Tag: israel

Israelis Sick and Tired – but of What?

As a humble columnist, I am puzzled. I have been writing on Israeli realities for a decade, and I find writing ever more difficult: nothing changes. How often can you write something different about the same things? The international media, on the other hand, has had no difficulty filling pages and screens, making the very … Continue reading “Israelis Sick and Tired – but of What?”

Rick Perry Abuses His Office for Israel

Jean-Jacques Rousseau described the reciprocal relationship between a government and its people as a “social contract.” Even from the first legal code by the Babylonian Hammurabi, one learns that the principal benefit that government bestows on the people is the promise of justice. By the time of the Roman Republic, the principle of equal justice … Continue reading “Rick Perry Abuses His Office for Israel”

Palestinians Prepare for Massive Uprising

BEIT UMMAR, West Bank – Leading members of the Palestinian Popular Committees in the West Bank plan massive civil unrest and disobedience against the Israeli occupation authorities come September when the Palestinians take their case for statehood to the UN. "We plan to take to the streets en masse," Musa Abu Maria, a leading member … Continue reading “Palestinians Prepare for Massive Uprising”

Baksheesh for the Doorkeeper

A riddle: Which fleet did not reach its destination but fulfilled its mission? Well, it’s this year’s Gaza solidarity flotilla. It could be said, of course, that last year’s “little fleet” — that’s what the word means in Spanish, much as “guerrilla” means “little war” —  is also a reasonable candidate. It never reached Gaza, … Continue reading “Baksheesh for the Doorkeeper”

United States Fails to Stand for Peaceful Change

The Palestinians and other Arabs have long used violence to try to reclaim land taken from them by Israelis. The approach has long been a failure, but anger has long supplanted rationality, thus leading to periodic violent spasms in Palestine for almost a century. Now a potentially more effective weapon is being brandished: peaceful actions … Continue reading “United States Fails to Stand for Peaceful Change”

Israelis and Palestinians Marching in Step for Peace

OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM — For the first time in over 20 years, thousands of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists marched peacefully together on Friday to support the Palestinian drive for statehood expected to be endorsed at the UN General Assembly in September. “Only a declaration of Palestinian statehood can prevent bloodshed,” said Hillel Ben-Sasson, a … Continue reading “Israelis and Palestinians Marching in Step for Peace”

It Can Happen Here!

Years ago I said that there are but two miracles in Israel: the Hebrew language and democracy. Hebrew had been a dead language for many generations, more or less like Latin, when it was still used in the Catholic church. Then, suddenly, concurrent with the emergence of Zionism (but independently), it sprang back to life. … Continue reading “It Can Happen Here!”

Neocons Fume Over US Boat to Gaza

My co-passengers and I of the U.S. boat to Gaza have now gone from “High-Seas Hippies,” according to the right-wing Washington Times, to participants in a flotilla full of “fools, knaves, hypocrites, bigots, and supporters of terrorism,” says Alan Dershowitz in his usual measured prose. Poor Alan, he seems upset at our audacity not only … Continue reading “Neocons Fume Over US Boat to Gaza”

Israel’s Crackdown Grows with Boycott Bill

Political change is slow. One doesn’t go to sleep in a democracy and wake up in a fascist regime. The citizens of Egypt and Tunisia can attest to the fact that the opposite is also true: dictatorship does not become democracy overnight. Any political change of such magnitude is the result of a lot of … Continue reading “Israel’s Crackdown Grows with Boycott Bill”

Palestinians Won’t Learn Israeli Lessons

EAST JERUSALEM — Widespread strikes across Palestinian civil society could be in store for East Jerusalem at the start of the next school year, as the municipality moves ahead with its current plan to implement an Israeli curriculum in Palestinian schools. “I expect that the beginning of the new school year will not be a … Continue reading “Palestinians Won’t Learn Israeli Lessons”