Israeli government officials are justifying the killing of four children in Gaza protests in the last 2 weeks. Education Minister Naftali Bennett says a 14-year-old boy killed Friday should have been in school, not at protests; while an Israeli government ministry posts a photo of a child in diapers holding a rock at the protests and says Palestinian children should be given books not rocks.
Over the weekend two Palestinians succumbed to injuries sustained during the “Great March of Return” protest, bringing the total number of Palestinian protesters killed by Israeli forces since demonstrations began on March 30, 2018 to 41.
A Freedom of Information request filed by Attorney Eitay Mack has revealed that the Israeli Ministry of Justice has been directly involved in hiring international law firms to combat European BDS activists and NGOs.
For Rabbi Eli Sadan of a religious military academy on the West Bank, “the grand arc of the nation” commands from Jews “a heroism, determination, and commitment to sacrifice that is beyond words.” This militant mysticism is for Jews only and inevitably leads to moral corruption, Rabbi Michael Davis explains.
After Norman Finkelstein and Sana Kassem posted a video on April 22 hailing the Gaza protesters with images of Yaser Murtaja, the journalist slain by an Israeli sniper, Youtube removed it within a day, saying it violates poicy against “sensational” and “shocking” incitement to “violence” or “dangerous activities.”
Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council releases a statement calling for a “full and impartial investigation of the Israeli military’s actions since March 30 in response to the Gaza protests.” In the last month Israeli forces have killed 37 Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip.
Natalie Portman’s recent decision not to attend the Israeli Genesis Prize ceremony has pushed liberal Zionist organizations to endorse boycotts aimed at the Israeli government. Jonathan Ofir says her action shattered a huge taboo, even if she didn’t intend it.
On Friday, April 20, Israeli soldiers invaded the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, home to the Tamimi family. The Israeli forces instigated clashes with Palestinian youth which lasted several hours, during which the soldiers shot scores of tear gas, fired rubber-coated metal bullets and live ammunition that wounded two of the protesters. “What’s happening now is what is happening every week, sometimes everyday, since nearly nine years”, explained Belal Tamimi. “The soldiers try to surround the village, they don’t want anyone to be near the spring area that the settlers occupied nine years ago. Every Friday, the situation is horrible.”
Like the recent Barnard BDS vote, Natalie Portman’s refusal to attend the Genesis Prize award presentation shows how deep the cracks in Zionism are running for a growing number of Jews who today find it “increasingly tricky” to reconcile one’s familiar love for Israel and one’s decency, and eventually opt towards dissociating themselves from Zionism.
In refusing to attend a prize ceremony in Israel, Natalie Portman says the problem with Israel is Netanyahu. But the problem is Zionism, Robert Cohen writes to Portman. “If you continue to see Zionism as essentially liberal and progressive you will never understand why it creates in your own words: ‘violence, corruption, inequality, and abuse of power’. The current Israeli government is not an aberration. When Netanyahu falls, Zionism with all of its violence, corruption and inequality will stay put.”