mindful every day about standing on the side of peace, and not letting down my tribe. 

I’ll leave it to you to think about who my tribe is, but if you stand for peace, I will stand with you.  I know that Howard Zinn would too.

"The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable."  Arundhati Roy

Peace Out Loud

This is a post I have really been looking forward to writing ever since I started my blog, because it’s about who I really am, what I stand for, and why I decided to start a blog.

I work for a non-profit that helps violence survivors and part of our goal is to educate and raise awareness to help our community to prevent violence. In my spare time, I am a peace activist, as much as I have time to be while playing a very active role in the lives of my grandchildren. I wouldn’t have any of this any other way!

Every Friday evening, a small group of us stands peace vigil in our small, rural town… often only two of us, but that’s okay. We stand as a human reminder that yes, there’s still a war going on, several in fact, and they need to stop. We stand for the people who can’t: the troops who are sent far from their families to fight in a battle that isn’t theirs, for those who won’t come home (on all sides of the battle; the “enemy” has family too), and for those living in the war zones. There are other reasons why we stand; I’ve been doing it for a couple of years now, and my friend Linda has been standing since the very beginning of the war, shortly after 9/11. Maybe the biggest reason is the need to, literally, take a stand for peace.

When I started, a couple of years ago, I noticed that we were frequently flipped off, screamed at, etc., by passers-by. But I felt very passionate about why I stood and those people only made me stronger. Over the past several months, I have experienced a change in attitude. More people honk, and give us thumbs up and other positive feedback, than ever before, and the rude gestures and remarks are fewer and further between. I think people are beginning to get as fed up as we are.

As time went by, I decided that reading about peace and standing vigil was nowhere near enough. I started using my Facebook page to promote peace. It started with a month-long effort to post a song about peace each day; this ended up going on for several months, at which point, I switched to posting a peace/anti-war quote each day. I continue to do this daily.

I have become much more outspoken than I used to be; to be honest, I can’t NOT be outspoken about a life or death issue that impacts every human on earth. I have not shied away from posting videos and photos showing the real devastation of war that network TV doesn’t want the public to see. I have promoted sites and efforts to resist the military draft, because our young people deserve better than that.

It takes more than the bombing to stop to create peace, although that’s a start. I see peace as a very holistic thing. Peace, like violence, can occur on all levels. Individual peace leads to more peaceful interpersonal relationships. It’s hard to be hateful and angry at others when you are happy with yourself. Once you reach the point of not carrying that anger and fear and malcontent, it’s much easier to create peace on a larger level. An example is speaking out against racism, and in favor of more peaceful means of communication. Violence becomes unthinkable and abhorrent. All the things that we as humans fight about seem petty and childish. On a global level, I really do believe that peace can be achieved. But it starts within each of us to care enough to talk about it.

Peace is about so much more than peace signs and hippies and tie-dye… it’s a way of life. It’s not wishful thinking; it’s faith in action. It isn’t always easy. It means choosing non-violence, no matter how justified violence may seem. It means respecting people, even if they are being disrespectful. It means being open to new ways to handle conflict that respect the person and the situation, then teaching it to our children and to others. Finding the good in someone you are angry with is a victory, not a weakness. And it means understanding the concept of karma: that revenge is pointless, because the person who hurt you has already created bad energy and you don’t need to go and create it too. It means listening, mediating, negotiating, and putting pride aside. These are values that traditionally have not been valued in our society, but I believe that, like many things, things are starting to change. Each generation seems to inch its way a little closer. The struggle for equality and civil rights didn’t begin or end in the 60’s; it’s on a continuum, and old, intolerant beliefs continue to be challenged and dismantled. I believe this is growing, as younger generations see the futility and stupidity in the previous oppressive behaviors.

Obviously, none of us are perfect, and we all fall short, but these are my goals in my daily life. Peace is hard work. But it can be habit-forming, because it feels good to live with purpose. We do each make a difference, you know. It’s just a matter of what kind of difference we make.

Peace can be created consciously. So how do we work more effectively toward world peace? I believe the keys are education and non-judgment. That takes effort, and it means having an open mind and doing research. If I hear something inflammatory about a particular group of people, I tend to distrust it immediately. After all, are you the same as every other person of your skin color, gender, religion, etc.? Of course not, and nobody else is all the same either. Whenever I hear stereotyping, I discount it, because I don’t believe in stereotyping. The best weapon against hateful thinking is facts. When I hear something that sounds like hate propaganda, I research it and refute it with facts. Needless to say, not everyone enjoys being corrected when they are trying to justify hateful beliefs, but I think it’s important to prevent the spread of misinformation. This is especially true when hateful stereotyping has led to violence, such as the racial profiling and hate crimes against people of Middle Eastern descent after 9/11. We can do better than this.

Another way to promote peace is by talking to combat veterans, especially in these most recent wars. Hear the truth, instead of the prime-time television pablum you have been fed. Realize that our money is being used to prop up the false concept of American exceptionalism, which essentially means, “we are Americans so we are better than you.” This kind of concept does not create peace. It causes resentment, and rightfully so. We are not better, and we are all just human. I am always baffled by people who refer to themselves as Christians who ascribe to this type of thinking… I don’t think Christ (the Prince of Peace) would be pleased with this arrogance.

This is also part of the reason I refuse to pledge allegiance to the flag. While others recite the verse they are told to recite, I stand with my hand over my heart and silently pray. I pray for those innocents we have killed, I pray for the American soldiers needlessly in harm’s way, and I pray for forgiveness of our nation’s warlike ways. First of all, I have a hard time picturing Christ pledging his allegiance to ANY flag, and I do try to live my life by those principles. I believe Christ saw the big picture, and was not caught up in nationalism. I cannot in good conscious be for global peace while supporting this thinking. I support my nation and those in it, just like I support other humans, but I will not support the drone strikes, the land mines, the obscenely huge war budget, the signing of the NDAA, the invasion and occupation of other countries under false pretenses, and the boosting of despotic regimes that has been carried out under this flag with my tax dollars. It makes me ashamed.

Needless to say, some have called me unpatriotic. I’d like to differentiate between patriotism and nationalism. Nationalism doesn’t question anything; it pledges blind allegiance, on the assumption that the government will do what is right. Patriotism wants what is actually best for the people. It wants justice, and fair laws, and equal rights. Nationalism cares about being number one. Patriotism means wanting to represent your country with pride by being the kind of person your country can be proud of. Therefore, I consider myself deeply patriotic. I value ALL human lives, not just American lives… kind of like Jesus would do.

If you are anything like me this way, and are being blasted as unpatriotic, take comfort in the fact that you are in prestigious company: Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Mark Twain, many of the Founding Fathers, Howard Zinn, Albert Schweitzer, Ralph Waldo Emerson… well, you get the idea, and I’m sure you can think of many of your own. In other words, people who didn’t settle for the status quo. It’s called thinking for yourself, and that’s a good thing.

I decided a while back I really wanted to write a book about war and privilege. It occurred to me that with my busy schedule, that would be a Herculean project at best. I don’t have the time to do the research to complete it in any reasonable time period. I suddenly realized that a blog would promote peace in a meaningful way, and in doable chunks. Best of all, it can morph and change and stay caught up with current events, unlike a book. I was hooked!

As soon as I decided to write a blog, ideas started to fly into my head, except for what to call it. A couple of days later, I was standing on the corner at my Friday night vigil when the phrase “Peace Out Loud” came into my head. It was perfect! After all, for peace to be effective, it needs to be spoken about, practiced mindfully, and lived out loud.

My goal with this blog is for every post to be in some way connected to peace. It may be personal peace, it may be world peace, or anything in between. Some of it may be very political, but it’s impossible to talk about peace without talking about such realities. Peace isn’t some lofty ideal to me, it’s a practical matter, which requires practical discussion about both the spiritual and the worldly.

At the end of the day, I always come back to myself and examine how I have behaved. Some days I get an “A,” and some days an “F.” We’re all a work in progress. Like a novice gardener, I’m starting with a small plot and dreaming big. Why not? I may be dreaming big and starting small, but I’m starting, and I’m learning, and that’s what counts. I’ll never be Gandhi, but it doesn’t matter. We only get a few decades on this planet to do what needs to be done, and my intention is to grow and learn while I’m here, and leave it nicer than when I came.

I am humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas. A big thank you to everyone who reads my blog, and I always welcome your feedback, thoughts, ideas, and dreams. Thank you for coming to visit, and I wish you peace!

Book Review - a must read

I just finished an incredibly important book, and hope others will read it.  The book is called, “The Invisible Wounds of War: Coming Home from Iraq and Afghanistan” by Marguerite Guzman Bouvard.  I figured it would be interesting stories about returning veterans, but it was so much more than that.  It was really a call to action for all of us.  

Military spouses and family members, and the vets themselves, will feel validated and heard as their see their lives reflected in the pages of this book.  And it’s a story that needs to be told. 

The first chapter gives a detailed explanation of the timeline, and many of the intricate politics involved, in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  While this is important information, I have to admit I skimmed it and will need to reread it later, because I was anxious to get to the stories of the vets themselves.

One of the many factors in the high rate of veteran suicides (18 per day) is the understandable reluctance of vets to ask for help.  Military culture discourages vets from seeking the help they need, not only by characterizing those who ask for help as “weak” or “failures,” but also by penalizing those who come forward with denial of promotions, even in some cases dishonorable discharge.  Over and over the author heard fear of reprisal from vets who desperately needed life-saving help.  When they finally did ask for help, they were shrugged off, put on long waiting lists, or just handed sleeping pills.  We as a society have a responsibility to challenge the mindset that stigmatizes PTSD, or face even more suicides. 

The book is also a reminder that we have a war going on right now, which many people have managed to tune out.  Military personnel are only 1% of the population (yet 20% of suicides), and they tend to be ignored by the media.  This is seen as a huge betrayal by military families, who are resentful that deaths rarely merit more than a mention on the ticker at the bottom of the TV news.  They are also sick to death of hearing how their loved one “volunteered,” as if that somehow invalidates the suffering and the need for treatment of PTSD, traumatic brain injury, hearing damage from IED’s, etc.  

Prepare to be outraged at the lack of services and support for these people who stepped up to serve their country.  Prepare to be horrified and saddened by their stories, their poetry, and their pain.  Prepare to be deeply touched by the determination of their families to advocate for their loved ones and for all vets.  Most of all, prepare to feel a deep sense of compassion, and a responsibility and commitment to spread the word about these injustices.  The book is filled with resources, and the names and information about many programs which are working innovatively to help our vets.

Every young person who is even remotely considering a military career should read this book, especially young women.  It should be required reading for high school students to help counteract the lies told by recruiters.  They deserve to know what they are really getting into.

Tomorrow I’m reluctantly returning this book to the library, but its words will echo in my mind for a long, long time.  I plan to buy the book, and reference it frequently.  Most of us really want to support vets; this book shows how.  It claims to be neither anti-war nor pro-war, but any logical person with an open mind could not be pro-war after reading it.

This song kept running through my mind as I read:

"Hero of War" by Rise Against

On Civil War

There is a war taking place today in Oregon. Sides have been chosen, and changing sides is tantamount to treason. Uniforms have been donned, and participants have geared up for battle. And like other recent wars, many will watch this war from the comfort of home on a TV set, far removed, and numbingly remote, from the reality.
This “war” is a college football game here in Oregon, between two rivals, called a “civil war.” I hate the term “civil war” when it is used to describe something as trivial as a college football game. It trivializes the true horrors of war itself. To anyone who has actually been in combat, or lived in a war zone, it’s no game. There’s no buzzer sounding the end of “play.” I admit that “civil war” sounds catchy, but there has got to be a better term than this. It’s insensitive and socially irresponsible.

Frankly, we continually trivialize war in our culture. We declare war on drugs, crime, poverty, and homelessness, but it hasn’t gotten us far. It seems when we “declare war,” there’s an implication that the “experts” (soldiers) are in charge, leaving us to cheer them on. There is no sense of societal responsibility. Compare the concept of “declaring war on poverty,” to “working together to end poverty,” or even “to eradicate” or “to dismantle” poverty. We don’t change norms or better society in any way by “declaring war” on anything. All that does is declare that it’s bad, not proactively work together to fix it.

As George Carlin accurately observed, “we are a warlike people.” Some tribal societies that we smugly refer to as “primitive,” are far more peaceful than we. Even the games their children play are based more on cooperation than competition because they understand that working together ensures their survival. In our society, we not only win, we “beat” the other person or team, we “kick ass.” We crush, kill, annihilate, destroy, and defeat the other team. I bet you can come up with at least a half dozen violent verbs of your own. That mindset of might seems to permeate our foreign policy as well.  As a result, other than a few isolated terror incidents, we are the aggressors. We spend more on weapons of death than all other countries combined, and attack other nations with impunity. We also have tens of thousands of handgun related deaths annually in our country, as compared to a few dozen at the most in other countries. It’s not the guns that are the problem; it’s us.

It’s easy to trivialize something that isn’t in our faces on a daily basis. Right now we are at war in the Middle East. For the majority of Americans, it’s entirely possible to tune out this fact, other than brief (and slanted) updates on the evening news. After all, our houses are not being bombed; our loved ones are not being killed with drones, and generally we can send our children to school in the morning with a reasonable expectation that they will not be killed in a school bus bombing that day. Our houses are not being razed, and loved ones not being dragged out in the middle of the night and detained. Nope, that’s all happening somewhere else. That makes it very easy to see war as something much smaller than it is, even as we fund the carnage with our tax dollars.

As for the Civil War, after which these college rivalry games are often named, there is no history book or movie that can adequately describe its horrors. Men died at the end of bayonets held by their own brothers. It is arguably the most shameful, grisly, horrific period of U.S. history, along with the slave trade which characterized that era. A disproportionate number of those fighting and dying were poor, many of them newly freed slaves. Referring to any game as a “civil war” glorifies this national tragedy, while trivializing its lasting impact. War is not a game, and a game is not war.

It’s a slap in the face to our veterans, to survivors of war crimes, and to those who have been killed, maimed, displaced, raped, orphaned, or trafficked because of war. I’ve studied this topic extensively, enough to be ashamed at the minimization of the suffering by the mainstream media. If everyone saw the pictures, and read the stories of the magnitude of the human suffering caused by our need to dominate, we would not be calling anything war that isn’t war.  And don't even get me started on video games that glorify war, and desensitize kids to violence.

I realize that some will read this with rolling eyes. This may be seen as some liberal, overly sensitive, overly PC, whining rant. If that is your perception, I would like to remind you that where the REAL war is happening, there aren’t party snacks and tailgate parties, no “after-game” celebrations. Just the groans and screams of the wounded and the grieving, and the silence of death.

War is Not a Game by Bill Durston