Meanwhile, in Israel
02 February 2010 5:01 pm by Taylor Marsh
–updated–
The video is a demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem that ended in arrests and detentions, which caused quite a stir back in January. Discontent in some quarters is rising in Israel over freedom of speech and assembly issues, but also the rights of women, including a dispute about bus segregation that’s turned into quite an equality tussle versus religious fundamentalists. Then there was another skirmish, with Israeli police confrontting Anat Hoffman, director of the Reform Movement’s Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), who was leading a group of women praying at the Wailing Wall. She was arrested, interrogated and fingerprinted before being released. But that’s nothing compared to the dehumanizing front page portrayal (English translation of the ad below) of NIF’s chairwoman, Naomi Chazan, bringing to mind the bad old days when right-wingers did the same to Hillary Clinton.
All of this foreshadowing another showdown over the Goldstone report, which is targeting NIF. Im Tirtzu is attacking the New Israel Fund (NIF) over the Goldstone report, alleging all sorts of things. As an aside, Christians United For Israel group, led by Pastor John Hagee, helps fund Im Tirtzu. From the Jerusalem Post:
A soon-to-be-released report by the Zionist student group Im Tirtzu, which accuses the New Israel Fund of direct responsibility for the UN’s Goldstone Report on the IDF’s Gaza offensive last winter, is “just another in a series of attempts to quash freedom of speech in the human rights and civil rights community in Israel,” the NIF’s CEO Daniel Sokatch told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
According to the Im Tirtzu report, 92 percent of the Goldstone document’s allegations criticizing the IDF’s conduct came from 16 Israeli NGOs that received some $7.8 million from the NIF in 2008-2009 alone.
Im Tirtzu members have begun a protest campaign to coincide with the release of the report, and on Saturday night they staged a mock rally of Hamas members outside the Jerusalem home of NIF chairwoman Naomi Chazan, a former Meretz MK.
Im Tirtzu has also sparked outrage – both in Israel and the US – with a full-page ad it took out in the Post’s Sunday edition that featured a caricature of Chazan with a rhinoceros horn bearing the letters “NIF” tied to her forehead.
“It’s an attack on the fiber of Israeli democracy,” Sokatch said of the report and the accompanying campaign. “And part of an increasing drumbeat of incredibly heavy-handed tactics being used by authorities and others to silence human rights and civil rights organizations in Israel.”
He pointed to the interrogation by police in early January of Women of the Wall chairwoman Anat Hoffman, who is also director of the Reform Movement’s Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), as a recent example of such tactics.
J Street is involved as well, highlighting the importance of Israel to uphold the values of its democratic society, which includes freedom and equality for everyone, no matter how much people challenge the Israeli right-wing establishment.
Nothing confronted Israel’s harsh treatment of Palestinians like the Goldstone report, which is why the usual suspects are pushing back on it. Alan Dershowitz his usual obstreperous self: “The Goldstone report is a defamation written by an evil, evil man.”
I wish the rapture would hurry up and happen so all the fundies could be beemed up to Jesus and leave all us sinners down here alone.
As Bob Fisk correctly put it: “Goldstone is the earthquake beneath Israel’s legitimacy.”
http://2su.de/jh5
Lake Lady says:
02 February 2010 at 5:27 pm
heh-heh…
That was some column by Fisk, Ramsgate.
Raise your hand if you believe that the Israeli political class wants Peace. Or has ever wanted Peace. Think about it. Israel is a little bigger than Connecticut. There are more Hebrews in the United States than there are in Israel. If Israel was at Peace with its neighbors would any American think twice about the place? The only reason the Christian Armageddonists care about Israel, and care they do to the tune of millins of dollars each year in donations, is because that’s where the Rapture is suppose to take place. The Israeli Zionist hucksters mine that vein for all it’s worth politically. The Zionists always keep in mind that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and have no intention of ever living at Peace with anyone. Especially when Uncle Sugar is so willing every year to fork over billions of dollars to them to shut AIPAC up. Peace
I appreciate the blog post, Taylor, good one. Alan Dershowitz is a very, very sad and pathetic man; a man who loves torture [we should give him a little love maybe]. I just have one wee quibble: Israel’s treatment of Palestinians isn’t “harsh.” It’s brutal; it’s ethnic cleansing; it’s apartheid; it is crimes against humanity; it’s slaughter; it’s theft; it’s criminality by a rogue nation.
The “christians” [they are no christians] who support it are insane. The Israeli government that exploits them is criminal. The apathetic Jews who live in Israel but don’t want to know what’s happening are complicit in the crimes. And, all of them are destroying Israel’s democratic values, it’s cultural and religious standing in the world, and their people. But they’re taking the rest of us down with them.
http://mondoweiss.net/
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/must-read-haaretz.html
by PHILIP WEISS on FEBRUARY 2, 2010 · 21 COMMENTS
An important story that is not being covered in the American press: Haaretz covers the delegitimization story, Israel’s mounting isolation in the world community. This is called honest reporting (and truly distinguishes Israel). Aluf Benn:
In a speech at a conference not long ago, an Israeli diplomat serving in a European capital touted Israel’s hoary PR line, distinguishing between “the only democracy in the Middle East” and its autocratic Arab neighbors. “We share common values,” the Israeli told the Europeans.
To his surprise, a member of the audience stood up and replied to him: “What common values? We have nothing in common with you.”
The World Isn’t Buying Israel’s Explanations Anymore
Aluf Benn
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1145985.html
There is something changing in the air – I just don’t think that the iron-clad 100% unquestioning support of Israel seen in both the Democratic and Republican Parties will fly forever. Folks are looking at DC and wondering why they automatically support/encourage Israel’s desire to use every excuse to oppress and kill as many Palestinians as they can.
Several things make me think this – stuff you would have never seen here in Albuquerque, NM several years ago include -
::> The first appearance at a Democratic event of our new Dem member of the US House after he was sworn in last year should have been a love fest but it actually got a little rough for him when he was challenged on his votes supporting Israel during the carnage in Gaza.
::> In Albuquerque, NM a billboard is up on Central (the old Route 66) paid for by the “Coalition to Stop the $30 Billion to Israel” asking why we send so much money to the Israeli military every year – you can see it here:
http://stop30billion.blogspot.com/2009/12/second-albuquerque-billboard-finally.html
::> People are protesting Israels occupation of Gaza most Saturday afternoons on Central near the University and I’ve run into several folks that wanted to talk to me about this mess (I’m a Dem Ward Chair). While our local Democratic Rep (Martin Heinrich – a member of the New Democratic Caucus by the way) has refused to meet with the protesters he is feeling the heat.
Frankly I expect this will work against him in the polls this fall. While everybody knows that most Republicans would be as bad on this issue as he is it may result in some folks just not voting for him. I know Taylor still believes that the Dems will “come home” in the end but when this is combined with other stuff (he’s gaining a label as a Corporate Democrat) I’m starting to wonder if our member of the House is hitting a point where that might not happen. It will be a close race this fall and in previous years the margin of victory has been less than a thousand votes so who knows what will happen – the blind support for Israel by the Democratic party may yet figure into the equation.
Is that why I am seeing articles about the rising tide of anti- semitism in Europe? Are they supporting Israel’s victimhood?
Where is Don Bacon?
mwfolsom says:
02 February 2010 at 8:22 pm
This has been around for a while, last year reaching critical mass, which I saw in the innumerable events I went to, including the huge Saudi conference.
I wouldn’t use the phrase “supporting Israel’s victimhood,” though some definitely are, but it is about rising frustrating with Netanyahu & the Israeli right for continuing to ghettoize Palestinians, especially economically. Few jobs are open to Arab Israelis, with the bus issue real for women who are fighting the orthodox. The Israeli right is making a huge mistake focusing so much energy on Iran only, which is their main issue, but their unwillingness not to meet Arabs on anything is a real problem, as is continuing to fight re: Goldstone. Progressive Israelis are fed up with it too.
No one has ever satisfactorily explained why we went to war in Iraq. Or why we have chosen to surround Iran with US ground forces. If Israel feels that it absolutely must attack Iran then we should let them. But we should first make it perfectly clear to Israel and to the rest of the world that we will not support that attack, lift a finger to assist in that attack, or clean up the mess, in Israel’s favor, afterwards. Israel has become the problem that must be solved. Peace
Imhotep says:
“No one has ever satisfactorily explained why we went to war in Iraq.”
And that statement is absolutely correct. I’m not into black soundless helicopters spying on Americans in the night but one way to explore why we went to war in Iraq is ask who pushed for it. I’ve always had a stinking suspicion that since Israeli support groups were very much behind that war so were the elites in Israel. We didn’t start that war because we needed to rather we went to war because the Israeli power structure which runs Washington wanted us to.