I’m in dual-blog mode at the moment.

As I work with the fine team at http://www.ecoms.com on creating the all-in-one MEGA SITE, I’m trying to bridge between this one and http://andrewgunsberg.com

Thoughts? Suggestions?

360º of the Western Wall

Originally uploaded by אושר (Andrew) Günsberg

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Better than walking back from Mexico..

Originally uploaded by אושר (Andrew) Günsberg

I never ceased to be amazed at people who are amazed that their airport experience when leaving a hugely popular Mexican tourist destination on the eve of 4th July weekend. They seem completely surprised that the lines are miles long and that there are screaming children being screamed at by their lobster-red screaming parents who are wearing tourist sombreros and also screaming at each other. Me? Accept it all as part of the process, allow ample time for that process to occur, and focus on playing “angry birds” on my iPhone while the chaos reigns around me.
Also, willingly pay up for the overweight bag instead of holding up the line running back to the tourist shop for plastic bags and ripping out your week-old undies and things for all to see to try and get under 23kg.
The reward? The nice man at the counter sees your acceptance and willingness to engage into the system of travel, sees you are not resisting the inevitable nature that the system has to lean into stressors every now and then, sees you are more than willing to accept the baggage charge responsibility – and then he gives you an exit row on a packed flight to sit in all by yourself, with enough leg room that I had to unbuckle to reach my seat pocket in front of me. Like poor man’s business class.
Resign to the system. Embrace it. It is designed to work whether you worry about it or not.
There are rewards along the way when those in the system see another who is willingly within it.

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Day 365 of 365 Thanks for spending the year with me.

Originally uploaded by אושר (Andrew) Günsberg

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So you’re outraged.
Guess what – so am I: and I love Israel.
There’s nothing more that I want for Israel and the people of Gaza and the West Bank than for each to have their own state and self-rule so that they may live and raise children and watch soccer in peace. In fact you’d be surprised how many people within Israel want this too, more than anything in the world.
Alas, leaders’ policies on both sides have been causing nothing more than damage to any hope of lasting peace and more so, damage to the rest of the region and the world as a whole.

I love to learn. And right now, I have questions like anyone. So I’ll ask them.

We can yell at each other until the cows come home, instead – how about we put our heads together. Our brains are much more powerful when we use them collectively.

If you can do so without applying double-standards to or delegitamizing Israel, and without being anti-semitic (easy ways out y’see), let’s try and answer some questions together.

- How do you suggest Israel deal with Hamas, the baddest of badmotherfuckers that ever did live, who are not only intent at destroying Israel at any cost (including the lives of innocent civilians within Gaza) and at their closest are 700m from the nearest Israeli town? Trust me, if they lived that far from your house you’d want an army between you and them too.

-Clearly the Blockade is causing far more harm than good, yet the Israeli Government (as any government) must protect its people, and the people are under attack from Hamas and other militants within Gaza. So, what would you do if it were your country?
How would you stop it? (Assuming that until the rocket-fire stops, it’s going to be pretty hard to get either side to the negotiation table.)

- When Israel and the world will (we’re all hoping!) create a Palestinian State in Gaza and the West Bank, who will lead them and more importantly how will those leaders ensure that challenges that often face early stages of independence (for example corruption and in-fighting as in Afghanistan and Iraq) as well as safety and security for the people of Palestine and of Israel?

I’m honestly asking these questions in an effort to learn how others would contemplate bringing the situation to a next step. Because I sure as anything don’t have the answers.
I’m asking because to start to answer these questions seriously, you have to really get into the nitty gritty of it. Happy reading, happy researching, and I’m looking forward to your comments – which I’m sure you’ll keep constructive in the spirit of understanding.

A few things to remember: Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization which currently controls Gaza.

The people of Israel aren’t going anywhere, and neither are the people of Gaza/The West Bank.

The answers to these questions concern all of us.

Three questions, and I’m ready for answers as much as anyone.

Peace for all of us.
x

I, like many of you have been looking on in horror at the scenario unfolding in Israel in the last few days. I also have been recoiling from the anti-Israel press and opinion that seems to be flooding the place. If those who read and believe these headlines could even know how many people – ordinary you and me kind of people – within Israel who want nothing but peace, and who are equally mortified at the actions of the last few days, they would perhaps change their tunes quick smart.

I welcome debate, though deplore antisemitism as a way out of a discussion.
When we debate, we listen and learn from each other.

To instantly knee-jerk to news that Israel fired a weapon as “well, they’re in the wrong” is as naive and one dimensional as trying to sum up the deplorable situation with Australia’s indigenous population by saying,”…they should all just get jobs”.

You’re trying to sum up and simplify centuries of conflict and an impossibly complicated situation on both sides with a single racially-biased phrase.

I’m here to tell ya, it ain’t that easy.

So before you form a concrete opinion (which may look suspiciously like something you read on a headline on a news website in between checking eBay auctions and your facebook/twitter), slap a McCain insta-meal in the microwave and then settle down for an evening of telly congratulating yourself on a job well done (before going back to same facebook/twitter and writing something that you may not quite appreciate the gravity of), may I take a few moments to explain one particular point of view so that you may perhaps (if you’re interested) better understand how many concessions both morally and ideologically one must contemplate to start to understand the situation and form an opinion.

The old saying goes, you have to live for something or you’ll die for nothing.

I married a girl from a rough (international) neighbourhood, and I’ve come to love her country and its people like my own. It is a country full of contradictions and my loyalties are as equally difficult to comprehend as the country itself.

So in the interests of living for something, I’d like to take a few moments of your time to explain where I am on these difficult issues.

I’m pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian at the same time. Try that one on for starters.

I’m for the IDF but against a number of their policies (and certainly decisions in the last few days).

I’m for two-states and for autonomy and also for protection of the civilian population on both sides – and the measures that need to be taken to ensure that protection.

I’m for a right to self-defence and also for proportionate responses.

Man I suck to have at dinner parties, I’m all over the place when it comes to this.

I’m against scapegoating on both sides, I’m against the delegitimization of Israel, and I’m for resettling the settlers.
I’m for clear divisions in East Jerusalem that are respected and upheld, and for the building codes to be equal among the population.

I’m against International Double standards against Israel, but I’m for accountability of Israel.

Israel as a country seems expected to play by Western Rules, yet the people they’re playing against are playing a completely different sport altogether.

I honestly believe that many people just get negative on Israel because it’s easy to do. It’s easier than actually reading up about the history of the place, and understanding how difficult the solution to the problems there are.

I fear that casual deligitimization of this wonderful country will lead to no-one being there to stop them when the bad guys who want to destroy Israel come for you too.

I also truly believe that we can get it right, and that we as a world can figure out a way for the whole team there to live in peace with each other and enjoy their lives.
I truly believe this. Call me naive, however I’d rather be an optimist than a pessimist – no matter how bad it looks.

For a start – read “Israel’s Wars” by Ahron Bregman. A very frank and open account that details precisely the political and military decisions (however questionable, as the author also points out) that led to Gaza being a part of Israel and also the creation of the West Bank. The book also covers how the Israeli population’s opinion at large struggles often with the policies of their governments in times of crisis.

When you read this book (and I’m still searching for an alternate view – as I just finished reading it myself) you will see that it’s just not that simple as saying “well they’re wrong, and they’re right”.

I welcome your comments, however I’m hoping we can discuss opposing opinions and not degenerate into uni-student pamphlet hand-out shouty points of view.

I hope you can understand by what I’ve written that I am open minded about a lot of things, and also have NO CLUE how to solve them.

Talking with, listening to and understanding each other is a place to start.

If we stand nose to nose and shout at each other, we all lose.

Peace and love and good Karma upon you all.

Day 345 of 365 American Coffee is like making love in a canoe

Originally uploaded by אושר (Andrew) Günsberg

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Day 342 of 365 Running with dog in Griffith Park

Originally uploaded by אושר (Andrew) Günsberg

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Day 333 of 365 The day Dio died

Originally uploaded by אושר (Andrew) Günsberg

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Day 325 of 365 Hot Hits Live from Brio De Janero

Originally uploaded by אושר (Andrew) Günsberg

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