March 2005

One year later, some conclusions are due. There is enormous power in the gesture of, as a person of privilege traveling across the world, staking your lot in with the misfortunate and oppressed.

While the road which has brought me to such overt and direct expressions of activism had no small piece of powerlessness built-in (I find it easier to go to Palestine and demonstrate against Israeli policies than to build a strong and trusting relationship with the Board of my local congregation), it is still a very powerful gesture indeed. And the best part is that the *practice* of international solidarity changes your thinking further. There is enough of a difference between daily life here and daily life in Palestine, that it really opens up your mind to interpret things in new ways.

I made a commitment two years ago to go to Israel every year for ten years. This year, the second year, will be a strong test of such a commitment. There is a strong likelihood that I won't be going, and money is a major reason. So today, I will work on organizing my life so that I have enough money to do the work that I know is powerful and important.

Saul Alinsky taught radicals to engage political culture using "jiu-jitsu", or enough force to divert the actions of your opponent in the direction of your choosing. I use the term "perturbation."

In a living system, whether it's an eco-system or human society, changes and not linear and direct. Something happens, and it affects everything else until the system reaches a sort of equilibrium, which may be chaotic, or may be balanced.

Our political action perhaps cannot be judged through a cause-and-effect framework. Perhaps the best way to approach it is,

1. What hasn't been done yet?

2. What might happen in the best case scenario? Worst case?

3. If the worst case isn't too bad, or if the best case dramatically outweighs the worst case, let's try it!

Just a thought.