Tag archives: Palestine

Gwyn Lurie makes statements about anti-war protesters yet leaves out valuable information in her claims. She states that protesting outside of a synagogue is antisemitic while leaving out the very important substance of the protests. This is incredibly misleading. No one inside the synagogue was practicing their religion; there was an illegal sale of Palestinian […]

I hope you enjoyed your July 4th holiday, celebrating America’s hard-won freedom from the imperious whims of a despot, as symbolized by the signing of the Declaration of Independence almost 250 years ago, on July 4, 1776. It’s also interesting to note that several distinguished historians have stated that democracies last for only 250 years.  […]

 A Jew and a Palestinian – women, of course – embrace in an otherwise nondescript conference room in UCSB’s Humanities Building. This is not a gesture, not a ceremonial cue for a Special Effect Peace to flood the room like a digital sunrise, not a performative, choreographed moment ablaze with Symbol. Dorit Cypis and Rula […]

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) gained attention recently, due to some of its employees participating in the atrocities of October 7, including kidnappings and murders. It was not the first time U.N. workers were accused of atrocities. U.N. workers caused a cholera outbreak in Haiti. They committed sexual abuses […]

This month a delegation of eight women who survived Hamas’ October 7th massacre, were brought to Santa Barbara as a delegation of “sisters” to share their accounts of what happened, and to feel the love, support and care of this community. I had the painful privilege of spending a few hours with Etti Koren, Sigal […]

More than a year ago, in “sleepy” Santa Barbara, long before Hamas ever slaughtered 1,400 innocents at a peace festival or Israel retaliated, a special group of Central Coast locals were incubating a project that could just very well help with this mess. Maybe a lot of messes. Ironically, we may owe a debt of […]

I usually consider myself to be a secular Humanist. But events like the brutal October 7 Hamas attack on Israel make me feel very Jewish. Everyone wants peace. The question is on what terms and how to get there. The Humanist Society of Santa Barbara (HSSB) hosted a refreshingly innovative talk in 2018 offering a way […]

This column is sort of an “apology” to President Joe Biden. I became a bit critical of President Biden last Wednesday, June 19 as the shelling in the Middle East continued unabated. I spoke to Congressman Salud Carbajal to express my frustration that Biden, who had been doing fairly well in my view up until […]

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was founded by renowned conductor-pianist Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian scholar/author Edward Said 20 years ago to bring together outstanding young Palestinian and Israeli musicians in a collaboration superseding national and cultural boundaries. The group, Barenboim has said, was conceived as a project against ignorance and aims to promote understanding […]