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Palestine
Alyssa Plant has written one of the most sensitive and affecting tales of emergence. I just love the way it's developing. Anyone who hasn't read "The Road To Haifa" yet, is missing out on a beautiful story, at least I can say that through part 3 which is all that's posted so far.
The story is set against a backdrop of the Israeli/Arab conflict in the Mideast, starting during a sniper mission as part of some sort of stealthy police action in the Golan Heights. The story is not about the conflict. It doesn't glorify the fighting. It doesn't concentrate on it at all. This is not the kind of story that needs a fight-coordinator in the movie credits. It's a personal drama, centered on one person, trying to find a way to survive after she discovers that she can no longer force herself to hide in the false male persona she's tried to carry around her whole life.
But, for some people, it still brings up the Israeli-Arab conflict, with lots of hot-buttons. I think most of us would like some kind of peaceful solution to that. In the interest of Peace, please allow me to make a modest plea.
For the record, I am a supporter of Israel's right to exist. Yes, there are issues with the British Mandate of Palestine and the founding of the Jewish State, and the almost constant defacto state of war they've been in with their neighbors. A lot of displaced refugees got a pretty poor deal, regardless of who was to blame for that, whether it was Britain, Israel, or certain Arab countries who fomented war. Yes, there are a number of human rights issues regarding Gaza and the West Bank. These need to be addressed. Supporting a country's right to exist is not the same as giving it a blank check to do whatever they want. Nor does discussing the justifications for actions do much to help any victims of the process. And, there are always victims.
As some of you may know, about a year ago I started attending The Religious Society of Friends ("Quaker") Meeting where I've been exposed to a really nice community of earnestly good people, imho. One of their most important teachings/testimonies is Peace. They've been fairly active in trying to look for solutions and help the peace process in the Mideast. To that end, through the American Friends Service Committee, they have a Middle East Peace Education Project. To support that project, and Palestinian farmers who are caught in the conflict, cut off from markets, and in some cases finding their olive groves divided by the new Security Wall, I was proud to purchase a bottle of "Fair Trade" Palestinian Olive Oil. It may not be much, but if it is true that Peace and Prosperity are linked, then perhaps dispelling poverty can help remove some of the fuel for war.
http://www.afsc.org/southeast/mepep/OliveOil.htm
Seeing conflict and taking sides is one thing. Seeing people and doing the right thing is not in conflict with that. Only with hope, a link to the world, and a vested interest in their own success can hatred and strife be dispelled enough to move the peace process forward. There's a huge amount of work to be done, to be sure, a number of grievances and irritations to deal with, some of which are going to need friendly third-party national pressure. Buying an overpriced bottle of Zatoun olive oil isn't going to solve much, and yet, could it be the start of it?
Comments
May I say something?
As far as I can see life is a bitch and it takes far too long to die.
The conclusion I am coming to is that I want to be part of the circle of people who refuse to hate others just because someone says we should.
I really like Alyssa's story in spite of the fact that she sort of brushed over the idea of him changing to she in a skirt very lightly. Her story is really sensitive but none of us could expect her to understand the turmoil a trans would be under during that transition.
Sure, I walked out the door one day in a skirt and never looked back, but as I am sure that many of us did as I did. I cross dressed in secret for years before hand. My own feelings went something like;"my life is destroyed behind me, there is only one way to go".
As far as supporing or not supporting Israel goes, I do not have the answers to that situation. I know the Christian Dogma, I know the inexplicable hate of some Arabs of the Jews. In my own heart, though, I wish they would all just knock off the fighting and get along. That means both sides have lots to do.
Sure, I am a Muslim, but I wish no one ill, I flunked bomb making class :), and I know that much of the world suffers and it breaks my heart. I only have love for others.
Many blessings
Khadija Gwen Brown
not understand?
I realise this is old, but i only just read it...
I dont understand the turmoil a transwoman would be under? Um, for the record, I am Transsexual/Intersexed... I transitioned at 19, (now 21) and i am still preop, having been on hormone therapy for 2 years. Belive me, i do understand what its like... im somewhat shocked that i was assumed non trans dispite some of the things i wrote about that could only come from intimate experience of this suffering.
Alyssa
Thanks for Your Tip
Pippa, thanks much for your tip re 'The Road to Haifa.' I'm going to download it now. There's so much on BCTS these days that I'm having trouble finding the envelope-pushing stories that I most want to read, so the recommendations of others are a real help. Hugs, Daphne
Daphne
Thanks for this blog
Thanks Pippa for your comments and your link to a very admirable website.
I get so angry sometimes with the lack fair reporting, of the situation in Palestine, by the UK media.
Almost two years ago I attended a very large protest in London. Many of the people there were motivated to turn up by their disgust at the failure of a Prime Minister, a professed committed Christian, to issue a public call for a ceasefire during the war in Lebanon. Something the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Prime Minister's church, had already done.
I agree so much with your comment about victims. It's always the innocent who suffer while the leaders play their political games.