Between Dome of the Rock and a Hard Place
Israelis love to think about themselves as little ‘d’ democrats, but they have a very peculiar way of understanding democratic principles. A new poll released today by the Israel Democracy Institute brings into full, awkward view the contradictory, mutually inconsistent definitions of democracy that cohabit the Israeli psyche. First the (semi) flattering news. 51% of [...]
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There are seven reasons why Ari Shavit’s seven reasons to recognize Israel as a Jewish state form the primary basis for conflict rather than offer any solution. Here I address his hyper-nationalistic detritus one point at a time. An (Exclusivist) National Home The first argument he makes is that “the supreme goal of Zionism is [...]
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The big story at the moment is the forthcoming law that would require all non-Jews, who want to become Israeli citizens, to make a loyalty oath to Israel as a “Jewish and democratic” state. Although revealing in the insecurity of identity and purpose that motivates it, it really is just one more law (among at [...]
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Drivel taken as gospel is the Israeli norm whenever the IDF spokesperson opens her mouth. Political leaders in endless cycles of corruption are casually pardoned whenever they say, thickly, “Terrrrrorrrr”. Considering Israelis’ boundless and unquestioning adoration for the military establishment, it must be extraordinarily painful to read details about the decision making processes during one [...]
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Israel’s Moldovan FM Evet Lieberman took the stage at the UN this week to advocate for a “peace” settlement based on “population exchanges”, by which he meant settlers remaining on stolen Palestinian land in “exchange” for Palestinian citizens of Israel having their citizenship stripped of them and giving them instead citizenship in the nascent Palestinian [...]
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Israel’s leaders are tripping over themselves to pay respects to the recently deceased Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and thereby earn themselves some street cred with Israel’s religious ultra-nationalists. A Biography of Support for Terrorism and War Crimes Eliyahu was the “spiritual leader of the national religious movement in Israel” who served previously as the Sephardic chief [...]
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The last few blog posts have focused on the contradictions—that is, fabrications—coming out of the “IDF” Press Office and Israeli Foreign Ministry about the flotilla massacre. Here, I focus again on the IDF effort to paint the humanitarian activists as terrorists. The point is not new; it has been making the rounds on the blogosphere, [...]
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The Freedom Flotilla has inspired some rabid and quite insane responses from my countrypeople and co-religionists. The following videos/articles don’t need a lot of extra commentary. I just wanted to put together some examples of the type of reactions one sees coming out of Israel and the Jewish community. This is, in my view, the [...]
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By now most readers will have heard that Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist and political commentator, was denied entry to the West Bank because some Israeli commander was aware of his “political opinions”. Israel quickly backpeddled from their authoritarian decision in the wake of more international condemnation and concern than for, say, the hundreds of Gazan [...]
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After nearly six months of pleading with Abbas and the PA to talk to the Israelis while they continue the settler colonization of their future state… After months of pressuring the Arab League to provide a way for Abbas to sit down to said talks without losing the final shred of credibility he (arguably) has [...]
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