Israel - Iran Love Fest?

Didi Reider at +972 reports on an Israel-Iran solidarity movement on Facebook. The image above and the one below where sent by an Iranian and an Israeli respectively, and are part of many more posted there.

Reider adds his own thoughts:

So what does it all mean? Quite simply, that neither party has any appetite for a war right now. As an Iranian first strike on Israel is not even on the cards right now, Iranian opposition to war may come as no surprise. But it’s important to stress the Israeli opposition to war reflected above is also far from an abstract “make love not war” one. A recent survey found a whopping 50 percent of Israelis were totally opposed to an attack on Iran, even if the diplomatic efforts to stall the nuclear program failed. 43 supported the move, .... An earlier survey that specifically asked if Israel should attack on Iran on its own found 65 percent of Israelis were opposed.

Although I’m normally very cynical on just how much leaders care for public opinion when making a decision to go to war, we should remember Netanyahu is first and foremost a populist and that this is an election year.... In this situation, such campaigns might – just might – add a few grams of pressure on Netanyahu to stay his hand.

Read the full article and see more images at +972.

The Rich Get Richer:Is the ever growing income gap the issue of the decade?

The graph above was derived from data in a Globe and Mail article entitled "The Numbers Get Starker For the 99%." And the graph shows that indeed they do. The income gap is growing, and growing faster: as fast as it ever has.

Since 1993, in the U.S., the income of the 99% has risen by only 6.5%. The income of the 1% by 155%. (That's a relate growth ratio of 24:1.) Since 2009 the income of the 99% has risen by only 0.4%. The income of the 1% by 24.5%. (That's a relate growth ratio of 61:1 !)

The graph above shows only relative change to income. It shows the 99% and the 1% at par in 1993. In absolute terms however, the 1% were already making about 15 times the income of the average American in 1993, and the top 1% of the 1% (the top 0.01%) about 400 times the average. To graph that data linearly would require an image 1200 times as tall as the one above, or about 50 meters (150 ft) tall !!

Ad d'Lo Yadah

On Purim (tonight in case you aren't paying attention!) we are commanded to get inebriated. How inebriated? "Until they do not know" (ad d'lo yadah) the difference between Mordecai and Haman - between good and evil.

Well the good voters of Ohio got a head start on Purim last night, when in the under card of the Ohio primary, they chose "Joe the Plumber" as the Republican candidate for House of Representatives in Ohio's 9th district, while at the same time defeating long term congressman Dennis Kucinich in his bid for the Democratic nomination in the same district.

Kucinisch is probably the most progressive member of the U.S Congress, smart and honest too. Joe, on the other hand ....

Happy Purim ! (and pass the bottle)

For more on this see: cnn

Shooting and Crying?

I receive this on an NHC email list:

Why? Who died?

by David Grossman

Translator: Sol Salbe on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 2:53am ·

Translator's Note: Last Friday Haaretz did something unusual: it placed an opinion piece on top of its front page. But it wasn’t just an ordinary opinion piece, it was written by one of the country foremost novelists, David Grossman. The article, like Emile Zola’s J’accuse, to which it has been compared, was a moral critique. Many who read it were very moved. But the moral missive never appeared in English (at least to my knowledge). And of course translating Grossman is not easy, he is a master of the language and the art of writing.I have no idea whether I have done justice to this work. But it needed to be translated. The message is too important.*Hebrew original: http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/1.1649589

*Translated by Sol Salbe of the Middle East News Service, Melbourne Australia https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=523794418*

All said and done it is merely a minor story about an illegal alien who stole a car, was injured in an accident, then released from hospital to have cops dump him, still injured to die the by the roadside. What are the building blocks that lead to such an atrocity?

-David Grossman

Omar Abu Jariban, a resident of the Gaza Strip, staying illegally in Israel, stole a car and was seriously injured while driving it. He was released from the Sheba Medical Centre while his treatment was still ongoing and handed over to the custody of the Rehovot Police station. The police were unable to identify him. He himself was bewildered and confused. The Rehovot Police officers decided to get rid of him. According to Chaim Levinson’s account, they loaded him onto a police van at night accompanied by three policemen. He was still attached to a catheter, was wearing an adult nappy and a hospital gown. Two days later he was found dead by the roadside.

It’s a minor story. We have already read some like it and others where even worse. And when it is all said and done who is the subject of this story: an illegal infiltrator, from Rafah and a vehicle thief to boot. And at any rate it happened as long ago as 2008, there is a statue of limitation to consider. And we have other, fresher, more immediate matters which are more relevant for us to consider. (And beside all that, they started it, we offered them everything and they refused and don’t forget the terrorism.).

Ever since I read the story, I find it difficult to breathe the air here: I keep on thinking about that trip in the police van, as if some part of me had remained there, bonded on permanently and impossible to be prise out. How precisely did the incident pan out? it? What are the real, banal, tangible elements that coalesced together make up such an atrocity?

From the newspaper I gather that there were three cops there alongside Omar. Again and again I run the video clip mentally in my head: Was he sitting like them on the seat or was he lying on the floor of the van? Was he handcuffed or not? Did anybody talk to him? Did they offer him a drink? Did they share a laugh? Did they laugh at him? Did they poke fun at his adult nappy? Did they laugh at his confusion or at his catheter? Did they discuss what he was capable of while still attached to the catheter or once he would be separated from it? Did they say that he deserved what was coming? Did they kick him lightly like mates do, or maybe because the situation demanded a swift kick? Or did they just kick him for the heck of it, just because they could, and why not?

Besides, how can someone be discharged just like that from medical treatment at the Sheba Medical Centre? Who let him out in his condition? What possible explanation could they put down on the discharge papers which they signed off?

And what happened when the van reached the Maccabim checkpoint [not far from Jerusalem -tr]? I read in the newspaper that an argument ensued with the Israeli checkpoint commander, and that he refused to accept the patient. Did Omar hear the argument about him from within the van, or did they drag him out of the van and plonked him in front of the commander, replete with catheter, nappy and hospital gown for a rapid overall assessment by the latter? And the commander said no. And yalla! We are on our way again. So they returned to van, and they kept on going. And now the guys in the van are perhaps not quite as nice before, because it is getting late and they want to get back and wonder what have they done to have deserved copping this sand nigger and what are they going to do with him now. If the Maccabim checkpoint rejected him, there was no way in which the Atarot checkpoint will take him. It is now pitch black outside and by the by, while traveling on Route 45, between the Ofer military base to the Atarot checkpoint, a thought or a suggestion pops up. Perhaps someone said something and nobody argued against, or perhaps someone did argue back but the one who came up with the original suggestion carried more weight. Or perhaps there was no argument, someone said something and someone else felt that this is precisely what needs to be done, and one of them says to the driver, pull over for a moment, not here, it’s too well lit, stop there. You, yes you, move it, get your arse into gear you piece of shit – thanks to you our van stinks;, you ruined our evening, get going! What do you mean to where? Go there.

And what happens next? Does Omar remain steady on his feet, or are his legs unable to carry him? Do they leave him on the side of the road, or do physically take him there, and how? Do the haul him? Do they drag him deeper into the field?

You stay here! Do not follow us! Do not move!

And then they return to the car, walking a little bit more briskly, glancing behind their shoulder to ensure that he is not pursuing them. As if he already has something infectious about him. No, not his injury. Something else is already beginning to exude out of him, like bad tidings, or his court sentence. Come on, let’s get going, it’s all over.

And he, Omar Abu Jariban, what did he do then? Did he merely stand on his own feet or did he suddenly grasp what was happening, and started running and shouting that they should take him with them? And perhaps he did not realise anything, because as we said, he was confused and bewildered, and just stood there on the road or in the field, and saw a road, and a police van driving away. So what did he do? What did he really do? Started walking aimlessly, with some sort of a vague notion that somehow being a little further away would turn out somewhat better? Or maybe he just sat down and stared blankly in front of him and tried to figure it, but it was clearly beyond his comprehension for he was in no position to understand anything? Or perhaps he lay down and curled up on the ground and waiting? Why? And whom did he think about? Did he have someone, somewhere, to think about? Did the thought occur to any of those police officers, at any time during that whole night that there was someone, a man, a woman or a whole family for whom Omar was important? Someone who cared about him? Did it occur to them that it was possible, with a little bit more of an effort to locate this person and hand Omar to them?

Two days later they found his body. But I have no idea how much time had elapsed from the moment they dumped him by the roadside until he died. Who knows when it dawned on him that this was it; that his body did not have enough strength left to save himself. And even if could have summonsed the energy, he was trapped a situation from which there was no exit, that his short life was about to end here. His brother Mohammed, said by telephone from Gaza, “They simply threw him to the dogs”. And in the newspaper it says, “Horrible as it may sound, the brother accurately described what happened.” And I read it and the image turns into something real, and I try to wipe that image from my mind.

And in the police van, what happened there after they dumped Omar ? Did they talk among themselves? About what? Did they fire each other up with hatred and disgust at him, to retrospectively justify what they did? To justify what in their heart of hearts they knew stood in contrast to something. Maybe that thing was the law (but the law, they probably imagined, they could handle). But maybe it was contrary to something deeper, some deeply ingrained memory in them which they found themselves in, many years ago. Maybe it was moral tale or a children’s story in which the good was good and the bad was bad. Perhaps one of them recalled something they learnt at school — they did pass through our education system, didn’t they? Let’s say it was S Yizhar’s HaShavuy (the captive).

Or maybe the three of them pulled out their mobile phones and spoke to the wife, the girlfriend the son. At such times you may want to talk to someone from the outside. Someone who wasn’t here who did not touch this thing.

Or maybe they kept quiet.

No, silence was perhaps a little bit too dangerous at that point. Still, something was beginning to creep up the van’s interior; a sort of a viscous dark sensation, like a terrifying sin, for which there is no forgiveness. Maybe one of them yet did suggest softly, let’s go back. We’ll tell him that we were pulling his leg. We can’t go on like this, dumping a human being.

The paper says: “As a result of the police Internal Affairs investigation, negligent homicide charges were filed in March 2009 against only two of the officers who were involved in dumping and abandoning Abu Jariban. Evidence has yet to be submitted in a trial of the pair but in the meantime, one of the two accused has been promoted.”

I know that they do not represent the police. Nor do they represent our society or the state. It’s only a handful or bad apples, or unwelcomed weeds. But then I think about a people which has dumped a whole other nation on the side of the road and has backed the process to the hilt over 45 years, all the while having not a bad life at all, thank you. I think about a people which has been engaging in a brilliant genius-like denial of its own responsibility for the situation. I think of a people, which has managed to ignore the warping and distorting of its own society and the madness that the process has had on its own national values. Why should such a people get all excited over a single such Omar?

* * *

The news article that originally broke this story can be read here.

I am not entirely sure how to take this.

On the one hand it is very similar to several (many?) incidents reported in Canada over the past years of police taking native people (often drunk) and driving out of town, and dumping them (sometimes shoe-less) far from town, to make their way back - or not - as best they could. Often this has been in winter (30 below on the prairie) and several time these people froze to death. This practice was so common it has a name: "The Starlight Tour."

So is Israel better or worse than Canada in this respect? Is Israel better because one writer and one newspaper eloquently speaks out? Or is this just a case of what the Israelis call - somewhat cynically - "shooting and crying" - of baring witness to our sensitive souls but doing nothing to stop the tragedy?

Is this blog any different?

Why There Will Be No War With Iran This Spring (unless ...)

Despite all the sabre rattling I don't believe there will be a war with Iran in the next 3-4 months (beyond that even fools shouldn't prophecy.) My reasons:

1) Only 19% of Israelis support a unilateral Israeli attack on Iran.

2) President Obama will not instigate an attack and will not participate in a joint attack with Israel, and will not guarantee to Netanyahu that he will come to Israel's aid after a unilateral Israeli attack. Obama believes that sanctions may yet work, and under no circumstances will start a war before the U.S. elections.

3) An Israeli attack can only delay - not stop - Iran's nuclear program. Moreover it will guarantee that Iran will definitely go for nuclear weapons and missiles no matter what - something that is still in doubt today. Netanyahu knows this.

4) An Israeli attack will cause thousands of Hezbollah rockets to rain down on Israeli cities. Haifa is well within range. Tel-Aviv is probably too. Israel would ultimately win such a war, and inflict terrible damage on Lebanon. Israeli intelligence estimates however predict that such an attack would cause many hundreds of Israeli civilian casualties and billions of dollars of economic damage. Netanyahu knows this too.

5) A unilateral Israeli attack would severely disrupt world oil supplies and therefore the very fragile world economy. This would cost Israel dearly in international support. It would also completely alienate the U.S. administration and its professional defence and diplomatic corps: even if they might mute this somewhat in public, these people have long memories. If the economic disruption was sever enough, it might even cost Israel its single greatest strategic asset: the support of the American people, and Israel's "lock" on Congress. Netanyahu knows this too.,

So unless Israel is being run by a megalomaniacal, suicidal and/or apocalyptic leadership, there will be no attack on Iran in the next few months.

(But then again, unless Iran is being run by a megalomaniacal, suicidal and/or apocalyptic leadership, there is no chance of Iran instigating a nuclear attack on Israel. So why all the fuss?)

Projection?

Quick! Who said this about whom?

"[diplomatic talks are dangerous. It allows them] to pursue, or exploit the talks, as they’ve done in the past, to deceive and to delay, so that they can continue to advance their ... program and get to the ... finish line by running the clock, I think the international community should not fall into this trap. I think the demands on [them] should be made clear."

In fact it was said by Bibi Netanyahu in Ottawa on Friday, arguing against negotiating with Iran about its nuclear plans. But more accurately it could have been said by any Palestinian leader in describing the futile "peace talks" that Israel is trying to get the PA to engage in. This, in fact, exactly describes Israel's approach to such talks since Netanyahu first became Prime Minister in the mid-1990's.

Fight Climate Change. TODAY!

I just received this message urging people to write to the U.S. Senate urging them to not unblock the XL-Keystone pipeline project.

When we started the Keystone fight there were just a few of us, and no one thought we had a chance.

But with hard work and lots of great organizing we scored an unlikely victory when the President eventually rejected the pipeline last month. However, the oil industry's representatives in Congress are eager to undo that, and it looks like a deal could be coming together in the Senate this week to sabotage that win. It's time for us to defend our victory.

Beginning at noon today, every environmental group in the nation, not to mention great allies like MoveOn.org and CREDO Action, will come together for the most concentrated burst of environmental advocacy this millennium. We're aiming to send half a million messages to the Senate in the next 24 hours. And they'll all have the same message: back the President and make sure this pipeline doesn't get built.

This is what movements look like. And we need you to play a big part.

1-Send a message right now to the Senate: Click here: act.350.org/sign/kxl/

and

2-Make sure that everyone else you know does the same thing. Forward them this Email.

The arguments by now are clear: This pipeline won't create jobs (that's why the biggest labor unions in the country support the President). It puts the heartland of the country at risk from spills -- the kind of leaks that devastated the Yellowstone and Kalamazoo Rivers in the year past. And after the year with the most weather disasters in the nation's history, and amidst this weird and out-of-kilter winter, the fight against climate change must start here.

The only argument for the pipeline comes from folks like the Koch Brothers-"we can make a lot of money." It's not a good argument, but that money buys votes in Congress, unless we stand up.

So: stand up.

Look, this is one battle in the long fight against climate change. There will be others-we'll doubtless have to call on you to go to jail again, to march and to sit in and to protest. And I have no doubt you'll be there when it's needed.

But today-today-the fight is at the keyboards. What you started has spread to become the greatest green fight in years. We've got to defend your victory, and we've got to do it now.

With deep thanks,

-Bill McKibben for 350.org

Below is a related statement from Rabbi David Saperstein. Rabbi Saperstein is the American Jewish community's "designated prophetic voice" in Washington, director of the Religious Action Center there.

Remarks at COEJL Energy Declaration Signing Ceremony,
February 6, 2012

Today represents a pivotal moment for our people and our world, and we stand today united as Jews to acknowledge our role in the struggle for environmental and climate justice. In signing the Jewish Environmental and Energy Covenant pledge, we rededicate ourselves to reducing our community's greenhouse gas emissions, for our health and the well-being of our environment, as well as for the survival of countless others who cannot speak for themselves in the face of climate crisis.

As Jews, we are taught "The Earth is the Eternal's and the fullness thereof." We Jews must be united by our care for this Earth for all the countless generations yet to be, in our desire to protect God's creation entrusted to our care. And we know full well God's call to us to protect the poor, the weak and the powerless.

Yet each day we bear witness to how the world's most vulnerable –- those who contribute least to climate change and are the least equipped to mitigate the deleterious impact of climate change and least able to adapt to the development and implementation of new energy sources and a green economy -- are the most severely impacted by climate-related disasters.

So too in terms of access to energy: In our own nation, too many poor must choose between fuel and other necessities of life, such as medicine, food and transportation. Around the world, in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Island nations and Bangladesh, farmers are already losing their crops because of warmer temperatures, making the scourge of world hunger and malnutrition even worse.

Indeed in the long-run, global climate change, with its risks of the spread of drought, erosion of arable land and disease – and attendant population shifts -- has enormous implications for world stability and U.S. strategic interests. At home, we are plagued by severe droughts, with forest fires increasingly rampant on the West Coast and access to drinking water compromised in areas of the South and the West. Many of our coastal regions have become more prone to flooding. The intimate relationship between poverty and climate disasters is only too clear.

No single weather event can be attributed solely to climate change. But we know from the havoc wreaked in places like New Orleans and communities along the Gulf Coast, places like Joplin, Missouri, that when disasters occur, it is the poorest in our nation who are unable to flee, losing their possessions, their homes and their lives. These events paint a vivid portrait of the vulnerability we all face when it comes to climate change.

Just this past week, a new California Public Health analysis of Los Angeles and Fresno counties affirmed that poor, urban and minority communities are most at risk for health problems and safety risks related to poor health quality, heat waves, flooding and wildfires.

Today, we make clear that our response to climate change is rooted in our compassion for humankind and reflects our religious understanding of God's call for us to protect the poor and the vulnerable. It is why the religious community, including the Jewish community, has played a lead role in ensuring strong adaptation and mitigation in U.S. legislation and at the various UN conferences shaping efforts at a new global treaty.

And it is why today -– on the cusp of Tu Bish'vat [the ReBirthDay of the Trees] -– the Jewish community embarks on a new chapter addressing the broader challenge of climate change by committing to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in the next two years and beyond.

Achieving this may prove challenging at times, but it will be central to our understanding of the meaning of our duty "to till and to tend" the Earth. Our commitment today represents a promise for tomorrow – a promise of an Earth with clean air to breathe, safe water to drink and environmental justice for all God's children.

H/T for info above to Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center.

The picture above is of a typical extraction plant in the tar sand.

Tu B'Shvat Higgiah

Wednesday is Ti B'Shvat, the "New Year for Trees." What started out in the Talmud as simply the end of the fiscal year for tithing fruits, evolved over the centuries into a mystical marking of the spiritual within nature, a Zionist holiday of "upbuilding the Land of Israel" by planting trees, and most recently into a general environmental/ecological awareness day. Planting trees in Israel/Palestine, of course, is a way to do all three. Planting them yourself, would perhaps be the most spiritual, but for those with limited the time or energy donating money is a reasonable and effective proxy. (Did you know that planting trees is one of the most effective ways to offset carbon emissions, and mitigate global warming?)

So, if you can, go plant a tree in your back yard or a local park. But if not, consider contributing to have a few trees planted in Israel/Palestine. But, be careful who you donate to. I recommend you donate to Rabbis for Human Rights Tu B'Shvat tree planting campaign.

This year, Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel will plant more than 3000 olive trees in the Palestinian Territories; throughout the year, rabbis, rabbinical students, and lay people volunteer to plant trees, and to harvest olives side-by-side with Palestinian farmers.

Rabbis for Human Rights will also be leading a tree planting initiative in the Negev this Tu Bish'vat in support of Bedouin Israeli citizens whose homes are threatened with demolition. These citizens live in villages that pre-date the State of Israel, but that have never been recognized by the government. By helping these “unrecognized villages” plant trees, we help to create agricultural and environmental sustainability there.

Donate by clicking here.

This initiative was brought to my attention by my old friend Benjy, who also reminds us of why donating to the Jewish National Fund on Tu B'Shvat (or any other time!) is a bad idea: indeed it is completely unethical.

As progressive Jews, many of us have very warm associations with the Jewish National Fund (JNF). From its establishment in 1901 it has been an important link between world Jewry and the practical projects of the Zionist social movement. Many of us grew up with the blue-and-white collection boxes in our homes -- a symbol of popular participation in the Zionist movement. The JNF fostered the practical program of the socialist Zionists and made it possible for kibbutzim to emerge as a uniquely Jewish contribution to twentieth century socialism. Finally, the JNF is associated in many of our minds with the romantic stories of the early Zionist pioneers.

Like most Jews, few of us paid attention to the details of JNF policies and activities. We were in general sympathy with the goals of the JNF.

We can no longer ignore the particulars. To be honest with ourselves, we must admit that our vision of what Israeli society can and should be is not compatible with the policies and goals of the JNF.

In 1989 the Ethical Jewish Giving Project established two main criteria for "ethical giving" to groups in Israel: (1) the distribution of funds should not go to agencies or institutions that discriminate against Arab citizens of Israel, and (2) the money should not support Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

The JNF fails on both counts.

The JNF discriminates against non-Jews. Practices (some of which made sense before the establishment of the state) are unacceptable in a society based upon democracy and equality. The JNF owns 17% of all "public" land in Israel and participates in the administration of over 90% of Israel's "public" lands. Once acquired by the JNF, land becomes an inalienable part of the Jewish national heritage -- that is, it may not be sold or leased to non-Jews.

The JNF has the right of first refusal when any public lands not owned by it outright are sold or transferred. The JNF has exclusive responsibility for land development. Non-Jews, regardless of their citizenship status, are not eligible for JNF services. This means they cannot lease or sublease JNF-owned lands or work on these lands. They are not eligible for development funds or services. Land development in the Palestinian sector of the economy must be privately financed whereas Jewish settlements receive large grants and loans as well as continuous technical assistance. Jews who have never lived in Israel have more of a claim on these "public" lands and development funds than do Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The JNF supports the occupation and helps to finance the illegal settlements in the territories. Since 1978 most JNF activities have been involved in acquiring and developing land for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. The JNF has collaborated with the Israeli authorities in expropriating Palestinian lands, razing cultivated fields and bulldozing orchards, and denying equal access to water sources.

Jews who are committed to a prophetic vision of peace and social and economic justice must call upon our community to stop underwriting policies that are destroying the social and moral fabric of Israel. Our histories, traditions, values and sentiments have created a special bond between us and Israel. Israeli and North American Jews share a concern for each other's secure future and ethical character. Contributions to the JNF (and the UJA) jeopardize both by actively discriminating against Palestinians and by supporting the occupation.

So on Wednesday, plant a tree yourself, or donate some money to have one planted. And eat some fruits, to remind yourself of the bounty of trees - and all of nature - and of our dual duty: to protect the planet and to increase justice.