32.3 Summer

Human Rights on the Mountain of God

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FEW WOULD TAKE ISSUE today with the claim that religious Zionism is the most particularistic and self-centered of contemporary Jewish identities. While many streams of Judaism and Zionism place the well-being of humanity at the center of their world view, mainstream religious Zionism seems only concerned with Jews. This trend is most painfully apparent in Israel’s religious Zionist political party, “The Jewish Home” whose flagship projects consist of Jewish domination of Arabs (including spearheading brutal discrimination on the West Bank), Orthodox domination of Israeli society, and shifting Israeli public school curriculums away from democracy and towards Jewish particularism. For some of its most prominent Knesset members, the “Jewish Home” is also virulently homophobic. Clearly, something has gone very wrong in the place where Jewish religion and nationality meet.

The Truth About Palestinian Susya

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The issue of Palestinian Susya has become a major flashpoint for Israel in global politics. According to one narrative, Israel’s plan to destroy the homes and other buildings in the village of Susya — and expel the residents — is an example of brutal discrimination which severely violates the dignity and basic rights of the people who live there. According to another narrative, we have to put “Palestinian Susya” in scare quotes, because Susya is an imaginary village, a fabrication cooked up by the Palestinian Authority and the EU to take over state land in Area C. I want to tell you what I think is the truth about Palestinian Susya.