Track Two's One Network Conference on the Middle East and Iran last week, our first "virtual conference" gathered 23 people from across our programs, and particularly representative of our work in the Middle East and Iran. See a list of resources shared with the group below the update. You will find arts, letters and song in this list.
The following points emerged:
1. Privacy and surveillance in the COVID19 recovery period - how will technologies be used to support health needs but prevent abuse of privacy?
2. Psychology during and beyond the pandemic - how do we support mental health when uncertainty persists beyond the capacities of our traditional institutions?
3. Sanctions, their consequences and our ignorance about them, may be creating far deeper pain and mistrust than anticipated and understood.
4. Is the environment breathing a sigh of relief? Can this sigh be sustained beyond the stay-at-home period? How might this evolve?
5. Co-resistance - can we join in peaceful efforts to resist violations of human rights across issues?
For each of these points, we asked, what does it take to change a circumstance?
First, we identify the "needs" - what circumstances are we trying to address?
1. If solidarity across borders can happen in the face of a global enemy, there is, in this COVID threat, a great positive circumstance and a need to sustain global solidarity beyond the imminent threat.
2. Energy is a requirement for improved wellbeing; there is a need for clean energy everywhere, but particularly in under-resourced areas where energy, generally, is not universally available.
3. Nations continue to act against the interests of individuals; there is a need for individuals to co-resist and demonstrate that humanity offers hope, love and alternative narratives.
4. Climate change will drive greater global crises like the current pandemic; how might we elevate the importance of climate action in a world of misdirected leadership?
We will be developing our responses to these needs, and supporting our network members as they address them, over the coming months.
Thanks to Huda, Souli, Yoav, Anisa, Joe M., Tamar, Nic and Kim for your preparation; thanks to Joe O. for your wonderful intercessions, bringing us into our bodies and hearts.
Shared Resources:
Music with Israeli Jews and Arabs An Introduction to the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K22pkacxfN0 https://west-eastern-divan.org/founders YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m654kLkGuwE https://scenearabia.com/Noise/jerusalem-youth- chorus-micah-hendler-israeli-palestinian-teenagers- sing-together Other initiatives: https://www.youth-music.org.il/the-arab-jewish- orchestra https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L- 4766007,00.html https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/young-jews- and-arabs-form-friendships-through-classical- music/2809411.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/opinion/sunda y/israel-nasrin-kadry-mizrahi-pop-music.html Shirin Neshat Artist from Iran living in the USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZNhZqouZos https://issuu.com/yarat/docs/shirinneshat_catalogue_ english_web http://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/7117- shirin-neshat-the-home-of-my-eyes-marks-the- opening-of-yarat-cont https://www.ted.com/talks/shirin_neshat_art_in_exile ?language=en Palestinian Artists in Israel & Palestine; and abroad: https://www.haaretz.com/israel- news/.premium.MAGAZINE-feminism-and-the-nakba- this-palestinian-artist-s-works-are-hard-to-look-away- from-1.7857800 https://theculturetrip.com/middle- east/israel/articles/the-7-most-influential-israeli- artists-of-all-time/ https://imemc.org/article/palestinian-artists-use-their- skills-to-raise-consciousness-about-palestine/ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/mona-hatoum- 2365/who-is-mona-hatoum
Bolshoi Ballet - Stays Home
Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus | Free to read | Financial Times
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Late Ripeness
TRANSLATED BY ROBERT HASS AND CZESLAW MILOSZ
Not soon, as late as the approach of my ninetieth year,
I I felt a door opening in me and I entered
the clarity of early morning.
One after another my former lives were departing,
Like ships, together with their sorrow.
And the countries, cities, gardens, the bays of seas
assigned to my brush came closer,
ready now to be described better than they were before.
I was not separated from people,
grief and pity joined us.
We forget—I kept saying—that we are all children of the King.
For where we come from there is no division
into Yes and No, into is, was, and will be.
We were miserable, we used no more than a hundredth part
of the gift we received for our long journey.
Moments from yesterday and from centuries ago—
a sword blow, the painting of eyelashes before a mirror
of polished metal, a lethal musket shot, a caravel
staving its hull against a reef—they dwell in us,
waiting for a fulfillment.
I knew, always, that I would be a worker in the vineyard,
as are all men and women living at the same time,
whether they are aware of it or not.
Nimo Patel is part of Empty Hands Music,https://www.emptyhandsmusic.org/and they have a MENAGERIE of anthems for our times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le2HSDpD-Aw&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0dvevLio8nAK1YwnFw6uTF3rNhKMYB8HF6pmyRcPvfrKCCs4ETE5NolSY
