America, America
How odd are the leaders Jewish right-wing in the United States. On the one hand, they raise six million dollars to finance a PR war over Jews like me, members of Jewish Voice for Peace. This is an organization which acts, or so they claim, to delegitimize Israel for anti-Semitic reasons (and not because Israel is, heaven forbid, racist). On the other hand, they have the great temerity to call the greatest of rabbis, Sephardic rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a racist, and demand that the Ashkenazi Zionists denounce him thoroughly.
Truth be told, I never thought the Anti-Defamation League, headed by Abraham Foxman, would join our well-timed campaign to delegitimize Israel. But there you go, miracles happen even nowadays, and here he is, bad-mouthing the leader of Shas, the third or fourth largest political party in Israel and a partner in Israeli governments for generations. He calls it a racist party, and if it is racist then the government is racist and that means that the state is racist. That’s how it happens that Foxman and his organizations start understanding the depth of unimaginable racism which has seeped into Israel on the one hand, and on the other hand they denounce the humanist Jewish Voice For Peace organization, which has been fighting against that self-same racism for years, which Foxman, now suddenly can see.
What was it that the Honorable Rabbi Ovadia said, which so horrified the Jews of America? He said that in Messianic times, the role of the goyim (gentiles) will be to serve the Jews. I imagine that if the Honorable Rabbi would have said Muslims rather than Goyim Mr. Foxman would have overlooked it. But – with all due respect to Foxman if the Messiah decides otherwise, I assume that the Honorable Rabbi would accept his decision. In contrast with the elderly rabbi, three men in the prime of their life are currently at the helm of Israel – three hooligans, entirely secular ones, a holy fascist trinity: Lieberman, Netanyahu, and Barak. These men are not waiting for the Messiah. As far as they’re concerned, the only role gentiles have is to serve the Jewish state. They continue plundering lands in broad daylight and making a mockery of every nation in the world. On the one hand they collect huge amounts of money for upkeep of the state, as reparations for the Holocaust, and on the other hand they complain when nations ask them oh-so-gingerly to stop being a glorious apartheid state. While secular, bleeding heart Israelis struggle against the deportation of the 300 children of undocumented foreigners (a struggle which is undoubtedly just), they ignore the millions of resident Palestinian children, who have been living for sixty-three years as deportees in refugee camps and in exile, now being made to require them to pledge allegiance to the new lords of the land. And thus it happens that as part of the complex hasbara system of this racist entity, demagogues with flawless English are sent abroad, to persuade the Western world that our crazies are only the religious people and the settlers, thus covering up the real crime: that the State of Israel is being turned into a Judeo-Fascist state by its secular elites, of all people.
On the day that the government of Israel declared that the state was a Jewish and Fascist state, several filmmakers were interviewed, including the maker of Lebanon. They all declared very proudly on the Ynet news portal that they are the best ambassadors for the State of Israel. Well, I’ve got to tell you: if that is the purpose of Israeli creativity, the people who argue for a cultural boycott of Israel are right.
And to Mr. Foxman and the people who call up six million dollars for a PR campaign against us, alluding to the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust by the very number of dollars that they have raised, I have a suggestion: let us donate the money to the poor people of our country, and we will show up in the United States for any verbal debate. You can bring your swords and your spears, Alan Dershowitz, Bernard-Henri Levy, Gadi Taub, Shmulik Maoz. We will come in the name of human brotherhood and in the name of the living God.
Cultural Intifada
Jenin in New York
When faced with a reality where almost everyone collaborates in the construction of a racist state, where the Palestinian citizens of Israel cannot feel safe and are threatened daily with one form or the other of ethnic cleansing, I have nothing left to say beyond this: I have not found a better way to save my art and my Judaism than joining simultaneously the Jewish Voice for Peace in the United States and the Freedom Theater established by Juliano in the Jenin refugee camp.
I believe that only a Jewish-Palestinian coalition against racism, occupation, and apartheid can perhaps prevent the rise of a Jewish fascist state in Israel. The Zionist Left must understand that dialectically, a real and planned rip in the fabric of the Jewish society itself is a necessary perquisite for creating the space and conditions where the wounds of the ongoing trauma can be healed, and an equitable, dynamic democracy can be created.
Udi Aloni, Slavoj Zizek and Alain Badiou discuss "What if Antigone were a refugee?"
We ended our last blog with Mustafa’s desperate trip to Amman, to get to the American consulate, as his way to the one in Jerusalem had been blocked. As we said already, miracles do happen, and Mustafa received a visa to the U.S. and joined Mariam to take part in the main event for the theater, where I took part in a symposium along with philosophers Slavoj Zizek and Alain Badiou discussing “What If Antigone Were A Refugee?”. As part of our focal work in finding ways of promoting particular struggles into a universal one, we tried to examine how two particular struggles – the struggle for the liberation of Palestine and the struggle for women’s liberation – could go hand in hand. We should state that we intend to shoot a feature film in Jenin, and that Palestinian author Ala Hlehel is working on the script at this very moment.
The discussion can be summarized, without encompassing all of its many facets and layers, by saying that there are those who claim that for women to struggle for her equitable place, national emancipation must first be achieved. In other words, Sophocles’ Antigone cannot make heard her independent, feminine, and political voice of the sovereign, King Creon, is not the king who has established the sovereignty of his nation. In contrast with this linear-revolutionary way of thinking, Antigone can be interpreted as a feminine force of justice, which could have neutralized the inevitable element of a revolution that feeds upon its own children had she appeared in the course of reconstructing sovereignty and not after it. In other words, one can hope that the excess of violence of the revolution will not turned upon itself, after its victory.
Mariam at the demonstration against Ahava cosmetics. The protest was sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights on October 26, 2010. (Photo: Bud Korotzer)
Miriam and Mustafa went from university to university and from stand-up comedy performance to participation in a demonstration against the Ahava Dead Sea products, which are actually beauty stolen from the natural treasures that belong to the Palestinians.
And that is how Mustafa, Miriam, and I engaged in all three modes of non-violent resistance, to promote full equality during our visit to New York. We demonstrated with our bodies, shoulder-to-shoulder, Palestinians, Jews and others in New York, we called for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid products, and we made art, which is a means of struggle but primarily, an aim for its own.
We may always fail. Colonialist powers may always be stronger than we are. But on that day, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in New York, one thousand of us gathered together – Jews, Muslims, and Christian, straights and queers, and Pastor Gilbert, who hosted us, told us that when he was young he was a black Mexican Indian laborer, who supported the legendary Cesar Chavez, who used a boycott of grapes to bring the vine-workers from slavery into liberty. And we said, in silent prayer: “Free-Free Palestine! No more killing! No more crimes!” and everyone knew that this prayer unites a growing group of people, all around the world, who believe in justice, quality, and brotherhood, wherever there is injustice.
This article is from Udi Aloni's Brooklyn-Jenin column he is writing for the Israeli website Ynet about his experience living between New York City and the Jenin refugee camp, where he is teaching a film production class. You can read the entire Brooklyn-Jenin series here. This article was translated by Dena Shunra.
“I have a suggestion: let us donate the money to the poor people of our country, and we will show up in the United States for any verbal debate.”
I couldn’t help noticing the striking similarities between this Israeli article :
link to haaretz.com
And this from India :
link to guardian.co.uk
The same processes, the same contempt for ordinary people
excellent article.
here he is, bad-mouthing the leader of Shas, the third or fourth largest political party in Israel and a partner in Israeli governments for generations. He calls it a racist party, and if it is racist then the government is racist and that means that the state is racist. That’s how it happens that Foxman and his organizations start understanding the depth of unimaginable racism which has seeped into Israel
perhaps if foxman is ready to denounce the extremists he could include recognizing these nutcases who identify themselves as ‘Your Wreckers and Your Destroyers,’ shmarya who hosts the blog failed messiah identify’s these students of ‘Radical Chabad Rabbis’ something not made clear in the haaretz link, in fact i’ve been following these radicals of price tag attack fame for a while and never realized they were chabad before. shmarya adds:
how cush cush is chabad wrt world jewry today??? JTA brings us Like NBA’s Nets, European Jewish group gets an oligarch, but some see Soviet-style takeover
more at the link. the tentacles of money, power and fanaticism run deep. which begs the question ‘who really runs israel anyway’?
So is it antisemitic to say that Jews control Israel?
>>On the day that the government of Israel declared that the state
>>was a Jewish and Fascist state, several filmmakers were interviewed, >>including the maker of Lebanon.
Are some words missing here? I don’t understand: who’s “the maker of Lebanon”?
“Lebanon” is yet another Israeli movie about the 1982 war.
link to movies.nytimes.com
RE: “I never thought the Anti-Defamation League, headed by Abraham Foxman, would join our well-timed campaign to delegitimize Israel. But…here he is, bad-mouthing the leader of Shas, the third or fourth largest political party in Israel…” – Udi Aloni
MY COMMENT: Abe “less than honest” Foxman is pretty open about his primary concern being to please his fattest cat contributors (be they machers, mensches, or meshuggeners*). Other than that, it is not clear whether there is any “there” there.
* OMG, a triple! I’m in alliteration heaven.
FROM JEWCY, 07/08/07: …Foxman, frustrated and under attack, placed his cards on the table, angrily retorting: “I don’t represent you nor the Jewish community! I represent the donors.”
SOURCE – link to jewcy.com
Udi, you are doing something even much much better than raising money to give to the poor and then debating Dershowitz and his ilk. By making films and creating a Talent Campus in the Jenin Camp to work with youth like Mustafa in telling the story of their own lives, you are bringing a powerful truth to the “outside world.” Foxman was so thoroughly discredited in the film “Defamation” that it’s hard to believe anyone still listens to him. But, alas they do, and that’s why your work is so desperately needed. That’s what we really mean when we say “put your body on the line.”
ROMWEB- Two quick comments. First, I doubt that all that many people have seen “Defamation.” Second, for those in the US who haven’t and would like to, it is available on DVD from First Run Features. Simply Google First Run Features, click on DVD sales, search for “Defamation,” and follow directions. A very interesting and worthwhile film.
you can also watch it here
link to youtube.com
In the larger American context, it matters not that there’s a few courageous American Jews with a sense of universal morality that actually extends even to the state of Israel, but Israel is not on most American minds unless as an ally against billions of Muslim fanatics who want install Sharia Law here; further, I believe Jews have yet again increased their number in the US congress–and all of this segment of our new congress support Israel right or wrong, and at any expense–the watching Middle East onlooker knows this, even if the average American does not. It’s merely the latter’s country–a tiny chance to bring our special relationship with Israel into the full light of day resides in the Tea Party’s determination to whack away at even foreign aid–Joe Plumber might wonder why tiny, oiless, and well-off Israel has received more foreign aid than any other country, ever:
From Counterpunch:
Weekend Edition
November 5 – 7, 2010
Did Anyone Really Think They Would Lose?
Israel Claims Victory in US Midterm Elections
By FRANKLIN LAMB
Beirut
The Republican party’s gain of 60 plus House Seats (10 seats, all held by Democrats, are still undecided at press time) and six Senate seats, is the largest Congressional increase for either party since 1948 when the Democrats gained 75 seats in the lower chamber and Harry Truman won the White House. Next January’s 112th Congress is already receiving rave advance reviews, some coming from the more than half a million Jewish settlers in more than 100 illegal colonies in occupied Palestine who are pleased to see President Obama emasculated and the sentiments expressed in his June 2008 Cairo speech long forgotten. Many are hoping he will be replaced by likes of Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, or a Mike Huckabee in 2012. Danny Dayan, head of the Yesha Council, which represents Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and whose representatives are increasingly on the rampage, by word and by deed, spoke for many when he told a post election news conference that he expected the new Congress “will facilitate a more open-minded approach to Israel’s needs [i.e., yet more Palestinian land] than what we’ve experienced over the last two years.”
AIPAC, as it does after every Congressional election, offered pro forma congratulations to the winners: “It is abundantly clear that the 112th Congress will continue America’s long tradition of staunch support for a strong, safe and secure Israel and an abiding friendship between the United States and our most reliable ally in the Middle East.” No sooner had the election results been declared than key winners received what for decades has been a post election ritual, bestowed on new Members of Congress. That would be the delivery of US taxpayer subsidized invitations for all expense paid junkets to Israel. Of this year’s batch, Florida’s new Senator, Marco Rubio, who considers himself a Tea Party leader and who has been called “America’s great Right hope’ will lead the flock and arrive in Israel on this Sunday, November 7.
As Rubio and other members of Congress board planes to fly to Israel they may actually near-miss Israeli officials, including PM Netanyahu, who will be coming the opposite direction for a five day US visit to meet with his personal choice to replace Obama for US President in 2012, Hilary Clinton. Netanyahu will also talk Congressional strategy with key Israeli lobby agents. Those listed on the various passenger manifests between the US and Israel will share the common objective of making sure Israel’s interests are preserved and “remain eternally paramount” to borrow a phrase from VP Joe Biden. They will also try to assure and that the 112th Congress brooks no Obama administration unpleasantness such as increased demands for a broader freeze on Jewish settlements.
The post Congressional election euphoria has not extended to Lebanon and this region. This is because over here it is widely believed that the new Congress, with respect to Lebanon’s arch foe Israel which has committed serial aggressions against it for half a century, will pick up right where the old Congress left off without missing a beat.
Many in Lebanon view Obama’s repudiation in the polls as a sign that he will be unable to pressure Israel into concessions in stalled peace talks. They expect the Congressional drum beat for war with Iran, pressure on Syria, deference to Netanyahu-Lieberman, and interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs including the targeting of the national Lebanese Resistance led by Hezbollah to increase.
The morning after the US election, at the open-air Café Younnes Coffee Shop off Hamra Street, some Lebanese students were explaining to foreigners, with remarkable grasp of the electoral details, their take on the US midterm election results. One student explained that she expects the soon to be Speaker of the House, wildly pro-Israel John Boehner (R-Ohio), with Eric Cantor as Majority Leaders and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, will anchor Israel’s Congressional rule. Ros-Lehtinen, the all time Congressional record holder for all manner of anti-Arab congressional initiatives’ over the past two decades. Yesterday she called for all Members of Congress to sign her latest letter to President Obama opposing his administration’s proposed $60 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, by the end of business on 11/6/10. Ros-Lehtinen is also expected to renew her call to cut off all aid to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. She has also expressed her intention to maintain what are essentially US sanctions against Lebanon by extending her predecessor Howard Berman’s ban on grants to the Lebanese Armed Forces until Hezbollah is disarmed to prevent it from benefiting from the military aid.
Other key committees chairmanships held by Israel loyalists are believed here to mean an even stronger choke hold on the US government starting January. One Palestinian student who used to live in Nahr al Bared Camp near Tripoli before it was destroyed in 2007, explained how Cantor has already drawn pro-Israel skeptical reaction with his proposal that American assistance to Israel be taken out of the annual foreign aid bill and be passed separately, on its own. Cantor’s thinking is that, given his party’s intention to heavily cut foreign aid, he wants Israel’s annual $ 3 billion US taxpayer gift to remain untouched even as foreign aid to other nations get slashed.
Some pro-Israel lobbyists worry that Cantor’s “going public” with his plan may result in the American public noticing how much aid Israel gets and begin to wonder why Israel’s aid is so sacrosanct. Voters might notice that Israel has received more foreign aid from the United States than any other country since World War II, according to a recent report compiled by the Congressional Research Service.
Voters may begin to learn about and perhaps even question the fact that over the years, multiple lobbying efforts have added countless perks to Israel’s special aid package such that Israel is the only recipient allowed to spend a portion of its military aid on purchases within Israel itself. Usually this kind of aid is designed for procurement of American-made weapon systems. Israel also receives its aid in the first month of the fiscal year as a deposit in an interest-bearing account. Aid to all other recipients is spread out throughout the year. The Lebanese students verdict on the 2010 US midterm election: Netanyahu and Israel won again. Obama and America lost again.
Franklin Lamb is doing research in Lebanon and can be contacted at fplamb@gmail.com
Off post, but I can’t resist. If the US decides not to attack Iran, will it yet green light Israel to do that, or simply ignore it, saying Israel is a sovereign with a right to protect itself? Bush Jr did that with the Syrian reactor, which was bombed by Israel after Israel’s push to have Uncle Sam do it was refused:
link to haaretz.com