Small Reasons for Hope
Around this time of year, some combination of the weather and too much time spent reading the New York Times gets me down—it’s just a depressing time. So, on the off chance that there are Lilith blog readers who also experience the same seasonal malaise, a brief list of things about which we can have some hope.
1. The inauguration. While kind of a “duh,” it’s worth going the nearest mirror and saying to yourself, “Barack Obama is my president.” If that doesn’t work, switch it up to “George W. Bush is no longer president.” You may feel yourself strangely compelled to whistle, click your heels together and greet strangers on the street warmly. Do not be alarmed.
(Going to the inauguration? Leave your “I was a Jewish feminist at the Obama inauguration story on the wall of Lilith’s Facebook page, for the rest of us—or at least me—to peruse enviously.)
2. Ceasefire in Gaza. Unfortunately unilateral? Yes—although now that it’s underway, Hamas and others have agreed to cease hostilities. Nothing’s been solved, but a ceasefire is without a doubt the first step towards a slightly more lasting solution. Furthermore, Egypt and Turkey seem particularly interested in being involved in the process from this point forward, which is fantastic. I’m a big believer in the concept that peace negotiations (or more permanent ceasefire ones, for that matter) have a better chance of success when they’re negotiated in as multi-lateral a way as possible.
3. SCHIP. Arisen from the oldies-but-goodies graveyard, this important piece of legislation, passed by the House and vetoed by Bush not once but twice, will improve health care for American children. It passed 289-139 in the House on Wednesday, and there’s just about no more Bush administration to shoot it down again. The incomparable and much-lauded Nate Silver notes that the numbers this round reflect not only the Dem’s amazing job in the 2008 elections, but a general change of heart in our capital. I’m for it.
4. Heartwarming Plane Crash and Rescue in the Hudson. Maybe it’s just local news, but when a plane full of people crash lands in the river a few blocks from your office and everybody is fine…well, it’s another reason to get out of bed in the morning.
5. Global Warming Has Not Yet Won. For those of us in the parts of the country getting some grossly cold weather recently, it’s, well, cold comfort, but it gives me hope that the fight against global warming and our imminent self-destruction might yet be won. Now is a good time to start reading up on the stimulus package we’ve all been dreaming of; it’s got a lot of provisions for renewable energy, and we all owe it to ourselves and the next generations to work for even more.
What have I left off of this list? Fill us in on your own additions.
–Mel Weiss.
One comment on “Small Reasons for Hope”
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dear Mel
I recieved some copies of Lilith from your grandparents,whom I visited during Hanuka (I am the wife of your father’s cousin Bob)and I have been reading some of the articles, most of them were not so relevent for me but I was interested to see how the magazine responded to the war and so I went into the blog, and I was glad to see that you refered to the war and was even critical, it is so hard to find critical voices in the Jewish community these days that I was proud. We are a family of activists, we opposed this war from the first day, and my two daughters, who are about your age participated daily in demostrations, at the risk of being arrested, attacked,and cursed. we joined when ever we could, with our third daughter, who is still young, she is 13, and is home since her school was closed after a missile landed near by. The Israeli Hebrew media didn’t report on any of these demostrations, only some news websites did, and there was a great success to show that there is no opposition. But it is important to know that there is, although small, but committed against the racist and fascist atmosphere in our country. Do not hasitate to critsize Israeli society at this time, or its government, we need courage from people like you, I know it is easier to be critical from Israel, or as an Israeli woman, in the USA if you say anything you are accused of aiding the antisemites, or of being one, I know, I gave a few lectures abroad. but still I think we need to hear and read more left wing, anti-racist voices from the Jewish community in the US. I think we also need to call for boycott on different levels of Israeli goods, bussnisses, culture activites and academic and sport activities, it has worked in S. Africa, and it can work here, Israelis don’t like to be isolated from the West. Maybe you can suggest an issue or an article about the opposition to the war, in general or from women,
Michal Zak
Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam,Israel