Hannah Arendt could not be more appropriate to read and rediscover at this time of evolving chaos. Thank you for this poignant essay on her continuing relevance today.
What’s tragic to me in this essay is the following sentence: “Our collective failure to stop this compounds the grief. “ Why is it “our” responsibility to stop this and how could we stop it when there is an entire group of people who will not stop until they have ensured no Jews live in the region. It’s a long held delusional goal which should be the focus of our attention and if it were, could be the only thing to resolve this “conflict”. If we are guilty of one thing in the west, it is of continuing to delude Palestinians that this is a reasonable goal. Both groups of people hold claim to the land and both of them should be honored. Only one side has ever been willing to entertain that. Period.
Jews never occupied Palestine. The only Palestine that ever existed was named by the British who occupied the land. Jews and Christians and Arab Muslims all lived there in various degrees of harmony and tension and sometimes violence. The Jews like their Old Testament god will respond with violence when it is initiated against them. That’s why their meager numbers still exist. Israel, so called “occupied/s” land it won in wars it didn’t start. These are not opinions, they are facts. The plight of the now called Palestinians is a dreadful one. Arab nations won’t have them as refugees, they are trained to hate Jews, though many resist that training, many don’t. The Gazans have been free since 2005. They elected by 70%, and freely, Hamas. Free Palestine indeed - from Hamas. On Being has been balm and sanctuary for me for nearly a decade. Poetry Unbound has saved my soul. Another loss for me, I suppose, as the liberal mind softens into an emotional puddle of infantile regression. Hannah Arendt most certainly would not have supported late adolescents having tantrums about situations they don’t even know the most basic facts about. I will be remembering the power of rootlessness as I feel it more deeply. It frees one from ego and identity which is at the heart of this current disaster of the collective mind. I will be seriously considering unsubscribing to all things On Being because I know you are all smarter than this.
Thank you — I am a person who habitually ignores conflict and difficult conversations as much as possible. However, listening to these conversations has softened my heart and melted the protective shell I place around myself. Serene
It is true that no matter how clear the conflict may seem, the work to get ourselves out of it is not simple. But in addition to being complicated, it is also simple. Simply assume that the intrinsic value of any one human life is equal to the intrinsic value of every other human life -- and then we are all working together to get ourselves out of it. Work is otherwise simply not to get ourselves out of it.
I would urge anyone who hasn't read Arendt to read some of her works asap; if anyone has read her already, they might find 'Three Women in Dark Times', by Sylvie Courtine-Denamy of interest. It's about Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil, and Edith Stein. I review it here:
I think of the difference between concede and confess, a difficult conundrum. The first seems more tangible and permanent in some way. The second admits culpability. We are challenged to overcome human nature, first our own, then to influence others.
Hannah Arendt could not be more appropriate to read and rediscover at this time of evolving chaos. Thank you for this poignant essay on her continuing relevance today.
What’s tragic to me in this essay is the following sentence: “Our collective failure to stop this compounds the grief. “ Why is it “our” responsibility to stop this and how could we stop it when there is an entire group of people who will not stop until they have ensured no Jews live in the region. It’s a long held delusional goal which should be the focus of our attention and if it were, could be the only thing to resolve this “conflict”. If we are guilty of one thing in the west, it is of continuing to delude Palestinians that this is a reasonable goal. Both groups of people hold claim to the land and both of them should be honored. Only one side has ever been willing to entertain that. Period.
Jews never occupied Palestine. The only Palestine that ever existed was named by the British who occupied the land. Jews and Christians and Arab Muslims all lived there in various degrees of harmony and tension and sometimes violence. The Jews like their Old Testament god will respond with violence when it is initiated against them. That’s why their meager numbers still exist. Israel, so called “occupied/s” land it won in wars it didn’t start. These are not opinions, they are facts. The plight of the now called Palestinians is a dreadful one. Arab nations won’t have them as refugees, they are trained to hate Jews, though many resist that training, many don’t. The Gazans have been free since 2005. They elected by 70%, and freely, Hamas. Free Palestine indeed - from Hamas. On Being has been balm and sanctuary for me for nearly a decade. Poetry Unbound has saved my soul. Another loss for me, I suppose, as the liberal mind softens into an emotional puddle of infantile regression. Hannah Arendt most certainly would not have supported late adolescents having tantrums about situations they don’t even know the most basic facts about. I will be remembering the power of rootlessness as I feel it more deeply. It frees one from ego and identity which is at the heart of this current disaster of the collective mind. I will be seriously considering unsubscribing to all things On Being because I know you are all smarter than this.
Thank you Carolyn.
THANK YOU, Lucas Johnson. You write with profound conviction and clarity. Your words are always inspiring.
Thank you — I am a person who habitually ignores conflict and difficult conversations as much as possible. However, listening to these conversations has softened my heart and melted the protective shell I place around myself. Serene
Lucas Johnson makes no mention of October 7.
It is true that no matter how clear the conflict may seem, the work to get ourselves out of it is not simple. But in addition to being complicated, it is also simple. Simply assume that the intrinsic value of any one human life is equal to the intrinsic value of every other human life -- and then we are all working together to get ourselves out of it. Work is otherwise simply not to get ourselves out of it.
I just want to add that many of the comments of the audience have brought me to tears.
I would urge anyone who hasn't read Arendt to read some of her works asap; if anyone has read her already, they might find 'Three Women in Dark Times', by Sylvie Courtine-Denamy of interest. It's about Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil, and Edith Stein. I review it here:
https://logosandliberty.substack.com/p/stein-weil-and-arendt
I've written a Poem that I post regularly on billboards i the small town where I live. It regularly gets ripped down
Hamas kidnaps Israelis
Israelis slaughter Gazans
Gazan survivors rage
Ragers become terrorists
Terrorists join Hamas
Hamas kidnaps Israelis
I think of the difference between concede and confess, a difficult conundrum. The first seems more tangible and permanent in some way. The second admits culpability. We are challenged to overcome human nature, first our own, then to influence others.