‘Rachel’ documentary showing in San Francisco reveals major shift in U.S. Jewish attitudes toward Israel
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Monthly Archives: July 2009
Define ‘success’ (in the era of the Israel lobby)
Henry Louis Gates is an operator. He endorsed Alan Dershowitz’s book, The Case for Israel
I thought Sacha Baron Cohen was brave, turns out he’s just a neocon weenie
Sacha Baron Cohen physically brave enough to go face a terrorist in Bruno. No, the guy works for a nonprofit and says he has been libelled.
Israeli left begins to fight the settlers – in the US
Israeli peace organizations are taking the lead on a campaign that should really be coming from Jewish organizations in the US – cutting off the funding for the settlements coming from the US. The Jerusalem Post reports that Gush Shalom is evidently taking up the cause partly in response to the Israeli government’s attempts to cut off European funding to Israeli peace organizations. One of the early targets of the campaign is going to be Shuva Israel which looks to be an evangelical Christian organization that supports Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Interestingly the campaign is going to move on to hit some cornerstones Jewish philanthropy including Nefesh B’Nefesh, the Jewish National Fund and the World Zionist Organization.
Obama to honor Tutu, and Robinson, who cried that Palestinian civilization is being ‘destroyed’
Obama is sure to offend Israel lobby with honors to Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson
Terry Gross walks on by torment of ‘Munich’ in Bana interview
Terry Gross of NPR’s Fresh Air interviews Eric Bana and leaves out the torment of the Munich film’s soul
Will they see the high walls around the birthplace of Jesus?
definitely not good for the Jews
NYPost on that giant NJ indictment that includes several rabbis, and international trafficking in kidneys coming thru Israel: Israel Dwek — the father of Solomon "Shlomo" Dwek, who helped the feds nail three New Jersey mayors and several rabbis in Brooklyn last week — plans to sit shiva for his son because he is so […]
Stories from Gaza
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 […]
Milosevic, Putin, Ahmadinejad, Kirchick
The Democracy in America blog over at the Economist.com has one the best comments on Jamie Kirchick’s smear of Max Blumenthal and Jewish critics of Israel yet (with a great post title to boot) – Efforts to win support for right-wing Israeli policies are inevitably going to spin off accusations, like Mr Kirchik’s, that Jews […]
We’re moving (by fits and starts) toward a new ‘Comments’ policy
Many of you may have noticed that this site hasn’t been accepting comments today. The comments function was turned off last night during an internal discussion of where we’re going on comments policy.
Seham: ‘social conservatism in Gaza is a result of violent occupation’
women’s roles in Gaza are actually pretty good– they score highest on tests in school– but the social conservatism is a reflection of Israel’s violent blockade of the territory
Israel’s supporters unwilling to wrestle with Einstein’s change of heart towards Zionism
People are starting to to take notice of Fred Jerome’s new book, Einstein on Israel and Zionism. I reviewed the book here a couple months ago, but now it has gotten the attention of David Billet at The New Republic and Adam Kirsch at Tablet. Both are apparently Zionists, and both seem unwilling to grapple with the important issues the book raises.
‘Times’ misses a Jewish angle. Why?
Russian oligarch Ismailov is Jewish. New York Times doesn’t tell us that.
Would you buy a used car from this man?
Obama is treating Israel like a slave, says a rabbi who is part of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition in Israel
Settlements have turned us into ‘the loathsome scum among nations,’ prophetic Peace Now poster cries
Tomorrow is a holy day in the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av, a fast commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. (And to answer your question: No. Heck, I was so assimilated I didn’t know what Tisha B’av was till I went to Israel 3 years ago. Give me a year or two yet.) […]
This Week, I Will Mourn Twice
Wednesday evening begins Tisha B’Av, or the Ninth Day of the Hebrew Calender month of Av. This is the saddest day of the year in the Jewish religion. On this day, the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E., and the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E..
Many Jewish sages stated that the Temples were destroyed because of sinat hinam, or causeless hatred. Their lack of concern and compassion led to a destructive disunity among the Jewish people. So along with many other Jews, I will communally mourn tomorrow night to reflect on the tragic events of my people, as well as the tragedies that have occurred and continue to occur to all peoples.
The second reason I will mourn is more personal. On Sunday, my 18 year old cousin will leave American and move to Israel (make aliyah). After a three month stay at a kibbutz acclimating into her new nation, she will be joining the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
It’s a children’s crusade (against Obama)
Israeli settlers are led by children now, in building illegal outposts to defy Obama
Obama = Ahmadinejad? Pleease!
Israeli in NY Times linked Obama to Ahmadinejad, as suggesting that Israel was born of the Holocaust. But wasn’t it?
Dershowitz allegation that Mufti had 4000 children ‘gassed’ is questioned
Dershowitz says Palestinians helped Nazis and leading Palestinian ordered gassing of 4000 children. We question his accuracy.
‘Commentary’ pulls attack on Max Blumenthal. Why?
Commentary magazine suppressed a writer’s post attacking Max Blumenthal for his Feel the Hate in Jerusalem video. why?
Some reflections on women’s roles in Gaza
women’s roles in Palestine
posts I won’t be reading, dept.
how bad is antisemitism in America? Well there’s Kristallnacht, happening all over again
‘New York Times’ says that Netanyahu called Axelrod and Rahm ‘self-hating Jews’
Netanyahu called David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s top aides, “self-hating Jews.” Israelis writing in American opinion pages urge Obama to kiss Netanyahu’s behind and stop talking about settlements.
Israeli right welcomes US envoys with racist rally
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. (VIDEO)