history: March 2008 Archives

Obama balances on a tightwire in which he affirms everyone's basic humanity. I would hate to be judged solely on the basis of selected excerpts in other people's talk! His analysis is incisive: some people would prefer to perpetuate the myth that all whites are inherently racist, instead of promoting a politics that acknowledges growth and change as real. We are not limited by history, even if we foolishly choose to repeat it. The possibility of choice exists. A different future, diverging from the trajectories set so deeply in motion, is within reach. Such a future will not be secured by one vote, or even by one election. The pull of the familiar will persist, the risks of uncertainty continue to challenge. How deeply do we desire a new framework for our country and the world? We can set a new path, and not only this: we can follow through to the promise of absorbing pain and establishing new, healthier, and happier social and economic relations.

An analysis from the Boston Globe: "Obama goes beyond generalities...", which is a rhetorical skill he has utilized effectively all along.

A Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is up for debate and passage in the United Kingdom which uses language about in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in which, critics charge, "a deaf person or embryo with the genes for deafness does not have equal status ('must not be preferred’) to a person without the genes for deafness."

The specific wording at question is in Clause 14 (linked above), and - extremely alarming if you think Deaf people have as much a right "to be" as any other human being - "a number of commentary notes and ‘consultation’ documents that indicate Deaf people are being used as an example of what this amendment would entail in practice."

Filmmakers are now working on a documentary on "the issues arising" from this Clause. (The documentary will presumably include concerns of other communities, for instance those considered with the categoraization and treatment of gender related abnormalities.) Kate of Popkorn offers to interested parties in the U.S. and U.K. an open invitation to comment or participate in the documentary. She does say that in the current version, "Deafness would be included as an ‘abnormality’, therefore any parents would be forced to choose embryos with hearing genes as opposed to those with deaf genes. This is further elaborated upon in the official explanatory notes of the bill…"

Some time back, in an email to participants of the Dialogue under Occupation conference in Abu Dis, Palestine, I made a statement comparing the (historically) recent fears of Palestinians with the millenial fears of Jewish people concerning identity-based violence. A response from an Israeli participatn indicated an interpretation that such Jewish fears need more support and validation.

No, that is not what I meant! I was arguing that Israelis need to break out of strategies that are held hostage to this fear. In a feature story about Barack Obama's campaigning within the American Jewish community, J. J. Goldberg, editorial director for The Forward, a Jewish newspaper, is quoted, putting into words the tension that I meant to highlight.

Some Jewish leaders said the anxiety over Mr. Obama might reveal more about Jews than about the candidate. By their analysis, those who heed the [inflammatory anti-Obama] e-mail are generally older and have closer ties to Israel. The break is between “those who are motivated by traditional Jewish liberalism and those motivated by traditional Jewish anxiety over Israel.”

The tension between "traditional Jewish liberalism" and "traditional Jewish anxiety" is at obvious play in the peace efforts I observed among Israelis and Palestinians (and outsiders, academics and activists). The liberal rhetoric is often not followed up with action, the absence of which is justified by the anxiety. I'm impressed with Obama's insistence that the Palestinians are getting a raw deal (they are) and with his obvious intention to find new ways to mediate between entrenched extremes.