Solidarity With The Persecuted
Let's Be Committed To The Truth Of Our Oneness
“Every empire tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate.”
—Edward W. Said
When I’m not writing about mystic philosophy and esoteric topics like chakric metaphysics—and consequently feeling the climbing eyebrows of scientific materialists—my other primary creative outlet is making advocacy films.
The mystic’s worldview lines right up with advocating for universal human rights. If we truly believe from our innermost depths that we are all one big global family, or playing at the edge of mysticism, Oneness Itself, we start to act accordingly.
We try to reduce suffering.
A component of this sense of togetherness, and even obligation, came to light a few years ago regarding the persecution of the Palestinian people, and the production of my film, Solidarity: Five Largely Unknown Truths about Israel, Palestine, and the Occupied Territories (2020).
To be perfectly clear, I stand with the Israeli people, and yet there are issues with the Israeli government and Israeli military. Like the USA. The Israeli government is currently run by the most extreme right wing politicians in its history.123 This is common knowledge within Israeli society at the moment. It’s not a conspiracy to suggest that the Knesset is packed full of George W. Bushes.
And it’s not anti-Judaism to say this. I love my Jewish brothers and sisters and I want them to be safe and at peace.
I don’t support Hamas. I don’t support terrorism. This seems almost bizarre to have to continue to emphasize. No one justifies the atrocious brutality of that festival of peace-loving sweethearts. I cried, I got enraged, I was absolutely devastated watching the footage of Israeli citizens scared for their lives. That was unimaginable horror. There is no justification for that level of horrific violence.
And Israel has reacted with almost inconceivable vengeance. Israeli leaders are using genocidal language. Apartment buildings, convoys of Palestinian refugees, and as of this week a hospital has blown up in Gaza, killing hundreds of wounded and the doctors treating them. Just yesterday we learned that an Israel Defense Forces air strike hit the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, the third-oldest church in the world.4 The destruction of Gaza in these past two weeks has been maddening and even apocalyptic. Entire family lines have been removed from our gene pool. 56
The pendulum of extreme violence continues to swing back and forth in this region. And when you look closely at its history, you’ll understand that the Palestinian people have been brutally oppressed for the past 75 years.
The state began with the forced displacement (kind words) of 750,000 indigenous Arabs, including Arab Jews, from the region.7 Albert Einstein himself criticized the Israeli Herut (Freedom) party led by Menachem Begin, writing that they were “closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties” when Einstein refused to accept the nomination to become the president of Israel in 1948.89 Respected historians & journalists have even pointed out that Israel was involved in the creation of Hamas in the 1980s in order to counteract Yasser Arafat’s PLO; and a former Israeli Government adviser Avner Cohen wrote “Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel's creation.”10 11 Last year, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch came to the conclusion that Palestinians are living under apartheid—these exhaustive reports authored by two of the most-respected NGOs on the planet.1213
It’s a shame that these historical realities are so ‘counter’ to the corporate / mainstream narrative in the West but after years of research and activism within the space, they are glaringly apparent. These things really happened. And now the American cultural landscape has entered this McCarthy-esque era where any legitimate criticisms of the actions of the Israeli government are silenced, doxxed, or added to trackers like this one.14 Arabs in Israel are getting knocks on their door for expressing their support for Gaza online.15 Well I refuse to be bullied or frightened into silence. The only reason I am broadcasting these thoughts is to express solidarity with the persecuted in an attempt to try to reduce their suffering; which is a beautiful, enduring, core value teaching from the Jewish people.
What needs to happen right now is a complete ceasefire, and a central focus on negotiations to release the Israeli hostages. Then we can work in a collaborative effort to enable Palestinian self-determination, and a peaceful coexistence among the two peoples. Without this succession, we’re barreling towards even more troubling scenarios with potentially global impacts.16
The safety and freedom of Israelis and Palestinians is intertwined. This is called “Interbeing” in Buddhism.17 And it’s the only way out of this nightmare. May all beings be free, happy, and at peace.
Zion, Ilan Ben. “Israel Swears in Netanyahu as Prime Minister, Most Right-Wing Government in Country’s History.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 29 Dec. 2022, www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israel-swears-in-netanyahu-as-prime-minister-most-right-wing-government-in-countrys-history.
Greene, Richard Allen. “Netanyahu on Course to Lead Israel’s Most Right-Wing Government Ever, Partial Israel Results Suggest.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Nov. 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/11/02/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-election-results-intl/index.html.
Berg, Raffi. “Israel’s Most Right-Wing Government Agreed under Benjamin Netanyahu.” BBC News, BBC, 22 Dec. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63942616.
Al-Mughrabi, Nidal. “Orthodox Church Says It Was Hit by Israeli Air Strike in Gaza.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 20 Oct. 2023, www.reuters.com/world/orthodox-church-says-it-was-hit-by-israeli-air-strike-gaza-2023-10-20/.
Hass, Amira. “Israel Is Wiping out Entire Gazan Families on Purpose.” Haaretz.Com, Haaretz, 19 May 2021, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-05-19/ty-article/gaza-israel-wiping-entire-palestinian-families-hamas/0000017f-eae3-d4cd-af7f-ebfbbb800000.
Democracy Now! “‘A Textbook Case of Genocide’: Israeli Holocaust Scholar on Israel’s Gaza Assault.” Democracy Now!, 16 Oct. 2023, www.democracynow.org/2023/10/16/raz_segal_textbook_case_of_genocide
Pappé, Ilan. “The 1948 Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.” Institute for Palestine Studies, www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/41791. Accessed 19 Oct. 2023.
Schuster, Ruth. “1948: N.Y. Times Publishes Letter by Einstein, Other Jews Accusing Menachem Begin of Fascism.” Haaretz.Com, Haaretz, 4 Dec. 2014, www.haaretz.com/jewish/2014-12-04/ty-article/.premium/1948-n-y-times-letter-by-einstein-slams-begin/0000017f-e28e-d38f-a57f-e6de6e7d0000.
Current Affairs. “Albert Einstein, the pro-Palestinian Socialist ❧ Current Affairs.” Current Affairs, www.currentaffairs.org/2021/07/albert-einstein-the-pro-palestinian-socialist. Accessed 19 Oct. 2023.
Mehdi Hasan, Dina Sayedahmed. “Blowback: How Israel Went from Helping Create Hamas to Bombing It.” The Intercept, 9 Oct. 2023, theintercept.com/2018/02/19/hamas-israel-palestine-conflict
Higgins, Andrew. “How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 24 Jan. 2009, www.wsj.com/articles/SB123275572295011847.
“Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians.” Amnesty International, 23 June 2023, www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/.
“Israeli Apartheid: ‘A Threshold Crossed.’” Human Rights Watch, 19 July 2021, www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/19/israeli-apartheid-threshold-crossed.
“Global Live Feed of Potentially Supportive Sentiments for Terrorism among Company Employees.” Potentially Terror-Supporting Detector, anti-israel-employees.com/?page=1. Accessed 19 Oct. 2023.
“Arabs in Israel Face Reprisals over Online Solidarity with Gaza.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Oct. 2023, www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/20/israeli-arabs-reprisals-online-solidarity-gaza.
Democracy Now! “Rashid Khalidi on Biden’s ‘Israel-First Approach’ & Middle East Outrage over Gaza.” Democracy Now!, 18 Oct. 2023, www.democracynow.org/2023/10/18/rashid_khalidi_gaza_israel.
Excerpted from The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh with permission by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2017. The Insight of Interbeing, www.garrisoninstitute.org/blog/insight-of-interbeing/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2023.