Monday, June 6, 2011

What’s Hyding in the Mirror?



Raising his voice from the grave, just like his dead fellow citizens of Spoon River, Ernest Hyde declares,

My mind was a mirror:
It saw what it saw, it knew what it knew.
In youth my mind was just a mirror
In a rapidly flying car,
Which catches and loses bits of the landscape.
Then in time
Great scratches were made on the mirror,
Letting the outside world come in,
And letting my inner self look out.
For this is the birth of the soul in sorrow,
A birth with gains and losses.
The mind sees the world as a thing apart,
And the soul makes the world at one with itself.
A mirror scratched reflects no image--
And this is the silence of wisdom.

The mirror, scratched in the course of one’s life, no longer reflects the images of the outside world, but reflects the silence of wisdom (and, as we are told, Wisdom is the child of Depth and Silence, born out of the Depth of Silence).


Sartre’s one-act play No Exit (‘Huis Clos’) presents a different image – the absence of the mirror. The hell that Sartre portrays in his play has no exit, and it entails the punishment of eternity (depression, for instance, is hell, because when in depression, the person ‘knows’ there is neither an exit, a way out, nor an end). Furthermore, there are no windows or mirrors in the room.

A mirror-less existence is hellish. We know how essential it is for the infant to be mirrored. The libido that streams inwardly, to ourselves, is the healthy narcissistic energy that we need to feel a sense of value, and it requires being mirrored. Not being seen, or carrying another’s distorted projections (which likewise means not being seen), is a self-alienating experience.

There are no mirrors in hell. Hell is a non-reflective and unreflected, non-mirroring and non-mirrored existence. Likewise, in fundamentalism there is no mirror. There is only a projection to be destroyed, but no image in the mirror. There are pre-conceived projections, but no reflective imagination.
Looking into the mirror, however scratched, requires one to acknowledge the image of one’s own complexity as being simply human, rather than splitting off one’s shortcomings from the image in the mirror.
The scratched image in the silent mirror of wisdom reflects the complexity of being human. It means not taking in the images which - considerably more so today than a century ago when Ernest Hyde shared his earnest reflections from the grave - bombard us from the outside. And it means not to be deluded by the false appearance of the image of ourselves, in the smooth and flawless mirror, from which self-reflection is absent.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

United Nations Recognition of Palestine

Letter to Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General, United Nations, May 11, 2011




Dear Mr. Ban Ki-Moon,



In September this year, the United Nations General Assembly is likely to recognize the State of Palestine.



As an Israeli, I would like my country to be the first to welcome the Arab State of Palestine among the nations, living peacefully alongside the Jewish State of Israel.



While in his 2009 talk at Bar-Ilan University, PM Netanyahu recognized the principle of two states for two peoples, Jewish Israel and Arab Palestine, his speech was not supplemented by measures on the ground, that would give credibility to his words.



Reluctantly, the present Israeli government accepted a ten month settlement freeze as an incentive to renew stalled negotiations. Unfortunately, this did not bring the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and/or the Palestinian Authority to the negotiating table.



Also, the similar good will gesture asked of the Arab side, that Saudi Arabia allow civilian Israeli air traffic to make use of its air space, was quickly dismissed and dropped.



I would like my government to take further confidence-building steps. This is, in fact, the position held by most Israelis; according to a recent poll, in desire of peace and neighborly relations, a majority favors diplomatic initiative, far-reaching Israeli concessions and recognition of a Palestinian state.



I would like my government to implement a full withdrawal of all settlements beyond the security fence, which, besides reducing the many deadly terror attacks, serves as a temporary border, based on the 1949 cease-fire lines.




Israel’s Security Barrier, compared to the Green Line (Shaul Arieli; http://www.shaluarieli.com/, by permission)







This would give credibility to Israel’s decision to withdraw from Arab territories.



But I would like to see some additional gestures as well. I would like incitement against Israel, in schools, media and mosques be restrained. Incitement, and repeated claims that there is no connection between Jews, Judaism and the Land of Israel, is not conducive to peace-making. The cartoons, for instance, appearing repeatedly in Palestinian and Arab media, are, to say the least, appalling.








Incitement contradicts, as well, the accords between Israel and the PLO, which is chaired by Mahmoud Abbas, who also serves as President of the Palestinian Authority (PA).



In fact, unilateral declaration of statehood also contradicts those agreements. My criticism of my government’s dangerous passivity, is paralleled by skepticism as regards the PA’s reluctance to negotiate.



President Sadat, who was the instrumental leader in achieving a breakthrough in Israeli-Arab relations, claimed that seventy percent of the conflict is psychological.



Israelis and Palestinians construct their identity according to history and its interpretation, based on fear, war and persecution, threats of exile and annihilation, with roots in the past – both a century of Holocaust and violence, and a distant past, rooted in the archetypal images of the Bible and the Koran. Mutual projections impair the reconciliation that can take place in face-to-face negotiations.



But just like we, respectively, are called upon to scrutinize our psychological shortcomings and distorted projections, I would call upon you, as the United Nations’ Secretary General, to lead your organization to do likewise. Goldstone’s retraction of his own copy-and-paste produced report, and the fact that Syria is (was?) expected to replace Libya on the UN Human Rights Council, make the farce that has been going on for years, during which the main pre-occupation of the Council has been the demonization of Israel, apparent.



Yet, my main request of you, at this moment in time, concerns the following: Before the United Nations recognize the Arab State of Palestine which, as I have said, I am in favor of, the declared aims of that state cannot be the destruction of another member-state of the United Nations (or any state, for that matter). At the UN website (http://www.un.int/), the page of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations (http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine) informs us about the Palestine National Charter (http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/pid/12361), which states that their aim is “the elimination of Zionism in Palestine” (meaning the destruction of Israel), by means of “armed struggle” (i.e., war and terror). Furthermore, Article 19 says that, “The partition of Palestine in 1947, and the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal,” and in article 20, “Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history.”



I thus urge you, in the name of honesty and decency, history and Israel's right to exist, to review the Palestine Charter, demand it be revised to include recognition of Israel rather than the call for its destruction. Otherwise, you, the United Nations, and all nations voting in favor, sign the death-sentence of Israel, making you responsible of ethnic cleansing of the Jews in Israel.



Sincerely,



Dr. Erel Shalit






Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return is on sale now for $14.95, and Enemy, Cripple, Beggar is on sale now for $19.95 or $30.00 for the pair when ordered directly from the Fisher King Press. You can also order The Hero and His Shadow: Psychopolitcal Aspects of Myth and Reality in Israel directly from Fisher King Press. Phone orders welcomed, Credit Cards accepted. 1-800-228-9316 toll free in the US & Canada, International +1-831-238-7799


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Friday, May 13, 2011

What will happen on Nakba-day?





As reported in the media, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz visited the Central Command, inspecting the preparations being made for possible riots on “Nakba-day”, May 15, when the Palestinians commemorate the Nakba (“catastrophe”), of the partition of the land and the founding of Israel.

As reported for instance on Ynet, “The situation in the West Bank may escalate to uncontrolled violence as result of, for instance, marches towards that border that will be aired on TV and inflame emotions; mass demonstrations in Egypt under the banner of the “Third Intifada committee”; mass marches in Gaza; violence among Arab-Israelis; and a flare-up in the Middle East’s most problematic theater: Friday prayers at Temple Mount.”

Furthermore, “Israel’s political leadership instructed the IDF not to take risks and assume major precautions. Indeed, the army already reinforced its troops in the West Bank and prepared reserve forces as well.”

The Chief of Staff said he hopes the Nakba Day events will be held non-violently, but that the army must be prepared for every possible circumstance.

According to rumors, General Gantz had secretly summoned Professor Eliezer (Eli) Shimeoni, to receive a private summary of possible scenarios. So characteristic of Israeli sloppiness, the door had been left open, and one of the soldiers on guard recorded the parts of the conversation on his iPhone:

Elie Shimeoni (ES): “What do you want of me?”


Benny Gantz (BG): “Stop pretending, you know very well.”


ES: “Honestly, no idea…” (unclear, probably biting on an apple).


BG: “Do I really need to quote…”


He started to read, “…The Islamic movement called upon all adult Arab men to join the big march to Jerusalem and gather on the Temple Mount, at the compound in front of the Al Aqsa Mosque. The call spread across the country. Young and old, from the Galilee in the north, the Negev in the south, and from the Triangle of Arab towns in the center of the country, turned up in unprecedented numbers. The call spread across the West Bank as well, and people just started marching...” (p. 73)


“Palestinians from the West Bank managed to break through the security fence. Widespread laughter swept across the long chain of people holding arms as they, within a matter of minutes, tore down “the wall,” the security fence, making mockery of our typical Israeli patchwork…” (p. 74)


Do I need to quote more from Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return, or do you understand?" Gantz asked impatiently.

Shimeoni stopped in the middle of a bite on the apple, “I am surprised at you,” was all he could say before he started coughing.



“That is a novel, has nothing to do with reality, it’s pure fiction. I did give the author permission to quote me, but I only told stories.”


BG: “This is not fiction, this is reality. This is post-modern reality,” said the intellectual Chief of Staff. “This is not reality before you make a film of what has taken place, it is imagination creating reality.”


ES: “You blame me?”


BG: “You misunderstand me. I am not going to censor imagination. I want to learn from it. I want to know what the possibilities are. We must learn not only from past mistakes, we need to draw conclusions from the future before it happens. Is that not what you write about, when you write about those manuscripts of Kafka and the theft of the Queen’s Clock from the Museum of Islamic Art?”


ES: “I didn’t write the book.”


BG: “We know who the true author of the events is.”


ES: “I don’t.”


BG: “You’ll find out if you read the book till the end. It only takes an hour or two to read, and you know it doesn’t end the way you thought.”


“Close that door,” one could suddenly hear the General shout.


Thus, the recording of the conversation was interrupted, as friends and foes prepared for another act in the drama of Isaac and Ishmael.

Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return and The Hero & His Shadow: Psychopolitical Aspects of Myth and Reality in Israel





Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return is on sale now for $14.95, and Enemy, Cripple, Beggar is on sale now for $19.95 or $30.00 for the pair when ordered directly from the Fisher King Press. You can also order The Hero and His Shadow: Psychopolitcal Aspects of Myth and Reality in Israel directly from Fisher King Press. Phone orders welcomed, Credit Cards accepted. 1-800-228-9316 toll free in the US & Canada, International +1-831-238-7799


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Friday, April 15, 2011

Between Slavery and Freedom

The images are by the incredible Arthur Szyk


The Jewish spring holiday of Pesach, or Passover, begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, the first month in the Hebrew calendar’s festival year, on the night of the full moon after the vernal equinox. This year, the eve of Pesach is celebrated on April 18.

The essence of Pesach is the release from the bonds of slavery, and the transition into freedom. During the last few months, we have witnessed how the young in several Arab countries across the Middle East have raised to their feet, paying a heavy toll in imprisonment, torture and with their lives, in a courageous yearn for freedom from the tyranny of dictators.

On the individual level, each one of us has to figure out what his or her personal sense of freedom entails, and which internal bonds and behaviors, prejudices and inadequacies enslave us.

I believe the road to freedom in the Arab world is a long and winding one. It seems unlikely the fires will stop burning any time soon, and the outcome seems unpredictable, and different in different places. Will the freedom seeking forces gain the upper hand, or will the people’s will be hijacked by tyrants, armies and fundamentalists?

Muammar el-Quadaffi wrote The Green Book: The Solution to the Problem of Democracy, in which he claims that “Women, like men, are human beings,” reaffirming this “incontestable truth.” This is quite an achievement for someone who otherwise, in his rather successful book, rejects democracy and free press.

I wonder, how come that the London School of Economics so easily accepted to sell its integrity for half a million dollars from Quadaffi (is that what enabled his son Seif al-Islam to come away with a plagiarized or ghost-written doctoral dissertation at LSE)?

And I would like to ask the UN Human Rights Council, and its member states, to look in the mirror; as late as January this year, it produced a draft report of praise to the Libyan leader and his promotion of human rights (some of the countries, under similarly enlightened leadership, that showered the Libyan leader with their praise, were Syria, North Korea and Iran).

In contrast, half of the council’s resolutions over the years have been condemnations of Israel.

The United Nations Human Rights Council’s Goldstone report was a patchwork of copy and paste of distorted information. Mary Robinson, hardly a close friend of Israel’s, refused the mission that Richard Goldstone shamefully accepted, claiming the resolution adopted by the Council was one-sided and guided by politics rather than human rights. While Goldstone has retracted the report, he still blames Israel for not having cooperated. Well, if Robinson was reluctant to cooperate, perhaps Israel was right, since the mandate was, one-sidedly, to prove Israel’s guilt, making the so called fact-finding mission into a scam from the very outset.

I believe that honesty and self-reflection are aspects of freedom, while hypocrisy and trickery are part of one’s slavery. There seems to be a large grey field between democracy and hypocrisy.

As regards us here in Israel, the prolonged occupation of Palestinian territories binds us into slavery. While there are many aspects and, for instance, security concerns, there is an urgent need to find creative solutions of termination of occupation of Palestinian land, as well as the stamina to reign in the violence and criminal behavior by certain settler groups.

Freedom, democracy and independence are threatened by occupation. Rabin, Peres, Barak and Olmert knew it, offering the Palestinians far-reaching peace-agreements, and Sharon understood it, withdrawing from Gaza, evacuating all Israeli settlers there.

The Palestinians need, as well, to understand that their freedom is achieved not merely by statehood. As long as they aim at the destruction of Israel, as comes through for instance in their media and statements in Arabic, they will remain slaves to distorted values.

The idea, as expressed in their charter, that freedom will prevail when the Jews have left the Eastern Mediterranean, otherwise called ethnic cleansing, holds them prisoners to their own self-destruction.

I wish all a Happy Passover, Chag Sameach, a celebration of freedom,

Erel Shalit

Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return is on sale now for $14.95, and Enemy, Cripple, Beggar is on sale now for $19.95 or $30.00 for the pair when ordered directly from the Fisher King Press. You can also order The Hero and His Shadow: Psychopolitcal Aspects of Myth and Reality in Israel directly from Fisher King Press. Phone orders welcomed, Credit Cards accepted. 1-800-228-9316 toll free in the US & Canada, International +1-831-238-7799

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Jungian Psychotherapy Program at Bar Ilan University


We are pleased to announce the opening of a three-year program in

Jungian Psychotherapy

Bar Ilan University, Continuing Education, Weisfeld School of Social Work

Dr. Erel Shalit, Academic Director

For further details, please click here

Studies are conducted in Hebrew, please see below

תוכנית תלת-שנתית לפסיכותרפיה בגישה האנליטית של יונג

מרכז אקדמי: ד"ר אראל שליט

אוכלוסיית היעד
עובדים סוציאליים בעלי תואר שני לפחות, פסיכולוגים, פסיכיאטרים. מספר מקומות ישמרו למועמדים בעלי תואר שני בתחומי הטיפול, כגון טיפול ביצירה

והבעה וקרימינולוגיה קלינית.


מטרת התכנית

התוכנית מיועדת להכשיר אנשי מקצוע למטפלים בפסיכותרפיה ע"פ הגישה האנליטית של יונג. התוכנית תקנה היכרות מעמיקה עם תורתו של יונג ודרך יישומה: כולל הבנת נפש האדם המתפתחת בתהליך האינדיבידואציה שלו ובתוך סביבתו ושורשיו התרבותיים, החל מהילדות המוקדמת, הבגרות, אמצע החיים והזקנה. תלמד גם הגישה הסימבולית והטיפולית של הפסיכולוגיה היונגיאנית ואופן העבודה עם תכני הלא-מודע. ההוראה וההדרכה ינתנו ע"י מיטב האנליטיקאיים היונגיאניים בארץ.


סגל ההוראה

ד"ר אברמוביץ יהודה, פסיכיאטר, מנהל מחלקה בבאר יעקב, אנליטיקאי יונגיאני בכיר ד"ר באומן אבי, פסיכולוג קליני ואנליטיקאי יונגיאני בכיר גב' פורת רינה, פסיכולוגית חינוכית וקלינית, אנליטיקאית יונגיאנית בכירה ד"ר שליט אראל, פסיכולוג קליני ואנליטיקאי יונגיאני בכיר רשימת המרצים והמדריכים המלאה תופיע בפירוט התוכנית באתר היחידה ללימודי המשך

מטלות קריאת רצופה של חומר מקצועי בעברית ובאנגלית. הגשת עבודה בהיקף של 5-7 עמודים בסיום השנה הראשונה והשנייה אשר תשקף את הבנת הרוח היונגיאנית בסיום שנה שלישית תוגש עבודה אשר בה יידרש שילוב של הבנת התיאוריה והגישה הטיפולית. על הסטודנט להתחיל הדרכה פרטנית בשנה הראשונה, ולהמשיכה עד לסיום התוכנית. ההדרכה תינתן ע"י מדריכי התוכנית בעלות של 250 ₪ לשעת הדרכה. נדרשות 90 שעות הדרכה, אשר מתחלקת בין שני מדריכים, לפחות 30 שעות אצל כל מדריך. לסטודנטים בתוכנית מומלץ לעבור טיפול באוריינטציה יונגיאנית.


תעודה

לעומדים בהצלחה בדרישות התכנית תוענק תעודה המאשרת סיום לימודי פסיכותרפיה בגישת הפסיכולוגיה האנליטית של יונג, מטעם היחידה ללימודי המשך של ביה"ס לעבודה סוציאלית, ע"ש לואיס וגבי וייספלד, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן.


מבנה התכנית

הלימודים יתקיימו במשך שלוש שנים במתכונת משולבת של קורסים תיאורטיים, סדנאות חווייתיות, סמינר קליני והדרכה קבוצתית, בימי שני, בין השעות 15:00-20:30 בשנה הראשונה, ובין השעות 20:30-13:00 בשנה השנייה ושלישית. סה"כ 572 שעות.


ההרשמה

על הנרשמים לצרף: טופס הרשמה - רצ"ב דמי הרשמה – המחאה בסך 250 ₪ לפקודת אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. קורות חיים תמונה פספורט צילומי תעודות של התואר הראשון/השני המועמדים המתאימים יוזמנו לראיונות אישיים. המתקבלים לתכנית מחויבים לתכנית המלאה. שכר הלימוד שנה א' - 8,447 ₪ + 250 ₪ דמי הרשמה. ניתן לשלם בשמונה תשלומים הצמודים למדד יוקר המחיה יולי 2011. שנה ב' – 8,447 ₪ ניתן לשלם בשמונה תשלומים הצמודים למדד יוקר המחיה יולי 2012. שנה ג' – 8,447 ₪ ניתן לשלם בשמונה תשלומים הצמודים למדד יוקר המחיה יולי 2013.


:פרטים נוספים

לימודי המשך ביה"ס לעבודה סוציאלית ע"ש לואיס וגבי וייספלד אוניברסיטת בר- אילן

טלפונים: 5317265 - 03, 5318211 - 03

פקס: 7384043 - 03


Saturday, April 2, 2011

All the World’s a Stage, and a Stage of Life

Fisher King Press to publish 
by Erel Shalit

“The art of life is the most distinguished and rarest of all the arts.”  
 - C.G. Jung, CW 8, par. 789.

In the first half of life, the task of the young traveler is to depart from home, to step out into the world in search for his or her adventure, to find his or her own individual path. However, in the second half, we find ourselves on what often amounts to a very long journey in search of Home. In many a tale, the hero, for instance Gilgamesh, sets off on his road to find life’s elixir, while other stories, such as the Odyssey, revolve around the hero’s long and arduous journey home.

This archetypal journey of life is constantly repeated along the never-ending process of individuation. We find ourselves returning to this venture repeatedly, every night, as we set out on our nightly voyage into the landscape of our unconscious. Many dreams begin by being on the way, for instance, “I am on my way to …,” I am driving on a road that leads into the desert …,” I am walking through one room after the other in a long corridor-like building …,” “I am walking towards my office, but it looks different than in reality,” “I walk on the pavement and on the opposite side of the street someone seems to follow me …,” “I go down into an underground parking…,” “I am in my car, but someone I don’t know is driving,” or, “I have to go to the place from where I came ...”

Prominently, we are familiar with the journey of Dante, who at the very beginning of his Divine Comedy finds himself “Midway along the journey of our life.”


A partial list of topics explored in The Cycle of Life include:

I. The Journey
   Stages and Seasons
   Jung’s Stages of Life
   All the World’s a Stage, and a Stage of Life
   Being on the Way—A Way of Being
   Hermes and the Journey: Being on the Way
   Backward and Forward
   The Crossroads
   + more
II. The Child
   The Child in the Mirror
   Psychotherapy and Childhood
   The Divine Child
   From Divine to Human
   Eros, Psyche and Pleasure
   + more
III. The Puer and the Puella
   Between Shame and Fear
   Wine, Spirit and Fire
   Prometheus—the Thoughtful Thief
   + more
IV. The Adult
   King on Earth
   Boundaries of Reality
   Celestial Jerusalem—Terrestrial Jerusalem
   The King who Refuses to Die
   The Dried-up Earth
   The Limping Ego
   The Empty Shell
   + more
V. i. The Senex
V. ii. Homage to Sophocles
V. iii. The Last Chapter: Self and Meaning
   Ancestral Roots
   An Oak and an Acorn
   We Are All Beggars, Are We Not?
  + more
    Fisher King Press publishes an eclectic mix of worthy books including Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting Edge Fiction, and a growing list of alternative titles.
      • We Ship Worldwide.
      • Credit Cards Accepted.
      • Phone Orders Welcomed. Toll free in the US & Canada: 1-800-228-9316 International +1-831-238-7799 skype: fisher_king_press

      Tuesday, March 8, 2011

      New York Jung Foundation: A History of the Dream


      The 2011 President's Lecture Series


      A History of the Dream: Fate and Destiny from Gilgamesh to Jung

      Erel Shalit, PhD

      Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 7:00 - 8:30 pm

      Tickets: Jung Foundation members $20, General Public $25

      Full information at:
      http://www.cgjungny.org/lectures_04.html
      The dream is a muthos, a mouth that gives expression to the voice of fate and destiny. A story of the dream is told from the ancient dreams of Gilgamesh and Nebuchadnezzar to the Greek discourse; from Freud and Dora on to Jung's final dream.

      By tracing the dream and the image, we follow man's grand opus of turning pre-destined fate into prospective destiny, until hubris may again endanger the future.


      Dr. Erel Shalit is a Jungian psychoanalyst in Ra'anana, Israel. He is a training and supervising analyst, and past President of the Israel Society of Analytical Psychology. He has served as liaison person of the International Association of Analytical Psychology (IAAP) with the Jung Society of Bulgaria. He is a past Director of the Shamai Davidson Community Mental Health Clinic, at the Shalvata Psychiatric Centre in Israel. Erel Shalit has served as officer in the IDF Medical Corps, and is a member of The Council for Peace and Security. He is Academic Director of the 'Jung's Analytical Psychology' program at Bar Ilan University. He is the author of Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return (2010), Enemy, Cripple & Beggar: Shadows in the Hero's Path (2008; the book was a nominee for the 2009 Gradiva Award for Best Theoretical Book, National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis), The Hero and His Shadow: Psychopolitical Aspects of Myth and Reality in Israel (2004), The Complex: Path of Transformation from Archetype to Ego (2002), and The Life Cycle: Themes and Tales of the Journey (June 21, 2011). Dr. Shalit lectures at professional institutes, universities, and cultural forums in Israel, Europe and the United States.


      Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return is on sale now for $14.95, and Enemy, Cripple, Beggar is on sale now for $19.95 or $30.00 for the pair when ordered directly from the Fisher King Press. You can also order The Hero and His Shadow: Psychopolitcal Aspects of Myth and Reality in Israel directly from Fisher King Press. Phone orders welcomed, Credit Cards accepted. 1-800-228-9316 toll free in the US & Canada, International +1-831-238-7799

      Download the

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