False Dichotomies

“As we crouched on the hill watching the Israeli border police firing tear gas at the stone throwers, I opined that this had been the most depressing day I’d spent in this troubled country. What had begun as a peaceful protest had quickly, inevitably, descended into mayhem, with rubber bullets, stun grenades and rocks all fighting for airspace - and I was thoroughly fed up.

Reading the Guardian’s report on the affair the next day, I realised that there was a positive side to what had taken place, namely that the protest had united Palestinians and Israelis in their quest to combat the perceived crimes of the Israeli government. That part of the spectacle was clearly a source of comfort, indicating that perhaps the two peoples aren’t as polarised as one might think, and that they put their differences to one side when it comes to fighting injustice.” Read on at Comment is Free.

“Over at Spiked, Oxford student Maria Grasso is spitting fire at what she sees as a suppression of freedom of speech at Merton College. Following a “heated game of pool”, phrases like “Oh don’t be such a poof!” and “You missed that shot, you big gay!” were used.

After receiving a complaint, the JCR [Junior Common Room] president sent out the following e-mail: “JCR members have raised concerns after groups have been overheard in the Games Room and other communal areas of college using terms like ‘gay’ and ‘poof’ as joking insults. Please be aware that using language like this is unacceptable and extremely offensive, even if you are not being intentionally malicious and think you are being ironic or witty in some way. It creates an uncomfortable atmosphere in the college.” Read on at Comment is Free.

“The Shin Bet security service is to acquire a security system based on new technology in order to prevent the need for separate personal checks of Arab passengers in airports, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said Monday.

Diskin told MK Nadia Hilou (Labor) of the Shin Bet’s plans during a special meeting Monday at her office in the Knesset.

Hilou said that once the new technology has been introduced, identical checks will be conducted for Arab and Jewish passengers and will no longer include body searches for Arabs.” Read on here.

“A Bedouin girl was critically wounded on Wednesday when she sustained bullet wounds to the head in the northern Negev. The shots were apparently fired by an Israel Defense Forces soldier.

The military police has opened an investigation into the incident.

The girl, 12, was hospitalized at the Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva with life-threatening wounds.” Read on here.

“MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) said Tuesday that the Housing Ministry is the body that developed a plan to erect a massive new ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The ministry denied any knowledge of the project.

Government bodies have been promoting a preliminary plan over the past few weeks to build a neighborhood of 11,000 units for the ultra-Orthodox near the East Jerusalem airport. The plan also calls for the construction of a tunnel under a Palestinian neighborhood to connect the new quarter to one of the settlements in the Beit El area east of Ramallah.

Schneller also said Tuesday that the Jerusalem municipality was “happy with the idea.” Read on here.

“A proposed constitution written by the Israeli Arab advocacy center, Adalah, states that Arab Knesset members will be able to bring about the disqualification of bills that impinge on the rights of Arabs, and classifies the State of Israel as a “bilingual and multicultural” country rather than a Jewish state.

The proposal, entitled “The Democratic Constitution,” also calls for majority and minority groups to split control of the government in such a way that will strengthen the Arab minority on issues relating to the character of the state.

Adalah’s version of the constitution essentially abolishes the Jewish elements of Israel, but allows the Jewish majority to maintain its character through educational and cultural institutions. The proposal invalidates the Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to people with at least one Jewish grandparent, and states that citizenship will be granted to those who come to Israel for humanitarian reasons, regardless of their religion.” Read on here.

“A steady stream of burglaries in Jerusalem’s wealthier neighborhoods has led to the establishment of a special police unit to deal with the growing phenomenon, Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

Residents of neighborhoods including Beit Hakerem, Rehavia, Katamon, Talbiyeh and the German Colony have reported hundreds of burglaries in the past year and especially in the last two months, according to the police.

To that end, they have appointed Cmdr. Avi Roiff to head a new unit of 150 police officers to exclusively handle the matter.” Read on here.

We Jews have never been the coolest bunch. Sure, we try to blend in with the right clothes and the latest hairstyles, but we rarely get it right. Our trainers are too long, or our hair curls obstinately out of style. Some even try to keep their Jewish-ness under wraps, buying the Daily Mail and dressing in tweed. But you can always spot a Jew - invariably walking on the goofy side of the street. Well no more. It’s time to stand up and bus’ that Jewfro with pride, because it’s officially cool to be Jewish. Yes, Jews are the new blacks and it’s all thanks to Jewdas: the Jews’ Messiah. Continue Reading »

“The debate on the future of illegal outposts often gives rise to a question that combines foolishness and hypocrisy: What about illegal construction by the Arabs? At best, we are talking about clueless, hysterical talkback writers; in the much worse cases, this is yet another part of the smear campaign that characterizes the systematic incitement by some journalists and rightist politicians against the entire Arab public in a bid to score points among potential constituencies. The facts, of course, are completely different.” Read on here.

“The Supreme Planning Council for Judea and Samaria recently legalized the largest-ever illegal construction project in the West Bank. Part of the project is situated on private land, which belongs to Palestinian residents of the village of Bil’in.

The project calls for the construction of 42 buildings containing approximately 1,500 apartments. The buildings, already in various stages of construction, are in the neighborhood of Matityahu East, which is located in the large ultra-Orthodox settlement of Modi’in Ilit.” Read on here.