False Dichotomies

The two soldierettes are staring at the computer with an intensity which suggests they are on the verge of cracking the Iranian nuclear codes. They’ve been like this for the last twenty minutes, while I just sit and watch. This is the third time that we’ve gone through this ritual, and I hope finally a solution might be found. After all, I remind them, I haven’t asked for the world… Read more

“When we tell people about the Jewish-Kashmiri Dialogue-Group (JKDG), their reaction is usually one of bewilderment. “There are Jews in Kashmir?!?” they say. Or, “Where’s Kashmir?” At best they ask, “What do Jews and Kashmiris have to talk about?” The answer is: A lot. One of us, Alex Stein – an Israeli – traveled to Kashmir during his post-army trip to India. While there, he wrote an article about the Kashmiri struggle for independence from India on The Guardian’s Web site, attracting attention from local people who were heartened by outsiders supporting their call for autonomy. This prompted Alex to forge a connection between Kashmiris and Diaspora Jews.” Read on at Haaretz.

I almost went to Saturday’s Palestinian literary festival, as I was keen to hear Claire Messud, the author of the excellent The Emperor’s Children. In the end I went walking up north, spending Friday night in Kfar Kana, the village where Jesus reputedly turned water into wine. While I was recovering from my walk, it seems that the Israeli authorities in Jerusalem were busy implementing an absurd policy which only shame those of us who have rightly opposed a cultural boycott of Israel. Read more

1. Could there have been Jews in Anglo-Saxon England?

2. The Binge Trader compares the city and the IDF.

3. Therapists to the Jews.

4. George Galloway routed.

5. Home Fweet Home.  

6. Raid Gaza!

7. Kalbakken.

8. Statutory Ape.

9. Someday soon?

10. Scouse humour to the last.

See here.

Monday’s meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu is kicking up an unprecedented frenzy. This is the moment, we are told, when decades of blinkered American support of Israeli rejectionism will come to an end. Obama will tell Netanyahu in no uncertain terms that the jig is up, that the time has come to dismantle the outposts, remove the checkpoints, stop construction in the larger settlements and declare unambiguous support for the two-state solution. He might even conclude the ritual press conference by saying, “Mr Netanyahu, Tear down this Wall!” Read more

1. Ibn Ezra: An American peace activist in the West Bank.

2. May: Jewish-American Heritage Month.

3. Israel’s Arab Citizens and the State.

4. Injustice.

5. For serious Jewish women.

6. Facebook Founder’s Roommate (and a mate of mine – Happy Birthday Ari!) 

7. Drogba Rap.

8. Hawking on Palestine.

9. AIPAC in under five minutes.

10. Intifada! Intifada!

Despite being a libertarian, I’ve always been a big fan of national service. Serving in the army was a no-brainer because I knew it was the quickest way of being integrated into Israeli society. Of course, serving in the army isn’t all it takes. In many ways, I’m still out of place. But I still maintain that  everyone should have to serve the country in some way. Male and Female, Religious and Secular, Straight and Gay, Ashkenazi and Mizrachi, Jew and Arab. Read more

As it’s a year since I set off for India, I thought I’d draw interested readers attention to my wanderingsatlan blog.

“The future beckons us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic, and progressive nation; and to create social, economic, and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.” Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, August 15, 1947

India may yet lead the world. In 1917 Rabindranath Tagore wrote the following:

“In finding the solution to our problem, we shall have helped to solve the world problem as well…if India can offer to the world her solution, it will be a contribution to humanity.”

The problem: a territory ravaged by ethnic, caste and religious division, a land mired in poverty and under colonial rule. The assumed solution: national liberation and independence. With national groups around the world preparing to state their case for self-determination at the Paris peace conference, Tagore tried to put forward an alternative, one based on that most slippery of concepts, ‘culture’. For him, nationalism (in its western garb) was an alien concept, far removed from the romantic and spiritual complexities of life in the subcontinent. Read more