I'm taking a day off, if I can get off my hill tomorrow morning. It's snowing here in New York. I'm planning to go for a dayhike in the Catskills. We shall see.
This is just a note to say that as daunted as I am by the adversity we've faced in the struggle for recognition of human rights in Palestine, I'm encouraged too. There's a true movement afoot in American life. Across from us are those who regard the events of the last three weeks as just and fit. The people who learned nothing from the horrors of Iraq, where occupation did not work, and where 'terror" was ultimately understood as the terrible expression of a political competition in which rights were denied; the people who will excuse anything that Israel does. On our side are all the people who were horrified by Israeli actions. A simple test.
On our side, apart from the sense of moral clarity, we have great diversity. Many people are joining this movement for evenhandedness in our foreign policy toward the Arab world, from many segments of American life. One great thing is that young Jews are joining and giving others permission. The pro-Israel side is losing the young Jews, that has been key.
I call it a leftwing movement, but it includes conservatives; and whatever it is I sense it will transform American political life. It is at the grassroots, unrepresented in mainstream media and politics, and there's a lot of power in that. There's strength in adversity. I just feel very positive about where the pendulum is going in American political life–to the progressive side. Just a little positive visualization before I go out into the weather.
