jeremy m s clines

Greenbelt is a Christian Arts festival this August bank holiday, and includes a range of speakers, musicians, theatre, dance, art installations, worship, camping and general frivolity. Issues to do with the Occupied Territories of Palestine and Israel are consistently explored at Greenbelt. There are speakers, groups, and musicians including a headline music act who all address these issues.

Michael Franti and Spearhead,
Link
-- this band released 'Yell Fire' in 2006 following a visit to Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Territories of Palestine

Garth Hewitt
Link
-- based at All Hallows in the Wall in London, a canon at St George's Cathedral,
Jerusalem, new book 'Bethlehem Speaks' is just out

Maureen Jack
Link
-- a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who has served in Hebron & At-Tuwani in Palestine as well as Baghdad in Iraq

Jonathan Kuttab
Link
-- a Palestinian human rights lawyer

Stephen Sizer
Link
-- is a founding member of the Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism

Turning the Tide
Link
--is a Quaker based organization that promotes non-violent routes to social change and includes the support of unarmed accompaniers in Israel-Palestine

Pax Christi
Link
-- have a campaign focus on Palestine/Israel and will have a stall and speakers in the PeaceZone



2002-2007
Talks still available on CD/MP3 from previous Greenbelt festivals.


2007 Talks

Marc Ellis -- Towards a Jewish Theology of Liberation
58

Marc Ellis -- Unholy alliance: religion and atrocity in our time
59

Marc Ellis -- Is Israel Different?
60

Marc Ellis -- 3 CD set of the above talks
BOX03

Fuad Dagher & Wisam Salsaa -- Both sides of the wall
34


2006 Talks

Husam Zomlot -- Palestine: where to?
54


2005 Talks

Eyal Weizman -- Temporary Facts; Flexible Barriers
87

Naim Ateek -- Daniel or Judah Maccabeas?
03

Naim Ateek -- Son of David or Suffering Servant?
02

Naim Ateek -- Whose Jerusalem?
04


2004 Talks


Garth Hewitt -- Towards the Dawn: Interfaith peacemaking in a land once known as Holy
40

Jonathan Kuttab -- Whose Holy Land? God's, Ours or Yours?
51

Jonathan Kuttab -- The Wall Must Fall
52

Teresa Parker -- Human Rights in Palestine / Israel
66


2003 Talks

Nora Karmi -- A Road Map to Peace?
18


2002 Talks

Carolyn Jay (Ayres) -- Back by popular demand: a beginners guide to the Palestinian Territories and Israel
12

Jeff Halper -- Peace in the Middle East and International Civil Society
51

Jeff Halper -- Israel's invisible occupation - "the matrix of control"
71

Bishop Riah -- Promised Land vs Holy Land
75

Labels: garth hewitt, greenbelt, israel, jeff halper, marc ellis, michael franti spearhead, palestinian, pax christi, peace, stephen sizer

My life rhythms have changed so much, it's been nearly a year since my last post.

The pic perhaps explains some of the reasons for it.

This link maybe gives another bit of an explanation

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr0508.html

!!!

requires a profile pic change as well!

The pic outside York Minster was from March 7, the other two though, just got processed from last summer.

:)



Crumbs, I'm wearing clerical clothes!! That happens about once in a blue moon, just like the camera coming out does.

Rhoda, a friend, and flat-lodger for much of the last 18 months has just embarked today on her travels. She's been rattling around in the attic of my place (most of the time), and now sets off on a pan-European adventures for who knows how long! Full details will appear from time to time on her blog.

It's been a bundle of laughs (quite literally) sharing tea, tears and therapy stories: I'm sure her blog http://stranih.blogspot.com/ will be a very diminished way of staying connected ... I for one will be looking forward to news and random tales from elsewhere.

My friends have taken documenting the activities of their child to new lengths!!! http://philbecanwenplus.blogspot.com/2007/02/big-news-small-poo.html

Thought this report http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6405799.stm was gently moving.

Yes, having had a wonderful time over the last nine months with Louise, we've decided to get married this June! This is the main reason I haven't been blogging, since I've been having so many happy times getting to know Louise and her friends and family and also introducing her to the people who are important in my life.

the day after me (today) the posada is with Al (the fracme link on the right) and the person with the full list is Andii (the nouslife link on the right).

This is part of the e-Posada chainblog started here www.nouslife.blogspot.com where we each host the same image for one day of advent. Today, I would like us to look at the shared image above, concurrently with the image you can find on this link below!

The image I would like to contemplate is here

http://www.faslane365.org/es/blockade_photos/joseph_mary_donkey_at_faslane

Built into the donkey suit was a range of locks which meant that when the holy family went and sat in the road outside Faslane base it was a while (an hour or more) before the police were able to find a method to safely remove these itinerants and permit traffic to move again.

I believe that there is something about the way the holy family found themselves pushed around by imperialism and yet were never overcome by it, in life and in death, which reasonates with the profoud power which comes from non-violent direct action we witness in this contemporary photograph. (For what it is worth, I know two of the three people in it).

Prayer
God you shepherd us into your kingdom. Inspire us with the courage we see evident in the holy family to remain true to themselves and resistant to the state, even to the point of fleeing their own country. Teach us to find ways to be in solidarity with those who stay and resist or flee and rebuild. Help us to discern the season of your spirit so we may serve you with boldness and travel to the place it would be easier not to go to.
Amen.

Of course there are. The internal evidence from Fox is that it is a propaganda machine for the US Republicans. See and follow the links all about it here http://youtube.com/watch?v=QtYUjZEXz28

My immediate reaction to this phrase is it is inflammatory and inaccurate propaganda, used by totalitarian imperialism which is hiding behind the mask of 'democracy'. Then I thought it was time to calm my anger and at least investigate such a phrase: having read a useful summary on Wikipedia about it, I choose more carefully to reject it (not just because the first time it came to my attention was when I happened to hear George W Bush using it in an interview).

I went on the Hyde Park to Parliament Square Stop the War Coalition demo in London two Saturdays ago; about wanting a ceasefire in Lebanon. Some people were chanting
'Down down George Bush,
down down Tony Blair',
and some were chanting
'we are all Hizbollah' (the placards with this final slogan had pictures of injured and killed children from Lebanon; the slogan could mean 'we are all children of God' or 'we are all members of Hizbollah'). This left me unmoved because I didn't agree although I could understand their feelings. I looked online at some debate surrounding the third slogan and yet couldn't find anything which wasn't simply more name calling, so I'm going to leave it.

I did have a gentle and peaceable chat with a thoughtful lady in her seventies, who I travelled back up as far as Stafford with on the train. She'd come down from Liverpool on a day return to demonstrate; she'd planned it the night before, and was attempting to fit that in and also attending a silent witness the following day on Hiroshima day. I could understand her, and was more deeply moved. On the march I was moved by how many people of many groupings all were there, determined that this unjustifiable set of killings had to stop. That people will join en masse for the sake of others overwhelmed me.

None of this leads me to conclude that views within a anti-war coalition which are different to mine are automatically wrong and I certainly do not think they are fascist. Throwing labels around about religious fascism, especially when done by someone from the Christian right leaves me unmoved and not in agreement.

I am glad that there's a ceasefire. I am also very grateful for writetothem.com for making it incredibly simple to write to my local councillors, MEPs and MP about the issue (I have received replies from each of them, all of which were not in agreement with Tony Blair's hesitating on calling for an unconditional ceasefire).

Hagia Sophia was opened on December 27 in 537 by the Roman Emperor. It stands 53m high with a colossal central dome connected to smaller half domes. Apart from beıng outstanding in it's own right, it has been the influence on Christian and Muslim architecture ever since. It was / is, large, majestic, elegant and unforgettable. It has been the highlight of a wonderful three days in Istanbul and has to be one of the most remarkable places of worship I have ever seen. Tomorrow we take the overnight sleeper to Thessaloniki in Greece. Other inspirations whilst here have been traversing the Bosphorous on the service ferries, exploring the underground Basillica Cistern and the Blue Mosque.

It has to be the best part of a month (in more ways than one) since I last posted. Due to annual leave I have been away from York, mainly, over in Manchester seeing Louise, and up in Scotland on the Ayrshire coast. Yesterday I was flung via a couple of flights to Istanbul. Having just had an early morning shower in a fabulous hostel (for its economy, sımplicity and water pressure in the showers) I thought it was time to share some news.

The last 35 days have been full of happy and joyous times and the wrıtıng on the PhD has also been sustained, I am makıng progress! Now from the perspective of the Sultanahmet dıstrıct of Istanbul I can see that the quiet gentleness of this year's leave has been a gıft in so many ways. The main blessing ıs how ıt has gıven me the spaciousness to get to know Louise much better, whıch is delightful. Also, to have begun wıth a cıty break in Riga and now come further south to Istanbul (and then it will be onwards to Athens), wıth the relative quietness of England and Scotland for writing in between the two trıps, has made for a restorative and stimulating vacation. I'm pleased!

On the way back from Latvia, I met up with a pen-friend (well an email friend) in Manchester, she is called Louise. I fell for her, instantly, and she fell for me too, and last weekend we decided to make a go of things. So life's looking rather different all of a sudden. She's already begun to learn about my diverse peculiarities and I might start learning to scuba dive, read less of the Church press and get stuck into some more literature. It is so lovely to want and be wanted.

I had hoped to avoid the cheap flight world to get home, I didn't manage it for various reasons, including the internal desire to get settled and start writing on the PhD. So I got to see a tiny portion of Helsinki from the terminal building for three hours! I'm not going to go into a long justification of my choice (though I'm tempted to), I am glad though that I am back and that I even managed to see a friend in Manchester en route ( ... ).

The last day before leaving was spent reading a novel, hanging out with the family, visiting the State Art Gallery and going to an amazing tea house. The gallery shocked me for having such a dearth of religious art in it; obvious point really, it was the way the Soviet control over this country hit home for me. There were photographs of communist party members coming to the gallery and also snaps of the statue of Lenin being removed from the place back in 1987.

More pics ...

The shot above is afternoon tea, four years on from the image immediately below. Both teas were provided by Aivis's mum, though on this second occasion it was at her city residence, not the basic farmhouse in the country as previously ... her same home-made jam though ... nothing like it.

Some inland water from the day at the beach (nice one Aivis!)


There's so much I could say about the chilled out way that Sarah and Aivis are bringing Josh up; they all are so relaxed and yet focussed about life, in a peaceable and thought out way. It was inspiring to be part of the family for nearly nine days.

Massive thanks to Aivis for taking loads of pics while I've been here ... all the snaps from this trip are his (well except the photo of him, which Sarah took).

Aivis, photographer and dad (nice one Sarah).

I was the only one on the beach wearing a Jordanian kafeer!

Going for a latte in town gave me a vantage point across the pedestrianized street, to a woman who was, kind of, busking. She was in her sixties wearing a semi-traditional Russian costume, stood next to a little side table with table cloth and ghetto blaster, dancing to Western pop tunes. She only had one sequence which lasted about five seconds, She'd raise her left hand up and forward, throw her right arm behind her, look left, and with a certain sort nimbleness spin around and look to the right. She would repeat this over and over again, except when she was checking her pockets. Although it was both bizarre and simplistic, she conducted herself with such confidence that the performance was both funny and perplexing.

Aivis says she's Russian, Sarah says Latvians wouldn't never be that flamboyant. Aivis says that, for humour value, its best when children start joining in with her. Like me, the locals looked on with wry amusement. I left the coffee place, gave her a busker's tip and moved on, feeling troubled by the desire to burst out laughing, again. She was repeating the same performance, this time to 'Gimme, Gimme, Gimme a Man after Midnight' -- an ironic twist on the whole 'sex tourism' mess that the 'come to Latvia' industry is currently landed with. It was midday, so fortunately she wasn't going to be tormented by gangs of English, beer drinking, football chanting, sexually harrassing men; they weren't back outside yet.

I did notice, more positively, on the way home, that the civic poster sites around the centre all have adverts for the upcoming concerts by Sting and Simply Red: the marketing of Riga as a fully Western and European kind of destination is underway. The invitation to watch the 'Best Dancing Girls Show in the Baltic' in the same block as one of the swishiest hotels in the area shows how there will have to be more than a PR job done to change this capital's international appeal.

The apartment that Sarah and Aivis has is so peaceful, I look out from my broadband enabled, pine floored, large double room onto mature trees in parkland, then there's a hint of the railway sidings on the route out to St Petersburg and more trees beyond that. The only intrusions from the outside world here are all slight and occasional. So far the ones I notice come from three sources; the heaviest trains which wobble the building, the odd bass line from the flat below (they were playing Bohemian Rhapsody last night), and the smell of the next flat's cooking and cigarettes (only if you stand close to the ventilator in the toilet). I'd be glad to stay here longer, the company is delightful though, so I'd never get any writing done.

Neither the Salvation Army, the small Russian Orthodox church or the large Orthodox cathedral were observing Pentecost today ... all the same I popped into all three (Orthodox do Holy Spirit next week I think). The Army were experimenting with Tom & Jerry and Mr Bean. The simple songs used in the 'All Age' worship at the Citadel enabled me to learn how to sing along to 'Jesus is: strong / Lord / love' in Latvian.

Just a little further into town the Evangelical Lutherans were marking the coming of the Holy Spirit, musically, with a set of Bach flute duets plus organ continuo. Another fifty metres along was a church which operated through the communist period: the Orthodox divine liturgy gave off a sense of longevity through feeling both everyday and intimate. It was enlivened by a youngish group of cantors.

The cathedral, another 500m towards the freedom monument had just finished its service by the time I arrived, there were many still praying. The icons were well presented and there was sufficient space between each of them to prevent the 'rogues gallery' feel. The little shop at the rear sold religious memorabillia and passport wallets.

I went on Saturday with family Ilsters and their friend up to the coast about 30 kilometres north and slightly east of Riga. The beach and dunes go on and on, and there's barely anyone there. It was a cloudless day with a cool, late spring breeze by the shore. Not too windy for frisbee and breezy enough to let the strong sun soak into the skin without overheating.

We then headed inland and after a late lunch found our way to the summer toboggan run ... the stainless steel track is a full circuit, it must be about a kilometre long, including the ascent section. A ski-lift system drags you 200m up the 50% incline and lets you go at the top having accelerated you to about 20kmh for the twisting 800m back down. There's a simple hand brake system and the challenge is to use it as little as possible and lean into the curves. I had five rides ... very entertaining, especially getting the speed up to make best used of the banking on the bends.

We watched 3 episodes of the 'Kumars at no. 42' in the evening ... a DVD I'd brought with me, I've been trying to catch up on programmes I've never seen before (I haven't had a telly since they started bombing Afghanistan) ... this format had me in stitches, especially 'Ummi' -- Grandma Sushila -- played by Meera Syal; she has the same knack in improvisation as she does in writing, for side-splitting bluntness.

I enjoy the spaciousness of the streets, the canal running through the park in the centre of the city and the liberation monument from the 1920s. The older streets of the medieval city and the ninenteenth century blocks surrounding it with large and varied five to six storey facades combine to give a sense of permanence; and it suggests that the 45 years under Soviet control was a minor disturbance to this ancient kingdom. The architecture has some significant Italian and Art Nouveau influences and the pedestrianization of most of the oldest parts of town gives a sense of tranquility which I cannot recall in any other capital.

I also appreciate the tram network, with the simple single decker cars bought in the from the Czech Republic, permanently tagged into pairs: they take precedence, running across cobbled carpets, laid down the centre of the wider streets. Spring comes late here, and the greenness of the trees is still on the way to reaching its fullness. It can feel as cold as Scotland when the sun disappears, though the air pollution is much lower than in Glasgow; helped not only by the trams and trolley buses (20p anywhere), but also by the reliance on rail for freight and minimal congestion from private cars.

Sarah explained to me the reason I was asked about Latvian women ... white English men come over here in packs, large and small with their minds on beer and women and some on sex tourism -- only the hotels are expensive. Sarah and I went with Josh on the paddle-boats on Friday afternoon, and when we went into town we spotted seven or eight separate groups of guys over from England. At least two groups were chanting / singing football songs. There was one stag weekend (groom dressed in a 'Ghostbusters' suit) and another gang of blokes (I could think of a less complimentary term) applauding and cheering every 'suitable' woman who walked by. There was no redeeming features I could identify about any of this. It was about 4.30pm, it appeared everyone was drunk, or not far off becoming so.

When I came here four years ago I was conscious of it being my first visit to a post-Soviet state, which was opening its new found wings and fighting corruption. This time I've arrived on my first visit to a fledgling member state of the EU - a place struggling with its identity for different reasons. There are many parents leaving; leaving the country for work in the UK etc, and leaving their children with grandparents here in Latvia.

For me though, I'm delighted to be here with my friends. Their new home is delightful and peaceful. Plenty of gentle quiet, easy talking and cheerful meals. I've seen two films with them already [check my arts blog], and watched their son growing up (and although now at 18 months, rather more like 16 months since he was 6 weeks premature).

And there is, for me, a sense of calmness about being away from everything, and of course there's so much less stress than in Palestine and the Occupied Territories. I've been quite desperate for some annual leave, and now it's finally here I feel such relief, and joy about it. I wanted to start my holidays here. As to where next ... I think I'll be heading west ... going east is tempting though!

So, I was in one of several queues at the airport. Someone asked to have tea from my flask ... I explained it was only hot water, so he started asking around for tea-bags (I did incite him a bit, quite a bit actually, for the sake of the banter)! I got talking to him and his three 'friends'. They were friendly, they were on business though, all working as engineers for British Aerospace at BAe Wharton. They were flying off to Latvia to sell military jets to the Latvian Airforce. Apparently Typhoons are quite popular. They weren't able to either give me an idea of how much such a plane would cost. I asked if they had been given authority to barter on the price, yes they said, how much I asked -- they felt that might have been pushing the boundaries of confidentality.

So, I asked, were any of them working at Wharton when the Ploughshares Four came and vandalized a jet bound for the Indonesian Airforce (who were using the planes to perpetuate a genocide against the East Timorese). One said 'no ... we came in the following morning though'. What I did find out was that the cost of damage to the plane was not as high as it was suggested in the press or at the court case; though when I pressed them on figures we didn't get very far. I also asked them what they felt, personally, about the not guilty verdict returned on those who'd vandalized the plane. I didn't get a direct answer, just a 'not prepared to comment' from the chief engineer and other remarks from another member of the group about how the publicity surrounding the case led to an exaggeration of the matter on all sides.

I felt at the time of the case, and still, in retrospect, that the Not Guilty verdict was a triumph, albeit a paltry one, for British justice, and proof of reasons for the right to a trial by jury. (Though, before I'm misunderstood, I must say that cases about shoplifting a hairdryer going to jury trial ... I knew of one example of that ... well that's the absurdity of a justice system which cannot resolve such matters by another means). And also before I'm misunderstood in another direction I have to repeat comments from blogging back in early 2005 relating to detainees held without trial at Belmarsh. I cannot overstate how appalled I currently am by the British Government's disregard for international law, its own system of justice, and its willingness to kill outside of its own moral codes on just war (not to attack a country threatening beyond its own borders). I can add to that a sense of disgust about the participation in deporting suspects (innocent till proven guilty) to other nations where they are bound to be tortured. (And I haven't even started on our treatment of Asylum seekers). Grrrr.

Back to the Plougshares Four not guilty verdit though. Of course the verdict was sound, since, as the jury agreed, attempting to prevent the slaughter of innocent people legitimates specific, localized and direct action which can be believed to slow down or prevent killing. That was what was so sophisticated about the Direct Action that was committed, and they had all the documentary evidence that they had attempted all other peaceful, political and legalized means of resisting and opposing the Indonesian genocide in East Timor prior to taking 'illegal' action.

So although I was feeling somewhat glum about buying into the 'cheap flight' world, I was very glad to be able to talk to people from the BAe perspective, and to hear some of their thoughts and feelings, though I mainly got that from the body language than what they were willing to divulge. One of the group did want to know my view on Latvian women, how attractive they were and whether they'd be 'up for it'? I was glad I wasn't able to advise ... he said 'we'll be staying a top hotel', I think the inference was that such a location would lead to some kind of quality opportunity for sex ... I sensed there was some irony since they didn't come 'dressed' for the occasion. Perhaps the questions were a reverse test on me seeing as I had been asking awkward questions the other way. Maybe they were wanting to see if I was going to be shocked or not (yes they knew what my occupation was).

I know all the reasons not to take short flights ... still I took one ... 'history will be my judge' [Blair used that one, I thought I'd try it myself, feels crap] ... from Liverpool John Lennon airport. Have to admit that if we are going to have short flights, then packing people in the way Ryanair does at least means you are getting better fuel use per person per mile ... however it is encouraging more travel by air, and that cannot help whichever way you look at it, fixing global warming agents straight into the upper atmosphere is bad news. On a more hopeful note, I know of a fantastic Nepalese tree planting project, intiated in West Yorkshire ... offsetting flights with tree planting may help long term. [If you want to know more, posting a comment with your email requesting further details will a) get a response from me and b) only get published with your contact details removed.]

I'm so glad Alastair has put me onto the lastest of the very best sophisticated personality indicator assessments!

This time, apparently,

I Am Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts. You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary. But you sure can beat a good drum. "Kill! Kill!"

I didn't attempt to fix the answers, or anything, honest.

I am so indebted to the Ship of Fools for so many many things. And I've laughed so many times there ... this link though probably has to take the biscuit for the funniest and most appalling of all the 'gadgets for God' that they've ever sourced. http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-1400229001.jsp?FP3 self-described as 'an illuminated treasure of handcrafted religious Christian home decor!' Laughed? I nearly wet myself. I'm still killing myself laughing as I write.

I've learnt a vast array of information over the years about how I tick and how others operate differently to one another. I value some (not all) of the personality indicator research and profiling that's out there and available, and have studied two in particular detail -- Enneagram and Myers-Briggs (no suprises there then). I have to say that I am struggling now, and always have, with the manner in which these helpful and useful tools can so easily become labels which justify inertia and intransigence. I think I'll just think about Thai Food and Sunrise for a few weeks rather than self-justifying my own behaviour with talk of number 4s and ENTP.

Apparently (thanks to Mark for spotting this one)

I Am Thai Food

Trendy yet complex. People seek you out - though they're not sure why.

Apparently,

I Am Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.