Why us Jews do what we do

Joseph Dana and Mairav Zonszein, activists and friends in Jerusalem, are interviewed by Jew School on their incendiary and important video reports on mainstream Israeli attitudes: I never referred to myself as an activist as I feel like it is a bit of a dirty, dismissive word. Don’t get me wrong, Ta’ayush is engaged in…

The true barrier to peace is here

The New York Times reports on the crazy, West Bank settler movement: At the Neria outpost celebration, Noam Rein, a father of 10, looked out across the hills at Ramallah and called its presence “temporary.” He added: “The Torah says the land of Israel is for the Jewish people. This is just the beginning. We…

A weekend with Hitler and strawberries

The limits of free speech in a democracy is an age old question. Personally, I find that censoring any opinions is a dangerous precedent, especially those that may be unpopular with the ruling elites. So what to do about this? Germany’s far-right National Democratic party (NPD) has triggered outrage with plans for a Third Reich-style…

They live, Israel invades

Just another day of destruction in the Gaza Strip, away from prying media eyes or world attention: The Israeli army has launched another cross border attack on the Gaza Strip, opening fire on villagers’ homes south of the impoverished sliver. Israeli tanks and bulldozers rolled hundreds of meters deep into the strip on Wednesday and…

When Zionist self-reflection is essential

The following posters by Peace Now are popping up around Jerusalem at the moment: Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of three things – idolatry, incest and bloodshed. Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because there was unfounded hatred. And what, heaven forbid, will lead to the destruction of the Third Temple? The settlements,…

Gaza deserves to feel wanted

It’s about time, though this should not be framed as Israel doing some wonderful favour to the people whom it recently bombed: For the first time since the end of Operation Cast Lead, Israel plans to transfer several hundred tons of cement and other construction materials, including metal pipes, into the Gaza Strip to facilitate…

Bring Bush back

A former worker in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, Gregory Levey, suggests that the Obama administration appoint George W. Bush as his Middle East envoy to pressure and cajole Israel. Clearly Levey has never spoken to any Arabs in the Middle East; Bush isn’t the most liked individual.

Hamas can only be ignored for so long

The split between Fatah and Hamas is spoken about constantly in Gaza. The vast majority of people I talk to say that they dearly hope ideologues on both sides take a step back and reconcile for the sake of peace. Israel and America have other ideas: A new report for the London-based Middle East Monitor…

Stand on your own feet

Israel clearly doesn’t like being pressured to change its behaviour, despite sucking on the tit of Washington: Israel alone in a poll of 25 nations has decreased its approval of the United States since President Barack Obama took office earlier this year, according to a recent survey. “The image of the United States has improved…

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