Israeli actors sit out show at settlement theater

Israeli actors refuse to perform show at theater in West Bank settlement

By Aron Heller, Associated PressDecember 26, 2013 7:09 AM

In this Aug. 29, 2010. file photo, Israeli children walk past the theater in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel. A trio of Israeli stage actors is refusing to perform in an acclaimed play before a theater in a West Bank Jewish settlement of Arial, part of a burgeoning domestic movement against the government's settlement policies. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

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JERUSALEM (AP) -- A trio of Israeli stage actors is refusing to perform in an acclaimed play before a theater in a West Bank Jewish settlement, part of a burgeoning domestic movement against the government's settlement policies.

The protest mirrors a global movement against the settlements that has put Israel's government in an increasingly difficult situation as the current round of peace talks with the Palestinians continues.

The international community, including the U.S., has long considered Israeli construction of homes for Jews in the West Bank, captured territory claimed by the Palestinians, as an obstacle to peace.

This sentiment, long held also by Israel's dovish left, now appears to be gaining steam at home following a string of harsh global condemnations of settlement construction in recent months. Some on Israel's left fear the scale of the settlements soon will pass the tipping point where a pullout may become too difficult, and Israel will be forced to essentially absorb the West Bank and its millions of Palestinians.

In a joint statement, the Cameri and Beit Lessin theaters said that three cast members in their production of "Best Friends" had asked to be excused from performing at the cultural center in Ariel, a settlement built deep inside the West Bank. It said they were granted exemptions and will be replaced by alternates, allowing the show to go on.

One of the actresses, Sarit Vino-Elad, said she could not bring herself to step foot in a theater built on occupied land and which posed an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.

"This is not a boycott. It's my own little protest against a government policy that continues to build settlements," she told The Associated Press. "They are trying to make Ariel part of the consensus, but as far as I am concerned it is not legitimate. You want me to perform there? Solve the problem."

Israel is particularly sensitive to such sentiments as it is constantly battling against international efforts to impose economic, cultural and academic boycotts upon it over the settlements. Defenders of Israel say it is a victim of orchestrated campaigns to delegitimize it and hold it to a double standard over its policies.

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A member of Palestinian civil defense extinguishes a fire at a Hamas training camp after it was hit …

But such arguments seem to be facing an uphill struggle. Last week, the American Studies Association, a 3,800-member group of American scholars, endorsed a boycott of Israeli universities.

Previously, the Dutch water company Vitens, the largest supplier of drinking water in the Netherlands, decided to cut ties with Israel's national water carrier over its operations in West Bank settlements. The European Union recently forced Israel to make guarantees that special European research funds would not be spent in the settlements. The EU is also considering measures to clearly label products made in the settlements, a move that could harm sales.

Lately, Israeli settlements are also coming under increasing scrutiny at home.

Israelis who once considered the West Bank inseparable from the rest of the country, or at least shrugged off the settlements as insignificant, have begun to protest the large government budgets promoting West Bank construction instead of solving a dire housing crisis plaguing the rest of the country. Others refuse to purchase settlement goods or perform reserve military guard duty in the West Bank.

For years, the Palestinians refused to negotiate with Israel while settlement construction continued, saying it was a sign of bad faith. Under heavy U.S. pressure, the Palestinians reluctantly resumed negotiations last summer, under U.S. mediation, with an April target date for agreement.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, all captured by Israel in 1967, for their state. Israel pulled troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005 and it is now ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas. East Jerusalem, with its sites holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews, has been annexed by Israel. The West Bank, despite the fact that Israel builds towns there, has not.

More than 550,000 Israelis now live in areas captured in 1967, amid roughly 2.5 million Palestinians. The Palestinians complain that the growing settler population makes it ever more difficult to partition the land.

The settlement of Ariel is a particular stumbling block. An enclave of nearly 20,000 people is one of the largest settlements, and its defenders say most Israelis want the settlement to be annexed to Israel in any future peace deal. But it is located well inside the West Bank, meaning no minor border adjustment as part of a peace deal could leave it on the Israeli side. Hawkish Cabinet ministers angrily have denounced the protesters and threatened to strip their government subsidies.

In 2010, Ariel inaugurated a glitzy $11 million performing arts center that immediately sparked an artists' boycott.

Vino-Elad said her colleagues have preferred to stay quiet with their stance for fear of political backlash — but she could not. "We don't want to create world wars here, we want to make theater," she said.

The Cameri theater said it was committed to staging the show in Ariel but that it would respect the political positions of its artists.

"The theater does not force its actors to perform in Ariel. Those who are not interested are replaced by their colleagues," it said in the statement. "The Cameri theater chose to allow its actors to exercise their freedom of expression and follow their conscience."

Culture Minister Limor Livnat criticized those artists that "boycott Israeli citizens because of where they live."

Ariel Turjeman, the director of the Ariel theater, played down the protest, saying the actors who refused to perform in the West Bank were a tiny number compared to the thousands who did. He said the theater purchased a play, not an actor, and that the move is little more than a publicity stunt.

"Those who don't want to come don't have to," he said. "If Ariel makes them uncomfortable, they can stay home. And to be honest, we don't want those who don't want to come here."


Israeli actors stage settlement protest

Three cast members refuse to perform at the Cameri and Beit Lessin theaters over government policies.
Mirrors global movement

Musings on Infinity and Unity – Part 2/2

SaLuSa: December 27, 2013. Channelled by Mike Quinsey. http://tinyurl.com/p3rlh4j

Here you are at the end of yet another year that has been momentous in many ways. Time has continued to speed up, and a clear division can be seen to be taking place between the old and new.

The dark Ones are not progressing as they would have wished, after feeling that they were on the verge of taking control of the world. They reckoned without the increasing amount of Light that has been grounded upon Earth. So much so, that almost unnoticed it has become the most powerful force for good. No longer can its progress be delayed, and it is destined to be the means of removing the dark Ones.

This cycle has completed its course and the Light is now the dominant force upon Earth. The apparent turmoil is but a sign of it restricting the ability of the dark Ones to continue their onward march to world control.

It was always planned this way so that no matter how much they extended their power over the people, they would never achieve complete control. The cycle has run its course and a new one has commenced that will bring complete peace and happiness to all souls. There is no longer a place for the dark Ones to wield their power over the Human Race.

As you stand fast and are not affected by outside occurrences, so you empower the Light that grows ever stronger. Live in the Light, and you can live your life in a way that helps lift others up with you. The coming New Year will herald many changes that will send out a strong signal that the Light is bringing the New Age into being. 2014 will be the crossroads that allows rapid progress to be made, and signal the true commencement of the Age of Light.

Each of you has been selected to be here for such an occasion and for many of you life will suddenly offer you the changes that you have been seeking. As Lightworkers you each have something to offer that will be utilised at the right time. So do not worry or feel that your contribution is little compared to others, as all are important to the whole.

You have all come a long way with your experiences and are greater for them than you were when you first started your journey. No experience is without value and there is no need to make comparisons with others, as you all have a unique individual life plan. No One is any greater or lesser than another soul. You are part of a great family that looks up to the Father/Mother God from whence you came. When you come together as One, there will no one soul considered better than another, as all tread the same path and are simply at different stages upon it.

When you can see yourself in others you will know that you are inexplicably linked and in reality are One. Yet even as you progress to this understanding, you will still remain an individual Light amongst all others. When you are referred to as “Gods,” it is a state of Oneness that you experience when you return to the Godhead. For want of a better expression it is your Home from whence you came, and when God desires to experience more, all souls will be sent out again for that reason.

At this time you have difficulty in imagining or remembering your higher states of being, but soon you will be on the path to full recognition. It will happen by stages and first you will gain full consciousness. Of necessity you have lived out many lives in the lower vibrations with a limited consciousness.

Your challenge has been to find your way back to God through your own experience, which is why each soul travels at its own speed and is on a different path. Remember also that for specific incarnations you are connected to certain energies that will enhance your opportunities to succeed.

As you become more at One with the Light, so you will become more awakened to the truth of your real selves. You are not your body and it only serves your needs whilst on Earth. Yes, you also have an etheric body that is refined to allow existence in the higher vibrations, yet you have much further to go.

Eventually you will become a true Being of Light, but you can still create a “body” for yourself when the necessity arises. It is worth noting that when you do so to allow movement through the lower dimensions, it will be limiting in other ways.

Dear Ones throw off any feelings of tiredness or doubt, as the vibrations are increasing and you are being rejuvenated. Lift up out of doubt or disbelief and look straight ahead and walk in the Light. Leave your worries behind you and be assured that everything is in perfect order. It may be hard to do, but you must start unloading your “baggage” as you cannot take it with you into the higher realms.

Think big and positive as you have done the hard work to have reached this point in your evolution. Also bear in mind that you have many souls with you on your journey, doing all they can to guide you onto a safe and rewarding path.

I am SaLuSa and come again to reassure you that all is well and we are with you all the way. Our Love and Blessings go with you.

Thank you SaLuSa.

Mike Quinsey

White Cloud: On Seeking the Savior Within, channeled by Eliza Ayres (aka Tazjima Amariah Kumara), December 25, 2013 at bluedragonjournal.com

“They seek him here, they seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere,
That damned elusive Pimpernel!”

These words were written by an English lady in the last century (The Scarlet Pimpernel) yet they ring true today. You merely need to change the last word for any savior that the individual or collective seeks always outside of themselves.

Last night you received a message from the mother of the one whom has been called by many the only Son of God. Yet this one, Yeshua, does not claim this title as his own. He has fully accepted his place among the ascended masters and cosmic beings and realizes that he is one among many.

Among some of the Light workers, there are those who seek to be saved by their star kin. There is resentment and anger among these individuals due to the fact that the galactics have not landed upon our shores and begun the work that has been promised through some channeled messages.

Do you not realize that you are the Ones that you have waited and longed for, beloved? Until you do, your star kin will be unable to meet you halfway up the staircase to Heaven.

You question our words and our veracity; such is the wont of those who will not accept responsibility for thought and action. Constantly these project their own self-loathing and judgment out upon others, including the galactics, the ascended masters, the cabal… whoever is supposed to save them or to refrain from destroying this world.

You are your own saviors. Yes, you have star kin who monitor and patrol the skies above your world, but these are, for the most, beings that exist at a much higher frequency range than the human collective. They are doing what they can to assist, by keeping your skies free of invading fleets. The dark ones who are still upon your planet’s surface are those who chose to play a dark role in this lifetime, as catalysts for your growth and awakening. Wouldn’t you agree that they have played their roles exceedingly well?

Yes, the time has come for change. Yes, there are still many who suffer in the world, yet still you judge others outside of yourself for failing to come forward to save the many. We ask you something that may shock you, why should they be saved?

Why should they be saved by another if they have the capacity within to save themselves?

All humans and we do mean all have the capacity to reconnect with the higher self. Each of you has the capacity to ignite the sacred seed within your heart center that is the seed of your divinity, but you alone have the authority and right to do so.

Each individual is a sovereign being and until that individual recognizes their responsibility or ability to respond to the divinity within, no amount of saving will break through the barrier of belief and self-hatred to reach the little one who clings to the persistent desire to be coddled by their mother or father.

We are your kin, but we cannot save your world without your help. The shift that has occurred upon your planet and indeed throughout the Universe has been designed to awaken the master within. To be a master is to exercise sovereignty and power.

It is up to each one of us to accept that we are responsible for doing our own clearing and integration of the darkness within. Those of us who have mastered the frequencies of the third dimension and have risen up into the clouds seek not to command you to do this or that. The ones who have long commanded and controlled humanity have done that, effectively cutting you off from your power and sovereignty. If we were to step in and solve all the problems and social ills that exist on planet earth, where would that leave the collective? In a state of need and still controlled by an outside although benevolent force.

So we work from the outside by projecting cosmic rays to the surface of your planet. Those masters of the elements can do these things and much more, beyond the current capacity of your minds to understand. However, know this dear ones, you have the capacity to work with the elementals and to command the most tremendous powers within your own beings, but until you can master your individual thoughts and emotions, you cannot be granted those powers if only for your own sakes.

So, we wait for the moment when there are enough individuals who have raised up their own signature frequencies to allow for the coming of the galactics to your shores. We will come for we do not promise anything and then back down. If you wish confirmation of this, look in the mirror, dear ones. Many of you who now call themselves light workers are our kin. We are already on the surface of the planet, dressed out as human beings.

Universal Law does not allow interference with a species that is in the process of development. You have been assisted by your star kin, the angelics, the archangels and light beings by their sending their own to you in the form of your children and your selves. You are the ones that you have looked for, dear ones. There is no further need for you to look for a savior outside of your own being.

When you can rise up in frequency, you will meet us in the sky. We will come to you in our scout ships and in your dreams. We must meet at a similar plane, a similar frequency, for it is only in this manner that we will not interfere with your sovereignty and self-mastery.

We understand the pain of those who still feel the suffering of others. Know that this very sensitivity is an indication that you are connected to those who you believe to be above you. The shaman of the most primitive tribe knows of this connection and knows that he is one with those who he senses within and without. He seeks signs in the skies, from the animals, from the wind, moon and stars, for he resonates with all around him, knowing and feeling the connection. Messages and teachings come to those who pause and release judgment, who can listen and observe everything around them as verification of the wisdom within. There is no distinction between self and other for the circle has not been broken in these ones.

Wisdom can come from watching the flight of a bird or a butterfly, from observing the movement of the stars, from listening to the silent promptings of the soul. When you seek to find your way by listening to the clamor outside, you will get lost in a wilderness of conflicting emotions and thoughts. Clear out the debris of others and seek what it is that belongs solely to you, beloved.

Each of you has incarnated bringing unique gifts and graces won through many lifetimes spent here and in other worlds and dimensions. Only you can offer these gifts up to the collective, if you can succeed in mastering your own world. Once you have proceeded far enough along the path, you will begin to hear us. We have never left your side, not for one moment, but you need to open up in order to hear. Do you have the eyes to see and ears to hear us, beloved? Or are you still locked in separation consciousness, seeking to be saved by that knight in shining armor or the galactics in their graceful ships or perhaps by an ascended master?

You are your own saviors. As light workers and ones who are in the process of waking up and reconnecting to the mastery that already exists within, you are the potential movers and shakers and shapers of this world. It is your acceptance of your capacity to receive guidance from within, to nurture that guidance until it becomes a creation and then to bring it forth through action… this is how the problems of your world will be solved. It will be through your acceptance and acknowledgement that you are co-creators with Source that all duality will be integrated and come back into a state of balance.

This may appear to be a severe lesson, but it is a project that you set up yourself, as a collective entity, which you are part of now upon incarnating on this planet. You are human and much more. It is up to you to discover how much more.

If there are promises to be made, they are yours, beloved. Each of you made a commitment to save this world and you are doing so. Have faith in your capacity to bring change to the environment in which you live.

Part of your frustration is the apparent slowness of the rate of change, but again we counsel you to look within. Are you the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, even a day ago? Can you remember how your family did things when you were a child? Do you care? Have you already let go of things that you long believed that you could never part with?

Do you follow the rules of others or have you always insisted in following your own way? If the latter, we tell you that you have already been listening within without knowing that you were doing so. By doing so in a more conscious manner, you will increase the rate in which you can allow change into your life.

The divine seed within is activated when you begin to focus your attention upon it. There is a secret space within your etheric body sometimes called the secret garden, the Holy of Holies, the secret chamber of the heart. Whatever title you give it, it is the seed that the Mother and Father gave to each of you, planted in your flesh, to grow and expand into self-mastery at the appropriate moment preordained by your Higher Self.

You cannot rush the process of others; you can only work on yourself. In seeing that others exist in a state of lack and limitation, you still are judging them. And by judging them you disempower them and yourself, for you are One being.

We understand that for those who still allow their minds to lead them, these words will convey little. It is only by reading the text through a heart-centered space will they be accepted within. Do not seek to attack what you do not understand with your mind, beloved, for to do so is to continue to project your internal fear and lack upon the world. Change for the better cannot come in this manner, no matter who steps forward to “save” others. Being saved by some outside entity is to continue to be disempowered.

Believe us when we say, no matter what the present circumstances of any individual appears to be, they are a master within. Each human being contains within the sacred seed of creation and mastery. If you do not understand this, then you are not listening to your own heart, the source of your own inner wisdom, your connection to the higher planes.

Release the sense of frustration, let go of the judgment of others and of self. Garnering self-love is the first step towards self-mastery. We understand that the concept of self-love runs counter to every existing belief system on this planet that has been designed to control and to contain the natural genius of humanity, but we tell you now, if you are incapable of loving yourself, you will not change your world.

You are the master. You decide your own fate. You are a co-creator with Source. You have the capacity to master the laws of creation, but only if you act through love, starting with self-love.

With the rising up of frequencies, the Heavenly Realms have degreed that this world and universe will no longer accept frequencies that do not resonate with unconditional love. All that cannot rise up and meet the rising frequencies of the planet, the solar system, the galaxy and the Universe, will leave.

We have faith in you, beloved, that you can meet us halfway on the stairway to heaven, for you are in the process of building said stairway, by your work done during your dreamtime when you are unattached and contained by your human ego and its outdated sense of limitation and desire to keep you fitting in to the old paradigm. We bid you leave the old behind for doing so you will begin to see that you have more choices and options than you ever believed possible. A grand new world already exists around you. Can you see it? Can you begin to feel it?

By dropping your defenses, by becoming vulnerable to sensation, by projecting your spiritual energy into the world, you will come into an awareness that you are already whole within. And the expansion into the fullness of Self will come as natural to you as the blossoming of a rose on a June morning.

You are bringing heaven to earth, beloved, and we will meet you when you are ready, when you have determined for yourself that you are the savior within who will and is changing your world for the better.

We end this for now in hopes that understanding will blossom within. Our hearts are connected to yours and we stand by you if you have need for counsel, support or just a warm hug of love. We are ever your brothers and sisters of light.

Namasté.

Copyright© Elizabeth Ayres Escher – All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this website without express and written permission from its author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Elizabeth Ayres Escher andhttp://www.bluedragonjournal.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A Short Update on the Energies – December 27, channeled by Aisha North, December 27, 2013 at http://aishanorth.wordpress.com

As the days start to almost imperceptibly lengthen at your end of the globe, you will also feel a slight shift in the atmosphere as the energies start to prepare you all for the end of this year and the beginning of the new. As always, you will have a short breather here and there, and we think you will all find some time to sit back and slowly start to ease yourself into the brand new waters that beckon you already.

For even if your calendar still shows the number 2013, the energies themselves have already start to shift into the new, and as such, you will all be able to take a small sip of them if you manage to still yourself sufficiently to try.

We know that this may seem to be difficult for many, as you have already been surrounded by quite a lot of noise, both externally but also internally. And even if this is indeed a Holiday season for many, this is also a time for much internal goings on for many of you. And in some cases, this has been what can only be described as a double load for many, while for others, a time of peace and quiet has been at hand.

So we do hope that you have all managed to do what we asked you to do, namely to find some time to look back and peruse that long road you have traveled since the last time your calendars showed the same date as today. For even if time will seem to have speed up perceptibly, you will also see that you have managed to squeeze in even more into what may be perceived as a shorter time span than what you have done any time earlier on in this life journey of yours. And rightly so, as these last twelve months constitute perhaps the most important part of your own evolution.

So again we say, do not forget to give yourself a big hand of applause, and know that we are all celebrating your accomplishments already. And even if this year is petering out, your accomplishments will only continue to surpass what anyone could have hoped for as this year began. For your own process is not about to slow down any time soon, for now, you are all well and truly in the fast lane, dear ones, so do not expect a leisurely start to the new year.

So sit back and breathe whenever you get a chance to do so, and know that you will have more than enough on your hands as this new year announces its arrival with a veritable flourish of energetic festivities, and know that even if this may sound to be a rather exhausting way to start the new, it will be nothing of the sort. Rather, we think you will all find reason to celebrate the coming of the new, as you will find yourself bathing in energies that will bring a smile to your face in more ways than one.