My real suspicion, from the cagey wording in the JP story about the NIF threatening to sue the JP “over an advertisement”, is that the JP, which ran the ImTirzu ad depicting “Naomi Goldstone Chazen” with a horn on her forehead, may have at first refused to run the counter ad that defended CHazen and the NIF. The NIF responded by threatening to sue the Post for its discriminatory ad policy, so the JPost was forced to run the defending ad on Friday, but retaliated by firing Chazen as a columnist on Thursday evening..

Again, the preceding is only my suspicion of the reasoning behind the sequence of events, but regardless of whether my suspicions are true or not, the JPost’s stated reason for firing Chazen does not diminish the offense. In labor law, any negative change in the working status quo of an employee after a lawsuit has been filed is an indication of a retaliatory impulse aimed at an unfair quashing of the legal action against it. Chazen’s status as a columnist was slightly different but it seems like the same principle applies here.

In the meantime, even the CUFI (Christians United for Israel) have criticized the ImTirzu ad, according to the JPost.

Christians fume over ad showing Chazen wearing horn

The decision was taken by Jerusalem Post management after a legal threat was received at the paper from the NIF and Chazan’s lawyers.

Along with other publications, the Post last Sunday carried an advertisement criticizing Chazan and the New Israel Fund in the context of the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead.

In Friday’s paper, the Post carried an advertisement defending the NIF and Chazan against their critics.

I was thinking about that the other day. I had to go to the Israeli embassy to renew my passport, and the security measures were even more way out than the last time I was there, two years ago. I was wondering what had changed, and the answer of course was nothing. The checks were very theatrical, but inconsistent. My belt was taken apart, my credit and business cards scrutinised, the change in my wallet poked through, my coat x-rayed, but my clothing and person were only subjected to a metal detector. Anything that could have been hiding in my collection of business cards could just as easily have been in my shoe, or simply in my pocket. I was questioned 3 times by 3 different security guards, who all asked the same questions. The theatrical excess was obviously intended to justify itself and to reinforce the fears of Israelis abroad.

This is the crux of the matter. Israel is used to getting away with breaking the rules with impunity, which has become the status quo of what the world regards as calm and peace.

When Israel’s enemies break the ceasfire, if inly once, it becomes an act of war.

Chu,

The intense fear at the gates, even when it is non-existent or when it is minute, the Israeli government will seek to exacerbate it because it serves a goal much in the same way the fear mongering in the US after 9/11 has served the goal of keeping the masses on a short leash while violating their basic civil rights and privacy.

Israel will dissolve if it weren’t for such uniting forces, among which is fear.

Socially, Israeli society is rather fragmented, the hierarchical division between European Jews, Mizrahi Jews and Sephardi Jews is too fragile. If you removed the political tensions and threats, all these social divisions will rear their ugly head, not to mention the constant push-pull relationship between orthodox and secular Judaism in Israel.