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Richard Silverstein's essay diary about U.S. and Mideast politics, world music and film.
Tikun Olam is a phrase from Jewish mystical tradition (Kabbala) reflecting humanity's need to repair the world through acts of lovingkindness (mitzvot).
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by Richard Silverstein
Medieval Jews & Muslims in Musical Embrace
Memories of Auschwitz: a Holocaust Survivor Remembers
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May 31, 2003
Peace in the Middle East: This I Believe Since 1968, I have been intellectually and politically absorbed by the issue of Middle East peace. The only way to achieve real and lasting peace between Israel and the Arabs will include: 1. An independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza 2. This state must be neutral politically and not have a standing army 3. Both Israel and Palestine must have their respective capitals in Jerusalem 4. Palestinians must give up their idea of a right of physical return for those refugees who fled or were expelled in 1948. In return, Israel must recognize a right of financial compensation for the properties confiscated from its Arab neighbors inside the Green Line 5. For a time, international peacekeepers will have to patrol the border and maintain peace between Israel and Palestinians until each side has confidence that the other wishes to abide by peace agreements. Currently, I believe that both sides are on the wrong road and will never achieve peace with their respective agendas. The Palestinian Islamists must renounce terror. It gets them nowhere and is not a legitimate means of resistance. Israel's settlements are an obstacle to peace and should not be enlarged. In a final peace agreement, Israel will have to dismantle and downsize some of these settlements. The settlers who lose their homes will have to be resettled within Israel. Until each side recognizes the inevitability of making painful and difficult compromises, there will not be peace. Jewish Peace Resources: If you'd like to learn more about Israeli-Jewish groups working to promote peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, please visit the following sites: Americans for Peace Now: A U.S. group that supports Israel's Peace Now movement--http://peacenow.org American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam (Oasis of Peace): An Israeli communal village which contains members who are Jewish and Arab. Their mission is to educate the world about the possibilities for Jews & Arabs living together honorably and peaceably--http://oasisofpeace.org New Israel Fund: An international group dedicated to promoting social justice and equality within Israel. It supports projects both in Israeli Jewish and Arab communities within the Green Line--http://www.newisraelfund.org/ Brit Tzedek V'Shalom--Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace: A U.S. Jewish group devoted to Mideast peace which supports a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--http://www.btvshalom.org/ In spite of everything I've stated here, I believe that peace can and will come not in decades, but in years--perhaps less than five years.
Arts & Crafts Period Details in Madrona HomeTom Stangeland China Hutch with Deruta Majolica When we moved into our home in 1998, we decided to furnish our main floor with Arts & Crafts furntiure. We saw Tom Stangeland's Greene & Greene dining room table (modeled on one in the Blacker House in Pasadena) at NW Fine Woodworking here in Seattle and this was (to quote Casablanca) the "beginning of a beautiful [creative] friendship." While we bought several of Tom's "set" pieces, the most exciting part of our partnership involved asking Tom to make pieces he'd never made before. He'd never designed a sofa, so we sketched out a Chinese-influenced settle with pencil & paper. Lo & behold, it turned into the beautiful piece you see below. As a wedding present, we bought Majolica dinnerware crafted by Ubaldo Grazia of Deruta, Italy. We needed to showcase these magnificent ceramic pieces so we decided we needed a China hutch. Tom researched an Arts & Crafts hutch, drew the design in pencil on a cardboard cutout, then placed it in the dining room space where the hutch was intended. This eventually became the amazing piece you'll also see below. Steve Helberg of Eastern Washington created the beautiful reading lamp (which we helped him design for this space). Yes, it has a fern frond encased in mica sheets for the lamp "shade." He is amazing craftsman in copper, metals and wood. The entry lockset is in the Eastlake Style, a late Victorian design style that anticipated the richly intricate geometric shapes of Art Deco. It is stamped with an 1885 patent which dates its manufacture to sometime after 1885. If you love Arts & Crafts and Greene & Greene as much as we do, like magnificent craftsmanship, and need a new piece of furniture--do think of Tom. By the way, Tom designed two of the Arts & Crafts suites in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel.
Seattle Arts & Crafts Style: a Home in MadronaA home in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood near Lake Washington. For photos of Tom Stangeland's magnificent Greene & Greene reproductions and other home interior details visit Madrona interior. We live in a 1906 Craftsman home in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood overlooking Lake Washington. We have a gorgeous view of the Cascade Range which lies about 40 miles east of us. We are also just across the lake from Bellevue, a Seattle suburb. The home was featured in the 2000 Madrona Home and Garden tour. We moved in in 1998 after moving here from New York. We bought the house just before we were married. Although a previous owner had done a remarkable renovation (though unfortunately not a restoration), we have been able to make our mark on the house in other ways. My friend, Michael Rose (co-owner of one of the Bay Area's finest boutique bakeries, Semifreddi's), inspired me in the early 1980s to love the Arts & Crafts architectural & design style (& wonderful food!). One of my dreams has been to create a home that is truly in that style. We did this with furniture we commissioned from Tom Stangeland, a renowned local furniture maker (for photos of Tom's work go to http://www.nwfinewoodworking.com/artisans/stangeland/stangeland.htm). He designed an extraordinary China hutch, a settle, coffee table, entertainment center, and dining room table. The dining table is a reproduction of the one in the Blacker House in Pasadena. The captain's chairs, with their curved arms & intricate cutouts and inlaid ebony pegs are an extraordinary exhibition of craftsmanship. Collaborating with him on the design phase of the hutch made us feel that we were helping Tom to create a truly wonderful piece of art. Now, we feel that we live in a Craftsman home with Craftsman furnishings! I am a gardener too. I tried to make a garden that has a Northwest native plant influence. There are perennials and flowering plants in the front yard; fruits or vegetables on the side; and the same in the backyard with an herb garden. After four years of hard work this garden has come into its own. But it requires careful editing (as a gardener might say) to take out the disappointing, decomposing or just plain overgrown. You may view some garden photos at Madrona Home Garden
Food favorites of Seattle & the Pacific Northwest Food: These are a Few of My Favorite Things Seattle is an amazing food town, which somewhat contradicts its small town, provincial past as a Scandanavian lumber and fishing port. These are a few of my favorite things here: Harvest Vine: a Basque tapas bar & possibly the best restaurant in Seattle on one of its good nights (which are many). The mustachioed Chef Jimenez is an elfin genius. His wife is the extraordinary pastry chef. Her goat cheese cakes are divine. Dahlia Bakery: dig those breads, chocolate kisses, chocolate truffle cookies and pop tarts. 60th Street Desserts: Joan Williams is perhaps the finest pastry chef in Seattle. Try the blackbotton cupcakes, ranger cookies, and any of the tarts. Farmers Markets: we attend the Columbia City & University District Famers Markets. We prefer Columbia City because the clientele is more diverse and it has more of a "village" feel compared to the packed U District. Fish: Seattle's fish is legendary thanks to the proximity of Alaska's frigid North Pacific waters. Copper River wild king salmon in June and July is the most amazing fish you've ever eaten. If you've only eaten farm raised salmon, you've eaten nothing compared to Copper River. Pure Fish in Pike Place Market serves uniformly excellent quality fish. Arosa: a small cafe tucked into a shopping center between Madison Park and Madison Valley. It's specialty is fresh waffles and they're the best in Seattle. The owner is German and has a magnificent recipe. Le Pichet: One of Seattle's finest French bistro serving elegant, yet simple meals. The service is uniformly gentle & helpful. Prices are truly moderate considering that you're eating such wonderful French food. The desserts are amazing. Coffee: Try Queen Anne Thriftway's house roast. It's hand-roasted in the Tacoma store. Stay away from megasauras Starbuck's coffee unless you like beans roasted well past bitterness. Seattle Food Guide: Katy Calcott has written The Food Lover's Guide to Seattle, the definitive guide to Seattle's best food markets, bakeries, wine shops and ethnic foods. I agree with almost all of her choices of what's best in food here. Another helpful feature is a food glossary for the various ethnic cuisines. My only quarrel is she intentionally omits restaurants and I don't see how you can write a food book about a city & omit its restaurants. Sooke Harbor House: One of our favorite hotels in the whole world. But it's like no other hotel you've ever visited. First, it's terribly relaxed and laid back. Staying here is like being invited to join the party of friends enjoying the great manor house in the seminal Jean Renoir film, Rules of the Game (Les Regles du Jeu). The hotel is in Sooke, B.C. just outside Victoria; on the shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (where the Puget Sound meets the Pacific Ocean). Whales & seals bask outside your balcony door! Each suite has an ocean view and a view of the gorgeous gardens and grounds. Hiking along the coastline is magnificent. Now we come to the food: Ahhh! This is one of the five best restaurants in all of Canada. It's certainly one of the best at which I've ever dined. All ingredients are fresh and local. Fish, of course predominates, but everything including the meats are unbelievably good. Sooke Harbor House maintains an extensive garden which provides much of its produce & fruit. Spicing of the dishes is unusual and creative (& delicious too). The wine list is very large and specializes in local wineries. For a romantic experience; for an amazing culinary experience; for great hiking: spend a weekend at Sooke Harbor House. Most Overrated: for snooty French attitude, try Rover's. Everyone says it's the best restaurant in Seattle. Maybe they're right. But of the two times I've dined there, once the service was incompetent (what do you call it when the waiter forgets to serve the fish course in a 5-course meal; and then disbelieves you when you politely tell him of his mistake?) and the second time it was uncooperative and somewhat snooty. No doubt, Rover's food is elegant and incomparable. And dining al fresco on a summer evening is delightful. But the truly great restaurants don't wear their greatness on their sleeves and remind you of it at every opportunity. Pet Zagat Peeve: Why are the Seattle Zagat food ratings inflated? I always reduce the point rating by a few points to derive the true food quality. Most absurd Zagat rating: Le Pichet's "23." Seattle's best French bistro deserves at least 26, if not more. Best food writing: The best short story about food ever written (as far as I'm concerned) is I Was Really Very Hungry by M.F.K. Fisher, one of the world's greatest food writers. You can find the story in As They Were, a collection of her essays. I paraphrase Susannah Indigo's description of the story, its setting and plot in her online review, M.F.K. Fisher: A Poet of The Appetites: In 1937, Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, a young girl spending a heady year learning all there is to know about France and its cuisine, is hiking through northern Burgundy. One morning, she arrives thirsty and ravenously hungry in her dusty clothes at an old mill that a Parisian chef has turned into one of France's most famous restaurants. But it is off-season and Fisher is the only lunch patron The servant girl who will take care of her is obsessed and passionately devoted to good food, wine and, more than all else to "Chef Paul." During lunch, Fisher and the servant engage in a subliminally libidinous duel in which they egg each other on to greater heights of gustatory passion. In the end, the young girl with the "odd pale voluptuous mouth" triumphs over Fisher, the poor, sated culinary pleasure seeker. "Permit me!" the servant girl says near the end, "and I thought she was going to kiss me," Fisher writes. But instead the servant pins a beautiful bouquet of snowdrops on her jacket, in one of the great scenes of sublimated culinary eros ever written.
May 22, 2003
June Carter Cash and Freyda Epstein are Gone
Over the past week, both June Carter Cash & Freyda Epstein passed away. Everyone knows who June Cash is...the writer of Wheel of Fire. I am a writer (though not a songwriter) & I sometimes think that if I could've written anything as powerful, vivid & profound as that song, I'd be a happy man & consider my life worthwhile. See this wonderful New York Times obituary cum music review describing the music performed at her funeral. Kieran Kane, a founder of the O'Kanes and proponent of country music's neo-traditional movement, pays high tribute to June Carter Cash in the toe tapping, "June Carter (Can Sure Sing)," at the same time taking a swipe at today's contemporary, so-called "country divas", with lyrics such as "in a world of country costume jewelry, she's a real diamond ring." This song is a gem. For more on the song and album it is on see Shadows on the Ground. Freyda Epstein was a founding member of the folk group, Trapezoid. Her warm, lilting alto voice graced many a wonderful folk ballad like Do You Love an Apple? on their recordings. A KBCS-FM (Bellevue, WA) dj announced yesterday that she died in a car accident. She left us far before her time.
May 21, 2003
Bipartisan Congressional Group Announces Support for Mideast Peace Road MapCongratulations to these Congress members who have stood up courageously to support the Road Map for Mideast peace. As far as I can tell, this may be the first (and so far only) online site to make this bipartisan Congressional letter supporting the Road Map available to the public. It was signed by 44 House members. I am concerned that so few Jewish members of Congress have endorsed this letter specifically or the Road Map in general.
May 20, 2003
HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD: POLITICAL LUDDITESI have been reading with horror of the five latest Hamas/Islamic Jihad bombings in Israel. These militants are really political Luddites who reject a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict no matter what shape it might take. According to their twisted logic, the worse the Israeli leader for the Palestinians, the better off it is for them in the long run. Because a brutal, callous and inhumane leader (as Netanyahu was and Sharon is) will show the worst face of Zionism. And the worse the face Zionism shows, the more likely the Palestinians will be to realize their maximalist goals. If you follow this tortuous thinking, then you understand the monstrous brutality and bankruptcy of all forms of international terrorism, not just for the victims but for those the terrorists claim to be benefiting.
If you look at the incidences of suicide bombings within Israel proper, you will see that the vast share happen only when there appears to be a serious possibility of a negotiated settlement between the two sides. After all, during the 1998 (?) election campaign between Peres & Netanyahu, Palestinian suicide bombings caused a catastrophic decline in Peres’ political fortunes and he lost. Exactly what the Palestinian terrorists wanted: no peace. The terrorists preferred Netanyahu as Prime Minister, even though they knew that Palestinian misery would be much higher than if Peres had won. Their motto is the opposite of the old slogan: “peace at any price.” It is “Peace Never—no matter what the price.”
During the present Sharon government’s tenure, even with the massive misery caused by Israeli attacks, curfews & border closures--suicide bombings have been relatively few and far between (within the Green Line). The Israelis have trumpeted their increasing ability to prevent terrorist attacks through intelligence and anti-terrorist operations. But I wonder. It’s certainly no accident that the attacks over the past few days coincide with the announcement of the latest peace plan, the Road Map. While it appears that Ariel Sharon would not have let the Road Map happen through his own intransigence; Hamas and their cohorts didn’t want to leave anything to chance. They’re trying to “help” Sharon make the decision to end the latest round of potential peacemaking.
We cannot forget, of course, that the bombings are also a terrible message to Abu Mazen, who appears to be a Palestinian leader who might actually WANT to make peace with Israel. “If you negotiate with the enemy we will make your life and the lives of the Israelis a living hell.”
When will leaders on both sides finally say an absolute No to the terrorists? “We will make peace; we will do it right now; and we will do it no matter what bitter dishes of terrorist mayhem the militants can prepare.” Perhaps this is an unrealistic expectation and what really needs to happen first is for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to be extirpated by Palestinian security services under Dahlan’s control (would that this might happen).
What needs to happen regarding the Palestinian militants is precisely what happened in pre-1948 Jewish Palestine. Both Begin’s Irgun & Ben Gurion’s Palmach anticipated an upcoming war against the Arabs once the British ended the Mandate. So Begin tried to import a boatload of weapons on the Alta Lena. Ben Gurion found out about this shipment and ordered it confiscated, at the mouth of a gun if necessary. When the ship docked, the Palmach interceded forcefully and the mini-crisis ended. The Irgun tacitly accepted the military primacy of the Palmach in fighting the upcoming battle against the Arabs.
What Abu Mazen needs is a Palestinian Alta Lena incident. He needs to show force against his militants, perhaps he needs to do even more than that. But this, it seems, is the only way to end the power of the Nyet that the militants seem to exercise whenever a real chance for peace comes along.
May 18, 2003
Jeb Bush: Protector of Virtue [of Florida's Women] I don't know about you, but I'm terribly relieved to know that Jeb Bush is upholding the moral health of Florida's young pregnant girls. Witness a story in last week's New York Times, Gov. Jeb Bush to Seek Guardian for Fetus of Rape Victim http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/15/national/15FETU.html, which describes how Bush appointed a guardian for the unborn fetus of a 22 year-old developmentally disabled pregnant woman. Governor Bush said in a statement that he believed it was appropriate to intervene in what he described as a 'uniquely troubling situation.' 'Given the facts of this case, it is entirely appropriate that an advocate be appointed to represent the unborn child's best interests in all decisions,' the governor said. Notice he didn't say a word about the woman herself, who presumable doesn't concern him too much. And as for this poor woman--what happened to her? Well, she lived in a Florida group home for the developmentally disabled. The state's adult protective services program managed the home and her care. That of course means that the state is liable for what happened to her (she was raped by an individual unknown--since this woman cannot communicate any information to help investigators find her assailant). Bush and the state of Florida are "lucky" that the woman cannot comprehend her fate and act to protect herself. If she could, she would certainly sue the state for its malfeasance in her care. So Jeb Bush wants to protect her unborn fetus. Where was he and the responsible state agency staff .when the woman herself needed protection before her rape? Note also, that neither the woman in question nor those caring for her have shown any interest in terminating the pregnancy! So what's Jeb doing besides scoring political points?! Another interesting issue here is that with an incapacitated mother, it appears highly likely that this child, when it is born, will become a ward of the state. And we all know how successful the state is in raising children. So Jeb wants to force the woman to have her baby; then he proposes that the state take over control of the baby's life. What a fate for these two poor iindividuals! Jeb and his brother are adamantly opposed to the government's unnecessary intrusion into citizens' personal, private and commercial affairs...except when it comes to their reproductive rights...of which women have none (at least according to Jeb). I fervently hope that the Florida Supreme Court (which refused in 1989 to recognize the right for the state to name a guardian for an unborn fetus) will quash Jeb Bush's nuisance moralising for the sake of scoring political points with his right-wing Christian fundamentalist constituency.
May 15, 2003
AIPAC: "We Support The Road Map...Er, We Sort Of Support The Road Map...O Hell, We Say We Support It, But Don't Believe a Word of it!"
After the Seattle Jewish Transcript published my last letter to the editor (see post below) about AIPAC’s undermining of the Road Map, Rebecca Dinar, an enterprising staffer in the local Seattle AIPAC office sent me a press release on AIPAC’s “position” on the Road Map. The statement is attributed to AIPAC’s national executive director and its president.
The title reads: AIPAC Welcomes Road Map. Notice, it doesn’t say “AIPAC Supports Road Map.” A small point, you say?? Perhaps, but then read what follows:
Nor do we agree with those who uncritically endorse a road map to statehood whether or not the Palestinians meet their commitments to end terrorism.
You have to parse this carefully to understand the political deceit and hypocrisy in this statement. In other words, AIPAC does NOT support the current formulation of the Road Map because AIPAC (parroting the views of the Sharon government) believes the Road Map must FIRST demand that the Palestinians completely end terror BEFORE the Israelis should be expected to make any concessions or fulfill any obligations. The Road Map’s beauty is that it demands SIMULTANEOUS actions of both Israel & Palestine. It does not put the onus on one side to act first. If it did, that side would balk and withdraw from the Road Map process.
So AIPAC tries to walk a political high wire by kowtowing to the Bush camp in saying they “welcome” the Road Map; while at the same time kowtowing to Sharon by saying that they oppose it. Nice [political] work if you can get it.
May 11, 2003
AIPAC and the Road Map: Undermining Bush Mideast Policy
The following letter was printed in this week's edition of the Seattle Jewish Transcript: The Transcript recently published a story about the annual AIPAC lobbying “pilgrimage” to Capitol Hill which focused this year on undermining the Road Map for peace proposed by the Quartet (U.S., Russia, European Union & China). Yes, “undermining” is a strong word; but what do you call it when AIPAC raises scores of objections to the Road Map and insists that they be resolved before negotiations can take place? Isn’t it interesting that Newt Gingrich’s recent savage attack on Colin Powell incorporated an attack on the Road Map using almost the same terms of opprobrium used by AIPAC? I wonder how AIPAC feels jumping into bed with a right wing political barracuda like Gingrich?
AIPAC’s opposition is doubly unfortunate because the Road Map is the only international peace plan that both Palestinians and Israelis have endorsed. In addition, moderate, respected American Jewish and Israeli commentators like M.J. Rosenberg of the Israel Policy Forum; Yossi Alpher, editor of bitterlemons.org and former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies; and David Landau of Ha’aretz (The Battle for Washington, http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=277913&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y),) have noted that the Road Map slants heavily toward Israel by making demands upon the Palestinians that are much more onerous than those upon the Israelis.
AIPAC’s lobbying efforts sabotaged the only current positive development toward peace on the international scene. AIPAC’s opposition to the Road Map was even more disconcerting because the Israeli government has lent its endorsement to the plan. In truth, the Sharon government doesn’t really support the plan, but in order to curry favor with the Bush Administration (which does) Sharon SAYS he supports it, but doesn’t. You follow?
Everyone knows that AIPAC is Israel’s domestic lobbying arm (though it denies this) and would not take a position in opposition to the Israeli government. So Sharon says he favors the Road Map but doesn’t; and AIPAC is free to work behind the scenes to make sure that the Road Map is eviscerated until it either doesn’t work or no longer means anything.
Members of Congress believe that AIPAC IS the Jewish community’s single unified voice when it comes to U.S.-Israel relations. I suggest that you tell your Congressional representatives otherwise.
May 10, 2003
Wolfowitz and the U.S. ImperiumWolfowitz and the U.S. Imperium
Paul Wolfowitz gave a May 6th interview with CNN Turk in which he made some extraordinarily presumptuous comments (even for this Administration, one of the most presumptuous in memory).
The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/international/worldspecial/08TURK.html) notes that he criticized Turkey for not joining the Bush administration's campaign to topple Saddam Hussein's government. During the interview he remonstrated: "Let's have a Turkey that steps up and says: `We made a mistake. We should have known how bad things were in Iraq, but we know now. Let's figure out how we can be as helpful as possible to the Americans.’" If that isn’t the most galling and self-interested comment made by a U.S. government official in recent memory!!
To add insult to injury, Wolfowitz also singled out the Turkish military for criticism. "I think for whatever reason, they did not play the strong leadership role that we would have expected."
People like Wolfowitz and his Bush Administration colleagues are among the most monomanically self-centered U.S. government officials ever to have graced our nation’s capital. In their view, no nation is viewed as an independent entity in its own right. Nations are mere extensions of U.S. interests. They only exist insofar as they further or deny those interests.
A nation like Turkey, which exercised its sovereign right to follow a neutral path in the war, aren’t given the benefit of the doubt. They aren’t even given the right to have their own (i.e. Turkish) foreign policy. Not only have they disappointed U.S. expectations but, at least in the world according to Wolfowitz, they have gone against their own interests. I wouldn’t be surprised if Wolfowitz didn’t dream that he should be appointed foreign and military czar for all the nations of the world. Then, he wouldn’t be blocked in his expansive vision of a U.S. imperium by any person or nation. What a relief for him not to have any opposition from anyone in the world to his goals.
When will these people receive their comeuppance? May it come soon.
May 09, 2003
Message Accused Wife Abuser, Rapist, Murderer-AND City Police Chief: Is This Any Way to Run a City?? You Bet It is, Says the City of Tacoma
Alternate title: Tacoma’s Keystone Cops Routine Turns to Tragedy
Who would’ve believed that it’d be possible to combine wrong-headed personnel decision after wrong headed decision finally ending in a tragic double homicide. Well, Tacoma’s done it.
David Brame, the city’s police chief, rose up through the ranks after he first joined the force in 1981. He was married and had two children. By some accounts, he was a respected police officer in his community. Yet all this concealed a terrible “secret,” that to many wasn’t a secret at all. David Brame was an accused wife beater and rapist. In addition, the city’s clinical psychologist who interviewed Brame before he joined the force in 1981 told the city that he was unfit to serve as a police officer. All of this disparaging information was deliberately ignored by the City Manager and other officials as he received promotion after promotion.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer (“PI”), ran an April 25th story http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/119169_tacoma25.html describing divorce proceedings between Brame & his wife, Crystal. The records alleged wife beating, choking, threats of death, controlling behavior. A Tacoma police officer, in suing the city for racial discrimination, charged that Tacoma police received a complaint in 1988 from a woman claiming Brame had threatened her with a gun and then raped her. The then-police chief ruled the charge “unsustained” and closed the case without further investigation. What’s going on in that police force?
In November, 2002 divorce proceedings, Crystal Brame alleged that Brame "choked me and threatened that he could snap my neck if he wanted to." It was the fourth time that year he'd tried to choke her, each time sending flowers later to apologize, she said. Brame maintained that he was the real victim of domestic violence during his 11-year marriage(!). The PI quotes the City Manager on the day before the murders as saying: "He's doing a great job," Corpuz said. "I'm not interested in exploring David's personal life at this time." Is this a city official with his head in the sand, or what?
The day the PI story came out, the city’s Human Resources department recommended that Brame’s gun and badge be suspended. The City Attorney responded that such action was premature since none of the charges had been proven or resulted in a conviction. The next day, David Brame shot his wife in a shopping mall with his two children watching on in horror. Then he shot himself. Both died--a tragedy that easily could, and SHOULD have been averted.
After Brame’s death, the city appointed the assistant chief to be interim chief. All this seems perfectly natural, until you find out that the assistant chief (a woman) allegedly was the chief’s paramour; AND that Brame’s wife once called the police to complain that both of them had gone to her parent’s home and engaged in threatening behavior. All of this was known to the city.
After first battling the regional and national press to keep Brame’s divorce proceedings sealed under court order (when he was alive), the city has joined with the press to request the unsealing of the documents now that he is dead. A judge approved this step today. But the earlier stonewalling makes you wonder what else the city has to hide in this ugly affair? So much for open government and transparency. Keeping secrets like this happens in a totalitarian state maybe. But this is America, isn’t it?
This isn’t a comedy of errors…it’s a comedy of horrors, horror after horror. The city had so many opportunities to correct its initial mistake of hiring Brame for the force in 1981. Each time, the city chose the precisely wrong action. It reminds me of Abba Eban’s comment on Palestinian intransigence in the face of a potential peace agreement: “They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” The citizens of Tacoma deserve better.
© Richard Silverstein 2003
May 08, 2003
Promoting Israeli-Palestinian Peace Jewish Peace Resources: If you'd like to learn more about Israeli-Jewish groups working to promote peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, please visit the following sites: Americans for Peace Now: A U.S. group that supports Israel's Peace Now movement--http://peacenow.org American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam (Oasis of Peace): An Israeli communal village which contains members who are Jewish and Arab. Their mission is to educate the world about the possibilities for Jews & Arabs living together honorably and peaceably--http://oasisofpeace.org New Israel Fund: An international group dedicated to promoting social justice and equality within Israel. It supports projects both in Israeli Jewish and Arab communities within the Green Line--http://www.newisraelfund.org/ Brit Tzedek V'Shalom--Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace: A U.S. Jewish group devoted to Mideast peace which supports a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--http://www.btvshalom.org
May 07, 2003
Malvina Schwartz: An Auschwitz Survivor's Oral History In 1977, the Los Angeles Times printed my oral history memoir of an Auschwitz survivor's experience in the camp and after the War. The complete article is at: http://richards1052.tripod.com/richardshomepage/id28.html. The beginning of the article follows: Remembering the Martyrs--and the Simple Human Courage of a Survivor Los Angeles Times, November 1977 by RICHARD SILVERSTEIN In the spirit of sacred remembrance, the Los Angeles Jewish Federation Council today is dedicating a Martyrs Memorial (http://www.jewishla.org/html/l.a._holocaust_museum.htm) at its headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard. The memorial will contain a chapel, artifacts from the Holocaust and an educational display commemorating the 6 million Jewish victims of Nazi murder. Its opening is a fitting occasion for recalling one survivor's simple human courage as told in her own words. "My name is Malvina Schwartz. I was an inmate of Auschwitz from May 26, 1944, until the end of October of that year. My entire family, consisting of my husband, son and daughter, accompanied me, but only my daughter and I survived those five deadly months. "My little son, Laser Hirsch, lived in a lager with 600 other boys. On the second evening of Rosh Hashanah, the Germans took all these children to the gas. I stood outside near the barracks in the dark, watching the truck that held them. I knew for sure that my son was in that vehicle. An SS officer saw me in the street. He jumped down from the cabin and began shooting over my head upon the barracks wall, crying: 'Verschwint!' Get away!') "My son was taken away before my very eyes. That was a terrible thing to live through. My daughter-she was only a little girl--kept me alive by running after me day and night. ...She held me back from the camp's electric fence. Every morning when I came out of the barracks people hung upon the wires, dead. They ran into the wires to end their sufferings. "The last time I ever saw my son was one early morning in August or September before he was taken away. The stars were still in the sky. I went out into the street between the lagers, In front of me sat four children in a window. My son was among them. He recognized me and started to cry 'Mommy, mommy,' 'Don't cry, tataleh,' I said to him. 'We will go home. You'll see. We will meet at home.' He cheered up and told me; 'I'll be the first home.'"
Judaism and Child Abuse I have written an article about Judaism and child abuse on my home page (http://richards1052.tripod.com/richardshomepage/id30.html). It is a personal and theological meditation on the subject oriented specifically toward rabbis and how they can respond to this horrific phenomenon. The opening part of the article follows: 'If You Beat Him He Will Not Die': Judaism and Child Abuse A personal and theological meditation on child abuse Richard Silverstein ©2003 As spiritual communities, it is enormously important that we provide grief work as part of the process of healing [from the effects of abuse]. At the same time, we have to take that lesson of choosing to make justice, of choosing to make meaning out of our experience, and say, 'There wasn't a reason I suffered, but I will make a purpose out of that suffering. I will make sure that suffering doesn't happen to others. I will make sure that suffering is known, so that justice can happen.'[2] I was a victim of child abuse. I should say I am a victim of child abuse, since my early abuse continues to afflict me to this day. Strangely enough, while this trauma has had negative repercussions it has also had positive ones too. On the one hand, it has inhibited my ability to form strong and lasting friendships, especially with women. I suffered from crippling shyness as a child. I have always mistrusted authority figures which in turn impaired my work performance. But on the other hand, I have developed great empathy for the plight of the oppressed. Because I was inhibited from developing relationships with peers, I resorted to the world of books. While this was an isolating behavior, it enabled me to fall in love with the world of ideas and writing. So there is good with the bad. But I would have much preferred not to suffer; and so given up whatever I have gained positively from this experience. The article can be read in full on my home page (URL listed above).