Category: Israel
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Choking on my past?
I wrote this partial post back in mid-January 2021. When I started it I had a feeling I may never finish it, and indeed I haven’t. Shortly after aborting it I did write a letter to my family on the same subject. But this post stayed with me. I have no desire to resume writing…
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Fear and Loathing in the New Jerusalem
This morning I finished listening to Darryl Cooper’s penetrating podcast series Fear and Loathing in the New Jerusalem. It is a recounting of a history I am familiar with, having grown up and been educated in Israel. But, as has been obvious to me for many years, the picture I was given was incomplete. I…
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David Graeber Reflects on Visiting the West Bank
“… the settlements. They were originally the project of a relatively isolated, if well-funded, collection of religious zealots. Now everything seems to be organized around them. The government pours in endless resources. Why? The answer seems to be that since at least the ‘90s, rightwing politicians in Israel have figured out that the settlements are…
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Talking about Talking in Israel
A couple of weeks ago a person from Israel who I consider to be a friend sent me an email. It wasn’t a personal email. It was an email sent to a group of people and it was about promoting a crowd-funding campaign. This friend lives in the area surrounding Gaza which was (has been…
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Debt: The First 5000 Years – Thoughts from chapter 5: The Moral Grounds of Economic Relations
more thoughts inspired by Debt: The First 5000 Years. “… one popular theory of the origins of the state, which goes back to at least to the fourteenth century North African historian Ibn Khaldun, runs precisely along these lines: nomadic raiders eventually systematize their relations with sedentary villagers; pillage turns into tribute, rape turns into…
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It is about culture
A while back this superficial debate took place to which Alex Ebert responded: “We are having the wrong debate. This isn’t about religion, this is about culture … America has been and still is, largely, a country ruled by Christians … It was only 60 years ago that a murderous Christian terror organization called the…
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Oameni for Israel
A few days ago I read The One State Reality and beyond being a good read something from it stuck with me. It used to be said (though I’ve heard it less and less over the years) that if you took away the politicians, extremists and religious zealots in the area you would end with…
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Martin Luther King on Israel
Remarkable foresight for a man seemingly far removed from this conflict: “The Six Day War shocks the world … Doc [Martin Luther King Jr.] is a staunch supporter of Israel … Amongst his closest colleagues, though, he expresses concern that the very nature of sweeping victory – and the fact that Israel has occupied the…
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Bryan Stevenson – Just Mercy
As I watched this interview I sensed valuable parallels between the race-conflict discussed and the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Part1: Pietro and our ongoing dialogue came to my mind at 3:26 in Part2: “It doesn’t matter who did what to whom, it matters that we deal with the carnage, with the legacy of that injury … “
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Slaughtery: A Cornerstone of Every Jewish Community
I came across this Israeli news article (I could not find an English translation). It speaks about a supposed legal struggle taking place between the state of Poland (being instigated by animal rights organizations) and its Jewish community on the subject of kosher slaughter. According to the article Polish law prohibits slaughter of animals that…
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When Society Attacks
It’s an emotional drama that will soon be forgotten by everyone except those who are directly touched by the event. An Israeli teenager and his pregnant girlfriend plan to commit suicide together. A sticky chain events lead to the police shooting the teenager dead. You can find more details on the story here in English…
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Because it is ours!
A story about a family that “returned” to Israel after 21 years. I put the quotes in because in my mind these people never really left Israeli society, they were only away from its physical borders. However I am posting this on the heels of my previous post … for this one quote: “Yes, here,…
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A War Israel Lost
“Yes … you demagogue … I an IDF soldier go around killing as a matter of habit? You mother fucker? You cunt, come to my base where I am a paramedic all day long and every day I treat a child from Nablus that got cut, or a woman in labor, people who were injured…
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A Veil
The facts as I know them are that: There is one Khader Adnan who has been detained in Israel. He is detained under what is termed in Israel “administrative detention” – a military procedure that bypasses civil detention law. He has been on a hunger strike for 65+ days and is at mortal risk. The…