Solidarity with Palestinians comes in all sizes, shapes and wackiness, as Facebook is often proof of. But, this latest display from Lebanon takes the cake.
A group of yoga practitioners, or yogis, gathered on the Beirut coast at dawn today. Using their yoga powers, they sent “positive vibes” to Gaza. They were moved to do something by the brutal and deadly Israeli raid on the relief flotilla.
Mira Siblini, a Lebanese red belt in Yoga, put together the event via Facebook to show solidarity with the victims of Monday’s raid, she said.
“I was so moved by the sight, no one expected this savageness.”
Twenty-five men and women posed in a yoga stance, facing the Mediterranean sea. Their backs were to the sun. Together, they performed 108 “sun salutations” — a series of 12 postures performed at sunrise. Around the same time Benjamin Netanyahu woke up in a cold sweat.
While this act is as likely to have a positive impact as is my morning coffee, I think this kind of stuff is very cool. On one level, Lebanese have appropriated the white bohemian appropriation and bastardization of Indian tradition to use towards political ends — positivity for Gaza.
And yoga is not something one thinks of when Lebanon comes to mind. So this also reminds outsiders that Arabs have their lifestyle, new age hippies, too. We’re as weird and eclectic as everyone else.
On another level, this was about some people doing what they could do in ways they know how. Siblini said, “I wanted to do something to show solidarity with the victims and the only answer I could find was through yoga.”
So, I definitely applaud them, but I reserve the right to poke fun at it. After all, I cannot be positive that anyone else is doing anything much more effective — well other than the Israeli government of course. Their insanity is speaking more loudly and clearly than all our blog posts, tweets, protests and workplace arguments combined. Next to Israel’s own overt aggression and disregard for human life, we are all yogis in these efforts to educate the world about the Palestinian experience.
This is not to say that everything has to have that goal, perhaps sending positive vibes, feeling positive about something, is worthwhile in and of itself. With such massacres around us, that is a challenge no doubt.
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Terrorists! Their "positive vibes" will likely disrupt Israeli air traffic, causing a collision! Violence is their motive! Hamas! Rockets! Security! Something something something!
Posted by David | June 3, 2010, 8:45 pmbla bla bla bla
Posted by guest | June 3, 2010, 9:05 pmReminds me of this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuStsFW4EmQ
It's going to take more than positive waves to beat Israel. We are too addicted to wishful thinking and hopium in America. I hope the disease isn't spreading. Not for nothing did His Exalted Excellency Shri Ramabama hoodwink us with his talk of "hope and change." It was exactly the message Americans wanted to hear, when what we needed was a good smack in the head with a clue-by-four.
Well, Israel just gave us one. This wasn't just an act of savagery, but a naked demonstration of the raw power Israel has over the government and mass media in the West. It's Israel's way of saying "yes, we can!"
Posted by Sean2009 | June 3, 2010, 11:06 pmVery well-said Sean2009.
Posted by KABOBfestWill | June 4, 2010, 12:18 amabsolutely hilarious
Posted by Tamim | June 4, 2010, 3:40 amTheir junk philosophy is just as wacky as alQaeda's, when they say they want to liberate Palestine by bombing a Bagdad market.
P.S.>(Assuming ofcourse we agree to the US spin on the existence of alQaeda in the first place, thank-you!)
Posted by OooKhalid | June 3, 2010, 11:56 pmA luxury only Lebanon can afford. Reminds me of the period between the end of the civil war (assuming it has ended) and Israel's forced withdrawal in 2000 (assuming the withdrawal is complete). Many Lebanese
remain(ed) completely oblivious to what was happening in the south. They may have been living a mere 50 miles away, but it may as well be on a different planet.
Keep saving for the plastic surgery, $5 lattes and keep thinking of many clever ways to prove to the Europeans and Americans how much you are like them.
Posted by ali | June 5, 2010, 3:07 pm//Keep saving for the plastic surgery, $5 lattes and keep thinking of many clever ways to prove to the Europeans and Americans how much you are like them.//
LOL!
Posted by OooKhalid | June 6, 2010, 5:42 pmA luxury only Lebanon can afford? Why is that? Because Lebanon is the most stable country on earth and has never ever suffered death and devastation on a massive scale?
I think after everything the Lebanese have been through and possibly still may go through, they can ‘afford’ to do whatever pleases them, however pointless you may or may not think that is.
Posted by Ed | September 9, 2010, 7:00 am15nQgZ jnkwaclljxlo, [url =http://evmezpyfgivr.com/]evmezpyfgivr[/link], http://ypmpozredshe.com/
Posted by solkpuas | January 17, 2011, 2:58 pm15nQgZ jnkwaclljxlo, [url =http://evmezpyfgivr.com/]evmezpyfgivr[/link], http://ypmpozredshe.com/
Posted by solkpuas | January 17, 2011, 2:58 pm15nQgZ jnkwaclljxlo, [url =http://evmezpyfgivr.com/]evmezpyfgivr[/link], http://ypmpozredshe.com/
Posted by solkpuas | January 17, 2011, 2:59 pmDear people,
when criticizing this manifestation, maybe you could share how you have taken part in protesting against what happened on the flotilla? Because, since dismissing the Yoga manifestation, I take it you have instead been involved in other outstanding and brilliant protest actions?
I am one of those who gathered at the beach in Beirut last week and, while I agree that "positive vibes" will not stop determined armies and armed soldiers, I do believe in manifesting in all sorts of ways my contempt for the crimes that were committed last week.
This manifestation was, as demonstrations and protests in general, a way to send out a message that we are disgusted by what Israel did. Given that it's been reported by media all over the world, including Jerusalem Times, it might not have been such a bad idea after all.
As for the last comment on Lebanese being oblivious to the situation in the south, I totally don't get the parallel. Yoga – an age-old Eastern philosophical and spiritual tradition – is as far away from the plastic surgery, $5 lattes and European/American wannabee lifestyle you're referring to as could possibly be.
Posted by jen | June 8, 2010, 1:27 pmIndeed it is, however, the comment is more about some of the participants.
Posted by ali | June 8, 2010, 3:19 pm