... most of the words cited [for antisemitism] were taken from the
old Egyptian and Jordanian texts and not the newer Palestinian
ones.
[Israeli and Palestinian] texts were almost mirror
images of one another. Each celebrates only its own victims, and
ignores the human suffering of the other.
Not
the Enemyby
Rachel Shabi, Yale University Press, UK, 2009 (264 pages).[Published in the USA asWe
Look Like the Enemy, Walker & Company.]
Today Mizrahim are not some repressed minority; they are generals,
doctors, property developers and bank managers, and have held every
high government post other than prime minister.
...
intermarriage is running at 25 percent and the mixed Israeli family
is fast become the norm.
Shabi presents the persecution of
Mizrahi Jews in Arab countries largely as a backlash to Zionism.
From May 31st through June 14th of this year, I had the opportunity to take part in two unique and important programs in Israel...Showing that you can love Israel but hate the occupation, these tours sharply differed from the usual Jewish-organized youth trips in the region...
On Sunday, September 18, 2011, Partners for Progressive Israel (Meretz USA) President Dina B. Charnin, Chair Theodore Bikel, and Executive Director Ron Skolnik issued the following statement on behalf of the organization:
The
Palestinian decision to advance their statehood drive via the United Nations,
and outside the framework of negotiations with Israel, is a diplomatic turning
point that creates risks but also offers new openings for progress toward
peace. For the benefit of both the
Jewish and Palestinian peoples, we urge the government of Israel to focus on
the positive elements we expect to be contained in the Palestinian request, as
outlined below, and to refrain from precipitous responses that would escalate
tension and serve the agenda of both sides' extremists.
Until I read this morning's Israeli
newspapers, I thought I was going to use this platform to discuss the flotilla
and the fly-in protest. After all, these
two related campaigns have dominated the Israel-Palestine conversation for several
weeks. It's what everyone's talking
about.
But as I clicked through to the various
articles in today's Haaretz, I was disturbed to discover that, with all eyes glued
to the Audacity of Hope, the Juliano Mer and the other flotilla vessels,
Israel's government was busy promoting some rather dreadful measures that too
few are paying to attention to. So rather
than write the thousand and first treatment of the Gaza situation (important
issue though it is), I decided instead to discuss land expropriation, the
‘boycott bill', and an initiative to undermine the funding of Israeli human
rights organizations.
Prior to last week I'd never heard of Ras al-Amud. That's not
surprising. As an American Jew, I was
not meant to. I was not meant to know
that Ras al-Amud even existed,
because to know that it exists, that it is a Palestinian neighborhood in East
Jerusalem that is located just south of the old city and overlooks Silwan and Abu Dis, and that in 2003 it had a population of 11,922, is to
admit that Palestinians have a legitimate claim and right to Jerusalem.
As an American Jew I'm not "supposed" to know
that. It's another part of the
Occupation;
Barack Obama extended his hand yesterday and
pleaded with Binyamin Netanyahu to grab it in order to pull Israel to
safety. Before Israel goes over the
cliff. Before Israel becomes a pariah
state. Before Israel loses its remaining
good will around the world and the few friends it still retains.
Buy Israeli Wines - Don't Buy Settlement Wines (They're not the Same)
On April 6, 2011, Meretz USA
President, Dr. Moises Salinas-Fleitman, and Executive Director Ron Skolnikissued the following
statement on behalf of the organization.
Has opposition to the entrenchment of Israel's West Bank settlements become the
new litmus test for whether one can be defined as "pro-Israel"? Two developments in recent weeks suggest this
is the case.
Until I read this morning's Israeli
newspapers, I thought I was going to use this platform to discuss the flotilla
and the fly-in protest. After all, these
two related campaigns have dominated the Israel-Palestine conversation for several
weeks. It's what everyone's talking
about.
Prior to last week I'd never heard of Ras al-Amud. That's not
surprising. As an American Jew, I was
not meant to. I was not meant to know
that Ras al-Amud even existed,
because to know that it exists, that it is a Palestinian neighborhood in East
Jerusalem that is located just south of the old city and overlooks Silwan and Abu Dis, and that in 2003 it had a population of 11,922, is to
admit that Palestinians have a legitimate claim and right to Jerusalem. 
