Follow Me Online
Recent Posts
Archives
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- June 2022
- March 2022
- November 2018
- July 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- May 2017
- March 2017
- December 2015
- October 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- October 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- January 2011
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- December 2006
Month: November 2011
-
The Strategic Value of Forgiveness
A version of this essay appeared recently in the Jerusalem Report on November 21, 2011.
The Arab Awakening is facing serious challenges, and some new strategic decisions are required that will end up being good for all the revolutionary movements afoot this year, in the Middle East, in Israel and beyond.
The essential point is this: The Arab Street has demonstrated incredible heroism and nonviolent principles in the face of torture and death, and even Libya began as a very peaceful revolution, even if Libyans felt at some point that they had no choice but to fight. This is a paradigm shift of ethical and political values that will be remembered for generations. It may also signify a broad-based Middle Eastern democratic shift.
The going is tough, however, because no revolution easily dislodges corrupt structures of power. The temptation is just too great for those immediately below the revolution’s chosen …
-
FROM SHLOMO TO SHALOM: THE SECRET OF OPPOSITES
I remember sitting very peacefully in the synagogue on Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, just five days after my disastrous Yom Kippur fast day, which fortunately I completed despite serious exhaustion. Fasts, as anyone who does them knows, are deeply personal affairs, struggles that pull you right into yourself and away from global concerns. But following the rhythms of life, Sukkot takes you right back from the exalted and highly personal inner reality of Yom Kippur. Sukkot pulls you into reality, into identity, human identity and Jewish identity, and the tension between them.
In the ancient world, Jerusalem was apparently a place where people of many nationalities gathered around the holiday of Sukkot, and it seems for that reason that the question of ‘Israel and the nations’, for lack of a better phrase, seems to come up quite a bit in the ancient rabbinic liturgy, the choices especially …
Academic Affiliations
Articles and op-eds
Podcasts
Video/TV Appearances
Categories
- Advocacy
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- America
- animal rights
- Apology
- Arabs
- Aziz Abu Sarah
- Books
- Buddhism
- business
- China
- Christian
- Christians
- citizen diplomacy
- civil rights
- civil rights movements
- Compassion
- Compassionate Judaism
- conflict analysis
- conflict management
- Conflict Resolution
- Congress
- crimes against humanity
- Culture
- Dalai Lama
- democracy
- diplomacy
- disaster relief
- education
- elections
- environment
- ethics
- EU
- evangelicals
- fascism
- Foreign Policy
- Forgiveness
- France
- fundamentalism
- Gaza
- genocide
- Georgia
- global warming
- Hamas
- Happiness
- Healing
- health
- Hezbollah
- Hinduism
- Holocaust
- human rights
- humanitarian aid
- IDF
- India
- indonesia
- interfaith relations
- Investment
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Islam
- Islamophobia
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jerusalem
- Jew
- Jihadis
- John Stuart Mill
- Judaism
- Justice
- Latin America
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Madrasas
- marc gopin
- Mass demonstrations
- McCain
- Media
- medicine
- Middle East
- military
- multimedia
- Muslims
- Naqba
- narrative
- NATO
- negotiation
- Nepal
- nonviolence
- nonviolence through behavior
- nonviolence through mind
- nonviolence through policy
- nonviolent resistance
- Obama
- overseas aid
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Palestinians
- peace movements
- peace process
- Pentagon
- Philosophy
- Podcast
- politicians
- politics
- Politics News
- poverty
- racism
- radicals
- Rationality
- refugees
- religion
- religious conflict
- Republican Party
- revenge
- Revolution
- rule of law
- Russia
- Russian Orthdox Church
- Saudi Arabia
- settlements
- spirituality
- Syria
- terrorism
- Tibet
- torture
- tourism
- Turkey
- tyranny
- U.S. military
- Uncategorized
- United Nations
- United States
- US Foreign Policy
- Utilitarianism
- Violence
- violence reduction
- war crimes
- White House
- women
- worker rights
- youth
Tags
Recent Comments