By Janet Weil and Rae Abileah
“As a Jew, an American and a mother, the invasion of Gaza filled me with unbearable sadness. While Hamas’ attacks on Israeli villages are deplorable, Israel’s disproportionate response is unconscionable… In loving memory of our ancestors and for the future of our—and Palestinian—children, more American Jews should speak out and reach out.”
~ Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder
The High Holy Days are a time to review the past year, to ackno... Read Full Story
You are being invited to buy into the image of Tel Aviv as the “Mediterranean capital of Gay tourism,” tempted by “[t]he people, the bars, the parties, the restaurants, the white sandy beaches, the sense of absolute freedom – these are the components that justify this image.” But this is just an image, an image they are “working non stop to build”, as letter writer, Yaniv Waizman (Tel-Aviv City Council Member and Chairman of the tourism committee), himself notes. Before you book your ticket ... Read Full Story
crossposted from Mondoweiss
Lamia Khatib, wife of detained organizer Mohammed Khatib, of the Popular Committee Against the Wall And Settlements in the village of Bil’in, has an essay up on Huffington Post recounting the arrest of her husband. The article includes a description from her husband of life in the village lately:
As I write these words, it’s almost midnight and we are sitting on the roof of my house, on the look-out for the Israeli army. It’s been two months since the most recent... Read Full Story
Adam Serwer over at The Root has a great new post called “The Self-Hate Hustle.”
Serwer draws a parallel between divisions in Jewish communities over Israel and divisions in (U.S.) Black communities “about loyalty and authenticity.” Describing Netanyahu’s characterization of David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel as “self-hating Jews” based on their support of a settlement freeze, Serwer writes,
What makes this kind of argument particularly interesting, howe... Read Full Story
North Carolina is not known as hotbed of Jewish political activism, or Jewish anything for that matter. It’s no Berkeley, and it’s certainly not Brookline, but things are growing. This year the NC Havurah will be hosting a wonderful Yom Kippur retreat at The Stone House. So if you live in the area (or you’re willing to travel), come join us in building a spiritual and radical religious community at a two day Yom Kippur retreat full of study, singing, fasting, and prayer.
We... Read Full Story
Check out Michelle Goldberg’s new web-only piece, “Same As It Ever Was?” up at The American Prospect. Her tagline, or more likely her editor’s tagline, for the article wonders if the “pro-Israel lobby, long seen as an immutable part of American politics, may be headed toward obsolescence.” I’m not sure if I buy that, since I feel like many of my peers consider AIPAC already irrelevant at best and destructive at worst; obsolescence seems like the wrong... Read Full Story
I should stop turning my cell phone off when I go to sleep at night. In the past, I thought it was a good idea so that wrong numbers and drunk calls would not wake me in the middle of the night. Now I think I need to leave my phone on. Too much happens late at night and early in the mornings that I don’t want to leave off until I turn my phone on in the mornings. Two things happened that I found out about only after I turned my phone back on.
Saturday night, there was a shooting at the Tel ... Read Full Story
crossposted from ibn Ezra
East Jerusalem is heating up. Israeli forces removed families in Sheikh Jarrah this morning. Jewish settlers moved in shortly after. International, Israeli, and Palestinian protesters have been demonstrating throughout the day. I will be posting a proper video from the scene tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, please see this report from Al Jazeera about the mornings events, as well as my video report from two weeks ago about the situation.
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