After last night's forum on Gaza

[Phil Rhoads]

George Melby, John Mueller, Quaker friend Ginger Kenney, and I
attended a lecture and Q&A at the Jewish Community Center last night.
It was a very unsettling experience for me to hear all the right-wing,
pro-war rhetoric from the speaker and from the audience. There was one
question offered by a middle-aged doctor wearing scrubs that expressed
some skepticism about Israel's end-game and expectations of success
through violence. And someone asked about possible spreading of
violence to other countries. (This morning the Associated Press
reports on several acts of violence in Europe against Jews and
synagogues in France, Sweden and Britain: http://www.truthout.org/010709K).

There was one brave Muslim who stood up and posed a reasonable
question about why the harsh economic sanctions imposed by Israel on
Gaza were not relaxed during the recent cease-fire. He was heckled and
interrupted by members of the audience, but treated politely by the
speaker, although not given a satisfying answer.

The event ended after only 40 minutes, and even though the four of us
remained silent during that time, I think we all were formulating
comments and questions we would raise if the atmosphere were more
conducive or if the event went on another 10-20 minutes. Ginger would
have asked about COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT, whether Israel respected
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. John would have asked
about the plight of the Gazans at their last election when faced with
the choice between corruption vs. militarism (PLO vs. Hamas) -- and
wasn't it a choice between the lesser of two evils. I would have asked
about the negative perception the world is getting of Israel using
DISPROPORTIONATE force against a weaker opponent, like the fire hoses
turned on the children of Birmingham during the Civil Rights struggle.

This morning I received Gene Stoltzfus's newest blog entry:
http://peaceprobe.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/gaza-letter-to-president-elect-obama/
-- which gives me hope and inspiration for a reasonable long-range
solution for the Middle East. And his precious quote from Albert
Einstein: “You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that
caused the problem.”

[Sallie Page-Goertz]

Appreciate these updates - it is indeed discouraging to hear that this event was not conducive to any type of dialogue...

Sallie

>>> Phil Rhoads <Phil....@gmail.com> 1/7/2009 10:35 AM >>>

[J. Duerksen]

Dear Phil,

Good for you folks! The Jewish lobby and supporters are a vociferous and
vocal group. Apparently there
were no spokespersons for the Jewish Voice for Peace.

Joe