This Sunday, an invite to #be4peace. A compilation of poems, video and readings; theatre, revolution and cricket
As I wrote in the last @southasiapeace newsletter 'Amidst the madness... we hold on to our core beliefs and values, refusing to descend to the level of those who seem to have lost their humanity.'
This Sunday, an invite to spend 10 minutes to just #be4peace, in your own way, anytime between 10am-12 noon where ever you are.
There’s more in the latest
newsletter, which includes links to the latest #SapanNews features - young Rumi Nagpal in Colombo on learnings from an uprising and his late grandmother, a theatre artist; and Rajeev Soneja in Boston, on India-Pakistan cricket and cricket books, with some historic photos shared by my old friend, news photographer Rahat Ali Dar in Lahore.Readings, videos, poems, writings
Sharing a compilation of some these below, in no particular order.
Ceasefire - Stop this War! - online petition by Avaaz. Over 900,000 had signed since this appeal was posted on 30 Oct. 2023.
Video: 87-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Condemns Israeli Assault & Calls for Peace. Marione Ingram has been protesting outside the White House calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. She remembers her Jewish mother’s attempt to commit suicide, being called hateful names by playmates, losing family members to the Nazis, and surviving the Allied bombing of Hamburg as a child. “What Israel is doing will not end this conflict. It will only exacerbate it,” she says. - Democracy Now, 8 Nov. 2023
Video: Hungarian-Canadian physician Dr. Gabor Maté talking to his daughter Hannah about Israel/Palestine - October 28, 2023
Israel, It’s Time to Consider a Cease-fire - Opinion by Thomas Friedman in New York Times, 29 Oct. 2023, calling out Netanyahu’s “half-baked plan”. The Indian example would serve Israel well, he argues “Because targeted use of force with limited, achievable goals may serve Israel’s long-term security and prosperity more than an open-ended war to eradicate Hamas.”
Why did they change the original headline?
Letter to the Children of Gaza - The
Report.
A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation, by Dr Fady Joudah in Literary Hub, 01 Nov. 2023. A heart-wrenching poetic essay by a Palestinian physician and poet in Houston, who has worked with Doctors Without Borders, a friend of my sister Sehba Sarwar who tells me 49 of his family members have been killed over the past month in Israel’s attacks on Gaza. I smelt blood while reading it.
From my hometown in Gaza, the unthinkable news: 36 of my family members are dead | Ghada Ageel | The Guardian, 01 Nov. 2023
Gazalament - a poem by dear friend Kavita Ramdas in The Wire, 04 Nov. 2023. ‘When the fire stops raining from the sky, someone has to clean up. As always, the women come saying, I am. Here.’
Grief, Death, and Destruction in Gaza Through Photos | TIME - 18 Oct. 2023. The issue also carries heartbreaking stories about the hostages taken by Hamas and those killed in its Oct. 7 attacks - which does not justify what Israel is doing now.
“Not in Our Name”: 400 Arrested at Jewish-Led Sit-in at NYC’s Grand Central Demanding Gaza Ceasefire | Democracy Now! 30 Oct. 2023.
Protesters try to block a U.S. military cargo ship from heading to Israel - Al Jazeera Instagram reel, four days ago. The ship did eventually leave harbour. The protests in Oakland and Tacoma, CA, were coordinated under the banner of #BlockTheBoat - More at: Pro-Palestine Protesters Delay US Military Ship They Say Is Delivering Weapons to Israel - Vice, 7 Nov. 2023
Top UN official in New York steps down citing ‘genocide’ of Palestinian civilians | The Guardian, 31 Oct. 2023
A Prayer, Chant and Protest Song: Faith Communities Must Resist Their Extremists - Sunita Viswanath of Hindus for Human Rights in The Wire, 30 Oct.
Hindu religious leaders in India pray for #ceasefire in Palestine. They are also joining the #be4peace initiative.
Israel Can’t Imprison Two Million Gazans Without Paying a Cruel Price - Israeli journalist Gideon Levy in Haartez, 09 Oct.
Video interview of human rights lawyer Michael Sfard in Democracy Now, titled after his opinion piece, Israelis Must Maintain Their Humanity Even When Their Blood Boils, Haartez, 11 Oct., 2023.
“Life Line to Gaza”: A Poem by Ru Freeman ‹ Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2023
Malinda Words - lyrical writing by the Sri Lankan poet and freelance columnist Malinda Seniviratne who is also volunteering with Sapan News. A couple of samplings: The truly besieged, The most pernicious human shield.
Palestinian journalist Taghreed Khodary speaks to BBC about genocide in Gaza - Oct. 2023. A dear friend from my Nieman year at Harvard.
Amid Israel-Hamas War, Revisit ‘Shattered Dreams of Peace’ - documentary - PBS FRONTLINE
Video: British Jewish Zionist MP Gerald Kaufman says Israel acting like Nazis in Gaza: “My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza. The current Israeli Government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt among gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians. The implication is that Jewish lives are precious, but the lives of Palestinians do not count.” This is from 2009, being shared around via WhatsApp as if it’s recent. And it could well be.
Statement on the Israeli-Hamas War – Oct. 8, by Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, started by Joseph Gerson. We met in Japan in 1998 after India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons. He was until recently with the Quaker peace organisation American Friends Services Committee in Boston; recently started CPDCS.
I would love to hear from you. Feedback welcome.
Love, peace, solidarity
beena
(ends)