Berlin - A declaration criticizing Israeli territorial policies is roiling the German Jewish community and raising questions about the limits of open debate on matters in relation to the Middle East.
At issue is a declaration published in January in one of the country’s most widely read Jewish newspapers, Die Jüdische Zeitung (The Jewish Newspaper). The statement, titled “Berlin Declaration Shalom 5767” — a reference to the current year in the Jewish calendar — and organized by a member of the presiding committee of the Central Council of German Jews, Rolf Verleger, called on Germany’s government to do more to press Israel to make concessions, and asserted that the “root of the problem is the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory since 1967.”
A related advertisement was placed in two of Germany’s large and influential dailies, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In addition, Die Jüdische Zeitung published an opinion essay by Kurt Goldstein, a Holocaust survivor and honorary chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee, rebutting criticisms of the declaration. “It was said that a Declaration like ‘Shalom 5767’ is grist to the mill of antisemites in the entire world,” he wrote. “However, the reality is that there is nothing more that helps the antisemites [than] what Israel did in the War in Lebanon.”
Leaders of the Central Council — which represents 105,000 German Jews, an overwhelming majority — have condemned the declaration, and the body is expected to discuss the matter later this month. The trustees of the newspaper published a statement in this month’s issue voicing their “indignation” over the publication of Goldstein’s piece.
The flap in Germany comes as similar controversies are unfolding in Australia and Britain, where a new group, Independent Jewish Voices, argues that the organized community is stifling debate over Israel.
“Independent Jewish Voices arose out of our sense of frustration that British Jewry [was] assumed to talk with one voice, and also that criticism of Israel from Jews is often targeted as antisemitic,” said Jacqueline Rose, a founding member of the group.
The group launched with an open letter and declaration posted February 5 to the Web site of the Guardian newspaper.
Among the signatories was Mike Leigh, an Academy Award-nominated director, and playwright/actor Stephen Fry.
The group’s letter put forth five principles it wanted upheld “in respect of the grave situation in the Middle East”: that human rights are universal; that Palestinians and Israelis have the right to live peaceful and secure lives; that peace and stability require a willingness to comply with international law; that there is no justification for any form of racism, and that the battle against antisemitism is undermined when opposition to Israeli government policies is automatically branded as antisemitic, as they claim it is.
It was the final point that most raised the hackles of the mainstream British Jewish community, with the implication that the Jewish establishment is somehow silencing voices of dissent.
“The whole suggestion that anti-Israeli voices are not heard is such nonsense that it really doesn’t merit a response,” said Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The British critics of Israel have inspired a similar effort in Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the new Australian group, Independent Australian Jewish Voices, launched an online campaign this week, with one organizer saying Australian Jews were “basically brainwashed” into uncritical support of Israel.
In Germany, observers on both sides of the debate said that the new English group had done a better job of generating publicity.
The British activists “were able to carry it off better,” Verleger said, adding that the paltry press coverage was inexplicable.
Gideon Joffe, president of the Berlin Jewish community, speculated in an interview with the Forward that the story had not resonated in Germany because, for historical reasons, the country had a greater level of “sensitivity regarding antisemitism,” compared with Britain or the United States.
The declaration argued that guilt and shame over the Holocaust explain why German officials have not done more to press Israel to make a deal with the Palestinians.
Verleger, who is a professor of neuropsychology at the University of Lübeck, first upset other leaders in the Jewish community last summer, with a letter to the Central Council’s presiding committee regarding the war in Lebanon. He criticized the council for having “publicly taken sides with the military measures of the Israeli government against Lebanon.” His letter triggered a flood of criticism within the community, and the council’s secretary-general, Stephan Kramer, panned Verleger’s letter as “parroting anti-Israeli and antisemitic clichés and stereotypes.”
The Conservative Jewish community in the Federal German State of Schleswig-Holstein sacked Verleger as its chairperson in late August; he remains a member of the presiding committee of the Central Council.
Fueling the controversy, the trustees of Die Jüdische Zeitung, the newspaper in which the declaration and Goldstein’s opinion piece appeared, issued their own statement criticizing the publication’s publishing decisions, asking, “Does this newspaper want to go about as the mouthpiece for anti-Israeli propaganda?”
Lutz Lorenz, an editor of the newspaper, told the Forward that in the upcoming March issue of Die Jüdische Zeitung, the following statement would appear: “The Board of Trustees of the Jewish Newspaper voiced unanimously once again in a routine session of the Board in February 2007 the indignation about the publication of the article ‘A Nation Like Every Other’ by Kurt Goldstein in the January issue of the newspaper.”
Joffe also criticized Goldstein’s article. He said, “It is a pity that such a one-sided declaration comes from Jews” and “that a Jew, who survived Auschwitz, signed the declaration.”
In an interview with the Forward, Henryk M. Broder, a best-selling author and an online journalist for the magazine Der Spiegel, said that the organizers of the declaration are “self-promoting idiots” and “megalomaniacs.”
Kramer told the Forward that the body plans to discuss the declaration this month. Though Kramer disagrees with the statement, he said: “We must have this discussion within the Jewish community, and the discussion must be open and honest. It is overdue.”
It is not “good,” he added, “that individuals carry out the discussion in the non-Jewish public arena before it is discussed within the Jewish community.”
JTA contributed to this report from London.
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Thanks for your article. I am organizing a similar effort in the US. we seem to be arising to address an improtant need. I am glad to hear about this. Diane Perlman A Respectful Open Letter to President Bush, Prime Minister Olmert, the US Congress, AIPAC, and Others on the Dangers of War with Iran From JAIPAC: Jewish Analysts Investigating Peace and Conflict THE NEW PRO ISRAEL: MUTUALLY ASSURED SURVIVAL We are writing to you out of our deep concern about catastrophic consequences that would result from an attack on Iran. We are Jewish professionals devoted to developing strategies for reducing tension, preventing violence, and transforming conflict. We work in the areas of political science, international relations, conflict analysis and resolution, psychology, history, Middle East studies, and other relevant fields, and are engaged in observation, research and practice in relevant bodies of knowledge. Many of us have family, friends, and colleagues in Israel. We are all committed to the survival and security of Israel and the elimination of anti-Semitism around the world. Most of us accurately predicted the consequences of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and warned politicians and the public about predictable, preventable unintended consequences. We are unanimous now in predicting the dangers for Jews, Israel, the U.S., and efforts to reduce global terrorism that would be triggered by any military action against Iran. Spirals of Violence We are aware of your deep distrust of the Iranian regime and of the belief that military action will make Israel more secure. Our training and experience inform us that attacking Iran puts Israel and other nations in far greater danger. Short-term thinking, using violence to physically eliminate threats, fails to correct underlying causes of conflict, including unsatisfied human needs and desires for recognition. It creates deeper, wider, more enduring problems that are more difficult to resolve. Fortunately, there exist more mature strategies capable of producing enduring security. Desires for a success after a failure and memories of past victories can lead to overconfidence about the potential for success and denial of the potential for catastrophe. Decisive actions of the past, such as the destruction of Iraq's Osirak reactor in 1981, are not replicable in today's world, and have no chance of making Israel safer. Globalization, media, technology, lethality, non-state actors, environmental risks, and high civilian death tolls, have completely changed the nature of warfare. In the recent Lebanon war, as the Iraq war, the "quick fix" of military action left everyone traumatized, more vulnerable and resentful. Unintentionally, such tactics too often serve to: * escalate instability and cycles of violence * increase the popularity of those attacked * undermine popular movements for peace, democracy, and acceptance of Israel in the Muslim world * increase incentives for nuclear weapons development * increase trauma, fear, humiliation, despair, and rage * provoke desires for revenge, and the motivation and rationales for increased recruitment and terrorist actions * alienate Israel from its neighbors and make it more dependent upon the U.S. * cause irreversible environmental catastrophe and health crises from radiation and oil fires * desensitize people to the taking of human life on all sides Most experts predict that an assault on Iran would produce immediate retaliation against U.S. and British troops in the region, attacks on shipping in the Straits of Hormuz, sharp increases in the worldwide prices of oil and gas, and an explosion of violence against Israel, Jews, and United States interests around the globe. Israel could be subject to missile attacks by Iran or Hezbollah, and the war could become regional, spiraling out of control. The continuing toll of innocent life will play into extremists' hands, creating another generation of anti-American, anti-Israel terrorists, motivating attacks here and abroad. If either Israel or the US is reckless enough to use tactical nuclear weapons (bunker busters) in the planned attack, Israel's might pay a terrible price. If the US does so, it is likely to provoke worldwide outrage and attacks against the US, impeachment proceedings against the President, and charges brought in the Hague against the President for war crimes. Fear Based Decision-making Still, some believe that the only way to prevent a nuclear Iran is to attack now, and that not to do so would be more dangerous. As Otto von Bismarck said, however, “Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.” Acting out of fear, we make unintelligent decisions that backfire and play into the hands of extremists. Many politicians assume they must “leave the military option on the table.” Threatening war to prevent war is likely to provoke war. Actions taken out of existential fear, “in self defense” trigger existential fear in those threatened, creating a self-fulfilling paranoia. Actors are most dangerous when afraid and most violent when attacked, humiliated, and despairing. Paradoxically, the way to be more secure is to make your enemy more secure. We have such strategies for accomplishing this in our tool kits. Exaggerated Enemy Images People are motivated to make war by enemy images that are exaggerated, simplified, one-sided and distorted in predictable ways. Notwithstanding President Ahmadinejad's provocative statements about Israel and the Holocaust, he is portrayed as far more dangerous than he actually is. He has offended many Iranians, suffered a significant defeat in the last election, and may well be removed from office -- unless, of course, we unite his people behind him by attacking their homeland. Few Americans realize that one million Iranians held a candlelight vigil in Teheran in support of the United States on September 12, 2001. Iran's leaders subsequently helped us by providing intelligence about Al Qaeda, and in 2003, they approached the U.S. with an offer to improve relations, recognize Israel and the two-state solution, to demilitarize Hezbollah, and to discourage violence against Israel. The offer was ignored. Still, Ahmadinejad offered peace talks with the US, and Iran's deputy Oil Minister, Iran's OPEC representative, offered one billion barrels of oil after Katrina. The US administration's consistently negative responses have been perceived as demonization, humiliation, and refusal, and thus have been counterproductive. Paradigm Shift What possibilities exist for resolving this conflict? According to old thinking we have three limiting options; 1- coercive diplomacy (an oxymoron) - control by threats, ultimata, sanctions, carrots and sticks, which can be humiliating, provocative, and likely (or intended) to backfire, 2 - negotiation and diplomacy- which are considered impossible with a dehumanized enemy, or 3 - military action, considered a last resort, unleashes catastrophic consequences. In this paradigm, beliefs, premises and assumptions often drive parties towards violence. Fortunately, there is another category of responses, which is just now becoming known outside of academia. It is based on a different set of premises, which have been tested extensively through research and practice. Rather than focusing on controlling symptoms and behavior, the new paradigm employs techniques that address root causes, underlying vital needs and fears, and transforms the nature of the relationship to create a new reality. The old coercive paradigm, in efforts to eliminate enemies, in fact creates more. The new paradigm is designed to eliminate enmity. These methods may seem counterintuitive, or impossible, but they have been demonstrated to offer a way out of cycles of violence. Some Principles for Reversing Cycles of Violence Psychological Intelligence for Intended Consequences - Violence escalates through “natural” automatic processes. Political and military blunders occur when actors are gripped by emotions, fear, anger, and indignation. People feel compelled respond with violence, as though it was an absolute requirement. Such reactions unleash unintended consequences that are predictable and preventable. Spirals of violence can be reversed by applying effort, intelligence, maturity, a long-term view, and conscious intention to create a best-case scenario. Reducing violence is much more challenging. The Law of Opposites - It is obvious that many of our policies have the effect opposite of that intended, like escalating violence, hatred, recruitment, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. Carl Jung observed that an extreme one-sided position creates and provokes its opposite. By avoiding one-sidedness, taking on the perspective of the Other, one can transcend destructive tendencies and arrive at more creative solutions. Terror Reduction - Terrorism cannot be “defeated.” In the years of the “war on terrorism,” with all the money and human effort poured into counterterrorism, incidents of terrorism have multiplied six fold. Focusing on the symptom to eliminate “bad guys” is an irrational, failing policy that most people seem to believe in. The good news, however is that terrorism can be drastically reduced by reducing the desire of actors to take revenge on us. If we understand the knowable forces that drive extremism we can mitigate them by reducing tension, addressing and correcting root causes, vital human needs, just grievances, and other strategies that have been demonstrated to be effective. It is far less expensive and more effective to address the “demand side” of terrorism than “the supply side.” Learning from History and Experience - Gripped by emotions, actors do not rely on higher level intellectual functions, including learning from the history of previous wars, insurgencies, and occupations. We can also learn from historical examples of successful nonviolent strategies, such as those documented in A Force More Powerful, and other places. Policies fail because history is ignored. For example, there is a body of literature on the ineffectiveness of sanctions, yet politicians continue to employ destructive policies. Radical Empathy and The Mirror Image of the Enemy In a conflict, each side claims the same positive things about themselves, and the same negative things about the Other. According to “the mirror image of the enemy,” each side sees themselves as noble, just and true, and sees the Other as innately hostile, evil and aggressive. We explain our own behavior as being caused by their actions. We explain our enemies' behavior as due to the inherent genetic factors. They are dangerous because of who they are. We don't want to fight, but we have to because they are so evil and dangerous, that the only way we can protect ourselves is to kill them first. Radical empathy (not sympathy) requires trying to understand them by mentally putting ourselves in their position, including their history, culture, and past trauma, and designing strategies in ways that can reduce enmity. Tension reduction is a basic organizing principle. Threats, hostile rhetoric, coercion, humiliation, and violence increase tension, while recognition, communication, security assurances, unilateral moves to avoid violence reduce tension. Tension reduction reduces volatility in the system and allows for healthier interactions and more creative strategies. Rhetoric and behavior that increase tension increase volatility in the system and potential for violence. Political Heisenberg Principle - Our behavior creates relationship dynamics that affect those engaged with us. We cannot judge our adversary's behavior independently from our effect on them. With asymmetrical power, the dominant party is in a position to change the dynamics for better or worse. When parties lose perspective, trained facilitators can be helpful. If we view adversaries as inherently, unchangeably evil (which is how they may also see us) and if we treat them with threats, rejection, and humiliation, we can provoke violence in a self-fulfilling prophecy. In contrast, when we give assurances of security, recognition, and satisfaction of vital human needs, we reduce fear and make it safe for others to be less violent. We have seen evidence of Iranians' desire to improve our relationship. As the more powerful partner, we have the ability to transform our relationship. Need Theory - People would prefer to get their vital human needs, including identity, dignity, and sovereignty, met by using decent means. When these means are ignored or refused, or worse met with rejection and humiliation, people tend to resort to more devious means. Once hostile processes develop, it is felt that meeting vital human needs at this point would be rewarding violence. This creates a “double-bind,” meaning damned if you do and damned if you don't, a lose-lose situation. Parties can get locked in a power struggle, which makes conflicts seem intractable. Trained facilitators can be helpful in such situations. Axis of Possibility - Conflicts are usually framed in terms of right/wrong, us/them, right/left, good/evil. Each party in the conflict gets to be right and good, but conflicts will be virtually impossible to solve and violence may seem justified. It is more productive to frame language, behavior, policies and strategies in terms of whether they will increase or decrease fear, tension, violence, pain and suffering, or whether it can produce possibilities for healing and enduring security. Second Order Change and Conflict Transformation - In general systems theory, first order change techniques are superficial, attempting to change the symptoms, or make changes within a system. Second order change involves changing the nature of the relationship system itself. Conflict transformation, as opposed to conflict management or conflict resolution, involves creating new realities. 21st Century Security - The nature of warfare has changed so dramatically, that war has become obsolete, although we don't realize it yet. To paraphrase Einstein, n 9/11 has changed everything except the way we think. When recent wars fail, some, feeling the need for victory, war planners may feel a need to escalate until they win. Even if a victory could be achieved, it would be destabilizing and quickly lead to asymmetrical responses, including terrorism. Winning has lost its meaning. There is no endgame to war and nuclear proliferation, and we are threatened by increasing lethality. We need to shift to a survivable paradigm, and we have the tools to replace war with nonviolent strategies. Mutually Assured Survival - Effective measures aimed at satisfying the Iranian people's needs for identity, dignity, security, autonomy, and development will remove the fundamental causes of Iranian hostility toward Israel and the West and can initiate a new era of peaceful cooperation. Either everybody wins or everybody loses. Win-win strategies replace zero sum approaches. Some Conflict Transformation Strategies What are some measures we can use now to avert a catastrophe? Many can be imagined, but they may include the following: * The US, as the most powerful actor, is in the best position to create an atmosphere for success by taking the initiative to reduce tension quickly by offering security assurances that we will not attack and initiating a series of de-escalatory, confidence-building measures designed to create an atmosphere conducive to further dialogue. * The US can dramatically reduce tension by recalling the carrier groups recently dispatched to the Persian Gulf. To reciprocate, Iran can redeploy its missiles and weapons now positioned to threaten warships and shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This would initiate a cycle of reciprocated de-escalation. * Influential members of the U.S. and Iranian communities enter into confidential "track two" dialogues, assisted by nonpartisan facilitators to define the major underlying issues alienating our nations and to envision methods of solving those problems. This is neither a threatening "negotiation from strength," which inflames deep-rooted conflicts, nor a naive idealistic "let's be friends" procedure. This type of process has helped resolve or prevent violent conflicts in dozens of locales since 1960, including Northern Ireland, South Africa, Macedonia, Mozambique, Indonesia, Peru, etc. * Citizens of both nations can work to transform U.S.-Iranian relations and to reconcile two nations alienated by recent and historical wounds. We can establish people-to-people and group-to-group connections between American and Iranian citizen and institutions, and can use popular media to show peacemaking images, such as the million Iranian 9/12/01 vigil. * Concerned states can convene a series of regional conferences to discuss outstanding current issues affecting the relations between Persian Gulf/Middle East nations and the industrialized nations. The nations of the region may decide to form a multi-state association, like the European Union, to represent their collective interests. Conferences can explore the guarantee of local ownership and control of regional oil resources while recognizing the industrialized states' need for access to oil on reasonable terms, the recognition of the State of Israel and normalization of relations, and the issue of nuclear proliferation in a regional context. * Academics of concerned nations can convene a series of conferences involving American, European, Israeli, Arab and Persian scholars to discuss historical issues affecting the relations between the nations of the region. Conferences might deal with the effects of colonization on the region; the historicity and effects of the European Holocaust; and measures needed to heal the wounds caused by the historic clash between Palestinian nationalism and Zionism. Once the war trend is reversed, there will be many opportunities to restore strained or severed relations. Traditional inter-state negotiation is better than war -- but to make peace between seriously estranged nations, more imaginative and transformative processes are needed. The technology of peacemaking exists. It is up to us to employ it. The New Pro Israel: Mutually Assured Survival “For more than half a century, AIPAC has worked to help make Israel more secure by ensuring that American support remains strong.” (AIPAC website.) In light of 21st century warfare and new security realities, we must rethink the deepest meaning of “unwavering support” for Israel. Collaboration between the US and Israel against Iran, encouraging, enabling, and even using Israel to engage in military ventures is the greatest existential threat to Israel - physically, morally and spiritually. War is no longer a “last resort.” It is an unnecessary resort, and in today's world it is the “worst resort.” It would invite retaliation, increase global anti-Semitism and threaten American security. Israel and the US would be the world's pariah states, living in infamy. As Americans, Jews, and conflict analysts, we are appealing to you to think through the catastrophic consequences and consider the potential for effective strategies to dramatically improve Israel's short and long-term security, role, and image in the region and the world. Surely we can draw upon our collective intelligence, resources, and tradition of social justice to turn this around. The “New Pro Israel” requires helping Israel find ways to live cooperatively and productively within a Middle East Community. It can only be based on a policy of Mutually Assured Survival, which is in everyone's best interest. This approach reflects our Jewish prophetic moral vision. We would be happy to dialogue with members of AIPAC, policy advisors, or others interested in further exploring the application of principles of this paradigm to the current conflicts than endanger Israel, the US and other countries. We offer our knowledge, insights, and experience regarding more effective strategies that can help produce conditions that will reduce tension, prevent violence, and create a new reality so that Israel can live in peace, stability and prosperous cooperation with its neighbors. ******* JAIPAC - Jewish Analysts Investigating Peace and Conflict Diane Perlman, PhD. The Paragon Institute for Enduring Security, Executive Director, Co-Chair, Working group on Global Violence and Security, Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, & Violence, Division 48 of the American Psychological Association TRANSCEND Richard E. Rubenstein, Professor of Conflict Resolution and Public Affairs, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, TRANSCEND Morton Deutsch, PhD E.L.Thorndike Professor Emeritus and Director Emeritus,International Center of Cooperation and Conflict Resolution,Teachers College,Columbia University. Professor Ian Lustick, PhD, Chair, Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, Author, Trapped in the War on Terror, Associate Director, Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict Rona M. Fields, Ph.D. Author, journalist, President, DC Psychological Association (former) Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Cyber-Security Policy, George Washington University Jessica Benjamin, PhD, Author, psychoanalyst, Co-Founder, Psychotherapists for Social Responsibility Alan E. Gross, Ph.D. social psychologist, mediator, conflict resolution trainer James M. Statman, Ph.D. Political psychologist, international development and conflict mitigation practitioner Paul Kimmel, PhD, Past President, Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, & Violence, Division 48 of the American Psychological Association Professor Andrew Samuels, University of Essex, England; Psychoanalyst; Political Consultant Co-Founder, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and Independent Jewish Voices in the UK Louis Kriesberg, Professor Emeritus of Social Conflict Studies, Syracuse University Professor Barbara J. Wien, Editor, Peace and World Order Studies: A Curriculum Guide, Former Program Officer, The U.S. Institute of Peace, Professor, The Catholic University of America, Peace Studies Program, Co-Director, Peace Brigades International-USA Neil Wollman; Ph. D.; Senior Fellow, Peace Studies Institute; Professor of Psychology; Manchester College Ethel Tobach, PhD, Past President, Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, & Violence, Division 48 of the American Psychological Association Marc Howard Ross, PhD, Department of Political Science, Bryn Mawr College Simona Sharoni,PhD, conflict transformation and gender studies, St.Martin's University Julie Oxenberg, Ph.D., clinical psychologist; Director, Tikkun Institute; co-founder, Psychology of Peace program, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology Milton Schwebel, PhD, Emeritus Dean, Graduate School of Education Emeritus Professor, Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology Rutgers University, Past President, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Former Editor, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology Robert A. Rubinstein, Ph.D., Ms.P.H. Professor of Anthropology and International Relations The Maxwell School of Syracuse University Dr. Joyce Neu Executive Director, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice, University of San Diego, <a href="http://peace.sandiego.edu">http://peace.sandiego.edu</a>, 2006-7 Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow U.S. Institute of Peace Press Release Contact Diane Perlman, 202 775 0777 ninedots@aol.com posted on <a href="www.consciouspolitics.org">www.consciouspolitics.org</a> and <a href="http://progressivegovernment.org/page.php?name=JAIPAC1">http://progressivegovernment.org/page.php?name=JAIPAC1</a> A group of Jewish professionals, working in fields associated with conflict studies and related social sciences, have written a warning and an appeal to those who believe that military action against Iran is necessary for the security of Israel and the US. Observing hostile rhetoric, escalating tensions and provocative actions, they fear momentum is building towards war. Moreover, they fear that military action taken for Israel's security would unleash a cascade of catastrophic consequences that would greatly endanger Israel, the US and escalate anti-Semitism and global terrorism. In addition to this, they offer insights from their collective professional experience regarding underlying principles for a tension reducing paradigm, and practical strategies for reducing enmity, violence, terrorism, and transforming conflict. They are post partisan, and their approach is not hostile or confrontational. They reframe the new meaning of "unwavering support for Israel" as the "New Pro Israel," in light of the realities of our 21st century, post 9/11 security realities. They introduce a policy of Mutually Assured Survival as necessary reverse cycles of violence to secure Israel, the US and other nations from escalating threats.
The reactions of those like Joffe, Broder, and Lorenz only prove Verleger and Goldstein to be correct. The Israel-right-or-wrong reactionaries do not want to debate the issues of Israel's criminal and immoral occupation of Palestine nor of its criminal and anti-humanitarian attack on Lebanon. In what way is salting the soil with cluster bombs a virtue in God's eye? Micah 3: 9 Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; 10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
It would appear that the world will be discussing "THE JEWISH QUESTION" again, this seems to be a recurring theme of history. Why is that? The thought control police within the jewish community is oppressive to the idea of free speech. Imagine how we would perceive this idea if it were the government of the united states saying that any discussions about how the government functions must first be discussed within the government and ought not to be allowed to be discussed in the general populace until the government.
I feel for the dissident Jews. My novel, "THE BLACK BUG - the genetic bomb" caused an organized Jewish campaign against me and my family, in Canada, turing my life upside down. And they got away with it. The novel's crime was that its heroes were Blacks, Palestinians and Arabs and a Jewish woman who was in love with a Palestinian Resistance fighter. Yes, Jews do shut down debate, casue books to be removed from libraries and stores and get away with these crimes. I wish the Independent Voices of Jews in every country success. It is only Jewish peace activists and organizations which help Palestinians, that have prevented me from reacting as would be normal, to the provocations of these horrible shouters.
Stephen Kramer asserts, “We must have this discussion within the Jewish community, and the discussion must be open and honest. It is overdue.” I could not agree more; but the first commandment in the Diaspora is, "Thou shalt not criticise Israel." Nor do Israelis appear to care what we think about them, since they discount the legitimacy of Jewish life outside the land. Israel appears to be in moral freefall. Maybe Israelis should get over their allergy to G-d and to enduring Jewish values.
JUly 16,2008 Dear Sir /Ma'am: Here are my 2 my opinion/commentary articles that I send to you for consideration to your online/print edition which concerns about our environmental issues. I hope that you will also consider these 2 important issues regarding our environmental condition. Thank you. Here they are below this letter. Respectfully yours, Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr. The Dept. Of Energy, ERC Must Quit Its Dangerous Policy Of Constructing Coal-Fired Power Plants By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr. I’m wondering why the Dept of Energy or the Energy Regulatory Commission would allow the construction of coal-fired power plants near the residential areas in the country, particulary now that there is a global shortage of coal according to reports. Is the head of the Dept. of Energy and that of ERC do not know that there exists a law called the Clean Air Act of 1999? If these 2 offices do not know anything about this new law, partly to blame is the Department Of Environment and Natural Resources. According to the report that I’ve read DENR did not publish the enforcement rules of the Clean Air Act of 1999. Why? Do the Energy office personnel have forgotten that there’s already a global warming affecting us all? Global warming is a poignant reality that hurts us all which is principally caused by heavy pollution emitted from hundreds and thousands of vehicles,factories,chemical industries, power plants all over the world that use fossil fuels in its operations, Not to mention garbage, plastic and chemical wastes dumped in rivers and landfills in various countries of the world. The current global warming has also caused the abnormal weather condition that we have experienced nowadays. Because of global warming, Scientists reported, that glaciers and icebergs in some cold regions of the earth are gradually melting. Scientists predicted it may cause floods in some areas or even submerge small islands if global warming will continue unabated. Why should our officials concerned who are supposed to be knowledgeable about the new Clean Air Act of 1999 wants to add pollution to our already polluted environment by allowing the continued construction of coal-fired power plants in the country? God forbid! As protectors of the environment the DENR must oppose to the Energy Dept’s dangerous policy. If the Dept. of Health is really concern with the health of our people-rich and poor-its head including its Board of Directors must also oppose now the move for the realization of such dangerous project before it’s too late. According to a report from the US Environmental Protection Agency coal-fired power plants account for most of the pollutants emitted by the power industry in the United States. Coal –fired power plants emit 93% of the nitrogen oxide, 96% of the sulphur oxide, 88% of the carbon dioxide and 99% of the mercury emissions that pollute the air. One can just imagine the high percentage of pollution and health hazards pose by the coal-fired power plants to the residents within the surrounding vicinity where it is constructed. This revealed findings from the scientific and health-minded people is enough for all concerned mankind and the health-conscious individuals, who are going to reside in residential areas where there would be a coal-fired power plants, to shudder in fear for their life. WE really need a Head or an Energy Commissioner who has the heart and mind of an environmentalist and has the great intent to give priority to the health and welfare of the people he serves, before making considerations to a proposed project that would badly affect our environment. Another report disclosed that the expansion of coal-fired power plants in the Philippines has shot up to over 2,000 megawatts, while the renewable energy projects so far only reached up to less than 100MW. What a great ironic twist in the way the government is considering the health and well-being of its people and its approach in the choice of a cleaner fuel? In a report it was revealed that the Philippines rely on 94 percent import of its crude oil needs. Records also show that oil imports in 2006 had reached a whopping $6.8 billion. If our government can tap our own renewable sources of energy, then we don’t have to rely on imported fossil fuels and can save a big amount of money from our coffers. The Dept of Energy, Energy Regulatory Commission and the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources must concede to the demands from the Representatives of the people who know the adverse effect of using coal. The Dept. of Health and other concerned government agencies including the environmentalist groups should also joint efforts to avoid any move by some high government officials in utilizing an energy provider that is very, very pollutant. Do these government agencies’ honchos have also forgotten that the Philippines has several inactive/dormant volcanoes waiting to be tapped as a potential sources of geothermal energy? According to some knowledgeable people geothermal energy is one of the cleanest and cheapest sources of energy. Why not tap other undeveloped geothermal deposits we have in the country? Why should we continue to use coal and crude oil that are now very expensive and are pollutants? In an editorial piece of a popular Manila tabloid in its May 2008 issue, it describes coal as the most plentiful but the dirtiest fossil fuel that will harm the environment and the health of the citizens. It said that the aforementioned greenhouse gases it emitted will cause climate warming. Thus it will greatly contribute to the worsening of the global warming that we have now experiencing, particular during sunny days. Because of coal’s alarming hazard to both the environment and the health of the people, two environmentalist Senators Pia Cayetano and Juan Miguel Zubiri said that “if we are to promote an energy revolution in Southeast Asia and the Pacific to stop climate change and global warming (caused b y heavy pollution on earth), then let’s phase out all our existing coal-fired power plants in the country run on dirty and expensive coal”. With the bad effect of pollutants to the health of millions of Filipinos coming from coal, the government and the private sector must shun using this pollutant energy. Both sectors must likewise muster its political will to greatly reduce the usage on gasoline/crude oil as the country’s contribution to the reduction of global warming now affecting countries all over the world. Since the avoidance of using pollutant coal to produce power for electricity is not only the concern of the Philippines but also of other nations of the world, other Governments and leaders worldwide should therefore decide in equal footing and concerted efforts to really achieve our common and global objective of healing our deteriorating and debilitating environment condition caused by man’s carefree attitude towards our one and only ecology. This means that all nations on Earth must now start shifting to using alternative fuels like biofuel, hydro power, wind power, solar power, electric jeepneys, electric buses, geothermal energy and deuterium deposits. (Copyright 2008 by Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.,) Opinion/Commentary Newly-planted Trees Should Be Taken Care Of By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr. Majority of the planting trees activities conducted in the various part of my province lack the necessary caring of the newly-planted trees. A big percentage of the small trees that were planted were left on their own to grow. As if planting hundreds and thousands on them on vacant lots and along the highways is the end of it all. If those who are leading this kind of environmental protection are really very serious they should consider caring of the newly-planted trees seedlings in different places. Before conducting a tree planting as part of a city, municipal or provincial anniversary or celebration, or in support of a government’s program in the conservation of our environment, a certain group should be assigned in every area to take care of the newly-planted trees. Leaders of the Environmental Groups should instruct them to water the small trees everyday until such time that it will reach an indicative height that it can be left alone sans regular watering. Fifty percent or even more mortality of the newly-planted trees have been discovered by the groups of environmentalists upon ocular inspections as revealed to yours truly a few years ago during an interview for an article in the progress of tree planting activities conducted in several occasions in the province of Southern Leyte. When I was working at DENR during the previous years, contract projects in various reforestation programs in different parts of Southern Leyte have been taken care of by the contractors themselves. Once small tree seedlings were planted in large hectarage whether it were mahogany,,G-melina,lawauan,molave,narra, including mango, jackfruit trees, etcetera, contractors’ hired workers would always take care of the planted trees by watering it everyday, whenever there is no rain. However, mortality still occurred despite of the caring, but in a very low percentage compared to those trees that were just left alone after planting them. In DENR’s reforestation projects, purchase of organic or inorganic fertilizers were inclusive for the contractors’ management application s in all of the projects involved to help make the hundreds and thousands planted small trees grow faster. Likewise, in any planting activities done by either the NGOs or a government group outside the reforestation projects of DENR, they can also use either organic or inorganic fertilizers if they have the funds. If hardly they can afford for its fertilizers’ maintenance until it will grow enough to stand on its own, then watering everyday the newly-planted small trees will be quite enough to let it grow into maturity.. By this measure, the numerous tree-planting activities done in various places of the province and in the entire country lead by either a Barangay Captain, Mayor, Governor or Congressman will not be all in vain. Their conscientious caring for the planted small tree seedlings in various annual tree-planting activities nationwide would mean additional man-made forests as potential replacements for our unimaginably colossal deforested areas. Likewise, in order to realize the environmentalists global desire and the peoples’ concern to achieve such vision, a selective log ban should be implemented by the Governments of nations where its mountains have become bald because of indiscriminate cutting of forest trees, whether legal or illegal, and that huge deforestation have also occurred. The newly-approved Philippine law on “One Million trees” should serve as an inspiration to all earthlings and should encourage the peoples of the whole world and their respective governments and the private sectors to plant millions of trees on their vacant lots and denuded forests. If put into realization, the millions and millions of trees planted will serve as absorbers of carbon dioxide in our environment and provide us with the needed oxygen. It will also help as our protective shields in our polluted surroundings..(Copyright 2008 by Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.) . .
JUly 29,2008 Compressed Natural Gas: An Alternative Fuel By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr. It’s good that Metro Manila bus operators are now realizing the economic hardships all Filipinos have experienced by asking the government to start opening access to Malampaya gas field in Palawan and make compressed natural gas more available to the public transport sector. The request can even include the private sector for their private vehicles and cars (People Journal’s “Start Change To CNG, Govt. Urged” by J.V. Antiporda, July 22, 2008, page 2).However, the operators access to CNG, must also cover all the provinces in the country. Like Metro Manila bus operators, provincial bus operators also want to shift to Compressed Natural Gas since they also feel the heavy burden of costly diesel fuel and gasoline. Since there’s only one field of CNG operate by Shell Philippines today, our government agencies in-charged in providing and tapping renewable energy, must conduct a nationwide survey in all areas of the archipelago where possible deposits of natural gas can be found. Once an acquaintance has disclosed that there’s a place in Davao where water from the spring has a fire.Surprisingly, according to him, it will not burn a hand. Does this indicate that the water there comes from a geothermal source or that there’s a great possibility of a natural gas deposits in the area? Our geologists and experts should go there and examine this rare kind of water source. The government should not be contended with just one source. There are hundreds and thousands of private and passenger vehicles operators in the country who would be in great demand of compressed natural gas supply as they would like to follow suit. Akin to the desire of the Metro Manila operators for government financial assistance in the conversion of their motor vehicles to fit for the CNG fuel, the current administration, the next and the future administrations, must continually adopt this program by providing zero interest loans to all passenger bus owners throughout the country. Furthermore, our CNG should remain pure. Adulterating it with pollutant crude oil, like the kerosene that we are buying at gas stations would defeat our purpose in reducing pollution in our already polluted environment like Metro Manila and other big metropolitan cities. During the past decades, pure unadulterated, very cheap natural gas placed in tin cans and used in house lamps for lighting the whole night, does not produce soots.Curiously,if a person would insert his finger inside his nose the following day, an infinitesimal soot if ever there is, is almost invisible. This is the kind of a natural gas placed in tin cans that I used to buy, when my mother or uncle would let me do an errand as a kid. In contrast, if you used the current kerosene at gas station to fuel your lamps to light your house during the night, you will see a different result. Inserting your finger inside your nose the following day, you will see some soot sticking to your finger.. On the other hand, is the natural gas I knew in the past decades, similar as to the compressed natural gas of the present? If the past very cheap natural gas is the same in quality and content with the current compressed natural gas, then it should be kept as is. Companies that mined it should not dare to taint it with pollutant element or substance like crude oil. In the continually indefinite use of CNG, producers must give priority to the reduction of our environmental pollution which is now in its worst condition by indefinitely maintaining a supply of pure unadulterated natural gas to all CNG-fueled vehicles. This measure will also serve as a contributory step in the gradual healing of our deteriorating ecology and for the health betterment of the Filipino people. We are also hopeful that all nations of the world will follow suit in the use of CNG as alternative fuel and other alternative fuels that scientists and experts in other countries have discovered to be indigenous in their respective areas. This is in order to achieve our global objective of greatly reducing the volume of heavy pollution which has some adverse effect to our health and wellness, and which likewise, resulted to a global warming badly affecting our weather.(Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.6600 Maasin City, Southern Leyte.)
July 30,2008 Mandatory Implementation Of Alternative Fuel Should Start Now By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr The unabated rising prices of crude oil and other petroleum products in the international market is now unbearable to the millions of Filipinos, rich and poor. Its influential power of creating a chain reaction of prices in all prime commodities and manufactured goods in the market and stores are irresistible to businessmen who do not want to be left behind by their counterparts in business and escalate as well the prices of all their products. With the spiraling increase in prices of all kinds of consumable goods, the poor and the rich alike are feeling the bitterness of coping with their daily needs. Those who have very low income Filipinos have forced themselves to refrain from buying other household needs, which decades ago were also affordable to them. They reduced their consumption of some goods so that they can still buy something they need for the next two or three days. That’s why the entire Filipinos are suffering because of our overdependence on gasoline and crude oil. The Philippine government is spending millions and millions of pesos yearly on gasoline and other oil products for vehicles and factories. Because of our current hardships and economic miseries our government must not remain callous and insensitive to act. Members of both the Lower an d the Upper House must muster their political will to hasten the approval of a House Bill aim at making mandatory for all operators and drivers nationwide to use the Compressed Natural Gas(CNG)to run the vehicles and factories. The aforesaid HB was co-authored by House energy committee chairman Mikey Arroyo of Pampanga and Parañaque City Representative Eduardo Zialcita. With the immediate implementation of this economic measure, our country can do away with being overdependence on imported fossil fuels, which greatly contribute to the heavy pollution in our big cities and the environment. When this goal would be realized, the Philippines can have a huge reduction on fuel expenditures and its unabated heavy pollution in big metropolis where all types of utilities and factories abound would be greatly reduced. Since we have no vehicles and cars suitable for the utilization of Compressed Natural Gas, big financing institutions should come to rescue and help the government to buy the needed vehicles in places like the USA,Canada,India,China and in other countries where vehicles design for compressed natural gas fuel are being manufactured. The Malampaya-Palawan oil and gas fields in the country must be mined now and tap other potential oil and gas fields in various places of our nation to sustain our fuel needs. On the other hand, our big capitalists who choose to be consignees in this kind of business should not be tempted in the near future to mix compressed natural gas with crude oil like we have in all gasoline stations throughout the country, called kerosene by other name. The mixture of two elements, we’ve just mentioned, like we are buying at gas station, especially if there is a blackout, will surely result to additional pollution in all our areas. The additional pollution due to crude oil mixture with the natural gas is very evident by the soots gathered inside our noses the night before when we resort to kerosene use as temporary substitute for the absence of electric power. Have you not observe that in your home, especially in the households of poor Filipinos? In contrast, unadulterated natural gas, if there’s a detection of any soot, is so insignificantly negligible to consider as pollution. Some of emission of kerosene (a mixture of natural gas and crude oil) put inside the lamps would also pollute our rooms the following day, if you have observed that as well. This means that if in the near future some tricky and hoarding businessmen would be tempted to do this deplorable thing, the pollution in our environment would re-emerged. Hence, there’s an urgent necessity to screen the attitude of businessmen/capitalists who would like to participate in the Government’s venture in this kind of undertaking where the issue on environment-friendly fuel is at stake. Considering this probable prediction of the money-oriented rather than service-oriented attitude of some businessmen to rake huge profit in the name of mixture elements, the House Bill must include as one of its provisions prohibiting any capitalist/consignee to mix CNG with crude oil. A monitoring task force must be created that would include as members the Energy Committee Chairman, energy official and some honest and prudent NGO environmentalists for the purpose of monitoring and regular checking of CNG’s natural content before dispensing the fuel for private and public use. Those businessmen who would violate the law must be slapped with huge fine and imprisonment. We seriously need honest and prudent investors/capitalists in the strict application of such law in order to achieve our goal to greatly reduced our environmental pollution which make adults and children in this country suffer from illness and eventual death to countless of lives. According to reports pollution also causes chronic coughing in millions of children across the globe. Other alternative fuel or energy that has been tapped to provide electricity and run vehicles is the solar energy. It has already been experimented and found to be feasibly usable and suitably applicable in running vehicles and providing electricity in numerous households in the country. It’s a free source of limitless energy and is non-polllutant: one of the greatest gifts from Mother Nature that remain untapped for centuries by man. The emergence of Great Minds in the field of Science and Technology are responsible for a huge leap in inventions and discoveries that have provided man his amenities including some of his needs in life more obtainable than before. We can also use electricity to run jeepneys and buses, which is also pollution-free. Makati’s current use of electric jeepneys plying in various areas of the city, which is much lesser in fuel expenses for the drivers and operators compared to gasoline and crude oil, is very encouraging and worthy of emulation for other cities and provinces. The experiments that our scientists, technical men and the experts have been doing are enough proof that the Philippine Government has the capability and the capacity to relentlessly pursue on these projects. A huge budget proportionate enough for its continual implementation must be made now for its effective realization. The two alternative sources of fuel and energy that we are discussing are sure ways that will eventually release us from our overdependence on gasoline and crude oil which is now very prohibitive to obtain. Global warming caused by unregulated environmental pollution, which also damaged the ozone layer according to the scientists, is not only a Philippine concern and problem. It is also a concern and a problem of every country, every nation throughout the world, whether the industrialized or the developing because we breathe the same air and we live in the same planet. Therefore, it is of urgent necessity that all the nations and other countries of the world, including the United States of America, China, England, Australia, India, Russia, Japan, European countries, UK and Germany should also shift to alternative fuel like Compressed Natural Gas and solar energy to run their vehicles, cars and factories in order to achieve the highest degree of pollution reduction in our Planet Earth. To those countries whose climate condition is similar to the Philippines , Nobel Prize winner Dr. Hartmut Michel during his recent visit to Manila has also advised its respective governments to tap wind power and hydro power that are environment-friendly to generate electricity..(Copyright 2008 by Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.) Wheat Flour Substitutes By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr. Now that the price of wheat flour is always rising and the taste of bread is getting lesser and its sizes diminishing, it’s time to look for a substitute or alternative flour. However, it’s not wise to completely abandon the use of wheat flour in making breads and cakes. To lessen the expenses of buying sacks of wheat flour, which we import from the USA, Canada or China, our local manufacturers or flour millers should turn to rootcrops like camote, gabi, ubi and palao. I have read an article that camote can be made into flour.Camote, considered by some people as the poor man’s staple, is nutritious as it contains some vitamins and minerals. If camote can be made into flour, it is also possible that other rootcrops like gabi, ubi, palao and other edible rootcrops under the gabi family can be made into flour. We should exclude cassava (kamoting kahoy or balanghoy in Visayan term) as alternative flour since this rootcrop is not recommended for eating by the doctors to those who have goiter. With the ubiquitous availability of flour substitutes/alternatives in the near future nationwide from the four aforementioned rootcrops, the ratio of mixture for both bread and cake should be 50 percent wheat flour, 25% camote and 25% gabi or ubi or palao. By these 2 or 3 combinations of flour substitutes, bakery owners throughout the country can save some money for buying wheat flour without minimizing the palatability or deliciousness of a bread, sopas, cake and other bakery products. Bread and cake eaters can also get a double nutritional value from such kind of mixture which can be sold in cheap price to the customers. Squash puree can also be added as the third party ingredients if bakery owners so desire to boost the reputation of their respective bakeries. Our agriculture experts and scientists must start now doing a research on some edible Philippine rootcrops and legumes if it can be converted into flour. If a series of experimentations would prove that these organic plants are viably versatile for flour conversion, a milling machine must also invented design to suit the plants texture in the milling process. The kind of milling machine to be invented should be unique that will retain its high percentage of the flour’s vitamins and minerals. What’s the benefit of eating plant flour if it’s already devoid of its vitamins and minerals contents due to the application of various stages of refinement process? When some applied measures necessary for the attainment of our objective have already been realized, our millers, producers and businessmen who are engaged in the mass production and selling of rootcrops’ flour must not be tempted to export it to other countries, like what I’ve read about the camote flour. They must first serve the 88 million Filipinos who are in need of nutritious flour to help lessen our malnutrition problem afflicting millions of young and old. It should be made available in every municipality and city in all regions of the country where there are bakery establishments. Our farmers should also be encouraged and persuaded to plant more and more rootcrops and legumes, aside from rice, fruits and vegetables in their vacant lots and farms. This is in order to sustain the needed materials in the mass production of local flour that could be mixed with 50% wheat flour. The achievement of a self-sufficiency status in local flour production from rootcrops and legumes would eventually lessen our expenses in buying imported wheat flour, which is already very expensive nowadays. It would be good and better to experiment if, like grapes, wheat can also be grown here in the Philippines. It would be better still if bakery owners would shift to using brown sugar to sweeten their breads and cakes since it contains vitamins and minerals, compared to refined sugar that only gives us sweet and nothing else. What’s wrong if your bread or cake now looks brown because of brown sugar? Although white color can easily attract the eyes of the beholder, in its superficial sense of beauty, but when it comes to food nutrition, color white would mean nothing important if it does not contain vitamins and minerals needed for the body. On the other hand, attracting more consumers/customers to buy bread and other bakery products in a certain bakery would always depends on how the master baker has balanced the various ingredients he puts in each of his cooked product that would become palatable when eaten. It would also mean that each bakery or the master baker himself has to maintain the ingredients formulated in each kind of bake for sale. Taking out 2 or 3 of the formulated ingredients of a certain type of bread would unwittingly mean driving away some of patronizers, which is detrimental to ones business. (Copyright 2008 byQuirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)