Thursday night, lying in bed, i felt myself start to rock, as if i were on a ship, and not in an apartment building eleven stories above bangkok. Of course my first thoughts were of myself-- i had been feeling sick lately, was something wrong enough to make me so dizzy and off center?
Two hours later, reading the news, I saw the truth-- 6.8 earthquake in myanmar, spreading all the way to bangkok.
A couple weeks previously, a titan-like tsunami swept villages and their inhabitants into the seas along the coast of Japan,while nuclear reactors seep their contents into the air, all caused by an earthquake that had moved the foundations a few days earlier.
An apathetic, uncaring, unknowing force in the earths physical realm made a move, perhaps relatively small considering the size and age of the physical planet,and yet...the lives of so many have been forever changed, entire worlds destroyed, irreparable, unknowable, forgotten? if something passes away without record, without those who would remember and tell of it, did it really ever happen to begin with? and in that case, were these worlds destroyed, if no one knew that they had been?
did the earth just move, or did it become something else, something it had not been before, something to which the world before is irrelevant and alien?
364 days ago, the world moved, changed. A man took a life in violence, and the earth shifted. and now we have lived in world that doesn't know the woman it last for 364 days, and it wonders if she even existed-- was she more than her loss, did she exist in a different form once? did the world shift for everyone, or just those of us who felt it? if someone didn't feel it, did it happen? did it even matter that it happened?
will the fact that the earth has shaken and changed really be understood by someone who doesnt feel it, didnt know what it was before or realize there is an after?
"the misery of other people is only an abstraction, " Ray insisted, "something that can be sympathized with only by drawing from one's own experiences. But as it stands, true empathy remains impossible. And so long as it is, people will continue to suffer the pressure of their seemingly singular existence."
"and mistreat each other, won't they?"
Ray nodded. "Horrendously."
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
one night in saigon, 40 years of questions.
Have you ever seen the movie “The Reader?” Probably, since it won so many awards and in general was a great movie, most people have, and more recently than me, who only saw it for the first time a month ago. In it, Hannah Schmidt is put on trial 20 some-odd years after the end of the Second World War for her part in the Holocaust, serving as a guard at a camp. From what I gathered, she was never armed and had no authority, was more administrative than anything else, though this is not really the point, the point is that she knew and to some extent enabled the atrocities that happened happen. And she stood trial for it, and went to prison for a very long time, as many others have. Michael Gruber, a Croatian boarn-Austrian living as a retired mechanic in Rockland, New York, was deported to Austria in 2002 at the age of 86 to stand trial for his service as an armed SS-guard at Sachsenhausen. Even though (nearly) none of these people committed illegal acts by the standards of the times in which they were acting, the world saw fit to hold them accountable, and to continue to ensure the responsible nations hold these individuals accountable indefinitely, as well as remembering their own national responsibility in the situation. There is not currently a child in Germany who goes through the German school system without studying WW2 and the Holocaust in particular. And I would say rightly so, as would people, especially Jews.
What is the relevance of this? It’s coming.
I just got back from one night in Saigon. The particulars of the city and the trip will have their place and time, but this is not it.
In the city, I paid a visit to the War Remnants Museum, which when it opened in 1975 was called "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government [of South Vietnam]." Later it was renamed the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum, being renamed what it currently is in 1993 after relations between the US and Vietnam were attempted by Bill Clinton. The reality is, before this I did not know very much about the Vietnam war beyond what we saw in Forrest Gump, and in many aspects I still don’t. That is a part of the problem. The museum was of course heavily biased, ignoring all aspects of atrocities on the part of the Viet Cong, ignoring what was occurring that invited Western involvement to begin with. But that is not the point either. What matters here is what happened on the ground, part of individual incidents that repeated themselves. And were ignored. And were let go.
Former Senator Bob Kerry, as a leader of a unit of Navy Seal, lead an attack on a peasant village called Thanh Phong. Reports vary as to numbers, but it seems that in 1 night, 21 people were killed, 13 of them being women and especially children. In the War Remnants Museum, there is the cylinder of a well in which three children—siblings—were hiding. All three were dragged out, where 2 were stabbed to death, the third, disemboweled. It may not have the numbers of Babi Yar, but it has the brutality. In countless incidents villagers without discretion for children, pregnant women, etc. were lined up and shot, a scenario out of Goldhagen’s “Hitler’s willing executioners.” Only these weren’t Jews, they were Vietnamese peasants, and these weren’t Nazis, they were Americans.
I have never been in war. I have never been in battle. I am not trying to diminish the level of respect that should be paid to American veterans, of all wars; I also am not some bleeding heart liberal—while I am liberal, I believe in punishments fitting crimes and am not wholly against the use of extreme measures when it is truly necessary (this last part, however, is where I and many others who support various ‘torture’ methods differ). However, no matter how honorable and brave the members of the American military are at some instances should not absolve them from their ‘errors in judgment,” nor should the fact that the other side had begun using such violence first.
The indiscriminate use of chemical materials whose effects were not known is still having massive impact today. Babies are being born—or stillborn—with horrifying ailments and deformities. Why have we turned our backs to this?
I am disgusted that individuals who partook and lead such events have not been asked to answer for their actions just as we, as Americans and as Jews and as the entire world have forced Germany and all Germans to do. I am terrified that I did not know these things already. If we do not learn from the mistakes of our own actions, what will stop them from repeating, what prevents us from allowing those we send out to fight for us in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, from losing their morality, too? What makes us different from Goebbels, Mengele, Eichmann?
We continue to condemn the world for their actions and their histories, Rwanda, all of Europe, South Africa. When will America look in the mirror and take responsibility to our own history and mistakes?
What is the relevance of this? It’s coming.
I just got back from one night in Saigon. The particulars of the city and the trip will have their place and time, but this is not it.
In the city, I paid a visit to the War Remnants Museum, which when it opened in 1975 was called "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government [of South Vietnam]." Later it was renamed the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum, being renamed what it currently is in 1993 after relations between the US and Vietnam were attempted by Bill Clinton. The reality is, before this I did not know very much about the Vietnam war beyond what we saw in Forrest Gump, and in many aspects I still don’t. That is a part of the problem. The museum was of course heavily biased, ignoring all aspects of atrocities on the part of the Viet Cong, ignoring what was occurring that invited Western involvement to begin with. But that is not the point either. What matters here is what happened on the ground, part of individual incidents that repeated themselves. And were ignored. And were let go.
Former Senator Bob Kerry, as a leader of a unit of Navy Seal, lead an attack on a peasant village called Thanh Phong. Reports vary as to numbers, but it seems that in 1 night, 21 people were killed, 13 of them being women and especially children. In the War Remnants Museum, there is the cylinder of a well in which three children—siblings—were hiding. All three were dragged out, where 2 were stabbed to death, the third, disemboweled. It may not have the numbers of Babi Yar, but it has the brutality. In countless incidents villagers without discretion for children, pregnant women, etc. were lined up and shot, a scenario out of Goldhagen’s “Hitler’s willing executioners.” Only these weren’t Jews, they were Vietnamese peasants, and these weren’t Nazis, they were Americans.
I have never been in war. I have never been in battle. I am not trying to diminish the level of respect that should be paid to American veterans, of all wars; I also am not some bleeding heart liberal—while I am liberal, I believe in punishments fitting crimes and am not wholly against the use of extreme measures when it is truly necessary (this last part, however, is where I and many others who support various ‘torture’ methods differ). However, no matter how honorable and brave the members of the American military are at some instances should not absolve them from their ‘errors in judgment,” nor should the fact that the other side had begun using such violence first.
The indiscriminate use of chemical materials whose effects were not known is still having massive impact today. Babies are being born—or stillborn—with horrifying ailments and deformities. Why have we turned our backs to this?
I am disgusted that individuals who partook and lead such events have not been asked to answer for their actions just as we, as Americans and as Jews and as the entire world have forced Germany and all Germans to do. I am terrified that I did not know these things already. If we do not learn from the mistakes of our own actions, what will stop them from repeating, what prevents us from allowing those we send out to fight for us in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, from losing their morality, too? What makes us different from Goebbels, Mengele, Eichmann?
We continue to condemn the world for their actions and their histories, Rwanda, all of Europe, South Africa. When will America look in the mirror and take responsibility to our own history and mistakes?
catching up
Been a while since the last post. I'll try to stop making a habit of it.
Last weekend was Avishai and Stop's wedding; unfortunately I was unable to attend the ceremony, so I cannot tell you what a Thai wedding is like. I can tell you what an Israeli/Thai party is like though-- lets just say that glasses were broken, and not just when stepped on by the groom.
The ASB Brass were here for the past week, and it was a good experience for me. I was included in almost all of the happenings, which (as corny and adolescent as it may sound), really made me feel included and valued; its hard to explain, in many ways the company is a big mispacha, and this week, I was invited to sit at the grown-ups table.
Otherwise the week went by fairly standard, with the benefit of being able to learn more about the history and future of the company, and to get to know my bosses better.
Saturday morning I left for a weekend in Saigon, Vietnam--30 days already. As a physical city, I liked Saigon better than Bangkok-- it was more accessible, I could cross the street with only a mild sense of imminent danger, I had sidewalks to walk along, parks to pass through. The people and culture, however, did not suit me. Perhaps it is just those who are in tourist industries, perhaps its a result of communism (mannerisms in former USSR countries are offputting to me, as well). In any event, the people I interacted with were very aggressive and pushy--my cyclo (rickshaw/bike) driver literally blocked my way from exiting the bench while convincing me to take a longer drive. In the market, if you walked away from something or a stall, the sales person would literally grab your hand, arm, whatever, and hold on, requiring some force, or force of bargaining, before you could get away.
Otherwise, I spent my time relaxing in my hotel room tub on a rainy night, eating pho (before a bug appeared on my chopstick), drinking jackfruit shakes, and visiting museums, namely the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, and the War Remnants Museum. The latter deserves its own discussion, coming up next.
Last weekend was Avishai and Stop's wedding; unfortunately I was unable to attend the ceremony, so I cannot tell you what a Thai wedding is like. I can tell you what an Israeli/Thai party is like though-- lets just say that glasses were broken, and not just when stepped on by the groom.
The ASB Brass were here for the past week, and it was a good experience for me. I was included in almost all of the happenings, which (as corny and adolescent as it may sound), really made me feel included and valued; its hard to explain, in many ways the company is a big mispacha, and this week, I was invited to sit at the grown-ups table.
Otherwise the week went by fairly standard, with the benefit of being able to learn more about the history and future of the company, and to get to know my bosses better.
Saturday morning I left for a weekend in Saigon, Vietnam--30 days already. As a physical city, I liked Saigon better than Bangkok-- it was more accessible, I could cross the street with only a mild sense of imminent danger, I had sidewalks to walk along, parks to pass through. The people and culture, however, did not suit me. Perhaps it is just those who are in tourist industries, perhaps its a result of communism (mannerisms in former USSR countries are offputting to me, as well). In any event, the people I interacted with were very aggressive and pushy--my cyclo (rickshaw/bike) driver literally blocked my way from exiting the bench while convincing me to take a longer drive. In the market, if you walked away from something or a stall, the sales person would literally grab your hand, arm, whatever, and hold on, requiring some force, or force of bargaining, before you could get away.
Otherwise, I spent my time relaxing in my hotel room tub on a rainy night, eating pho (before a bug appeared on my chopstick), drinking jackfruit shakes, and visiting museums, namely the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, and the War Remnants Museum. The latter deserves its own discussion, coming up next.
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