The February issue of BelleMode, an Israeli fashion magazine, is speaking up against anti-women events in Israeli public life in its own provocative way. Their making-of video below and here’s some of the full set. But here’s the question: protest notwithstanding, is this also sexist objectification?
Oh, and this is the first time I’ve ever checked the “fashion” category box in my life. Shehekhianu… (Hat tip Alix.)
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Gal Beckerman at the Forward posits that Newt Gingrich’s use of “food stamp President” holds racist overtones and that “Saul Alinsky radical” is pregnant with antisemitism. Newt seems to think the average American knows who Alinsky is and that conservatives know to hate him.
Is it true or not true? (Not the part about Obama being a leftist radical, we all know that’s not true. I mean Beckerman’s charge of antisemitism.)
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Parodies of The Downfall, a German dramatization of the end of Adolf Hitler’s reign, have been used to protest everything from football loses to Rebecca Black. Here in the Jewish community, the roughly 5-minute footage has been used to protest parking in Tel Aviv, the worrying spread of kiddush clubs, and even housing prices in Israel.
Of special importance to all of us in online content creation, Hitler now screams at the inanity of the SOPA and PIPA bills presently under protest by Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and other sites. Learn more and contact your Congresspersons here.
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It’s been a poor month for JNF as progressive upset continues to gather it negative attention. Voices inside and outside the quasi-governmental NGO have protested the dispossession of Bedouin in the Negev and Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Two weeks ago, and after repeated calls for reason, JNF board member and pillar of the Arava Institute community Seth Morrison quit their board of directors and severed all ties with the organization:
My commitment to building a safe and secure Israel has not changed. My admiration for much of JNF’s environmental work has not changed. What has changed is a sense of betrayal I have at learning that JNF is a force in preventing long-term peace. More »
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The latest Ryan Gosling meme has gone Jewy, by friend of the blog Amy Schiller.
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Do we need a Moishe House in Brooklyn? There seems to be no shortage of young community options, but there’s one in formation to serve the Park Slope, Fort Greene, and Boerum Hill areas. Join them on Facebook and they’re still looking for a couple more residents, so find them here.
Oh, and Bay Ridge called to say Park Slope isn’t “South Brooklyn”!
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This is the first in a series dedicated to the full scope of the crisis in Israeli democracy, discussing attempts by right-wing legislators to undermine democratic protections against civil society and human rights NGOs, the press, and the judiciary.
Hilary Clinton yesterday criticized Israel for dismantling its own democracy and its impact on women’s rights specifically. Why has this issue suddenly reached mainstream news?
Anti-democratic initiatives in the Knesset used to die in committee in droves. And when merely bad bills passed to final Knesset approval, active civil society groups – advocates for women’s issues, civil rights, and anti-corruption – lobbied against them. A vibrant press sector ensured public debate. And lacking constitutionally-protected rights, the Supreme Court ruled via the Basic Laws to strike down violations of freedoms of speech, association, labor and the rest.
But under Netanyahu’s reign, bills aimed at dismantling all these democratic protections have passed into law. Through a calculated, deliberate strategy, members of right-wing Knesset parties are enacting initiatives, over 20 and counting, crippling Israel’s protections against the tyranny of the majority. They have become law with the Prime Minister’s consent and even his vote. He has turned American Jewry into Israel’s last defense for democracy. More »
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Jewschoolers presenting: Sarah Chandler, Benjamin M., Ben Murane, Dan Sieradski, and David AM Wilensky. Friends of the blog presenting: dozens. Friends of the blog attending? About 700. Presenters to date listed here, partial program listed here.
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Hebron changed my life. I may have been a run of the mill peacenik and an ordinary Jew before summer 2004. I have never been free of that place since. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is nuanced and complicated, where both sides are mutually at fault. But Hebron’s situation has become an abomination, a situation where we’re absolutely at fault for an unnecessary and unacceptable blight.
Annually on the occasion of reading the portion Heyei Sarah from the Torah (Genesis 23:1–25:18), a growing number of us tell what Hebron is really like. We’ve spoken in synagogues, every major rabbinical seminary, indie minyans, and community centers. And this year, we’ve posted 14 of our Torah sermons to YouTube in order to show the world that Hebron and Chayei Sarah does not belong only to the settlers. Indeed, a thousand will converge there this weekend.
It is precisely because Hebron is such an hopeless place to behold that creating inspirational meaning — as these 14 voices have — is so hopeful. There are no trite answers in their mouths, but oh so many aspirations. Hebron presently is so low and devoid of holiness, that it feels there is only up to go. And here in these testimonials you will hear both the shock and the rage, but also the hope and determination for a better future for Hebron, for Jews, and for Palestinians.
Organizations listed for identification purposes only. See them all on Facebook and YouTube.
Drew Cohen is a teacher of Jewish Studies and Music in a transdenominational high school in the US:
Alana Alpert is a community organizer and a third year rabbinical student at Hebrew College:
Moriel Rothman is a New Israel Fund/Shatil Social Justice Fellow, and is active with Rabbis for Human Rights:
Ben Murane is the director of New Generations, the New Israel Fund’s 20′s and 30′s activist community, and the co-publisher of the blog Jewschool.com:
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Eli Valley’s latest comic is up! And below is the man himself explaining his choice of equating 1950s horror comics with Israeli hasbara and the scare tactics of establishment fundraising. (Bnai Brith, he’s looking at you…)
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The second third round of Jewish Community Heroes is well under way, the online email-collecting exercise by the Jewish Federations of North America. My excitement for participating in these types of online activities are always pretty minimal, in this case because I’m so ambivalent about the federation system itself. Such a powerful legacy, so many shortcomings. But between TribeFest and this effort, somebody there is taking good advice.
So in the spirit of playing along, here are nominees who I believe are heroes for their justice work combating racism, poverty and injustice. In no particular order and colored by my New York-tinted glasses: More »
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In Gilad Shalit’s first interview after being released, he says, “I hope this deal will lead to peace between Palestinians and Israelis and that it will support cooperation between both sides.” For equally dramatic pictures of the Palestinian prisoner release, see 972 Mag.
Gilad Shalit, calling his parents after just arriving in Israel:
Gilad Shalit Salutes Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
Shalit, hugging his father for the first time in 5 years, in the most human and touching photo of them all:
A few more photos at the IDF spokesperson’s Flickr feed.
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A half million Israelis demonstrated for social justice. But all year-long, young Israeli activists in their 20s and 30s have been fighting for a better, fairer, and more equal Israel. Come join this benefit celebrating five of those young Israelis and their work on behalf of housing rights, marriage equality, women’s rights and more to come.
All the details at www.nif.org/nycbenefit.
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A week ago, between 500 – 1000 Jews showed up at the Occupy Wall Street encampment for Yom Kippur services alongside three other cities. (Our first-person reportage from NYC, DC, Boston here and here.) Here’s a collection of the highlights:
Got pictures or reflections on your Occupy Sukkot goings on? Tell us on Twitter, Facebook or email.
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+972 Mag is a brilliant idea. Take a dozen lefty Israeli activists, freelance journalists and independent analysts who blog separately in English and then consolidate their personal bloggings together in a sharp, clearly organized portal for the Anglo-speaking world to read first-hand accounts of political action in Israel and the territories. Few blogs on Israel-Palestine are a majority of original reporting and even fewer are as politically diverse as they are. If they blogged about Judaism every once in a while, they may as well be Jewschool’s sibling blog.
This Sunday, October 16, at Bus Boys and Poets Cafe in DC, you can meet Aziz Abu-Sarah, Lisa Goldman and Joseph Dana for a panel “Israeli & Palestinian Journalists Discuss Revolutions and Political Impasse.” Click link for details.
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As the word spread like wildfire that a band of intrepid progressive Jews were organizing evening Yom Kippur services at Occupy Wall Street, there was some skeptical push back. “Politics doesn’t belong in religion.” “Will it be a scene?” “Sounds cool but services might be bad.” Even, yes, “I don’t want to get arrested.” But for those who stomached the risk all the same, Friday night in the plaza beneath ambient lighting through the offices of Brown Brothers Harriman appeared simple, even quaint. It was in people’s hearts that wonder and transcendence were found.
Organizer Daniel Sieradski, flanked by service leaders Avi Fox-Rosen, Sarah Wolf and Getzel Davis, huddled at the center of a crowded seated circle counting 500, 700, by some counts even a thousand people. At the same moment, friends in Boston, DC and Chicago’s solidarity camps were gathering simultaneously with unexpected hundreds more. Hollering announcements though the Occupy Wall Street main camp, I found dozens more last minute participants, “What? Really? Where!” What was intended to be a small and symbolic gathering of perhaps 10 men and 10 women, called barely a week ago, had become a phenomenon. More »
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In the period of self-reflection, I nonetheless feel obligated to share ugly events beyond our individual soul-searching. Last Friday, Israeli police stood by as a mob from the settlement of Anatot attacked nearby Palestinian residents and Israeli activists. The settlers were caught on film as they bludgeoned, threw stones, and even attempted stabbing while chanting “Death to Arabs! Death to leftists!” Not a single rioter was arrested. The case seems even worse, as Anatot was founded as a home for police and Civil Administration employees working in the territories; the rioters were the police. Full details on the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity site.
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