Dialogue on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict

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Dear Friends,

Check out this week’s podcast and radio program:

Here’s my take on the crisis, and you can hear my conversation with Jon here, starting at about the 28-minute mark. I strongly oppose Israel’s attacks on Gaza. I also oppose Hamas firing missiles at Israel. The only lasting resolution to this conflict is a pathway through peace.

Jon Neiderbach

My view is admittedly, and unapologetically, colored by my time in Ireland, having experienced up-close acts of terror from both sides of that conflict:

— On the road to Belfast with my parents at age eight in June of 1966, my mother witnessed what appeared to be a murder in a ditch alongside the road. Details of the incident never surfaced, but with violence that summer between Catholics and Protestants on the rise, it was quite possibly an act of sectarian terrorism.

— A friend of mine witnessed his mother and sister being blown up in a pub in Belfast in 1971 by the Ulster Volunteer Force, allegedly in response to similar acts by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

— In 1979, another friend was so psychologically damaged over the worsening violence in Northern Ireland that I was asked to escort him to a psych ward in Dublin, which I did.

— In July of 1980, the IRA robbed a bank in our town, Ballaghaderreen, killing two officers. My dad had been at that bank just twenty minutes before the incident.

The violence that raged in Northern Ireland during much of my life hit very close to home. While I can’t claim the same personal connection to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the crisis there feels very similar.

In Ireland, after decades of death and destruction, the IRA eventually embraced peaceful means. It is now Sinn Fein – The Workers’ Party, and a political force to be reckoned with. The goal of a united Ireland is geographically, culturally, and historically logical, and now seems within reach. It is through dialogue and diplomacy, not violence and hatred, that unity is being accomplished.

Many people claim that the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is complicated. I don’t buy that. It boils down to the blatant denial of human rights to the Palestinian people. If the US would stop funding the Israeli war machine and join other nations in denouncing Israel’s injustices toward Palestinians, I believe we would have peace in relatively short order.

To those detractors who claim the Arab world wants to drive Israel into the sea, that sounds much like the false argument some people used years ago to defend a divided Ireland. “Home rule is Rome rule,” they said, stoking fears that an independent and united Ireland would be governed by the Pope.

Similarly, Israel needs to be one country where Jews, Muslims, Christians, and others not only respect but learn to appreciate each other. Just as Ireland is not officially a Catholic country, although 75% of the population is Catholic, Israel shouldn’t declare Judaism its official religion either.

This is not a pipe dream. In addition to existing peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt, Israel last year established diplomatic relations with five largely Muslim countries: Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Morocco. Peace and diplomacy are not only possible, they’re already happening.

We can speed along the process by speaking out for justice and equality for all Palestinians, for an end to illegal Jewish settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, for an end to US funding for Israel’s continued military buildup, and for an end to violence by both Israel and Hamas. — Ed Fallon

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HERE’S THIS WEEK’S PODCAST/RADIO PROGRAM:

(01:46) Walk for Our Grandchildren and Mother Earth, with Steve Norris;
(14:37) Living Brightly: A Climate Activation Workshop, with Kat Haber;
(28:20) Dialogue on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, with Jon Neiderbach;
(53:38) Greenhouse in the Snow, with Russ Finch and Kathy Byrnes.

Subscribe to the Fallon Forum on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform. Check out our website and Facebook Page, and listen to the program on these and other local affiliates:

– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)

Please support the local businesses and non-profits who make this program possible. Click on their logos and visit Story County Veterinary Clinic, Bold Iowa, and Birds & Bees Urban Farm.

Thanks for supporting the progressive alternative to right-wing shock jocks!

Ed Fallon