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- Video: Paterson, NJ raises the Palestinian flag over city hall … 2
- Princeton students ‘come out’ for Palestine to overcome shame attached … 3
- Jim from Newport Township, Illinois asks the wrong question 4
- There’s been a sea change in US opinion on the … 14
- Former AIPAC lobbyist assumes weighty mantle (and travel budget) of … 16
- Press Release: Isabel Kershner chosen to reveal future Israeli exonerations 5
- As Israel’s occupation drags on, boycotts are one way forward 1
- Both Massad, and ‘Open Zion’, ignore the experience of Middle … 12
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- Israeli airport sorts passengers with ‘Jewish stickers’ and ‘Arab stickers’ 796
- ‘Newseum’ folds under pressure, will not include Gaza cameramen in … 314
- Two friends meet for 5 minutes in Jerusalem 230
- In photos: Gaza marches and rallies mark 65 years of … 149
- Washington Post’s racism map omits Israel 111
- Barbara Boxer’s visa bill for Israel comes under concerted attack 103
- Washington state bus-ad campaign dares to state: ‘Equal rights for … 100
- Guatemalan genocide got assist from US, Christian Right, and Israel 75
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- International Criminal Court opens preliminary investigation into attack on Mavi … 96
- Barbara Boxer’s visa bill for Israel comes under concerted attack 84
- Abulhawa declines to ‘balance out’ several Israelis in ‘Al Jazeera’ … 74
- Washington Post’s racism map omits Israel 73
- Israeli airport sorts passengers with ‘Jewish stickers’ and ‘Arab stickers’ 69
- Uncompromising hope inspired by Ghassan Kanafani 63
- ‘Newseum’ folds under pressure, will not include Gaza cameramen in … 62
- Dershowitz should stop lying about Tutu’s record 56
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- RT @ggreenwald: From AJ Editor RT @hash_said @WHarkavy It was a temporary glitch. It's back up., 8 hours ago
- RT @WHarkavy: .@Mondoweiss @ggreenwald Right now, at least, column and editor's note aren't on Al Jazeera site. Here's an alt link http://t…, 8 hours ago
- Jim from Newport Township, Illinois asks the wrong question http://t.co/dezeLR7gp1, 8 hours ago
- Princeton students ‘come out’ for Palestine to overcome shame attached to issue in U.S. http://t.co/LCs1vTVK44, 8 hours ago
- Video: Paterson, NJ raises the Palestinian flag over city hall for Palestinian-American Day http://t.co/jV4CaYbOnE, 8 hours ago
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Recent Comments
click link to see last 100 comments- There’s been a sea change in US opinion on the conflict (14)
- W.Jones: Annie, If given a choice between the two, I think generally people would pick the Israeli...
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- Inanna: What the article misses is the larger history of Jewish life in the Arab-Muslim world and some articulation...
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The War of Ideas in the Middle East
"Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collective—especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions."
Here's an anti-Semite for you.
link to latimes.com
"Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist"
That's me, then.
"A New York statute forbidding permanent certification as a public school teacher of any person who is not a United States citizen unless that person has manifested an intention to apply for citizenship, does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
So even the Supreme Court does not know how to use commas.
“Who's got the power in a relationship where you know your professor is ardently pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, and you're a Jewish student who wants to be a Political Science major?”
So a Jewish student will be automatically pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian?
Can we hope that the experience will prompt them to start inquiring more deeply into the issue, so that they come to understand the fundamental evil of Zionism?
Well, I suppose we can hope.
"could visibly see the refugee camps"
Can anyone invisibly see them?
The Jewish State is what matters. Friendship and love must be set aside.
"All other Southerners understand what we are saying, and that’s all that matters."
My own experience of interactions between people in Georgia suggests that this is not entirely true.
Oh, no. I take a day off, and more tripe about "identity" gets plastered on to MW.
And poor John Donne gets dragged into it without even an acknowledgement. "As the saying traditionally goes" - Pah!
(Did you take the first line of Holy Sonnet XI literally?)
Here's where it comes from:
'No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee...."
(In modern spelling, here: link to luminarium.org)
In mankind, not some tiny, involuted, self-obsessed, subsection.
And being involved in mankind is all the rooting one needs for compassion, justice, and resisting injustice.
Did he really say "you’ve got another thing coming"?
The idiom is " you’ve got another think coming".
"Convincing Zionists of the human dignity and worth of Palestinians is not my priority. Dismantling Zionism within the Jewish establishment is essential. "
I suspect that the former would be of assistance in the latter, even if you do not make it your priority.
"In my opinion and experience Japan and Korea were on par in terms of xenophobia in the 1980′s but now Japan is far more advanced than Korea in this regard "
I left Japan in 1990, so this may be so.
I'm dubious about light-blue Japan. I would have expected it to rank with to South Korea. I'm sure the place has become more tolerant since I lived there, but I suspect there were plenty of people who gave an "approved" answer rather than what they really thought.
"Israel is not listed because it is not a racist nation. It is, in fact, the most tolerant nation in the region....Palestine is not listed because it doesn’t exist outside the imagination of self hating pseudo intellectuals like yourself."
Love the tolerance.
Just more loveable Israeli tolerance.
"Or was it in Congo under the oh-so-civilized brit-rule?"
The Congo would have been lucky to suffer the oh-so-civilized brit-rule.
"On the 2nd of December 1947...."
And..? Your point?
Luze - luze?
"So Harvard stars are not immune from crappy writing."
And yet I first encountered lines from The Second Coming in a science fiction story I read when I was a boy. And that story was written by a [gasp!] American writer.
Yes, Virginia; back when RoHa was young (a time so long ago as to seem almost fabulous) even some Americans had a smattering of education.
But now, in Britain and Australia as well, education has been abandoned. I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, retreating, to the breath of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear and naked shingles of the world. And since my brother died recently, now I alone am left to try to hold back the black pall of barbarism and ignorance that falls upon the world.
"what might they have to loose?"
Mere anarchy upon the world, perhaps? Blood-dimmed tide?
Or do you mean "lose"?
(I keep seeing "loose" for "lose" on American websites. It seems that, not only have capital letters been lost, but also the spelling of four letter words.)
Ooops! That should be "no words with the roots Hrt, HrT, or hrt."
According to this
link to perseus.tufts.edu
there are no words with the roots Hrt, HrT, or hrT.
There are words for khrt:
link to perseus.tufts.edu
and khrT:
link to perseus.tufts.edu
and hrT:
link to perseus.tufts.edu
But if you have the time, you can check Lane's Lexicon.
link to tyndalearchive.com
link to studyquran.co.uk
Or go for broke with Lane's and Wehr's together!
link to giftsofknowledge.wordpress.com
"the biggest judicial lie in the 20th century"
I'm not sure why you think it was the biggest, but, if it was a miscarriage of justice (and I am not committing myself either way) very little of the blame can go on Dershowitz. He was only one of Simpson's defence team, and only played a small part in the courtroom. . Barry Scheck was far more impressive, and Cochran's ties probably helped to dazzle the jury.
The police seemed to have mishandled such evidence as they didn't plant, and the prosecution was inept. They seemed unprepared. I recall one of them asking a witness "You do know the Mr. Simpson is an actor, don't you?" Only someone who had never seen any of his films could say that.)
They also seemed unable to put together a coherent picture of the alleged events.
(Why would Simpson drop one glove at the murder house and the other while climbing over the fence when he got home?)
Altogether, a big cast to spread the putative blame among.
I like the segregation ads. They should run those in (e.g.) Georgia.
Well said.
May I urge you to keep repeating this in every possible medium and every possible occasion?
I just sent this:
Sir,
The decision to exclude al-Kumi and Salama is disgusting. The Newseum directors have simply caved in to Israeli pressure.
If they do not have the moral courage to stand up for al-Kumi and Salama, then their "honouring fallen journalists" is worthless.
What value is there in being "honoured" by the gutless?
"Jews living now and in any future will not have a safe haven of last resort from Goy perfidia without a well-armed state of their own where Jews are in the majority, that is, where they can be sure of controlling government actions."
Even if this is true, it does not justify Israel. If a "safe haven" for Jews requires the dispossession or suffering of others then Jews will just have to forgo their safe haven. Potential suffering of Jews is not more important than actual suffering of non-Jews. Further, actual suffering of Jews is not more important than actual suffering of non-Jews.
"The denial of the right of return is a perpetuation of the Nakba."
It's not just the denial of the right to return. The active ethnic cleansing didn't stop in 1948. Arabs in Palestine are still being driven out of their homes.
I'm glad they make the point that the Nakba is still going on.
"the truth is a lot of Israel’s critics want Israel to cease to exist. "
Yes. It would be good if it ceased to exist and was replaced by a secular democracy with equal rights for all the residents of Palestine.
"Do you expect Israel to go quietly into that long dark night?"
No.
"What do you do about the fact that peoples have a right to self-determination, and there are also various peoples in the US?"
"Peoples" (ethnic groups) do not have the right to self determination. That right belongs all and only the people resident in a specific territory. The entire population of the territory is the "people".
We have thrashed this out ad nauseam in previous posts.
(I might add that one of the arguments against ethnic groups having such a right is that in mixed areas it will lead to the absurdity of the right of one group annulling the right of another group.)
"Italian Americans have a right to self-determination."
As residents in and citizens of the United States, but not as an "ethnic group".
No issue too humane, no issue too obscure, but they will whine about it.
They just reveal their total lack of decency.
" Jews have had a shared destiny all this time. "
So this stuff about “succession/continuity/connection” means that converts share the "shared destiny"?
What is a "shared destiny"then? What does that mean?
I can't see how (e.g.) 12th Century Jews - long dead - can share a destiny with 21st Century Jews who are still alive.
"What are the moral implications of this “succession/continuity/connection”?
In regard to what?"
What rights and duties are implied by this "shared destiny". (As distinct from the rights and duties of all human beings.)
"A little less rudeness, too, if you don’t mind."
I apologise. I see so much vague, meaningless, drivel on this site that I get impatient with vague terminology.
"only shows the enormity that this city has for the entire Jewish people"
Interesting that she uses the word "enormity".
1 [mass noun] (the enormity of) the great or extreme scale, seriousness, or extent of something perceived as bad or morally wrong: a thorough search disclosed the full enormity of the crime
•
(in neutral use) large size or scale: I began to get a sense of the enormity of the task
2a grave crime or sin: the enormities of war
Enormity traditionally means ‘the extreme scale or seriousness of something bad or morally wrong’, as in residents of the town were struggling to deal with the enormity of the crime. Today, however, a more neutral sense as a synonym for hugeness or immensity, as in he soon discovered the enormity of the task, is common. Some people regard this use as wrong, arguing that enormity in its original sense meant ‘a crime’ and should therefore continue to be used only of contexts in which a negative moral judgement is implied. Nevertheless, the sense is now broadly accepted in standard English, although it generally relates to something difficult, such as a task, challenge, or achievement.
link to oxforddictionaries.com
"Contemporary Jews are the successors to their Jewish predecessors. Conversion is a perfectly legitimate means of Jewish continuity. A Jew is connected to earlier generations of Jews..."
What do you mean by "successors", "continuity", and "connected to"?
What are the moral implications of this "succession/continuity/connection"?
Or are you just babbling vague, meaningless, drivel?
"I am an American Jew "
Then America is your nation. So why do you say "we" in reference to "the Jewish nation"?
"In April 1920, Amin al-Husseini and other Arab leaders organised the 1920 Jerusalem riots"
By 1920 it was clear that the immigrant Jews were intending to create a state in which Arabs would be either expelled or kept in subjection.
"Israel is surrounded by a hostile sea of Arabs"
And of course, Israel has done nothing* to arouse this hostility. It all stems from pure anti-Semitism.
(*Aside, of course, from the founding principle that Jews matter and Arabs don't, from ethnic cleansing and robbery, and from attacking and waging war against all its neighbours.)
"So the Enlightenment relied heavily on secular Jewish contributions in the areas of philosophy, science, medicine, & etc."
Aside from Spinoza, who was cast out from the Jews, what other major contributions were made by Jews? And in what way (other than being made by Jews) were these contributions Jewish as distinct from being (e.g.) Dutch or German?
(These are genuine questions. I am being uncharacteristically unsnarky.)
"You’re comparing apples to oranges. You don’t have to hold any special beliefs "
Thank you, Hostage. That is what I suspected. Being Jewish is not the same sort of thing as being Christian.
"One can be a Christian and seldom set foot in a Christian church."
As long as one hold Christian beliefs.
Are there any beliefs one has to hold in order to be Jewish?
"Acts Chapter 2:"
We don't know when Acts was written. My guess is sometime in the second century. That puts it after the fall of Jerusalem, but still pretty old. However, we find references to Jews in the Roman Empire in pre-Christian Latin literature.
link to fondazionecanussio.org
'In hebrew, the word “diaspora’ usually translates as “galut”, '
And “galut” make me think of "galoot".
"The purpose of a Jewish state is to proclaim that Jews are human,"
What nonsense is this? Being human does not require an ethnically based state. Being perceived as human does not require an ethnically based state.
"like the French are human"
The Position of the French is that all citizens of France are (a) French, and (b) human. This applies to French Jews as well.
"The expression of human nationalism is a state."
Human nationalism is not the same thing as being human. And the Jews are not a nation.
"Tragic that any academic should seek to join an ugly bandwagon campaign that seeks to single out and vilify one nation only – above all others when there are so many other countries violating human rights and international law."
Let's take them out one at a time. Israel first. (Or do you think we should never do anything about anything wrong unless we can fix everything at once.)
"In the area of physics, by 2003, consensus was growing that Hawking was wrong about the loss of information in a black hole."
Well, that demonstrates beyond any doubt that he is wrong about the moral issue of the boycott, doesn't it?
It seems probable that Sirhan's motivation was at least partly derived from the I/P situation.
Since RFK was shot in the back, and Sirhan was in front of him throughout the shooting, it also seems highly improbable that it was Sirhan who actually killed RFK.
Gasp! I find myself in agreement with hophmi.
Only about the ghastly jargon though, so you might not see the four horsemen for a while.
"With Israel’s massive newfound wealth from its offshore gas fields"
Well, someone's offshore gas fields.
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important, proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt."
Those were the days!
Belgium for the Belgae!
"Talkback, no one used the term “Palestinian” in 1925 when referring to the local Arab population."
So what? They were there.
Cities got DNA?
"Palestinians have never controlled Jerusalem, not even for a single day, ever."
So what?
"What are liberals for?"
What are liberals?
" You don’t respect Jewish beliefs anyway, RoHa."
Jews who think that non-Jews are not fit to marry don't deserve any respect.
"Are you arguing that it is the norm in say, Islam, for intermarriage to be celebrated and encouraged?"
The Muslim objection is purely religious. Jewishness, we are told, is more than just religion.
“We do not attend marriages between Jews and non-Jews, because they destroy the uniqueness and holiness of our people.”
So he's saying that he believes that we non-Jews are in some way not "holy" enough to marry Jews. But we have to respect Jews and their beliefs, don't we?
"Tell me with a straight face that Borders and Customs in the US and similar agencies in Europe let those from Arab countries through every bit as quickly as white Europeans."
Tell me which European countries require special legislation to make an exception for Arab-Americans.
'hophmi to annie today:
Or do Jewish lives not matter to you?
Annie has this weird, anti-Semitic, idea that the lives of non-Jews matter as well. I hope she doesn't think that they matter as much as Jewish lives. That would be just silly.
"a chicken coup"
The chickens are taking over?
Swarthy, unshaven, wild-eyed, fanatical, Jew-hating, Palestinian suicide-bomber terrorist chickens, remember.
Why is it so hard to spell "lose" and "losing"?
@ Naftush
Peter's thesis is that the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs migrated into Palestine at about the same time as the European Jews were migrating into Palestine. Assuming, for one giddy moment, that this is true.
Would that not give the Arab immigrants the same rights to the land as the Jewish immigrants?
What right would one set of immigrants have to drive out another set?
We should not forget that, following Finkelstein, Israeli Historian Yehoshua Porath (a Likud and Netanyahu supporter!) described the book as "sheer rubbish".
" What concessions? They have not made any."
Aside from 78% of their homeland.
I see a bit of positive value in this theatre. It makes it harder for Israel to pretend it is interested in a deal.
No, he's saying that land swaps will not be fair and will probably not bring peace.
"Not until you hold the Palestinians responsible for past mistakes."
I think their main mistake was to reject the Peel plan. They should have accepted it on the conditions (a) that the rest of Palestine was given full independence before the British left the Jewish state, and (b) that the Jewish state was demilitarized. Then, once the British left, treated the Jewish state the way India treated Goa.
It's all part of the high moral purpose.
"you’ve been out of the loop. "
You mean the American loop?
I didn't know who he was.
No it isn't. But I suppose this guy is the one.
link to en.wikipedia.org
Is he important?
Who is Andrew Sullivan?
So was this one EOKA, IRA, or Sendero Luminoso?
And yet there are a number of non-Muslim terrorist groups around right now.
As I have said before, being older and grumpier than most, I can recall half of the twentieth century, so when I hear or see the word “terrorist”, the first thing I think of is the Mau Mau. Then I think of EOKA, the Viet Cong, the FNL, the MNLA and the IRA. All these were (justifiably) branded terrorists at one time or another.
Then I get historical (i.e., before I was old enough to read the newspapers) and think of the Stern Gang and Palmach.
These form my basic concept of terrorism, and of these only the FNL has an Islamic connection.
"the Jews, immemorially associated with suffering and high moral purpose,"
I'm with American, here. Who has associated the Jews with suffering and high moral purpose, when, and where?
Roman Empire? Mediaeval Europe? Abbasid caliphate? Renaissance Europe? Tokugawa Shogunate? Majapahit Empire?
And if there were such a strong, immemorial, association, whence the alleged universal, perpetual, anti-Semitism? Why so much supposed hate for people who are supposedly thought of as people with high moral purpose?
Like it or not, the "peoples" referred to in international law about self-determination are all and only the people resident in a specific territory.
We have thrashed this out ad nauseam in previous posts.
The Jews in general are not confined to a specific territory, so they are not a "people" in the relevant sense. The Jews of Israel are not the only residents of Israel, nor of Palestine as a whole, so they are not a "people" in the relevant sense.
The entire population of the territory is the "people".
Harri Tudur was a crafty bugger. When the Yorkists put up Lambert Simnel as pretender, he stamped on them, but contemptuously appointed Simnel to the position of kitchen servant. (Warbeck was not so lucky.)
And he kept a tight hold on the royal purse.
(Which is why, when we see him paying out a vast sum for decorating a frumentary, we can be pretty sure this was a way of paying off secret agents.)
"I realise it’s kind of necessary for the survival of Jews."
What do you mean? Jews in Australia survive without Israel.
"My neighbor is Welsh and I will now provoke him."
Provoking the Welsh is always a good thing. Make suggestions about sheep.
And, later, a Welsh Prime Minister.
(He knew my father.)
"Jews need their self-determination"
As citizens of a state. Not as Jews.
"The Israelis are going to fight like dogs. Who can blame them?!"
I can. In order to perpetuate an injustice they are going to bring death and destruction upon themselves and others. This is clearly blameworthy.
"I believe they have a right to be in the land"
A right to be in the land does not give the right to deny the rights of others in the land.
"The Jewish press ... is gung ho on continuity and in marriage, gung ho on the Talmud and Jewish particularism"
I hope you are not suggesting that these are good things.
"Hoffman is someone whose Jewishness seems to have played very little role in his life ..."
And should it have? If so, why?
"Maybe , O,Malley , who brings shame to we Irish"
How does an American bring shame to the Irish?
" techno or trance that is coming out of big speakers on the roofs of our multicoloured vans..."
I feel sorry for the Israelis suffering under this kind of terror.
"Why would anyone want to visit a totalitarian state that makes such a mockery of its claims to democracy?"
Can't imagine. I certainly wouldn't want to.
But Mr. Barat's problem is that he has to, and it seems the only way he can is to go through the interrogation and imprisionment, and then find out he can't anyway.
'It is NOT the case that ALL Mizrahim “left” That’s like saying The Palestinians simply “left”.'
If they didn't leave, they are still there. Same for the Palestinians. Saying they left does not imply anything about the reasons they left.
"If this is the case that the Arabs “welcome” minorities"
I didn't say the Arabs welcome minorities.
"can you explain the disappearance of the Greek community in Egypt?"
Why was there a Greek community in Egypt? If they lived there permanently, they should have become Egyptians.
"If Israel welcomed back all Palestinian refugees — how given the evidence of how the majority Muslim Population DOESN’T get along with minorities how long do you imagine the Jews in Israel would remain there?"
Depends on how good they are at reconciliation. By their actions they have built up an awful lot of hatred, and they would have to overcome that. But on current population figures, the Jews would not be a small minority, and they would have a lot of political and economic power. It would be far better for the Israelis to start the reconciliation process now rather than perpetuate the current injustice. The difficulty of reconciliation is no excuse.
"Can you explain why Libyans Jews who SUPPORTED the anti-Gadhafi forces are forbidden to re-settle in Libya?
Why are Lebanese Jews forced to hide their Jewish religion?"
When Israel keeps claiming that all Jews belong to Israel, and uses them as secret agents, it is difficult to trust Jews.
"Their treatment in Arab countries is NOT dependent on whether or not Israel exists."
The fact remains that the major movement of Arab Jews from Arab countries occured after Israel was created.
"They will not be welcomed back with open arms."
They left after Israel had forced out the Palestinian refugees, and under the shadow that Israel cast upon the term "Jew". If Israel had not been created, the Arab Jews would be still an important part of Arab society.
Let Israel welcome back the Palestinians with open arms first.
"The international community, as well as Israel, would go to great strides to ensure a Palestinian state was successful."
Since 1947 Israel has done everything it can to ensure that no Palestinians state is ever formed.
But Israel has a moral obligation to allow the refugees to return to the territory that is now Israel.
"Hopefully they allow all the of the descendants of the Palestinians refugees from the Nakba be allowed back in to create a prosperous state."
However, that will not meet Israel's moral obligations to the refugees. But perhaps, like mondonut, you deny that there are any such things as moral obligations of any kind. The inablilty of Zionists to understand morality has been well established on this site.
"whatever is wrong with this country."
Which country? We talk about a large number of countries on this site, so it is best to name them.
"over 2 thirds of Americans polled are pro Israel, why shouldn’t our UN ambassador speak for the people of the US?"
Do you mean the US ambassador? If so, I would think that the job of the US ambassador would be to support the US rather than drag it down with Israel.
They would probably think "Let France look after itself."
"Like Ronald Reagan who, shortly after he left office, picked up a 2 million dollar fee for traveling and, I assume speaking, in Japan. "
I'll do it for just $1.5m*, and I'll even do some of the speaking in Japanese.
(*plus expenses and GST)
Why have an account with gmail?
Even easier, don't take a computer or similar device into the country.
It is possible to live without such things for a short time.
“Cramer illustrates how Israel is losing her soul "
Israel's got a soul?
A very brave move, considering that the university is deep in Israeli occupied territory.
"Once you know a bit of the language"
I do know a bit of the language. It does not change things. I've said it before,
link to mondoweiss.net
link to mondoweiss.net
and I'll say it again. The human voice is not a musical instrument.
“I’d never heard anything as infectiously shoulder-shakingly danceable as Arabic pop music”.
Great rhythms, fun music. (As long as they don't sing, of course.) We had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant the other day, and She Who Must Be Obeyed had to stop me from tapping the table, plates, and glassses in time to the music they were playing.
"alienating and hateful."
Who is going to be alienated? Who is hated?
The pro-Israel students and faculty members?
Well, tough.
It's the life they chose.
"The difference between you and me is that I acknowledge the right of both sides to seek self-determination. I’m looking for a solution where both peoples realize their right to self-determination. "
In a single democratic state, all citizens in the area would have as much self-determination as Australians do in Australia.
'“If Jews cannot work out how to live safely in their native lands, that is unfortunate, but that is their problem.”
RoHa Just think about that statement and apply it to any minority or subjugated group including Palestinians'
I would say as a general principle that minority groups have a responsibility to find a way of getting on with the neighbours. The minority group bears at least as much responsibility for this as the majority group. If the minority group is a group of immigrants, the minority group bears far more responsibility than the majority group.
Now in some cases the majority have no interest in reaching a fair accomodation with minority groups. In those cases the minority group cannot have a responsibility to do that which cannot be done.
One set of such cases is situations in which the minority group are the victims of invaders who simply want to take over the land regardless of the natives. The Palestinians, the Maoris, and the Australian Aborigines are in this position.
"And PS of course Jews are not persecuted in every country least of all the US where Jews have flourished."
I would say least of all here in Australia, but Norman F wants to play the "Jews have always been persecuted everywhere" line. I say that if that is true (and we know it isn't) then it shows that Jews have failed to meet their social responsibilities.
"to give every Jew refuge and a homeland that is always waiting for them. In view of the past Jewish experience in every country in the world ..."
Even accepting your story of continuous Jewish persecution in every country in the world, it was still wrong to create a "refuge and homeland" by taking over Palestine and driving out the Palestinians. The safety of Jews is not so important that it outweighs the rights of the Palestinians.
If Jews cannot work out how to live safely in their native lands, that is unfortunate, but that is their problem. It is wrong to try to solve that problem at the expense of the Palestinians.
"Israel’s Law Of Return is neither discriminatory nor unique – Germany, Finland, Russia and Italy all have similar laws to encourage ethnic kith and kin to resettle in their homeland no matter how long they have lived abroad or whether they were born elsewhere."
That does not seem to be so.
The laws of those countries refer to citizenship of ancestors, not ethnicity. For a descendant of a Finn to acquire Finnish citizenship through parentage, that parent must have been a citizen of Finland. Finnish ethnicity is not enough. And the same goes for Germany, Russia, and Italy.
As far as I can make out (I am not a lawyer) those states will not accept any claims if the child was born after the parent lost the relevant citizenship.
Italy will not accept claims based on ancestors who died before the Italian state was established.
The Israeli Law of Return does not require ancestors of Israeli citizenship. There is no requirement to demonstrate that the ancestors were at any time resident in - let alone had any formal legal status in - any part of what is now Israel.
It only requires Jewish ancestors or conversion to Judaism.
" to encourage ethnic kith and kin to to encourage ethnic kith and kin to resettle in their homeland "
I see nothing in the laws to suggest that there is any intent to encourage people to " resettle in their homeland ".
(Nor do I see how Finland can be the "homeland" of an Australian citizen born and brought up in Australia, even if his ancestors were Finns.)
"A small sliver of land in Palestine seems long overdue for these folks, I’d say,"
Accepting your proviso, on what moral principle do you base your claim that "these folks" have a right to land in Palestine?
"Diaspora implies the existence of the Jewish homeland."
But there isn't a single Jewish homeland. Jews have their homes in many different lands. Australia is the homeland of Australian Jews, Sweden is the homeland of Swedish Jews, Mexico is the homeland of Mexican Jews, and so forth.
"None of which negates the reason for Israel’s existence."
And that reason is ...?
"he doesn’t have the ability to act as a neutral go between."
Of course not. He's an American politician, so he will have to do what Israel says.
Probably because they hope that having Israeli citizenship will make it a bit harder for Jewish thugs to throw them out of their homes and their country.
"That much should be obvious to anyone with eyes not blinded by hate."
And what do you think causes all this hate?
"the flag would be offensive to Israeli students."
Whereas the Israeli flag isn't offensive to anyone?
Or is it just that the delicate feelings of the Israeli students are much more important than anyone else's feelings?
"If all nations are invented than how was there an ‘indigenous nation’ in Palestine ?"
The people were living there. Their ancestors had been living there before the Zionists arrived to take over.