One thing that gives me hope in this country is its intellectuals and research/educational institutions. You can listen there to meaningful conversations and genuine analysis to understand issues in depth. Those are the adults in the room and wish that our politicians are like that, but they are not.

This panel discussion (4 days ago) at Harvard Business School is a must watch for everyone seeking peace. It talks about timing choice of Oct 7 event, background, what peaceful negotiations happened in the past, stressed that there is no violent solution to this crisis, and other important comments about both sides of conflict.

I guess the conclusion, which I’m 100% in agreement with is to have adults with good intentions sit and negotiate. We can get stuck, but that does not mean intellectuals give up on trying to seek peace.

I wish myself to join and listen to conversations between Palestinians and Israelis rising generations aspiring for peace based on genuine understanding of the past to learn from and to move forward with good intentions and actions. If only media propaganda and bad biases give them a break and let us follow their path. The path decided by rising generations. I’m sure there will be no killing of civilians.

If you ask me, my wish is that solution comes to one country from the river to the sea where all faiths and ideologies live in peace just like how it was before 1948. However, that is not my choice.

The point of this post is to emphasize that we really need to have those critical conversations with mindful people from all sides. And also to know that it is going to be a long road full of obstacles, but it maybe worth it.

Have a great working week everyone!

We are guilty of not speaking up about October 6 events/conditions and using all civic engagements possible to defend the rights of Palestinians against the brutal occupation. That is true in Gaza (open air prison) and true in the West Bank (massacres and detention of civilians without any fair trials). This operation of ethnic cleansing has not stopped since 1948 as mentioned in Ilan Pappe’s book.

We are also guilty of not having enough conversation with Israeli population through all means possible. Most of those people were born after 1948, and only those who specialize in history or human rights get to see the out of the box context. Otherwise , the majority are unaware or in denial of what is happening (this is also true of Americans and many other nations). They seem to be receiving propaganda and twisted history in their education. Besides, life is good, so like most the population of planet earth “why should I care?”. That was a conclusion from Gideon Levy. Perhaps we should find ways to have conversations with open minded people.

After seeing “Israelism” documentary and reading couple of articles/books from genuine Israeli scholars, I can tell that the truth will never be buried and there is hope to change the perception of the masses in denial in Israel. But if their intellectuals cannot accept the truth-seeking challenge about history, their government and leaders agenda, then it is a long way before we all realize the losses.

Since October 7 events, It has been interesting to see the amount of propaganda and tension all over news and social media. It is also scary to see how much people believe in propaganda and false marketing. It is also scary to see the amount of hatred spreading. I believe it is going to get much worse moving forward. I have to say that I’m shocked and worried to know that >80% of Israel population support the crimes done by IDF. Yet at the same time they want to revolt against the failures of their leaders.

Nonetheless, getting overwhelmed by the misinformation/propaganda over screens and social media is a signal and alarm to intellectuals that we have a serious obligation to explore, question things, establish meaningful debates, civic engagement, and repurpose our critical thinking and other skills that makes us successful in our careers. We use them to filter lies and unreasonable biases and present solid arguments to the masses. We also have to play devils advocate to see the other sides.

Also, If someone convinced you that speaking up about crimes against humanity is not professional, it is far from truth and far from the integrity required for success in your career.

We also need to have a thick skin. So as things get worse, Stay strong!

My advice to myself is:

1. When you use credible resources, people can change their minds.

2. Always look at the majority of the population as people to sympathize with. Some people are victims of their own media brainwash .. some people are victims of their miserable daily life conditions. So, we have to take the context very carefully and broadly.

3. One has to understand that media labels applied to a whole population does not help any meaningful discussion.

4. No country or government is above criticism, and it does not help to start labeling people as “antisemitic” or “anti American” or “anti anything” to shutdown debate and free speech.

I hope to focus on the root of all these disasters and in my mind it is how the US is ruled. The obsession of the powerful and wealthy about liberal hegemony and concentration of more wealth/power.

The claimed US democracy is partially sound but it has been a wide cover for the wealthy in power to create more wealth. Unfortunately this is not a disease of just US democracy, it is everywhere. That to be continued…

The current events in Palestine should be an eye opener to the world’s population. Just zoom out and ask the question “how come our politicians are supporting the slaughter of thousands of civilians instead of promoting negotiations for peace?”

I’m not saying why the slaughtering is in action. I’m asking how a country with claimed values supports it?!

If the US is a company, I would then ask “How are decisions being made? How are they getting influenced?”

A question leads to another. On screens and newspapers, the president and his cabinet seem to announce decisions, but do they actually make them and feel fully empowered by the votes/opinions of the populations?

Pick the situation in Ukraine as another example. I have seen most renowned political scientists opposing the way US decided to interfere and expressing that diplomacy is the right way and that Russia’s fear of Ukraine getting into NATO is valid and has to be respected/addressed. Besides, there is no strategic interest for the US to dilute focus and spend billions in a war where sound people knew that would lead to a disaster for Ukraine, which unfortunately happened. Instead of learning and stopping there, our president wants to continue with more funding.

So, how come the common sense is not a common practice?! There are tons of great analysis and uncovering of corruption exposed in this matter if anyone wants to Google articles or lectures by leading thinkers and political scientists in the US that have spoken about the obsession of the powerful and wealthy with liberal hegemony and practices that lead to more concentration of wealth/power. Besides you will find more interesting data about the board members of many weapons producers companies and engagement (conflict of interest) with politics, aka war lobbyists.

We claim democracy here, but it has been consistently weakened and has been a wide cover for the wealthy in power to create more wealth. This is not a disease just in US democracy, it is everywhere but has different names. At the end it is tyranny.

The failed and immoral decisions that we see come from the fact that our democracy is not what we think it is. Therefore, it is worth spending time by all intelligent people to be aware and make others aware. Please research more into that, talk to your network about it and help us all get enlightened.

One documentary/book I found very enlightening is this one below by the great Noam Chomsky. Through it, he has addressed the rising role of inequality and injustice that allowed a minority of people/institutions to have unprecedented influence over decision making to the benefit of making the wealthy wealthier.

This is a must-watch documentary/book about the neoliberalism’s 10 principles of concentration of wealth & power:

1. Reduce democracy

2. Shape ideology

3. Redesign the Economy

4. Shift the Burden

5. Attack Solidarity

6. Run the Regulators

7. Engineer Elections

8. Keep the Rabble in Line

9. Manufacture Consent

10. Marginalize the Population

https://youtu.be/WEnv5I8Aq4I?si=2AEXaoT3RBIusEOO

“What matters is the countless small deeds of unknown people who lay the basis for the significant events that enter into history. They’re the ones who have done things in the past and they’re the ones who have to do it in the future.” – Howard Zinn

(Photo from 101/280 highway at Silicon Valley)

Please repeat after me:

1. Israel is committing war crimes and believes no one can stop it, not even the weak/corrupt US administration or international institutions

2. Israel is isolating itself from international community and dragging the US with it

3. Israel is putting an immature bully child to represent it at the UN

4. Israeli regime claimed that: “I know what America is,” Netanyahu said. “America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in the way.”

5. I should read from authentic resources about the conflict and crimes done since 1948 till now just to understand who is the oppressor and oppressed. Israel is the oppressor and every thing else is pure propaganda

6. I should get more into civic engagement (start with 2 hours/week) to understand what and how decisions being made from ground up. I would do this to do my part and protect my kids and rising generations from corruption. I have a voice and I should use it to promote welfare and peace

7. I should talk and discuss with my network to bring awareness and do more research. Having civil discussions helps. We also have to protect freedoms of speech and condemn the targeting of academic institutions and organizations.

8. Israel does not want a two state solution and they keep building settlements in the Occupied West Bank to make it more impossible. They have established an apartheid state.

Check the reference of each point at the end of the post. The truth is out there and will never be hidden as long as we keep spreading it.

This all has to change and many free people need to come out of their comfort zone and do their part to end Israel’s brutal occupation and relentless killing of unarmed civilians. This very act of resistance, research and activism will uncover corruption in our land and expose problems that need lots of courage and d energy to be faced and resolved. This will help the world be better.

Resources:

1 – https://www.youtube.com/live/w818AIkCWQ4?si=BfHpdQdS9OlOa2Xs

2 – https://www.youtube.com/live/vHT_Q1E_O3o?si=iZ9mzdR8RewLLL1p

3 –

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-12-15/ty-article-opinion/.premium/the-ambassador-of-israeli-immaturity/0000018c-69ea-db38-a9fc-e9ea7d0a0000

4 –

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2010/7/18/netanyahu-us-easily-manipulated

5 – resources in posts here :

https://www.israelismfilm.com

https://ifamericansknew.org

6 – corruption, homelessness and others

https://youtu.be/swovERCu7n4?si=xohnaQWcviMvrJZ-

https://www.npr.org/homelessness-affordable-housing-crisis-rent-assistance

7 – https://youtu.be/OoSmAtVN19Q?si=mrnevtzy5Au3tblM

8 – https://www.youtube.com/live/IdRm0QboYjA?si=LRnzqrQjQdnRM8xh

https://youtu.be/ynD0XQXVHKA?si=bJq1BQvDWJELbFT9