General News

Behaving Like a Jew

By |

 
I. Wearing Blinders
I grew up listening to stories of Jewish exceptionalism, stories that were both beautiful and exceptional. These stories I grew up with weren’t biblical tales of chosenness, nor were they Zionist visions of Israel. Instead, they were tales of progressive heroism, tales of American heroism, stories of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marching alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, stories of Gertrude Weil organizing women’s suffrage leagues in the early 1900s, stories of Jewish immigrants’ integral role in sparking America’s labor movement. They were stories of Jews fighting for the human rights, equal rights and dignity of those oppressed, maligned or ignored. They were stories of progressive activism spurred by Jewish values.

General News

Something Amazing Is Happening in Joplin, MO

By |

On Monday, the Islamic Society of Joplin – the only mosque within 50 square miles of Joplin, Missouri – burned to the ground in what authorities suspect was a hate-fueled arson attack. This painful incident occurred a mere 24 hours after the Sikh temple massacre in Wisconsin, and the two tragedies broadcast to America (and to the world) the dangerous depths of Islamophobia and hatred for the other by white extremists in this country. However, a different message is now being broadcast in Joplin, a town which just last year demonstrated its strong communal spirit in the wake of a devastating tornado. And it is a stirring message of tolerance and a rejection of hatred, a message that’s being delivered in the form of both communal support and the sudden success of a donation campaign to help rebuild the mosque. Local religious institutions have stepped forward, showing an outpouring of support and offering communal spaces where citizens can hold an iftar – the meal which breaks the day’s fast during Ramadan.

Politics & Society

Ten Years Ago Today, the Bomb Went Off that Injured My Wife, Killed Our Friends and Began My Reconciliation Journey

By |

Ten years ago today, my wife was nearly killed in a bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, an attack that killed the two friends with whom she was sitting and forever changed the trajectory of so many more lives. Including mine. That was 2002. Years later, in a desperate attempt to overcome those psychological demons that still haunted me after the attack, I attempted to go back to the source, to understand and — yes — reconcile with the family of the bomber. This is the story:
In the summer of 2002, Hamas – targeting both Israelis and Americans – struck a cafeteria at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Politics & Society

On the (Unsettling) Power of Political Suicides to Galvanize a Society

By |

Something transformational is happening at this moment — something that has happened repeatedly across the globe and which as a phenomenon merits deep reflection. What is happening? A society is once again being galvanized by someone who, in a moment of desperation, publicly attempted to destroy oneself. In this case, it was an Israeli man, Moshe Silman, who set himself ablaze at the conclusion of Saturday night’s massive social justice march in Tel Aviv (and whose life hangs in the balance). The act, a political symbol of despair and powerlessness Silman executed by claiming the only thing over which he had power — his body — has spontaneously galvanized the country.

Politics & Society

Israeli Lights Himself on Fire as Thousands March on One-year Anniversary of Social Justice Protests

By |

Around ten thousand protesters marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, marking the one-year anniversary of Israel’s social justice protests (while hundreds more marched in cities across the country). The protests, which continue to focus on social and economic inequalities within Israel, have also been infused with more political tones of late. However, tonight’s march was rather uneventful up until the march’s conclusion. It was at that point a 52-year-old Israeli man, Moshe Silman, set himself on fire after handing out a letter to fellow protesters, part of which read:
The State of Israel has stolen from me and robbed me, left me with nothing… Two committees from the Ministry of Housing have rejected me, despite the fact that I have undergone a stroke and was granted 100% work disability…

General News

Alice Walker Called a Terrorist-supporting Bigot in Jerusalem Post for Boycotting Israeli Publisher

By |

As one who occasionally publishes opinion pieces in The Jerusalem Post — countering the paper’s normative conservatism with a progressive perspective — I often come across pieces with which I either disagree politically or find distasteful. However, I have never encountered a more morally offensive piece in Israel’s largest English-language paper than one posted today by a regular contributor entitled “Alice Walker’s Bigotry.” Before exploring this unhinged piece, and the motivations behind its publication, a bit of context is in order. Alice Walker, Pulitzer-Prize winner and literary hero, has in recent years been invested in Palestinian human rights, and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement aimed at pressuring Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories. Recently, it was reported that Walker has refused translation rights of her book, The Color Purple, to the Israeli publisher Yediot Books.

War & Peace

Israeli Soldier Goes on Hunger Strike in Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners

By |

An Israeli Defense Forces soldier, currently serving time in a military prison for his refusal to serve in the IDF and participate in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories, has begun a hunger strike in solidarity with scores of Palestinian administrative detainees. Amira Hass at Haaretz writes:
Yaniv Mazor, a 31-year-old Jerusalem resident, was sentenced last week to 20 days in jail over his refusal to fill any position, be it combat or otherwise, in what he said was the occupying army. He was transferred to the IDF’s Tzrifin prison on Monday, launching his hunger strike the following day. In a phone conversation with his attorney Michael Sfard on Friday, Mazor said that he had “become appalled over the last few months by the hunger strike initiated by Palestinian administrative prisoners, but I couldn’t do much about it.” “I decided to start a hunger strike in solidarity [with the Palestinians], and in order to raise awareness on the issue of administrative detention, and not to prompt my own release,” Mazor added.

Politics & Society

The 2012 E̶̶l̶̶e̶̶c̶̶t̶̶i̶̶o̶̶n̶ Auction

By |

In modern politics, money has always played a central role in determining election outcomes. In fact, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, nearly 94 percent of congressional races (as well as the presidency) were won by the candidate with the most money in 2008. It’s a terrifying statistic – a statistic that should stop any progressive in his or her tracks, for it offers a window into what may soon transpire in November. The central problem, dire in scope and about to be actualized, is this: in the wake of Citizens United, a handful of conservative billionaires are now free (and poised) to purchase the 2012 election at local and state levels. And save an unlikely reversal of Citizens United by the Supreme Court this month, there’s little that can be done to stop the coming train wreck.

General News

Racist Mob, Incited by Israeli Leaders, Attacks African Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Tel Aviv

By |

Southern Tel Aviv is home to a number of blighted and struggling neighborhoods – areas where Israel’s income inequalities and economic disparities are acutely on display in the shadow of the city’s high rises. And it is here – in the neighborhood of Shapira – where large numbers of African refugees and asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea have sought shelter from forces much more dire than poverty. On Wednesday evening, that shelter was shattered by a 1,000-strong protest which turned violent and, ultimately, into a race riot targeting those seeking relief from violence. How did this happen? The short answer begins by examining the protest, which was organized by Likud activists and attended by several Knesset members, who (for obvious political reasons) stood before the masses and blamed their hardships on African refugees with incendiary catch phrases.

General News

Paul Krugman Enters the [Israel] Fray

By |

Nobel-Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, a regular Op-Ed columnist and blogger for The New York Times, is one of America’s leading progressive voices on a host of political and fiscal issues. However, as a liberal American Jew, one subject Krugman intentionally refrains from treating is that of Israel, and not because he isn’t invested in the country’s success or highly critical of its current political directions. No, Krugman typically refrains from critiquing Israel because – as he wrote yesterday in a rare moment on the subject – to do so “is to bring yourself under intense attack from organized groups that try to make any criticism of Israeli policies tantamount to anti-Semitism.” And yet, Krugman was moved to do just that for a brief moment yesterday – offer up a few brutally honest words on Israel. What was his motivation for doing so?