BEING PEACE

Barack Obama has now been President of the United States for nine months. In that short time, he has said and done some remarkable things. His being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on the strength of the change in tone from the Bush administration rather than on the strength of specific concrete accomplishments recognizes the intangible but very real changes for which he has been responsible.

However, the forces of reaction, the angry-old-white-men cohort (the regular audience of Fox News) is doing everything it can to destroy (their word) his presidency, the authority of the leader of their own nation. Clearly he needs and wants all the support he can get for his goals: the rejuvenation of the American economy, the abolition of nuclear weapons, the passing of a comprehensive health-care bill, and the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The consensus is that if he gets the health-care bill through, and the economy keeps moving, he will experience an enormous boost to his political capital. Which brings me to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I see his engagement with this issue as being on hold until the resolution of the health-care issue. Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is doing everything he can to yield nothing while attempting to present a reasonable face. In fact, this attempt is failing. The rejection of the Goldstone Report on the assault on Gaza has further isolated Israel from many nations and individuals who want to be friends to Israel, but are finding it harder and harder to do so.

In this regard, it is encouraging to see that many North American Jews are saying, loudly and clearly, “Not in my name.” Such organizations as J Street in the US and Independent Jewish Voices in Canada are providing vehicles for Jews who wish to counter the paranoia of the Israeli government and of the mainstream Jewish organizations that support it uncritically and fearfully, and which is losing support for Israel day by day. So while Obama’s energy is of necessity focused elsewhere, it behooves those of us who support justice for Palestine, and security for Israel as both necessary for peace in the Middle East to do whatever we can to further these goals while we are waiting, as it were.

Thus, as always, I ask you to reflect on the amount of time, energy and money you are giving to active citizenship, and to take action accordingly.


THINGS YOU CAN DO
"Become the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi

Credit: Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace

 
 
Telephone: 604.709.0883