I have only begun to recover from the initial shock of the fact that these bombings are going on in the last couple of days. The first day it started happening last week, I woke up at my usual time to get ready for work and turned on National Public Radio (NPR) which was playing BBC World News Radio reporting on the bombings. The first thought I had was "Heddy, wake up!" because surely, I thought it could only be a dream. Surely, all this political broo-ha-ha over the captured Israeli soldiers did not warrant killing of innocent lives. It was almost the same eery feeling I had when I was listening to NPR the morning that the September 11th attacks happened right here where I live. Being in NYC, obviously my life is not in danger or anything; nevertheless what's going on makes me incredibly sad and my heart goes out to all the Lebanese, especially those living in Beirut, and everyone in the MidEast that these bombings are going to cause further pain and heartache for... it just seems so senseless. Having worked on human rights violations and genocide issues for 5+ years, you think one would be able to adapt and get de-sensitized but I've never found that to be true in my case. I wonder sometimes whether that's a good or bad thing...
Although Amnesty (where I work) has put out statements and are conducting advocacy around this issue - I can't help but feel powerless to do anything to help, even being a part of an organization like Never Again. We've mostly been internally focused for awhile, or at least from where I sit. Marian and I have been talking about the need for us to internally equip ourselves to better respond to emergencies like Darfur and these bombings in Lebanon. Yes, we are doing a wonderful job given the time and resources we have, but it still doesn't let us off the hook in terms of responding to the needs of the world. How to accomplish all of this without letting the urgent and important tasks (like stopping violence in Darfur immediately) not crowd out the less urgent yet still important tasks (like post-conflict peacebuilding in Rwanda). More questions than answers these days, but at least beginning to search is part of the solution...
For the non-BBC, non-CNN version of things, read here: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/168619.php
Sorry if this post was not what folks were looking for... I just can't do the clinical, political, emotionally detached analysis right now with people dying and continuing to live under threat.
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2 comments:
This explosion of violence has been a complete shock and it has been very difficult to know how to respond. As you say, searching is part of the solution.
I feel very hopeless when hearing the statements by governments and one side and many peace activists on the other, both of whom are justifying the actions of one side. But i have felt more hopeful when reading many of the blogs at http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/, where the internet has made continued dialogue between citizens in both countries possible.
Never Again may never have the capacity to respond to emergencies but we are just one of many organisations working for peace and we can support those who have the best solutions. We can keep shouting for peace and condemning the killing of civilians - the justification is always defence. We can challenge the assumptions that one side will ever 'win' this. We can try to show all the people living under threat that we are thinking about them, wherever they are and that there are millions of people around the world that want the violence stopped.
We can still be effective without becoming too clinical, I hope.
I went to a talk in Cambridge (UK) last night by an active member of an Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, who had spent much time in Jerusalem assisting people in their every day struggle on both sides of conflict.
Watching a series of images focused mainly on the 25 ft concrete walls being constantly built in and around the city, dividing communities and their essential amenities, and all the different shocking stories that go with it, had this time filed me with a grief feeling of total helplessness, especially after hearing the news of military advances in the area.
As for you Heddy it all seems to me an unbelievable nightmare!
I do know that doing something towards improvement, no matter how tiny, IS better than doing nothing, but so hard at times to lift one’s spirit to carry on.
Thank you Heddy for your enthusiasm about what I would now call ‘Peace Wall’ rather than ‘boards’, and it would be great if you and friends could assemble something similar where you are.
I have been thinking what would be the best way for you to go about it. What sort of resources might you have?
I have stencils of letters I used in Stoke, I can post them to you, or email Word attachment of the particular font and size I used, which you could print and cut out, then glue or pin onto a board/wall and spray paint around them, then attach paper and permanent marker pens.
Depending on where the wall is situated, indoor or outdoor, you’ll need slightly different paper. For outdoor, thin display or pasting board with smoother side to write on as it withstands weather conditions quite well, for indoor anything will do, as long as is not too thin in either case. I used A1 sheets in London and Cambridge, and much larger ones in Stoke, as you can see on the attached photograph.
I could post examples of the method I used in attaching pens to the surface, which is easy and convenient way to change pens.
Also I would explain how best to attach and take down paper.
Are you ready?
Basia, 22/23 07.06
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