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
Foreign Policy
-
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Ravaging Our Young War Vets
He was racing in a Humvee with four other soldiers, having arrived there just days before, 19 years old. The day he got there his best friend was shot in the head, boom, gone in an instant. Now he was racing along this road when a missile directly hit the cab of the vehicle. One guy’s legs were gone and another was killed right away, and the missile flew right by his head, just missing him. He seemed uninjured, but he was, and now he is back in Boston.
It was a sunny August afternoon in Boston as I leaped into a cab. I had just finished attending a conference of great religious educators at Boston University, and I was feeling very good about my presentation. I thought it was a home run because I really connected with the message and the people.
The 50-something Irish cab driver, whose presence …
-
Defense officials back US bid to send envoy to Syria
I am trying to figure out what kind of United States has developed where the toughest Israelis in the world, the top Israeli military brass, want a U.S. ambassador in Syria, and other gestures, whereas the true impediment to that are right wing Republican Senators supported by a militant wing of the American public goaded on by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and of course Charles Krauthamer. Where do these Americans get the arrogance to be even more violent in their politics than the Israeli military? I think it is legitimate to take sides within the Israeli debate, but I do not understand being to the right of the right of the Israeli military. Of course, there is no logic to politics, there is only the logic of vote grabbing, and one gets votes in America today by demonizing any and all foreigners you can get your hands on, …
-
Why the US Needs Global Citizens
By Cheryl Duckworth
Perhaps one of the barriers to global citizenship education has been a fear that one must necessarily choose between two identities—being either a citizen of one’ s country or a citizen of the world. In light of the increasingly nationalist and xenophobic dynamic observable in many countries over the past decade, challenging this false choice is urgent. Peace educators and global citizenship educators must make the argument that one can be both a citizen of one’s country and a citizen of the world.
I would even go further to argue that in today’s increasingly interconnected and increasingly armed world, the U.S. needs global citizens more than ever. What is a global citizen and why does her country need her?
A global citizen has a secure and multifaceted identity. What this means is that no one particular aspect of his identity (race, class, religion, gender) dominates the others. … -
Colorado Republican Dan Maes: Dem’s Support For Bikes Is A U.N. Plot | TPMDC
You can be horrified by this, you can ask what is happening to this country, and I would agree with you that these folks are frightening. And yet, what use is there in demonizing them? The Tea Party people are classic reactionaries in a world of incredibly rapid change. Cycling is an important element in the revolution going on globally in major cities, and it is a hopeful human adaptation catching on. America is or has become an isolated nation of naysayers who have afforded, out of excess wealth, to be highly independent and particularly maladaptive. They are often dragged along by others. But dragged along they will be. The question is how painless or painful will the transition to new ways of human adaptation. Progressives do no one any good or help anyone adapt by being terrified of reactionaries. In fact, what left and right share in the U.S. …
-
No More Taking Sides: An Israeli-Palestinian Story
Listen to a powerful interview on Krista Tippett’s Speaking of Faith program. In this show, she features Robi Damelin, who lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper, and Ali Abu Awwad, who lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, instead of clinging to traditional ideologies and turning their pain into more violence, they’ve decided to understand the other side — Israeli and Palestinian — by sharing their pain and their humanity. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace.
Listen to the full interview and check out other resources here: No More Taking Sides…
-
Popular TV show highlights Iran’s complexity
Every Monday night, Iranians by the millions watch the most expensive show ever aired on the Islamic republic’s state-owned television – and the subject would surprise you.
The hour-long state-funded Iranian drama “Zero Degree Turn,” centers on a love story between an Iranian-Palestinian Muslim man and a French Jewish woman. Over the course of the 22 episodes, the hero saves his love from Nazi detention camps, and Iranian diplomats in France forge passports for the woman and her family to sneak on to airplanes carrying Iranian Jews to their homeland.
The aim of the show, according to many inside and outside the country, is to draw a clear distinction between the government’s views about Judaism — which is accepted across Iranian society — and its stance on Israel — which the leadership denounces every chance it gets.
In creating the show, the director enlisted the help of Iran’s Jewish Association, …
-
Iran threat pushing Arabs closer to normalization with Israel
Iran threat pushing Arabs closer to normalization with Israel
By Akiva Eldar…Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa notes that peace is not a light bulb easily switched on, but admits that the Arabs have made public-relations blunders. “An Israeli might be forgiven for thinking that every Muslim voice is raised in hatred,” he writes, “because that is usually the only one he hears. Just as an Arab might be forgiven for thinking every Israeli wants the destruction of every Palestinian.” Khalifa urges the Arabs to communicate directly with the Israelis and tell them their story.
If Olmert’s defense of the settlements was grist for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mill, the Bahraini prince’s call for normalization made Obama’s weekend. The start of normalization between the nations is a key item on the president’s agenda. It’s the undertone intended to ease the creation of a blueprint for a final-status agreement.
-
The War in Gaza: Reflections on An Interview in the Midst of War at the Half Year Anniversary
In a December 31, 2008 conference call with Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, an American grassroots Jewish organization dedicated to promoting a negotiated two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Marc shared his “on-the-ground perspective of the…violence in Gaza and southern Israel and the need for U.S. Leadership.”
Listen to the call here or read a transcript of the interview here.
Marc reflects now:
I stand by much of what I concluded in that interview. I remember vividly the circumstances of that interview. I was on the floor of a very cold apartment at night, unsure if i would be heard because my only connection was skype (as usual no budget for my work), and my computer only worked with skype on the floor.
I was impressed with the questions I received, and it was rather a relief to reflect on the issues instead of living it. In the first days …
-
We Are Going to Keep Telling the Truth ‘Til It Stops Working
I continue to be haunted, almost fixated on President Obama’s simple words about the joke around the White House. It is in my opinion, a stunning formula for presidentially-led social change. After four decades of watching American presidents, supposedly the most powerful agents of change in the Arab/Israeli conflict, fail to make any change. Now Obama is coming along at a good time for change, in that so much of the world knows that Israel must change, including most American Jews, finally, finally. But he could be still failing miserably at this. No, it really is his genius. The fact is the most passionate president on peace and justice for Palestinians is Jimmy Carter, but he is not believed at all by most Jews or trusted. Why? Because he has a nasty habit of saying in public things that are so overly optimistic about seasoned enemies and militant groups with …
-
Peace is Not Magic
By Kobi Skolnick
In the last few weeks, there have been many developments in the Middle East conflict. People around the world have been following the speeches of President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as Hosni Mubarak’s essay in the Wall Street Journal. This high-level discussion signals a shift in policy and progress toward peace. However, some skeptics wonder if this is just another phase in a cycle of false hope. After all, it is not difficult to imagine another suicide bombing in one of Israel’s cities, or an ill-timed Israeli Defense Force operation in the Palestinian Territories, both of which would immediately make peace look like a mere fantasy.This danger has always existed in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Even when top leaders sign treaties, on the ground there remains a deep enmity between Israelis, Palestinians, and the Arab world. With this in mind, …
Posts navigation
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