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Communication with each party identically misjudging the other

A woman at Starbucks greeted me when I walked in, “Hi, Pumpkinseed Eater!” I had no idea who she was and couldn’t remember any pumpkin inside jokes. So I smiled and said, “Oh, hi! So nice to see you! How are you?” For a millisecond she had deer in the headlights but said, “Hi … uh ... good to see you!” I then realized she hadn’t said ‘hi’ to me, but must have been recounting a story to her friend. So there we were: Two people who didn’t know each other both pretending that we did (waiting for context clues that would never come)!

It reminded me of vacationing in Paris when a man asked me directions in French. He spoke slowly and deliberately. I hadn’t spoken French in three years but did my best to answer him in French. Then I overheard him rapidly translating for his wife in English. We were both American tourists: Two native English speakers thinking the other was French!

I wonder if there is a technical term for communication where both sides equally misjudge their audience.

Presentation on human rights in the Holy Land slated for Creative 360

By Emma C. Johnson

Cody O’Rourke, a native of Gladwin, Michigan, didn’t know it at the time, but in 2004 he was about to attend a presentation that would end up changing the trajectory of his life. “It was really by chance that I ended up being involved in the conflict in the Holy Land,” said O’Rourke.

Held at the Church of the Brethren in Beaverton, Michigan, Speaker Bob Schnepp discussed the situation in Palestine/Israel. Afterwards, O’Rourke expressed admiration for Schnepp’s commitment to peace. Schnepp suggested O’Rourke travel to Palestine/Israel, but O’Rourke said he couldn’t afford it. Schnepp offered to pay. It was settled.

“So there I was, Bob was paying for me to go to Hebron on a two-week delegation with the Christian Peacemaker Teams in 2005,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke says his 2005 trip had a huge impact on him. Today O’Rourke has been living in Bethlehem for seven years fighting for social justice.

“I wasn't political,” said O’Rourke. “I had no historical background and I wasn't even that religious ... And I wasn't much into social justice. Because, why would I be? As a white, straight guy from northern Michigan, I had never experienced institutionalized violence.”

“I had never witnessed, or could have imagined for that matter, the intentional system of control that Palestinians were forced to live under in Hebron,” he said. “After witnessing the oppression, hearing the personal stories, it bothered my conscious in a way that I couldn't turn away from,” says O’Rourke.

Speaker Cody O’Rourke’s talk is titled “South Hebron: The struggle for human rights in the Holy Land.” He will discuss Israel's military occupation, the implications of the Oslo Accords, and ways to work toward peace in the Holy Land.

O’Rourke seeks to “unpack the way in which the Israeli state exercises military control over the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights and how that system is directly connected to the political and social dynamics of the United States.”

O’Rourke will focus on the Palestinian village of Um al-Khair in South Hebron.

In Um al-Khair, “[Palestinians] aren't allowed to have water, electricity, or any infrastructure – while the Israeli Jewish settlement of Carmel has full services and public transportation.”

In South Hebron, Palestinians must get building permits from the Israeli military, which approves less than 1 percent of Palestinians’ applications. “[I]t is basically impossible for them to stay on their land,” explains O’Rourke.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there are 151 structures slated for demolition in Um al-Khair. Only two homes would be left standing.

“Israel is trying to carry out an impossible colonization project, in which it wants all the land, but to retain a Jewish demographic majority on the land,” says O’Rourke. Currently, there are about 6.5 million Jews and 6.5 million Palestinians living in Palestine/Israel. “Israel cannot retain a Jewish democracy while simultaneously granting rights to 6.5 million Palestinians,” he said.

“[T]o secure any sort of peace in the Holy Land, we have to start working on … one democratic state in which all people have equal and inalienable rights,” he said.

“This violence isn't rooted in hate like some people want to frame the conflict,” says O’Rourke. “The violence is rooted in political inequalities which are represented in thousands of laws enacted to suppress Palestinian rights. … We need a change in the laws, which are only changed through a political process.”

“[U]nless we put a premium on a one-state solution that focuses on creating systems of economic equality, we will have failed. Essentially we will have just reorganized oppression and violence from the military level to an economic level,” O’Rourke said.

While O’Rourke’s presentation focuses on South Hebron, he says these social justice issues transcend geography.

“[A]ll these systems of oppression are interconnected,” says O’Rourke. “I could see how on various levels the Palestinian experience was intrinsically connected to the experiences of People of Color. I began to see … that in order to make any sort of change, I was going to have to be an ally not only to those oppressed in the Holy Land, but to marginalized and oppressed everywhere.”

“My son is an Israeli Jew. He goes to well-funded Israeli Jewish schools. … [W]e talk often about how life is different for the Palestinians. So when my son goes out with me to Um al-Khair, it's pretty clear to him that the Palestinians aren't being treated the same as Israeli Jews. My son gets this reality pretty easily, but yet for some adults, this basic reality evades them,” he said.

The event is sponsored by the Islamic Center of Midland and Reaching Out for Justice and Peace Work Group of Memorial Presbyterian Church and will take place on Sunday, June 17, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Creative 360, located at 1517 Bayliss Street in Midland.

Palestine/Israel presentation slated for 6/17/18

South Hebron: 

The struggle for human rights in the Holy Land

Art Exhibit: The Art of the Circus

Right to boycott should be protected

By Emma Johnson
Midland Daily News, 10 Apr 2018: 6A.
https://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/voices/article/Right-to-boycott-should-be-protected-12818625.php

A sign points to the Israeli settlement Pisgat Ze'ev located in East Jerusalem. Pisgat Ze'ev houses 50,000 of the 700,000 Israeli settlers illegally residing in the occupied Palestinian territories. Photograph by Emma Johnson.

FULL TEXT:

Do you think it should be illegal to compile public information? To participate in a boycott? U.S. Republicans and Democrats seem to think so.

In fact, they are currently trying to make it law. The bill currently has 269 co-sponsors; 225 in the House (H.R.1697) and 51 in the Senate (S.720). This includes our own Republican Rep. John Moolenaar and Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act is a direct response to the BDS movement, which stands for “Boycott. Divestment. Sanctions.” The Israel Anti-Boycott Act would make it illegal for U.S. businesses to cease doing business with Israel, or companies that operate on illegal Israeli settlements, if it is — or is only perceived to be — for political reasons.

Squirrel film screening in Midland, MI

Thanks to everyone who attended Squirrel: The Movie directed by Thalia Drori!

We had a great discussion about reframing the dialog concerning violence in our society as well as how we've become inured to the over-representation of the male gaze in film. Here I am introducing the movie dressed in character (a.k.a. wearing my own clothes).

Thanks to Creative 360 for hosting, The Delta Collegiate for covering the event, and for everyone who made it a great night!

Picture by René Johnson.