Pete Seeger's role in ending Israeli house demolitions

I see Pete frequently rallying in Dutchess County for peace. Although his 90 years may have resulted in some loss of memory as it does for most of us past the age of 60, his knowledge and understanding of current events and history is still flawless. Those of us who protest war and destruction as an answer to differences recognize that what our governments call collateral damage, those affected call family.

it is no question - he is an iconic figure. i know him, i see him often. he is a good listener. he could use his intelligence and talent to assist the oppressed people - like the Palestinians. not by attacking the powers, but assisting them in self improvement, and ending the rules of their bad leaders, the Hamas terror etc.

I love Pete Seeger's songs and respect his good intentions; still, the causes he has supported do not show deep insight into world affairs: he fought against the US joining the anti-Nazi allied front in WWII. Small wonder, then, that the best way he sees fit to donate money to the land of King Solomon is towards a cause undermining the security of the State of Israel. Pity!

Pete Seeger has always been on the side of those people least able to help themselves. Those have been the people left powerless by some righteous group that felt superior. Blacks, laborers, hispanics, children, homeless, immigrants, and unemployed have benefited from his words. I am positive that rich Jewish traditions contributed to his sense of social justice. I also know those tenets of social justice were revealed also by Jesus and Mohammed. Unfortunately greed and national interests blind us to what is just. Compounding this dilemma are ideological and religious zealots who are inclined to punish those that remain true to the traditions of truth and justice. Einstein, Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan all warned about the risks of mistreating Arabs and the damage that could occur to Judaism due to a narrow nationalism. Israel has ignored all that wisdom. It is not too late for change and peace. Let it begin with each of us.

I think Janice is very poorly informed. I live in the "territories" and haven't yet seen the "horrible" conditions she has written about. I see lots of new building of multistory garish buildings. Lots of high powered expensive cars much of this funded by enemy foreign governments along with public projects funded by the bleeding hearts of Europe and the USA. I am wondering how the Jews if there are any left in Arab lands are living? Certainly not as well as this and surely with lots more fear in their lives

Dear Pete; First just to let you know my dad Harold left this world 4 years ago and he enjoyed filming you on the Clearwater. Mom, Dora, just turned 94 and has lived in Israel with us for a year now. A just peace is a good thing. the arabs have 22 countries and the Jews have one. A just peace is to let us Jews your friends who marched with you in the 30s and know you their whole life want to live in peace. look at a map the plans now don't solve the problem. If Jewish homes are torn down for being illegal is it not just that arab homes that are illegal be torn down. don't you think that when the Jews left Gaza and got nothing but rockets for their effort shows a just peace is far off. learn the history 1900 years of it. maybe at 90 it is harder to think but we know you can. All our love, the Posner Family

I've always found that Pete Seeger ends up on the right side of every issue. House demolitions are an abomination. They make me ashamed to be a Jew. Israel as a Jewish state is not worth the loss of Jewish humanity, let alone the destruction of Palestinian lives. Kudos to Mr. Seeger for his indestructible integrity!

What a great story. Pete's extraordinarily youthful appearance at 90 surely a testimony to good karma and his heart being very much in the right place over the decades.

Yes, I guess it's not like that anymore. But Israel remains, and always will - at UNDER 1/10th of 1% of the Middle East, about a 20th of the state of Florida, yet the Israel-hate bandwagon grows SO huge (again) that it also sucks in the likes of Pete Seeger, a Jew himself. Such is the cumulative power of oil money and age-old massive anti-Jew influence. Think on it - we inspired, YET CONTRADICT, the 2 later faiths which are popular with BILLIONS - whose influence FAR exceeds that of a few million Jews, by sheer math odds. VERY much of the world has, and has had, NO CHOICE but to say that Jews are WRONG in order to say their faiths are right., Think on that just a wee bit, and you will see that Pete is great for his environmental care, but his political stance now becomes self-hating, due to sheer math odds of huge external pressure. Jews are OUT OF FASHION, as per usual. Pete is famous, but his brother Mike was at least more humble - didn't try to mix politics with art.

It has been well documented that even when Palestinians pay for house permits they don't get the permits and they lose their money as well. Perhaps after so many years of being denied permits to build on their own land the Palestinians have given up and don't want to lose even more money by applying for a permit that they will never get. Jews may have to pay but they get the permit. Don't you think this is a double standard?

Josh, can you tell me how many of the Israeli Arabs are landowners? Can they buy land anywhere in Israel that is for sale? How many Palestinians live in the settlements in the West Bank? Can you tell me why 93% of the land of Israel is reserved for sale only to Jews? Why do Israeli Arab schools and Israeli Arab towns get far less funding than Jewish schools and Jewish areas in though both peoples pay taxes? What do you think are the chances of an Israeli Arab ever being elected Prime Minister or being appointed to high level positions in the government? I say the chances are less than zero. If all this is true, and I think you know that it is, Israel is a two tiered state which is undeniable no matter how much you try to deny it. I won't even go into the horrible conditions in the illegally occupied West Bank where apartheid flourishes.

In the '50s and '60s Seeger was pro-Isreal, a semi-socialist country struggling to survive amidst feudal Arabs while integrating the poor and oppressed. His albums were full of Hebrew folk songs and he wrote some new ones (like on building teh Eilat highway) I guess it's not like that anymore...

the housing demolitions are necessary, but not for the (unfortunately incorrect) reason you stated. most of the homes are not those of terrorists, they were just illegally built. however, the palestinians expect a double standard - jews should pay for and receive building permits or their houses will be demolished, but arabs should just have a free reign to build wherever they like willy nilly. this is reality - they don't get a permit (there is discrimination in the municipal office which issue permits, to be fair, so they may have little choice) so they just build anyway. wish i could just add on to my house without paying the piper - the municipal fees are as high as the construction costs!

Wait until Islamo-facists control your nation, maybe in not so very long, before you blame Israel, a great deal smaller than your lovely France and a great deal more threatened. Jews have been in the MidEast for at least as long as anyone else, and had more lands stolen from them here in the MidEast alone than the area of 20 Palestines combined.

I think many of the posters here have no idea what they are talking about because they have never been to Israel. The fraction of Israeli citizens who are Arab is somewhere around 20%. If you come here, you will see them working as doctors, pharmacists, university professors, parliamentarians (who abuse their free speech rights and essentially call for the state's destruction). You will see them in shopping malls, restaurants, etc. Also, although the Jewish population has increased ten-fold since the founding of the state, the Arab population west of the Jordan river has increased by a similar amount. In short, if Israel does indeed have a policy of ethnic cleansing against the Arabs (e.g. occupation, house demolitions, etc.), it is doing a very very bad job at it.

Mike, Pete's brother, didn't try to take sides politically for business. Mike was a pure performer. Pete's environmental stands are good, but his political stand regarding one of the world's smallest nations, Israel, simply stinks.

What is the last time the Israeli Supreme Court agreed to the destruction of terrorists' houses ? Almost 10 years ago, in 2002. Last year in 2008, after the murder of 8 children in Merkaz Harav, or the 3 buldozers maniacs, there was no destruction of Arab building in Jerusalem. This is an old subject and Pete Seeger is only bringing more hate to the world. It says explicitly in the rules of this Talkback not to compare people to the nazis, but several people have compared Tsahal to that. Also you can see on You Tube pars of Jewish houses destroyed by the Jerusalem Municipality, and it is because they built without a permit. But for the far left , it is OK for the Arabs to build without a permit.

What hubris you have to suggest that Pete Seeger may not be in his right mind and is being exploited. Pete Seeger is as alert as he ever was. His mind is as clear as it ever was and I would guarantee that he knows exactly what he is doing and why he is doing it. Pete Seeger is a wonderful American. a wonderful man and a wonderful humanitarian - unlike some others I might mention. He is not being exploited and for you to even suggest that shows exactly from where you are coming. You don't give a damn that the home demolitions only engender more hatred against the destroyers and further push any chance of peace out the demolished door.

Most house demolitions have nothing to do with terrorism nor are these demolitions used against Jews. In the case of terror activities it is only the homes of Palestinians that are demolished. When Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 men praying at their mosque his home was not demolished as would have been the home of a Palestinian. ICAHD estimated a few years ago that over 11,000 Palestinian homes had been demolished since 1967. This number is certainly far greater today. Palestinian homes are demolished for various reasons most having nothing to do with terrorism. Israel wants the land. Israel wants to make the land "a closed military area." The home was built without a permit but the permits are all but impossible for Palestinians to obtain. The excuses Israel makes for rendering Palestinians homeless are long and all of them are criminal excuses. Now Israel is throwing Palestinians out of their homes in East Jerusalem so that Jews can move in. What kind of a country are you?

The U.S. Communists, and their non-party followers, in the early stages of WWII were fiercely vocal about staying out of the war. They started the no war business as soon as Stalin signed the Molotov-Von Ribbentrop Non Aggression Pact on August 24, 1939. Stalin trusted Hitler and that cost the Soviet Union about 20 million lives. On June 22, 1941, despite the agreement, the Nazis invaded Russia. From that day forward the American Reds were screaming for the U.S. to enter the war. So much for the so called Peaceniks. They also didn't do much "no war" complaining during the Spanish Civil War.

Mr. Seeger better re think his gift which is against the Children of Israel.God says"ANYONE any NATION that trys to divide the land of ISRAEL and take it away from the Jewish People which was a gift FOREVER to the Jewish People " GOD WILL JUDGE Better Read Joel 3:2 It is also sade the people forget that Yeshua(Jesus) is a Jewish Rabbi and the Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world. Shalom !

Demolishing the homes of non-Jews is used for many reasons and not simply to punish the families of suicide bombers. In Jerusalem it is used to move non-Jews out so as to alter the demographic balance of the city. In the recent Gaza war many apartment blocks were demolished so as to create clean lines-of-fire to aid the IDF in future attacks on the strip

plus Land Theft do form war crimes as per int'l law, leading to the Israeli military and politicians due soon in the Int'l Criminal Court... There are so few Jeff Halpers in Israel, how shameful for the whole Israeli society!

In that Pete Seeger last year was forgetting the words to his own songs when performing, it is questionable if he understands what Halper is talking about. Seeger, a Jew, might not have understood that the money is not going to King Solomon's descendants, but rather to the enemies of those descendants. It strikes me that this is an opportunistic exploitation of an old man to make him part with his money for a cause he might not agree with if he knew the entire picture.

The left fought first against Franko who was backed by Hitlers air power. Many would say that this was the start of WW2. George Orwell was a left winger too and went to fight in Spain with a lot of other "socialists" he writes in his memoirs when seeing the rise of fascism and the problem of pacifism that couldn't work against tyrants like Mussolini, Hitler etc. Many couldn't or wouldn't see the real Stalin. At the same time right wingers backed these men in hopes of stopping socialism and communism sweeping Europe after the population was infected by "dangerous" anti capitalist ideology during WW1. US capital financed Hitlers war machine in the thirty's, even Dubya's grandfather Prescot Bush was a nazi collaborator at the time along with JP Morgan and other US power elitists including Joe Kennedy......with out the liberal left do you think there could be democracy in the first place? Most of us would still be ruled by kings and would live a life in serfdom.

I have always had great respect for Pete Seeger. He has used his talent and fame for good causes. He is a wonderful person!

"Pete Seeger opposed the war against Germany". It was typical of the American Communists as long as Hitler had a pact with Stalin. The attitude changed after Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in 1941.

...not much compared to the Vatican, Saint Paul's, Mecca etc. You will find an awful lot of trouble makers against you on both sides against it though.

I agree with u that it's a big problem that there exists no real partner for peace on the palastinian side and that the massive corruption could easily undermine every serious efforts towards peace. But it was Israel who did everything it could to destroy the development of a palestinian civil society for decades. So from my point of view Israel ows a lot to every moderate, decent palestinian and is not in the position to find another reason to block the peace process every few weeks..

Josh says "The occupation exists because of Arab terrorism and because of the Islamic world`s desire to destroy Israel. Not the other way around." Someone else will disagree: "If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti - Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault ? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?" That someone was David Ben Gurion "Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif" Israel will have peace when it starts to acknowledge that they have stolen the land. Your sentiments make that highly unlikely.

Josh, thebasic logic of your #24 posting gets lost in the bantering back and forth. Ari's argument in #22 makes it seem the Palestinians and Arabs have been clamoring for peace , but Israel keeps plowing ahead by taking destroying more homes, causing a de facto enslavement of the Palestinian, and taking more land. Lost in all of this is the fact that Arab aggression and subsequent Palestinian inability to construct a viable moderate force has been the major, not the only factor, in the deterioration of the situation here. This has also allowed the growth of the far right wing, extremist factions in Israel who would in fact like to expel all Palestinians from the West Bank. Moderate, clear thinking people on both sides are tragically losing this fight to their own extremists.

. . . when I see posts like yours, it saddens me to realize that so many Jews are unwilling to face the truth about the ongoing Israeli/Jewish -Palestinian/Arab/Muslim conflict. The fundamental reason for the conflict has nothing to do with the occupation. The fundamental reason for the conflict is for the refusal, by and large, of the Arab and Muslim world to accept the right of the Jewish people to be a sovereign nation in their historic homeland. And frankly, it goes beyond this. Many of the prominent Arab leaders before the founding of the State of Israel were allied with the Nazis. The Nazis even had a Muslim brigade called the Waffen SS. Today, much of the old medieval Christian anti-semitism finds blatant expression in the Muslim world. So, there is a strong genocidal component to this conflict as well. The occupation exists because of Arab terrorism and because of the Islamic world's desire to destroy Israel. Not the other way around.

Josh - these home demolitions they're protesting aren't the type utilized to punish the entire families of attackers, they're the "you don't have a permit and we want to Judaize East Jerusalem) type of demolition. Understand the details of claims made and perhaps you won't see everything as "Israel bashing". I commend Pete Seeger and knew him personally through Zionist camp in New York. I am sure he knows what the deal on the ground is and I commend him.

my own personal beliefs aside, your argument is legally invalid. collective punishment is illegal. that includes punishing A, B and C for the crime committed by D. Unfortunately, whether or not it deters the crime in the first place is irrelevant, because the punished parties are not D. Ending suffering, ending occupation, ending discrimination, ending restrictions, ending resource embargo, recognising humanity, not depriving people of the mechanisms to grow and prosper, all that will end resistance and all that that resistance entails. more importantly, by doing that, it will avoid you to perpetrate other action on Palestinians (demolishing houses of innocent people to "punish" the culpable) that encapsulate and vindicate their claims of the very thing they accuse you of.

Ha'aretz has a tendency to attract posters who tend to be hostile to Israel. In any event, the responses to my post, as far as I'm concerned, once again simply reinforce my view that people remember history selectively as a way to bash Israel. House demolitions are being presented as tools of the occupation, Nazi-like tactics to brutally oppress the Palestinians, etc. To re-emphasize (though I'm wasting my breath), the Israeli Supreme Court had made house demolitions illegal for quite some time. They were only allowed to be re-instated after Israel couldn't figure out another way to deter suicide bombings. I know what you'll say . . . end the occupation. Well, Israel tried to do that too. Once again, I remember Bill Clinton on TV clearly blaming Yasser Arafat for the collapse of the Camp David negotiations in 2000. But I'm sure everyone will simply whitewash the Palestinians' hand in this conflict and just dump it all on Israel. It's what you do best.

Can someone, hopefully the one who wrote this article, cite the basis for saying that Pete Seeger opposed fighting the Germans in the 1940's. Was he a conscientious objector to all war?

The British burned down Kefar Yasif in retaliation to an attack, Jenin got tons of dynamite. The poshest houses in Arabs villiages would be marked in case of an attack to facilitate retaliation.Rogue states indeed...

Only Israel and some Africa's country use the nazi pratice of demolish houses. Josh, back to the history and see that all the killers always got a "reason" to destroy things, mainly people. If you know what I mean...

Pete Seeger is a mensch. More of the residents of the rogue state should seek to emulate him.

If Mr. Seeger wanted to give some of his royalties to assist those to whom it should go, they should go to those whose ancestors had Solomon as their King and to the printers of what Mr. Seeger would know as the Old Testament, not to the translators of it. Let him donate the royalties to the families who are victims of Arab Terror. It is "time" to leave his left wing ideology and 'turn" away from blind obedience.

Not surprising that this great artist and humanitarian supports the Palestinians.

Peetie...my man...don't bogart that joint baby...this land is your land this land is my...mmmmmm...some good weed eh??? Pete ought to go back to the land and hopping railway cars, tokin it up and strummin his geetar, but please, please, take your leftist/marxist politics and shove them.

It is now clear that the Palestinians today are the genetic descendants of the Jews during the Roman occupation. They still have black hair, dark eyes, and olive brown skin. Genes do that. Next time McQueen looks in the mirror, he should check his skin color. Maybe you have nothing to do with Solomon or the historic Semites of the region.

Josh, despite his detailed and "authoritative" note on Israel's house demolition policy, is absolutely wrong. Houses are not demolished for security reasons; the IDF ended that practice in 2005. They're demolished because Israel refuses to grant Palestinians building permits, forcing them to build "illegally," or in military invasions where they're "collatoral damage." Even the IDF couldn't explain why 4000 homes were demolished in the assault on Gaza. Josh, you (and all the rest) have a responsibility to learn before you sound off.

I never knew Pete Seeger tried to prevent America from coming to the aid of Jews in World War!!. Apparently he has not changed, and once again is helping those who would hurt the Jewish People. Alas, Jews like him are no longer a rarity.

Many on the left did. The question is whether he changed his mind after Hitler attacked Russia.

He's a pioneer in popularizing and preserving the hundreds year old traditions of American folk music, and a great songwriter and performer in his own right.

The vast majority of homes israelis have demolished are not those of suicide bombers,those are avery small number.More than 18,000 homes have demolished for the following reasons-1.the Palestinian family is growing,more children or oldest son bringing his new wife home.They must apply to their occupier for an expensive permit and usually after 6 to 9 months the permit is refused(never refused for land thief settlers).The family has to live so they build then here comes the brave IDF.At the beginng of the occupation shoulder held missiles were used later bulldozers.2.Demolished to make room for jews only roads and area designated as "security zones".Many israelis have written about this grotesque policy.My hope is that someday the brave officer who gave the order and the animal who drove the bulldozer suffer the same fate.

I have always opposed the demolition of Palestinian homes and was very moved by Pete Seeger's gesture of support for those who oppose this policy. He is an amazing performer and a wise man.

Unfortunately Seeger was opposed to war until Germany broke the pact they had with Russia. Says a lot about Seeger. Read Koestler's 'The God that Failed'. But Seeger didn't have the ability to see the truth he was so hypnotized. This does not negate the good things that he stood for and did.

Don't compare house demolitions to settlement building. I am completely against settlements, they are an obsticle to peace. It's sad that house demolitions have to happen, but they help stop suicide bombing. If a man plans on blowing himself, the thought of his family being homeless might deter him from such a hanious act. Like #5 said, it's an unfortunate necessity

How about sending a little of your money to helping build bomb shelters for Jews living in Northern Israel or near Gaza who are subject to terrorist missile bombardments?

If houses were only demolished because of suicide bombings I'd believe the person who claims that it is a deterrent. The reason it isn't is because houses are demolished for all sorts of other reasons too. If you don't want to go to Abu Tor and other neighborhoods of East Jeursalem to find out for yourself, ask Jeff Halper. http://www.icahd.org/eng/docs/East%20Jerusalem%20-%202004-08.pdf

"Here we go again" Ethnic Cleansing a great emotional jab. Tearing down a house equated with killing men, women and children. Wake up, calling one another names will not build peace. Trust in one another's good intentions. Instead of "catchty phrases" will. Offer some suggestions for reconcilliation and sharing of the real estate in a creative manner. Heres one. Set up borders. Let everyone live where they will. Allow all to declare their choice of citenship whereever they live. Set up SECULAR laws which all must abide by. First step. Come up with more "name callers"

Josh, "unfortunate necessity" is just plain unconvincing.

"just Peace" a very catchty phrase. Does it mean that the Jewish people have a birthrite and recognition of ownership to the Temple Mount where King Solomon once reigned. Current reality dictates a sharing of the plateau and perhaps an edifice to mark one of the most important places in Jewish history.

An outstanding human being. Lives what he says. What he says is: be a human being, not something you can buy and sell, not something that refuses to think, that pretends he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. 120, Pete Seeger!

also serve to provoke, making peace impossible! After all how can land annexation go on with peace!......Too bad there aren't more Pete Seegers in the world..... if there were maybe the earth could turn turn turn with humans still on it................... PEACE EVER?

I'm not sure of how one logically concludes that ruining the lives of Palestinians by demolishing thier homes would turn them away from violent resistance to what they precieve as Israeli occupation. If you honestly believe that house demolitions and settlement construction is really the best way to promote an end to the conflict, then you ought not to expect the good relationship between Israel and the United States to continue.

Demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem have been going on long time before there was a suicide bombing- everybody knows the sick motive behind it. I am ashamed as a Jew that the Israeli government is openly and legally pursuing this harmful practice.

Also be aware that in the late forties and fifties Pete Seeger and the Weavers and his colleagues were very supportive of Israel. He and the Weavers sang "Tzena, Tzena" and "Shalom Chaverim" and other early Israeli songs. As for house demolitions of terrorists' families, when I was in the Israeli army, I was on duty for a house demolition. It totally broke my heart to see the innocent family lose their home. On the other hand, I said that if it saves one life, it's worth it. And I think it did save lives 20-some years ago. These days, I suspect that it creates more hate, and endangers lives.

Please be more informed about Israels house demolition policy. Israel has forcibly evicted or demolished the homes of more than 600 Palestinians, half of them children, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this year. Israel's imposition of its building laws on Palestinians in occupied territory violates international humanitarian law protections for private property. Its application of the building permits law is discriminatory and is an arbitrary and unlawful interference in the home under international human rights law. It has nothing to do with suicide bombing or terrorism.

#5 makes a couple of incorrect assumptions. Even at the height of punitive home demolitions of suicide bombers, demolitions were never more than 5% of all demolitions. More than 24,000 home demolitions have been conducted in the Ocupied Territories since 1967 - the vast majority of them 'administrative demolitions' accounding to our government. The fact is that it is almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain builing permits in east Jerusalem and the areas of the West Bank (Area 'c') that is still undre the control of Israel. However people build homes anyway, and the government destroys them since they are 'illegally' built. Demolitions occur almost every day of the week in east Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank. Also, a couple of years ago, an IDF report concluded that the punitive demolitions in fact had no impact in reducing violence by Palestinians. There have been virtually no punitive demolitions since.

With true respect for Pete Singer's most wonderful message for peace in this region, he chose the wrong charitable cause. House demolitions take place as a deterrent to (hopefully) stop suicide bombers for blowing their brains away along with the scores of innocent people that they have actively sought to murder. And it seems that this policy to an extent been successful. Suicide bombers have become a symolic icon that are idolized amongst the more radical elements of Palestinian Society, and regretfully this following is not small. The last thing one needs is outside influence like, Pete Seger's to naively support it. There are a lot of other charities that can be used to fund the well being of people in this region, be they Jewish or Arab, and which are sorely needed. Charity should not need to be directed to those families with members who actively seek the murder of their neighbor.

He ought to give the money to Israelis who have suffered from Arab terror, or perhaps the victims at Ft. Hood.

To people who do not accept the fact that Solomon's temple stood on the Temple Mount. Also, as the lyrics state there is a time for everything. Perhaps, Pete, this is the time for house demolitions.

Once again, people are selectively remembering history in order to bash Israel. I remember very clearly that house demolitions were illegal when Yasser Arafat launched the second intifadah in the fall of 2000. They remained illegal for about two years. However, because the suicide bombers were expressly willing to die, the threat of being killed was an ineffective deterrent. After hundreds of Israelis were murdered in wave after wave of suicide bombings, the Israeli Supreme Court, after much difficult debate, agreed to allow house demolitions. The idea was that if suicide bombers knew that their families' home would be demolished, they might think twice about blowing themselves up. And in fact, house demolitions have proven to be a deterrent (among other measures) against suicide bombings. If people want house demolitions to stop, they are barking up the wrong tree. If the Palestinians renounce terrorism, the house demolitions will end. It's pretty simple.

"Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards every one When will they ever learn?" - Pete Seeger

"in the 1940s he opposed the war against Germany" Wow. You DO learn something every day.

I have always admired Pete Seeger for his advocacy of social justice. This article reinforces my admiration ten-fold. We all should have the courage to defend and support those least able to help themselves. That is an integral of all our faiths, whether Christian, Jew or Muslim. It is time to look upon the Arabs (Muslim and Christian) as our brothers and sisters; to help the Palestinians have their own state; and to help them develop an effective economy. It is time to end an occupation that helps no one but a few zealots. Pete Seeger has lived a life of wisdom passed to him through the ages. We should learn from him.

grew up with this folk song and what a good cause.