כמה מילקי שווה לנו?

 בימים האחרונים יש סערה תקשורתית (שוב) בנוגע ליורדים מישראל לברלין. שוב האשמות נעשות במקום לחשוב למה המילקי הזה הועלה לדיון מלכתחילה. אתחיל ואומר שאין ציפייה שמילקי בישראל יעלה כמו באיחוד האירופי. ציפייה זו  היא אולי תקווה אך זו המנותקת לגמרי מהמציאות הכלכלית והפוליטית של ישראל. מה שכן יש לצפות שהמחיר יהיה זול ממה שהוא עכשיו.

באשר לאינטרסים של העלאת הנושא הכלכלי בהשוואה לברלין מעניין שאנשים לא שמים לב עד כמה קל להגיד זה ברלין, גיהנום עבור היהודים, אז למה שנרצה להשוות את עצמנו אל ברלין. קל מאוד עבור כולנו ללכת לעבר הקשה שלנו עם הגרמנים, עבר שנמצא בתודעה שלנו והוא חלק מהיום יום. אך למה אנחנו לא שמים לב שאנחנו מולכים למקום הזה. למה החדשות המסעירות והראשונות שהוצגו בנושא הכלכלי בישראל נגעו למילקי בברלין וכיוצא מזה ל”בוגדים” שעזבו לשם ולא לגבינה בארצות הברית או חומוס בלונדון ולקהילה הישראלית הגדולה לא פחות (ואף יותר) שם. כי אין מה לעשות ברלין וגרמניה גורמים לנו להגיב בצורה מאוד מסוימת המשכיחה את הרצינות של הנושא עצמו. יוקר המחייה בישראל ואיכות החיים שעשר שנים האחרונות במיוחד ירדו בצורה משמעותית.

אז למה ה”בוגדים” האלו עוזבים? נכון יש כאלו שלא אוהבים את ישראל, שטוב להם מחוץ לישראל. אך הרוב עוזבים כי אין להם ברירה. כי הם לא יכולים לפרנס עצמם בכבוד יותר, והם מחפשים פתרון. הרבה מאלו שעליהם מפילים את המונח “בגידה” בלי לחשוב פעמיים הם אלו שנלחמו בישראל לא רק בצבא אלא גם במאבק הכלכלי חברתי, נלחמו במשך שנים עד שהמצב האישי שלהם הביא להחלטה לעזוב. כי אהבת הארץ זה ערך אחד חשוב אך איך תוכל לאהוב את ארצך אם אינך מעריך את החיים שלך.

כמה פשוט זה ליפול על הצעירים האלו, כי האמת היא שהצועקים “בוגדים” הם אלו שנשארו בישראל, שבחובות, שלא מסיימים את היום וכמה נורא זה לראות מישהו שכן מצליח לסיים את החודש ואולי גם נוסע לחופשה. כי אותנו מלמדים לא להיות מפונקים ומי אלו אותם הצעירים שיכולים לקנות בית בלי לאבד אותו תוך כמה שנים (ולא, לא בגלל שהם פתאום עשירים פה אלא כי הבנק לא מבצע הונאה עם משכנתאות שאינן ברות החזרה).

לתקשורת הישראלית ובמיוחד לפוליטיקאים שלנו שמוסיפים עול על כתפנו כל הזמן עם ההחלטות הפוליטיות כלכליות שלהם וניהול התקציב, קל ונוח להזכיר את ברלין וגרמניה, בכדי להסיט את עינינו מהאמת שעומדת מולנו – בעשר שנים האחרונות הממשלות קיבלו החלטות שהובילו כביכול לשיפור הכלכלה (עבור בעלי אינטרסים והון) אך לצניחה באיכות החיים ועליה ביוקר המחייה.

המאבק הכלכלי חברתי אינו חדש, עוד לפני מחאת האוהלים, והקוטג’, היו רבים שניסו לקום נגד אותן גזירות כלכליות, נגד הפרטת קרקעות, עלייה ביוקר המחייה, ניהול תקציב ועוד. אך קולם היה חלש. אני כסטודנטית לקחתי חלק במאבקים כלכלים חברתיים, השתתפתי בהפגנות נגד גזירות שרוב האנשים בישראל לא שמו לב אליהם. תשומת הלב שלהם הייתה ועודנה למה שהתקשורת והפוליטיקאים רוצים.

כי אם נתמודד עם האמת נדע שהמחאה החברתית אמורה הייתה כבר להתחיל אם לא להגיע לשיאה, ובלי לפגוע במילקי או בקוטג’ היינו ברחובות זועקים על חשבונות הארנונה המגוחכים, על החשמל והמים, ועל המשכורות שאינן מכבדות אף אחד. בתור מי שעבדה גם בישראל וגם בחו”ל, אנחנו עובדים יותר גם יותר שעות וגם יותר בתוך השעות האלו ומקבלים פחות. ואם כל המדינה הייתה ענייה הייתי מבינה, אך שימו לב מה המשכורות של הבכירים שלכם? כמה כסף החברות שאתם עובדים עבורן מרוויחות ותחשבו האם אתם מקבלים את שווי ההשקעה היומיומית שלכם, או בכלל משכורת המאפשרת לחיות בכבוד.

ולמי שחושב שהמצב הפוליטי מוביל למצב הכלכלי, יש בזה משהו בהחלט. אבל המצב הפוליטי וה”אהבה” שאנו מקבלים מהעולם הייתה כך יותר מהעשור האחרון, או שני העשורים האחרונים. הירידה באיכות החיים ועלייה ביוקר המחיה – לא.

יש שיגידו שאין לישראלים בברלין, או בניו ג’רזי זכות לדבר כי הם עזבו ומה הם מבינים. לכך אענה – עד שלא תגורו בחו”ל (ולא טיול אחרי צבא או עגלות אלא ממש לגור כאחד האזרחים) ותחוו מה זה איכות חיים אולי לא תבינו מה אתם מחמיצים.

ואני? אני למדתי ועסקתי בפוליטיקה חברתית. יצאתי לרחובות בישראל כשהיה צריך ותכננתי לעשות זאת כל חיי. לא חשבתי לרגע שאעזוב, אך חיי האישיים לקחו אותי לברלין. לא חדלתי לאהוב את ישראל אף לא לרגע, וזה שאני יושבת בברלין ולא בישראל לא אומר שאני לא דואגת למדינה שלי. אם אתה אוהב מישהו אתה לא מוותר ומספיק לדאוג כי אתה רחוק.

בברלין יש דברים טובים אחרים שלצערי לא יתאימו לישראל. למשל כתושבת שדרות שנים לא ראיתי ילד והורים נינוחים בפארק, בלי דאגה. בלי לרוץ למקלט, או לחשוש מה יכול להיות גם כש”רגוע”.

בברלין אני רואה את זה. כשראיתי את זה לראשונה בכיתי כי זה היה כל כך לא מובן מאליו וכל כך לא אפשרי בשדרות ובישראל. במדינה שחיה תחת קונפליקט. ילד בשדרות כנראה יחייך, יצחק, וישחק אך תמיד יהיה בהיכון דבר שהילדים פה למזלם לא צריכים להבין.

יש דברים כמו המצב הביטחוני שלא תלויים רק בנו או בפוליטיקאים שלנו כי יש לנו שכנים שגם הם צריכים לרצות זאת. על פתרון ארוך טווח למצב הביטחוני אין לנו כוח גדול או בלעדיות. אך שינוי המצב הכלכלי כן בידינו ובידי הפוליטיקאים שלנו.

אז אפשר לראות במילקי כמילקי, כדבר שולי. או להבין את מה שהמילקי מספר לכם, ולהילחם על הזכות שלכם לחיות במדינה שלכם בכבוד, גם אם מדינה זו היא לא גרמניה, או ארה”ב.

Injustice #8 – The Western Media and Israel – an obsession?

Over the last few weeks a lot of criticism was made towards Israel. Now whoever knows me know I have a lot to criticize and question when it comes to Israel, Mainly regarding the Israeli society in the last few years and the waves of hatred for foreigners and non-Jews.

My character, to my advantage and disadvantage is that I speak my truth, how I see things, and that I don’t fit 100% to left or right. That is why you can find me writing posts criticizing Israel or supporting it, depending on the topic. In today’s world I find it to be a shame that people feel obligated to be recognized with one group and don’t criticize and create their own unique point of view.

I try to be true to my inner feeling of what is right and what is not.

As I am mostly identified (by others) with the left , the next arguments I bring might shock you. Yet I believe I answer to a higher power then right or left, and listen to my inner conscious, however complicated it is.

In the past few weeks, my country is at war. Maybe the strongest I have seen, and I have lived through 2 Intifadas and 5 wars. (Granted the last one I experience from a far…)

I know my country has haters from day one, but growing up the feeling was that the peace is near and that people in the world mostly understand the survival war both us and the Palestinians go through, as a direct result of the conflict. We had the extreme right to fight and they had the terrorists. At least that’s how I grew up believing.

Until 2006 and the rise of Hamas, a terror organization ruling in Gaza, I believed even through the second Lebanon war that peace is possible. Today as terror rules not only Gaza but the western media and society, I fear peace has never being so far.

I remember as a child my father telling me of his friends in Gaza, police men like him working for a better understanding between our nations. Back then it all seemed open. Today, these people are probably dead as they were Fattah men and Hamas never liked competition. Some of you will say it’s me assuming but actually we are quite sure they are dead for many reasons.

People don’t know that there were better times, both for Gaza and for us living near it. (I come from Sderot, not a settlement but Israeli territory from 1948).

I am not that naive, I know there were haters from both sides but it seemed that they were a minority- A strong one but still a minority. Today it seems more and more that Gaza has a majority of haters and the hatred in Israel is also growing nowadays. I am well aware that Israel and the IDF has part in the Palestinians hatred and the same can be explained for the Israeli side after years of living under genuine fear. But what people in the west miss is the fact that for years the children and adults of Gaza are taught in means of fear and manipulation that hating and destroying Israel is the only way to “win”, i.e. get their land. They are promised again and again to have the whole of Israel, a fantasy that wont happened as there is a country there, and that is a fact. Instead of educating for fighting for peace and land and to bring to the end of this war, the children in Gaza are taught to hate and to kill. Meanwhile the leaders of Hamas live like kings in a rich Gaza neighborhood that doesn’t get attacked (as the rockets are not placed there but in the poor parts of Gaza) and the people in Gaza die for the cause the Hamas presented but doesn’t live up to. Or do you think the terrorists that blow up in buses come from those rich families? There are countless interviews with Hamas supporters in Gaza willing to sacrifice their children for “the noble cause” of killing a Jew. I view this as a direct result of living under radical regime for years.

You must think now, how dare an Israeli lecture the people of Gaza. You are right! I have no right to lecture them but I would like to help them. That is if there is still something and someone to save. And unlike all those protesting against Israel, I actually care about them not only when Israel attacks but also later in the daily lives with Hamas.

I don’t do this just because I’m a nice person but because of a very important reason. I need Gaza to prosper. I need Gaza to have free market, education for tolerance rather than killing. I need Gaza to celebrate the smart children wining a competition, or a sport team from Gaza winning the game. I need it because I need my family to live in peace. I want my neighbors to contribute to Gaza’s economy by eating their great Humus as my parents did. Most of all I need to know my family and all those I love live next to people who might not like them but also do not plot to kill them in every way. Whether from air, with rockets from which I suffered all my childhood, or from dangerous tunnels used to kill my family and are paid by my tax money (I pay German taxes, European money is used to build these tunnels).

Unfortunately the terrorists know what I need and they are happy not to give it to me as they repeatedly say in interviews.

And here comes the shocking part that probably should not keep shackling me. Hamas Is clear about what they want. Destruction of Jews wherever they are and the destruction of Israel my homeland. They are terrorists; I expect nothing less from them.

What shocks me is that the Europeans and many others around the world go to the streets and shout “Israel is a killer” and next to them march radical Muslims and Neo-Nazis and say “death to Jews”. And again the world as always is silent.

You want to criticize Israel go right ahead, I do it often. But to march next to people who wish for the death of Jews, and be silent about it. Not stopping in that moment and say wait we are against a government not a nation… well, this can only mean one thing. The hatred for Jews and Antisemitism is no longer an act of the irrelevant minority but of the laud majority. To see posters of “death for Jews” in a city that just 70 years ago made this call a reality is beyond wrong. It is scary!

If you still believe that I might be over reacting, then let’s take a look at what happened. Israel’s behavior during the war is once again questioned as in every war. A big investigation again with my tax money is opened, and will close just like in years before when the real data of innocent casualties is revealed. I have no problem with an investigation about the casualties suspected to be caused by Israel. But I do think that if the world views numbers as important let us review this.

Israel casualties – less than 70, Gaza casualties – almost 2000. By this narrow number compression Israel should be investigated. But where is the investigation on Syria where in the last month over 170,000 Muslims died? Do their lives mean that little to the world just because Israel didn’t kill them. Where is the investigation on the government in Kiev making 250,000 people refugees and killing thousands of people? Who ever heard in the German TV about the thousands of Muslims killed in Burma? Where is the cry of Muslims to their fellow Muslims there? Where is the European left when close to a million people (that I know of) died worldwide in conflicts?

Now you tell me who is the leader making genocide? the one slaughtering his own people for months, or the one agreeing to endless cease fires and giving endless chances for the conflict to end.

I never say Israel is perfect and if any illegal behavior was made during this war it should be called out but my god comparing us to those who killed us not 70 years ago, and in the same breath marching next to signs of “death for Jews”. Has the world gone crazy? Or is it so easy to hate the Jew or nowadays the Israeli that all logic went out the window.

When did we lose our ability to criticize without the need to hate and scorn. The way the world is acting today, the victory of the Hamas and other terror organizations over us is not so far.

Injustice #7: From Barbie to FashionTV – how our self-confidence is based on lies.

Dear readers.  The last month was and is very tense for my country and for that reason I did not publish lately any new posts. However, I would like to return to posting as the injustice in the world hasn’t stop and neither should I.

Today I chose to write about body-image and the concept of beauty.

Ever since I was a little girl, I was told by people around me and by society two conflicted statements.

On the one hand I was taught that the beauty within is what counts, and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  With that, at the same time I kept hearing of the “Ideal body type”.  Beauty became more and more a concept not matching my appearance. This led to much heartache and self-doubt that could have been prevented for me and for many young women around the world.

During my high school years it was clear that the less of a woman there is the better. That a skinny girl with no breast or a very small breast is “Sexy” and a blond with blue or green eyes was the symbol of beauty in my school.

I tried very hard to fit to this narrow image of beauty and as I had brown eyes and dark curly hair I could only change one thing- My weight.

So i ran and exercised every day. I ate 250-300 calories a day (lying of course to all who knew me about what I ate) and within 3 months I lost 10 kilos! I was so proud of myself. More and more guys hit on me, and when I joined the army at age 18 I looked the thinner I ever was. I dated good looking guys and had a lot of energy and fitness. But all that time I had the lowest self-esteem I ever had in my life. I hated looking in the mirror and when I did I would cry over all my “flaws”.

The truth is that I was hungry, tired and hated myself as I could never get to the beauty level shown on magazines. I always had some scratches, scars, or wombs on my legs or face and my skin never looked as smooth and shiny as on the cover of those magazines. I tried so many things to get to those models’ skin complexion and nothing worked.

In the last few years the methods of ‘Fotoshop’ editing in magazines became more and more known and I heard of it as well. The more I looked into it, I realized the perfect images I grew up with were a fake and there are no women who really look so polished. I know today it is a known fact and that many good NGOs fight against this editing of the woman’s body. But I wanted to write and tell you my story as I believe its not enough that some of us know, as there are still many people who put these standards as personal goals.

You see, it took me years to understand what we can easily pass on to young women simply by showing that a beautiful natural body can get to the covers of the magazines. and deserves to!
If we speak up and maybe also stop buying magazines that use fotoshop, we can show women that there is nothing wrong with a few scars here and there, they show we lived!
There is nothing wrong with freckles or wombs and scratches as they are part of us!
When you take a woman who is beautiful and edit her even more (as happens many times with models) you make this beautiful woman believe she is not enough. And if models have issues with their bodies (and boy do they ever!) what are “ordinary” women like me to do?

In a world that keeps running forward, maybe we can stop for a second, and appreciate the beauty of today, and not try to create another image of beauty that no woman can catch up with.

I leave you with this video I found in Upworthy.com. (click on the link..) It shows, through a fake ad, how real this issue is.

 

http://www.upworthy.com/the-ad-may-be-awesomely-fake-but-the-unrealistic-beauty-standards-attached-are-100-really-real?c=ufb1

חורבן בית שלישי? החודש האחרון בישראל

החודש האחרון העמוס ברגשות עזים, אירועים טראומטיים ומכוננים, היה עבורי קשה במיוחד.

כל החודש חשבתי על “לבי במזרח ואנוכי בסוף מערב”. אך הפעם לשיר המוכר של יהודה הלוי התקבלה משמעות אחרת. לבי יצא אל  מדינתי במזרח אך לא מגעגוע אלא מדאגה. דאגה עמוקה כזו שמחלישה את הלב ושורפת את הבטן. דאגה מאסון גדול עוד יותר מאלו הנוראיים שהתרחשו בתקופה האחרונה.  אסון אותו לא אוכל לסבול, כזה שאת נפשי יקרע לגזרים כמו גם את לבי.

האסון הזה הנו חורבן בית שלישי. מהמעט שמלמדים אותנו בבית ספר, הסיבות להרס מדינת ישראל בעבר (חורבן בית ראשון ושני) הן  ריקבון מוסרי של החברה ומנהיגיה ושנאת חינם. מכאן שההרס בא מאתנו.

כמה עצוב לי לראות ניצנים של אמת במציאות שלנו היום. כמה כואב לי לראות שהסתה לשנאת הגר ולא הגנה עליו היא העומדת לנגדנו כיום. כמה כואב לי לראות שעם חכם המביא לקנאת העמים סביבו הופך לבור ומתמסר לקיצוניות ואי מוסריות.

חודש שאני יושבת ואומרת לקרובים אליי שאני מרגישה שההתלהמות הזו, המורגשת אפילו בפייסבוק, הנה מסוכנת. שאנו משחקים באש ולצערי הרב עברנו את הגבול של מה שמוסרי, של מה שנכון ומה שייחד אותנו והפך לקנאת ושנאת הגויים.

כששמעתי על ההפגנות האלימות בירושלים וראיתי סרטונים מהמתרחש בירושלים, העיר בה ביליתי שלוש שנים אולי הכי מעצבות בחיי, זעקתי זעקה גדולה. הבנתי כמו רבים אחרים בישראל שאנו עומדים לפני צומת דרכים ושאנו עומדים לעבור את אותם החוקים המוסריים שאנו הכתבנו לעצמנו ובהם אני כל כך גאה.

במשך שנים אני מתהלכת בגאווה ואומרת התדמית שיש לישראל היא שגויה ואני יודעת למה. אני יודעת מהי מדינת ישראל, מיהם אזרחיה, שלמרות הכאב שבאובדן והפחד שבסכנה המתמדת, אנו מוצאים את האיזון וגם אם סוטים מהדרך המוסרית זוהי סטייה קטנה וניתן להסביר אותה בנסיבות. במשך שנים אנו שומעים מידי פעם קריאות לנקמה, קריאות שנאה אך מעולם לא ניתן להם מקום מרכזי בחברה שלנו כמו בחודש האחרון. ובעוד שאני – ילידת ותושבת שדרות מרבית חיי – מבינה את הפחד שלא נגמר, את הרס השגרה, את הייאוש מהתמודדות ממושכת שנים עם טרור אכזרי רשע ולא אנושי, אני לא יכולה להבין את המעבר החד לשנאה כה עזה שתוליד ממנה מעשה נתעב כמו הפשע שנעשה למוחמד אבו ח’דיר זכרונו לברכה.

ויש שיתלהמו ויאמרו: אכפת לך יותר מה קרה לערבי מאשר ליהודים? אז את התשובה לשאלה הדמגוגית הזו אתן כבר עכשיו. ראשית, כל אדם- חייו חשובים ויש לשמרם. כמו שרבים אומרים כיום “רצח הוא רצח, דם הוא דם” וכך סבלתי כששמעתי על החטופים שנהרגו, על שלי דדון ז”ל ועל האחרון בשרשרת מעשי הזוועה – מוחמד אבו ח’דיר.  אם כך למה המקרה העצוב של מוחמד אבו ח’דיר מזעזע אותנו? כי אנו הישראלים יודעים משהו שאחרים אולי לא יודעים. אנו יודעים שעם כל הסבל והקושי היומיומי שלנו אנו שומרים על צלם אנוש, ולמרות שאנו מוקפים בגורמים ששרים אחרי מות נערינו, יוצאים לרחובות וחוגגים את הרג אזרחנו ונשבעים בפומבי להביא להרס המוחלט שלנו, אנו שומרים על ערכי המוסר שלנו. זו הגאווה הישראלית עבורי.

השבוע לצערי האירועים הקשים מוכיחים אחרת. אין ספק שההתלהמות והפגנת השנאה דחפה בצורה בלתי רגילה לאובדן שפיות ולפעולות המביישות אותנו. זהו הזעזוע האמיתי. לצערנו אובדן אהובינו אינו מפתיע גם אם כואב לאחר עשרות שנים של מלחמה, ולעומת זאת מעשה לא מוסרי מצדנו מזעזע וכן, גם מפחיד.

חודש צפיתי וקראתי חדשות בדיוק כמו אלו הגרים בישראל. רק שעשיתי זאת למשך שעה מיומי כשבישראל אנשים ראו שוב ושוב את הכאב אל מול בקשות גורמים קיצוניים לנקמה. הסיקור המוגזם (ורודף הרייטינג) של התקשורת הישראלית  ונתינת במה לגורמים רדיקליים הובילו בין היתר להסלמה מפתיעה ביותר. אנשים שלא האמנתי התחילו לקרוא למעשי אלימות כנגד ערבים, ולא הבינו שמשחקים אתם משחק גועלי. המשחק על הרגשות של עם ישראל.

כולם יודעים כמה אנו אוהבים את אחינו, בני עמנו, וכמה שטרור הוא נושא מחבר באופן טבעי. גורמים קיצוניים במשך כחודש ניצלו את האהבה הזו והפכו אותה לשנאה, שנאת האחר. אנשים נהיו עיוורים. והלב שלי דפק בחוזקה מפחד, חשש אמיתי לגורל המדינה שאני כל כך אוהבת. הממשלה, שנטשה את האחריות הכלכלית שלה לאזרחיה כבר מזמן נטשה עתה גם את האחריות המוסרית שלה לאזרחיה. ויתרה מכך נטשה את האחריות הביטחונית (עליה מרבה ממשלה זו לדבר).

אם המוסר אינו חלק ממדינה והגבול שלו מטושטש עבור האזרחים, מבלי שהמדינה תתערב ותנסה לאזן, להרגיע ולדכא התלהמויות קיצוניות, אזי נכשלה המדינה לשמור על בטחון האזרחים. שכן במדינה חופשיה ביטחון הנשמר  לעתים גם בכוח אינו יכול להתקיים ללא צלילות דעה ומוסריות בכל החלטה צבאית – מדינית ואישית כאחד

לעמי היקר אני קוראת שוב ומבקשת להפסיק לתרץ את שקרה עם הסבל שאנו חווים. הסבל הזה הוא נורא אך איבוד המוסריות שלנו משמע

איבוד הזהות הלאומית האמיתית שלנו.

Taken from: http://www.dreamstime.com

Yet another morning of injustice

I woke up this morning and ate breakfast with my husband. It is a nice calm Sunday in Berlin. The radio played and then came the news. A report from Israel. I sit up straight, wait for the German version of my parents’ experience yesterday.

As some of you know, I come from a small town in Israel called Sderot that for over 13 years receive thousands of rockets from Gaza. Yesterday a rocket fell on 2 factories and a gas balloon exploded. 3 people were injured and the city was hovered by a big black cloud.

The German news said: yesterday in Israel, Israeli air force made an air strike on Gaza after some rockets were sent to Israel. No mentioning of the big explosion, or the injured people.

Now I don’t have a newspaper or a news channel, but I realized unlike before I have a small tool to fight this injustice that the media creates by reporting half of the reality. I can write on my blog, and in social networks of what happened yesterday and hope people share this as well.

Please note that I don’t talk about the conflict, who is right or not, but of the forgotten obligation of the media to tell the truth and to report what is happening in the world. If a reporter wishes to add his or her opinion that’s fine, but in a 5 minutes news report, facts should be presented and it is not the place for personal opinions. By censoring a part of the report you design a new reality that clearly is based on your personal views.
Today it was reporting Israel in a less then flattering way, tomorrow it can be your country, or family member, or city, or friend. The media makes up its own stories every day not realizing that telling a half of a truth is just as bad as lying.

So please look at the photos below, showing what happened in the world and is not being reported (once again) in the media, and be informed.

source: channel 2 news, Israel

Sderot after the explotion

I also invite you to read more of the topic of injustice in the media, in one of my early posts.

To my family I wish to take care in this dangerous time, and to all of us I wish a relaxed Sunday

Injustice #6: Africa – Unfulfilled potential.

Unfulfilled potential. Years ago I wrote these very words on a student’s paper I was correcting. The feeling I had writing these words were of despair and wonder. I had a student that had all the academic potential in the world but did not fulfil it and preferred to play basketball rather than grooming his intellectual skills. Both my feelings of despair and wonder came from one question I could not understand. Why? Why would he not work to fulfill his potential and abilities?

For the student the answer was lack of motivation. And here defers the student from Africa. In the case of Africa the west, the teachers of this talented student, have failed it. Instead of handing the right tools for success the “teacher” is acting in a selfish way by depressing his student and not enabling him to truly grow.
Africa, a continent that stretches over 30.2 million km², and has a massive population estimated at about 1.1 billion people (15% of the world’s population), has many talents that are sadly used for the rest of the worlds’ interests and benefits.

It is located in the center of the world, and is as we know the source of all human beings. It has gold and metals, diamonds and oil, unique and diverse climate and hundreds of cultures that date back thousands of years ago!! It is rich in resources and landscapes, and rich in culture and history.

Yet this “rich” continent has the poorest people in the world with about 48% of Africans (Sub-Sahara Africa) making a bit over a dollar a day. This “rich” continent has the average life expectancy of 52 years of age, while the Global average is 66. In Sub-Saharan Africa the life expectancy can be a merely 42 years of age as in Zimbabwe.
The state of health in Africa is unbelievably lacking with over half the Africans having no access to drugs that are vital to their lives. Not to mention the lack of basic equipment in the hospitals.

The state of Africa is known to all, and I am not writing anything new. The question I raise is similar to the one I raised regarding my student, why? Why isn’t Africa reaching its potential?
In my opinion this question has several answers but one that is the essence of injustice is as mentioned above the place of the teacher i.e. the western world.

The reality is that Africa is receiving a lot of aid but unfortunately NO help.

What do I mean?
To the hunger problem we send food but do not help create societies that do not depend solely on local agriculture or handouts of different charity organizations. Big pharmasutacles send thousands of cocktails against HIV/AIDS that so many depend on, but no one is telling Africans how to manufacture it themselves.
We believe we help Africa by donating money for medication and care when in fact we should find ways to offer better incentives to the local doctors to stay and open clinics in their region. Therefore we should invest our time, energy, and money in building good medical, economic, and political infrastructure and not just fix what comes to the surface.

It is clear that when we try to achieve this goal we face two dominant challenges.
First, the help and motivation of the locals that is hard to bring about and maintain as they are forced to deal with their daily difficulties and focus on survival rather than reform.
And second, the attempt to bring to a change in countries that are filled with corruption and self-interests of the leaders.

These challenges can be overcome If we help build a stronger more outspoken society in the different African countries to stand against the corruption and offer another layer of society that is honest, transparent, professional, and knowledgeable. Many African countries already have this society in its younger student population. Here is where I believe our money can help. By creating programs that make the young African students able to stay in their country and achieve financial success we create the future of a continent. From my limited experience talking to African students it is clear they are the hope of Africa as they are true to their cultures but also aware and educated to how the world works today.

I suggest sharing the west’s knowledge with them and guide them to offer a new leadership to their countries.
Many might read this post and say it is impossible to make a change and bring “blossom to the dessert”, but I come from the living proof that it is possible. Israel was not so long ago a dessert land. For example it had no real infrastructure. It could have easily become another third world country as it was for years, except the west (US mostly) decided to give Israelis the tools to create a modern prospering land. Israelis did not receive drugs but were taught how to make them. We were not to rely on the local agriculture (thank god..) but were given the knowledge of modern agriculture and industry.

Today we can all agree that Israel is as modern and successful as it is thanks to the deep investment and knowledge sharing of the USA.
The same can be done for Africa, except the results could be much better, as Africa has unbelievable natural resources and Israel simply doesn’t.
The next question – why doesn’t the west do the same with Africa – is very easy to answer.
They simply don’t because they won’t.

A strong prospering Africa would “harrow up our souls”, that is make the world as we know it change completely. If the talented child will live up to his potential, the teacher would not only lose control over the child, but will also lose his powerful position.

Whereas a physics teacher can smile when his student becomes an astronaut, Europe and the USA I’m afraid will not put their pride or position in the world to enable the talented kid, I.e. Africa to role in their place.
If so the way to really help Africa is to give it the toolbox that will make it rise even on the west’s expense. I am ready to do so, and thankfully many NGO’s are also willing, but I doubt the powers of the world are.
One thing is certain; Africa is the biggest injustice I ever wrote on.

Injustice #5: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

Hypocrisy is considered to be a negative quality in our society. Yet many of our paradigms and fixed thoughts are accompanied by this same quality.
Today I chose to focus on an injustice we don’t often think of as we tell ourselves it is part of a cosmic justice. I know when I first saw the next video (in the first few seconds) I thought that in a twisted way It is just and then I realized what I was actually saying. After viewing the video I saw my first thought expressed in many comments below the video. That’s when I knew my next topic for this week:
Violence against men and how we enable it by staying fixed on the stereotypic image of men.

I consider myself to be a feminist. I often define it as being for women’s rights. That is I wish to work so that women will have the same opportunities men have in what I believe is still mostly “A men’s world”.
When there is a big discrimination democratic countries make laws that are not equal to try and bring back the general equality in society and to help the discriminated side gain more power. It is called positive discrimination or affirmative action (in Israel it is: corrective discrimination). The best example that comes to my mind is reserving special seats for women in the parliament as they were not part of politics for so long that men until today have a lot of power and it would be extremely hard for them to get to parliament and actually be heard without this special reserving of seats.
The problem is, in my opinion, when we take this logic of positive discrimination and try to implement it in topics it has nothing to do with. Topics such as mentioned and seen above – violence.

In the video above the abusive men are scorned yet the ones who are being abused and humiliated in public are not getting any help from anyone and if that’s not enough they are being publicly ridiculed.
In our attempt to correct a wrong, we create another wrong as we not only leave these men to suffer but we are saying that equal opportunities for both genders are in fact better conditions for women. That’s only half the work. If we wish to have an equal world we need to take a deep look at our stereotypic images of men and women. As long as we see women and men as two groups that each acts the same and holds similar qualities, we are destined to stay in the circle of discrimination that will lead to more injustice in our society.
We must remember that there are gentle men as well as macho and strong. That there are fragile women and ones that are strong and dominant. But most of all we need to remember that men are not all alike and so are women. We are all human beings with many differences from one person to the next. And when a person, a man or a woman, is suffering we have a duty to help them and must leave our prejudices behind.

Signs of domestic violence against men- from mayoclinic.org – website of the foundation for medical education and research.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/adult-health/in-depth/domestic-violence-against-men/art-20045149

Help guide to abused men. From the website of the helpguide organization.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic-violence-men-abused-by-women.htm

statistics and information about violence in the USA from the website: WebMD

http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/help-for-battered-men

My personal encounter with bullies:

After uploading my new post on cyber-bullying, something still felt missing, incomplete. Sometimes when something is so personal we take the easy way out and detach ourselves from it. Though I have expressed my opinion on how to deal with mobbing or bullying, I still feel something is missing. I believe it to be my personal pain. My experience. When I opened this blog I promised it will be as open as I wish to be and as honest and emotional as it gets.

That’s why I’d like to add this next story.

So, whoever read my first post (why this blog) knows I was mobbed at age 9 because I sided with another 9 year old girl who was being mobbed herself.

So I deeply understand what it feels to be so scared of going through the public humiliation and to be scorned by those who just a minute ago claimed to be your friends.

But though I understand where the bystanders are coming from, I still find myself angry that most of the other kids in class, and when your older, your classmates and co-workers (yes mobbing doesn’t stop at school) do absolutely nothing. They are the majority, they are the ones with the real power but so blind to it out of their own fear.

I worked with specialists on mobbing that say we should not be angry at them or blame them and while it is practical for the general “health” of the class, i.e. the dynamic of the class, I as a former victim of mobbing and bullying still have my anger that no one ever told them “shut-up”.

In elementary school I was mobbed but it was always clear to me that I broke the social rules and am now being punished for it. I changed schools as a better option opened up for me for a private school and had wonderful 2 years there.

But when I reached high school the bullying became so strong that only years after I allowed myself to realize how mean these people were. To write this and share with all even longer.

I will say here that in high school I had many good friends. And that’s what people don’t get. It’s not always this outcast that no one speaks to, this lonely guy sitting in the corner. I was surrounded by friends and was very opinionated and outspoken. And still there were two guys in my class that laughed at me on a daily basis, repeated my words in a mocking tone, insulted me and even tried to shut me up on several occasions. Whoever knows me can tell you how hard it is to make me stop talking. But they to my shame succeeded many times.

Not once in a classroom full of students did anyone tell them (including my friends) to stop. But the worst was that the teachers not only did not stop them but often laughed at the bullies’ jokes as if they were trying to “stay popular” themselves.

For me it was tuff as I could not understand what I ever did to them, and why me.

It’s funny but today im light years away from my high school years and still when I think of them I am filled with the same feeling of shame which makes me angry as I know I have nothing to be ashamed of.

So there it is, my story, I hope it can serve as a footnote for the post I made earlier and for you to understand why this topic is so sensitive.

I add this known clip from youtube on bullying. the song starts at 2:35.

Bars & Melody

 

 

Injustice #4: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?

We have all been there, one way or another. Mobbing and bullying are a sad part of growing up. It was our reality and unfortunately it is the reality of our children.

The only difference is that for us mobbing was a part of our school life and did not continue at home. Today’s youth experience an extreme way of mobbing as it lasts 24 hours and is in much greater scale. I am of course speaking of the cyber-bullying phenomenon, the verbal attack on someone online using the social networks.

The progress of the social online network led to an expansion of the social circle of our kids today. So that they continue interacting at home using Facebook, WhatsApp, chat rooms, etc. At first glance it looks harmless, as mostly the youth use the social networks to plan social gatherings, and to share their experiences and thoughts. The problem begins when the thoughts shared are abusive to others. Coursing, lying, revealing private correspondence and private information on a vast platform beyond the classroom, school or even town, all leaves the victim exposed suffocated and despaired. This feeling does not leave the victim at home or in class, and often leads to depression and in some cases even suicide.

The law is beginning to change the last few years but the anonymity of the internet and the unwillingness of the social networks to co-operate and share information with the police, leaves the authority branches of the government in many countries almost helpless in preventing justice from being served (as it is hard to catch the abusers and bring them to justice).

With a relatively weak justice system and an evasive abuser staying behind the internet curtain what can we offer our children today?

The parents are the ones who can help the most as they are detached from the school system and can offer a refuge for the abused child. Here are some tips for them. I will mention I am not a parent, but I was a child and was mobbed:
1. Parent; Find your balance between aggressiveness parenting and letting go too easily.
In the next video (that is part of a movie based on a real story) we see a harsh reality of mobbing and abusing a kid who gets home and feels so ashamed that he decides to handle the issue in an extreme way. His mother spoke to him shortly before and asked if he is ok? She sensed something was up but did not insist.

I believe mostly there are two types of parents: The ones who believe that if they don’t push the child he will trust them and tell them when he is ready (which he might never be). And the ones who push the kid with threats and aggressiveness to share the information creating a hostile environment for the child.
Both types are in my opinion wrong and I recommend a mixture of both.
The mixture should present itself in asking first but if you as a parent feel there is something there; promise your child you will not take any action without consulting him. One of the biggest fears of a teenage is that the parents get caught up in the event and would want to reach out to an authority figure such as a school teacher ,principal or the other students’ parents. This can lead to more abuse the parents are not always aware of.
Any decision made has got to involve the child as he is the victim here and he knows the complexity of the social structure he is in. whatever you do, don’t betray his trust in you.

To parents in general:
2. Limited supervised time online:
I understand in today’s world surfing in these social networks is a huge part of your kids’ social lives, but toughen up! Don’t surrender to your kid and let him be on the computer for hours. Even if you have one of those internet blockers. Porn websites and other over 18 websites are not the only danger online they encounter.

3. Create other activities around the house for the child:
Even if you work full time and do not have energy to monitor your child, and we all know that the computer is the best babysitter there is, create at least an hour every night of doing something else. Going for a walk, reading, even watching a funny TV show (family rated of course) with him.
This hour will be a memory he has for the rest of his life. I had a time like this with my mother watching a show that made me forget everything that happened at school even for a short while. Every day at 16:30 it was our time and we were in another world. The most important thing is – give your child time to breath from the school social life that chases him home.

Parents are not the only responsible ones. Teachers and the students who are not getting abuse but stand there and do nothing are also responsible. If you recall in my first blog I wrote of my act as a child defending a mobbed kid which lead to me being mobbed. So I understand children are afraid of being bullied themselves, but I was just one person. If all the bystanders will unite or even just some of them, the bullies in the class CAN be beaten. A bully can only exist if we enable him.

Injustice #3: A World Not as we Image-in

Millions of classrooms, hospitals, offices, restaurants and houses around the world decorate their walls with the world’s most known global map.

This map is called the “Mercator projection” on the name of its designer and presenter the Flemish cartographer Geradus Mercator in 1569.

Every child has seen it and learns of the world from it. Every governmental office shows it and most important, in our minds the picture of the world is the same one. As shown here.

While the map was designed for sailing and assisted many sailors in the 16^th century, the sizes and locations of the countries and continents are in one word- wrong.

The world we see in front of us is very different then what our world really is. The sizes of the continents, location of countries and even the idea that western countries are in the north atmosphere (they can be up but also down as shown in the video below) all change the minute we see this new and much more accurate map designed by Games Gall and Arno Peters (Berlin born historian).

I invite you to see a short YouTube video taken from the epic American TV show “The West Wing”. This video explains in a short and to the point way what our world really looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY

Over the years I’ve followed lobby groups, bloggers, and different websites just like in the show that try relentlessly to raise awareness and bring to a change. (Such as: georeference.org, bildungtrifftentwicklung.de in Germany, and emetaheret.org.il in Israel)

All they wish to do is to introduce the Gall-Peters map and to make it the standard map used in schools and educational centers. So our children can learn the truth of the face of our world.

So if the Mercator’s projection was proved to be wrong, as the Gall-Peters projection is now supported by live feeds from satellites, the question asked is why we still see the Mercator’s map in classrooms and well…everywhere.

For over a decade these organizations work on getting their governments to make a change, an easy one, and simply fail. And though there are more and more people in the world that are aware of this, the maps stay the same.

One must ask the following question: Why? Why our governments refuse to make a small change in the name of truth?

The simple answer I am sure most of you can guess is that the map holds meanings other than what our world looks like. It depicts the western countries as bigger than they are, centers Germany in the map even though it is in the northern part of Europe, and makes Europe and the US bigger and therefore stronger in the eyes of the viewer of the map.

The truth is it is a matter of pride, how can Europe that controlled so many parts of the world for centuries, now admit to be literally smaller then it was for years. More than that what would happen when South America and Africa realize they are way bigger than the western countries. What happens to our world when we realize how it is really divided?

Truth be told, in today’s world, technology proves that bigger is not necessarily better.  Today the smartest cameras and weapons are also the smallest. So you would think that size won’t even be a concern.

But it turns out that size might not matter with technology but in global politics it still plays a big role.

With all of the changes the world makes every day, one thing doesn’t seem to be able to change- Human nature. And though at times this is a good thing, in this case, our desire to show we are better even by making our countries seem larger than they are is creating a fundamental injustice and discrimination. By misrepresenting the size of the Africa, we minimize the importance or potential power of the continent. The reality Is that size influences us and makes us judgmental, whether we mean for it or not.

After learning this, looking at the known map is getting harder and harder for me. As once you’ve seen imbalance, it is hard to smile and say nothing. In my own German class I see this world map every day, and I remember every day how we create realities that are comfortable for the strong but serve as such a great injustice for the weak. My hope is that after reading this post, you will never look at the global map presented to you the same. And remember that once we learn to question our reality, we have a chance of actually improving it.

For more information check out these links

http://www.culturaldetective.com/worldmaps.html

http://www.sott.net/article/276745-Terrabyte-Incognita-Africa-might-not-look-like-you-think-it-does