I can only support this initiative with all my heart.
Hard Truths & Fresh Start:
A Bold, Comprehensive, and Integral Strategy for the Middle East
East Don Edward Beck, Ph D
The safest place in any crisis is always the hard truth. Distorted recriminations about the past and naïve idealism about the future can be just as blinding as the tear gas. Personal or political agendas, whether obvious or hidden, protect no one from simplistic suicide bombs or sophisticated air-borne rockets. The smell of cordite has a way of cleansing one’s filters, or at least focusing on what is real. Alas, we often refuse to deal with the hard truths until all sides lie bloody, exhausted, vanquished — having jointly destroyed the relationships and physical resources necessary to invent a better future. The mythical phoenix that rises from the ashes is too often a vengeful vulture.
But what are the ‘hard truths’ about the Israeli/Palestine crisis? What if we had the visionary minds and courageous hearts to address these core realities? Would a fresh start, one that transcends the current stalemate and repetitive cycles of violence, become a possibility? If so, what are its principles and contours? Who can introduce it? How might it self-organize into the mainstream?
Dear Elza,
far from wanting to take sides in this incredibly messy matter it does seem important to me to also look at critques.
I’ve gathered from what happens in the blogosphere that in Wilberian integral circles it seems to be increasingly hard to deal with critique. Maybe that is because the tone is sometimes pretty harsh. But I hear that in academic circles (I’ve never studied, so I don’t know) it is quite normal to polemically critcize others.
Anyway I’d rather hear a lot of sides – and point them out here.
My personal view of this whole conflict is that it is a true tragedy. In my German blog I republished the words a father spoke at the grave of his son…
Much Love,
Mushin
Ray Harris’ critic of Beck’s ‘Fresh Start ‘article is truly naive and uninformed. Ray falls pray to his projections, himself probably sitting in an ivory tower and using criticism jargon to attack Don Beck who went to the Palestinian territories and Israel and spoke of the ‘Hard Truths’ with members of Hamas and Fatah as well as with the Israelis. And no, his meetings were not about promoting SDi. Beck offered real solution for ‘systemic Peace,’ and if Ray is reading the news from the PA, he would notice how Fatah leaders are following Beck’s advice and going back to their original mission of social service and support of their community, a pledge they announced last week in preparation for a Unity government.
Here is a devastating critique of Don Becks story:
…A perfect example of both the ivory tower syndrome and the use of jargon is Don Beck’s article ‘Hard Truths and a Fresh Start’. This is an article that promises much and delivers absolutely nothing. I understand this is a harsh criticism but it has to be said. The Israel-Palestine conflict is too serious to be taken lightly and Beck promises a unique solution. And what finally, is that solution? As in most of what he writes it is Spiral Dynamics and closely related ideas. This is simply self-serving (I don’t believe he was seriously offering a solution anyway, just promoting SD). In this particular instance the solution seems to be something called an ‘Integral Sapient Circle.’ Yep, that’s the buzz word amongst Hamas supporters in Gaza – all we need is an ISC. Am I being cruel?
Beck certainly understands the problem is complex but I’m afraid he leaves out one of those devilish details…. read more here