Happy Halloween from Olympia!
31 October 2010
29 October 2010
Back from Camping
I returned from camping on the Olympic Peninsula late last night. It was an awesome trip. It rained a lot, but we managed to stay almost completely dry! I have a bunch of photos that will take some time to sort through, but hopefully I will post a collection of the best ones.
While I was gone I was thinking a lot about the conflict in the Middle East. The one between Israelis and Palestinians. On last Monday night I went to see the Rachel Corrie Foundation Peace Works event at Evergreen. It was the play "There is a Field" by Jen Marlowe. I am glad I went, and I enjoyed the performance and the Q&A afterward. The play is about a Palestinian-Israeli family and the death of 17 year-old Aseel, a Seeds of Peace volunteer, who was killed by Israeli Defense Forces Soldiers during a demonstration. The play brought up a lot of difficult issues, and was an interesting glimpse into the lives of Palestinians who live in Israel proper. It seems that for these Palestinians, discrimination is the norm.
I am also looking forward to seeing Marc Ellis, who is a Jewish theologian and philosopher and author. Marc is in Olympia, and is making a series of presentations about his views and his work. There's more information about that on OlympiaBDS.
One aspect of the conflict in the Middle East that I have been thinking of, from a psychological standpoint, and in terms of diagnosing the conflict (which I believe is a disease) is the idea that given the intensity of trauma that Jews have experienced over the years—that many Jews have what might be thought of as a "survivor's complex." That is the mentality of surviving despite intense oppression and persecution-even to the point of real genuine concerted attempts at annihilation.
[added paragraph that I meant to include earlier in posting originally: One of the possible symptoms of "survivor's complex," as it may evince itself either in individuals, or in socio-cultures, is as an attitude of superiority. Another way to understand this is how when people are bullied (or mis-treated in other ways) they sometimes take on the behavior of the bully (or abuser) in order to achieve safety or security...]
This is a very serious and problematic issue. Some people might like to think that since I support human rights for Palestinians, that I don't support the rights of Israelis. This could not be further from the truth.
Human rights are for everyone-for all human beings-everywhere. The true and genuine security of one, depends on the security of all. Real security is mutual.
Anyway, I think there are some seriously deep and difficult psychological aspects of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and the best way to look at the situation is from the point of view that all people deserve to be treated well.
Below is a photo of a Buck on Rialto beach on the Olympic Peninsula. Rialto beach is just North of the Quileute American Indian Reservation.
Best Wishes, and (for) Peace!
Berd
Buck
Rialto Beach
Olympic National Park
Wednesday 26 October 2010
While I was gone I was thinking a lot about the conflict in the Middle East. The one between Israelis and Palestinians. On last Monday night I went to see the Rachel Corrie Foundation Peace Works event at Evergreen. It was the play "There is a Field" by Jen Marlowe. I am glad I went, and I enjoyed the performance and the Q&A afterward. The play is about a Palestinian-Israeli family and the death of 17 year-old Aseel, a Seeds of Peace volunteer, who was killed by Israeli Defense Forces Soldiers during a demonstration. The play brought up a lot of difficult issues, and was an interesting glimpse into the lives of Palestinians who live in Israel proper. It seems that for these Palestinians, discrimination is the norm.
I am also looking forward to seeing Marc Ellis, who is a Jewish theologian and philosopher and author. Marc is in Olympia, and is making a series of presentations about his views and his work. There's more information about that on OlympiaBDS.
One aspect of the conflict in the Middle East that I have been thinking of, from a psychological standpoint, and in terms of diagnosing the conflict (which I believe is a disease) is the idea that given the intensity of trauma that Jews have experienced over the years—that many Jews have what might be thought of as a "survivor's complex." That is the mentality of surviving despite intense oppression and persecution-even to the point of real genuine concerted attempts at annihilation.
[added paragraph that I meant to include earlier in posting originally: One of the possible symptoms of "survivor's complex," as it may evince itself either in individuals, or in socio-cultures, is as an attitude of superiority. Another way to understand this is how when people are bullied (or mis-treated in other ways) they sometimes take on the behavior of the bully (or abuser) in order to achieve safety or security...]
This is a very serious and problematic issue. Some people might like to think that since I support human rights for Palestinians, that I don't support the rights of Israelis. This could not be further from the truth.
Human rights are for everyone-for all human beings-everywhere. The true and genuine security of one, depends on the security of all. Real security is mutual.
Anyway, I think there are some seriously deep and difficult psychological aspects of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and the best way to look at the situation is from the point of view that all people deserve to be treated well.
Below is a photo of a Buck on Rialto beach on the Olympic Peninsula. Rialto beach is just North of the Quileute American Indian Reservation.
Best Wishes, and (for) Peace!
Berd
Buck
Rialto Beach
Olympic National Park
Wednesday 26 October 2010
26 October 2010
25 October 2010
21 October 2010
Yellow Rose
This is from the rose garden at Priest Point Park. Remember to stop and smell the flowers!
11 October 2010
08 October 2010
Capitol Lake at Night
Saturday 11 September 2010
This is a view of Capitol Lake at night. Capitol Lake is part of the Washington State Capitol Campus.
30 September 2010
Root Out the Seeds of War
John Woolman (1720 - 1772): "May we look upon our Treasures, and the furniture of our Houses, and the Garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have any nourishment in these possessions or not."
Lately I have been thinking about how to build a mass movement of nonviolent resistance to defy the political status quo. The political status quo in the USA is a plutocracy (that means rule by wealthy elite.) The real-political situation in a plutocracy is similar to a dictatorship—except in the USA it relies on popular media messaging to promote consumerism and complacency, along with a host of other harmful attitudes and myths, like racism, classism, ageism, genderism, homophobia, and myths like those of independence, scarcity, and meritocracy.
It seems to me that such a mass movement of popular nonviolent resistance will require a lot of popular education about how the current socio-economic/political establishment is actually harmful.
Many of us are just plain hood-winked, and don't understand how harmful our system is, or why it is the cause of so much suffering. People may sense that there is something wrong, but they may not understand what it is, nor why.
Another world is possible. It DOES NOT have to be like this! We can have progress without destruction, without violence, without oppression, without poverty, without war!
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