Poor Israeli gays. I really mean it. They might as well be Arabs. But at least if they were Arab and and the Arab world was expressing homophobic and ignorant views about them, every human rights organization and newspaper in the U.S. would have opined by now. I guess Foxman and Dershowtiz can sleep soundly knowing that Israeli gays don’t count in this country unless their situation can in some way cast Arabs or Muslims in a negative light.
Haaretz survey: Half of public thinks gays are deviants Almost half of the Israeli population believes that homosexuality is a perversion. A Haaretz-Dialog poll, conducted under Prof. Camil Fuchs finds that 46 percent of the people surveyed answered the question "Do you see homosexuality as a perversion?" in the affirmative, while 42 percent answered that it was not a perversion. Twelve percent said they did not know.
This was frustrating to watch. I hope Hamas learns sooner than later that it will never succeed politically if it insists on promoting anything remotely Wahabbi in Gaza. I wish they would use the Hezbollah model of government: more social programs, less proselytizing. Clearly there won’t be any Hezbollah-type military achievements since they’re surrounded by Fatah, Jordan, Egypt and Israel on all sides. Anyway, I can’t imagine that Hamas would retain its popularity if they got really out of hand with this whole virtue thing because giving unwanted sermons will get old very fast if they don’t have something tangible to give to Gazans.
As for Fatah–
So I guess the frequency in which this fed into my google reader today means it’s big news: Fateh woman manages to ‘escape’ from Hamas to participate in Bethlehem conference. But honestly, I don’t care. It’s surreal that this woman witnessed the barbarity of the last war and the slow starvation of her population yet went to such extremes to participate in a conference hosted by people that supported the killings and the siege. And when was the last time that Abbas or Fayyad spoke about the conditions of Gazans? I hear them speak about the settlements, which is great but when is the last time that anyone within any "key leadership" position in Fatah mentioned any of the dozens of issues affecting Gazans or demanded an end to draconian Israeli policies there?
I found the agenda for their conference and control F didn’t find any mention of "Gaza." "siege," or "humanitarian catastrophes." Shame.
(P.S. The Fath Movement
"In my youth, the lousy Fath Movement was dubbed "the spinal cord" of the Palestinian Revolution. Today, it would be safe to describe the Fath Movement as "the spinal cord" of the Israeli occupation of Palestine." -Angry Arab)
Seham writes: In the last 48 hours: Palestinian home and olive tree destroyed by settlers in At-Tuwani Israelis On Horseback In West Bank Fire Raid Israeli forces raid Bil’in, arrest member of Popular Committee VIDEO: Another invasion of Bil‘in -…
Seham writes: So far this is turning into the year that American Jews made hajj to Palestine, whether to break the siege on Gaza or to participate in and document the resistance to Israel’s land grab in the West Bank….
Seham responds to my post about the question of whether Jews agonizing over their Jewish identity is a sideshow to real engagement on Israel/Palestine: You know how much I like forwarding news items along, and invariably at some point a…
Seham writes: I live in one of the more liberal regions in Northern CA so I’m more familiar with compassionate and well intentioned Orientalism, none of this stabbing business is going on over here. Men that wear Birkenstocks just don’t…
Our West Coast correspondent Seham writes: Haaretz had this insightful piece today which describes how the Palestinian “diet” came about: Several months ago, ministry officials approached the United Nations to consult with them about their dietary plan for the Gaza…
Our friend Seham, a Palestinian-American in California, declined our challenge to produce a positive forward-looking solution in Israel/Palestine. You’ll see there were a ton of smart comments on her post. We asked if she wanted to add anything to her…
We’re doing an informal roundtable on this site, challenging non- and anti-Zionists to utter some positive formula for peace in the Middle East. On the very-American theory, Now that we have the microphone, we have to step up to the…
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‘This Time We Went Too Far’
Norman Finkelstein has just published an important new book on the Gaza conflict of 2008-2009, 'This Time We Went Too Far.' Go to orbooks.com to get it.
