Avinadav Begin | 'The End of Conflict'

Avinadav Begin, 36, grandson of Israeli Prime Minister Menache, Begin and son of Benny Begin, “a minister without portfolio in the current government” says the LA Times, has written a book”The End of Conflict”.

Perhaps it’s only published in Hebrew, because I can’t find it on Amazon. Begin’s book website “The End of Conflict” has free downloads.

Begin credits his family with raising him to think as an individual, and he does.

Interviewed by the LATimes, Avinadav Begin answers a wide variety a questions, in a voice that transcends the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I will be reading Begin’s downloads this weekend, because his voice captures the essence of our purpose at Anne of Carversville.

Questions from the LATimes:

In your book, you argue that the root of the conflict is the psychological human need to belong to frameworks that inevitably wind up dictating violence, and that recognizing this ends the conflict. Is that correct? This is only part of it. Before examining people’s need for collective identity, we must first be looking at how we perceive reality through the social and biological conditioning that prevent us from seeing reality as it is… . It is something deeper than national or collective identity.

You urge people to change their need for belonging and identity, but this is a very deep need. Can the human soul really be changed in a way that will obviate this and all conflict? There really is no other way. Any other way leads not only to continuation of conflict, but to a constant escalation. Conflict isn’t a static state; it escalates until becoming terminal. We are in a different place in the conflict than we were 100 years ago.

We don’t really resolve conflicts; we establish deterrence. Deterrence is an interesting idea… . We saw in 1945 what two nuclear bombs are capable of. But we keep making more … and more powerful ones. For now there may be deterrence. But someone radical enough who thinks it is worth his while and perhaps the way to secure his place in heaven too will ultimately use it, and the framework will fall apart. We are in a state of escalation.

Information about Avinadav Begin is not readily available in English. Nor does Begin Facebook or Twitter, at least in English.

No Other God |THE COMMANDMENTSHe has a poem on a Facebook page, posted by Oren Lebovich. that jibes with the interview above:

Can you see the cloud? Is there a limit to this cloud ?
Can you see the sea? Can it stop moving?
We are paneled in our beds, Huddled under a warm blanket, Listen to our children breathe Just want some peace and quiet.
We can continue our little pleasures, Realization of our pink dreams.
Someone else will stop the wars, Give shelter to the needy, feed the poor.
After all, these are not related to us.
Three thousand miles away, Three hundred miles away, Three miles away Or three feet away. We can recognize that the barrier is only in our minds.
There is no political problem in this world. No class problem, There is no economic problem, national or religious in this world.
There is only one problem - the mind. You’re asking governments to solve crises But governments are the crises.
You want an understanding and tolerance between religions, But religions are not - tolerance.
You’re asking strong economies to help weak economies But their strength is built over the weakness of the other.
You ask you’re holy fury to heal the world, But world anger is only a reflection of yours.
You’re the cloud.
You are sea.
What are you? “

Avinadav Begin

These words are very relevant to me, having reached the conclusion that Eve’s (or Lilith before her) real original sin was to embrace the mind. In eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, Eve exhibited not only an inability to follow instructions — unlike Adam — but also a more complex intellect and desire to understand, rather than exist as a human robot.

Avinadav Begin doesn’t dishonor the importance of identity or national pride. But he asks us to cultivate our own minds as a primary vehicle for peace in the world. Thinking is a sacriligious offence to religions that demand we do as we are told and prepare for heavenly life.

At a time when Pope Benedict wants to return the mass to Latin, turning the altar away from the people and back to orthodox ritual, Avinadav Begin reminds us that there’s integrity in thinking and tremendous downside to passively accepting ideology and bullet-point marching orders for living a moral life.

As Begin reminds us, people who want a quick trip to heaven have no real interest in solving the world’s conflicts. Peace is the last thing in their minds; a nuclear terrorist attack becomes a noble act. 

Muslim, Christian and Jew, the fervent believers are joined in a belief that Armageddon is the ultimate act of honoring God. This vision of morality and service to a higher will offends all my spiritual beliefs about helping humanity.

As members of a silent majority, often struggling for our own right path between thinking and honoring our spiritual beliefs, our silence only fuels the ardor of those with loud voices and iron wills.  Anne

Begin’s website “The End of Conflict” has free downloads. LATimes interview: Scion of Israel political dynasty begs to differ.