The situation of the Palestinian cave-dwellers in South Hebron Hills continues to be difficult. They suffer from permanent harassment carried out by the military and settlers. This year, however, has been even more difficult, due to a severe drought.

As if it wanted to capitalize on the harsh conditions, on December 16th, the Israeli military destroyed 13 water cisterns belonging to Palestinian families in South Hebron hills.
(direct link to video here; Ha’aretz news story here)

The military claims that these water cisterns (or reservoirs) were built illegally and therefore must be destroyed. Some were built in recent years with international assistance, and some were built before 1967 during the Jordanian rule, but still (according to martial law) need Israeli re-authorization. Since the military regime’s “Zone C Planning Committees” are dominated by settlers, there is no chance to obtain such a permit. The cisterns are located on West Bank lands that the Israel has designated for the IDF as “firing zones” – areas the military uses as training sites for live ammunition.

The destruction or the water cisterns leaves the Palestinian shepherds without water sources, and forces them to limit their grazing areas. This is exactly what the Israeli authorities intend to achieve. It makes the life of this population, already probably the poorest in the whole West Bank, all but impossible.

In order to help the Palestinians keep their lands and strengthen the Sumoud (steadfastness) of South Hebron area residents, Taáyush activists have started helping reconstruct the cisterns.

We need $4,200 for each cistern. We have set out to reconstruct ten cisterns, please help us accomplish this goal.

Donation can be made to Taáyush:
Via Bank Deposit

Bank Hapoalim
Branch 574 (‘Hapalmach’)
Account no. 160213
Swift code ‘poalilit’
IBAN: IL61-0125-7400-0000-0160-213

Via Paypal

http://tinyurl.com/taayush-jlm

Please mail Anat566@gmail.com with the donation details.
Thank you in advance,

The south Hebron committee of Taáyush Jerusalem

Here are three of the many women of the Egyptian Revolution – that will counter some of those images of passive Muslim women. Change in the Middle East is being pushed forward by women like Mona, Asma, Sarah, etc., too, and they are not few. There are many more women who are actively shaping the revolution,  who are blogging, twittering, writing, vlogging etc. about it here, and who have been working for years for this change, but here are three for now:

Asma is said to have triggered this revolution through her vlog – which is not that she is the source of  it. Either way, it’s a strong video.

Mona has been in Tahrir non-stop, even though they kidnapped/”detained” her father for days (he is out now). Only on February 5th did she leave the square for a bit. This message was recorded on January 31st, it seems. Both before and after, she kept posting really encouraging, inspiring and inspired messages.
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Sarah (half-British) is – and has been for years – one of the very few journalists and photographers that has covered activism and workers movements in Egypt from the ground. In the past, she has repeatedly been harrassed for her work.Check out her pictures and her Inanities blog and her twitter feed @sarahcarr.

If you are looking for other good sources, please read:
arabawy.org
justimage.org
tabulagaza.blogspot.com

or check out the following on twitter:

@3arabawy
@justimage
@ alaa
@ajenglish (Al Jazeera English)
@sandmonkey
@monasosh
@perbj

My friend asked me, only half-jokingly “What if you have to change your name for your blog?” I wish a swift and durable success to the people’s movements in Cairo. I was just coming of age when the Berlin Wall fell (my “camp” was actually a nerdy kids Current Events class in June of 1989.) I was starting to wonder if I would ever see another wave of revolutions like that, sweeping aside regimes that everyone assumed were ominpotent only a short time before.

The answer to my friend is that the title of this blog is a question. Because democracy is a conversation, and there have always been other voices raised in the various countries of the Middle East. But for years, people have hurled the autocratic nature of many Arab regimes at me, as if to suggest that Palestinians don’t deserve the democracy that was denied the people who speak their language. Why don’t you speak out against Saudi Arabia? I am asked, as if one crime justifies another.

Well the moment that previously existed only as a hypothetical is arriving. And I”m thrilled by the jubilation, the inspiration being drawn from the Egyptians, the Tunisians who in turn inspired them, and several other nations. I feel that we have been privileged after years of criticizing U.S. and Israeli policy in support of dictators, to bask a tiny bit in the hard-earned victory of the brave people staring down a far more invasive security apparatus than we face in the West.

But what of the braggarts of Israel’s democracy? I am amazed how much fear and bitterness pervade their reaction, furthering the divide between those who have to justify every Israeli action and those who don’t. I read a solicitation for blogposts from a local Jewish website “debunking” of the idea that Palestinains have anything to do with Egyptians, even though the accompanying article  described Israelis and Palestinians carrying Egyptian flags together. Am I to tell them to NOT feel a connection with their neighbors finally gaining freedom?  or to ignore the manufacturers of the same tear gas used against them both, as Joseph Dana discovered.

People in the street confronting police and army soldiers with revolutionary aspirations. Some youth throw stones in symbolic acts of resistance as the elders try to calm down their rage and focus on chants of unity. Armed forces reply with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. This is a regular occurrence in the West Bank in villages like Nabi Saleh, Ni’ilin and Beit Umar.  Over the past week, it has been unfolding on the streets of Cairo, Suez and Alexandria as well. From Ni’ilin to Cairo, the tear gas that is being employed against demonstrations is made in the United States.

In a good summary of Israeli anxiety on the rise of democracy in Egypt, Yoav Fromer finishes the list with this:

4. The Loss of Israel’s ‘Special Status’…But if genuine democracy takes hold in Egypt—or anywhere else in the Middle East—it could also spell the end of Israel’s monopoly on righteousness and endanger this special status, along with the lucrative benefits that have come with it. Among them: gargantuan amounts of U.S. military aid (which Sen. Rand Paul has justproposed eliminating) and the U.S. veto at the U.N. Security Council, which has consistently parried any substantial attempts at condemning Israel in the world body. Finally, and possibly most disheartening for many Israelis, there is the chance that a genuine Arab democracy might raise the bar for Israel and prompt international calls for it to get its own democracy in order, end the occupation of Palestinian territories, and amend its discriminatory policies toward its Arab minority.

So it turns out that Israel’s government can only carry on with a backdrop of more obviously autocratic regime. It didn’t just require disenfranchisement of Palestinians but millions in neighboring countries. And so the wall between more open minded people in the Jewish community and in Israel and those who cannot take any pleasure in another’s freedom will grow greater, and Israel will for a time look more like its ally to the West. But all dictators will meet the same fate, I believe again.

Speculation has run wild on the as-yet-unreleased updated New Israel Fund funding guidelines. Here’s Richard Silverstein,

“My source tells me the proposed guidelines will include a provision acknowledging Israel as a Jewish homeland. But the language will also affirm that Israel is:
‘…A democracy dedicated to the full equality of all its citizens and communities.’”

Silverstein argues that “full equality” juxtaposed with the “provision acknowledging… a Jewish homeland” sustains a system of inequality. His explanation: “If…you’ve conceded to Jews that their nation is their homeland, but refuse to concede this to Palestinian citizens, then they still aren’t equal to Jews.”

Not mentioning a Palestinian homeland perpetuates ignoring that right. But on the other hand, no mention is made of Israel as an exclusively Jewish homeland.

The wording leaves open the possibility of a homeland for all citizens of Israel, regardless of religion. Silverstein gives this as a necessary precondition for peace but apparently does not see its potential in the new guidelines. In his words, “there is absolutely no reason that Israel cannot be a single state in which two separate ethnic groups see it as their respective homelands.” I agree, you agree, and even the NIF agrees. “The New Israel Fund (NIF) works to strengthen Israel’s democracy and to promote freedom, justice and equality for all Israel’s citizens.”

The problem is in the language: previous coverage of this controversy conflated the ideas of homeland and state. In an earlier post , Silverstein quotes The Forward:

The New Israel Fund, the target of attacks by right-wing organizations accusing it of supporting anti-Zionist groups, is discussing the possibility of specifying in its guidelines that grants will be given only to groups that accept the idea of Israel as a Jewish homeland.

… Board members and major donors are grappling with whether to require that grantees accept the idea of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, thus agreeing to the principle of Israel as a Jewish state.’ ”

Semantically, we must differentiate between a homeland and a state. Agreeing to the idea of Israel as a Jewish homeland is not the same as agreeing to the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. Homeland connotes sanctuary and safety. State connotes power and government. You cannot have a Palestinian homeland in a Jewish state, but you can have both a Palestinian and a Jewish homeland within a secular and democratic state. If the new guidelines are simply rewording this old idea, then frankly, this doesn’t constitute a huge overhaul.

The NIF has remained silent about what the guidelines say, and I don’t blame them given the amount of outrage and “scandal” it has produced thus far without any official word. But a statement from NIF’s website posted on July 16 (, just after their bi-annual board meeting, puts forth the following:

“The New Israel Fund is dedicated to the vision of the State of Israel as the sovereign expression of the right of self-determination of the Jewish people, and as a democracy dedicated to the full equality of all its citizens and communities. We are committed to advancing the values of human dignity ensconced in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which we view as the key to its long-term security and survival.” [Emphasis mine.]

Do we read this as Israel as a Jewish state? If so, there is cause for alarm. This would inherently contradict to their commitment to true democracy, and provides evidence that their detractors have gained traction and influence. If indeed this rewrite is coming as a result of criticism and pressure from groups whose agendas scorn the principles of democracy, equality, and freedom, then we have on our hands a disaster.

Conflating these two ideas when implementing the new guidelines would constitute reneging on everything NIF stands for. If they conflate homeland and state, the new guidelines will indeed cause organizations to lose significant funds, as The Forward warns might happen. And we’re talking about more than just one or two renegade organizations; a large number of NIF’s grantees are committed to a truly democratic State of Israel, but one that does not recognize the Jewish nature of the state. If the NIF can differentiate between Jewish homeland and state, then technically it is upholding is decades-long commitment to democracy and equality within Israel. It is this commitment which should be preserved, and which I – perhaps naively – have faith in NIF’s leadership to uphold in spite semantic changes to their guidelines.

Semantics aside, the NIF is in a tough position. They constantly face an immense amount of criticism from all sides, and they cannot fund every worthy non-profit in Israel. That would be politically and financially impossible. As a foundation they need to listen to their stakeholders and investors, but they also need to respect their own commitment to their principles, to set a good example for governments and other foundations.

NIF has a long history of supporting projects which hold Israel accountable for upholding the democratic principles it claims to embrace. If NIF’s new guidelines cause it to cease funding such groups, that would constitute a catastrophe. But as of now, it is too early to tell.

If cuts happen, NIF joins the growing list of benefactors who have recently allowed themselves to be swayed by the loud voices of an intolerant few and are jeopardizing any true chance for democracy Israel has left.

I should certainly hope that NIF is well-respected and self-respecting enough not to back down from its own principles in the face of a gang of school-yard bullies. We would ask NIF to hold strong in the face of these and in support of the democratic principles it has until now succeeded in promoting.

Audrey Farber did her undergrad at UPenn majoring in – after much angst and indecision – Modern Middle East Studies. Her activism has involved resettling Somali, Iraqi, and Burmese refugees in Maine, researching forced migration issues in Amman, and rejecting the “path” by being a ski bum and bakery assistant at regular intervals. She is currently interning at Mada al-Carmel – Arab Center for Applied Social Research, in Haifa.  Audrey wants to fix the world and is actively trying to do so through photos and writing in her blog(s). She appreciates your support. The views expressed herein are her own .

As a rural-raised revolutionary, I love the 4th of July. It is a great time for community gathering, it celebrates a successful uprising against the largest empire in the world, and it involves staring up into the sky with wonder. Though I used to need hearing protectors as a fraidy-cat kid, and as an adolescent had to endure my aunt labelling the squiggly fireworks “Sperm!” I have remained a critically patriotic fan of the day.

‘ But as I studied movements around the world, it was so painful for me to learn how many independence movements had been inspired by ours, only to be opposed by the government that is the inheritor of that legacy. The classic example is Vietnam, that found the United States was willing to destroy their country rather than allowing it emulate ours in their own fashion and choosing. So while I have no need to globalize the specific local traditions of blowing and frying things up, nor do i desire people adopt the specific clauses of the Declaration of Independence (especially the one where the Americans complain King George is impeding their ethnic cleansing of the native inhabitants), I would hope this is the 4th where we finally find a way to support interdepedence and freedom for all. We’re not the only democracy, we just act like it.

For some final humility for us American democracy activists, here are the words of the enslaved, then self-liberated, Frederick Douglass

What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?

I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.

There is not a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States at this very hour.”

The Jewish Holiday Shavuot, which begins tonight, commemorates the giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai. It is the very epitome of revelation from on high. But this holiday, revelation is not from a mountaintop. It is cumulative, from a thousand different places.. It is cumulative, dare I say it, open source. And what have we learned? We have learned that Israeli Democracy is being withdrawn bit by bit, even from its Jewish citizens. As if we are watching the tape of Sinai in reverse, with the law being taken away, one person at a time, back into a dusty tablet, and then eventually out of reach.

But we also have learned that the crowd is not taking this quietly. In the best tradition of complaint, people are demanding it back. Starting with the Palestinian people at the very back, out of sight in prison cells, under  guard towers,beneath  gag orders, menaced by midnight raids, and in the shadow of the Wall.  Thier truths are spreading to their allies in Israel and around the world all the way to the University of Berkeley and beyond. People are demanding the manna be shared equally just as it was in the bible story. Here we see the tape on fast forward, as the process of coming out for democracy accelerates, blooms, and spreads. Everyone a Sinai. What will you do when it reaches you?

Now  Jonathan Cook reports on a group of Jews and Arabs who are petitioning the Israeli Supreme Court to be recognized as “Israelis,”  in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state. 

Israel refused to recognize an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality.” Although all Israelis qualify as “citizens of Israel,” the state is defined as belonging to the “Jewish nation,” meaning not only the 5.6 million Israeli Jews but also more than seven million Jews in the diaspora.

Critics say the special status of Jewish nationality has been a way to undermine the citizenship rights of non-Jews in Israel, especially the fifth of the population who are Arab. Some 30 laws in Israel specifically privilege Jews, including in the areas of immigration rights, naturalization, access to land and employment.

Arab leaders have also long complained that indications of “Arab” nationality on ID cards make it easy for police and government officials to target Arab citizens for harsher treatment…

The government opposes the case, claiming that the campaign’s real goal is to ‘undermine the state’s infrastructure’.  Uri Avnery, a peace activist and former member of the Knesset,  understands the purpose of the current nationality system is to give Jews living abroad a far greater stake in Israel than its 1.3 million Arab citizens:

The State of Israel cannot recognize an ‘Israeli’ nation because it is the state of the ‘Jewish’ nation … it belongs to the Jews of Brooklyn, Budapest and Buenos Aires, even though these consider themselves as belonging to the American, Hungarian or Argentine nations.”

Like Carter, many of us are ill-informed or confused about the reality of life in Israel for its Arab citizens.

Now the truth is made accessible in a remarkable video produced by Adalah (“justice” in Arabic), the Legal Center for Minority Rights in Israel.  Mixing the hard statistics about institutionalized racial discrimination with the musical revelations of Arab-Israeli rap artists and on-the-street  interviews by  undercover Arab comedians, who gently elicit the disturbing and sometimes laughable bigotry of Israeli passersby, Adalah takes us on a short but illuminating odyssey through the separate and unequal world of Israel.  Watch it now!

Targeted Citizen – English from Adalah on Vimeo.

This week, the Israeli Army declared the villages of Bil’in and Na’alin closed military zones from 8am-8pm on Fridays for the next six months.  It was announced that any Israeli activist in the villages during those hours would be arrested, foreigners would be deported, and Palestinians from other villages would be jailed.

For over five years now, Fridays have been demonstration days, when Israeli and international activists join Palestinian protesters in their efforts to stop the Wall and regain their land. Apparently there is nothing scarier than unarmed resistance, since as the movement has strengthened and  spread to other villages, the Army has gone to greater and greater lengths to stop it.

At first it merely included the usual array of tear gas, rubber bullets, “stinky” water and regular lethal and near-lethal shootings (23 Palestinian deaths since the protests began, half of them minor children).  Then it escalated to night raids and arrests on trumped up charges.  When the protests, and international support, continued to grow, this newest tactic was announced.

Today in Haaretz, an editorial entitled “IDF vs. Democracy” appeared, which strongly denounces the military order as a “seriously anti-democratic move.”  Not to mention seriously desperate.

Meanwhile, protesters intend to continue their demonstrations.  Tomorrow, March 19th, is the first Friday that the new order will be in effect.

JVP is partnering with activists on the ground so we can get live updates of what happens.  If you’re on twitter, follow @jvplive for live updates.  Look for the hashtag #israelidemocracy? .  We’ll be recapping and updating regularly here at theonlydemocracy.org too.

In a tongue in cheek article, Gideon Levy accuses the Palestinian Citizens of Israel of such “misbehaviors” as stating they do not feel they belong in Israel (Ajami director Tony Copti) or asking if Israeli Jews who killed civilians were terrorists (Member of the Israeli Parliament Ahmed Tibi, who is one of the reasons Israel can brag about its Palestinian legislators.) He then fakes outrage over these affronts before getting down to the point, of what will be truly required to build democracy inside Israel.

If the so-called demographic problem can’t be solved by driving Arabs out, we’ll try to get rid of them another way: destroy their identity, cloud their national memory and turn them into Israelis, not to mention Zionists. It won’t work. We are not only talking about economic discrimination, but about trampling on national heritage. This won’t work either. The third generation after the Nakba is informed. It’s true that some of them are being Israel-ized, the way we like to see, but Arabs lacking identity will also pose a pressing social problem. The Jews’ situation in the world is much better than theirs.

The solution does not just lie in budgets, as we like to believe (but don’t act on). Until we recognize equal rights, including the right to say things we don’t want to hear, they will remain a demographic problem without a solution. Until we understand that we didn’t give them anything, that in a democracy rights are natural and taken for granted, and until we accept – not only the fabulous Futna but the less pleasant Scandar and Ahmed – there will be no democracy here. They aren’t loyal to the state? The state is much less loyal to them.”

Here’s a video from Al Jazeera of the “real Ajami” the arrest and beating of Copti and his brother by Israeli Police.