Hello there! I’m writing this newsletter from an airplane. I’m traveling with my daughter Olive and we’re headed to California. Olive will be there for 3 weeks, and I’m just there for a few days; I’ll be back in France on Monday.
Regarding Israel, for a voice of sanity and a very personal persepective on what is happening, I highly recommend reading this article by Sarah Tuttle Singer (as well as following her on Facebook because her writing is amazing). https://lilith.org/2021/05/who-would-i-be-behind-a-blockade/
Love all your updates, including today's update and the complexity about Israel and Palestine. Love that you will be seeing Ralph and Maude! I'm hoping to be able to travel to France later this summer. Fingers crossed. CAn you give any tips on Americans, and specifically single older American women travelling in Normandy this summer? Can one take the train to your town? Are there cars available for renting there? Airbnbs? Must-sees? Will other of your fans be travelling there? Is there a way we might hook up there and have a "meet-up" or two? I'm considering a move away from San Francisco (after 53 years here), and Normandy is on my consideration list, so I wanted to go and stay for a few weeks to see if I can get a sense of it. Also, was really happy to have an opportunity to subscribe to and support your writing. You're a gift to so many people, including me. Thank you.
Love your reno updates on Instagram, your blog posts, AND you children's names. I love names that are traditional but uncommon/not trendy. Would love to know if they're named after people or if you and your husband just liked the names? I also have family in Rockridge and pre-pandemic visited at least once a year. Anyway, regarding Israel and Palestine, I just read this NYT oped/guest essay, which I really liked: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/opinion/israel-palestinian-refugees-right-of-return.html I also enjoyed reading President Jimmy Carter's book Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid from a while ago. Finally, I recently earned a second MA at DU, and my favorite class was about the Middle East. I highly recommend following my favorite DU professor Nader Hashemi on Twitter: @naderalihashemi and/or his media interviews on youtube. The situation in Israel and Palestine is heartbreaking for all parties. I have long wished for a two-state solution.... Happy travels!
Regarding Israel and Palestine, there are a number of specific problems that can make the situation seem confusing, clouded, and impossible to get a good grasp of. For starters, the media narrative we hear about Palestine and Israel is limited to "boiling points" when violence erupts, and then it quickly becomes a game of who-started-it. The elephant in the room here, is that Palestinians live under constant oppression. They are denied citizenship rights, their economic growth and access to the economy is completely controlled by Israel, if they leave Israel, their residency is often revoked and their land is taken over by settlements, and Palestinian mobility within and outside Israel is either completely cut off or severely restricted by checkpoints. Palestinian refugees outside of Israel cannot enter, even if their family members live there. This has been the Palestinian reality for decades--since 1948, when Palestinians were either pushed out of their homes for the establishment of the Israeli state OR fled the area temporarily to avoid the fighting that broke out between Jews and Palestinians at the time, and then were never allowed to return. We rarely ever hear this.
Another huge issue is that Zionism is too often conflated with Judaism. The two are not one and the same. Anti-semitism is abhorrent and deplorable. It's been around for centuries and is still pervasive. Anti-zionism is simply the belief that Palestinians have equal rights and that Israel is acting as an oppressive colonizer, which is ironic because the state of Israel was established by Britain, the colonizing power at the time. Yes, the future of Palestine and Israel is complicated--it is hard to rectify decades of injustice in any cut and dry way, and yes, the anti-semitism that is ignited by what's happening is sad and horrific, and yes, US relations with Israel and all the political power dynamics at play color the narrative too. But it's not hard to say that the way Palestinians are treated is absolutely, unquestionably wrong. US complicity and unconditional aid to the Israeli military is also wrong.
My son and his girlfriend will be moving out of a very nice efficiency just across from Berkeley grad housing. Feel free to be in contact if you would like the info before it goes public. Enjoy your time with your kids! It's hard having kids so far away. Missing my son in Berkeley.....
Enjoy your weekend trip with your kids! If you have the opportunity to get any vaccine--take it. Single doses of both pfizer and moderna vaccines are at least 80% effective against the virus; both are also available in France so you can get your second dose there later. It's ok if there's a bit of a delay with getting that second dose, too. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0329-COVID-19-Vaccines.html
re: Israel and Palestine, I've learned a lot from following Meg Keene's instagram stories (@megkeene). She re-posts from people who live in Israel & Palestine, as well as her own perspective. Definitely recommend.
Regarding Israel, for a voice of sanity and a very personal persepective on what is happening, I highly recommend reading this article by Sarah Tuttle Singer (as well as following her on Facebook because her writing is amazing). https://lilith.org/2021/05/who-would-i-be-behind-a-blockade/
Love all your updates, including today's update and the complexity about Israel and Palestine. Love that you will be seeing Ralph and Maude! I'm hoping to be able to travel to France later this summer. Fingers crossed. CAn you give any tips on Americans, and specifically single older American women travelling in Normandy this summer? Can one take the train to your town? Are there cars available for renting there? Airbnbs? Must-sees? Will other of your fans be travelling there? Is there a way we might hook up there and have a "meet-up" or two? I'm considering a move away from San Francisco (after 53 years here), and Normandy is on my consideration list, so I wanted to go and stay for a few weeks to see if I can get a sense of it. Also, was really happy to have an opportunity to subscribe to and support your writing. You're a gift to so many people, including me. Thank you.
Love your reno updates on Instagram, your blog posts, AND you children's names. I love names that are traditional but uncommon/not trendy. Would love to know if they're named after people or if you and your husband just liked the names? I also have family in Rockridge and pre-pandemic visited at least once a year. Anyway, regarding Israel and Palestine, I just read this NYT oped/guest essay, which I really liked: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/opinion/israel-palestinian-refugees-right-of-return.html I also enjoyed reading President Jimmy Carter's book Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid from a while ago. Finally, I recently earned a second MA at DU, and my favorite class was about the Middle East. I highly recommend following my favorite DU professor Nader Hashemi on Twitter: @naderalihashemi and/or his media interviews on youtube. The situation in Israel and Palestine is heartbreaking for all parties. I have long wished for a two-state solution.... Happy travels!
Yay you get to see the kids after more than a year! Congrats to Maude (go bears! 🐻 💛💙) ~ have fun in the Bay ~
Regarding Israel and Palestine, there are a number of specific problems that can make the situation seem confusing, clouded, and impossible to get a good grasp of. For starters, the media narrative we hear about Palestine and Israel is limited to "boiling points" when violence erupts, and then it quickly becomes a game of who-started-it. The elephant in the room here, is that Palestinians live under constant oppression. They are denied citizenship rights, their economic growth and access to the economy is completely controlled by Israel, if they leave Israel, their residency is often revoked and their land is taken over by settlements, and Palestinian mobility within and outside Israel is either completely cut off or severely restricted by checkpoints. Palestinian refugees outside of Israel cannot enter, even if their family members live there. This has been the Palestinian reality for decades--since 1948, when Palestinians were either pushed out of their homes for the establishment of the Israeli state OR fled the area temporarily to avoid the fighting that broke out between Jews and Palestinians at the time, and then were never allowed to return. We rarely ever hear this.
Another huge issue is that Zionism is too often conflated with Judaism. The two are not one and the same. Anti-semitism is abhorrent and deplorable. It's been around for centuries and is still pervasive. Anti-zionism is simply the belief that Palestinians have equal rights and that Israel is acting as an oppressive colonizer, which is ironic because the state of Israel was established by Britain, the colonizing power at the time. Yes, the future of Palestine and Israel is complicated--it is hard to rectify decades of injustice in any cut and dry way, and yes, the anti-semitism that is ignited by what's happening is sad and horrific, and yes, US relations with Israel and all the political power dynamics at play color the narrative too. But it's not hard to say that the way Palestinians are treated is absolutely, unquestionably wrong. US complicity and unconditional aid to the Israeli military is also wrong.
My son and his girlfriend will be moving out of a very nice efficiency just across from Berkeley grad housing. Feel free to be in contact if you would like the info before it goes public. Enjoy your time with your kids! It's hard having kids so far away. Missing my son in Berkeley.....
Enjoy your weekend trip with your kids! If you have the opportunity to get any vaccine--take it. Single doses of both pfizer and moderna vaccines are at least 80% effective against the virus; both are also available in France so you can get your second dose there later. It's ok if there's a bit of a delay with getting that second dose, too. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0329-COVID-19-Vaccines.html
Hope you're able to get your vaccine while you're here! I had great success with https://www.covidvaxnow.org/ in San Ramon (in Bishop Ranch)
re: Israel and Palestine, I've learned a lot from following Meg Keene's instagram stories (@megkeene). She re-posts from people who live in Israel & Palestine, as well as her own perspective. Definitely recommend.