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Total number of comments: 1 (since 2009-07-26 20:25:03)

Jesse Fox

Website: http://www.sustainablecityblog.com/

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  • Where do the human rights of Gazans fit into the fight for a 'sustainable' future?
    • Jesse Fox December 31, 2009 at 1:33 pm with 2 replies

      Dear Shmuel, Sammy, Witty and all the other commenters,

      Thank you all for your "advice" and "feedback." Unfortunately, it seems that many of you chose to react more to what I did not say than to what I actually did say, as quoted by Mya. Reading your comments here, and the 200+ comments to the original post, I'm afraid some of your righteous indignation might be just a bit misplaced.

      I understand that, in this age of blogs and talk backs, this culture of shooting from the hip on websites like this one exists, and I also understand that it is much easier to anonymously criticize others than to actually get involved in the non-virtual world as an activist.

      I was interviewed about my views regarding environmentalism, urban planning and activism. As someone who lives and is active in Tel Aviv - Jaffa, my focus is naturally on what happens in that city, and believe me, there are enough controversial issues just in that city to keep the entire activist community busy year round.

      For example, the fight against the government's decision earlier this year to expel African refugees (many of them fleeing the genocide in Darfur) from the center of Israel. If any of you had bothered to look for it, you could have found these pieces that I wrote right here on this site about my participation in that fight for human rights, which was eventually won:
      link to mondoweiss.net
      link to mondoweiss.net

      However, this was not the subject of the interview. As for making me "in some sense feel shame for not focusing on Gaza" as Witty put it, or my being a "tree hugger" who "cares not about the people of Gaza" as Citizen said, let me first state that I don't feel the need to defend my record to any sort of self-righteous armchair critics. But, again, if any of you had bothered to look for it, you would have found very clear statements of my views on these issues and accounts of my activism around the topic, among other places, on my blog: www.sustainablecityblog.com.

      To Shmuel, who asks if I "think the fundamental human rights of the people of Gaza also deserve a place" in my "credo," here is a piece I wrote exactly a year ago in reaction to the war in Gaza last year: link to sustainablecityblog.com
      I was in Israel, protesting, writing, trying to carry on rational discussions with people while the whole country was gripped with self-righteousness and fear. Where were you Shmuel?

      I understand that, when viewed from abroad, the situation in Israel-Palestine can often look two dimensional and simplistic. But take it from me - the fight for social justice and human rights in such a complex environment must necessarily take place on a variety of fronts. As people who profess to be "on the right side" of that fight, I would suggest that you all take a more nuanced and sensitive approach, rather than boiling everything down to a simple "where does this guy stand on what's happening in Gaza and why doesn't he say anything about it?"

      Jesse

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