Bernard Avishai on the troubled Israeli soul: …In the early 1960s, Israeli elites saw the Jewish state so much as a pioneering adventure–the culture of Hebrew labor, the dignity of self-defense–that they tended to bury talk of the Holocaust, which seemed to them a symbol of Diaspora Jewry’s woeful path. Ben-Gurion staged the Eichmann trial…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
A Sydney paper starts opening its eyes
A senior journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald tells me that the relatively new editor is keen to show to the Zionist lobby that he can’t be intimidated. The last months have been an interesting ride. Hardly revolutionary but a noticeable shift. First an editorial in March telling Jews to accept wider views on the…
That ideal race wasn’t too successful
Eugenics in Israel: Did Jews try to improve the human race too? “Eugenics was a part of the national philosophy of most of [the local] psychiatrists,” says [historian Rakefet] Zalashik. “The theory was that a healthy nation was needed in order to fulfill the Zionist vision in Israel. There was a powerful economic aspect to…
When the anti-Semitic smear is all they have
Following a letter in yesterday’s Age about the ability of Jews to openly debate the Middle East, the letter below appears in response in today’s paper: I write to clarify the misrepresentations of Ingrid Weinberg (Letters, 14/5). When Dr Ghada Karmi came to Australia at the invitation of the Sydney Writers Festival in 2003, she…
Haneen Zoabi on Arab rights
This morning one of Australia’s biggest radio programs, ABC Radio National Breakfast, hosted a special guest: Three months ago, Israelis went to the polls, electing right-of-centre parties to a majority of the seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. That helped Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu form a colalition government, but also elected were three representatives of…
When the people are forced to act
A letter to the Norwegian Government Pension Fund sent by countless Israel human rights groups: May 14, 2009 The Council on Ethics Norwegian Government Pension Fund Government of Norway Dear Members of the Council on Ethics, We, Israeli organizations, comprised of Jewish and Palestinian women and men and dedicated to building a just peace and…
The Catholic Church talks about responsibility?
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart covers the Pope’s visit to the Middle East with necessary scorn: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c Roadus Triptum thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor
Brothers in arms
Many in South Africa are well aware of the accurate comparisons between its dark past and Israel’s shameful present. From Haaretz: Israel is in large part still paying for its original sin – forging comprehensive security ties with the Apartheid regime and “selling its soul and morality to a racist, oppressive devil.” In the words…
So what do we call Israeli terrorism?
An editorial in Lebanon’s Daily Star that should be read in full and without comment: While it remains to be seen whether Israel’s handing over maps of cluster bomb locations in southern Lebanon will put a definitive end to this bleeding wound of an issue, it’s not exactly the kind of move that inspires hope…
Let’s get the priorities right
A Palestinian in Bethlehem tells the Independent his thoughts after the Pope’s visit: I want the wall to come down. The right of return we can talk about later.