The Only Democracy? » Discrimination
Association for Civil Rights in Israel on democracy’s heart attack (Long)
From the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, reprinted by permission. Ed’s note: This is long, but close enough to our mission to warrant reprinting in full. Here you have the definite guide to anti-democracy bills in the Israeli Knesset, some that will be familiar to readers of this blog, some that even close followers of Israeli democracy will be unaware of. Did you know that the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) might consider banning face veils? Or … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
PHR-Israel: Delayed Exit of a Toddler from Gaza Results in Death
By Jesse Bacon Saturday, a child the same age as my daughter was killed in Gaza. She was not killed by a missile, or a suicide bomber, or any of the other dramatic ways children die in the Middle East. She was killed by an Israeli policy, that the people of Gaza are to be imprisoned as punishment for who the adults voted for. While many children have been killed by this policy, this case sounds … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Settler-style thugs operating inside Israel
by Jesse Bacon One after another, the parallels to fascism pile up in Israel, like the sticks (which is what the root of Fascism means) on a fire. Now a town in Israel has adopted perhaps the most visible feature of many a dictatorship: paramilitary police. The settlers have long functioned in this role in the Occupied Territories, but in the borderless Israeli occupation such methods do not stay contained. What’s more the mission of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Works in progress: the partitions of Iraq and Palestine
By Rela Mazali Works in Progress: – The partition of Palestine (most recently into Gaza Strip; East Jerusalem; West Bank) – The partition of Iraq In Iraq, the occupation is attempting “ethnic” partition. See: Statement issued this week (October 10, 2010) by the BRussels Tribunal, stating among other things, that, From the first day of the US-UK occupation of Iraq, the occupation began to undertake a series of measures, directly or through its local allies, to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Audrey Farber responds to proposed loyalty oaths; UPDATED with NIF response
by Audrey Farber A part of me wants to give at least a hesitant nod of acknowledgement to the less-extreme-right in the Knesset who recognize that there is something less-than-savory in Lieberman’s loyalty oath. In Lieberman-land, all naturalized citizens will swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. (Ah, the hypocrisy!) As much as Netanyahu may be frustrating the hell out of those of us who – dare we say it – hope for better, … Read entire article »
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Their First and Last Day of School
A school in Omer asks two Bedouin students not to come back after their first day of school. Omer is a suburban community near Be’er Sheva, an elite escape in Israel’s destitute south. Of course the golden quote cannot be found in the English Haaretz article, only in the Hebrew one. In the past I have allowed Bedouin students to study at my school with a presumption that if I give them the best possible education they … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Israeli McCarythism 2010: Now with loyalty oaths
By Jesse Bacon When I was guest-editing over at our sister blog Muzzlewatch, I was struck by the extent that “McCarthyist” had gone from a crude epithet, like “That’s fascist, man” to an actual blueprint for advocating for Israel’s policies. The writer I was responding to was the brother of former Prime Minister, he claimed to have a “list” of BDS academics who would then go on to the state department. Well, less we think the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Featured
Israeli court welcomes pre-1948 land claims, from Jewish Israelis only
By Jesse Bacon It has been pointed out repeatedly, but now it’s official, the Israeli Supreme Court will accept your pre-1948 claim, if you are Jewish that is. In one of those cases that is a testament to presumably intelligent people’s ability to ignore the larger implications of their actions, the court has been ruling that Jews who left East Jerusalem during the founding of the state of Israel/ Palestinian Nakba/ Catastrophe have a right of return. I hope there are Palestinian refugees filing similar court cases, as many more of them were dispossessed during that time. I would love to hear an Israeli court explain why the Jewish Israelis claims are more valid. Here is the recent Ha’aretz coverage. Sheikh Jarrah has been a bone of contention between Jewish groups – … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Avigdor Lieberman takes settlement policy to its logical conclusion
by Jesse Bacon Lost in the debate over the settlement phase is its real purpose, to claim Palestinian land for Israel. Even its hardcore defenders like Avigdor Lieberman, know there will come a time when that has reached its end, when all available Palestinian land has been taken, and all Palestinians capable of being forced to leave will have done so. What to do then? Well, then Israel will suddenly become interested in drawing borders after 60+ … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
For Gaza tailors, market is flooded, external markets are (still) banned and 96% of their jobs are lost.
From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway What happens to industry when you open a market to consumer products but restrict raw materials and ban export? What doesn’t happen is economic recovery. The Israeli cabinet decision to ease the closure on the Gaza Strip did not change the sweeping ban on Gaza exports. While industrial raw materials were allowed into Gaza beginning in July, the limited capacity of the crossings meant only small quantities entered … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Interactive Video
“You have a choice! Israeli Anti-Militarists Speak”
Four Israelis—Dorothy Naor, Sergeiy Sander and Eli Fabrikant, and Ofer Golani—talking about their personal histories, political views and activism in 132 short films.