False Dichotomies

1. Article on the art and architecture of the Republic of Tel Aviv

2. The Office to be remade for Israeli TV

3. A fan writes

4. Eamonn McDonagh on Israel and Iran at war

5. Let the wild rumpus begin

6. New books blog

7. ‘A Hell on Earth’

8. 20-somethings on the recession

9. FT2020

10. Why are full-backs the key to winning?

Benyamin Netanyahu started the coalition negotiations desperate to avoid the mistake he made in 1996. Then, he formed what’s colloquially known as a narrow right-wing coalition with Shas, the National Religious Party, United Torah Judaism, and the now defunct Yisrael BaAliyah and the Third Way. The government barely lasted three years. From the outset, then, Bibi wanted to avoid a repeat of this scenario. With his cards on the table so early, though, did his rivals manage to make the most of the situation? Or has Netanyahu (for it is Netanyahu, now, with all the backbiting within the Likud) emerged triumphant? Read more

Let me try and place a fly on the wall. I rise at five o’clock in my flat in Jerusalem. The murmurings from Café Bulinat, a secular enclave in the heart of this holiest of cities, spill over from last night. I yearn to be where I was the day before – sitting there with my breakfast while reading the paper. Instead, I am donning the uniform, ready to return to my base. Looking immaculate, I head out. Aside from the hiloni [secular] dilettantes, the only other people out at this hour are the Palestinian street-cleaners and cabbies. I imagine a look of contempt on their faces as I stroll past. Read more

1. Palestinian community educators win children’s literature’s biggest prize.

2. The Hitch on IDF Rabbis.  

3. Colonialism?

4. Waltz with Bashir 2

5. Obama’s Special Olympics gaffe.

6. Gordon Brown tries and fails to watch Psycho.

7. Bernard Avishai on Israeli child abuse.

8. Das Kapital - The Musical! 

9. Seth on IDF t-shirts.

10. She will be mine. Oh yes, she will be mine.

If everyone behaves like Fonzie nobody gets hurt. Having taken a day off work to stand against the fascism of Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir in Umm-el-Fahm, this was my hope against hope. Our bus was cheered as it arrived in town, our gesture of solidarity appreciated by the town’s men-folk (for it was, mostly, men-folk), the gentle claps of a cricket match rather than the whoops of a street-battle, perhaps a sign of how strange we all seemed to the town’s residents, or perhaps – I thought – a signal of the peaceful opposition that was to follow. The bus was organised by Peace Now, but there were also members of Meretz and Hadash there, everyone in bed together for the day, although Labour members were notable in their absence, no doubt getting ready for the big vote to decide whether or not to enter the government later this evening. Read more

When I was on my semester abroad at the University of Massachusetts, I studied under an apoplectic old lefty by the name of Milton Cantor. He loved Brits, which meant I generally escaped his rants against contemporary American apathy and ignorance, leaving me free to sit back and watch the show. One of his best set-pieces saw him inveigh against villains, war criminals, and other assorted twentieth century tyrants. “I’m sure they were nice to their wives, or their dogs,” he screamed at us, before listing their crimes. Read more

Now in the style of five comments on the situation…

1. On Sunday, I went to the protests at the Ministry of Defence following the injuries sustained by American ISM activist Tristan Anderson at the weekly demonstration against the Separation Barrier in Ni’lin. I’ve been to a similar demonstration once before – at Bi’lin - and I can testify to the heavy-handed tactics employed by the IDF, tactics that are not employed when it comes to dealing with settler demonstrations. Anderson was injured by a new tear gas cannister, one that had been banned in the past and only recently reintroduced. One of the demonstrators showed me the offending item; from holiding it I quickly realised that it would prove lethal if fired from close quarters. In a particularly ironic moment, one of the soldiers patrolling the protest warned the demonstrator not to throw it, “as it might cause injuries.” Most of the forty protesters were drawn from the anarchist movement, a fact reflected in their incendiary slogans, in which the IDF was frequently referred to as a “terrorist organisation”. While I do not share the politics of Anarchists against the Wall,  it’s a shame that other groups (Peace Now, Meretz etc) weren’t represented. The sad truth is that only when the Israel-first brigade (also known as Hasbaraniks) are at the front of these protests will progress be possible. Read more

For a film that deals with the politics of sexuality, Gus van Sant’s Milk is surprisingly schmaltzy. Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk as a beatific martyr rather than a crafty politician; the emphasis is on the warmth and joy of San Francisco’s gay community rather than on the difficult and unfortunate choices hoisted on that embattled minority. It’s as if Gus van Sant took a decision to take less risks with this one – particularly when contrasted with a film like Elephant – coming to the conclusion that above all else the gay rights struggle needed to be popularized, to be as potent a box-office hit as Lord of the Rings. As a result, and despite it being a very enjoyable film, I left the cinema with the nagging feeling that the really gritty questions had been left out. Read more

1. The one and only Abu Muquwama’s analysis of Hizballah. He suggests that – come what may – the organisation will remain devoted to the politics of ‘resistance’.

2. Footage of the ISM activist critically injured at a rally in Ni’lin. More on this on Friday.

3. Israeli stripper survives trip to Ramallah shocker. Check out the story here.

4. More Murukaumi on Zion. This time he’s not so happy.

5. The centenary of Isaiah Berlin’s birth. Check out the celebratory conference here.

6. A fun video in which some French people encourage supermarket customers to boycott Israel.

7. 1-4. ‘Nuff said.

8. This is why you’re fat.

9. From MEMRI, Harry Potter and the Ziono-Hollywoodist conspiracy. Hat-tip to Yitzhak.

10. Israel…erm….does Bollywood.

“Because we understand that having to place your mimia [water-bottle] next to your foot isn’t so relevant for mevugarim like yourselves.” A seemingly innocuous comment laced with significance. Finally, some rationality introduced to the game. This was the beginning of the process known as ‘breaking distance’, a tumultuous period which has started in confusion but will finish in egalitarian fervour. For a mere three weeks, we were doing the army for real. Now, it’s more like sixteen year olds at summer camp, complete with almost unbelievably patronising lectures on the dangers of drugs. Allow me to explain. Read more