Syd's Blog

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

2012-01-21T22:45:00.003-05:00

First Mitt Romney, said that U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East should be, "to do whatever our ally Israel asks to to do." Then Rick Santorum said that there is no Israeli occupation: that the West Bank belongs to Israel just like Texas and New Mexico belong to the U.S.A. Then Newt Gingrich said that the Palestinians are an "invented people," and added that if they wanted a state anyway, they should find it in Jordan. Now the Republican National Committee has passed the resolution below. I don't know whether to be more aghast at the conclusion (a one state solution?) or at the fundamentalist logic that got them there, or at the cluelessness about what they are actually advocating for or the facts on the ground.

And this doesn't even begin to speak to how they would F up American domestic policy.

These guys have at least 50-50 chance of winning the 2012 Presidential elections.

* * *

AN RNC RESOLUTION TO COMMEND THE NATION OF ISRAEL FOR ITS RELATIONS WITH
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

WHEREAS, Israel has been granted her lands under and through the oldest recorded deed as reported in the Old Testament, a tome of scripture held sacred and reverenced by Jew and Christian, alike, as the acts and words of God; and

WHEREAS, as the Grantor of said lands, God stated to the Jewish people in the Old Testament; in Leviticus, Chapter 20, Verse 24: “Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey”; and

WHEREAS, God has never rescinded his grant of said lands; and

WHEREAS, along with the grant of said lands to the Jewish people, God provided for the non-Jewish residents of the land in commanding that governance must be in one law for all without drawing distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens, as contained in Leviticus 24:22, and

WHEREAS, the Nation of Israel declared its independent control and governance of said lands on May 14, 1948, with the goal of re-establishing their God-given lands as a homeland for the Jewish people; and

WHEREAS, the United States of America, having been the first country to recognize Israel as an independent nation and as Israel’s principal Mideast ally, has enjoyed a close and mutually beneficial relationship with Israel and her people; and

WHEREAS, indeed, Israel is the United States of America’s greatest friend in the Mideast; and

WHEREAS, the roots of Israel and the roots of the United States of America are so intertwined that it is difficult to separate one from the other under the word and protection of almighty God; and

WHEREAS, there are those in the Middle East who have sought to destroy Israel from its inception as a nation; and

WHEREAS, those same enemies of Israel also seek to destroy the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, the United States of America and the nation of Israel have enjoyed cordial and mutually beneficial relations since 1948, a friendship that should continues to strengthen with each passing year.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the Republican Nation Committee that the committee by this resolution commends the nation of Israel for its relations with the United States of America.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members of this body support Israel in their natural and God-given right of self-governance and self-defense upon their own lands, recognizing that Israel is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others; and that peace can be afforded the region only through a united Israel governed under one law for all people.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate Leadership and each of the legislatures of the states within the United States of America with the request and recommendation of this body that a similar resolution to that stated herein be proposed within their respective bodies.

source: mitchelplitnik.com

"Judaism is the Answer"

2012-01-17T11:12:00.004-05:00

The long time slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood has been "Islam is the answer." Israel (and Judaism) is now faced with its own "Jewish Brotherhood" which is getting stronger and bolder by the day.

In an recent interview, Benny Katzover, a long time leader of the settlement movement made this explicit.

"the main role of Israeli democracy now is to disappear. Israeli democracy has finished its role, and it must disassemble and give way to Judaism. All leads toward recognition that there is no other way but to place Judaism at the center, above all else, and this is the answer to every situation."

This should not surprise us. It is completely in keeping with the underlying theory espoused by the "guru" of religious Zionism, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. Writing in the 1920s, he posited that secular liberal (or even socialist) Zionism was actually God's (mysterious) way of fulfilling the religious messianic vision of a renewed Jewish "Kingdom of God" in the land of Israel. Of course the secular Zionists did not understand this themselves: that they were but a stepping stone to the Kingdom of God. But religious Zionists should, and that is why they should cooperate with the seculars. Katzover is merely pointing out that the seculars have now fulfilled their mission and its is time for them (and their corrupt values, like Democracy and Peace) to fade away and hand over power to God's agents on earth - i.e Katzover and the Rabbis. This is the basic thesis of most religious Zionism. This is the world view is taught in the "National Religious" school system and yeshivot in Israel. (About 30% of Israels 'children attend such schools. The ultra-Orthodox "Separate School" system has about 20%, the Arab system about 20% and the "State" -i.e. secular Hebrew - system about 30%.). Its also taught in many Jewish schools in the diaspora.

Liberal Jews, should know what we are up against.

Read more details of the Katzover interview in Haaretz.

Something to Pray For:A non-Awful 2012

2012-01-01T10:41:00.003-05:00

As bad as things are they can always get worse. So here is something to pray for - or rather against. Noam Sheizaf at 972 is predicting that 2012 will be the year democracy ends in Israel:

... According to the Israeli system, the Central Elections Committee has the right to forbid parties who support terrorism, racism or oppose democracy from participating in the elections. But the committee is a political body, composed of Members of Knesset, and is currently controlled by the right. In the past, it has tried to use this article in the law for political purposes, but has failed. This time it may succeed.
It is very likely that the Central Elections Committee may ban the two major Arab parties, Balad and Raam-Taal, from participating in the elections. Given the public hostility to Balad, and especially to its MK Hanin Zoabi[photo above], letting Balad participate would be a huge surprise.
...
The result would almost certainly be a call for all Palestinian citizens to boycott the elections. And to be honest, I am not sure that any Jewish progressive should participate in an election in which the ruling coalition bans opposition parties. Arab parties that would be allowed to run – if there are such – would be faced with a major problem, as would Jewish democrats – the few that are left. Historically, the dilemma whether to boycott elections or leave the parliament in protest of anti-democratic laws has always been a major crossroad on the way to authoritarian regimes.

Low Arab turnout, and perhaps even full non-participation, would hand the right a landslide victory in the elections (the left has not won a majority in the Jewish public since 1973, and currently it is far from it, even with the Arab vote). Such events would surly benefit Avigdor Lieberman, by framing the elections around the Palestinian citizens. Lieberman’s racist proposals surrounding the issue could attract many new voters to his party.

The 19th Knesset will be much more rightwing then the current one. More importantly, Israel won’t be able to go on claiming that it respects minority rights after forcing their representatives out of the Knesset. The left will be torn apart and the Palestinian minority will be forever alienated.

And from there it will all go downhill.

Of course, other people are predicting the 2012 will be the year the world ends, so Noam could be wrong. Lets pray he is.

Einstein On Zionism

2011-12-28T11:02:00.006-05:00

Found these two quotes in the book " Einstein Before Israel

Seems not much has changed re the JNF at least. Does the JNF represent all of Zionism? No. Does it represent a dominant trend? Sadly, yes.

And a bit later, this one.

H/T to Eric

A Tale of Two Videos

2011-12-26T15:40:00.005-05:00

This video has all of Israel in a tizzy. A seven year old girl harassed by ultra-Orthodox men. Even Bibi Netanyahu claims to be shocked, and has ordered the police "to enforce the law."

(You can see the same video with English subtitle at 972mag.)

* * *

And this video has raised almost no fuss. Thousands of Palestinians experience this daily, on their way to work, to shop, or to visit friends and relatives in another town or neighbourhood. It been going on for years.

Watch What He Does, Not What He Says

2011-12-15T13:00:00.004-05:00

Politicians are slippery beasts, and Bibi Netanyahu is a politician.

The headlines - especially those for foreign consumption - say that Bibi is planning to crack down on Jewish extremists in light of there recent attack on an Israli army base. (See "Israel to crack down on Jewish extremists after attacks" in The Star .) But - at the same time - Bibi is planning to legalize most of the illegal outposts - even those built on private Arab-owned lands. (See "Israel ministers to weigh bill meant to legalize West Bank outposts" in Haartez .) And, this is of course, is the very thing that the Jewish extremists have been rioting about. It is because of settlers worries that the government might actually enforce the law and remove some illegal settlements that they have been burning mosques and attacking army bases. So while Bibi says he will crack down on them in the future, for the present he is acquiescing to their demands.

When dealing with shysters, con artists and politicians it is best to watch what they do, not what they say.

More on the Gingrich-Adelson Connection

2011-12-13T14:23:00.002-05:00

The photo above is the front page of Sheldon Adelson's Israeli daily, Yisrael Hayom.

Since it looks like Newt will become the Republican nominee by default (everyone else seems unacceptable to the Republican base), and therefore has a reasonable chance of becoming the next U.S. President (God help us all!) - his close ties with and huge support from Sheldon Adelson becomes even more significant.

Read more about it at Tikun Olam and the Forward.

Israel Culture Wars:Is The Glass Half Full, Or Half Empty?

2011-12-11T09:12:00.006-05:00

Two diametrically opposed views of Israeli domestic politics and society appeared by "left wing" commentators this week. One says all is lost, the other says that the barbarians have been stopped at the gates.

Writing for the doom and gloom side, is Gideon Levy in Haaretz:

Anyone who says this is a matter of a few inconsequential laws is leading others astray; anyone who claims a reversible procedure is being deceptive; anyone who states reassuringly that this is a passing phase is trying to put one over. Even the person who thinks it's just an attempt at regime change is under a delusion. What we are witnessing is w-a-r.

This fall a culture war, no less, broke out in Israel, and it is being waged on many more, and deeper, fronts than are apparent. It is not only the government, as important as that is, that hangs in the balance, but also the very character of the state. ...
The ferocious combined assault is highly effective. It targets women, Arabs, leftists, foreigners, the press, the judicial system, human rights organizations and anyone standing in the way of the cultural revolution. ...

There is no single guiding hand mixing this boiling, poisonous potion; many hands stir the revolution, but they all have something in common: the aspiration to a different Israel, one that is not Western, not open, not free and not secular. ...

You can't see the forest for the trees, and the forest is dark and deep. Take, for example, Friday's paper. The news pages of Haaretz reported on a few such rotten trees: the managers of dozens of businesses in Sderot have begun requiring their workers to dress modestly; in Mea She'arim, the polling places are gender-segregated; nonobservant Jews in Jerusalem have been asked to wear a kippa at work; Carmiel's Palmach School has been turned into a religious school; discrimination against Sephardic girls at schools in Jerusalem, Modi'in Ilit, Betar Ilit and Bnei Brak; withdrawal from a physicians' training program for Palestinians as a condition for tax relief; the government's new plan to fight illegal immigration. And one final touch: The foreign minister gave his imprimatur to the Putinist election in Russia. All in a single day, one ordinary day.

... The right has been in power for a long time now, but it lacked the self-confidence to launch this crucial assault. But now, in its 35th year in government, in the 64th year of the state, it has turned to the task of reshaping the country's character and faces almost no opposition.

We'll meet again in a few years, in that other Israel, that will be different and distorted beyond recognition.

In the other corner, arguing for the "don't worry be happy" position, is Larry Defner writing in 972.

In all the (well-placed) wailing over the totalitarian legislation being pushed in the Knesset by the Likud and Yisrael Beitenu, the good guys don’t seem to have noticed that all their wailing has had a tremendous effect. I’m almost afraid to say it, but the Left, ... seems to have turned the tide against the neo-fascists.

The latest and possibly most decisive evidence was reported today: Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein wrote Netanyahu a letter saying that if the Knesset legislation aimed at stifling left-wing NGOs becomes law, he won’t defend the bills against challenges in the Supreme Court because they’re indefensible from top to bottom.
“They deal a harsh blow to a long list of constitutional rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to equality,” Weinstein wrote. ...

Not a lot of air in that statement. I don’t see where MKs Ophir Akunis, Fania Kirschenbaum, Ze’ev Elkin, Yariv Levin, Danny Danon and their henchmen can go now in their campaign, which seeks to shut off foreign government funding to B’Tselem, Adalah, Breaking the Silence and all the other Israeli NGOs that expose abuses of Palestinians.

Before this, Netanyahu was obliged to freeze the two bills Weinstein referred to. ... Netanyahu also pulled back the worst of all this wrecking-ball legislation – Levin’s bill that would give the Knesset ultimate power to appoint Supreme Court justices, God help us.

Between the anti-Supreme Court bills, the anti-NGO bills and the anti-media bill, together with the spectacle of women being forced to ride in the back of Israeli buses and facing walk-outs by Orthodox Jews when they dare to sing, there’s a vivid sense that Israel’s democracy is being shredded. And the backlash has been fierce – from Israeli civil society, media, academe, Knesset opposition, the “Likud princes” (Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin and cabinet ministers Dan Meridor and Benny Begin) and Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish. It spread overseas to the foreign media, U.S. and European ambassadors to Israel, American Jewish bigwigs Abraham Foxman, Jeffrey Goldberg and Martin Peretz, and finally to Hillary Clinton. ...

The great putsch is faltering in the face of opposition, to the opponents’ surprise.

What lessons can be drawn? That there are limits to what a country that purports to be democratic, that values its ties to the West, can do.

... Smile, comrades; it seems like we’re actually winning one.

Not living in Israel, its hard to know if the glass is half full or half empty, but experience tells me, sadly, that you won't often go wrong re Israel by predicting the less progressive outcome. And one thing at least is for sure, the amount of beer in the glass is not at a state of equilibrium. A battle is indeed a-raging, and the winner is yet to be determined.

Follow The Money

2011-12-11T08:14:00.003-05:00

At last night's Republican debates, Newt Gingrich repeated and defended his assertion that the Palestinians are an "invented people", who do not deserve a state of their own. As such he has staked out a controversial position that is to the right of the official Israeli government position. While this may be good politics, in that it appeals to the evangelical Christian Zionist's who are the heart of the Republican Party in Iowa, and to Jewish Republican's in Florida - both states being key early tests in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination - it seems this is not the whole story.

Turns out that one of Newt's largest financial backers is none other than the "richest Jew in America"*, Sheldon Adelson. Adelson is also a primary financial backer of Bibi Netanyahu, and his wholly owned Israeli daily Yisrael Hayom is fawningly pro Netanyahu. It is also the number one Israeli daily measured by average weekday circulation.

In 2010, Adelson donated $1,000,000 to Gingrich's American Solutions institute.

For the record, none of the other Republican candidates had the guts to refute Newt's claim, though several said it was undiplomatic and unwise to say so out load.

- - -

* Adelson got this title in 2008 when he was also the 3rd richest person in America, coming in just after after Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. But the real estate collapse has hurt the casino mogul's ranking and as of Sept 2011 he is ranked "only" as the 8th richest person in American, in a virtual tie with George Soros. Adelson's net worth is estimated at 21.5 billion.

The Real Reason So Many Republicans HATE Obama

2011-12-10T18:21:00.003-05:00

This image must drive those crackers crazy!

(To get the full effect, click on the picture to see it full size.)

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-07T17:17:00.002-05:00

Noam Chomsky is 83 today. "Ad meah v'esrim" and Happy Birthday!

BTW, did you know that the worlds largest garden gnome is named "Gnome Chomsky". Read all about it, and its illustrious namesake here.

Peter Beinart Strikes Again!

2011-12-06T11:33:00.002-05:00

I don't know how Peter Beinart does it! He seems to be the only seriously dissenting voice on Israel that gets an audience inside the halls of the North American Jewish establishment. Heck, the Jewish community even paid to make and distribute the video above.

Here are some of the money quotes from Beinart's session at the recent General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America:

I guess the question that comes to my mind… is how you are defining Israeli… The Palestinians of the West Bank have been under Israeli sovereignty since 1967. So to my mind that makes them, whether we like it or not, till we have a Palestinian state, Israelis. There is only one state that has sovereignty and dominion over their lives.. They’re not Israeli citizens, but Israel is the state that controls much of their lives. ...

Believe me I want to defeat Israel's delegitimization as much as anyone in this room. I want Israel to remain a Jewish state for my children and grandchildren... At the core of Israel’s legitimacy is the fact that it was founded as a democratic and Jewish state….and delegitimization of Israel will rise in direct proportion to the degree that people believe that Israel is no longer living up to its own founding principles. If Israel can become again a country that offers citizenship to everyone in its borders, irrespective of race, religion, sex annd ethnicity, it will not need PR firms. Because although there will still be hard core anti-Semites and lunatics out there, pro Israel people will be able to go into any room and debate anyone and win. Because democracy is the language of our time, the lingua franca of our time… even in the Arab world. [If the occupation is permanent] and Israel becomes in some fundamental way not a democratic state, you can get 100 PR firms and you will gradually lose that debate and more and more empower those people who believe that the creation of a Jewish state was a mistake to begin with. ...

When I say Israel, I mean all the territory under Israeli domain. Some parts of which I wish were not under Israeli sovereignty. That is Israel. The people there might not be Israeli citizens, but that’s Israel. We have to take ownership of the fact that until a Palestinian state is created, that’s Israel…

Sadly this kind of thing still cannot be said by most people at most Jewish institutions.

You can read a fuller commentary and analysis at Mondoweiss, or just watch the full video above

The Democrats Winning Strategy - Frankly!

2011-12-01T17:25:00.003-05:00

Congressman Barney Frank has always been frank. And now that he has announced he is retiring, even more so. You gotta love this clip above, part of his response when asked how the Democrats can win in 2012. (Sorry about the ad at the start; couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. Just hum loudly till its over.)

But My Eyes Still See

2011-11-05T17:11:00.004-04:00

At synagogue today, a group of us where discussing whether Israel does or does not practice apartheid - this in light of Judge Goldstone's recent article in the NY Times.

I argued that Goldstone had missed the point, at least re the West Bank, and that indeed Israel's policies there where very apartheid-like. (And even more so in East Jerusalem where Israel has formally annexed the territory and still denies the Arab residents the right to vote) In the end the others in the discussion did not dispute this, but they insisted one shouldn't use the A word, since it was hurtful and only shutdown meaningful discussion (sic - IMHO).

On the way home, I heard the song "Silence Is Golden" on the radio. I was struck by the lyrics, and how, with only a bit of a re-write they fit the situation of people like me, so well. Do you tell the Jewish community the truth, even though it hurts, and even though they will say "I lied", or rather do you "Mind your business, don't hurt her, you fool."

Silence is Golden

Oh don't it hurt deep inside
To see someone do something to her
Oh don't it pain to see someone cry
How especially if that someone is her

Silence is golden, but my eyes still see
Silence is golden, golden, but my eyes still see

Talking is cheap people follow like sheep
Even though there is no where to go
How could she tell he decieved her so well
Pity she'll be the last one to know

How many times will she fall for his lines
Should I tell her or should I be cool
And if I tried I know she'd say I lied
Mind your business don't hurt her you fool

Silence is golden, but my eyes still see
Silence is golden, golden, but my eyes still see
The song was originally recorded by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, but became a hit in this iconic version by the Tremelos (see above.)

Lulav - the Old-New Jewish Symbol?

2011-10-12T13:43:00.006-04:00

Since the state of Israel has effectively taken over the two most common Jewish symbols - the Star of David on its flag, and the Menorah on its official seal - maybe there is need for a symbol of Judaism that is independent of the State of Israel. If so, I nominate the lulav - the palm frond used at Sukkoth as part of the "four species."

As the Talmud tells, us the four species represent all the human types together, and the holiday of Sukkoth itself is considered a universal holiday, since it is a thanksgiving for the past year's harvest as well as a prayer for rain for the coming years. And rain, as the rabbis point out, falls on all people: Jews and non-Jews alike. In temple times 70 bulls where offered as sacrifices on Sukkoth - symbolizing "the 70 nations of the world." Despite, or perhaps because, of this universal aspect, the lulav was a much beloved symbol of Judaism in the late second temple times and in the century or so afterwards. It appears on many synagogue mosaics from that period, and on various coins issued by Jewish authorities.

Occupy Yom Kippur

2011-10-09T08:28:00.004-04:00

Read all about it at Hufpo , 972mag, and Daily KOs.

May this be the beginning of a Shana Tova.

Ashamnu ...V'Tfilah, Tzedakah, U'Tshuva, Ma'avirin et Roah Hagzerah

2011-10-08T09:29:00.004-04:00

From a press release by the Reform Movement:

In the Israeli Galilee Arab village of Tuba-Zangaria, a mosque was set on fire on Sunday evening, October 2, 2011. Israeli President Shimon Peres, visiting the scene of the crime with the two Chief Rabbis, stated that the attack is “contrary to the moral values and spirit” of Israel. The mosque was scrawled with the words “price tag” and “revenge.”

President of the Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Eric Yoffie said, “We condemn these acts of hatred in the strongest possible terms. They are inexcusable and do not reflect Jewish values at any time, and are especially reprehensible during these, our high holy days. We stand by the State of Israel in her commitment to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice swiftly and to provide safety and religious freedom to all Israeli citizens.”

“The Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur are a time of deep reflection for all Jews,” said ARZA Executive Director Rabbi Daniel Allen. “Now is the time to demonstrate that we can help build a more inclusive, pluralistic, democratic Israeli society, especially in the face of criminal actions against an Israeli place of worship.” ...

The Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), in cooperation with the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), The Central Conference of Reform Rabbis (CCAR) The Israel Reform Movement (IMPJ) and the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), has created a fund to participate in refurbishing the desecrated mosque.
Contributions may be sent to:

Tuba Zangaria Mosque Fund at ARZA, 633 Third Avenue, New York, New York, 10017 or at www.ARZA.org. This fund is an ARZA Unity Project.

So what are you waiting for?

"Tfilah, Tzedakah, U'Tshuva, Ma'avirin et Roah Hagzerah" - Prayer, Charity/Righteousness, and Repentance mitigate the severity of the decree.

Real Anti-Semitism

2011-10-05T13:23:00.006-04:00

The official Canadian Jewish Community has gotten itself all worked up over the past few years about “the new anti-Semitism.” That’s the label that is being use to describe opinions and activities that are outspoken in their opposition to the Israeli occupation and/or Israel’s policies towards Palestinians. For many, myself included, this naked attempt to demonize activities that are critical of Israel

Maybe the community should spend more time worrying about the old anti-Semitism. It seems to have reared it head again in Quebec, which sadly has a strong history of anti-Semitism: perhaps more so than the rest of Canada.

According to a story in the National Post , the Quebecor chain of media outlets has been fanning the flames recently.

Quebecor properties [had] an exclusive report that the small, predominantly Jewish Montreal suburb of Hampstead had amended a bylaw to prohibit noisy construction work and lawn-mowing during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Richard Martineau devoted his morning LCN [radio] show to the topic, inviting as a guest a blogger known for his mocking depictions of the Hasidim of Outremont. On his show’s official Facebook page, Mr. Martineau wrote, “A Hampstead resident cannot mow his lawn and do renovations because it would bother his Jewish neighbours who are celebrating a religious holiday” and asked whether people thought that was reasonable.

It was an invitation to anti-Semites to vent their hatred. One commenter on Mr. Martineau’s called for the Olympic Stadium to be turned into a concentration camp, … Another wondered if Hitler was right and suggested Jews should move to Israel if they’re unhappy in Quebec.

On the Facebook page of TVA News, the network wrote “You have to be quiet if you pass through Hampstead the next two days” and invited viewer comments. …

Popular radio and TV host Benoit Dutrizac jumped on the story last week, mocking the notion that Jews celebrate the New Year in the fall. “You’re in Quebec, it’s Jan. 1,” he said when his guest explained what Rosh Hashanah was. Mr. Dutrizac complained that the lawnmower bylaw was evidence that “the Jewish community has all the rights and Quebec society has to shut up.” And he ended the segment by inviting listeners to head to Hampstead and disrupt the holiday.

“Honk your horn, make some noise, fart, whatever, any kind of noise to show the Jewish community that it is not the Jewish community that is in charge in Quebec. It’s not them who will determine how we will live as a society in Quebec. That’s just not true. It’s not true that they are going to impose their religious concepts, their religious precepts on the entire society. There are some damned limits.”

One wonders if the Jewish Community will mobilize to fight this real and dangerous anti-Semitism as much as it has mobilized to fight the faux anti-Semitism it claims to see in voices critical of Israel. Somehow I doubt it.

The irony here is that Quebecor is the owner of the Sun Media and chain of right wing tabloids, which are strongly “pro-Israel” and have strongly endorsed the line that most activities critical of Israel are in fact manifestation of "the new anti-Semitism." Suffice it to say, that this has pleased the official Jewish Community. But now it should be obvious: Quebecor might be “pro-Israel” but it is certainly not “pro-Jewish”. This is similar, in some respects, to the Christian Zionists, who support Israel only in so far as Israel is a fulfilment of their notion of Biblical prophecy: a prophecy that included Israel’s destruction in war and the conversion of most Jews to Christianity.

The danger is that the Jewish Community is so focussed on "supporting Israel", that it fails to robustly oppose the real anti-Semitism, which sadly still does exist.

Why, In An American Museum, Is It Easier To Acknowledge The Suffering Caused by America in Iraq, Than the Suffering Caused By Israel in Gaza?

2011-09-12T14:35:00.007-04:00

The headline says it all?

The fact that it is considered wrong or dangerous to publicly acknowledge the pain and suffering of Palestineans is very sad and very disturbing.

Read the story of how an Oakland museum banned children's art from Gaza in this story from the San Fransisco Chronicle.

There will be no solution, and certainly no reconcilliation, until each side can acknowledge the pain of the other. And Americans can't hope to be honest brokers until they acknowledge the fears and suffering of both sides.

Beyond that, to refuse to see - or to be shown - suffering, is simply to be less human.

You can see more of the children's pictures that were banned at the facebook page of the Middle East Children's Association.

Only In Israel

2011-09-03T17:27:00.003-04:00

Close to half a million march for social justice.

The sign on the Golden Calf reads "Privatization."

It may or may not come to anything, but you gotta love the imagery.

A Treasure Trove Of History

2011-09-01T18:23:00.002-04:00

I just stumbled across a treasure trove of historical photos of the Middle East, mostly of historic Palestine.

The one above - dated 1900 to 1920 - shows Jews praying at the wailing wall. Note the apparent lack of gender separation, with the man and woman next to each other in the foreground!

The collection, at the Library of Congress was taken by members of the "American Colony" between 1898 and 1946. It contains over 22,000 images. Hours (maybe years!) of fun, if you are into old photos of Israel/Palestine.

Liberal Muslims Appeal For Release Of Gilad Shalit

2011-08-31T13:06:00.004-04:00

According to the JTA, a group of prominent American Muslims has issued a letter urging Hamas to immediately release captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The Aug. 26 letter’s 11 signatories include the two Muslim members of Congress – Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Andre Carson (D-IN) -- as well as Muslim academics and communal figures.

The letter said in part,

"We believe Hamas’ harsh treatment and five-year detention of Shalit is wrong. ... The struggle for Palestinian human rights and self-determination must be based on this ethical and moral code. Hamas’ inhumane detention of Shalit undermines the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations for human rights and a state of their own, existing in peace and security beside Israel."

I don't expect Hamas will be moved, but it is good to see liberal Muslims speaking up on this.

But they do end their letter, with a strangely obsequious line, "Thank you for considering our request." Maybe its a cultural thing, but to my ears it undermines the potential power and seriousness of the rest of the letter.

Who Benefits And Why?

2011-08-25T13:49:00.007-04:00

As more rockets hit southern Israel and more bombs fall on Gaza, it might be useful to recall the timeline - especially in light of misleading headlines like: "IDF strikes targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire"

1) Last Thursday, terrorists, crossing from Egyptian controlled Sinai, attack Israelis near Eilat, killing 8.
2) Within hours, Israel declares that the terrorists are from the Gaza based PRC, and bombs a PRC hideout in southern Gaza, killing 2 PRC leaders and 3 others.
3) Both the PRC and Hamas deny responsibility for the Eilat attack.
3) Israel declares that it holds Hamas responsible, and bombs workshops (claimed to be weapons factories) in northern Gaza, as well as the Gaza electric power plant.
4) Rockets are launched from Gaza into Israel. Various groups including Hamas and the PRC are involved.
5) Israel responds with more bombings in Gaza. 9 Palestinians and 1 Israeli are killed in this round of reciprocal attacks.
6) Israel declares that the PA is responsible.
7) A ceasefire is brokered by Egypt, both Israel and Hamas agree to stop rocket/bombing attacks.
8) After two days of quiet, early on Wednesday morning, the Israel Air Force killed an Islamic Jihad operative in the southern Gaza Strip - Ismael al-Asmar. (See here.)
9) Later that day Israel kills two "operatives" in the northern Gaza strip, claiming they were planning rocket attacks.
10) Still later that day numerous rockets and mortars are launched from Gaza into Israel.
11) Israel responds with more bombing of Gaza.
12) As of now reciprocal rocketing and bombing is continuing between Gaza and southern Israel. 12 Gazans and no Israelis have been killed in the fighting of Wednesday and Thursday.

What makes this particularly bizarre - at least at first thought - is that by now it is clear that neither the PRC nor Hamas had much of a role in last weeks attack near Eilat. (See here.) Israeli authorities have no doubt known this since at least a few hours after the attack - since they hold the bodies of several of the attackers, and the Egyptians have admitted that the at least three of the attackers and their leaders came from Sinai.

So why is Israel bombing Gaza, and provoking retaliatory rocketing of its own people? Well, several thoughts come to mind. Perhaps it is just an excuse to remove Palestinian militants who have long been on the IDF hit lists, and damn the consequences to Israeli citizens within Gazan rocket range. Or maybe its just a case of meeting pressure from the Israeli public to "do something." Or maybe its part of a strategy of appearing wild and unpredictable and dangerous - part of a larger (misguided, at least in this case) deterrence strategy. Or maybe its a way of defusing the large "tent movement" social protests that had been rocking Israel for the past month: in this it seems to have succeeded. Or maybe its part of a strategy to heat up the border, and discredit Hamas and the PA - in preparation for the PAs bid for U.N. recognition in 4 weeks. Or maybe its all of these combined.

Whatever the reason, it is Israel who has heated up the Gaza border - twice within a week now - and whatever its goals, it doesn't seem to mind if its own citizens in the south pay part of the price.

Keep These Words As A Sign Before Your Eyes

2011-08-22T14:37:00.006-04:00

Jack Layton, the leader of Canada's Official Opposition - the social democractic New Democratic Party (NDP) - died this morning of cancer. I won't go into his life or his accomplishments or the tragic irony of his death so close on heals of his greatest and historic achievement. You can google that all over the internet.

But I simply must bring to your attention his"Last Letter to Canadians", written on Saturday, when he obviously knew that the end was very near.

It deserves to be read, and read again. You can find it here.

His last words were:

Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

I am tempted to insert them into my "teffilin rosh"

Remarkable!

Israel Seems To Have No Idea Who Did ItAs Rockets and Bombs Rain Down

2011-08-20T16:11:00.004-04:00

The Israeli authorities seem to have no idea who was responsible for Thursday's terrorist attacks near Eilat that killed 7 Israelis. Within hours of the attack, the IDF had bombed a headquarters of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in southern Gaza, killing two senior PRC leaders as well as 3 others. Immediately, Netantahu claimed that those who gave the order for the Eilat operation had been killed. But later Thursday evening, the Israeli air-force bombed several workshops (claiming them to be weapons factories) in central and northern Gaza, as well as the Gaza power plant. IDF spokesperson Avital Leibowitz, pointedly refused to say that the PRC was responsible for the attacks, only saying that they originated in Gaza. Her evidence? The attackers used Kalashnikov rifles, widely available in Gaza. [They are also available all over the Middle East, including Sinai, Lebanon, and Syria.] After this second attack Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel held Hamas responsible for the Eilat atacks. Today, foreign minister Leiberman is quoted in the Jerusalem Post as saying the the PA is responsible.

It should be noted that both Hamas and the PRC have denied responsibility, and that Hamas at least, has neverlaunched an attack from outside Israel.

It should also be noted that it was only after Israel bombed civilian targets (e.g the power plant) late Thursday, that rockets attacks from Gaza into Israel began. Of course this was followed by increased Israeli bombing of Gaza, which was followed by increased rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel, which ... At least one Israeli and 9 Gazans have been killed in these mutual attacks and counter attacks - after the Israeli retaliatory bombing of the PRC headquarters.

Finally, let's not forget that the IDF managed to kill five Egyptian policemen in the immediate aftermath of the initial terror attacks. So it has now alienated Egypt, and put its peace treaty with Egypt on shaky ground. Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities say they have found a workshop in Sinai capable of making suicide belts like those used by the Eilat terrorists, thus further putting in doubt that the terrorists originated in Gaza.

* * *

Innocent people on both sides of the border are killed and wounded, and their friends and relatives can only hope that those who control the guns will one day act in the real long term interests of the people. For a view of all this from the common person in Gaza, read this report from Al Jazeera.

Rick Perry & Christian Zionism

2011-08-17T09:30:00.006-04:00

Apostle Don Finto was a keynote speaker at Governor Rick Perry's Aug 6th Prayer Rally in Houston. Together with "Messianic Rabbi" Marty Waldman he delivered the "Prayer For Israel." Rick Finto is a leading member of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) whose mission is to convert the Jews, and to convince evangelicals of the importance of such. In a 2001 book he wrote:

"I have become convinced that Rabbinic Judaism is a more severe departure from biblical faith than I had ever realized in my early days of Jewish recovery...The atmosphere of New Testament carried on the spirit of the Hebrew Scriptures pervasively and profoundly. The essence of Rabbinism is a severe departure, replacing revelation with human reason...We who are Jewish are biblical New Covenant Jews, not Rabbinic Jews!"

I actually think the part about replacing revelation with reason was insightful and complimentary, but then I realized that coming in context and from Finto it is meant to be inciteful and anything but complimentary.

For a fuller (and scarier) discussion of this, of Christian Zionism in general, and its links to the Perry rally (and therefore to Perry himself) see http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/8/16/152647/490

All this would be merely piquant, if it were not for the $100s of millions raised and spent every year by the Christians Zionists and if Rick Perry (now only 5 "points" back of Obama in opinion polls) was not so closely associated with them.

h/t to Richard Silverstein

Money Talks

2011-08-08T18:21:00.005-04:00

Just to be clear, the panic in the stock markets and the looming economic crisis is NOT about the recent credit downgrade of the U.S. or fears of an American default. They are about the planned solution to these bogus threats, namely reduced government spending.

The proof? While the stocks plunge, the U.S. dollar rose against most world currencies and so did U.S treasury certificates - the very instruments that the Republican's held hostage and which S&P downgraded. Stocks fell because investors understand that major cuts in government spending will seriously depress aggregate demand for goods and services. And businesses only make money by satisfying demand for goods and services. The dollar and treasuries rose, because no one takes seriously the idea that the U.S will really fail to pay back its loans. Most of that debt is held by the rich, and the rich, after all, control Congress. (Only a truly radical left would allow default, thus freeing the masses from having to pay, while screwing the bond holders - disproportionately the comfortable, the rich and the super-rich, as well as foreign governments.)

So what would I do if I were king? Keep on spending! How to finance it? Increase taxes - or just let the Bush tax cuts expire, which, by the way, the President can do all by himself, by simply vetoing the legislation required to extend them. And by "quantitative easing" - aka printing more money?

But won't that cause inflation? Yes. But inflation is not necessarily bad, if it is steady, not excessive, and not uncontrolled. Inflation at 5-6% a year for 5 or 6 years, would eat away at the real value of all that debt - both public and private - and free up both governments and consumers to get back to the real business of the economy - creating goods and providing services that people need and can afford to pay for. And this in turn will put people back to work so they can afford what they need. (Special compensation would have to introduce for poorer seniors and others on fixed incomes.) Such a policy would reverse the negative loop we are currently in, and begin a much needed positive feedback cycle.

Is this cost free? No. Both taxes and inflation will - on average - hurt the rich more than the poor: which is, sadly, why none of this will not happen, at least not with this Congress and this President.

300,000 Demonstrate For Social Justice In Israel

2011-08-06T18:45:00.004-04:00

300,000 demonstrate for social justice in Israel. Its about time! Now if they could only link the struggle for social justice with the struggle against the occupation and with the struggle for equality of ALL Israeli citizens, that would be a real break through. As it is the demonstrations are very amorphous and still too well behaved to have a real effect. Lets hope that changes for the better.

My favourite slogan: "The Welfare State Shall Rise Again." - only because it runs so counter to the usual neo-liberal orthodoxy we are fed daily in the western media.

Bibi's (a neo-liberal even more than he is a hawk) response so far: to decrease government oversight of the construction and real-estate markets.

What's also interesting is how the biggest demonstrations in Israel in 30 years are getting almost zero coverage in the western MSM.

Below, another video of the demonstration. The main chant heard is "The people want social justice."

The Dream State

2011-08-01T16:11:00.003-04:00

I just finished reading "The Moral Lives of Israelis: Reinventing The Dream State", by David Berlin. I recommend it. If you want to get a feel for the craziness - the surrealistic reality - at the heart of the Israeli body politic, the army, the religious right, and the (more and more confused) liberal elites, I recommend this book.

(Though it doesn't predict the current "housing" demonstrations in Israel, the frustration and disappointment displayed therein is presaged in these pages.)

Full disclosure: the author is a friend of mine. But its a good book anyway! A real page turner, yet thought provoking at the same time.

GPS Points To Apa....

2011-08-01T11:50:00.005-04:00

Two Israeli GPS companies have taken different approachs to driving in the occupied territories. One explicitly lets you avoid driving in them if you wish (I wonder if they will be sued under the new anti-boycott law? Encouraging people to avoid the settlements is now a suable offence in Israel.) The other only allows you to avoid "PA controlled area", thus - not so tacitly - including areas "C" and "B" (more than half the West Bank) is if within Israel proper.

I don't want to make to much of this, but it does highlight the insanity of a country that has effectively annexed most of the West Bank, while extending its legal system only to its original citizens - mosty Jews - and failing to extend its legal framework to the native Palestinian inhabitants. In some places this might be called ....

Read the full article at +972mag.

Reflections On Daily Kaddish - part 2

2011-07-25T10:54:00.003-04:00

For the past few days I have been saying kaddish at Toronto's largest Reform temple, Holy Blossom. It is quite a different experience than both my own Reconstructionist synagogue and the Conservative shul, Beth Tzedec, that I had attended the week before.

First off, the service is short. It takes them approximately 23 minutes to do the full 25 page service. At Beth Tzedec it takes them about 35 minutes to cover approximately 90 pages – so while one could say that Beth Tzedec is more “efficient” – i.e. they get more pages done per minute because they "speed daven" - the conservative service takes what seems an awful lot longer than the Reform one. Additionally, because the text of the service at Holy Blossom is shorter, it can be recited at a slower pace, and about half of it is in English, so you can get more kavanah (intentionality) – if you want to.

A far as content is concerned, the reform service has been shortened partly by removing most of the more “objectionable’ prayers about asking God to bring punishment on evil doers - particularly those who have “oppressed your people Israel.” They also removed all of the psalms of praise (which – lets face it – get kind of repetitive in the traditional service.) But it would have been nice, in my opinion at least, to keep one two of the more uplifting ones. It also would have been nice to keep in the Birkhot Hashchar (morning blessing) which enumerate many of God’s better attributes and – and for those of us who believe in predicate theology, point the way for our own behaviour.

… Blessed are you All Seeing One, who makes the blind to see.
Blessed are you Merciful One, who clothes the naked.
Blessed are you Champion of Freedom, who frees the prisoner.
Blessed are you Source of our Pride, who raises up the humble.
Blessed are you Our Strength, who makes firm a person’s steps. ....

It is one of my favourite prayers. Too bad they cut it.

One would have thought that with all the cutting they might have done a bit of adding or modifying in order to avoid some of the problems with the traditional prayers. But there is – as with the Conservative service – no mention of the matriarchs – or any women at all – to accompany references to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses in the pantheon of ancestors and role models. And while they did see fit to remove explicit reference to resurrection of the dead, the Reform service apparently sees no problem with proclaiming Jewish chosenness or that Torah was revealed to Moses - whole and as is - at Mount Sinai. (How this can be, since Reform doesn’t even pretend to treat Torah as binding, is beyond me.)

As with the conservative service, I find myself adding words under my breath or skipping passages I cannot condone.

An additional weirdness for me is that I am one of the few people wearing a tallit; and except for one person in one service, so far I have been the only person to wear tephilin. (Today the prayer leader came up to me after services and said he was glad to see someone wearing tephilin: that they encourage it. He himself had not been wearing tephilin, so how exactly they encourage it, I am not sure.)

But the weirdest part of the experience for me is how few people attend the morning service. On the first day I attended, there were exactly 10 people. If I had not been there, they would not have had a minyan. And I am not sure what they would have done in that case. The next day there were 12 people. To be fair, on Sunday there were 30 people, and today there was a baby naming and substantial crowd, and I have not seen what kind of attendance there is at their Minchah services. But how it is a that one of the largest congregations in the world – with approximately 6000 adult members – can barely get a morning minyan, is mystery to me, and says something significant about their state of affairs – more so perhaps than the details of the prayer service itself.

Reflections On Daily Kaddish

2011-07-21T14:07:00.004-04:00

Since my mother died on June 30, I have been saying kaddish every day: and since the shiva ended at local synagogues. Since my own synagogue does not have daily minyans (why, is a good question)I have been attending at other shuls. It has reminded why I like my own Reconstructionist synagogue.

At Beth Tzedek - the largest Conservative Synagogue in Toronto (and maybe in the world) - there is a robust daily minyan. They do the full and completely traditional shaharit service. And I am reminded about how much of the traditional prayers I don't like. There is no acknowledgement of women, several references to resurrection, and - most incompatible for me - several references to Jews as the chosen people. I find myself adding words about the matriarchs, and changing, adding or deleting entire sections of the prayers under my breath.

One day, without thinking, I agreed to an aliya laTorah, and almost gagged at having to say the traditional prayer "asher bachar banu mekol ha'amim." ("who has chosen us from among all nations.") For me, rejection of choseness is the most significant and positive things that Reconstructionism has done in its theology and in its updates to the prayers. It is simply not true, and certainly not healthy to believe, that Jews are exceptional and have a unique cosmically ordained fate. It is simply untrue that, as the traditional Alenu prayer states, Jews are "not made as all nations of the earth, and ... our lot is not theirs, nor our fate as all their teeming masses." The effects of global warming, atomic war, or a world wide depression will be felt by all of humanity. Jews will not be exempted. As for the holocaust and antisemitism, in absolute numbers more Russians than Jews died in WWII, and in relative numbers more native Americans died because of the European invaders than Jews because of the Germans.

On Tuesday it was the 17th of Tammuz - a fast day commemorating the day when the Roman legions first broke through the walls of Jerusalem in 70 CE, before destroying the Temple 3 weeks later on the 9th of Av. The Beth Tzedek Rabbi chose to give a short sermon on the significance of the day. According to him it was all about the loss of Jewish sovereignty, and the day should remind us of how important sovereignty and independence should be to us as Jews. But this is completely untrue. It is a revision of meaning based on political Zionism which has totally taken over most current mainstream Jewish thinking. The 17th of Tammuz, the three weeks, and the 9th of Av are about the loss of the Temple, the suffering of the war victims, and exile. Jewish sovereignty had been lost long before the 17th of Tammuz 70 CE: officially in 6 AD when Rome deposed the puppet vassal kings of the Herodian dynasty who had ruled Judea in Rome's name since 37 BCE. There is no fast day to commemorate the loss of Jewish sovereignty. This was not a major concern of the ancient Rabbis. For most of Jewish history, even prior to the destruction in 70 CE, Jews had not been sovereign in the land of Israel. What was important to them was a presence in the land, freedom of religious practice, and the Temple. Associating the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av with the need for Jewish political sovereignty is ... well a Zionist spin to say the least.

More on my adventures in Kaddishland in future postings.

Every Day Racism

2011-07-17T21:21:00.006-04:00

In a racist society, the racism is everyday and so casual its purveyors and witnesses hardly notice. Like the casual way white Mississippians might have used a phrase like "the good white folk of this state" circa 1952. So pay close attention to this quote, from member of Israel's Knesset and Kadima representative on the Knesset Finance Committee, Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich. Speaking at a demonstration (actually a tent city "sleep-in") in Tel-Aviv against high rents in that city, she said:

"The housing crisis didn't happen because we don't have money. It's because we don't have compassion. We're lacking values. [So far so good - but wait.]... I won't tolerate a Jewish State where Jews don't have homes. I want Israel to be the best place to live." [See full article in the Jerusalem Post.]

The fact that 20% of the population is not Jewish and many of them are living in overcrowded or even third world conditions, is simply not a concern of this member of Knesset from Israel's "liberal" opposition party - the one that is supposed to give us "lefties" hope if only they can come to power.

Boycott !

2011-07-12T22:52:00.007-04:00

Today the Israel Knesset passed the anti-boycott law.

In response, I am asking all my readers to boycott Israeli wines made in the occupied territories or from grapes grown on settlements in the occupied territories. These include wines from the following labels:

Golan

Teperberg 1870 Winery

Binyamina

Tishbi

Carmel wines have also been named by some as having vineyards in the territories, but the exact status of this is not clear (at least not to me.)

You can find a complete list of smaller Israeli wineries in the territories in this report (pages 40 and 41.) I am asking readers to boycott such wineries as well. In fact, this report shows how most of the Israeli wine industry is involved in exploitation of the occupation, but tries to hide the embarassing facts from overseas buyers.

The reason to boycott these labels is that they exploit the land and water of the occupied territories for the exclusive benefit of Jews and Jewish owned industry without asking permission of the Palestinians or compensating them fairly. Israel rules these territories for the benefit of its citizens almost exclusively, and not, as both law and morality require, for the benefit of the native inhabitants - the Palestinians.

Peace Now is also calling for a boycott of settlement products. I hope more such calls will follow.

We must not be cowed by this anti-democratic law. And, for the record, my Israel ID number is 6554089.

Proud To Be A Reconstructionist

2011-07-12T10:00:00.006-04:00

Today I am proud to be an active member of a Reconstructionist synagogue.

Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, published a very significant and, given the mood in mainstream American Jewry, a very brave article in the Huffington Post. In it he calls for breaking the near total identification of Judaism with the State of Israel, and for basing Jewish identity and unity not on support for or identification with Israel, but on shared values of peace and justice.

Is the State of Israel the sole embodiment of Jewish peoplehood? The answer is no...

We Jews should try to see ourselves as united by our bond with the Jewish people--in our collective efforts to bring peace, wholeness and justice to the world.

I am surprised this has not been picked up in the Jewish or Israel/Palestine blogosphere. It is a significant statement from the leader of 100,000 American (and Canadian) Jews.

Read the full statement here.

My Mother

2011-07-12T09:45:00.002-04:00

My mother passed away on June 30 (28 Sivan) after a long illness. Her life was bound up with 20th century Jewish experience, and she has certainly influenced my own views of Judaism and the world, and, of course, she helped shape my personality.

Below is the eulogy I gave at her funeral.

Eulogy for Jeanette Nestel
June 30 2011

What can a son say about their mother? And how can anyone sum up another person's life, trying to put together a few pithy adjectives that neatly wrap up a complex human being, who herself changes over the years. And how can one tell of their own mother, without telling more about their own relationships and fantasies, than they tell about the objective truth? And do I really know the objective truth. Does anyone? So I won't try. But I will try to share a few, perhaps disconnected and necessarily subjective memories and vignettes, to give you a flavour of this remarkable woman, Jeanette Nestel.

My mother was born in 1923 in Stanlavov Poland. Her parents were, what today we might call modern Orthodox, while her grandparents, uncles and aunts were, what today we would call ultra-orhodox. One of my favourite pictures of my mother is in a large family portrait taken in 1929 when she was 6 years old. Standing in the middle, is an impressive array of bearded Hasidim, besides their matronly solid wives. In the back row stand fashionable looking 1920s teens – some pious, some left wing Zionists, maybe a closet Communist. And in the front row the little kids, my mother among them – wearing a short skirt a sweater and woollen tights, arms crossed with both a bored and piercing look in her eyes, that seems to be saying – you can force me to sit here for this dumb photo, but you can't make me smile. I'd rather be out digging in the back yard.

My mother was a great story teller, and the stories of her childhood evoked a now lost world of Jewish life in interwar Europe: of great piety and brewing revolution, of great dreams for a better world, crashing on the bitter reality of an evil rising all around them.

One story that my sister Gail reminded me of yesterday was when my mother went to visit her own grandmother, the wife of the saintly Froike Shoykhet, in their shtetl. Once on Erev Shabbat, her grandmother took my mother around as she collected donations of food and other necessities from the local shop keepers. Then she carried the baskets full of shabbat supplies, my mother in tow, to the doors of various homes scattered throughout the village. As she did so she said to her young granddaughter “Don't ever tell which houses I dropped these goods off at. No one must ever know who needs charity. These people are poor, but they should not be deprived of their dignity.”

What is remarkable about this story for me, is not just that it happened, but that my mother re-told it so often and in such remarkable detail – more detail than I have. It made a deep impression on her. Not only did it idealize the life of those pious Jews in her eyes– it imbued in her a sense of justice and charity and decency that she, in turn passed to me and my sisters Irene and Gail, each in our own ways.

But my mother herself was not pious. She was a bit of a rebel and a bon vivant - as she liked to tell us. She told of the time as a pre-teen, she tried to put on make up and tweeze her eyebrows, something strictly forbidden in her home. Not only did she managed to cut off most of one eyebrow completely, but worse, much worse, she had to face her father's wrath when he found out. She also told of later, when as a young teenager, she took the streetcar downtown to meet her boy friend to go a movie – on Shabboss no less! She was ratted out by her sister, and when she emerged from the movie theatre, on her boy friend’s arm and eating a ham sandwich, there was her father - waiting. He literally dragged her home by her ear. There are many other stories in the same vein.

During those years she joined the socialist Zionist movement Hashomer HaZair. There she was taught to dream about an idyllic life of peace, equality, creativity, and freedom on a kibbutz in the land of Israel. In her later years, she idealized those beautiful teenagers and young adults who dreamed, together with her, those beautiful dreams. Though most of these dreams came to naught, these Shomrim stood tall in her pantheon of ideal human types, together with her pious grandfather and grandmother. And to the very end she remained a bit of a lefty, largely as an influence from those 1930's days in Hashomer.

Sadly the biggest influence in my mothers life was the Holocaust. Almost all of her family and friends were killed, and she herself witnessed things no one should have to see. My mother wrote a book detailing her Holocaust experiences. For those of you who have not read it, I highly recommend it. It is a real page turner, and proof that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. But the take way point of her holocaust experience is this: that while it deeply scarred her, it also honed her defiant will power, her sense of justice (though often falling into an exaggerated sense of self-aggrievement), and her sheer will to live and survive. After the war she just wanted to LIVE! She often described her immediate post war years first in DP camps in Europe and then as a poor immigrant in Toronto as the best years of her life. After the horrors of WWII and the constant fear and struggle to just survive, living free and hopeful and safe and within a like minded community of Jews must have seemed like heaven. Though a life long Zionist – believing fiercely that Israel was necessary for the physical survival of the Jewish People – she always loved Canada for taking her and her a family in, when no one else would. She often said – without any sense of irony – that Canada was the best place in the world. Maybe it is significant that her funeral is on Canada Day.

As my parents began to make it economically in Canada, my mother blossomed. She became very active in Haddassah, founded a chapter of “greener” Haddassah ladies, and won several awards for raising 'record' sums of money – or so she told us. She worked first as a milliner, than a rooming house owner, and later she dabbled in real estate – buying older houses, fixing them up and reselling them. In the mid 50s she started a career as an artist, first painting and then sculpting. Again she won several awards and had numerous shows and sold many of her pieces. (My sister Irene, has clearly inherited many of our mother's artistic genes.) My mother always thought of herself first and foremost as an artist and was very proud of her art, and if you come to the shiva you will see some of her work. In addition my mother always had a great sense of style, of aesthetics, and an amazing eye for, and memory of, physical details.

My mothers zest for life, especially in the 60 and 70s sometimes expressed itself in certain neveau riche trappings – though in my mothers case they were always tasteful. In the stylish evening dress she wore to my sister Irene's wedding in 1960, she looked like a movie star, and she knew it and she revelled in it. My own bar mitvah looked like something out of Good Bye Columbus. In the videos we have my mother looks radiant and beautiful. Friends of hers, who knew her in those years described her as “a ball of energy”, “a Spitfire”, “feisty,” “strong willed”, and “a morale booster.” Part of this was due to the love and support she received from my father Julius. He had met her right after the war, and swept her off her feet and supported her with his own confidence, competence, generosity, and joie de vive. Though they had their tense moments – like all couples – they also deeply met each others needs and re-enforced each others better attributes.

My fathers passing in 1979 was another major turning point in my mother's life. Though she actually coped more than competently with the family finances and with her own living arrangements and continued art career, she seemed to lose some of her confidence. She often asked me for advice and support which I felt completely inadequate to give. For all her spunk and talent she seemed to feel she needed a man to support her – at least emotionally – and without my father, she slowly seemed – at least to me – to lose some of her confidence and joy, and as the years went by, more and more often, to let her fear overwhelm her hope.

While the Holocaust had always been simply a fact of life in our family, my mother dwelt on it more and more as she got older. But often in a paradoxical way. While obviously a great tragedy and source of immense and deep sorrow for my mother (she would often cry when remembering her own much loved and murdered parents) it was also a source of pride and hope. Pride that she had beat the odds and survived. And hope because of those good people who risked their own lives to help her survive. Human beings, she seemed to have concluded, are capable of great evil, but also of great courage and goodness. But it sometimes escaped her that most people were between these polar opposite types. Sometimes she would equate a shoddy car repair man with the anti-semites who blackmailed her and stole from her during WWII. Incompetence or laziness was sometimes construed as evil and malign intent. Or so it seemed to me at times. But then, at other times, she emitted a deep belief in the potential goodness of people and a hopefulness for a life daringly and forcefully lived. Her grandchildren Dan and Hadar were telling me yesterday of the strong impression it made on them when, years ago, my mother showed them baby clothes of my sister Irene that she had saved from the war. The clothes had been patched so many times that all that was left were the patches. The original fabric was all but gone. And they recalled the dress my mother had made for Irene from a flour sack. And Irene herself likes to tell of how, after the war in the DP camp, my mother made Irene a birthday, and for a balloon, gave Irene a blown up condom, somehow obtained from an American GI. It was this resourcefulness and relentlessness, and energy and will to life - as much as sadness and cynicism - that my mother carried with her. The two fighting for dominance, especially in her later years.

I want to finish on a totally personal note. For me, my mother was a dominant, and in many ways larger than life personality, even into my adulthood. (I suppose that is not so unique for a child of survivors.) She was fiercely loyal and protective and proud of me - often without good reason. And that has given me a sometimes insufferable sense of self confidence - which has mostly stood me in good stead. She could be extremely generous and had a fierce sense of right and wrong. All of which I admire and have learned from. But my mother could also infuriate me with her sometimes cynicism, sometimes pushiness, sometimes self absorption, and sometimes complete arbitrariness. She was and is a complete ball of contradictions to me. And not only can't I sum her up easily, my feelings and opinions about her, have and do change often. I am not even sure if what I have just told you now is truth or mythology. All I know for sure is that she loved me a lot and I loved her. For me that is more important than the biographical details or any single interaction. My mothers' death is the end of an era. She was a guide, a support, a foil, a link and an anchor. For me she was both real and mythological. And now she is gone. And I don't really know how that will effect me, or what new stories I will construct about her in the years ahead.

May her memory be a blessing.

* * *

[My mother published the story of her Holocaust years - a remarkable tale and a good read. You can order the book here.]

Money Can't By You LoveBut It Might Buy Some Peace and JusticeAnd Might Buy Some Salvation

2011-06-26T13:44:00.004-04:00

Feeling guilty that you can't make it to the weekly demonstrations at Bilin or Sheikh Jara? Well here is another way you can help - by making sure that the Israeli legal system isn't used to crush the most daring voices for Jewish-Palestinian cooperation operating today in Israel/Palestine.

See Noam Sheizaf on why you should support Anarchists Against The Wall, and then give some money - here - as your part in the fight for peace and justice: for saving both the Palestinian and the Jewish People.

Haredim Have a Better Idea

2011-06-26T10:28:00.003-04:00

I usually disagree with the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) on just about everything, especially their ideas re Jewish identity. But this time they definitely have a better idea.

At a panel discussion on conversion, at the Israel President's Conference, haredi Rabbi Shmuel Jakobovits (son of the late, British Chief Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits) said:

"the solution [to Israel's conversion problems] is to separate religion and state, leave people to their own relationships with God and let the state handle its own relationships with its citizens."

In other words Israel should not be a de-jure Jewish State. Take that Bibi !
Read more in the Forward.

Na Nach Nachman

2011-06-19T11:40:00.005-04:00

More fun and joy brought to you by those wild and wacky Bratslav Hassidim! What started out as a soleful, introspective, and deeply psychological brand of Hassidism has morphed into a bunch of racists goons.

The graffiti above was scrawled on an Arab shop just inside the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The text reads:

Na Nach Nachman of Uman

He is not a prophet,

Just another Arab,

His beard is full of lice,

He sells goat cheese,

He's a construction worker

Even when he fasts on Ramadan,

Muhamed, homo son of a whore,

Muhamed is dead

Death to Arabs!

(It rhymes in Hebrew)

So next time you see one of those kippas with the Bratsalver motto "Na Nach Nachman Me'Uman"" don't smile and think its cute; go tell the wearer what you think of it.

The Dawning of an Age

2011-06-15T09:17:00.003-04:00

I saw this painting on the art auction site Hammersite. The painting, by an unknown artist, is dated 1841. The book is a science text.

If I was feeling a bit richer I might have bought it.

Shocked!

2011-06-07T12:39:00.007-04:00

Early Tuesday morning someone set fire to a mosque in the West Bank village of Maghayer near Ramallah. From the graffiti sprayed on the walls it is obvious that the arsonist(s) were Jewish Israelis: security authorities suspect settlers from the neaby settlement of Alei Ayin. (Read details at Haaretz)

Prime Minister Netanyahu claims to be shocked, and called the act criminal."Freedom of religion is a core tenet of the State of Israel," he said - forgetting, for a minute, that Israel has not in fact annexed the West Bank where the crime took place: it prefers the muddled legal status of occupation.

But is Bibi really shocked? If so he shouldn't be. Not when his own ministers speak at at a rally where, moments later, particpants shout "Death to Arabs" and "May Arab Villages Burn", and where the Israeli police protect the shouting mob as it parades through Arab neighborhoods intimidating all in its path. (See here.)If calling to burn Arab villages is condoned, why is the burning of a mosque in an Arab village such a surprise.

Or is Bibi just playing for the cameras: like Louie, the police inspector in Casablanca, it is hard to belive he didn't know or really cares.

The Marching Season

2011-06-04T17:36:00.004-04:00

In Northern Ireland, every year on July 12th, the radical Protestant "Orangemen" march to commemorate the 1690 victory of the Protestant King "Billy" (William of Orange) over the Catholic King James II. In the days of the "troubles", when Protestants and Catholics were literally at each others throats, there were many marches on July 12 and on the days leading up to it - and the militant Protestants would make a point of marching through Catholic neighbourhoods and taunting them - as if to say "we won that battle and now we rule this land and you Catholics have no standing." Predictably riots would break out and often people would be killed. Early July thus became know as the Marching Season, and was looked forward to with dread by anyone who cared about peace and co-existence in Northern Ireland. Eventually, when London put Ulster under direct rule, one of the first things it did was re-route the marches away from Catholic neighbourhoods.

One wonders if, even in the most hateful times in Northern Ireland, the Orange marchers shouted taunts like "Death to the Papists!", "Mary is Dead!", or "May Your Neigbourhoods Burn!" as they marched through the Catholic neighbourhoods. And own wonders if the British Army came out to protect the marchers as they shouted these taunts at the Catholic residents.

In early June 1967, Israel defeated the Arabs in the Six Day War, and on June 7 (28th of Iyyar by the Hebrew Calendar) Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem. Every year since has been celebrated as an official Israeli holiday. In past several years the holiday had been marked by marches by Israeli nationalists through the Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem. Each year there is taunting. This year's march reached new heights (or depths) of taunting and intimidation. The marchers - 10s of thousands according the the Jerusalem Post - shout and sing slogans like "Death to Arabs", "Mohamed is Dead" and "May Your Villages Burn." The police and army protect the marchers as they pass through Arab neighbourhoods. of Knesset march with the shouting crowds, and cabinet ministers address the rally at the beginning of the march. Members You can read about it in the Jerusalem Post, but then do watch the video above. You really have to see it to believe it.

Feh!

2011-06-02T21:30:00.002-04:00

Note necklace.

Are Land Swaps The Magic Bullet?

2011-05-31T13:34:00.003-04:00

Maaleh Adumim: Israel want to keep this city deep inside the West Bank

President Obama seems to think that "the 1967 borders, with mutally agreed land swaps" are the formula that can bring an agreement between Israel and the PA. But it all really depends on how much land, and which land. If the Americans (or liberal Israelis) think they can keep all the major settlement blocks and give the PA a few dunam of inhospitable desert in return, they better think again.

How Long Will America Continue to Protect Israel's Bad Behavour?

2011-05-30T23:09:00.006-04:00

On the one hand Netanyahu and the the Israeli right have overwhelming support in Congress. But on the other, mainstream American public opinion is slipping away. See the first 10 minutes video clip above to see what I mean. If CNN, Newsweek, and the New York Times are talking this way, how long can unconditional American support be guaranteed?

Someone Take Up Freidman's Suggestions, Please!

2011-05-25T16:50:00.006-04:00

Thomas Freidman's latest article in the New York Times is worth a read.

I am pessimistic that either of the two suggestions he makes will be taken up. But he is right that either one could bring some peace and justice to Israel/Palestine. But if I had to give odds, I would bet on the Palestinians taking up mass civil disobedience before Netanyahu moves an inch.

89 Killed in Missouri: $260 Million of Economic Damage.If This Were Al Quaeda ...

2011-05-23T16:23:00.005-04:00

A monster tornado - the 4th largest ever measured - has destroyed the town of Joplin Missouri. 89 people are confirmed dead. Dozens are still missing.

This is after a series of tornados earlier this month caused record destruction in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. And after devastating floods in Tennessee, Mississppi and Louisiana, as well as Quebec and Manitoba. And after devastating forest fires in Alberta. And after the earthquake in Japan. And today an Icelandic volcano is erupting again.

If these were the work of Al Qaeda, you can be damn sure the U.S. - and the entire world - would be declaring war, investing billions in the fight, and calling on good people everywhere to rally 'round and sacrifice as needed to help defeat the evil enemy. Yet, no one in power wants to admit that all these disasters, - all this suffering and economic loss - is also man made. They are all the products of global climate change (aka global warming) caused by decades of human CO2 emissions.

(Global warming theory predicts more regional and seasonal variation in rainfall and temperatures in North America - exactly what has caused the flooding; more heat, driving more violent storms - exactly more large and violent tornadoes and hurricanes; more forest fires - a recent study shows that the number and size of forest fires has increased in North America every decade since the 1960's; and even more earthquakes and volcanoes, as the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps melt, relieving millions of tons of pressure on the earth's surface and allowing the earth's crust to slowly rise.)

So why is no government pointing this out and calling us to action. Because the enemy in this case is us and is among us. Big oil and coal stand to lose fortunes, and all of us, in the west at least, stand to lose something in the short term, if we started to do what is needed.

But we all stand to lose a lot more if we do nothing.

Politician's are scared to make the connections and call for action, because they will face powerful domestic opponents. But really, don't they have children and grandchildren, who will never forgive them for deliberately putting their heads in the sand?

The True Face Of The Israeli Government

2011-05-23T09:33:00.004-04:00

President Obama has been largely ineffective in his foreign policy. But he has had at least one significant effect with his latest speech on the Middle East. He has exposed the true face of the Israeli Government. And it is a face that rejects what almost everyone else assumes is a fair solution to the Israel Palestine problem. It is a face that prefers land over peace and military dominance over even minimal justice. That is now clear.

Netanyahu articulated three "No's", in response to Obama's call for negotiations based on the "1967 borders with mutually agreed upon land swaps" - itself hardly a radical formulation: really just a new phrase for what everyone has been talking about since president Clinton, at least. (When pundits say - ad naseum - that "everyone knows the shape of the final peace arrangement, we just don't know how to get there" - this is what they are talking about. But it turns out not everyone did have the same vision of the final arrangement!)

Netanyahu said no to the 1967 borders with minor land swaps - he wants to keep "the large settlement blocs" deep inside the West Bank, and he wants to keep the Jordan valley - and he certainly does not want to give equal territory in return. Explicitly demanding the Jordan valley was an upping of the Israeli ante. No one has mentioned that demand in a decade - and even then it was mentioned as a temporary military presence.

Netanyahu said no a Palestinian polity that includes Hamas. Prior to the PA-Hamas reconciliation his aides and sycophants often derided the possibility of reaching a peace deal with the PA since it represented only half of the Palestinians. Now that the PA can again speak for all Palestinians, Netanyahu declares the situation even more unacceptable.

Netanyahu said no to the Palestinian right of return - in any form. It is strictly a Palestinian problem, and Israel will not accept any responsibility and will certainly not accept any refugees back into its territory.

All this is designed to veto the possibility of a "two state solution" - and to be seen as such, at least by Netanyahu's coalition mates and his half of the Israeli electorate. And all this is designed to confront Obama - to embarrass him, to defeat him, and to teach him (and any other American politician who might have similar ideas) a lesson. Netanyahu is gambling, not without good cause, that AIPEC, the Christian right, and the Likud's friends in Congress will slap Obama down - and hard.

Is this good news? No - not if you are for a peaceful compromise in Israel/Palestine. But it may have the salutary effect of making the issues crystal clear: peace is not possible without the return of the occupied territories, and the Israeli government prefers the territories over peace.

The question for Jews everywhere is - will we continue to go along, now that the choice is clear?

The question for Obama is - will he put his money where his mouth is? Or is he the "anti Teddy Roosevelt." Will he continue to talk loudly and carry a tiny stick?

Watch Palestinians Cross the Cease-Fire Line at Majd El Shams

2011-05-15T21:19:00.005-04:00

This is well worth watching.

The actual entry into Israel controlled territory starts at about 5 minutes into the clip. The dirt road between the two fences is in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights - but is a closed military patrol road. Beyond the far fence in Syria. The foreground is full Israeli jurisdiction, near the Druze village of Majd el Shams at the base of Mount Hermon.

Sometime after this film clip Israeli soldiers arrived and started shooting at the fence-crossers. Several were killed. The exact number is not known. The Israeli government now claims to have rounded up all the "infiltrators" and returned them to Syria.

USA! USA! Let the Bad Times Roll

2011-05-02T12:00:00.005-04:00

If Bush and Co. could hold a trial for Sadaam Hussein, and if the Israelis could kidnap and then try Eichmann, and if the allies could try many of the Nazi war criminal at Nurenberg, why couldn't Obama bring back Bin Laden for a trial in the USA or at the ICC in the Hague. Coming on the heels of the killing of Gadaffi’s son and grandchildren, this is another blow to the rule of law and return to unbridled chauvinism. The crowds shouting USA! USA! (and the crowd in Benghazi dancing at the news of the death of Gadaffi's son) are sad indicators of the bad times we live in.

I have no doubt that Bin Laden deserved it. But Gadaffi's grandchildren did not, and the next guy taken out by a U.S. or NATO or Israeli hit squad may not either. The rule of law is all that stands between us and the rule of "might makes right." Rather than a victory over terrorism, this is a setback for an ethical world civilization.

Ironicly, today's JTA has an article, for Holocaust Memorial Day, praising war crimes tribunals and the ICC process as a milestone in human progress. The article ends by asking how we can make such trials unnecessary in the future. What the author clearly meant was how do do prevent the underlying war crimes and crimes against humanity - not how do we just do away with trials. Equally ironically JTA also reports Israeli and Jewish leaders praising this assassination.

Good Music

2011-04-22T09:29:00.002-04:00

Just came across this. Great!

Barak to Most Israelis: F**k Off!

2011-04-11T10:06:00.007-04:00

In a radio interview yesterday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak made the following remarkable statement:

"Those who came here in order to set up a national home, have to know how to stand firm. Those who want complete quiet - there is Finland and there is western Europe, and they can go there."

In other words, if an Israeli is not prepared for eternal warfare, death and destruction and the constant threat of death and destruction, and of the neverending oppression and ongoing killing of the enemy, then they should leave! In other words, if you want a normal life, you have no place in todays Israel.

Would any other leader (or should I say, non-fascist leader) say such a thing to his citizens? "Embrase the storm and fury, or get out!"

This completed Baraks move from Labour to the Likud. This also points out (yet again) the Revisionist Zionist (aka para-fascist) take over of the Israeli mainstream. Zionism was always an amalgam of overlapping goals and ideas. Labour Zionism stressed a Jewish homeland as a means of allowing Jews to participate in the socialist "march of history" and to create a model society based on social justice. Herzl's Zionism stressed protecting Jews from anti-Semitism, and a national home was merely a means to that end. For Revisionist Zionism, on the other hand, nationalism and a National Home, and the pride and standing that that would engender, where central: more so than social justice and even more so than protecting Jewish lives and/or providing Jews with normal lives. Strength and fighting and standing up for your rights are, in fact, what life is all about, in this world view. And that is what underlies Barak's remarkable remarks.

Is A Split In The Jewish People Inevitable?

2011-04-01T12:12:00.005-04:00

Is A Split In The Jewish People Inevitable? Two recent article make one suspect that this might be so. The first, by Carlo Strenger in Haaretz, comments on a new poll that shows Israeli youth is continuing to move the right.

A recent survey of the political opinion of Israeli youth shows a significant move to the right. More than sixty percent of 15 to 18 year olds and 21 to 24 year olds define themselves as rightwing; 60 percent of the first group prefers strong leaders to the rule of law; an overwhelming majority of the respondents do not believe that negotiations will lead to peace with Palestinians and prefer the status quo.

The picture that emerges is of a profoundly pessimistic group that sees little reason for optimism – a group that prefers power over freedom and whose values are nationalistic. How can this be explained? The youngsters who participated in the poll have never experienced a homeland without the occupation; they are too young to remember the hopes for peace in the 1990s. But they have memories of the second intifada, and many of them are traumatized by the suicide bombings. Those living in the North of the country have lived through the virtual paralysis of life created by Hezbollah’s rocket attack in 2006; those living in the South have lived through the attacks from the Gaza strip until 2009. ...

A large proportion of those 21 to 24 years old have done part of their army service in the territories. The 15 to 18 year old know that they will soon be called to do the same. The impact of this service is rarely spoken about in Israeli public discourse, and the attempts of ‘Shovrim Shtika’ to have Israelis face the realities of the occupation are met with great hostility. Yariv Horowitz’s poignant documentary ‘Aftershock’ shows why: the memories of these soldiers are difficult to live with since they are filled with guilt and shame.

The studies published by the Tami Steimetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University in the book ’40 Years of Occupation: The effect on Israeli Society’ show a clear trend. The longer the occupation continues, the more Israeli society is in need for narratives that justify it. No group can live in the long run with a negative self-image. Israel has been occupying the territories for more than two-thirds of its history. This is no longer an episode - it is an essential part of Israel’s history. My students at Tel Aviv University describe growing up in a school system that emphasizes nationalist values, and they are not taught critical analysis of what they see in the TV news and other media. They are taught that Ben-Gurion was the founder of the State of Israel; but nobody tells Israel’s youth that Ben-Gurion had flatly opposed occupying the West-Bank in 1948, and immediately after the Six-Day War, thought the occupation would lead to catastrophe. ...

The second article, published in the New York Jewish Week, the most widely read and mainsteam of mainstream Jewish publications in America, notes how, for many American Jews, the PLO now seems more reasonable than Israel, and how "even big givers [to Jewish causes] worry aloud about Israeli policies and the negative impact such policies are having on their children...." The article goes on to say:

Most American Jews want to feel proud of the Jewish State, not frustrated or ashamed. It doesn’t help when they read of continued settlement growth, the flotilla debacle, Foreign Minister Lieberman’s hard-line comments about Israeli Arabs and other issues, or that the Knesset conducted inquiries into the funding sources of NGOs, or that the Chief Rabbinate is increasingly rigid on matters of marriage, divorce and conversion. Never mind the complex challenges Israel faces in a hostile neighborhood, where compromise is seen as weakness. Many Jews just don’t want to read and see stories that portray Israel as the source of Mideast problems ... By the way, and analysis of the articles show that both communities are rapidly losing faith in a two state solution. According to the poll Strenger quotes,

While the Jewish Week article focuses on alienation between American Jews and Israeli government policies, the Strenger article points out that Israeli government policy may acurately reflect the will of most Israelis, and, in fact, the world view of Israeli youth may be even more right wing and nationalistic than the Israeli mainstream and that of the its government. Given that American youth - and this includes most American Jewish youth - is more left wing and cosmopolitan than the American mainstream and government, how long can it be until there is an irridemable rift between the two major Jewish communities in the world? Interestingly both community's are icreasingly pessemistic about a solution. As the poll quoted by Streger notes that "overwhelming majority of the respondents do not believe that negotiations will lead to peace". Their reaction is to claim they prefer the status quo to peace in any case. The Jewish Week telegraphs that it to believes a two state solution is sliping away.

... more creative ways must be found to convince the world, starting with American Jews, that Jerusalem really wants a two-state solution before the option becomes moot.

But as the writer clearly understand, young American Jews are not likely to embrace the discriminatory, chavensitic [dare we say "apartrheid"] status quo. They are mmore likely to define their Judaism as disengaged from (or in opposition to) Israel, or just disengage from Judaism entirely. As long as there was hope for a two state solution liberal Jews could view the God aweful state of Judaism in Israel as temporary. Once that hope is gone, Israel's chavanistic form of Judaism is exposed as real and permanent and making claims on the very definition of Judaism. This is the source of what will become (I fear or hope - I am not sure which) the coming crisis in Judaism.

Facebook Intifada

2011-03-29T12:14:00.004-04:00

If you are plugged into the Jewish web, or have friends that are, you likely got an email (or 2 or 3) recently urging you to write to Facebook to have it remove a page dedicated to calling for a third Palestinian intifada. The ones I got warned that this Facebook page advocated violence, murder of Jews, and even genocide. The ADL and even the Israeli government joined in calling for Facebook to remove the page. Today Haaretz reported that Facebook has agreed to take down this page (though another with the same name has popped up.) Haaretz reported that:

On the original page, Palestinians are urged to take to the streets after Friday prayers on May 15 and begin an uprising in the vein of the first two popular uprisings. "Judgment Day will be brought upon us only once the Muslims have killed all of the Jews," reads the call. The page had more than 340,000 fans.

The page was in Arabic, so until recently it was impossible for me to judge for myself. Today I found two sites with translations of the text. They mostly agree, so I am assuming they are accurate. I don't see the offensive quote reported by Haaretz, nor do I see an explicit call for violence. Though the language is hyperbolic and certainly anti-Israel it once again shows how hysterical and unreliable some of our "pro Israel" groups can be.

You can read the a full translation of the text at The Camel's Nose, and an extract that matches very closely at the Christian Broadcasting Network site.

Here We Go Again

2011-03-23T11:21:00.010-04:00

"Bomb explodes in central Jerusalem; 1 dead, at least 30 hurt" says the headline in Ha'aretz this Wednesday morning.

Whether this the work of Hamas, or Islamic Jihad, or some other group, it was likely - at least in its immediate cause - a response to Israel's bombing on Monday of Gaza, its killing of 8 and wounding of 17. And, on Tuesday evening, Israeli forces carried out a targeted assassination of a senior Hamas operative in Gaza.

This in turn was a response to Hamas' launching of 50 Qassam's and 4 Grad rockets into Israel last week. One Israeli was wounded in those attacks

And that was in response to Israeli air force raids against a Hamas base at the old Israeli settlement of Netzarim, in which two Gazan's were killed and one injured.

And that was in response to a single Qassam launched from Gaza, and which landed in an empty field. (See here.) A previously unknown group took "credit" for that attack.

(Score since March 16th, if I haven't missed anything: Israelis 1 killed 31 wounded, Palestinians 11 killed, 18 wounded.)

Israeli Cabinet Minister Limat Livnor said today that it may be time for "Cast Lead 2" - a reprise of Israel's War on Gaza in 2008/2009. Somewhere Palestinian militants are saying it is time for a Third Intifada.

All this is a result of the lack of any progress in the "Peace Process." Nature abhors a vacuum, and human beings abhor injustice and misery without end.

So an escalation of violence was more or less predictable based on Netanyahu's "success" in stymieing the peace talks, in continuing Israeli construction in the West Bank, in continuing the blockade of Gaza, in continuing to prove the PA's path of negotiations useless, in continuing to crush the Palestinian non-violent protest movement in towns and neighborhoods such as Nilin, Bilin, Nebi Salah, etc., in continuing the suck the hope out of any significant change to the lives of Palestinians. It was also predictable based on increased diplomatic pressure being placed on Israel, increased traction of the BDS movement, and the pending threat of the PA unilaterally declaring a state before the end of 2011.

Still it is saddening and shocking to see how fast and lethally a minor incident just over a week ago has escalated so far.

Lest anyone think I am condoning the violence by either side. I am not. I am just trying to give it context. In this regard, Amira Hass has a good article (though very badly translated) condemning those who try to defend Palestinians use of violence against Israeli civilians. The Magnes Zionist has a good article in the same vein.

Liberal Judaism Needs To Be More Assertive

2011-03-21T12:31:00.002-04:00

Liberal Judaism, especially in Israel, needs to be more assertive. This is the gist of an article in Ha'aretz by Alex Sinclair, director of programs in Israel Education for the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Some of his main points are:

The pluralist agenda of the liberal Jewish movements, while admirable in principle, can sometimes lead us to be less vocal about why we differ from Orthodox Judaism, and why that difference is important.

Liberal Judaism makes a powerful claim, and the claim is that Orthodox Judaism is, at its core, wrong. ...

[One] reason that we allow the orthodox narrative to hold center stage is our own fear of Jewish disunity. We tread on eggshells for fear of saying that others’ opinions might be “wrong” or “false”. We nod our heads when we hear absurd and historically ridiculous statements spouted by orthodox friends, because we believe in everyone’s right to their own opinion, and because we want to be nice. We think it’s important to be united as a people, so we swallow our pride and allow the orthodox narrative to become the default Jewish position.

Ironically, it is Orthodox Judaism that is the main force leading to the destruction of the Jewish people’s unity. Liberal Jews are like, l’havdil, abused spouses. For decades, orthodox Jews have ignored our concerns, discriminated against our converts, insulted our rabbis, and used our money against us; yet we still smile weakly at them and cling to the hope that they’ll make nice. No. This is not about the unity of the Jewish people any more; it’s about the vision of the Jewish people. No longer can we allow that vision to be sacrificed on the altar of unity.

... pluralism, dialogue, and mutual learning must no longer be allowed to obscure the genuine disputes about history and ideology that separate us, and we liberal Jews must be more prepared to dispute the fundamentalist orthodox position ...

A new world Jewish movement is needed: a movement of Jews who are no longer prepared to remain quiet and cede Jewishness to a fundamentalist, incorrect orthodox narrative. This orthodox narrative must be confronted, challenged, refuted: vocally, diligently, persistently. May this be the first step.

You can read the full article here.

Just What The Canadian Jewish Community Needs:More Tunnel Vision, Less Democracy

2011-03-21T12:07:00.003-04:00

A major reorganization of the Canadian Jewish Community is in the works. Under the plan, the Canadian Jewish Congress will be absorbed into a single Canadian Jewish advocacy organization with "greater focus on Israel". In addition CJC's current (albeit somewhat token) grass roots representatives and its semi-democracy will be replaced by a board made up entirely of big donors. Major staff cuts are also anticipated.

This is exactly the opposite of what Canadian Jewry needs if it is to survive and - dare we dream - thrive. We need more Jewish focus on social justice and human rights issues. We need more focus in Jewish education. We need more focus on local Jewish culture and local Jewish politics. Instead, the powers that be continue to identify Judaism with support of Israel to the exclusion of all else. This is a recipe for the alienation of most young Jews over the coming years. As is the planned complete replacement of democratic control of Jewish institutions with the unmitigated and unashamed rule of the rich.

A very thorough story on this pending re-organization appears in the Forward. As to why this story has not been covered as thoroughly in the Canadian Jewish News - well read above about the who rules.

Netanyahu revives the "No Partner" mantra

2011-03-18T11:51:00.003-04:00

The recent murders of five members of the Fogel family at Itamar, a settlement in the West Bank, are truly horrid and deserved to be condemned by all people everywhere. And that is what Mahmud Abbas, in the name of the Palestinian Authority, did earlier this week. But the Netanyahu government seems intent in using the Itamar slayings to whip up hysteria against all Palestinians - especially the PA - and to harden its position on settlement building in the occupied territories. (It ordered 500 new units built as a response to the killings.)

M.J. Rosenberg, writing at Al Jazeera, does a good job of explaining how and why this is taking place now: in short, to deflect increasing pressure for Israel to make concessions and allow for renewed peace talks - especially in light of Israel's increasing isolation, the PA's "threat" to unilaterally declare a state late this year, the first rustling of a raproachment between the PA and Hamas, and the general democratic ferment in the Arab world.

In light of all this Netanyahu and his American Jewish allies at AIPAC, seem to be gearing up to once again label all Palestinians as terrorists or supporters, and to fend off increasing world pressure with the mantra "We have no partner to talk to."

You can read Rosenberg's excellent analysis here.

Islamophobia Rising In France

2011-03-14T09:52:00.006-04:00

Jews may or may not have invented multiculturalism, but we have certainly benefited from it. In fact some level of multiculturalism has been essential for the thriving Jewish existence in the West since - well since there has been a thriving Jewish existence in the West, which is to say since WWII at least. Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, argued quite consistently, from the 19-teens through his last book in 1970, for the multi-national state and the multi-state nation - multiculturalism writ large - as the key to an ethical nationalism.

So we have much to worry about when multiculturalism is under attack as it is in Europe, the U.S. and even parts of Canada - a country that since the 1980s is officially defined as multicultural. Leading the way in this reactionary movement is France. In an article in the Georgia Straight, Gwyn Dyer writes:

From the beginning of next month, it will be illegal for a Muslim woman in France to wear a full-face veil (niqab) in any public place. An opinion poll last week suggested that Marine Le Pen, the new leader of the far-right National Front, could win the first round of next year’s presidential elections in France. These two facts are not unconnected.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is in a panic as the National Front gains in the polls, for his own core vote is also on the right. He has responded by ordering a nationwide debate on Islam’s place in secular France, and he has made it quite clear which side he is on: he wants no minarets in France, he tells journalists, and no halal food in school canteens.
... The right is in the ascendant in French politics, and this has unleashed a wave of panic-mongering over “multiculturalism”. ...
Whoever can more convincingly claim to have the solution for [the multicultural] problem wins the right-wing vote, and the National Front is drawing ahead of Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Under the leadership of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the National Front came second in the 2002 presidential election; under the leadership of his daughter Marine Le Pen it could do even better.
The recent opinion poll commissioned by Le Parisien newspaper gave her 23 percent of the vote, while Sarkozy’s party and the Socialists got 21 percent each. She has ditched the National Front’s neo-fascist and racist rhetoric in favour of a low-key, “common-sense” style that is having a real political impact. ...

The full article is worth a read.

Is That Jewish News?

2011-03-11T08:11:00.005-05:00

The front page headline in the current issue of the Canadian Jewish News reads "New IDF defence system protects tank." My son, who is not a regular reader of the Jewish press, came home to visit, saw the CJN headline and asked incredulously, "Is that Jewish News? Is that the most important Jewish story they had to report on this week?" Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to see the absurdity of a situation.

Of course there were many more important Jewish stories to report on. And there are dozens of general stories of Jewish interest more important than this (Lybia anyone?) And there are even plenty of Israel-centric stories more import and interesting than this one. But the CJN headline exemplifies how the Jewish Community has been reduced to an Israel cheer leading club - and a simplistic and militaristic one at that. Cheering on Israel has become the Community's primary mission, its primary content, and its primary message. Is it any wonder that we are losing the younger generation?

Bibi Appoints Jack D. Ripper as Senior Security Advisor:Amidror's Position On Peace Mirrors Netanyahu's

2011-03-09T09:05:00.007-05:00

Major General Jack D. Ripper was the ubber-hawk, paranoid head of the U.S. Strategic Air Command in Stanley Kubrick's satirical "Dr Stranglove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." He was not so loosely based on the real head of SAC, General Curtis LeMay. LeMay was the man who invented the term MAD - Mutual Assured Destruction - though in fact he always stove to assure that the U.S. could destroy the Soviets totally in a nuclear war, while suffering only "acceptable" damages at home. The basis of LeMay's strategic thinking was that the Soviets had no interest at all in peace or accommodation with America - any moves on their part in that direction were just tactical feints - that the only language they understood was force or the threat of force, and that any negotiations with them were dangerous illusions designed only to weaken American resolve.

Therefore, it is fair to say that Bibi Netanyahu's newly appointed National Security Advisor, Major General Yaakov Amidror, is the second coming of Curtis LeMay - but this time with a kippa. In an article earlier this month in the Israeli Daily Hayom, titled "Security is Better Than Peace", Amidror wrote,

" ... negotiations with the Palestinians and even an agreement with the Palestinians (…) will not benefit Israel in any way…"

According to analyst Ori Nir,

[Amidror's] approach to Israel’s national security attributes little value to political accords between Israel and its neighbors. In Amidror’s view, Israel’s chief national security asset in its relations with its neighbors is deterrence…Amidror wrote that…the Arab world “does not accept the very presence of a sovereign and independent Jewish state in the heart of the Middle East and will do its best to annihilate it.” Any other basic assumption, Amidror wrote, is “self deception.” Amidror repeated…that Israel’s goal should not be to change the minds and hearts of its Arab neighbors – such attempts would be in vain – but to deter them by force. “The processes taking place in the Middle East are leading it toward becoming more fundamentalist, less tolerant and less democratic.”

This is the kind of advice Bibi has chosen to receive on a daily basis. This is the man who will approve or not any plans to withdraw from parts of the West Bank to allow for a Palestinian State; who will approve or not loosening of the blockade on Gaza; and who will approve or not any peace plan with Syria. I think it is as a safe bet that the "not" option, in all cases, will win out.

But what moves Amidror from Curtis LeMay territory to Jack D. Ripper territory are some of his other recent comments. According to the Tikun Olam blog:

Amidror…told a conference last year that soldiers should kill anyone who gets in the way of completing their mission – and that soldiers who refuse ... should be shot,
…When journalist Haim Yavin, a fellow panelist, noted the army’s orders during the first Lebanon war were to “fight carefully,” Amidror responded: “That’s a totally illegal order. What should be said is ‘kill more of the bastards on the other side, so that we’ll win.’ Period.”

It would be satire if it were a movie. But its real, and therefore its just sad, scary and dangerous.

Is Obama Trying To Outdo Bush?

2011-03-08T14:03:00.005-05:00

George W Bush is generally considered the worst president the United States has had in the last 80 years - and many would argue even longer than that.

But Barak Obama, it seems, is trying to outdo him - at least in foreign policy. Bush needlessly started the Iraq war, did nothing re Israel/Palestine, and saddled the U.S. with the human rights abuses of "the war of terror" and Guantanamo Bay. True, Obama has drawn down the troops in Iraq. (There are still 100,000 U.S. boots on the ground there, and regular terror attacks, so lets not get too excited about that achievement.) But he single handedly ramped up the war in Afghanistan so that it will soon rival Iraq as a quagmire - no possible victory and no easy way out. And though he started out with brave words re Israel/Palestine but has since completely folded: obviously not willing to invest any more political capital in pressuring Israel to agree to any concessions at all. And now the coup de grace of shame - he has not only reversed his previous stance re closing Guantanamo, he has done Bush one better in the injustice game.

According to an article in today's Toronto Star:

U.S. President Barack Obama has cleared the way for future Guantanamo military trials and sanctioned the continued detention of terrorism suspects considered too problematic to prosecute, but too dangerous to release.

Even Bush never sanctioned perpetual incarceration without trial. But now Obama is saying that if the administration can't guarantee a guilty verdict - even in highly prejudicial military tribunals - then they can just hold people, deemed "too dangerous" to let go, forever without trial.

While the numbers - 172 prisoners remain in Guantanamo - don't match Stalin's numbers, the methods exceed Joe's. Stalin at least insisted on show trials. Are the lives of 172 people not worth dues process. Are the Americans so sure that everyone of them is guilty - even if they can't prove it to their own hand picked military judges? Is justice so easily scorned; human rights so easily trampled; due process and legality so mocked? What exactly is the difference between Guantanamo and Gulag?

How can America claim to "lead the free world" when it can't bring itself to do what's right as soon as it feels threatened, or as soon as the President decides it not popular to pursue justice and human rights. In January 2009, speaking of his executive order to close Gitmo, Obama said:

"This is me following through on not just a commitment I made during the campaign, but I think an understanding that dates back to our founding fathers, that we are willing to observe core standards of conduct, not just when it's easy, but also when it's hard."

Was he lying then, or did he just lose his nerve (and his conscience) over the past two years? Actually it makes no difference. Obama is now competing to be one of the weakest and most ineffective most conservative (and therefore bad!) Presidents on record, at least on foreign policy and human rights.

Occupation Has Its Price

2011-03-07T11:55:00.004-05:00

No one should doubt that Israel is militarily and economically able to hold on to the occupied territories for years into the foreseeable future - to maintain the status quo or even to increase the settlement enterprise. But nevertheless the occupation has its price. It is internally corrosive - slowly eating away at the the cohesiveness of Israeli society and what is left of its western democratic values. It decreases Israel's standing in the world, slowly isolating it more and more each year. And it has, and will, provoke outbreaks of violence against Israel and Israelis.

Of course, Israel can withstand all of this if it chooses to. North Korea has been an international pariah for 60 years - even the Chinese, once their ally, can't stand them any more - but still no one can predict when that regime will change its ways. It could hang on for many decades yet.

But then again even the strongest rock is eventually worn away by relentless waters - even if they are just a trickle. The best guarantee of the long existence of any group or country is to live in harmony with its neighbors and its environment. In Israel's case this involves actively seeking a path that provides a modicum of justice, respect, and equality for the Palestinians.

Two of todays headlines:

Roger Waters Voices Support For Israel Boycott.

and

Violent clashes erupt between Israelis, Palestinians near Nablus

are just two signs of things to come unless their is progress to equality and justice for Palestinians under Israeli control.

Drip.

Drip ...

* * *

(Perhaps I was particularly struck by Roger Waters support for a boycott, because "The Wall" was the unofficial theme song of my platoon in basic training in the Israeli army (1982.) Perfect song to sing under your breath on a forced march, and generally expressed our attitude to the whole experience.)

If you had any doubts ...

2011-03-05T06:40:00.004-05:00

If you had any doubts that Obama is more of the same old same old, and getting more so every day, read this and weep.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama administration is devising a new Middle East strategy in face of ongoing Arab world turmoil, preferring stability over democracy for key allies in the region.

"New" ???

Well da! Isn't "preferring stability over democracy for key allies" exactly what the U.S. has done for the past 60 years?!

According to the Journal:

... the Obama administration is settling on a Middle East strategy: help keep longtime allies who are willing to reform in power, even if that means the full democratic demands of their newly emboldened citizens might have to wait.

Instead of pushing for immediate regime change—as it did to varying degrees in Egypt and now Libya—the U.S. is urging protesters from Bahrain to Morocco to work with existing rulers toward what some officials and diplomats are now calling "regime alteration."

The approach has emerged amid furious lobbying of the administration by Arab governments, who were alarmed that President Barack Obama had abandoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and worried that, if the U.S. did the same to the beleaguered king of Bahrain, a chain of revolts could sweep them from power, too, and further upend the region's stability.
...

Bahrain has a restive Shiite majority that has long felt cut off from the opportunities available to the country's Sunni royal family and social elite.

The country is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which patrols the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea. Some at the Pentagon feared that Shiite-led Iran might try to hijack the protest movement in Bahrain and back installation of an anti-American government.

Though skeptical of Bahraini claims that Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, were instigating Shiite protests, U.S. and European officials fear the crisis could benefit Tehran. The Mideast turmoil has driven up oil prices, helping Tehran refill its coffers and withstand international sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear program.
...

[These concerns] found a particularly receptive ear in the Pentagon ... [and] were shared by Israel.

According to the Journal, this new policy will be applied from "Bahrain to Morocco" - though Lybia is and will continue "to be an exception." (sic: Since Gaddaffi is hardly a loyal ally of the U.S. I don't see how this is an exception)

So though the Bahraini King(! - how's that for democracy) has also called out his military to shoot civilian demonstrators, don't expect the kind of U.S. (or Western) response as we are seeing in Lybia. And - it seems - the autocrats in Yemen also do not have to worry about U.S support for local democracy demonstrators.

The middle east may or may not change for the better as a result of the "Arab Revolt" of these few months, but one thing that is not changing at its core is U.S. foreign policy. We have Obama to thanks for that.

"Change we can believe in", anyone?

Pete Seeger Endorses BDS

2011-02-28T19:12:00.004-05:00

Famed lefty folk singer, Pete Seeger - second from the left, with banjo and singing the Hebrew lyrics of this 1951 hit recording of Tzena Tzena - has just come out in favour of BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) as a tactic to get Israel to end it occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Its taken him exactly 60 years to move form his avidly pro Israel 1951 stance to this. I am still ambivalent about he BDS campaign, but Pete no longer is.

Below is the ICAHD press release announcing Seeger's new position.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 28- Folk music legend Pete Seeger has come out in support of the growing Palestinian movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel as a program for justice for Palestinians and a route to peace in the Middle East.
Seeger, 92, participated in last November’s online virtual rally “With Earth and Each Other,” sponsored by the Arava Institute, an Israeli environmental organization, and by the Friends of the Arava Institute. The Arava Institute counts among its close partners and major funders the Jewish National Fund, responsible since 1901 for securing land in Palestine for the use of Jews only while dispossessing Palestinians. Although groups in the worldwide BDS movement had requested he quit the event, Seeger felt that he could make a strong statement for peace and justice during the event.

During a January meeting at his Beacon, NY home with representatives from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and Adalah-NY, Pete Seeger explained, “I appeared on that virtual rally because for many years I’ve felt that people should talk with people they disagree with. But it ended up looking like I supported the Jewish National Fund. I misunderstood the leaders of the Arava Institute because I didn’t realize to what degree the Jewish National Fund was supporting Arava. Now that I know more, I support the BDS movement as much as I can.”

Jeff Halper, the Coordinator of ICAHD, added, “Pete did extensive research on this. He read historical and current material and spoke to neighbors, friends, and three rabbis before making his decision to support the boycott movement against Israel.” Seeger has for some time given some of the royalties from his famous Bible-based song from the 1960s, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” to ICAHD for their work in rebuilding demolished homes and exposing Israel’s practice of pushing Palestinians in Israel off their land in favor of development of Jewish villages and cities.

The November virtual rally “With Earth and Each Other” was billed as an apolitical effort to bring Israelis and Palestinians together to work for the environment. Dave Lippman from Adalah-NY noted, “Arava’s online event obfuscated basic facts about Israel’s occupation and systematic seizure of land and water from Palestinians. Arava’s partner and funder, the JNF, is notorious for planting forests to hide Palestinian villages demolished by Israel in order to seize their land. Arava was revealed as a sterling practitioner of Israeli government efforts to ‘Rebrand Israel’ through greenwashing and the arts.”

Currently, the JNF is supporting an Israeli government effort to demolish the Bedouin village of Al-Araqib in order to plant trees from the JNF that were paid for by the international evangelical group GOD-TV. The Friends of the Arava Institute’s new board chair has recently published an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post that only cautiously questions some activities of the JNF, an organization whose very raison-d’etre is to take over land for Jews at the expense of the Palestinian Arab population.
Pete Seeger’s long-time colleague Theodore Bikel, an Israeli-American known for his life-long involvement with Israeli culture, recently supported the Israeli artists who have refused to perform in a new concert hall in Ariel, a large illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Seeger joins a growing roster of international performers who have declined to whitewash, greenwash, or in any way enable Israel’s colonial project, including Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, Roger Waters, Devendra Banhart, and the Pixies.

Is Zionism a Dirty Word?

2011-02-07T16:50:00.005-05:00

Rabbi Brian Walt, who helped found Rabbis For Human Rights North America, and who I generally admire, wrote an opinion piece in the latest issue if Tikkun Magazine, on why he no longer calls himself a liberal or progressive Zionist, and rather sees himself as "a religious American Jew in solidarity with justice for the Palestinian people."

Below is a response I wrote to Rabbi Walt. Quibbles perhaps, but if nothing else, it helped to clarify my own thinking on the matter.

Rabbi Brian,
While I agree with most of what you say, one must be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The Soviet Union was indeed an evil empire, but socialism is still not such a bad idea. How many anti-Communist started out on the left and ended up as leaders of neo-conservatism? Many! And while the fall of the Soviet Union was on balance a good thing, it set the stage for globalization, the resurgence of right-wing capitalism and the set back of the left in most of the world. (Think “New Labour” in Britain or of Bill Clinton or Obama as about the most left America can imagine itself now-a-days. Pale comparisons to FDR, LBJ or even Eisenhower.)
Since you (and I) value “the rebirth of Hebrew culture in Israel and ... still believe Jews desperately need safety after the Holocaust” we must be careful in stating, not just what we oppose – the occupation and chauvinism and racism within Israel proper and within the territories –, we must also say what we support – peace, justice, equality, and a thriving Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael. There used to be a perfectly good word for this set of values: “Cultural Zionism” – and its proponents: Ahad Haam, Martin Buber, Judah Magnes, Hannah Arendt, and even arguable Albert Einstein and Mordechai Kaplan where not without influence and following in the Jewish community.
I believe it would be more accurate, and more likely to attract support in the Jewish (and even non-Jewish) community – to use the label “Cultural Zionist” then the label “religious American Jew in solidarity with justice for the Palestinian people.” Of course the two ideas do not contradict each other, nor, I am sure, do either described you (or anyone else) fully. Its a matter of labels and the impressions and messages they convey.
I do not agree – and I may have misunderstood you here – that “Working in solidarity with Palestinians toward any political settlement — one state, two states, a federation, or any other political arrangement — that ensures the equal human rights of all Israelis and Palestinians should be the SINGULAR goal of our work.” Israel/Palestine is no doubt the biggest moral challenge facing the Jewish people today, but it is not the ONLY challenge, and for me – and I believe for you – it lives along side and within the larger (from a Jewish perspective) issues of revivifying the Jewish People and Judaism and planting them firmly on the side of justice, fully realizing human potential, and spiritual and social progress.
All this may be a small quibble – but then what else is there to say about your article, than "Yshar Koach."

No It Isn't !

2011-01-31T09:01:00.008-05:00

Israelis - well most Israelis anyway - act as if time is on their side. They have done so at least since the 1960s.

The reasoning goes thus: since we are the stronger party, and since we hold all the cards we can outlast the Palestinians, and hold out for a better deal if the one on the table doesn't suit us to a tee. Sure, the Palestinians, and their Arab allies, can hurt us, but they will never be an existential threat, and when they do cause us really uncomfortable pain, we can hit back so hard that they will soon stop. They know this, and we know it. So if we don't get the deal we like today, we can hold out until we do get it. And if we never get a deal, well that's not so bad either. Peace and justice are strictly optional, and always weighed against the "cost" - in either land, economics, politics, etc ...

The only time in recent memory when this was not true, was after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. For a few days at the start of that war, Egypt and Syria came close to breaking through Israeli lines and winning. This gave Israel such fright that it eventually lead to the historic peace deal with Egypt and the return of every square inch of the Sinai. That peace deal has served Israel well for over 30 years. Egypt has been a trustworthy ally. It is a full partner with Israel in attempts to bottle up Hamas in Gaza. It's security forces have made the Egyptian border virtually terrorist free. Most of the border is physically unmarked - no fence, just open dessert. Yet Israel has been able to significantly reduce the size of its army, not having to seriously worry about the Arab worlds largest and best equipped military, and to redeploy most of it own forces to the West Bank and the northern borders.

But peace with a trustworthy Egypt only made Israelis return to their "time is on my side" nap. With Egypt not a threat, and indeed a quiet ally, - "what me worry?"

A similar attitude applied to Jordan, and even to the PA. Jordan made peace with us, so why do anything to satisfy its majority Palestinean population. Now that the PA has eschewed violence, they are no threat, so why give them a good deal. They are weak, so they will eventually have to bend to our terms.

But the "time is on my side" crowd fail to realize that history does not stand still. Advantages and opportunities available today may not be here tomorrow. Thus, if the PA collapses, it may not be able to offer any deal at all, and Hamas may be the only significant player on the Palestinian side. If Mubarek's regime in Egypt falls, it may be to a government that is not so willing to help Israel bottle up Hamas, or fight Israel's security battles for it in the Sinai, or use its influence to promote a conciliatory stance toward Israel in the Arab world. Or it may even join forces with the rejectionists, and return us to the days of open hostilities that preceded the 1979 peace treaty. And if Mubarek falls in Egypt, can Jordan's King Abdullah last? Or Mahmud Abbas?

Of course it is not certain that any of this will happen, but the events of the past week show that nothing is forever, and things can change for the worse as well as for the better, and that whatever can happen, likely will happen over the long haul.

Israel's only long term security lies in making peace and integrating into the region. Eventually, the tide ebbs, and both force and strategic diplomacy fail. At that time, only integration and a reservoir of good will will count. You would think Israel would have used the 30 "good years" to try and achieve some of each. Let's hope it is not too late to start.

BUDRUS - See It!

2011-01-26T15:18:00.002-05:00

If you live in Canada, and haven't seen it yet, don't miss this.

Budrus is a unique film: the first and only one so far, showing the Palestinian unarmed resistance movement to Israel land expropriations in the West Bank. Budrus was the first village to adopt this strategy, now copied in Nilin, Bilin, and numerous of other locales around the West Bank.

I saw it at last year's Toronto Hot Docs film festival. Now CBC will be showing it on national TV. I am frankly surprised - though pleasantly so - that CBC is showing this. I imagine they will get a lot of flack from the usual suspects in the organized Canadian Jewish community.

So mark your calendars.

Below is the press release about this showing.

Canadian TV Premiere on CBC's " The Passionate Eye"

Sunday January 30, 2011 - 10pm ET/PT

Just Vision is pleased to announce the Canadian television premiere of its new film, Budrus. Hailed in The New York Times as " this year's must-see documentary," and featured in major international news outlets, including Newsweek, The Economist, The Washington Post and on Charlie Rose, Budrus tells the story of a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites members of all factions along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction. Success looks improbable until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women's contingent that quickly moves to the front lines.

Recently, Matthew Hays of the Montreal Mirror picked Budrus as the top must-see film of 2010. A trailer of the film as well as full press reviews are available at: http://www.justvision.org/budrus.

Winner of multiple prizes at top international film festivals, including Tribeca, Berlin and San Francisco, Budrus is produced byJust Vision a nonprofit organization comprised of an Israeli, Palestinian, North and South American team of journalists, filmmakers and human rights advocates. Just Vision creates film and multimedia materials to increase the power, legitimacy and exposure of Palestinians and Israelis working towards nonviolent solutions to the conflict.

Budrus will also be in Vancouver at the World Community Film Festival
Friday, February 11 at 7pm. For more info and tickets, please click here.

(h/t to Zatoun)

What Me Worry?Salvation Available at Har Hamenuchot Cemetery, section 11, plot 2

2011-01-25T23:38:00.003-05:00

Oh those wild and wacky Bratslavers!

See 972mag.com for a full explanation.

So, Its About The Settlements After All.Security, Jerusalem, The Right of Return - Just Excuses.

2011-01-23T23:58:00.004-05:00

According to the just leaked documents from 10 years of Israel Palestinian negotiations (you can read an account at Haaretz, but also check out the Guardian and Al Jazeera, or just google "leaks Israel Palestine") the PA negotiators were willing, in 2008, to give up all Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem (excluding one - the distant and relatively new Har Homa.) They where willing to give up about half the old city - including the Armenian and Jewish quarters. They where willing to put the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif) under joint administration. They where willing to limit the number of Palestinian refugees who would return to 10,000 a year for 10 years. And they were willing to agree to most of Israel's security demands re demilitarization.

In short they where willing to concede on all the seemingly "intractable issues." But the Israeli government of the day - Olmert/Livni - refused because Israel wanted to keep Ariel, Maale Adumim, and other large settlements deep inside the West Bank.

If Israel won't accept that deal - there is no hope for any deal.

And as a side effect of these revelations Abbas and company may lose so much face that they are effectively finished. In which case Israel will never get such a generous offer again.

Some days you just want to scream!

Reason For Hope?Is Lieberman an Instrument of God?

2011-01-17T12:58:00.007-05:00

There is a meme going 'round that things in Israel are about to break, and break for the better.

To be sure, I am mostly hearing this from "Liberal Zionists", people who are both fiercely committed to the necessity of a Jewish State and who are equally aghast at the reality and direction of present day Israel. So maybe this is just wishful thinking on their part. From where I sit I am not so sure. But neither am I convinced they are wrong.

The gist of this meme can be summed up by Lenin's maxim "the worse it gets, the better it gets." - meaning that the more oppression and misery there is the more obvious it is that that the ancien regime is untenable and the sooner the revolution.

The immediate cause for hope: 10,000 people demonstrating for democrcy in Tel-Aviv.

Rabbi Dov Marmur, in an open letter from Jerusalem writes:

Kol Haneshama (the Reform synagogue in Jerusalem) was born [in the 1980's] in the home of its spiritual leader Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman and gained prominence when, having moved to a public hall, the local Orthodox rabbi came with other thugs
to physically attack it one Simchat Torah because women were dancing with the Torah. The mayor, the late Teddy Kollek, was so incensed by this attack that he gave the congregation a piece of land that enabled it to grow. Today, it’s the largest non-Orthodox congregation in the country with an international reputation second to none. ...
The fact that the success of Kol Haneshama is at least in part due to an act of
bigotry and violence that propelled it into prominence may also be a clue to the theme of the demonstration in Tel Aviv. According reports, Avigdor Lieberman [was] ... considered to be an even greater menace from .. than Iran... The fact that the foreign minister’s latest rant, this time against human rights organizations in Israel,
has created such a reaction suggests that, instead of delivering a blow to democracy, he has in fact invigorated its exponents – just as that rabbi who attacked members of Kol Haneshama achieved the very opposite to what he intended.

Bradley Burtson, writing in Haaretz, in an article entitled Think Israel's a lost cause? Ten reasons to think again, goes further.

Something's started to happen here, and for the first time in a long time, something good, the decency that still somehow informs people here, has a chance of taking wing....
On Saturday night, the weather stone cold and threatening, Israelis who had no expectation that anyone would show up at an underpublicized Tel Aviv street march
- a demonstration, believe it or not, in favor of democracy and groups working for social justice and Israeli-Palestinian peace - decided to show up anyway.
The turnout was shocking. Marchers filled the broad square by the Tel Aviv Museum and swelled into the adjacent Shaul Hamelech Blvd., a sea of flags and signs, Jews and Arabs, young and old, spilling over to and lining the long wall of the Kirya, Israel's Pentagon. Well over 10,000 people, maybe as many as 20,000, blown away by the turnout, blown away, as well, by a sudden sense of hope.
Nafal, as they say here, davar b'yisrael. Something crucial, shattering, game-changing, is happening here. ....

Burston goes on to list among other causes for hope, the disgust among large elements of the population with Avigdor Lieberman's attacks on Israel human rights NGOs, public revulsion with the letters of the racist rabbis, and the recent break-up of the Labour Party over the stalled "peace process".

The right has over-reached, and the decent center has finally woken up. That is the gist of Burston's piece and of Rabbi Marmur's and several other similar articles in the Israeli press and blogosphere.

I am not so sure, though I hope it is true.

If so, it might mean that Avigdor Lieberman, is an instrument of God! At least that's the view of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (founder of Reconstructionism Judaism.) Writing in 1937, about his idea of God as the "Power that makes for Freedom", in the context of commenting on Passover and on the human contradictory impulses of seeking safety in doing nothing and seeking betterment by taking action, he says:

... in spite of man's desire to be let alone, there is a Power within man and above man that gives him no rest. That Power deprives him of the security for the sake of which he is all too ready to surrender his soul, and thrusts him out into the wilderness where he is compelled to achieve his freedom and reclaim his soul.
How does this come about? By means of that inner contradiction which develops within human bondage. Those in the master class over—reach themselves in their desire to exploit their slaves for purposes in which the latter have neither share nor lot. Before long they fail to afford them even that minimum security for which their slaves forego their freedom It is then that those in the slave class are compelled to rise in revolt and strike out for freedom. In ancient Israel they had a term for that inner contradiction which gives rise to the dialectic of freedom. They spoke of it as "God hardening Pharaoh’s heart.” ...
Such is the inertia produced by security on the human spirit, and such its wish to be let alone, that if the master class would supply the minimum needs ... to those whom they hold in thrall, human society would become crystallized into the type of organization that exists among bees and ants. Mankind would remain permanently divided into higher and lower classes of human beings; the caste system would remain iron-bound and unalterable. Such a caste system would exclude forever the vast multitudes of the human race from the possibility of salvation or self-fulfillment. But apparently there is something of the divine in every human being which does not permit mankind to reconcile itself to so dire a fate. That divine urge utilizes the Pharaonic tendency of the oppressors and exploiters to over-reach themselves, as a means of frustrating their most carefully devised schemes.

Shiru l'Adonai

2011-01-15T21:57:00.003-05:00

Today in synagogue we read of the Israelites crossing of the Red Sea.

Shiru L'adonai Ki Gao Ga'ah, Sus v'Rochbo Ramah baYam

Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted: horse and rider hath He thrown into the sea.

Thus sang Miriam and all the people.

Turns out that the Jews are not the only ones impressed by this biblical story. The image above shows the suggested Great Seal of The United States of America submitted by Ben Franklin in 1776. Too bad Congress didn't pick this one. Instead they picked the dorky one with the eagle and the motto 'E Pluribus Unum.' I prefer both Franklin's suggested picture and motto.

Satire Cuts Close To The Bone

2011-01-07T10:23:00.008-05:00

The video is from the popular Israeli TV news-satire show Eretz Nehederet. (Their motto for the current season: "When the ship is sinking, its good to have someone you can count on.")

The good news is - as long as someone in Israel can produce this stuff and others can enjoy it, all is not lost. The bad news is - that just like John Stewart's audience in the U.S. this segment of the population is a minority and a politically lazy and/or confused minority at that.

If Ya Gotta Go ...

2011-01-05T08:47:00.004-05:00

I really liked these videos.

The back story is that Rabbi Menachem Froman - the man in the videos with the long white beard seated at the table - has recently been diagnosed with advanced and inoperable cancer. In response he organized an evening of prayer and singing with his students, followers, and supporters. The guy playing the guitar is Ehud Banai a famous Israeli entertainer.

Froman is an unusual and controversial character. He is a settler, but also "pro peace". He thinks that in return for peace Israel should give back all the territories and settlers should be able to stay as citizens of the Palestinean state. He also believes that it is the truly religious people that can bring peace since they all believe in God, and for this reason he has had several meetings with Muslim clerics associated with Hamas. Some people think he is a saint, some people think he is a hypocrite, and some people think he is a fool.

But no matter what you think of Foreman's politics, what is amazing about the videos is the "kavana" and the joy of Rabbi Froman and his supporters. They may (or may not) believe that this session is about getting God to heal Rabbi Froman, but what it is certainly doing is letting him bask in the love of his friends and followers and letting them feel his charisma and joy. Rather than mope about his fatal illness, Rabbi Froman has chosen to live out his time bravely, intensly and joyfully. May we all be blessed to have such strength and such supporters when our time comes

The video at the top is an Israeli popular song - Hayom.

Below are three more videos from the same evening..

L'maan Achai vRe'ay (For the sake of my brothers and friends)

Haneshama Lach

23rd Psalm (The Lord is my Sheppard)

And thanks to Tikkun Olam for putting me on to this.

Thirty Four More To Go

2011-01-02T11:32:00.002-05:00

Here is a small hopeful bit of news from Israel, about two of the founders of the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement.

From today's Haaretz:

The two doctoral students, the religious Tel Avivian and the secular Jerusalemite, have discovered that the struggle over Sheikh Jarrah has become the way to revive the Israeli left and build a bridge connecting Jews and Arabs. They were drawn into the vacuum between Kadima and Hadash left by the failing Labor Party, confused Meretz and somnolent Peace Now.

Veteran politicians and peace activists are keeping track of them with a mix of envy and concern. They're storming the campuses, and their friends say they wouldn't be surprised if next year Sharon and Inbar stormed the Knesset.

..."We are showing in practice it's possible to establish a genuine partnership between the two peoples," adds Inbar. "The Israeli left's big challenge today is to develop a civil, Jewish-Arab vision that will confront the racist and fundamentalist visions and spectacles being sold by the right."

In recent months the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement has turned into a national movement called Solidarity, like the workers' movement established in Poland 30 years ago. The weekly demonstrations in the small neighborhood have begun to spread to other neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. Last month they marched in Issawiya in protest against the authorities' harassment of the residents there, and last week they went to Silwan to protest against the removal of a local activist from the village.

Recently the movement has also begun to operate in Taibeh, the Wadi Ara, Lod, Al-Araqib and Beit She'an. Meanwhile, Inbar, Sharon and their friends are setting up three student groups - in Be'er Sheva, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem - under the slogan "Solidarity against fascism."

"Our method of operation is to expose people to the situation beneath the surface," says Sharon. "The Israeli majority is not aware that it is trampling the minority."

They take people to tour sites where the injustice is taking place and offer them lots of information and a bit of preaching. They seek to build a grassroots movement. They were particularly surprised at the tremendous response to Jewish-Arab activity in the Arab communities.

... We are not romantics, an aid organization or a human rights organization, say the two. We aren't coming to help, but to work together. We go to Taibeh or Dahmash, an unrecognized village next to Lod, in the belief that practical, ethical and political Jewish-Arab cooperation is Israeli society's only life preserver.

Bundism For Israel ?

2011-01-01T01:41:00.003-05:00

The funeral of Marek Edelman, Poland's wartime (and last) Bundist leader, Warsaw Jewish cemetery, October 2009.

Bernard Avishai's latest blog is worth a read. He is on to something here.

... the situation of Israeli Arabs is in fact curiously like that of the Jews of Poland during the interwar period, in that the Yiddish-speaking Jews represented an indissoluble minority that was culturally distinct, and would remain fiercely so, at least over a couple of generations; a minority with a centuries' long history and sense of place; a minority living in the interstices of a Polish nation with a quite distinct religious culture; a new Polish state, born out of deep historical grievance, and an equally fierce, once-repressed nationalism. How to absorb this growing, noisy Jewish minority, something over 10% of the population, into the new Poland?

And the strongest political movement in the interconnected Yiddish towns and cities (or parts thereof) was the Jewish Labor Bund. What this movement demanded was recognition as a national minority within the Polish state, constitutional equality, protection for its language and educational system, and more. Bundists ran as separate, Jewish national political parties. In December 1938 and January 1939, at the last Polish municipal elections before the start of the Second World War, the Bund received the largest segment of the Jewish vote. In 89 towns, one-third elected Bund majorities.

As socialists, Bundists sought "fraternal" relations with Polish workers, much like Israeli Arabs seek cordial commercial relations with Jews. But they mainly sought a kind of recognized autonomy in Yiddish towns, and, as individuals, the full rights in the great Polish cities like Warsaw and Krakow. And much like the rights of Israeli Arabs have become the crucial cause for Israeli Jewish progressives, so the rights of Jews were critical for Polish liberals.

SADLY, IT HAS become commonplace for Israelis, and American Jews, too, to look at the fate of Polish Jewry and consider the Bund hopelessly naive. But this view is itself naive--and cruel. The fact is, the Bund was suggesting an experiment in democracy that the Nazis ended, not the Poles, ... We simply do not know if the Bund's experiment could have worked, or how it could have been managed over several generations, particularly if there had been no war, and Poland had slowly begun to enjoy the benefits of European integration.

In any case, it is terribly wrong for us to look at the burgeoning cities of Israeli Arabs and see only a fifth column or a frightening birthrate. In any peace, Israeli Arabs will be a natural bridge to commercial, scientific, and cultural opportunities in the Arab world. ...

It might have worked in Poland, eventually. It had better work, with adaptations, in Israel.

Read the full piece here.

Is War Subject to Law?

2010-12-29T11:09:00.005-05:00

Is war really subject to law? Or are any and all military acts committed during a war exempt from law? This is the question that is raised by a recently files law suit.

According to Ynet:

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, who lost three daughters when the IDF fired shells at his home during Operation Cast Lead, will file on Sunday a massive damages claim against the State of Israel.
"I didn't want to file the lawsuit, and until now I didn't want to discuss it," he told Yedioth Ahronoth in a phone interview from Toronto, Canada, where he immigrated following the tragedy. "I tried to take every step t
hat would allow me to close this with love and goodwill, but they didn't leave me a choice. According to the law, the statute of limitations will apply to this case within a few weeks – but there is no statute of limitations on the blood of my daughters. It will stay with me forever. It's a catastrophe that's impossible to forget."
Abuelaish, a Palestinian gynecologist, has worked in Israeli hospitals for nearly two decades. On January 16, 2009, in the height of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF fired two shells into the window of his home, killing three of his daugters: 20-year-old Bessan, 15-year-old Mayar and 14-year-old Aya. His 17-year-old niece Nour was also killed in the attack, and his 18-year-old daughter Shada and other family members were injured. The Israeli public heard the horrifying incident in a live broadcast, as Abuelaish was preparing at that moment for a phone interview with an Israeli television channel.
Abuelaish instructed his lawyer to avoid a lawsuit and reach a settlement with the security forces, which would include recognition and compensation. But no such settlement was reached: The Defense Ministry's legal adviser, Ahaz Ben-Ari, announced this week that Abuelaish does not deserve compensation.
...
(Read the full article here. This story is also covered by the Toronto Star .)

Dr. Abueliash is, of course, now best known for his extraordinary commitment to peace and co-existence despite the loss of his daughters. He is the author of the book "I Shall Not Hate", and a frequent speaker on the subject of Israel/Palestine. For a while he was the darling of liberal Jewish circles in Toronto, and spoke at a number of Jewish venues, including a SRO crowd of about 5000 at Toronto's Beth Tzdedek synagogue.

Abueliash's house was most likely hit by Israeli shells by mistake. (The alternative assumes much worse about the Israeli soldiers who fired and who gave the orders.) There were no snipers, and no "enemy combatants" in the immediate vicinity.

The question is: is an army responsible for mistakes it makes during war time - especially mistakes that kill innocent civilians. The Israeli position is "No".

“Despite the severe outcome, from a legal standpoint our stance is that the operation during which Dr. Abuelaish’s family members were hurt (sic) was an operation of war,” the Israeli defense ministry’s legal adviser Ahaz Ben-Ari, said recently, according to Israeli media reports. “Therefore the state of Israel does not carry the responsibility for the damage it caused.”

If that is true, then the Geneva conventions, drafted after WWII, largely to avoid the horrific killing of civilians that occurred during that war, turn out to be largely useless. And that would be a tragedy - dare I say, even greater than the deaths of Dr. Abueliash's daughters. That is why he is suing, and that is why we should all wish him success in his suite.

You can hear a CBC Radio interview with Dr. Abuelaish about this story here. (The story starts at about 2 minutes into the podcast.)

Which Side Are You On?

2010-12-26T12:49:00.006-05:00

The video above is from a demonstration last week in the Tel-Aviv suburb of Bat-Yam. It is provided by Arutz Sheva, the radio and TV outlet of the Israeli settler movement.

The T-shirts seen in the video and shown to the right, read "Jews, Lets Win" on the front, and "Jewish Bat-Yam" on the back.

Signs seen in the video, and shown below, read "Jewish Girls for the Jewish Nation".

So, the only question is ... the one posed by the video below.

Christmas in the Holy LandA Tale of Two Cities

2010-12-24T23:03:00.005-05:00

The mayor of Nazareth Ilit, a Jewish majority suburb of Nazareth, banned Christmas trees from public spaces in his town. About 15% of the population of Nazereth Ilit are Arabs: most of them Christians. There is also a significant number of Christian immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the town. The mayor turned down a request by Christian leaders in the town to allow them to erect a Christmas tree in a square in an Arab neighbourhood.

"Let them go to Lower Nazareth," said mayor Gaspo. "This is a Jewish City. All its symbols are Jewish. Arabs constitute only 15%. There is no reason to turn this into an Arab town." The city government of Nazereth Ilit does put up massive displays of Menorahs at Hannukah time. (See full story - in Hebrew - at the Maariv web site.)

The city of Haifa, however, not only allowed a Christmas tree in a public square it commissioned and paid for it itself. In light of the devastating Carmel forest fire just outside Haifa, the tree is made from 5000 recycled plastic bottles. (See photo above.) About 14% of Haifa's population are Christians: about two thirds immigrants from the FSU and the rest Arabs.

And ...

The photo below is of a Hannukah Menorah in Toronto's Dundas Square, in the heart of the downtown shopping district. Toronto is about 5% Jewish, and this menorah is but one of several put up in public, government owned locations.

Democracy in Action55 in Favour, 41 Against - Bill Fails

2010-12-18T22:36:00.003-05:00

The U.S. Senate killed the "Dream Act" that would have opened a door to citizenship to numerous "illegal aliens". The vote was 55 in favour and 41 against. Yet the bill failed!

And they call this democracy, in the the "greatest democracy in the world".

See the full story in the NY Times.

For Refuge Rights ... in Canada

2010-12-18T22:13:00.003-05:00

The Canadian government has proposed a draconian anti-refugee bill - bill C49.

I am proud to say that my synagogue has joined the call of many Canadian groups in opposing this bill. Below is the text of a letter that sent to the Prime Minister.

December 13, 2010

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister,

We are members of the Social Justice Advocacy Committee of Congregation Darchei Noam - a large Jewish community in Toronto, committed to social justice and the belief that all people, regardless of citizenship, are created in God's image and deserve fair treatment. We are disturbed by many of the provisions of your government's proposed new immigration bill, C-49.

In particular, we see it in large part as victimizing many refugee claimants - assuming in advance that their refugee claims are bogus. Many of the measures proposed are simply punitive and arbitrary. These include:
Declaration of refugee claimants as “irregular” by ministerial fiat, without due process or right of review
Holding such refugee claimants in detention for a minimum of one year
Denying such refugee claimants access to health services
Denying monthly detention reviews that would limit migrants in jail a
chance to gain freedom only once every 6 months after the first year.
Denying the right of appeal to a rejected refugee claim.
Providing the Minister with full discretionary authority to revoke a person’s refugee status after it has been granted by the refugee determination process
Postponing a claimant’s application for permanent residence for five years after the claimant has gained refugee status
Barring people from reuniting with their families for at least five years (more typically ten years) after gaining refugee status
Preventing refugee migrants from leaving Canada for five years after gaining refugee status.
As Jews we are particularly sensitive to unjust and arbitrary immigration and refugee policies. We have not forgotten the shameful 1939 decision by the Canadian government to deny the landing of the refugee ship, St Louis. Many of its nine hundred Jewish refugees were sent back to their deaths in Europe. Passage of Bill C-49 will no doubt result in the suffering of future refugees as well, and the needless harassment and suffering of others who do make it through the process.

We recognize that human smuggling is a problem, and that some refugee claims are bogus. But Bill C-49's approach is simply wrong. By targeting refugee claimants who arrive in Canada by roundabout means, it ignores the fact that often the most threatened refugees are precisely those that do not have the ability to obtain all the necessary travel documents. In addition, by putting so much discretion in the hands of the Minister, the bill allows for political considerations to come into play in an arena where justice demands that unpopular decisions must sometimes be made.

We urge the government to withdraw Bill C-49.

Yours truly,

Nathan Gilbert
On behalf of Congregation Darchei Noam’sSocial Justice Advocacy Committee

c.c.

Hon. Jason Kenney MP, Minister of Immigration
Hon. Vic Toews MP, Minister of Justice
Justin Trudeau, MP, Immigration Critic (Liberal)
Olivia Chow, MP, Immigration Critic (NDP)

Good News, Bad News on the Racist Rabbi Front

2010-12-12T08:55:00.009-05:00

The good news re the call of the Racist Rabbis for Israelis to not rent or sell property to non-Jews (see my previous post on this) is that several more significant Israeli and Jewish opinion makers have come out against it. This includes the generally right wing Jerusalem Post, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin, and leading "Lithuanian" Haredi Rabbis.

The bad news is that the original forty signatories have now grown to about 300. Almost all of these are of the "National Religious" or more accurately the "Chardal" (Haredi/National Religious) background.

And though some of Israel's Zionist rabbis have declined to sign, they have mostly done so while still tacitly agreeing with the gist of the call. Thus Rabbi Haim Druckman, influential head of the Bnai Akiva Yeshivas said he objects to all-inclusive statements against non-Jews. But at the same time, he expressed his identification with "the national struggle, seeking to preserve Israel as the Jewish state", and said he was aware of the struggle in Safed (where the call originated) "against the hostile elements seeking to damage its Jewish character."

And more bad news is that the state and government authorities have signaled that they are unlikely to act against these rabbis. Justice Minister Neeman has called for a larger role for religious law in the law of the state, and views this issue as within the purview of religious law. The state attorney general has merely said he would have his staff "look into it".

And since the authorities are doing nothing, and secular public opinion means nothing to them, and since the rabbis are convinced they have God on their side, their numbers continue to grow and their statements get more extreme. Yesterday, according to Ynet, the chief municipal Rabbi if Rosh Ha-ayin called for Jewish owned stores to not hire Arabs.

So we have it: a growing body of religious leaders, most on the government payroll, calling for out and out, in your face, unabashed and unashamed discrimination against non-Jews, and nobody in power doing anything about it. This is new level in the degeneration of Israeli society, and a very ominous one in my opinion. Anyone who cares about Jews, Israel, Israeli Arabs, or peace and justice in the middle east should do whatever they can to fight this trend.

You can read more about this issue at The Jerusalem Post, The Forward, and 972. It is worth reading and pondering.

Pot Calls The Kettle Black

2010-12-08T08:49:00.005-05:00

Forty municipal Rabbis in Israel have signed an open letter calling on Israeli Jews to refuse to sell or rent property to non-Jews including and especially Arab citizens of Israel.

Thankfully this has met with some - though hardly massive - protest in Israel. At least one leading Haredi Rabbi has dissented, saying ""What if there was a similar call in Berlin against renting properties to Jews?"

President Shimon Peres, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu have also issued statements against the Rabbis' call.

But wait! How is the forty Rabbis' call any different than the day to day practice of Israel's largest non-governmental land owner - the Jewish National Fund (JNF)? It has for years refused to lease properties to Israeli Arabs, and has spent millions of shekels defending this practice in Israeli courts. Even when it loses, it appeals and delays, delays delays.

And how is this racist call different in spirit than a new law introduced by Netanyahu's government that allows communities of under 500 families (approx 2500 people) to establish "acceptance" committees that must aprove all sales and rentals of properties within the community, in order to "preserve the demographic character of the community." This law is universally understood to have been designed to prevent Arabs in the Gallillee from moving into the many small Jewish only towns set up over the years to "Judaize" the Gallillee and prevent the expansion of Arab villages.

The hypocrisy is just dripping off of Netanayahu and Peres. If they were serious about condemning what these Rabbis are calling for, they would have them all fired. Each one of them is a State employee, serving as the salaried chief municipal Rabbi in such communities as Safed, Carmiel, Ramat Hasharon, Ashdod, and my old home town of Rehovot. Municipal Rabbis are appointed through the Prime Minister's office. After they fired these racist Rabbis, they would withdraw the "Small Community's Acceptance Committee Law." and after that they would vigorously enforce court rulings requiring the JNF to lease lands to Israeli Arabs.

But they don't and they won't. Because they don't really disagree with the Rabbis' call for separation of Jews and Arabs in housing, or for the second class status of non-Jews in the land of Israel. They just object to it bring said so openly and boldly.

Happy Hannukah

2010-12-03T12:40:00.003-05:00

The video above is sorta funny, but also kinda sad. It stereotypes the proud Christian vs the awkward Jew. The Christian knows exactly why he celebrates Christmas and the Jew is confused about Hannukah and more than a bit embarrassed. The whole thing can be summed up by the line that Colbert gives in response to Stewart's invitation to try a bit of Hannukah: "I'll keep Jesus you can keep your potato pancake"

On the other hand two insightful and more meaningful takes on the holiday can be found. One by Doniell Hartman of the Harman Institute of Jerusalem is remarkable not only for what it says, but by the fact that it is being written by a modern Orthodox Rabbi in Israel. It is a ray of sunshine in what often seems the ghettoizing narcissism of most of the Israeli religious circles. The second, by J.J. Goldberg, reminds us of the more problematic side of Hannukah and of many more recent revolutionary movements.

Finally to lighten the mood, and get into a positive holiday mood, we have this Israeli video which declares that everyone has a unique flame in their hearts and when we unite all the flames ... well things will be really good

Evil Turkey Offers Aid

2010-12-02T16:46:00.005-05:00

As I write this, Israel is experiencing one of the deadliest and most destructive natural disasters in its history - massive out of control forest fires in the Carmel Mountains just to the south of Haifa. At least forty people have died in the fire so far, Kibbutz Beit Oren has been completely destroyed, 30,000 people have been evacuated from various Haifa suburbs and Druze and Arab villages on the Carmel.

Israel says it does not have enough fire fighting equipment - planes in particular - to fight the blaze. It appealed to Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus, Greece and Spain to send aid. It even asked the U.S. if it could help. But, it seems, it did not ask the biggest country in the region likely to have the needed equipment and personnel. It didn't ask Turkey. After all Israel is still brogez (angry) with Turkey because the Turks forced Israel to kill nine of its citizens in the Flotilla affair.

Nevertheless, Turkey offered help, and the Israeli government had the good sense to accept it. Maybe this will help break the narrow thinking that says because the Turks oppose Israel's policies in Gaza, they are out to destroy Israel.

In the meantime lets hope the Turkish (and other countries') aid is quick to arrive, and that the fires can be controlled before doing too much more damage.

* * *

Update: Since I wrote the above, I see that the Palestinian Authority has sent fire fighters to help fight the blaze. Egypt and Jordan have also offered aid.

But (and there's always a "but" in the Middle East) lest we think that a Hannukah miracle has occurred and that out of the tragedy of this fire will come peace on earth, Islamic Jihad issued a statement against Muslim leaders "... whose hearts fill with compassion for the Zionist disaster." They continued: "There is no need to tell you how delighted we are that more than 40 cadets who tortured prisoners were killed in this fire. We never met with your compassion when Israel attacked us. Let the fire consume Israel."

A Sign of Desperation

2010-11-24T14:12:00.006-05:00

Many Israeli's are feeling more and more isolated. And in fact many of them are isolated: isolated from reality and from mainstream western thinking.

And it can only be seen as a sign of desperation, of isolation, and of narcissism when an Israeli university affiliated think tank, The Begin-Sadat Center For Strategic Studies, publishes this peon to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In part, it reads:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Canadian Prime Minister has emerged as a modern Abraham, a prophetic voice of principle in a world that is in danger of losing its conscience about Jews and Israel.
Our Biblical patriarch Abraham pleaded with God to rescind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, arguing that the virtues of just a few righteous people could suffice to save that world.

At this point I thought that perhaps they were implicitly casting Israel in the role of Sodom and Gommorah, and that Harper was arguing that since not all Israelis were settlers, chauvinists, and militarists, Israel deserved to be spared the wrath of the nations. But of course that is not their point at all. The article continues:

In our modern world, that righteous person – whose voice of conscience, critique and courage may be the saving grace – is surely Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
In his speech before a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism in Ottawa last week, Harper sounded the clearest and most courageous call of this century against modern anti-Semitism and hatred of the Jewish state. In fact, Harper’s entire political career has been punctuated by steadfast support for Israel and the Jewish People, with clarity of vision and intensity unparalleled in recent times.
We, like many other Israelis bewildered by the growing intensity of hatred against Jews, were comforted by Harper’s remarks. His bold words give us hope that there are indeed many decent people, some of them in positions of power, who will not bow to demonization, Orwellian twisting of history and language, and pure evil. It is reassuring to hear loudly from such righteous gentiles. Harper deserves our gratitude for still believing in true humanism and the redemption of mankind.
... The morally bankrupt UN and a plethora of additional international forums single out democratic Israel for imagined and exaggerated human rights abuses, ... Major human rights organizations have joined the anti-Israeli chorus, shocking us even more. But Harper is adamant in pointing out this perverse behavior ... helping us here in Israel to maintain our sanity and belief in the goodness of man.
... Judge Goldstone and much of the international community want to neuter Israel to the point that it can’t defend itself. His committee and its many pernicious international legal collaborators seek to restrain, inhibit, fetter and otherwise prevent Israel’s defense forces from defending itself ... Not the Right Honorable Stephen Harper. He has consistently backed Israel’s defensive actions against Palestinian and other terrorists, and stood up to the French, the Russians and others in international fora at the most critical moments. Over the past three years, Harper’s Canada stood alone in defense of Israel – eight times casting the only “no” vote against unfair
condemnations of Israel – during votes at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Harper speaks of the “persistence of the Jewish homeland as a sign of hope…,” as a symbol of “our faith in humanity’s future, in the power of good over evil.”
... Mr. Harper ... has emerged as the finest global spokesman for a more virtuous world. Thank you, Prime Minister Harper, for not despairing of the world nor abandoning us.

Suffice it to say that Stephen Harper is not considered a fine global spokesman by anyone else in the world. Canada recently lost (for the first time ever) its bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council. In Canada itself, Harper has never won a majority of the votes (he is Prime Minister only because the opposition is divided) and his current standing in the polls is about 35%. Within his own Conservative Party he is considered an autocrat, silencing or forcing out all who challenge him or begin to garner too much attention to themselves. He is a Christian conservative and plays to the social conservatives more than the fiscal conservatives. Despite Harpers considerable effort to woo Canada's Jewish voters, most of them still vote for his more liberal opponents.

That this is the man on whom the Begin-Sadat Center hangs the "hope of the world" is a sign of both how out-of-touch and how paranoid/desperate many of Israel's right leaning intellectual class have become.

Ars Gratis Artis

2010-11-12T13:33:00.003-05:00

Good music knows no borders. And one of the things I liked a lot when I lived in Israel was learning to appreciate Mizrachi (eastern) music. It is something I haven't gotten to hear too often since I left.

One would think that Israeli music with Arabic influence might be a bridge between Jews and Arabs. In fact I'm not so sure. But nevertheless here are two such songs by the incredible Israeli singer Zehava Ben.

The song featured above is in Arabic, and is a cover of a classic hit by the great Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum. I found links to it on Lebanese and Pakistani web sites, as well as Israeli ones.

The song featured below is in Hebrew, but the Arabic influence is obvious.

I wonder if these would qualify as "Zionist Art" now being promoted by the Israeli Ministry of Culture (see previous posting.)

Zionist Art

2010-11-08T13:08:00.006-05:00

According to Haaretz, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport has announced a new award for "Zionist Arts"

So now Israel not only has an official religion but also an official ideology and art. (Loyalty oaths to the Zionist State no doubt coming soon.)

Imagine, by way of comparison, if the U.S. government instituted prizes for "Capitalist Arts". Wasn't this tried already with "Socialist Art" in the Soviet Union and with [name withheld] art in a certain 1930's central European country?

When the state starts supporting certain art and suppressing others, its bad for art and bad for the state. And when art becomes overtly polemical it usually becomes bad art. (OK! "Guernica" is an obvious exception.)

On the other hand, it is often historically interesting ...

"What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate"

2010-11-06T00:26:00.004-04:00

According to the Jerusalem Post (of all places!) President Obama blames poor communications for the Democrats recent election rout.

In the wake of this week's Midterm elections in the United States, President Barack Obama acknowledged that he has not been able to successfully promote his economic-rescue message to anxious Americans.

In an interview with CBS television, Obama said that he has not blamed his policies for the loss, but rather a lack of communication with the American people. The US president said that he has "stopped paying attention" to the leadership style he displayed during his run for the presidency.

He also said he recognizes now that "leadership is not just legislation," and that "it's a matter of persuading people. And giving them confidence and bringing them together. And setting a tone. And making an argument that people can understand."

"And I think that," Obama continued, "we haven't always been successful at that."

Well duh !

Thoughts on the U.S. Election

2010-11-03T10:25:00.006-04:00

I am sure much more has and will be written on yesterday's U.S. election by people smarter and more knowledgeable than I. But nevertheless here are a few short observations.

1. Money Talks: The Republic gains can be ascribed to many things. But one of them, and certainly not the least, is the unprecedented flow of big money, often from anonymous sources, to right wing candidates and in support of right wing issues. This is largely as a result of the terrible U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which overturns nearly a century of campaign finance reform and allows corporations to contribute unlimited funds in support of "issues" advertising right up to election day. As I wrote when this decision was first made, it is a game changer with long term consequences. I wrote at the time that if the Democratically controlled Congress did not do something to nullify the effects of this court decision, and do it before the elections just completed, they would never get a chance to do so again. The results of this massive infusion of unauditable corporate cash into the American political system, would give right wing candidates control of Congress for years to come. I fear I was correct.

And, as if to add insult to injury in this regard, one of the Democratic Senators to fall last night, was Russ Feingold - one of the authors of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Act, the very law overturned in the Citizens United case.

2. Age Matters: According to CNN, exit polls indicated a strong showing for the Tea Party among seniors, with 47 percent of those 65 and older saying they support the Tea Party, while only 26 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 said they it. CNN also notes that 25% of the voters in this election were 65 years or older! (When they make up only 15% of the voting age population.) So unless the younger voters can be enticed to vote in larger numbers - as they did for Obama in 2008 - the left is in for many more years of election defeats.

An interesting point to consider in this regard is, "do people's politics change as they age, or do they keep their basic political orientation." If the former assumption is true then the future is even more bleak for progressives then it is today, as the "baby boomer" demographic bulge is just now moving in to the "seniors" bracket. If the second assumption is true we may see seniors slowly become more liberal over the next few years, with a real shift to the left coming in about 25 years, when todays under 40's - progressive by a wide margin, hit 65. But then again, if they retain their political inactivity along with their progressive values, then this may not matter at all.

3. Is it good for the Jews? No! If its bad for America and bad for the world (and it is,) then, by definition, its bad for the Jews.

And among the many new Republicans elected, not one Jew! * (Though there were several new Black and Latino Republicans elected.) Eric Cantor remains the only Republican Jew in Congress. This, as opposed to the approximately two dozen or so Jews among Democrats on Capitol Hill. The number of Jews in Congress will drop as a result of this election, with Russ Feingold being the most prominent Jew to go down, though the number of Jews in the Senate will likely stay the same - at 13 - as Richard Blumenthal won an open Senate seat in Connecticut. (As of this writing the incumbent Michael Bennett is leading in Colorado, but the race is still considered to close to call.)

And despite what Likud supporter's in Israel might think, this is not necessarily good for the Israeli right wing. Congress was and remains pro Israel. Foreign policy is largely the prerogative of the President, and there is no predicting how the election might affect Obama's mood and policy's on the Middle East. On the one hand he may feel that with so many other troubles, he doesn't need the headache and domestic opposition that will come with pushing aggressively for a peace deal, or reaching out to Arabs and Muslims. On the other hand, frustrated on the domestic front, he may decide to devote more energy to foreign affairs, where he has a relatively free hand.

4. Will Obama be a one term President? Read points 1 and 2 above! On the other hand, the last time the President's party lost so badly in midterm elections was in 1946 - and Truman went on to be re-elected in '48! Similarly, Eisenhower, Reagan, and Clinton all came back to win after significant midterm losses. It will all probably depend on the economy. And if you know where that's going to be in two years, please let me know.

(*) I just read that there may be 2nd Republican Jews in Congress. Congresswoman-elect Nan Hayworth of New York, is married to a Jew, and calls herself a Jew, though it seems she never converted. If the Jews can count Democrat Micheal Bennet as Jewish - he defines his religion as "unaffiliated", though his mother is Jewish - than why not Ms. Hayworth?

Deconstruct this, please!

2010-11-03T08:57:00.002-04:00

Someone deconstruct this, please !

And while your thinking about that, you can contribute to the AJWS. It really is a good charity. To learn more about AJWS click here. To donate click here.

Torn Between Being Liberal and Being Israeli

2010-10-29T21:58:00.002-04:00

I was sent this email

Syd:

I wanted to let you know that I've been reading your blog for a few months now, and that it's one of the most objective, honest and interesting collection of ideas and comments from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As an Israeli high-school student, I'm so gracious to people like you who help me understand what makes my home country tick, and to live an aware, responsible life.
I think you'd be interested in featuring an article about my struggle to reconcile patriotism with politics. This struggle faces all liberal Israelis--and I think it'd be so incredible for you to show the world that we do exist, regardless of Israelis like Avigdor Lieberman. You should check out http://voice.paly.net/node/24663.

I hope you take me up on this offer.

Gadi

So I have taken up the offer. The article linked to above, is a heartfelt cry from a young liberal Israeli currently living in the U.S. Read it and ponder what the fate of this young man will be in 10 - 20 years.

Gaza War Crimes Revisited

2010-10-26T11:37:00.005-04:00

Remember the Goldstone Report. Remember how it was reviled as "anti-semitic" for its highlighting probable Israeli war crimes in Gaza, and for demanding that Israel instigate credible and independent criminal investigations of these allegations or face the International Criminal Court.

Well whether out of good will or a wish to avoid the ICC, Israel has instigated criminal investigations. Whether they are credible remains to be seen. (They are certainly not independent, since it is the army doing the investigations of itself.) One of the cases currently being investigated is the incident in which 30 members of the al-Samouni family were massacred on January 5, 2009, after taking refuge in a building to which they had been directed by Israeli troops. The building was subsequently attacked with missiles ordered up by the same brigade that directed them to this "safe haven".

The Tikun Olam blog gives a pretty thorough review of the evidence presented so far. And while it seems that there was no genocidal preconceived plan to round up these Palestinians and massacre them, there was a series of sloppy mistakes, an attitude of "shoot first ask questions later", and a general disregard for Palestinian civilian lives that lead to this massacre.

The initial Israeli missile attack - on a group of men just outside the "safe haven"- was based on the mistaken identification - itself based on very grainy areal photos - that pieces of lumber being carried by members of the al-Soumi family were in fact RPG launchers. This despite a warning given to the commander that the pictures were inconslusive. A subsequent direct attack on the building where the family was huddled was undertaken despite a warning that "there may be civilians inside." No one bothered to check first with the Israeli troops on the ground in the area - the same ones who had told the al-Soumi family to take refuge in that particular building. Whether the "refuge" had ever been communicated to the brigade commander who ordered the missile attacks is still unclear. But what is clear is that he was ordering missile attacks based on the filmiest of evidence of perceived threat and without doing any checking to see if civilians where in the line of fire.

If this is not murder than it is at least criminal negligence. But those are civilian categories, and this is military tribunal investigating one of its own, so I wouldn't expect any real justice here. Still the details are fascinating. Worth a read.

It also worth nothing, that the brigade commander involved - Col. Molka (pictured above) - was a direct subordinate of than OC Southern Command, Gen. Yoav Gallant. Gallant fought hard to suppress this investigation entirely, but was overruled by the chief military prosecutor - presumably with the backing of current IDF COS Motti Ashkenazi, who is known to dislike Gallant and have lobbied hard against his further advancement. But since then, Gallant was been as named the next Chief of Staff of the Israeli armed forces. (He is a favourite of Defense Minister Barak.) So its a safe bet this investigation will not go higher up the chain of command than Col Malka.

In Defense of the Two State Solution

2010-10-26T10:51:00.003-04:00

Amira Haas quotes former PLO Ambassador Afif Safieh new book "The Peace Process - from Breakthrough to Breakdown":

"Besides my doubts about the feasibility of this proposal (one state ), I have serious reservations about its desirability. A fanaticized Israeli Jewish community is hardly a partner one would seek with relish as co-citizens. The disparity between both societies...makes the one state formula a mechanism for the perpetuation of the domination of one community by the other."

This makes sense to me. Not to mention the visceral pride that the nation state can bring. Even Canadians are not immune to the thrill of having the flag flying and the national anthem playing at the Olympics. Why should the Palestinians be denied that pride?

While I personally would not object to a one state solution - if security for all could be assured - it seems to me that the majority of both Jews and Palestinians prefer a two state solution. Only after each side feels secure in its own state, can the two comfortably come together in some looser or tighter (con)federation.

The (often gleeful) argument put forward by the one state fans, is that continued Israeli settlement has made the two state solution impossible. But it is no more impossible to imagine than one state - which requires an uprooting of both Jewish and Palestinian thinking no less difficult or painful than the uprooting of settlers. Both solutions seem distant dreams right now. But until a majority of at least one people back the one state solution, I think lefty intellectuals should back what both the Israeli government and the PA/PLO officially say is their goal - a two state solution.

And in the interim, the battle should not be about "solutions" at all, but about equal rights for Palestinians under Israeli jurisdiction.

Not By Might Nor By Power, But By Spirit ...

2010-10-24T13:07:00.003-04:00

A chilling article in Haaretz makes it clear that the continued Israeli occupation and the continued - and increasing - racism against Arabs within Israel proper - is not only an ethical problem but a strategic and possibly existential problem as well.

After discussing the tactical "rationality" of messianic fanatic, and exploring some nightmare scenarios of "limited" Iranian nuclear strikes against Israel, the article concludes with this:

The conclusion to be drawn from this is not the necessity of a preemptive strike. Necessity lies elsewhere. Israel, which is being pulled into a racist, antidemocratic identity, is not "only" an ethical tragedy. Such a racist entity isolates itself, makes itself illegitimate in a way that deprives it of its capabilities of both deterrence and self-defense.

All paths to reducing the danger of the apocalyptic-messianic scenario require Israel to end the diplomatic isolation to which its racist policy sentences it and to become a welcome, legitimate member of the global community.

It is the same for the strategic umbrella from the West, with Israel's inclusion in NATO - which is conditional on the signing of a regional peace agreement a la the 2002 Arab League Peace Initiative. And also for any last-minute attempt to foil the Iranian nuclear program, whether by a dangerous Israeli military gamble, by an action that will bolster regime change or by more aggressive action by the West.

All this gives the moral imperative, necessary to Israel's very existence, of a change in policy - dismantling the religious autonomy threatening to swallow Israel; returning to the post-War of Independence borders and ensuring the Declaration of Independence's promise of "complete equality of rights irrespective of religion, race or sex" - the force of an existential imperative.

The crude swipes taken at this imperative show that the racist and fascist winds blowing in Israel have reached the stage where they even allow themselves to violate the survival instinct. ...

Legitimacy has its privileges. Would Iran dare attack Israel if it where firmly ensconced in NATO and/or the EU? Would Iran be so motivated to attack Israel if there was a peaceful two state solution and if Israeli Arabs were firmly and prosperously integrated into Israeli society?

Concomitantly, lack of legitimacy has its costs.

So I ask the Israeli government- are another few square kilometers of the Land of Israel really worth that much? But sadly the Israeli government is dominated by messianists - as tactically logical, but ultimately as deluded as the Iranian leadership - and by fascistic cynics - who see no value in good-will, legitimacy or spirit, and who believe that only might makes right.

Cup Still Half Full. But For How Long? At Least 25% of Israeli Jews Can Objectively be Considered Fascist

2010-10-17T09:53:00.004-04:00

A shocking new poll published by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Achronot shows how far and how fast the mood among Israeli Jews has shifted towards outright fascism.

According to the poll:

36% of Israeli Jews wish to revoke the voting rights of non-Jews;

55% support abrogating the right to free speech during times of "political difficulties;" [And when in recent memory has Israel not been in "political difficulties"?]

57% support banning all demonstration during times of "military operations;"

25% would support transferring all power to a dictator during times of war. [And let's remember that Israel has been in legal state of war since its creation in 1948, and in an active shooting war, with one party or another, for much of the past decade.]

I could argue that any of these opinions is fascistic. But let's be conservative and say that only the last opinion, supporting dictatorship, marks one as a fascist. That's still 25% of the Israeli Jewish population that holds objectively fascist views. Not surprisingly only 3% self identify as fascists, but more tellingly, and giving some reason for hope, 66% of Israeli Jews are worried about the rise of fascism in Israel. (Still, I wonder how many of those people worried about fascism also approve of the opinions cited above. Mathematically there has to be an overlap!)

Now some may argue that 25% (or 36%) is not so bad. It's a minority. So the glass is more than half full. But what's most worrisome is the trend. Support for these opinions is growing. As the conflict with the Palestinians drags on and on, and as Israel gets more isolated, many Israeli Jews are circling the wagons, becoming even more inward looking and ethnocentric, more and more rejecting liberal Western values, and more and more adopting hard right positions.

This is another reason to pray for a peace agreement as soon possible. If the trend continues, in another few years most Israelis Jews will not be interested in peace or democracy or coexistence.

Loyalty Oath Is About Hatred Of Liberal Values

2010-10-11T09:15:00.002-04:00

This appeared in Haaretz. It is worth spreading far and wide, which is why I am reproducing it in full. It's truth is self evident to anyone who follows Israeli politics closely, but it is not often stated so clearly.

There is nothing left to say about how bad, harmful and useless the new citizenship law is: Labor Party Minister Isaac Herzog has warned that it is another step towards fascism; legal experts like Mordechai Kremnitzer have pointed out that it doesn’t serve any identifiable purpose except making Arabs feeling even less at home in Israel. Likud Ministers Benny Begin and Dan Meridor have pointed out how harmful the law is for the relation with Israeli Arabs and for Israel’s standing in the world.

Both Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu have already declared that they see this law as just a first step in a general attempt towards ensuring loyalty to the state by legislation. The time has come to ask what really stands behind this rising tide. The obvious answer seems to be that it is directed against both Israel’s Arab citizenry, whom Avigdor Lieberman is alienating and insulting almost every day, and Palestinians who want to gain Israeli citizenship.

But I think that this is not the whole story. Consider this strangest of alliances between Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas; one is a completely secular, ultra-nationalist, the other an ultra-Orthodox party. What do they have in common? Why are they lately so effectively cooperate with each other, together with other extreme-right parties?

I believe that what unites them is less a fear of Israel’s enemies (and Israel does have enemies). It is a visceral hatred for the Western values and the liberal ethos. They all hate freedom; they all hate the idea of critical, open discourse, in which ideas are discussed according to their merit. They keep criticizing what they see as the liberal bias of the media and academia, and they have made sustained attempts to curtail freedom of speech at the universities.

Lieberman’s disdain for these ideas breaks through at every possible moment: lately he has insulted French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, telling them they should take care of their own problems in Europe before they come to advise Israel. This has been typical of him for a long time: Lieberman thinks that Israel should turn east; that it should no longer define itself as a Western country, and should finally shake off Israel’s original commitment to be part of the Western world.

Shas has made clear for decades that it just plays along with democracy; that it doesn’t believe in the idea of citizens thinking critically: they believe that only their spiritual leader, Ovadia Yossef, must determine what is right and what is wrong. Other ultra-rightists have been feeling for a long time that the commitment to universal values is undermining their program for the greater Israel in which Palestinians should have no political rights.

They cannot stand the idea that a liberal democracy should be based on rational legislation and is open to criticism by all. They are furious that tribal loyalty is not above criticism. Just lately, national religious rabbis have claimed that studying at universities is a danger for young religious people, because they internalize too many enlightenment values.

We are really talking about a right-wing anti-liberal coalition united by an instinctive hatred against the idea that there are universal standards of rationality and of morality. They do not want to hear criticism of their worldviews that relies on ideas that have, for a long time, been common to the free world. What we are seeing is a fight about Israel’s cultural and political identity.

It may be frightening, but it’s time to realize where we live. Isaac Herzog is wrong when he says that fascism lurks at the fringes of Israeli society. It is now in the mainstream. After all, even the majority of Likud ministers have voted for the shameful new citizenship law amendment.

Israel is now facing a fateful question: will it remain a liberal democracy, or is it on the way to becoming a totalitarian ethnocracy? This is not a rhetorical question. Democracies do not turn into autocratic regimes from one day to the next; it mostly happens step by step. The ugly wave of anti-liberal legislation we are witnessing shows that Israel has embarked on a slippery slope; and we cannot know where it will end. The day may well come when Lieberman and Yishai will argue that critical articles about the government are disloyal to the state, and must be forbidden; and the day may come where the repeated attempts to shut off academics who do not show sufficient “loyalty” will succeed, and they will be fired or jailed.

It is a truly terrible tragedy: we Jews have suffered throughout history from repressive, authoritarian regimes that accused Jews of not being sufficiently German, French, Russian or Spanish. We Jews have experienced the blessing of the enlightenment ideals that allow Jews around the world to live dignified lives and participate in liberal democracies. And the Jewish state is about to gradually erase these values, enshrined in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

The likes of Eli Yishai and Lieberman cannot possibly be influenced by arguments like this. After all, they hate Enlightenment values and the principles of liberal democracy. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom I disagree in many respects, is, at heart, a believer in classical liberalism. He must ask himself whether he can live with the fact that, for the sake of political short-term gain, he is harming Israel’s democracy irretrievably.

And Isaac Herzog must understand that giving interviews saying that fascism is becoming a danger in no way absolves him from the responsibility of being a member of the government that is gradually burying Israel’s democracy.

Check It Out

2010-10-10T10:17:00.004-04:00

My son thinks my obsession with Israel is beside the point. He thinks, and he may be right, that the environmental crisis, and global warming in particular, is the number one problem facing all humanity - including Jews, Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians.

And he takes his beliefs seriously. He had decided several years ago to become an organic farmer. In order to minimize his carbon footprint he decided to go "low tech" and farm, as much as possible, with horses instead of tractors.

After apprenticing and working on other peoples farms for 5 years, he is now starting up his own farm and community supported agriculture project (CSA.) You can check out his web site and blog at http://plowsharefarm.wordpress.com/. If you live near Guelph or Kitchener/Waterloo Ontario you can join the CSA and get good fresh organic produce to pick up, or to be delivered to your door, starting May 2011. Check it out.

Israeli Loyalty Oath Set To Pass

2010-10-07T11:34:00.004-04:00

The Israeli cabinet recently approved a controversial right wing proposal to have new Israeli citizens swear loyalty to "Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

This is understood by everyone as a slap in the face of non Jewish Israelis (25% of the population) and an attempt to make any demands that Israel be a "state for all its citizens" beyond the pale, and perhaps grounds for revocation of citizenship.

By way of comparison, imagine if the U.K. demanded that all new citizens swear allegiance to the "United Kingdom as an Anglo-Saxon and democratic state" or if Italy demanded a declaration of loyalty to "Italy as a Catholic and democratic state."

Interestingly, Jews claiming citizenship under the Law of Return are exempt. (Are they afraid of a few lefty olim who might refuse to take such an oath?) Thus practically speaking the new law will apply mostly to relatives (typically new wives) of Israeli Arabs who apply for Israeli citizenship under the family re-unification clauses of the Citizenship and Immigration Act.

But still the symbolism of the new law is clear. To put non-Jewish Israelis in their place, and to squelch any liberal voices calling for Israel to be a secular state for all its citizens. It further ensconces Israel as an "ethnic democracy" where some people are more equal than others. It moves Israel towards a totalitarianism where the official state ideology cannot be challenged, and where people who do challenge that ideology can be labelled traitors and be denied (and perhaps lose) citizenship rights. And it further supports the historical mistake (in my opinion anyway) of the total conflation of the State of Israel and the Jewish People.

This Is Happenning In Jerusalem - "The Eternal Capital of the Jewish People"

2010-10-01T04:59:00.006-04:00

What's shocking about this story is not that it happened (sadly it is all too common in Gaza or the West Bank), but where it happened.

This happened in Jerusalem - "The Eternal Capital of the Jewish People." In an area within Israel "proper" (at least according to Israel), subject to Israeli law (not military law), and whose victims are legal residents of Israel (with legal papers to prove it) and some of whom are Israeli citizens (residents of East Jerusalem were automatically given Israeli residency status after Israel's 1967 annexation; they were also given the right to apply for, and easily receive, Israeli citizenship, though only some availed themselves of this right.)

Read the full story on the Tikun Olam site (and follow the links for more background on the "Silwan Riot", itself caused by the killing of an Arab resident by a Jewish security guard), but here is an excerpt. It gives you an idea of how even Israeli Arabs (as opposed to "occupied Arabs") are treated.

Recently, I was on the ground and witnessed soldiers urinating and defecating on the roofs of private Palestinian homes, throwing bottles (water and beer) on to Palestinians pedestrians on the street and breaking windows left and right. From the ground [live] I tweeted:

“Soldiers are trashing roof tops with urine and feces in Silwan. We are cleaning up and putting the waste in front of the settler house”

“The police have no shame at all. They have broken a window now and poked their heads into the house demanding coffee”

“They are also throwing bottles from roofs on to the main streets.”

By way of a thought experiment, imagine the L.A. police acting this way during and after a riot in a black neighborhood. How would America have reacted - even in the 60's? And how has Israel reacted? Despite widespread reporting of these incidents in the Israeli media, the police defend themselves, the government takes no action, and the public is indifferent.