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Tag: Peace

  • DICTATORS AND OLIGARCHS

    Throughout history, there are no dictators without oligarchs.

    The dictator is the puss pimple on top of the acne of oligarchy.

    The system of war criminal justice is designed to deter a very specific kind of man who is inherently a narcissistic risk taker, who believes he is invincible, which means that some vague possibility of justice some day might become reality. But he always believes he will live on forever, or his family.

    The oligarch is not a risk taker but a calculator, a blood hound for money, and a preference for money accrued legalistically but immorally off the backs of the unsuspecting who believe in the rule of law.

    The laws of war crimes must evolve further. We need a guarantee based on international law that the vast fortunes of industrialists or oligarchs that supported war criminals, will in fact be given, to the last penny, over to …

  • CONFLICT DEESCALATION IN JERUSALEM AND HEBRON: JUST A THOUGHT

    CONFLICT DEESCALATION IN JERUSALEM AND HEBRON: JUST A THOUGHT
     SUNDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2015 (as originally published on Facebook here)
    We need a rapid response team, perhaps through an app, of respected observers of violent incidents in both communities, people who know and trust each other, to rapidly investigate and disseminate the facts as best they know them, in order for whatever reactions that occur be based on better knowledge of all the facts. Perhaps the app could be open, but with a respected panel who can immediately detect those on the app with consistent disinformation.
    This is a suggestion for a new tactic of precision popular journalism across enemy lines. I know journalists on both sides who are committed to their profession and also to peace, and I know many on both sides who have a firm interest in saving lives always as a priority. I also know the
    …

  • Zionists and Islamists

    At a minimum a Zionist is one who loves Zion, often a Jew, but sometimes a Christian. At a minimum, an Islamist is someone who loves Islam, usually a Muslim. I see no reason to use either term in pejorative or hateful way, as a curse or as a condemnation. Associated with Zionism has been all manner of crimes against the native Palestinian people for over a hundred years, associated with Islamism has been tens of thousands of victims of crimes across the world, mostly Muslim victims. But it is an empirical fact that thousands of Zionists and millions of Islamists repudiate the crimes associated with these respective labels. They claim this is not true Zionism or true Islamism. We should agree as a global community to recognize the existence of these people, in fact to honor them. We can disagree with their philosophy but we should not label and …

  • MONEY

    Every dollar spent is an investment in the world’s tilt towards the good or the bad.

    Every dollar is a statement, a testimony to who you are and what you believe in.
    Money is sacred, money is power, money is a testimony. No matter how wealthy or how poor you consider yourself to be, your spent money is a testimony to who you are and what your power is as long as you live. Even your saved money, is spent by where you save it.

    Ask, before each dollar spent or invested, does this reflect my core beliefs?
    And if not, how could I inch some of it in a new direction?

    A world of 7 billion can seem to be a terribly disempowering place,
    It is not. That is just our perception and our commitment to learned helplessness.
    To everything we do, every day at every moment, there is

    …

  • CRDC’s Work in Afghanistan Featured

    Afghan FP

    CRDC’s work in Afghanistan is highlighted in this article from Foreign Policy.

    In line with this approach, over the last few years, the World Organization for Resource Development and Education — a nonprofit, educational organization with which we are both affiliated — co-hosted a series of conferences with the U.S.-based George Mason and Boston Universities on peacebuilding from an Islamic perspective. The conference brought together 200 religious leaders from across Afghanistan to meet with internationally-renowned Muslim scholars. By utilizing a faith-based approach, it was possible to generate discussions on hot-button issues ranging from jihad to women’s rights.

    Please check out the whole article from here.

    Foreign Policy, Six Things About Afghanistan That May Surprise You.

     

    (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

     …

  • Managing the Madness in the Middle East- The Huffington Post

     

    Fossil_Fuel-e1407859699259

    Here is the excerpt of my new article published on Huffington Post.
    Please check out the whole writing from here as well, and your comment is always welcome.

    Managing the Madness in the Middle East

    …in the long term, a world based on fossil fuels is completely unsustainable, and states and individuals must each take concrete steps to rapidly move away from their use. It is not the first time in history that a resource craved by everyone distorted all rational investment in and valuation of citizens. The less valuable that oil becomes, the more valuable will be the minds and hearts of every single woman, man and child in the region, every minority, and thus there will be clear incentives to invest in every citizen rather than sacrificing them to a god of war that is always insatiable. The god of war may have a religious body

    …

  • On the day of Rosh Hashanah

     

    9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
    “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
    10 But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

    I thought of this text today. Could not get out of my head for my whole life the pathos of not knowing the left from the right, the basis of mercy being our utter ignorance and aimlessness as human beings, and THAT is why God did not destroy Nineveh (Mosul) despite Jonah

    …

  • Reflections upon Explaining the Middle East to Washington

    To Washington

    DRUGS

    Don’t go to a drug dealer for a cure,
    When the drug addict is deteriorating.
    Don’t go to funders of extremism for a cure,
    When their victims are deteriorating.

    MAJORITIES AND MINORITIES

    Being a majority is no excuse for amnesia,
    Being a minority is no excuse for paranoia,
    If you are both, then you are screwed.
    Destined to ignore the past,
    But be suspicious about why everyone hates you.

    RETIREMENT

    Do not ever retire,
    From the purpose
    Of your life.…

  • Event Appearance at Johns Hopkins University

    This morning, I was privileged to talk at an great event of SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, as one of the speakers.
    Please check out the website and the video of this whole event.

    “IS THE WORLD FALLING APART?”
    September 16, 2014
    Conflict Prevention & Resolution Forum
    at Kennedy Auditorium, SAIS- Johns Hopkins University

     
    Screen shot 2014-09-16 at 4.00.49 PM

     …

  • Of Gods, Tribes, and Battles

    GOD
    If you cannot find God,
    Find the persecuted,
    Then you are home.

    TRIBE
    Tribalism is an infectious disease
    Human rights is the antidote
    But force feeding can kill the patient

    BATTLES
    Some battles that you want to win,
    Will defeat you if you win.
    Some battles if you lose,
    Then you will win.
    Think.
    Blessed be reason.

    hug

     

    (Photo: A Different Angle)

     …

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