Jillie ([info]dancing_crazy) wrote,
@ 2007-10-18 22:50:00
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A lot of people have a lot of ideas about how I grew up and where and who should do what. Boundaries here, forces there, fences, wars, agreements. I know for sure that a lot of people are smarter than I am, but I also think only Israelis and Palestinians know what it's like to grow up like this. Under the always present threat of immediate violence, even it's drowned sometimes in the buzz of laptops and coffee shops, nothing feels the same; noises are perceived differently, people are seen differently, and reality is twisted.

I've been a member of OneVoice for 3 years. I've been called naive a lot, but I've also seen 10,000 people rally for peace on the war-torn ground of Ramallah. I know how the children grow up there with hatred and how the children grow up here with a misplaced sense of constant terror, so I know that 250,000 people screaming, begging for peace, is a reality. We don't have to love each other or like each other. We have to live together, if we want to live.

Today, October 18, was supposed to a big day for OneVoice: simultaneous rallies for peace were meant to take place in Jericho, Tel-Aviv, Washington DC, London and Ottawa. More than one million people were meant to gather, but the Jericho event was cancelled after threats were received from terrorist groups. Tel Aviv event orginisers decided to cancel as well, out of solidarity.

They throw it in our faces. They say that we should have known. All this means is that we're just not done yet. This war will end, and two nations will be formed on this land. The only question is, how much blood will be shed until they do?

I'm asking for your help, if you believe in the cause and the way: speak out for peace. Visit http://www.onemillionvoices.org, make a pledge, and let your voice be heard.

To learn more about OneVoice, a grassroots movement which aims to empower the moderate majority of the Israeli and Palestinian people, please visit the movement's home page.

ETA: The UK, USA and Canada events are still taking place. Take a look at this page. If there's a gathering where you are, and you can join it, then I really hope that you do.

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[info]megandjim
2007-10-18 11:12 pm UTC (link)
I'm sorry the rally got cancelled. Those terrorists are real assholes. I signed up at that website. <3

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[info]dancing_crazy
2007-10-20 10:48 pm UTC (link)
Thanks, Meg. :)

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[info]tinyplaidninja
2007-10-18 11:19 pm UTC (link)
Thank you for posting this. I completely agree. Were this going on in my area (generally, the South doesn't give a fuck about the rest of the world. go figure), I'd definitely join in. I'm proud that such an organization can be so successful in getting its message out and making people listen, especially in this day and age.

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[info]dancing_crazy
2007-10-20 10:49 pm UTC (link)
Thank you. I'm proud of this organisation too. It'll be a while still, but I think the fact that 600,000 plus people are members in a grassroots movement like this is a good indication of how the situation has to change.

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[info]sravenk
2007-10-19 12:40 am UTC (link)
Thank you for posting this. I signed up on that site as well.

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[info]dancing_crazy
2007-10-20 10:49 pm UTC (link)
Thank you for singing up.

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[info]sravenk
2007-10-21 12:29 am UTC (link)
And thank you for talking about what it is like, or rather what people who are not from where you are from can never really know about what it is like to have lived the life you have lived. I know a lot of folks, and am ashamed to say have *been* the sort of folk, who talk like we know what is up with shit, but we don't. And as much as we care and we want to understand we can't really speak from a place of real authority and I think it's good to be put in my place and yet welcomed to be a part of something so important. And... yeah, I think I have more to say about that but words are inadequate, so just let's leave it at thank you.

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[info]dancing_crazy
2007-10-21 02:39 am UTC (link)
Thank YOU for being open to it. People who are actually willing to listen are the people who make the biggest difference.

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[info]tryyingtoevolve
2007-10-19 03:06 am UTC (link)
You know if I were in DC, I'd totally be there immediately. This group looks amazing, I'm definitely going to look into getting involved.

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[info]dancing_crazy
2007-10-20 10:50 pm UTC (link)
I'm so glad you're thinking about getting involved. People like you is just what this organisation needs. <3

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[info]deliriums_fish
2007-10-19 01:18 pm UTC (link)
A lot of people have a lot of ideas about how I grew up and where and who should do what. Boundaries here, forces there, fences, wars, agreements. I know for sure that a lot of people are smarter than I am, but I also think only Israelis and Palestinians know what it's like to grow up like this.

You're absolutely right. I stopped presuming I knew what it was like to live in Israel...I don't know when, but it took some doing. Because I grew up surrounded by people who were sure they knew what was going on, were sure they had the perfect solution that would make everybody (or at least the group they supported) happy.

Even after I stopped supposing I understood the situation, I still felt torn, constantly, being a liberal, I was "expected" to be pro-Palestine/anti-Israel. Being an American Jew, I was "expected" to be pro-Israel/anti-Palestine. And it wasn't until my late teens that I realised that I didn't have to be torn, that both were possible. And I don't think any of these supposed knowledgeable, highly-opinionated people (with the exception of my father, of course) realised that decision had nothing to do with them.

And then I started attending Evergreen, a highly anti-Israel school, and my first program there was a highly anti-Palestinian program. At least, the faculty that ran it were, and no matter how much a few of the other students and I fought, they wouldn't budge on the focus of their teachings (if I am forced to read Dershowitz one more time, there will be suffering, and not just my own). It was only then that I realised that not only were people ignorant, but that such ignorance could be fostered at a higher-education level.

It is my main job to listen. To read pieces by Oz. To listen to you, and to this awesomely hot guy in my writing group, Iman, who's from Nablus, and all of you are extremely level-headed people. And the world needs people like you.


This war will end, and two nations will be formed on this land.
I wholeheartedly agree with that. I think that will the end result, and I pray that it will be soon.

The only question is, how much blood will be shed until they do?
I don't know. I have faith that it will occur within my adulthood. I think it'll occur in stages, and the bloodshed will lessen gradually. I have faith that writers like Oz and people like you and my school buddy and organisations like One Million Voices will make it happen.

I don't have a lot of money at all, being that I have no job and all, but I donated a token $1, just to do something.

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[info]dancing_crazy
2007-10-20 10:53 pm UTC (link)
Thank you so much, Marcy. I think that like in a lot of areas in my life and in the world in general, you are so amazingly understanding and open-minded that it's just breathtaking. I know a lot of people think they have the perfect answer; but the people who make the difference are people like you, who listen, who really, truly listen.

I think you donating a token $1 is one of the kindest acts I stood witness to recently. It made my week. You restore my faith time and over again.

Thank you for this reply.

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[info]deliriums_fish
2007-10-20 11:42 pm UTC (link)
I love you, Gili, for making me sound like an intelligent, empathetic, wise person when I feel so bad I want to lock myself in the coat closet for the night.

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[info]_noa
2007-10-19 02:48 pm UTC (link)
If I were closer to Ottawa, you know I would have been there in a second. I've added my name to the list. Thank you for sharing, baby. *hug*

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[info]dancing_crazy
2007-10-20 10:54 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for signing up, sweetheart. I knew you'd be interested in this. ::snoogles::

PS - you still have Skype? Or AIM? Or any messenger really?

PPS - Hedgehog'd!

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