Rubénerd :)

We’ve come so far in some ways, but tragically not so in others. I guess I’m just a little disillusioned at all the squandered potential.

Whooptie do.

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40 years ago today John Lennon and Yoko Ono asked the world to give peace a chance, and here we are in 2009 and not a damn thing has changed. If people of my generation play our cards right many of us will still be alive in the [20]60s… and I’ll bet we’ll still be at war over something.

In the hippy spirit of my groovy late mum Debra Schade and John Lennon, both of whom were taken away from us far too soon, peace out.

Well okay it means I reached 1960+ blog posts, but the point stands: Peace, health, happiness and all that stuff! This is for you Mumster :).

More disturbing news is appearing regarding Israeli treatment of Palestinians. I don’t know why I find it more abhorrent, but I feel much sadder when I know it’s children being abused.

From the Dissident Voice by Jonathan Cook:

Nazareth — The rights of Palestinian children are routinely violated by Israel’s security forces, according to a new report that says beatings and torture are common. In addition, hundreds of Palestinian minors are prosecuted by Israel each year without a proper trial and are denied family visits.

The findings by Defense for Children International (DCI) come in the wake of revelations from Israeli soldiers and senior commanders that it is “normal procedure” in the West Bank to terrorise Palestinian civilians, including children.

I’m aware there are Palestinian extremists who routinely sent rockets into Israel that harm and kill innocent civilians, and I am also aware that Israel has the right to defend itself. That said, they’re not doing their cause or standing any good by being just as morally objectionable and lowering themselves to the same level as their enemies.

I’ve said this on Twitter before: this far-right wing government in Israel is scary. Which is a shame because Israel is one of the places I’d like to visit one day.

According to the website, Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books).

Doing my bit by passing it on. Won’t make a lick of difference, but we bloggers like to pretend our words do right? :-)

Dear friends,

President Obama just made a remarkable speech in Egypt, committing personally to building peace in the Middle East. Unexpectedly, his first move is to directly challenge the new far right-wing government of America’s ally Israel — pressing them to stop their self-destructive policy of settlements (illegal colonies set up on territory recognised by the US and the world as Palestinian).

This is a moment of rare crisis and opportunity. Obama’s bold strategy is facing powerful opposition, so he’s going to need help around the world in the coming days and weeks to strengthen his resolve. Let’s start right now — by raising a massive global chorus behind Obama’s statement that the settlements in occupied territory must stop.

We’ll advertise the number of signatures in key newspapers in Israel, as well as in Washington DC (where some are trying to undermine Obama in the US Congress). Read Obama’s words now and add your signature to them at the link below, then forward this email to friends and family so they can do the same:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_stop_settlements

There is broad agreement that the settlements are a significant barrier to peace, a view also shared by a silent majority of the Israeli public. Combined with a network of roadblocks and barriers, these colonies now blanket the West Bank, seizing territory and forcing Palestinians to live effectively as prisoners in smaller and smaller pockets (see map at right).

Until this problem is tackled, it seems impossible to build a viable Palestinian state or any kind of lasting peace. For Arab states deciding what more they themselves can do for peace, stopping the settlements has become a crucial test of Israel’s seriousness.

We’ll need to urge the other parties to take bold steps too. If we can help Obama to stay the course on settlements, shift Israeli policy and encourage the Palestinians and key Arab states also to stretch out their hands, a new beginning for the Middle East is possible.

But none of this will happen without a growing global movement of citizens taking action to support it. Read Obama’s words, add your signature and spread the word today:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_stop_settlements

With hope and determination,

Paul, Raluca, Ricken, Brett, Paula, Graziela, Rajeev, Iain, Taren, Milena, Luis, Alice and the whole Avaaz team

Tweet from marywallace from Schizo America, one of the nicest people I follow on Twitter:

Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” — Robert A. Heinlein

Truer words were never spoken… except maybe the Golden Rule and the obligatory "Ruben isn’t Bill Kurtis" ^_^.

If only more people on the internet had profile pages on their blogs like this:

I am an early adopter, a mom, a writer, a video producer, an avid reader, self taught on a lot of software, a progressive, and I’m worried that my country seems to forget its noble aspirations and its humanity.

I see social justice issues, problems of poverty and inequality and prejudice, and I imagine new solutions, ideas quilted from what I’ve read and heard and seen. I use "found media", clippings from old paradigm forms of communication (magazines, newspapers, shopping catalogs) and new paradigm methods of communication (internet blogs, online news articles, twitters/plurks).

I think the internet, with its ability to connect people irrespective of borders, is our great hope for a world of mutual consideration and peace.

ASIDE: I’ve been letting unfinished blog posts build up again to unmanageable levels, so this afternoon while I’m waiting for the next batch of Rubenerd Shows to upload to the Internet Archive, I figured I’d get through some of them. The timestamp on this post is dated 17th of January 2009.

With all the recent talk and news surrounding the conflict (to put it mildly) between Hamas in Gaza and Israel, I thought I’d share a somewhat related story of my own that occurred back in 2006.

I had been in Adelaide for over a year and had made it a habit of visiting this one particular restaurant for takeaway that made the best Lebanese food I’d ever tasted. Come to think of it I hadn’t really had Lebanese before so I didn’t have a basis for comparison, but even after I had moved with my family to Malaysia and I had more opportunities to sample Lebanese food, my opinion didn’t change. These guys were good! Chicken yiros/kebabs made fresh in front of me with plenty of veggies and sauce… my mouth is watering thinking about it!

As a consequence of going there so often I became friends with the owners and their son. It’s such a good feeling to be able to travel to a place and have a chat while they make me "the usual"! They were extraordinarily friendly folks.

I guess you can see where this is going. In late 2006 the tensions (again putting it lightly) between Lebanon and Israel began to flare up and soon war was happening. While Australia is such a multicultural and diverse country with people from all over the planet, there were unfortunately more than a few thugs who took it upon themselves to ransack Lebanese restaurants and the homes of Lebanese families by breaking windows, spray painting Israeli and Jewish symbols on their walls etc. To be fair I suspect Hebrew communities suffered from opposing groups as well.

My friends’ restaurant fortunately escaped the carnage but they were understandably worried. As I walked in one afternoon they were watching the TV news mounted on the wall and shaking their heads.

I asked them if they had any relatives in Lebanon and whether they were okay. The dad (bothering me that I can’t remember his name) said that I was the first to ask them. Fortunately their family was safe.

It struck me how divisive and scary such a conflict can be, even if it’s thousand of kilometres away. This poor family were being accused of being "terrorists" and "supporting enemies of Israel", when they had not done a damn thing.

I think at times we can all be guilty of painting entire groups of people with one brush due to the actions of political, military, business, religious or spiritual leaders, and it’s just wrong. Unfortunately I admit I’ve been guilty of this this myself in the past.

I also think it’s important to remember that while we’re told that such conflicts are between Israel and Lebanon, or Israel and the Palestinians, or Georgia and Russia (and that’s only a tiny range from just the last few years), they’re just worthless, hollow labels. What these conflicts involve are human beings, with families, friends, loved ones and dependants. You can get as politically or religiously heated as you want, but it still doesn’t change this fact.

I haven’t been back to that Lebanese restaurant in North Adelaide for a while now, but I’m looking forward to going back there when I return to Adelaide to study.

Beautiful graphic by User:AnonMoos at the Wikimedia Commons.