The Only Democracy? » Archive
A Rabbi Reports from Rachel Corrie’s Day in Court
By Rabbi Brian Walt, reprinted from his blog with permission. On Tuesday this week, exactly seven years ago, Rachel Corrie, an ideallistic young woman and human rights activist from Olympia, Washington, was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to protect the home of Dr. Nasrallah, a pharmacist, and his family in Rafah, Gaza, from demolition. Yesterday, I spent the morning in a small courtroom in the District Court in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Surviving Israel’s Military with Solar Power: Imperfect Life in South Hebron Hills
By David Shulman. January 16, 2010 Mufagara, Bir el-‘Id, Tuba (ed’s note:report was delayed so the Israeli army wouldn’t wreck the project.) Ziad Muhammad Yusuf Muhamra, from Bir el-‘Id: sun-dried face, deep scars, lively eyes. It is hard for me to understand his Arabic, not only because it’s fast, slurred, and in South Hebron dialect. He was shot in the throat by a soldier in 1986 while he, Ziad, was sitting on the ground; … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
Israeli Think Tank Drops “Sabotage” Language, But It Still Doesn’t Smell Like a Rose
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare’s Juliet famously asks. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet …” A related observation can be made about the word-changing antics of Israel’s leading think tank, the Reut Institute, in their policy report, “The Deligitimization Challenge: Creating a Political Firewall”. “Sabotage” (of global human rights groups) by any other name still smells bad. Recently, Ali Abunimah spotted the covert revision on the Reut website: Israel’s leading think tank the Reut Institute recently recommended that Israel’s government and intelligence agencies “sabotage” and “attack” peace and justice groups around the world that have been critical of Israel, as EI [Electronic Intifada] reported in February Reut was obviously embarassed by the wide exposure its underhand, and possibly illegal recommendations generated, so it has cleaned up its website. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Biden’s “Insulted,” What About Palestinians?
By Jesse Bacon The United States and Israel are having a lovers’ quarrel, between grotesquely overprivileged and dysfunctional lovers at that. The decision of Israel to announce new construction in Occupied East Jerusalem during the visit of Vice President Joe Biden was met with disbelief and rueful humor. For most of us who are critical of US policy, the gesture was mere truth in advertising about the nature of the relationship between the United States and Israel. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
More Context on Sheikh Jarrah and the “New” Israeli Left
The reflection from Rebecca Kirzner, below, puts the large demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah last weekend in context—both politically, and by reminding us that it was just one demonstration among many. Much of the coverage of the protest spoke of the rise of a “new Israeli left” that had “never been seen before.” This is not quite true, and dismisses the ongoing and super-important contributions of groups like Ta’ayush, Anarchists Against the Wall, and Rabbis for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
Levy: Palestinian Citizens of Israel “Misbehaving”
By Jesse Bacon 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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Ms. and Mr. Israeli New Right
By Eitan Isaacson After the alarming poll among high school students, where 56% of Jewish students said Arabs should be denied the right to run for office in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, it is only fitting to highlight some of the figureheads of this popular racism, and get a small peek into their way of thought. Anastacia Michaeli is a Knesset member who belongs to the Yisrael Beitenu party. Her … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Entire Villages Declared “Closed Military Zones” for Protesting, UPDATED with Israeli Military Reaction
From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. Israeli Army: Bil’in and Ni’ilin a Closed Military Zone for a Six Months Period Dozens of masked soldiers raided the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin this morning to post decrees designating the village’s lands as a closed military zone on Fridays for a period of six months. One week after the head of the Israeli Shin Bet threatened to aggravate the repression of the Palestinian popular struggle, a large military … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
“Most Atrocious” Military Ad Ever!
By Jesse Bacon The global Israeli Public Relations machine has been in full swing, what with ads comparing Israel to a man with undersized genitalia or a whole series of videos to debunk the supposed myths that Israelis ride camels, only eat kebabs, or are bombing people when it’s just really one big Independence party with fireworks! Well even if that latter debunking is effective, there’s still the problem that sometimes a missile really is just a missile,. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
Shooting Back – Palestinian Videographers (VIDEO)
By Amir Terkel. Palestinian videographers, both professional and amateur, sometimes pay a heavy price trying to document daily life and protests with soldiers and settlers. Their dramatic footage has more than once been the basis for legal as well as international intervention. 3 Minute Video Produced and Directed by Haggai Matar, Edited by Eitan Dorfman and filmed by Amir Terkel … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
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.