The Only Democracy? » Featured
Massacre, with a smile
A few days ago we learned about Eden Aberjil, an Israeli woman who posted pictures on her Facebook account of her abusing bound Palestinian prisoners at the time of her military service. The picture is captioned ‘Army service, the most wonderful time of my life!’ The controversy reached the New York Times, where Aberjil defended herself. She said that the “pictures were taken in good will, there was no statement in them.” According to the Times, she added that they were not intended to humiliate the prisoners but merely to document her “military experience,” and that she had no idea they “would be problematic.” The IDF response is what you would expect. According to Breaking the Silence, an organization of Israeli veterans that collects testimonies: Unsurprisingly, the I.D.F. spokesman released a ’shocked’ … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
Interview with Khalil Alamour, organizer of protest at demolished village UPDATED with video
By Jesse Bacon I spoke with Khalil Alamour at the protest tent at Al-Araqeeb, the village demolished by Israel this week. Protestors plan to return tomorrow and rebuild it. Here’s video from Max Blumenthal of the subsequent razing of the village for the 3rd time. Sign a petition against these demolitions. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
Alert: Thousands of police evacuating and demolishing the village of El-Araqib in the Israeli Negev
by Yeela Raanan. Tuesday, 5:30am Thousands of police are in the village of el-Araqib right now – beginning a mass evacuation, demolition, and erasure of this historical Bedouin village. if you have access to the media, please send them to this village as soon as possible! the village of el-Araqib is between Rahat and Beersheva, and in a location that the Goldberg commission deemed outside of the areas allowed for the Negev Arabs… … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
May you have good grief: Tisha B’ Av on the Only Democracy?
by Jesse Bacon I just got done observing Tisha B’ Av, the 9th of Av a relatively new Jewish holiday commemorating the destruction of the Temples. Having attended liberal Tisha B’ Av observances for several years, I must have noticed the part about how the messiah will be born on Tisha B’Av, or to take it out of religious person, there will be redepmtion grown from the seeds of cataclysm. Until this year, I was fortunate that TIAA-CREF, the focus of Jewish Voice for Peace’s first divestment campaign chose Tisha B’ Av to hold their annual meeting. For the first time, I got to act out hope and grief, activism and religious observance simultaneously as I helped organize a delegation of members of TIAA-CREF’s retirement fund to speak out about the effects … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
Happy 4th of July Weekend from the Only Democracy?
By Jesse Bacon 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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
Mud and Hope in South Hebron
June 26, 2010 Bi’r el-‘Id There’s a strange beauty in the viscous black mud that comes up from the depths of the earth, from the bottom, or somewhere near the bottom, of the well we are cleaning in Bi’r al-‘Id. Bucket after bucket of it, lifted by pulley from down below, straggles to the surface, where we unload it and pour it out on the rocky escarpment. Its texture changes remarkably over the long morning hours from a watery top layer to heavy, shiny dark loam to a granular, sticky brown. It has a strong smell, like the sulphurous mud from the Dead Sea (not very far away) that people smear over their bodies for healing. Yehuda says the Palestinians of Bi’r al-‘Id should bottle it and sell it at the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
Our 2 Op-Eds in the Israeli Press about Israel’s Future (2)
My last diary was my translation of an op-ed Ofer Neiman, a fellow Israeli activist, and myself wrote together back in April at Ynet, a mainstream Israeli news site. That article argued that the self-reinforcing siege mentality is gradually taking the taste and meaning out of collective life in Israel. Last week we continued analyzing fundamental issues in Israel’s dealing with the world. The article appeared in Ha’aretz in an online-only, Hebrew-only format. Moreover, while the Ynet article was published pretty much with the same 575 words we wrote, Ha’aretz demanded only 450, and then were arrogant enough to further cut it to 400, change the title and much of the text. Below I translate the original with commentary. In a way, our message is a progressive Israeli response to the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
Our 2 Op-Eds in the Israeli Press about Israel’s Future (1)
(crossposted on Daily Kos) In April, in anticipation of Israel’s independence day, fellow Israeli activist Ofer Neiman sent us an op-ed for feedback. I ended up co-signing the article. It appeared on Ynet, the website of Israel’s largest daily. I planned to translate it to English but was too busy. A couple of weeks ago, as the Gaza flotilla was cruising towards its tragic end, I thought up another article – a sequel if you will. This time it was Ofer who joined me as a co-author, and the article appeared in Haaretz – but wasn’t translated on their English mirror. Both articles deal with Israel’s existential problems rather than focus on current events. The Ynet article reminds Israelis, that the deteriorating quality of our public life bears a direct impact upon the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
Live from The Only Democracy?: exclusive interview with Huwaida Arraf of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
By Jesse Bacon I had the privilege of speaking with Huwaida Arraf of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla direct from Ramallah today. I will write up a transcript later of the talk, but for now here’s the interview audio, which takes a few seconds to begin in both clips. I will speak to her again tomorrow and be asking her more about what happened on May 31 itself. Huwaida Arraf Part 1 Huwaida Arraf Part 2 Huwaida Arraf is a pro-Palestinian … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
Israel to World: Screw You, We will Continue to Block Gaza
It all happened before. A ship sailing to Palestine. Its organizers care not so much about the ship’s arrival. They want to bring world attention to the injustices in Palestine. Live broadcasts from aboard the ship excite and inspire supporters on the shores. The power controlling Palestine in a non-democratic manner, responds in form. It sends soldiers to storm the ship at sea some 20 miles out of Gaza. Passengers fight back using non-lethal means. Troops open fire killing 3, then force the ship to another port, arrest the passengers and deport them. The battle is won, but the campaign is lost. World opinion, and other world powers, turn against the controlling power. Within a few months it decides to cede control of Palestine. The ship’s name was “Europe Exodus 1947″, or in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
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.