False Dichotomies

“Carmit Bar-On, an Arabic teacher in Rosh Ha’ayin’s Begin high school, is frustrated. The Internet site she set up for Arabic studies won a prize from the European Union, after competing with 800 educational sites from some 30 countries, but has received no recognition from the Education Ministry.

“Almost every student of Arabic in Israel uses this site. I built it and maintain and update it myself, on my own time. It’s terribly frustrating, but since I didn’t build it to win a prize, the education system’s attitude is less important to me,” she says.” Read on here. 
 

“The first privately owned English language daily, the “Palestine Times,” was launched yesterday in the West Bank and Gaza, with its editors aiming to provide news about the region to English speakers abroad. The 12-page newspaper will cover Palestinian affairs, the conflict with Israel and developments in the Arab community in Israel, said its editor-in-chief, Othman Haj Mohammed.” Find out more here.  

Be honest. Who really remembers, in the days following disengagement, when the first Qassam went flying off into the Western Negev sky? Who paid close attention to the details of Israel’s evolving policy towards Gaza, and the Palestinian response to it? Did we notice the dangers unfold, or were we content to live in the deception that the occupation of Gaza was over, and all was well in the world? And did the Palestinians form a constructive vision for how to build a more positive future from the Israeli withdrawal, or did they simply view it as an opportunity for more ‘resistance’? Continue Reading »

“One day, a few years ago, the historian Adel Manna attended the graduation ceremony of his son, who had just obtained a law degree. The event was held at the Sultan’s Pool in Jerusalem. Toward the end of the ceremony, the Manna family decided to leave, before the singing of “Hatikva,” the national anthem. They did not want to remain seated while everyone stood and sang, nor did they want to stand.

Embarrassingly, they had not managed to reach the exit when the singing began, and people shouted at them, “What’s going on here? What kind of behavior is this? You want equality, but you’re not ready to respect the state?!”

Manna, who is generally a model of composure, lost his patience and responded, “Shut up, already! You go on singing your Hatikva. It’s not mine. What do you want from me?” Read on here.
 

The hilonim don’t like the haredim and the haredim don’t like the hilonim. Not exclusively true but true enough to make the generalization.

Some say it is a miracle that Israel has had such strong existential threats it’s whole life, that this has prevented at worst civil war, but what, in reality, would probably have played out in a mostly political war with silly policies, polarized opinions and no doubt things said which many would have preferred not, and now wish they could take back. Continue Reading »

RAMAT GAN, Israel, Nov 21 (Reuters) - “He has a pulse!” the Palestinian medic shouted above the sound of sirens and explosions as he and three colleagues tended to the motionless figure on the floor.
The exercise, in an Israeli hospital, was a dress rehearsal for more than a dozen medics and doctors from the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, who often treat casualties of Israeli military operations against militants.

Continue Reading »

New website devoted to highlight events in Gaza. Check it out.

“The Knesset Education Committee expressed its support on Monday of a proposal to establish an academy of the Arabic language in Israel.

All eleven of the MKs that were present at the committee meeting voted in favor of the proposal, including representatives from Yisrael Beiteinu and Kadima.

The proposal is sponsored by the Citizens’ Accord Forum, an organization dedicated to normalizing relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel, headed by MK Rabbi Michael Melchior (Labor). The proposal outlines an annual budget to be allotted for the preservation and research of the Arabic language.” Read on here. 
 

“The ban affects all the determined Israeli groups working against the occupation: Mahsom Watch, Yesh Din, Activists against the Separation Fence, Rabbis for Human Rights, Ta’ayush, the Committee Against House Demolitions. It also affects human rights groups such as Hamoked - the Center for the Defense of the Individual, B’Tselem, and the Association for Civil Rights. Activists from all the above organizations and movements meet with Palestinians, travel with them and build up friendships with them. In their meetings and joint travels on the roads of the West Bank, they serve as a reminder to the Palestinians that there are Israelis who are not soldiers and settlers, that there are Israelis who oppose the regime of privileges and that therefore, there is perhaps hope for a fair political solution.” Read on here.