Tom Hayden's Recovery

An article by Tom Hayden in the Huffington Post during the July-August Lebanon war this year caught my attention. I had first encountered him in Berkeley in the late 1960s when my daily walk along Telegraph Avenue (I lived one block west on Dwight) led to an impromptu meeting at the UC Student Union related to an SDS action at Sproul Hall; I believe a sit-in. Having sat down on the floor near the entrance, Tom came in soon after and sat down next to me. It may be worth describing (elsewhere) how that meeting ended.

During the 1984 Democratic Convention in San Francisco, Mother Jones had organized a panel discussion in which Hayden, newly elected as member of the California State Assembly, was one of the featured panelists. I had gone mainly to hear what he had to say about solar energy, since Governor Jerry Brown had appointed him head of Solarcal. He had nothing to say on that. There was a lot about the importance of computer technology.

At the entrance to the hall, some Israeli students were passing out leaflets criticising him and Jane Fonda, his wife at the time, for their support, of which I had not been aware, of the 1982 Israeli invasioin of Lebanon. It was that 1982 "victory" in Operation "Peace for Galilee" that led to a long series of calamities; including the shame of Sabra and Shatila, a lengthy occupation of Southern Lebanon with much loss of lives, the creation of Hizbollah and thus directly to this summer's next Lebanon war.

In the Huffington Post piece, former Assemblyman and State Senator Tom Hayden describes the process that led to what he now calls "the mistake of [his] political life". It starts when he was about to run for the Democratic nomination for Assemblyman from the Los Angeles Westside. "Twenty-five years ago I stared into the eyes of Michael Berman, chief operative for his congressman-brother, Howard Berman.

'I represent the Israeli defense forces,' Michael said. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. Michael seemed to imagine himself the gatekeeper protecting Los Angeles' Westside for Israel's political interests, and those of the famous Berman-Waxman machine". It soon may become more famous. Waxman is scheduled to chair one of the more important committes if, as looks likely now, the Democrats win a majority in next week's Congressional elections.
Hayden " had traveled to Israel in a generally supportive capacity, meeting officials from all parties, studying energy projects", presumably for Solarcal. His attitude then on the Near East conflict is given as close to that of Israeli "Peace Now" and Amos Oz, but also Edward Said "and those Palestinian nationalists and human rights activists who accepted Israel's pre-1967 borders as a reality to accommodate".


Obtaining "hekhsher" as "friend of Israel" was deemed important especially "since Jews represented one-third of the Democratic district's primary voters". While such certification would normally come from "elites" in the "organized Jewish community", he mentions AIPAC, with Israeli officials involved only "when necessary", Tom got his directly from "the ultimate source", Israeli Consul General Navon; termed "an old school labor / social democrat" (was he?). His friendship, while still thought "genuine enough" , may have been strengthened by a desire "to pull me and my then-wife, Jane Fonda, into a pro-Israel stance". Among the most significant parts of the article is the way such Israeli certification was communicated. Later that summer, Navon wanted them "to be supportive" during Sharon's invasion of Lebanon.

"Ever curious, and aware of my district's politics, I decided we should go to the Middle East--but only as long as the Israeli "incursion," as it was delicately called, was limited to the 10-kilometer space near the Lebanese border, as a cushion against rocket fire……..There followed a descent into moral ambiguity and realpolitick that still haunts me today. When we arrived at the Israeli-Lebanon border, the game plan promised by Benny Navon had changed utterly. Instead of a localized border conflict, Israel was invading and occupying all of Lebanon--with us in tow".

Nonetheless, in spite of private misgivings, he spent weeks "defending Israel's 'right' to self-defense on its border"; until a close friend and advisor made him stop. He seems happy about that and tried to avoid involvement with Israeli-Palestinian matters during the bulk of his time in office, getting reelected repeatedly. The new Lebanon war made him speak up to warn others against repeating his mistakes (surely also to get it off his chest publicly). It certainly looks pertinent to the contestants for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, who were accused of anti-Israel bias by Conservative Prime Minister Harper for critical remarks made during this year's Lebanon war, not just front runner Michael Ignatieff; who accepted an invitation for a trip to Israel, which the inviting "friends of Israel" then postponed (bukra?).

Toward the end, there are some remarks about the occupied Palestinian territories, e.g. against house demolitions and other collective punishment he observed. The last sentence here is especially important to remember, not just for goyim. "What I know is that I will not make the same mistake again. I hope that my story deepens the resolve of all those whose feelings are torn, conflicted or confused in the present. It is not being a "friend of Israel" to turn a blind eye to its never-ending occupation".

The Big Picture with Avi Lewis: Online Discussion: CAN WE SAVE PLANET EARTH?

This program had one clear advantage over the "Global Warming; The Biggest Show on Earth" event last Monday in Vancouver, sponsored by Vancity to mark its 60th anniversary: There was real (give and take) discussion following presentation of the topic on the CBC.

The Vancouver program's talk by William Rees, UBC professor introduced the problem skilfully and "writer and consultant" Guy Dauncey also suggested solutions in a kind of speed reading exercise. Several people could ask a question after each talk, which was then responded to. Pretty normal these days, but I learned little (if anything substantial) new, since I was long informed on the problem. Noneless I learned quite a lot from the discussion following the Attenborough film in Avi Lewis' CBC program. Serious argument clearly was encouraged there. That may not be that easy to arrange locally, so this should be viewed more as special praise for the CBC program, than criticism of the Vancouver one; which was good, too.

But at the Vancouver event, I had inquired of a man manning a table at the back of the hall about an earlier event I had attended of his outfit, BCSEA (for BC Sustainable Energy Assn.); and the devices he used to avoid discussing it (while others stood nearby) were resourceful and determined. But maybe not surprising. They had had three speakers, the last of whom spoke of his company's intent to start to produce photovoltaic (PV) modules in which the sunlight incident on the PV cells is concentrated by (I believe line) focussing lenses. The same area of (expensive) PV cell could thus immediately provide several times as much electricity as in "flat plate" (one sun) mode, rather than having to wait years for marginal efficiency improvements. No attention was then paid to that speaker, just the other two.

I could only recall the one who spoke about "Sustainable Fossil Fuels", and this high office holder of the association just wanted me (and others) to join right there, with no questions to be asked. Needless to say that I did not join. That sort of avoiding discussion should not be associated with an organization like Vancity, which I had been happy to join and continue to be a happy member of.