by Josh Frankel [➚] · Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
It is here in the Palestinian territories that you see the worst side of Israel . . . Yet it is also here that you see the very best side of Israel.
Alright, there’s nothing Earth shattering here. No brand new observation that we haven’t seen before, but Nicholas Kristoff does it right today. Too often our friends on the right laud Israel’s greatness while ignoring the underbelly, and too often our friends on the left scourge Israel for its mistakes, while missing it’s beauty. If you want a balanced opinion, read Mr. Kristoff’s essay. It’s an easy read, and it’s good for the soul.
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol [➚] · Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
ynet reports on the new Masorti campaign to get Israelis to marry according to halakha.. but not according to the Orthodox.
Israeli couples are increasingly uninterested in getting married according to the established Israeli system, with Orthodoxy monopolizing all legal lifecycle events, and going through a demeaning and complicated process in order to get married. Twenty percent -or more- of Israelis each year choose to live together as couples outside the framework of the Office of the Chief Rabbinate, either by not participating in any wedding ceremony or by going through a civil ceremony in Cyprus or elsewhere.
The Masorti campaign aims to bring Jewish couples in Israel back to tradition by showing them that it is possible to have a halakhic wedding which is not only according to Jewish law, but also includes personal touches, and can be more egalitarian… and doesn’t need to include demeaning lectures to the couple about their personal lives.
The campaign includes print ads and commercials on radio and Internet sites that direct readers and listeners to a well-put-together website, and has generated significant interest. In the first three days there were more than 25,000 unique hits on the website.
Of course, this has po’d the Establishment:
According to the Masorti press release
The Chairman of Shas in the Knesset, Yaakov Margi, petitioned the Israel Broadcasting Authority to ban the Masorti campaign from the airwaves. In a letter to Mordechai Sklar, IBA’s general director, MK Yaakov Margi charged that the Masorti movement “knowingly misleads and perpetrates a campaign of fraud.†He further claimed to be writing on behalf of “those who are spiritually lost and would not want to find themselves ending up in unseemly places.â€
MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor) responded in his own letter to the IBA that Masorti “faithfully combines tradition and progress†and suggested the Shas letter should be buried as “a foolish attempt at censorship.â€
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol [➚] · Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Haaretz and the NYT report on a local controversy regarding resistance to Westhampton beach Orthodox Jews wanting to put up an eruv.
You would think that wanting to tie some string to a few telephone poles would pretty much be ignored by the rest of the world, but it turns out that putting up an eruv has become a rather problematic venture over the past few years. A number of towns have begun to organize resistance to putting up an eruv.
The strangest part is that the resistance comes from both non-Jews living in the area… and non-Orthodox Jews, including, sometimes, Conservative Jews. It’s not as simple as anti-semiitism. Partly this stems from regions in New York where a few towns have gone from having few to having many Orthodox Jews, and in the process of becoming popular, sometimes the Orthodox community has made itself unpleasant by forcing some non-Jewish businesses out of business. Some of it is ignorance of what an eruv is by the non-Jews. But… you can’t say none of it is anti-semitism. For every five towns area where the Orthodox community has come in and refused to patronize non-shomer Shabbat businesses, are plenty of perfectly nice, normal Orthodox people who are just going about their business.
Ultimately the issue has become that people are protesting having a substantial Orthodox community in their area. The weirdest part for me is having liberal Jews mixed up in this. Okay, I can understand Reform Jews protesting eruvs in their neighborhood: some Reform Jews will stand on principal against any halacha if they are touched by it. (I’ve certainly had to occasionally work in situations where a Reform and Conservative shul will put on a joint program which, for logistical reasons, has to be in a Reform shul. And they will, as a matter of principal, refuse to provide kosher food. (BTW claiming that this is the majority of Reform shuls is as silly as claiming that all Orthodox communities are going to go around closing businesses that aren’t Orthodox owned) It isn’t the usual thing, but at least it isn’t peculiar.) In the case of any Conservative Jews involved in this, it’s downright peculiar, since Conservative Jews need eruvs as much as the Orthodox do: the prohibition against carrying on Shabbat has not been lifted, my Conservative chevre.
But the real story here is that the Orthodox are not always crazy when they start yelling about being picked on. In this case, it’s perfectly true, and in fact, the refusal of townships to put up eruvs because they don’t want the Orthodox to move in is not simple anti-semitism, but is also a form of internalized anti-semitism (I generally detest the use of that term, but it is, very occasionally, warranted). Friends, we need to start getting along better within the Jewish community. Granted, this is not all on one side. The Orthodox need to start working harder to not antagonize liberal Jews over their practices… and ought to be speaking up about Israeli refusal to separate synagogue and state. They could also work to make themselves better neighbors in a more public way. But in most places Orthodox Jews make fine neighbors, and finding ways to keep them out is just wrong, and bad for Am Yisrael, even if the Orthodox can’t meet the non-Orthodox halfway.
by Shalom Rav [➚] · Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Sad news for the Jewish community of Chicago, for Jews everywhere…
“Imaginary Coordinates,” an exhibit at the Spertus Museum has closed down due to pressure from the Jewish United Fund of Greater Chicago. “Coordinates” explored historical maps of Israel/Palestine not simply as navigational devices but as tools that can “manipulate an outcome” and serve as “products of memory and spiritual imagination.” This innovative and important exhibit incorporated artifacts and videos, and sought to expand the conventional notion of cartography as the only way to define borders. When first mounted, it was initially suspended, then tweaked. Now it’s no more.
Apparently, the Jewish Federation here believed that an intelligent examination of the cultural influences of politcal borderlines is tantamount to anti-Zionist propaganda. Even since the reworking, the JUF, which contributes roughly 11% of Spertus’ budget, has been laying heat on the museum to cease and desist. This past week, Spertus finally buckled.
JUF President Steven Nasatir was quoted in a newsy Chicago Trib piece thus:
Aspects of it were clearly anti-Israel. I was very surprised that a Jewish institution would put forward this exhibition. I was surprised and saddened by it.
No, I’d say intelligent exploration and provocative debate is precisely what belongs at a Jewish institution – regardless of what certain powerful minorities in our community might say. I’m particularly troubled by this patronizing attitude that the exhibit should not be viewed without the “appropriate context.” Whose context – the Jewish Federation’s? Isn’t that really the point: that it was this sort of bias that the exhibit was seeking to explore?
by Kung Fu Jew [➚] · Friday, June 20th, 2008
Dudes and dudettes, I’m stoked to announce a project that’s been long coming and is now fit for public announcement — Balkan Beat Box is going to play the 13th annual New Generations Benefit, the marquee event for New Israel Fund’s young leadership gang!
All the official bladdy blah aside (see below the fold), I’ve been on the Benefit Committee for this event before and really I cannot stress how empowering and fun this cluster of people and purposes is. It’s 500 folks in their 20s and 30s, totally excited to put a few bucks down for some raffles and auctions, a great party, and (this year) one of the most rockin’ bands from the Israeli scene.
It’s empowering because all the money goes to social change in Israel. If you’re an activist doing social change work in Israel, chances are your org got it’s founding grant from NIF, currently gets NIF money, or gets consulting from NIF’s 100-person training wing, Shatil.
I had the chance to interview the Israel-side staff of Shatil and NIF, who really shocked me with some numbers. What’s stunning is that, I shit you not, nobody in the funding world is supporting grassroots orgs in Israel like NIF. You’d think the OJC could send even half of NIF’s $28 million a year. But they’re not.
Orgs working for the rights of women, gays, minorities, foreign workers, immigrants, and refugees; economic, social and racial equality; the environment; and religious pluralism and freedom. Over 100 a year.
Really, if you give a damn about real Israelis, social pioneers building their country, then this is the event and the cause for you. Sign up for the Benefit Committee. Buy a floor ticket to the show. Buy a bigger ticket to the private party. See you there.
More »
by TheWanderingJew [➚] · Friday, June 20th, 2008
Reading the news on JTA, I came across this story.
In an effort to restore lagging production at its plant in Postville, Iowa, the country’s largest kosher meat producer has been hiring workers from homeless shelters in Texas to replace employees detained in a massive federal immigration raid last month.
Ok, this sounds decent. They’re helping people find employment, moving them to a town with housing. At first glance, this could be a positive step in restoring Rubashkin’s reputation.
But…
Several officials in Postville say the new arrivals have created problems for the town.
Postville Police Chief Michael Halse told JTA that his officers had arrested four plant workers for disorderly conduct this week.
Father Paul Ouderkirk, leader of the local Catholic church, which has played a lead role in helping former workers and their families after last month’s raid, said a mentally challenged woman from Texas had come to his church looking for help with prescription medications.
And in an interview Friday with Postville’s local radio station, Diana Morris said she spent three days on a bus from Amarillo only to discover she was expected to live with 10 men in a four-bedroom house that had no electricity or hot water.
“Amarillo’s homeless problem has become Postville’s homeless problem,” Jeff Abbas, who runs the KPVL radio station, told JTA.
Um… crap. And…
In her interview with Abbas, Morris described how she was recruited from Amarillo with about 15 others and given a Greyhound bus ticket and $15 dollars to pay for food during the 1,000-mile journey. She said she was promised 30 days of free housing as well as a $100 bonus upon arrival.
What made the offer so attractive, Morris said, was the $10 per hour that Agriprocessors is now offering. “Everything down there is about $6 an hour being paid, and that’s the minimum wage,” she said of Texas.
That’s not a lot of money for 1,000 miles of travel. A quick check on Greyhound shows that the trip from Amarillo to Waterloo, IA takes 1 day, 1 hour, and 55 minutes (and then another 77 miles to Postville). In other words, a couple coffees, sodas, and a bag of chips for 28ish hours. Nutritious!
It’s great to hear that Rubashkins will be paying their employees a better wage than before, but the living conditions are unacceptable. And, if you read the full article, you’ll see that the people are being shipped to Iowa and then being screened for hiring. Why not screen them in Texas first? Why are they using two intermediary agencies (a recruiting firm in Texas and a staffing firm in Iowa)? Couldn’t the recruiting and screening be done by the same firm in Texas, before these people are moved 1,000 miles?
Do we think Agriprocessors is actually going to make good on its promise to improve working conditions? 150 replacement staff were removed by their staffing firm a couple weeks after the initial raid. Within days of starting work, a group of Native Americans who had been brought in to staff the factory left, saying conditions were worse than expected. Now these Texans… were they recruited because word of the scandal hadn’t spread to them? Will they be able to leave if the conditions still haven’t improved?
[Full article on JTA.]
by masthead [➚] · Friday, June 20th, 2008
Those who remember the first conference two years ago can recall how incredible it was for a Jewish organization to finally speak out on torture, to offer serious approaches against torture from a Jewish perspective (Rabbi Saul Berman’s amazing session really stands out in my memory).
Once again, Rabbis for Human Rights North America is holding a conference. This one is to be open not just to clergy and students, but to everyone who is concerned about human rights from a Jewish perspective.
Also for a nice change of pace, it’s not to be in New York, but in Washington, D.C.
On International Human Rights Day last year RHR-NA launched a new initiative called K’vod Habriot, which is to be a Jewish Human Rights Network of Rabbis, Communities and Individuals dedicated to the human rights of all. The conference is intended to propel that work forward; at the conference there will be workshops and training and study sessions devoted to how to organize support for human rights in the various Jewish communities.
Some amazing presenters are already lined up, among them:
Sari Nusseibeh, President of Al Quds University
Avram Burg, author and former Speaker of the Knesset
Dr. Arnold Eisen, Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary
Dr. David Gushee, founder of Evangelicals for Human Rights
Imam Yahya Hendi, founder of Imams for Human Rights and Dialogue
Sammie Moshenberg, of the National Council of Jewish Women
Information here:
Register here
or download a registration form here
by Temim Fruchter [➚] · Friday, June 20th, 2008
Hi everyone – new Jewschooler here.
Just for context’s sake, my world has always been one of strange co-existent dualities. I have been known to take the same train as a family member to a pro-Israel rally, disembark, hug good-bye-see-you-later, and proceed in two different directions: they, to the rally itself, and I, to the protest on the green across the way.
I come to my identity as a proud, anti-Zionist Jew through this lens – I stick close to my roots and love going home to the gantze mishpocha for Shabbos, Modern Orthodox style, and at the same time, I am fueled forever by my past and by my present with a love for Judaism that is fierce and deep and that has justice at its core.
For these last couple of months, basically spanning the Passover-to-Yom Ha’atzma’ut festival season, there have been lots of public celebrations, media coverage all over the city of Jews-being-proud-of-being-Jewish in the one way most media often solely represents it – on pro-Israel floats, Seders, parades, trips and public forums.
There was another layer of frenetic activity marking this season, too – a side of Jewish New York that most people didn’t – and don’t, generally – see: anti-Zionist Jewish New York. No Time to Celebrate, just one example of the response to the plethora of Israel’s 60th celebrations, is a campaign organized by anti-Zionist Jews from around the U.S. to protest Israeli Independence Day celebrations and to commemorate the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”).
For me, as someone who spent years in and around parades celebrating Israel, it never gets less powerful to remind the community that the anniversary of the Nakba is not a thing to celebrate. And to remind the community that there is a big, vibrant and growing community of Jews who are enraged by Israel’s actions, and by 60 years of occupation and dispossession, the continuing effects of 1948. And finally, to remind the community that there is not – and never has been – consensus on Zionism in the Jewish community. This in and of itself makes me extremely proud to be Jewish.
Read the full No Time to Celebrate campaign statement.
by Justin [➚] · Thursday, June 19th, 2008
**This just in : BBC News clip of Olmert interview broadcast today on BBC Arabic Television (I’m looking for the full interview). Longer BBC clip, more detailed article.
The New York Times reports that Israel has offered Lebanon talks on peace negotiations and land exchange. These talks are referring, of course, to the disputed Shebaa Farms.
Part of the negotiation, according to the New York Times, will include Israel releasing maps of land mines and cluster bombs left behind from the 2006 summer war.
This news follows reports that talks have started with Syria, via Turkish mediators, and it seems that talks with Lebanon might be a result of those negotiations.
The news comes the same day that a truce in Gaza sets in.
And read below for Reb Yudel’s post on last year’s unofficial peace deal offered as a way to solve the stalled talks on Golan.
Is this Olmert struggling to convince his people and the world that he’s not a corrupt, incompetent buffoon? Is this the US exerting back room pressure so Bush’s legacy can be secured? Or, is this, maybe, perhaps, possibly even real? (unlikely, but I hope so).
If I learned anything from reading A Missing Peace, Dennis Ross’ major work on his experience as the lead US negotiator from 1987-2001, it is that a huge chunk of what happens in these negotiations is over-dramatized jockeying and a whole lot of PR and acting.
So, whether or not this is real, it clearly sends a message to Israel’s people, its neighbors and the world that perhaps there are partners with whom to negotiate. Likewise, it shows a willingness of Israel’s neighbors to be more comfortable making diplomatic meetings, and perhaps even ties.
I may be cynical, but I’m hopeful.
by Ruby K [➚] · Thursday, June 19th, 2008
… and sadly, this is not related to Agriprocessors. From our friends at the Jewish Labor Committee. If you happen to be near Brooklyn today, near 4pm, stop by:
WHO: IWW Workers at Flaum Appetizing kosher food supplier fired
en masse for supporting fired fellow worker.
WHAT: Protest and Press Conference
WHEN: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:00 p.m.
WHERE: Flaum plant, 288 Scholes St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
WHY: Workers organized with the Industrial Workers of the World have been waging a bitter struggle with management at Flaum Appetizing, a major distributor of high-end kosher products in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn. Previously required to work more than sixty hours per week without legally-mandated overtime pay, without sick leave, holidays, vacations, or even drinking water on the job, the workers joined the IWW, and through collective action have won some concessions, but management continues to treat them with contempt and to pay them starvation wages.
Last month, a worker was fired without cause. Her fellow workers demanded her reinstatement and were fired en masse. Employers across New York City have resorted to such unlawful mass firings in the face of IWW organizing, and the union is determined to stop this hateful discrimination. Flaum’s ultra-orthodox managers hide behind a veil of piety, but in fact their mistreatment of workers violates both U. S. and Jewish law.
Members of New York’s Jewish community are rallying to support the locked-out workers. Jewish law is emphatic in its demands for justice towards workers, and many ask whether food prepared by mistreated workers can truly be kosher.
In addition to their union, the Industrial Workers of the World, the workers have the support of many community organizations, including Make the Road New York, the Chinese Staff & Workers’ Association, and the Million Worker March Movement, NYC, all of which are expected to send speakers and supporters to tomorrow’s rally.
Come hear these workers tell the story of their struggle for a living wage and dignity on the job.
CONTACT: Billy J. Randel 646-645-6284
John Cronan 401-413-2443
by Reb Yudel [➚] · Thursday, June 19th, 2008
From the Israeli side, there have been two sticking points in making peace on Syria’s terms.
One was the Syrian demand that Israel return to the 1948 armistice lines, which were significantly closer to the Kineret than the pre-48 international border. If Syria were to get its way, only a few yards of the far shore of the Kineret would be Israeli — not enough to place an ice-cream shop.
The other was the general sense among Israelis of what Yossi Klein Halevi has described as a claustrophobic narrowing of borders. The Golan plain offers some of Israel’s finest vineyards and Mt Hermon, its only ski slope.
So it is encouraging that the negotiators for the ongoing Israeli-Syrian talks being conducted through Turkey have apparently come up with a plan that would give Syria the legal title it wants, while giving Israelis continuing use of much of the territory.
The following proposal is being circulated as coming from someone involved in the negotiations.
The Peace Park on the Golan
Draft – Sep.2007
The park on the Golan will be designed as a nature reserve, under Syrian sovereignty, stretching on about one third of the Golan Height territories, on the western zone close to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).
Israeli citizens will be allowed entry to the park, no visa required, from morning to evening, for tourist, ecological or humanitarian purposes, as agreed to by both sides.
Israeli citizens currently living on the territory to be defined in the future as the park land and who own economical, tourist, or agricultural businesses will be able to continue operating their businesses and even hold on to their business ownership on the condition that it is approved by both governments and if the nature of their business is not contradictory to the spirit of the park.
The supervision and safeguarding of the park will be carried out by Syrian nature reserve officials who will be partially armed with personal weapons only. Entry for tourist purposes will entail payment of fees. Authorized workers, whether Israelis or Syrians, will hold a permanent entry permit. Other routine operational regulations will be set by the park management in accordance with the Syrian Parks Authority.
Both governments, with the cooperation of the international community, will make special efforts to turn that park into a tourist attraction which will appeal to the citizens of all countries and will draw tourists from all over the world.
Initial planning of the park will be carried out by a leading international team. The planning will take into account long term ecological and environmental considerations as well as certain historical, political and humanitarian sensitivities on both sides. The international team will make recommendation to both parties on the exact location of the park. The two governments will be asked to approve the park area before detailed planning starts.
The spirit of the park should be the spirit of reconciliation between the two peoples. It will reflect the wish of both countries to co-exist in peace and to maintain maximal economical and tourist cooperation for their own sake. Top businessmen and economists from all over the world will act as an advisory team to the Syrian authorities in order to ensure that the park will eventually yield profits and will not need long- term governmental subsidization.
Both parties aspire to reach a situation in which appropriate existing infrastructures in the park will continue to function after the sovereignty is restored to Syria.
The water flow in the park will be controlled in a way that will guarantee that Israel will keep on receiving the same quantities of water from the Golan sources or through the Golan as at the time the agreement is signed by both parties.
The evacuation of the Israeli population living on the territory of the park will be carried out within 5 to15 years from the date the agreement is signed by both parties. Aside from park personnel, Syrians will not be allowed to establish permanent residence on park territory.
The park territory entirely will be a buffer zone free of weaponry and visitors will not be allowed to bring in weapons. Citizens holding guns will be required to deposit it at certain entry posts.
Every transgression of park regulations will be dealt by the park authorities. When juridical process is required it will be handled by Syrian authorities if it concerns Syrian citizens and foreign tourists. The agreement on the juridical aspect will be discussed in details by both parties at the time of signing the accord.
by Shalom Rav [➚] · Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
A recent article in YNet revealed this ironic nugget: the US Ambassador to Israel has sent a letter to Israeli Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On, excoriating Israel for illegally consuming Iranian pistachios nuts:
The US ambassador’s letter reveals another amazing fact: Israel is the largest per capita consumer of the pistachio. “I am writing to draw your attention to the troubling issue of illegal importation of pistachio of Iranian origin to Israel,†writes Jones.
“Israel is the world’s largest per capita consumer of pistachio nuts and therefore an important market – estimated at $20 million – for pistachio producers…Evidence strongly suggests that most, if not all, of the pistachios entering Israel are actually of Iranian origin.â€
Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Israeli snacking habits will attest that Israel will be hard pressed to give up their pistachio addiction, no matter where the nuts actually come from. For its part, Israel claims it gets most of its pistachios from Turkey (yeah, right!)
The most priceless part of the article comes at the end, when journalist Nahum Barnea unabashedly editorializes on the scandal of the situation:
Every pistachio nut brings Iran another step closer to achieving nuclear capability…
by Kung Fu Jew [➚] · Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
According to media outlets, Israel has worked out several huge breakthroughs in (gasp) negotiating with terrorists! Yes, indeed, if our sources are to be trusted, Israel is talking to Hamas, Syria, and Lebanon. Simultaneously. Two deals on Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev with Hezbollah, and Gilad Shalit with Hamas are buzzing in non-official statements by all sides.
I know, I know, this is going to come as a shock to some people out there. And perhaps it’s a little early to tell — maybe this post will jinx the whole deal — but let’s put a big, fat nail in the obstructionism that plagues the small minds of naysayers that Hamas, Fatah, the PLO and (in future Presidencies perhaps) Iran can only understand reciprocal rockets.
Seriously, I hope this isn’t surprising because people reading even the Jewish press the past two months have seen plenty of references to Egypt and Turkey’s shuttle diplomacy. And there’s plenty of analysis available on whether the biggest deal, the Gaza ceasefire, will be a class-A fuck up.
This comes at the same time as the release of an Israeli poll saying 83% believe that Hamas is stronger with the blockade of Gaza than without, 68% believe that the security situation is worse with the blockade, 78% believe the blockade will not end support for Hamas, and 60% say it increases support for Hamas. And all of this coming from respondents who 44% identified as right-wing.
It’s a moment for those of us who see that military might isn’t the magic wand in the Middle East to stand up and say “I told you so,” even if it’s a moment to hold our breath and promise to eat our yarmulkas. Then again, we could all move to Medinat Weimar and save ourselves the trouble.
by Justin [➚] · Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Ross Perot is back. He still has very large ears, he still has a playful, thick Texas accent and he still has charts. His charts are not surprising, but shocking nonetheless.
Ross Perot, business leader and former presidential candidate, announced today the launch of “PerotCharts.com,†a public information website that contains objective, factual information about the current economic crisis in America. The site is being launched as an alert and appeal for American citizens to inform themselves about federal government spending. Perot said, “The U.S. national debt reached $9.4 TRILLION on April 30, and it is increasing by more than $1 billion every day. We are leaving our children and grandchildren with debt they cannot possibly pay.â€
Perot’s website, PerotCharts.com, is essentially a PSA. He really has not changed his message since his runs in 1992 and 1996. It leads one to wonder why he did not have charts in 2004 when we had a federal deficit of more than $400 billion, and why he has waited so late in the 2008 election to release his message. It also leads one to wonder if he has established a PAC.
In my opinion, people like Ross Perot, maybe even people like Ralph Nader, represent something exciting and special to many people–the chance to not vote for a politician. I believe it is why Obama got such a boost from his “celebrity” status; people didn’t know him.
According to a recent poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org, the citizens of the world distrust the leaders of the world (Bush and Ahmedinijad top amongst them, nearly universally).
Interestingly, one of the clear messages this poll shows is that people around the world trust their leader more than other nations leaders. The Palestinians, who are in the poll, trust no one except Nasrallah and Abbas. Israel is not featured in the poll, and I presume it would have been the exception to the “Bush rule,” Mr. Bush being the least trusted leader in the world, by far; I presume Israel would have expressed no trust for their leaders, and little for the world’s and none for the region’s.
As America’s economy tanks, we may need to rethink our financial support of the Jewish State (and others). If the Israeli population finds their government hopelessly corrupt, why do we trust them with multi-billion dollar cash transfers? The USAid website’s Israel page has not been updated since 2005 and does not reflect the full implications of the aid package, but rather just the cash transfer. The package reflected there does not reflect the renegotiated $30 billion decade long deal from 2007.
According to Perot’s charts, in 2007 our defense budget alone had a deficit of $542 billion (20% of our total deficit), and Israel’s aid is earmarked so it might not all fall into the defense budget. Another chart shows that following the Cold War, we experienced what Perot calls a “Peace Dividend”, our spending markedly decreased. While still remarkably lower (by percentage), than at the height of the Cold War, in our own day, there has been a marked increase in US spending post-2001.
I’m certainly not knowledgeable enough to understand the ramifications of these numbers, what the practical impacts of outlandishly large spending and aid packages are, what the ramifications of suspending those packages would be, and so forth. But I think one need not be too clever to look at this and see something clearly isn’t working right.
by TheWanderingJew [➚] · Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
I may be in the USA these days, but I still get much of my news from Canada. Reading a CBC article this morning, I was disappointed that the reporter(s) didn’t add to the following:
Golubchuk and his family are Orthodox Jews who believe it is immoral to hasten death.
“When a person is born, it’s written down when they’re gonna die,” Golubchuk’s daughter, Miriam Geller, told CBC news. “So it’s God that decides this, not the doctors.”
The issue at hand is that Samuel Golubchuk, 84, “has no brain function” and three doctors at Winnipeg’s Grace Hospital have now refused to keep him “physically alive on a ventilator.” One of the physicians made the following case:
Last month, in a letter to the Winnipeg health authority, Golubchuk’s original attending physician, Anand Kumar, said he would no longer work in Grace Hospital’s critical care unit because it meant providing medical services to his former patient [Golubchuk] that were “grotesque.”
Golubchuk had developed bedsores, Anand wrote, and doctors were having to trim infected flesh from his body to prevent infections from spreading.
“To inflict this kind of assault on him without a reasonable hope of benefit is an abomination,” Anand’s letter said. “I can’t do it.”
Golubchuk has been “on life support” since “late last year,” and has no hopes of recovering. First do no harm. [Full article with comments here.]
I have found myself annoyed with many media for dropping in religious statements without explanations or any proof. Just because a subject mentions “my religion says foo” doesn’t mean foo is actually the correct or only interpretation/understanding/belief. And I want to see the media start to pay more attention to this. This article could easily have included a paragraph explaining the Orthodox perspectives on death and/or medically assisted dying. Instead, readers with no background on the topic will go away thinking that Orthodoxy (and Judaism as a whole by extension) is flat-out against taking someone without hope of recovery off life support. And, coupled with the moral and ethical conclusions found later in the paragraph, might also believe that Orthodoxy (Judaism) is unethical or immoral.
…Or, I’m completely overreacting and unreasonable to think the press has dropped the ball here. In which case, I’ve been reading too much GetReligion.
by Shalom Rav [➚] · Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
I’m currently reading “A Thousand Hills” by historian Stephen Kinzer – a recently published bio of Rwandan president Paul Kagame. It’s an incredibly absorbing read, offering a history of the country and region as well as a portrait of a remarkable African leader who is spearheading Rwanda’s post-genocide rebirth against all odds.
Early on, Kinzer offers this fascinating insight about the Tutsis who were exiled from Rwanda by Belgian-backed Hutus in the late 1950s:
These Tutsi exiles, scattered across Africa, Europe, North America, and even Australia, may be the only group that has been regularly compared to both Jews and Palestinians. Like Jews, they prized education and seemed to succeed wherever they landed, despite the odds against them. Like Palestinians, they were condemned to eternal exile by a regime that hated and feared them. (p. 35)
I’d love to find more on this point, which I have never encountered before.
In the meantime, I highly recommend “Hills,” as well as Kinzer’s two previous books, “Overthrow” and “All the Shah’s Men” (which has recently been reprinted with a very timely new introduction).
by Josh Frankel [➚] · Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Well, there’s much to be written about the Obamaphobia in many parts of the Jewish community, and I would recommend checking out this wonderful op-ed by Rabbi Yosef Blau in the Jewish Week a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, I thought I would share with you this picture of a bumper sticker that I got last week. (Hat tip to Akiva Weiss)
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