Healing Israel/Palestine

Dershowitz: The Only Reason Anyone Cares About Palestine Is Because They Hate Jews! Utterly Wrong.

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In that case, however, the fact that nobody gave “one good goddamn” about the Jews is offered as a justification for the creation of Israel. After all, who but themselves will defend a people to which the world is indifferent? The unique aspect of Dershowitz’s statement is not so much his assertion that nobody cares about Palestinians but his view that indifference to the suffering of millions of people is a justification for continued indifference.
Fortunately, Dershowitz is wrong. Millions of people do care about the Palestinian people, infinitely more today than ever before. Dershowitz knows that, which is why he devotes so much energy to fighting those who champion the Palestinian cause.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Social Justice Protests Make a Comeback as 10,000 Israelis Take to the Streets of Tel Aviv

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While it remains to be seen whether these protests will spark the types of historic marches Israel witnessed in 2011, it’s clear that those in the streets have been noticed. Lapid released a Facebook post just before the protest, assuring Israelis that the budget can be revised. However, it may take more than a Facebook post to quell the beginning of what some hope will be a new round of social protests in Israel.

Healing Israel/Palestine

A Pilgimage to the Holy Land

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These were the people, Israeli and Palestinian both, who gave us hope. It would seem that active engagement leaves little time for despair. In contrast, we seem stuck in our comfortable lives, and reluctant to step out of our comfort zone. Maybe it’s because our own country seems vast and open still, and we don’t know yet that we belong to the same human family as everyone else. Or is it that our mind-boggling weapons of mass destruction bolster our delusional sense of exceptionalism? But Israel and Palestine are small and on top of each other, and the madness of it all can be seen at a glance: The aerial view of the territory, all cut up into twisted enclaves, looks like it has been designed by the remote judges of Kafka’s The Trial.

Healing Israel/Palestine

The Kindness of Strangers

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Society has a way of dividing us with religion, politics, history or race and I too had fallen victim to this lie. Until then I had only understood the conflict in terms of Israeli government aggression and Palestinian suffering. I had failed to see Israel in terms of the people as peace-loving human beings, like many of the Palestinians I had met over the years. But most importantly I had forgotten our common humanity, our universal struggle for peace.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Happy Birthday Israel: Senate Gift Is New Iran War Resolution

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No, the point of this resolution is to tell Israel that it can go to war with Iran, with the assurance that if it gets into trouble, the United States will step in and finish the job. Israeli hawks need that assurance because it is generally understood that Israel cannot take out Iran’s nuclear facilities alone. It can only try if it knows that the United States is right there just in case.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Obama in the Footsteps of Sadat

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It is one thing to come, deliver and fly off, but without a coherent and resolute, goal-driven, follow-up strategy, the Obama visit could turn out to be be worse than a waste of time. Raising hopes and dashing them once again would be very damaging. If the Obama initiative succeeds in emulating the Sadat initiative by triggering new political currents in Israel, it is imperative that they are cultivated and nourished.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Netanyahu to USA: Drop Dead

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And yesterday Shamir’s long-time protégé, Binyamin Netanyahu openly adopted the Shamir strategy. No one needs to wait until his retirement to understand that, like Shamir’s, it is designed to prevent negotiations not advance them.
Ha’aretz reported that the Netanyahu government has informed Secretary of State John Kerry that Israel is not interested in discussing land and borders right now.