Quote of the day

"When does the mandate of victimhood expire?" he asked. "At what point does the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews cease to excuse the state of Israel from the demands of international law and of common humanity?"

Fintan O'Toole, the Irish Times' resident philosopher-in-chief, daring to speak the unspeakable.

If you aren’t tired of all the media coverage and speculation by western writers from their safe offices (like me!) , then you can read the Robert Fisk’s full article, Wherever I go, I hear the same tired Middle East comparisons, in The Independent here.

Fisk continues to say that “journalists should be on the side of those who suffer” – sounds like liberation theology to me.

For a visual representation of O’Tooles thoughts, see Zapiro’s two most recent cartoons.

And then, to balance it out, here’s another well argued piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, from a different point of view - It's too easy just to blame Jews.

Whoever is to blame, it is still a very complex and sorry situation. I hope the violence stops soon, though I’m not holding my breath. Ever since I was old enough to read, I can recall newspaper headlines about violence in the ‘Holy land’ region. When will we realise that violence is never redemptive?

size 10 shoe for Mr Bush

I know this isn't good for world peace and all, but i had to laugh at this clip of shoes being thrown at George Bush in Iraq yesterday:

Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip

Notice how well he seemed to dodge them, as well as the 4 security men that pour out of the door behind him as soon as it happened. (a bit too late, i might add)

Image from the BBC

American Incongruity

"The earth, reeling as it is, produces more than enough food to feed plentifully every man, woman and child on the planet. There is enough food; yet, our economic system produces murderous scarcity. A few have more than they can consume, so much that garbage disposal is a critical problem; while millions perish in sight of plenty. One nation, containing a tiny fraction of the earth's population (the majority of whom think of themselves as Christians), consumes half the earth's resources, yet it still manages not to feed its own hungry."

Theodore Jennings, Jr. - Good News to the Poor

inter-faith-ful

This week has been rather inter-faith-ful for me:

Catholicism: Firstly, i lead devotions yesterday at CPE. Trying to be different and creative, i delved into some of my past devotional practices and lead a 'Jesus Rosary' session. The Jesus Rosary just is the same as the Catholic rosary, just substituting the Jesus prayer in place of the Hail Mary's. My 4 fellow CPE classmates (all catholic religious) were very surprised to have a Presby/Quaker leading them in the rosary.

Judaism: Last night i joined the labyrinth crowd for a rather irreligious Passover meal at Kevin's house. There was wine, good food and even some espressos and/or single malt afterwards. I've been to a few Christianised Passover meals before, so it was really interesting to experience this tradition with an eclectic bunch of people with no background in either Judaism or Christianity.

The reflection and discussion before the meal focused on Jewish spirituality, specifically the notion of chosenness and what it does in light of suffering. We got talking about the problems in Jerusalem and how some Jews believe that the Messiah will only come when the temple has been rebuilt. The 'minor' problem here is that there is a temple on the temple mount already: the Dome on the Rock mosque. Kevin's 'solution' was so simple, yet profound: "Why don't they just share the building?" he said. Now there's an inter-faith, communal answer for world peace.

Islam: Today i got off CPE early and joined a Muslim friend of mine at Friday Prayers (Jumu'ah) at his local Mosque. Nazeer took me to a Nikaah a while back, but i've wanted the full mosque experience, to get more of a feel of the Muslim faith. The experience was not as worship-ful as i would have thought, though very liturgical (but not in a restrictive, conforming way). I'd liken it more to a Catholic Mass (though not as sacramental), rather than a charismatic worship service. The sermon was on a few of the attitudes of the Prophet Mohammed, which i found pleasantly surprising. I can't remember them all - it was hard to keep track with all the Arabic words and quotations from the Qur'an in the sermon - but one that stood out is the the Prophet (and Allah) hold forgiveness higher than justice. Watching a few thousand men kneel, bow and pray all in unison was something, and the call to prayer and recitation of the Qur'an was beautiful. All in all, it was not as 'moving' or 'holy' as i would have thought, but it was still a privilege to partake (or rather observe) this sacred time.

mundane Monday

So, this is me. Back in cape town, back to work, back at my desk on this boiling hot Monday day.

First off, some political commentary. Tired of the analytical and ‘objective’ coverage of the US primary election race that fills up the pages of South African newspapers when there are more pressing issues to speak about? Well, here’s a great, humorous take on all the contenders, their foibles and contradictions by Moby:

everyone’s a pundit

(Yes, Moby the musician, not the whale. He has a rather poignant blog worth reading if you want.)

So, with that international politics low down, back to me in the office. Still boiling hot here in Cape Town where for once the wind is not blowing. Umm… yeah, welcome back! I had a great holiday in Jozi - catching up with my family, saying farewell to very close friends off to Thailand, England and Aus, meeting people for coffee, and having others over for dinner. Good times, good times. Sorry if I missed some of you, I had to find a balance between spending time with my family or time on the highways driving the full extent of Jo’burg.

For now I’m still working at the SACC PO until my CPE course in March. I’ve already been to a meeting today trying to mobilise a Right To Food coalition between the EJN, Black Sash, Cosatu, the SACC and other players. Looks interesting and promising. The question of Food Security is not really an issue I’m fluent in, but can already see its importance. Bread prices are set to rise another 40c already this month, making the high unemployment rate here (estimates between 29% and 40%) even more critical. So, watch this space as I work with advocacy people on this issue, as well as finish up a publication from November’s Child Rights Conference.

Oh, lastly, at Aiden’s recommendation, I bought and have started reading Andrew Feinstein’s After the Party. With all the current news about Selebi and Zuma’s corruption charges, I doubt this book will lift the sombre atmosphere much. One cool thing is that, having worked with PMG in Parliament, I can imagine the scenes he describes all the more vividly.

Back to work. It's still hot!

Need arms?

US and Israel agree $30bn arms deal

I read this article last week and was offended. For some reason I find this news horribly disturbing, biased and un-Christian. I’ve heard somewhere (and hope it isn’t correct) that HALF of the US’s foreign aid goes to Israel already. Now, here’s another 30 BILLION for arms, with a few more billions offered to Egypt and Saudi Arabia too. I laughed at the fine print that stipulated that 75% of it must be spent with American manufacturers.

Is it just me or is this kind of international ‘trade’ appalling on many levels?

• Military spending doesn’t make the world safer;
• the Christian Zionism that uncritically supports Israel is distorted;
• and the co-option of whole countries into the US Empire by lending them money is alarming.

This may be a direct move against Iran, but a bigger Israeli military means even more bad news for the displaced and oppressed Palestinians, and bigger guns watching the Wall.

Just thought I’d get that off my chest. It is a tad refreshing to be in a country that sees the plight of Palestine rather than thinking Israel needs a bigger military.

(oh, and as to me: I’m in Cape Town training as a monitor with PMG, and negotiating some work with the SACC Parliamentary Office. Went to the beach and swam and played Frisbee this weekend - I like this city already!)