Archive for July, 2009
Jews for a Theocratic Israel
Posted by Mairav Zonszein in Israel, Jerusalem on July 31st, 2009
As an Israeli who actively opposes the occupation, it is important and fascinating for me to keep abreast of what the “other side” thinks. The following is a quote from the leading religious settler activist Nadia Matar of Women in Green, who is known for her fanaticism. While she does not represent a large segment of Israeli society, some of what she expresses certainly resonates with many Israelis and with the very definition of the State of Israel.
“Already now, when there is just talk of the destruction of the outposts, that everyone knows is the first stage of the destruction of the settlement enterprise as a whole, with the goal of establishing a Palestinian state instead, we must make the mental switch and internalize that each of us has the responsibility and obligation to leave our everyday lives and participate in the struggle for Eretz Israel. In my humble opinion, we lost the struggle for Gush Katif and northern Samaria because we did not relate to Eretz Israel as a supreme value for which self-sacrifice is needed. If there had been some preposterous government decree that IDF soldiers must enter the homes of Jews on Yom Kippur and forcibly feed them nonkosher food, I assume and hope that a wall-to-wall consensus would take shape among our public on the need to refuse to obey this anti-Jewish and anti-moral order. The victims of the “force-feeding” would not begin a “With Love We Will Be Victorious” campaign, but rather, they, too, would vigorously resist.”
And I ask: Why is what is so clear regarding Shabbat and kashrut observance is not clear regarding Eretz Israel?”
Sign at a recent Women in Green rally in Jerusalem
Gaza Reflections from Antony Loewenstein
Posted by Joseph Dana in Jerusalem on July 31st, 2009
Antony Loewenstein just returned from a reporting trip in Gaza. Yesterday we sat and edited some of his video footage that he captured with a personal camera. They are small snippets of life from a place that many of us associate with death. Below his video is a small write up about his experience.
The Western view of Gaza is of a desperate and violent place. Terrorism, extremism, Jew-hatred and poverty merge to create a dangerous brew. The Hamas-controlled territory poses a supposedly existential threat to Israel (and Jews everywhere.) But this is only one side of the besieged Strip. And much of it is blatantly untrue.
This video is an attempt to paint an alternative Gaza. Hatred exists there – I saw and heard it and challenged the conflation of Israel with Judaism – but what I found was something else entirely. Entire neighbourhoods flattened by Israeli missiles. Destroyed buildings with families living inside them. Refugee camps caused by IDF incursions. Beautiful singing and poetry sung by eager men. A will to survive and thrive despite the belief that the world, including the Arab neighbours, have forgotten their plight. Rappers desperate to tell the Palestinian narrative to the world and reflect a Gazan sensibility.
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The Debate Continues: Self-Hating Jews and the Jews Who Love Them
Posted by Joseph Dana in Jerusalem on July 30th, 2009
As long as there has been Jewish dissent and criticism of internal authority there has been the label of “self-hating Jew.” One of the most famous Jewish dissenters, Baruch Spinoza, was excommunicated from his community when he challenged the authority and control of his contemporary Jewish leaders. The leaders of the Jewish Enlightenment, Haskalah, were continuously attacked by mainstream Jewish authorities as self-hating and corrosive for the Jewish community. A form of the debate has now shifted from criticism of Jewish religious and communal authority to Israeli politics. James Kirchick has jumped into the debate about a contemporary Jewish dissenter, Max Blumenthal. He posted an opinion piece in Commentary about Max Blumenthal and our video ‘feeling the hate in Jerusalem”. For some strange reason, Commentary decided to remove the piece almost as fast as it was posted. After reading a cached copy of the article I can understand why. A passage:
“I don’t understand what possesses a Jew like Max Blumenthal to go to Jerusalem, film a handful of drunk American kids spouting stupid racist remarks, put the tape up on YouTube where it attracts 400,000 hits, and then claim that the inebriated ramblings of young tourists on Ben Yehuda St. somehow represents the dark soul of Israel. But then again, I don’t have a visceral hatred of my Jewish heritage, which seems to be a common factor among the Juicebox Mafia set; I don’t feel a need to criticize Israel relentlessly and unfairly in order to earn my keep with the bien pensant Left.”
You can read more of the article here.
Jerusalem Welcomes American Envoys with Chants of “Saddam Hussein Obama”
Posted by Joseph Dana in Israel, Jerusalem on July 28th, 2009
A rally was held this evening protesting the arrival of the US envoys in Israel. Members of National Union, Likud and Israel Beiteinu led the crowd, which included Kahanists wearing t-shirts saying “Kahane was right,” referring to Meir Kahane’s ideology of violence against all who stand in the way of the constant expansion of Jewish territory.
The people that attended the rally think that occupying another people and chanting racist slurs at the first black president of the United States (who was elected by a majority of American Jews who support him) is their expression of freedom and democracy. As a humanist and a pragmatist, it can feel very uneasy and unsafe in this country.
While the people opposing settlement expansion get no coverage in the media, those supporting it get plenty. As we were filming the event numerous people asked us detailed questions about where we are from and what we planned on doing with the footage. It was striking that MK Michael Ari made a special point to thank Arutz Sheva, the Israel National News. The coverage they put out is fine, but our attempt to show the world their racism is definitely a no-no. Their relative self-awareness added a new layer to our understanding of settler insanity.
Most people we talked to did not hesitate to attack Obama and his administration, of which many are Jews themselves. The general atmosphere of the rally was that Obama is a Muslim and a racist who denies the Jewish people their right to control the Land of Israel. When asked about American aid to Israel, most replied that this was a separate issue.
Coexistence that the Western Media is not Willing to Cover
Posted by Joseph Dana in Israel, West Bank on July 27th, 2009
Saturday was a burning hot day in the West Bank. Combatants for Peace, a group made up of Israeli ex-combat soldiers and Palestinian ex-fighters, planned a protest at an illegal outpost adjacent to Shufa, a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank that is very close to the Green Line. The illegal outpost was built by settlers from the settlement of Avney Hefetz over the last three weeks. They simply took over a hilltop on Palestinian land and constructed makeshift tents that are guarded by the IDF. While the tents are not settlements, the pattern is clear. Build a tent, then build a house, then another one and you have a settlement protected by the IDF that then becomes a “consensus area” too populated to ever evacuate.
Sheikh Jarrah Getting Warmer
Posted by Joseph Dana in Israel on July 27th, 2009
From the excellent blog by a Rabbis for Human Rights member, Ryan Linstrom. Yesterday settlers have occupied a house in Sheikh Jarrah with the cover of Israeli border police. This is the neighborhood that has been making news waves recently because of the involvement of millionaire right wing nut Irving Moskowitz.
Antony Loewenstein reports from Gaza
Posted by Joseph Dana in Jerusalem on July 27th, 2009
Antony Loewenstein has been traveling and reporting from Gaza over the last week. This is his latest from the ground published by Mondoweiss.
While the devastation, desperation and anger permeates every level of existence here and the siege is the topic of every second conversation, hope lives. Although many have said they would love to leave and go somewhere else, there’s a spark of proud survival. It is clear that the Palestinians here are victims of an insane experiment that aims to overthrow Hamas but in fact only strengthens the hatred towards Israel. I’m hearing it every day. Dislike of Jews has only been occasionally expressed. Rampant homophobia is sadly common. In the main, this is not a religious conflict. I even heard from my hotel tonight, situated right on Gaza’s beach promenade, a Hamas wedding with a DJ and cheesy, Western pop music. Sometimes, dancing comes before faith.
The streets, alleys and laneways are cluttered, dusty, often smelly and crowded. Cracked windshields can’t be replaced because the right size of glass is unavailable. Criss-crossing the Strip in countless battered cars, I’ve met drivers who live on a few shekels per ride. Yesterday I tried to give one younger man my change as a tip, but he insisted I take back the less than two shekels. It was humbling from a man who soon after was stopped and verbally abused by a Hamas policeman.
Settlers, Israel and the Media
Posted by Joseph Dana in Israel, Jerusalem on July 26th, 2009
Settler organizations have publicly proclaimed their intention of rebuilding at least eleven outposts in newspapers across Israel today. They claim to be taking a stand against the international pressure on Israel to destroy illegal settlements and freeze all settlement activity. What is really going on with this public proclamation of intent?
Why would they inform the entire world about their intent before doing anything? Why not rebuild the outposts and then tell the world? This is another instance of the game that the settlers along with the authorities of the state of Israel are playing to make the settlement issue into something that it is not. It is not a violent internal struggle, at least between the settlers and the IDF. The settlers do not exist without the full permission of the Israeli government and the military support of the IDF. These settler proclamations are a simple way to create an image of a problem for the international media. Israel attempts to create the illusion of a painful cost of removing outposts as a result of stunts like this settler proclamation. It is a silly game.
settler advert proclaiming their intention to build eleven outposts in the coming days
We should also keep in mind that it is the middle of summer which means summer vacation for the children. What is a better way for children to spend summer vacation than to rebuild outposts and fight with the army in staged photo op?
Combatants for Peace in the West Bank
Posted by Joseph Dana in Israel, West Bank on July 25th, 2009
Ta’ayush joined Combatants for Peace near Tul Karem to build a protest structure next to an illegal outpost. They are working on getting television coverage of the event which means the main footage will not go out until tomorrow. Below is a sneak peak of my footage of the day.
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Israeli Settlements: Obama Should Know Better
Posted by Joseph Dana in Israel, Jerusalem on July 31st, 2009
Cross posted at The Nation
Early in the morning on July 7, an excited crowd of more than 100 gathered in Ben-Gurion International Airport to greet 232 new Jewish immigrants to Israel who arrived from North America on an El Al charter flight organized and funded by Nefesh B’Nefesh (which means “Soul in Soul” in Hebrew). The airport’s old and defunct Terminal 1 has been transformed into a celebratory arrival hall for new immigrants brought by the nonprofit organization, which was founded in 2001 with the aim of revitalizing immigration to Israel from North America and Britain.
Recently considered by the Jewish Agency to be serious competition when it comes to immigration, NBN is now recognized as the official operator of North American immigration to Israel. After some years of animosity and tension between the two groups, the Jewish Agency, along with the Israeli government, signed a contract with NBN last September that not only grants formal recognition to NBN but also guarantees that the government and the Jewish Agency will each fund a third of NBN’s $12 million annual budget. The remaining third comes from private donors. It is noteworthy, given the fact that Israeli taxpayer money goes toward this enterprise, that so few Israelis have heard of it.
NBN’s declared mission is to remove any obstacles that may stand in the way of those who wish to move to Israel. As such, it offers incentives, primarily cash. In addition to the “absorption basket”–a set of social and financial benefits provided by the government–new immigrants are flown over in an El Al plane, given their immigrant certification upon arrival and receive a lump sum of money. This money is stipulated as an advance, awarded only after the olim (immigrants) have lived at least three years in Israel. Amounts vary, depending on family size and financial situation. Although all immigrants sign a contract with NBN requiring that they “agree not to disclose the amount of the advance of funds to any person,” a single man who moved from the United States in 2006 was willing to divulge that he was granted $4,000 when he moved.
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Nefesh BNfesh, settlements
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