Healing Israel/Palestine

Occupy the Occupiers: A Jewish Call to Action

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We call for young Jews and allies nationwide to join in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and with our Palestinian siblings living under their own form of occupation. Let us stand up to the 1% in our own community – the powerful institutions that support Israel’s corporate-backed military control of the Palestinian people and act as the gatekeepers for our community. Throughout history, Jews have been persecuted as the scapegoats for powerful financiers, thus bearing the brunt of economic hardship on multiple fronts. This collective memory instills us with the responsibility to speak out against corporate exploitation and human rights violations, such as the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, which has politically and economically disenfranchised over nine million people in the name of Jewish statehood. The ongoing colonization of Palestine has concentrated wealth in the hands of the ultra-stratified Israeli elite, as well as multinational corporations like Caterpillar, Motorola, Elbit, Northrop Grumman, and Veolia.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Are Pro-Israel Organizations Who Parrot The Israeli Government Really Pro-Israel?

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Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Peter Welch (D-VT) deserve accolades for theirCongressional letter encouraging President Barack Obama and Congress to work together to prevent cutting U.S. assistance to the Palestinians. They correctly note that aid to the Palestinians is not a favor to the Palestinians nor is it something that should be withheld as punishment for their statehood efforts at the United Nations. Continued assistance is actually in the strategic interest of the United States, Israel and Palestine because it bolsters security and strengthens Palestinian governance. Supporters of the letter are far from left wing anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian peaceniks. The Shin Bet, Israel’s F.B.I, has noted that U.S.-trained Palestinian Authority security forces are aprimary reason that 2010 was the most terror-free year in the last decade.U.S. and Israeli experts also connect the dots between U.S. assistance and improved security.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Why is the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians so persistent? What could be done to create peace?

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The starting point for the conflict was material, the land both groups wanted as living place. But in addition to living place, for both groups the same land had special meaning. For Jews, it was the land they prayed to return to for two thousand years, and also the land on which they believed they could avoid the persecution they have suffered for many centuries, culminating in the Holocaust, the murder of about 6 million Jews in Nazi Europe. For Palestinians it was the land on which they have lived for a long time, on which they suffered repressive rule by various countries – Turkey, England, then Israel– the land that has been their home. The same land is not only needed as living place but is central to the identity of both groups.

General News

Help Kickstart a Gaza Video Documentary

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While I was reporting from Gaza for five months in 2010, I met a 67-year-old filmmaker who produced a riveting video tour of Gaza called Inshallah. Maurice is now working on a courageous new film called Mohammed’s Cry. Please read his reflections, spread the word, and (if you can), help him raise the funds he needs to draw attention to the ongoing suffering of Gazan civilians. From Producer/Director Maurice Jacobsen:
I often wonder what draws Westerners to travel to Gaza. Is it anger at the incredible injustices being inflicted on the Gazan population and the need to witness these flagrant offenses first hand?

Healing Israel/Palestine

Abbas admits Palestinian errors

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has just made a significant stride toward reaching out for peace with Israel. As reported by Carlo Strenger, Abbas has owned up to some important historical truths in an interview aired both on Israeli and Palestinian television.