E
President Liz Magill,
University of Pennsylvania’s Ninth President
Trustees University Professor and Professor of Law
Dear and respected Madame President,
I understand that your good self will be testifying before Congress on Dec 05 23.
Harvard, MIT and Penn presidents to testify before Congress on campus antisemitism | The Hill
“Witnesses for the hearing, titled “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism,” will include Dr. Claudine Gay, the President of Harvard; Liz Magill, the President of the University of Pennsylvania; and Dr. Sally Kornbluth, the President of MIT.” I have not seen the response from Harvard. It may be helpful to understand a core concern of the Leaders of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
“In a previous House hearing, Republicans argued diversity, equity and inclusion offices on college campuses have failed to support Jewish students following the conflict in the Middle East.”
I am sharing with your respected-self many reports in the attachment on the top that can be helpful to appreciate the ranges of perspectives that bear on the horrendous planned deliberate murderous attacks that defiled and mutilated on Oct.07 23 that unfortunately lead to precipitous catastrophic vengeful [understandable yet unwise] massive destructive and extremely deadly attacks on the people of Gaza. It is important that we all pray for and support the ongoing truce-based Hostage exchanges and resupply of people in Gaza because we in the USA are party to the events that brought the tensions in the area to the boiling point and burst beyond the borders of Gaza after thousands of Israeli Settlers entered the highly revered El Aqsa Mosque at the urging of Ultra-Right Nationalists on the fifth Day of Sukkot. Key HAMAS leader has promised there will more and more Floods of Al Aqsa will follow. I offer reports in this document and in the report on the Strategy Dartmouth Faculty and students have accomplished on Campus can offer insights that can be helpful to manage the sky-high tensions that can lead to violent attacks and actual armed assault and attempted murder.
While we were gathering with our families across the country in the past week enjoying ourselves with an abundance of food, libations and good cheer on the other side of world, [yet so close to our being personally] the terrible catastrophic events have been mercifully paused and at least 40 hostages including very young children have been released, plus 200 trucks a day of vital supplies are going in to provide some help, although not enough to cover their needs fully will offer a liver of hope that better days may be emerging on the not -too- distant horizon. I got the good news today that the truce has been extended to Tuesday and another group of hostages will be exchanged for more trucks of essentials and prisoners from Israeli Jails. God willing this process will continue until all 240 hostages are released and thousands more tons of essential supplies cross into Gaza and Palestinians are freed from Israeli Jails.
Now perhaps the last rites and chanting of the Kaddish can be performed perhaps if the survivors of families who hostages are in strong enough state of being to participate in the last rites.
I have another huge Urgent concern. There could be a serious farm output shortfall. The HAMAS had abducted foreign nationals especially from Thailand and some from Philippines to take care of the large dairy, poultry farms and vast acres of crops and tomatoes etc. The Oct 7 attacks have scared off thousands perhaps 10,000 farm workers away from the area os lots of crops will be left on and animals will not be fed and kept clean so their productivity will fall precipitously and even epidemics could be triggered without proper maintenance. I believe this is very priority concern because potentially scarcity and even famine conditions could develop because able bodied Israelis, men and women will be helping the IDF in various capacities in the north and east, in the west and in the Gaza strip.
I am attaching my cautiously optimistic responses and reflections on the landmark agreements that President Biden, Qatari Emir and HAMAS leadership have wrought and are tending carefully to ensure Truce is maintained, hostages are freed and essential supplies go into the battle zone.
I welcome your responses. Especially about the potential loss of vast amount crops and food supplies from dairy farms and poultry farms after many foreign nationals decamped following Oct 7 attacks and the abduction of their peers and perhaps some have been killed. This can constitute an existential threat to the State of Israel if the Thai and Asian Nationals are not working on the farms across the country. https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/26/middleeast/israel-farms-foreign-workers-crisis-intl-cmd/index.html
I wonder if faculty and students both Jews and Muslims can formulate and offer to implements plans to save the agricultural output of the whole State of Israel including being on the ground to effectuate the successful completion of the multiple tasks that must be done according to specific schedules to save the farm animals and produce on condition that 1/3 of the output will be shared with the people of Gaza. [I believe that there about 2 million persons in Gaza area and 7 million Jews and Arabs in Israel and the West Bank.
A great deal of the farming work was done by Palestinians and Foreign Nationals [Thai people] There are alarming reports that thousands of Foreign National have left, and the Farm produce may literally wither on the vine besides the harm incurred by poultry, cattle, and other farm animals. The work of the students and faculty could be designed to meet the curriculum requirements by creating a specific framework for earning credits. My son and children of my friends have gone for some part of their college studies in Foreign Universities.
I am concerned about the havoc that has had horrible impact on people of Gaza of the blockade imposed by the Govt of Israel on essential supplies in terms of little or no food and water for 5-6 weeks will be experienced by 7 million Israelis and 2 million people in Gaza that could lead to even worse social disorder and ultra-nationalists on both sides gaining the upper hand advocating for supremacy over all of the area between the River and the Sea.
We must not and cannot permit the farms to wither on the vine that can lead more calamitous conditions for all the people inhabiting all of Galilee, Judea, and Samaria from the River to the Sea.
We must impress on all the people in both states – Israel and Proposed State of Palestine that their lives are inextricably entangled, as descendants of the two sons of the Patriarch Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac and share a common destiny as neighbors in their Historic Homeland until the end of time Thus, their collective survival and wellbeing, safety and stability depends on their willingness to join heads and hearts while working together hand in hand for their Common Good.
This is an URGENT circumstance we are facing with tenuous Truce intervals. We must pivot from vengeful, rage filled violent strategies to a more strategy of developing a matrix that can support cooperation for mutual benefit in the near term, healing, and reclamation of their shared heritage as descendants of Patriarch Abraham. [Arabs and Jews]
We must help each other to keep our focus on the common humanity, shared heritage and strive to achieve the common good for people in the land between River and Sea.
I gained much sustenance from the Second Inaugural Speech of Abraham Lincoln especially his closing benediction which clearly sets forth his vision for the future of a Nation that was in mourning and early in process of healing.
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address - Lincoln Memorial (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
On March 4, 1865, only 41 days before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time. Lincoln's second inaugural address previewed his plans for healing a once-divided nation. The speech is engraved on the north interior wall of the Lincoln Memorial.
"With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work, we are in to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
We all have much work to do on campuses in our United States and in Gaza and Israel but particularly in our hearts and minds because of the indescribable horror of the events that has cascaded on us from Oct 7th.2023 so that we may keep our focus on what needs to be done before we can work on the common good for Arabs and Jews.
I have found this verse from the Scripture of the Hindu Faith Tradition: Srimad Bhagavad Gita Discourse II, Verse 67, "Just as a strong wind sweeps a boat off its chartered course on the water, even one of the senses on which the mind focuses can lead the intellect astray." There is a storm of reports with graphic images raining upon us every day to our detriment. We must not fail to keep our focus to get the tasks done using our Martyred Presidents vision for our USA and our fellow inhabitants of our Blue Planet.
My website velandymanoharmd.com has many related resources.
I welcome your responses.
Please feel free to share as you see fit.
Warm regards.
Velandy Manohar, MD.
Distinguished Life Fellow, Am. Psychiatric Association. [APA]
Founding member Psychotherapy Caucus of APA,
Associate member- Harvard Medical Alumni Association.
President, Asian American Caucus of APA,
President, Indian American Psychiatric Association,
Founding member, Chair Board of Trustees and Past Part-time Priest of CT. Valley Hindu Temple Society, CVHTS.ORG
Founding member, Community Resilience Collaborative of Mx. County, CT focused on mitigation Consequences of Adverse Childhood Experiences,
Member of Mx. Coalition for Children.
Chair, Community Engagement and Outreach Standing committee of Community Advisory Council of Office of Health Strategy-CT
CT. Psychiatric Society: Legislative Committee
CT. State Medical Society:Member of Disaster Preparedness, Ethics and Quality of Care Committees
American Health Council: Best in Medicine- 2018
Attachments:
1. This Ivy League school took a novel approach to easing tensions sparked by the Israel-Hamas war. Did it work? (nbcnews.com) Dartmouth
2. Gaza- Israel- Reports about Hostages- Symphony 3 Kaddish- Bernstein and Sam Pisar.
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