Global March to Jerusalem

I've been doing some reading tonight to try to discover what will happen tomorrow in Jerusalem, the ultimate goal of the grandiosely-named "Global March." (For a more sympathetic report on the goals of the march, see a blog article on the MSNBC website - Global March to Jerusalem).

Israel - Land Day and Arab Israelis 

 

The reason that the "Global March" has been scheduled for tomorrow, March 30, is because this is the anniversary of "Land Day." According to AFP, "Land Day is held every year on March 30 to mark the deaths of six Arab Israeli protesters at the hands of Israeli police and troops during several mass demonstrations in 1976 against plans to confiscate Arab land in Galilee." The main demonstration in Israel will occur in Deir Hanna in the Galilee.

Preparations in Israeli itself include (according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and AP):

Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, who oversees the national police force, said officers would be spread out in potentially explosive areas Friday but would not enter Arab villages unless needed. "The guidelines are to allow everyone to mark Land Day quietly ... We will keep a low profile," he told Israel Radio.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said thousands of officers were on the move throughout the country Thursday in preparation for Land Day. He said the biggest deployments were near Arab towns in northern Israel and in Jerusalem. He said police were in touch with leaders of Arab communities in Israel in an attempt to keep protests peaceful. "We're hoping there won't be any major incidents," he said. "If there are ... obviously the police will respond and deal with them." 

Jerusalem 

 

 According to the Jerusalem Post, the Jerusalem police have raised the alert level for tomorrow. "Thousands of police officers will fan out across Jerusalem, with an emphasis on the alleyways of the Old City and crossings such as the Kalandia checkpoint to Ramallah and the Rachel Checkpoint to Bethlehem, said Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby."

Palestine and Palestinian Authority

 

In Palestine itself, protestors will concentrate on crossing points from Palestinian territory into Israel, especially the checkpoint at Qalandiya. They will also be demonstrating in Bethlehem, and at the approach to the crossing into Israeli territory at Rachel's Tomb. In Gaza, they will be marching towards the Erez crossing into Israel. In Lebanon, they will convene at the Beaufort, which is a few miles from the northern border of Israel. In Jordan, they will gather at the site where it is believed that Jesus was baptised.

My expectation is that there will be violence at all of the crossing points, especially at Qalandiya, where there have been continuing protests and frequent violent clashes with the Israeli Border Police.

West Bank 

 

Ynet reports:

Sa'id Yakin, one of the protest organizers in the Palestinian Authority, told Ynet that rallies will be held at three West Bank focal points. "We expect thousands of participants," Yakin said. "We have no interest in confrontation, and this march will not give rise to a third Intifada. We hope this move will affect Israel and its government's policy." Palestinian security officials are also preparing for the weekend's events and are estimating that most marchers won't be able to get through local roadblocks and approach Israeli territory.

The AP reports: "Mahmoud Aloul, a Palestinian leader in the West Bank involved in preparations, said demonstrations were to be held in Jerusalem, the Qalandiya checkpoint — a frequent flashpoint of violence on the outskirts of Jerusalem — and in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.  

 Khaled Abu Toameh in the Jerusalem Post reports also about Aloul:

Mahmoud Aloul, a senior Fatah official, said that most of the protests in the West Bank will take place at the main entrances to Jerusalem. He voiced hope that tens of thousands of Palestinians would take part in the protests, which are expected to begin immediately after Friday prayers. The mass protests are intended to reflect the Palestinians' objection to Israeli occupation, Aloul explained.

Gaza

 

The AP reports: "Activists in Gaza planned to hold a demonstration about a kilometer (half a mile) from the Israeli border, but said they did not plan to move closer, minimizing the chance of clashes." Khaled Abu Toameh also reports: "In the Gaza Strip, Hamas officials also urged Palestinians to participate in Friday's marches and protests. Hamas is hoping that thousands of Palestinians would march toward the Erez border crossing with Israel after Friday prayers."

Lebanon 

 

Ynet reports that "In Lebanon, participants will convene for a prayer session on the Beaufort, which overlooks the border with Israel. Public figures are expected to deliver a speech at the site, with organizers looking forward to welcoming tens of thousands of participants." AP also reports: "Likewise, authorities in Lebanon and Jordan said they would keep demonstrators far from the Israeli border. Several thousand protesters were expected in each place. It was unclear whether protesters would gather in Syria, which is in the midst of a vicious civil war that has left thousands dead over the past year."

Jordan 

 

Ynet reports:

Jordan has set the gathering point at the site where it is believed that Jesus was baptized, a location overlooking Jerusalem. According to plans, this rally will also include speeches and masses of protestors. Jordanian coordinator of the march, Ribhi Halloum, said: "We feel the immense interest in the event expressed through donations from private individuals and the Islamic Movement."The Al-Dustour newspaper reported that Jordanian Prime Minister Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh expressed his readiness to provide the Jordanian government's sponsorship to the march which he said would be non-violent.

Syria 

 

Israel is also making preparations along the border with Syria. On Yom al-Nakba (May 15) and Yom al-Naksa (June 5) last year there were attempts to enter Israel at Majdal Shams, a Druze town very close to the Syrian border in the Golan Heights, and at Quneitra. Israel has strengthened the border fence near Majdal Shams, as the photo below shows.

Israeli soldiers stand on the border fence between Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, and Syria, as security is tightened ahead of Land Day, Thursday, March 29, 2012. March 30 is traditionally marked by Israeli Arabs as "Land Day," a time of protests against the confiscation of Arab-owned lands by Israel. In recent years, Palestinians have joined in. Photo: Hamad Almakt / AP (http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Palestinians-Prisoner-ends-44-day-hunger-strike-3444158.php#photo-2752110).

Student hooligans from Brandeis scream at Israeli Knesset members in Newton, Mass.

Disgusting hooliganism by Brandeis University students on Monday night (3/26/12), when so-called "pro-Palestinian" activists disrupted a meeting with several Israeli Knesset members in Newton, Mass. They went off campus to yell and scream at MKs from Likud (Ofir Akunis), Yisrael Beitenu (Lia Shemtov and Faina Kirshenbaum), Labor (Raleb Majadele), and Meretz (Ilan Gilon) who were participating in a "town-hall" style meeting at a synagogue in Newton, Temple Emanuel.

According to a statement by Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine, members of the group, as well as activists from affiliate groups, wearing t-shirts displaying the word "apartheid" in Hebrew letters, "mic-checked the panel, protesting the undemocratic nature of the Israeli apartheid state and notified the offending officials that until their government ceased its discriminatory policies they were not welcome by students at Brandeis University community events."

"The activists were pushed outside the hall by police officers and private security guards. One Brandeis student was arrested and another was injured while being thrown to the floor by a police officer," the statement added. A video of the incident was uploaded to YouTube.

Activists chanted at the panel: "Israel is an apartheid state and the Knesset is an apartheid parliament," as well as: "We will not welcome Israeli officials to any Brandeis University event until apartheid ends."

Raleb Majadele was the first Arab minister in an Israeli government, appointed by Prime Minister Amir Peretz in 2007 to the post of Minister of Science, Culture and Sport.

This is not the first time this year that Majadele has been subjected to hooliganism. In early January, "Anastassia Michaeli, a hawkish Israeli lawmaker, got so angry during a routine parliamentary debate Monday that she took a glass of water, tossed it at Labor Party backbencher Raleb Majadele and said 'shame on you' before storming out." Majadele must be doing something right, if both the extreme left and the extreme right react so violently to him.

I find it particularly shameful that the group that behaved so disgracefully was from Brandeis University, which was founded as a secular Jewish university and has a majority Jewish student body. It's disgusting that a group of students from Brandeis, an educational institution that prizes the use of reason and upholds the right of free speech for all, should be so intolerant of the exercise of free speech by others that they travel off campus to disrupt a conversation at a synagogue, of all places.

Daylight savings time in Israel - still controversial!

One of the amusing things about being in Israel is that every year the Knesset passes a law deciding when daylight savings time will start and end. This year, apparently, it will start on Friday, with the clocks moved one hour forward at 2 A.M.  The ending date still has to be decided. The Interior Ministry wants it to start before Yom Kippur, while the Kehat Committee (a committee set up by the Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, last year when 300,000 people petitioned to end daylight savings time later in the year) recommended that it should continue until October 1.

"Global march to Jerusalem" this Friday, March 30, 2012

It seems likely that things are going to get hot again here on Friday, when the "Global March to Jerusalem," organized principally by Iran and its proxies, will be sending marchers to all of Israel's borders with the goal to "end the Zionist policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and Judaization, which all harm the people, land and sanctity of Jerusalem."

Earlier this week, the Israel-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that Iran is the primary force behind the initiative, both directly and through proxies such as Hezbollah. In February, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described the Global March as an expression of Iran’s policy to strengthen “resistance operations” against Israel.

The Iranian regime is also apparently forcing its Jewish community to send representatives to this march. The Society of Iranian Jews issued a statement that was published on the Global March to Jerusalem website.

“We the Iranian Jewry would also like to show the disassociation of the anti-humanitarian works committed by the occupying Israeli regime and their usurping army with the commandments of divine laws of Prophet Moses (P.B.U.H). We would like to show our support with all those who desire the lawful rights of the valiant nation of Palestine,” the group said.

The Global March to Jerusalem does not acknowledge any Jewish claims either to Jerusalem or to the land of Israel.

The GMJ website refers to all of Israel as occupied land. “Massive marches will be organized in Palestine (the 1948 seizures, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) towards Jerusalem or to the nearest point to it,” it says.

The logo on the homepage features all of Mandatory Palestine, and is set against a banner showing Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Muslim and Christian holy places are set against the backdrop of the Mount of Olives, but the sprawling 3,000-year-old Jewish cemetery with its 150,000 tombstones is absent, replaced by a barren hillside.

On this point, see also the official letter sent out by the GMJ. The rights of Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem are mentioned, but not of Jews, and there is no reference to Jewish holy pages. The only possible reference to Judaism in connection to Jerusalem is the vague statement, "It is the centre of spirituality and ideological significance for all of the monotheistic religions," but otherwise there is not even a hint to legitimate Jewish rights to the city. Another thing to note is that the letter makes no distinction between east and west Jerusalem.

Among the "world leaders" who have signed this statement are Dr. Cornel West, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Prof. Judith Butler, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. It's worthwhile to remember these names, because by their participation in this march, they have lost all moral or intellectual credibility that they might have otherwise gained through their worthy endeavors prior to their support for this march.

There are local organizing committees for the GMJ, including one for North America. Their website lists additional endorsers, some of whom include:

• Ann Wright, United States Army colonel, ret.
• Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activist; mother of US soldier killed in Iraq; author
• Medea Benjamin, Co-founder Code Pink and Global Exchange
• Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT
• Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University
• Marcy Winograd, Los Angeles teacher, peace activist and former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives

For more information about the GMJ, see the website set up by CiF Watch - Exposing the Truth about the Global March to Jerusalem.

A nuclear duck!

Hussein Ibish just tweeted:

Hussein Ibish ‏ @Ibishblog

Well, we are well into Saturday afternoon and no one seems to have compared Iran or Israel to a duck yet. What gives?

I tweeted back:

Rebecca Lesses ‏ @argaman

@Ibishblog Did you see the @haaretzonline cartoon for the Friday paper?

He just tweeted back:

Hussein Ibish ‏ @Ibishblog

@argaman @haaretzonline No - URL? Please, please, please tell me it doesn't have a duck in it!!!!!

I tweeted back: 

Rebecca Lesses ‏ @argaman

@Ibishblog @haaretzonline Let me see if I can find it in the online edition. Yes, there was definitely a duck in it! (tongue in cheek).

And then I found the duck!:

In response he wrote these two tweets (quacks?):

Hussein Ibish ‏ @Ibishblog

@argaman OMG! Last straw. But will not run screaming naked down the street like that Koby2012 psycho Jason Russell - http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/21/10794669-kony-2012-filmmaker-jason-russell-diagnosed-with-psychosis-wife-says

Hussein Ibish ‏ @Ibishblog

I stand disgusted & corrected - Friday's Ha'aretz cartoon does indeed feature... A DUCK (kill me now!) - http://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/caricatures/1.1670379 via @argaman

I'm not sure what's driving him so nuts about ducks, but he's very funny about it!

Jerusalem Post article on the anti-war protest tonight in Tel Aviv

Around 1,000 march in TA anti-war with Iran rally

Protesters express opposition to strike on Iran, voicing anti-Netanyahu slogans and railing against AIPAC.

By BEN HARTMAN

24/03/2012

Photo by: Ben Hartman

In the first significant anti-war with Iran protest held yet in Israel, around a thousand Israelis marched through central Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to voice their opposition to those calling for a strike on Iran to stop the Islamic Republic’s quest for the nuclear bomb.

Titled “Israelis Against the War”, organizers said on the protest‘s Facebook page that “we will not agree to an irresponsible Israeli attack in Iran, leading to a war with an unknown end-date and casualty count…The billions that this war will cost will be paid by us – in health, education, housing - and in blood.”

One protester, 32-year-old Chen Sharabi-Cohen couched his opposition to the war in terms of how it will disproportionately affect weaker Israelis.

“I live in South Tel Aviv where we don’t have shelters or the protection we need. We have nowhere to go. If they want to attack Iran, they should first worry about preparing the home front.”

Israel’s first large anti-war rally was inspired by a campaign launched last week by an Israeli couple looking to reach out to their Iranian counterparts.

A little over a week ago Ronny Edri, 41, and his partner Michal Tamir, 35, both graduates of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, uploaded pictures of themselves on Facebook which read “Iranians, we will never bomb your country. We love you.”

The anti-war meme quickly went viral, and within days there were dozens of such photos posted online by beaming, non-threatening Israelis. Soon after, the Iranians got into the mix, with several Iranians posting messages of love to Israelis, albeit most with their faces blurred or removed altogether from the posters. Within days the Israel and later the global media took notice, and a graphic artist’s whim became a major news item.

Saturday’s protest was not planned by Edri, but organizers said they saw it as a natural extension of the spirit of Edri’s online campaign.

In many ways the demonstration brought to mind the J14 “social justice” protests held over last Summer. Not only were there many familiar faces from the summer at Saturday’s rally, but the march began at Habima square, the same spot where the J14 protests started. In addition, the organizers of Saturday’s rally were all heavily-involved in the J14 movement, which, like Saturday’s protest, was started inadvertently by a young Tel Aviv woman who launched a Facebook initiative that caught the attention of the media and quickly soared to unforeseen heights.

The protesters also voiced many anti-Netanyahu slogans that were heard from time to time during the summer’s protests, including “Mubarak, Assad, Bibi Netanyahu” and “bring down the government”, among calls for peace and social justice. In addition, there were several placards voicing opposition to the American pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.

Overall it appeared to be a quintessentially Tel Aviv crowd, with many from the city’s protesting caste marching, a rather significant number with red flags and Hadash party posters.

Two protesters wearing posters with the slogan “Iranians we love you” from the Facebook campaign, Einav Raz and Shelly Nativ of Tel Aviv, said they were against not only a war with Iran, but also the very existence of nuclear weapons anywhere in the Middle East, including Israel.

“We must disarm all of the Middle East from nuclear weapons, Israel included,” Raz said. When asked how she would stop Iran from developing a nuclear program, she said “I would speak to them, invite them to sit at the table and talk to s. There are peace offers out there, but Israel just wants war.”

By the time the march made its way to Meir Park across from the Likud headquarters, the crowd had largely dwindled from its peak of around 1,000. They continued to chant at the park, with a small crowd moving from Israeli peace songs to the Beatles “all you need is love” and John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance”.

A large counter-protest was expected, but in the end only around a dozen people came to voice their opposition. One of them, Eliyahu Nissim, 24 of Herzliya, carried a sign that read “the left embraces our enemies”.

Nissim said he came Saturday night to say “the Jewish people is eternal and all people who rise up to destroy us are legitimate targets for attack.”

He added “all of the people [of Israel] are with us on this.”

First Israeli demonstration against war with Iran

Tonight in Tel Aviv there is the first demonstration in Israel against an attack on Iran. I had hoped to go but wasn't able to find a ride there (because of Shabbat, there weren't buses leaving for Tel Aviv in time for me to get to the march, but friends of mine went).

This is the report on Ynet: 1,000 march against Iran strike.

Virtual campaign takes to streets as protesters rally against bombing Iran's nuclear facilities
Shahar Chai

"Social justice does not equal war with Iran" and "Bibi and Barak - war is not a game!"

Some 1,000 protesters marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday night in a show of opposition to the possibility of an Israeli strike in Iran. Over 2,300 citizens confirmed their attendance on Facebook. The march, titled "Israelis against a war with Iran," began at Habima Square and was expected to conclude with a rally at Meir Park.

"Together, we will inform Netanyahu and the world that there is no mandate to drive us into war with Iran," a spokesperson for the protest movement said prior to the event.

Some protesters wielded posters bearing the slogan "When the government is against the people, the people are against the government," and called on the country's leaders to resign.

"Talks, not bombs"

"The next war would take a very heavy toll," one protester said. "Thousands of rockets will explode every day, and there are no gas masks."

The global media and social networks have been abuzz in recent days over an Israeli couple's virtual message of peace and love to the Iranian people. The message, penned by graphic designers Ronny Edry and Michal Tamir, was simple: "Iranians, we love you. We will never bomb your country." A poster bearing the slogan was posted on Facebook and quickly went viral, prompting thousands to share it, comment on it and make their own versions.

Officials and pundits have been increasingly speculating in recent months that Israel is preparing to strike Iran's nuclear facilities in order to stunt the Islamic Republic's reported atom weapon development.

Israel loves Iran

If you don't live in Israel (or Iran, I guess), then you don't know how bad it has gotten. Israeli politicians are broadcasting the message loud and clear that it's only a matter of time before Israeli attacks Iran. It's frightening. I have had quite a few conversations with my Israeli friends about this - and while they are generally the type to hide their fears, they are talking about the risks of war. None of them want war, regardless of their political opinions (pretty right wing to ultra-left-wing). But there hasn't been any antiwar movement at all, on the popular level. Haaretz has editorialized against war, and some high officials (like Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad) has strongly campaigned against war with Iran. There haven't been any demonstrations, even from the far left (unless I haven't heard about them).

Ronny Edri and Michal Tamir are two Israeli graphic artists who have started a Facebook campaign with the message "Israel Loves Iran." They posted photographs of themselves and their family with the wording "Iranians: We will never bomb your country. We ♥ you." See their FB page for lots of posters -

At first, they only heard from fellow Israelis, who sent them posters with their photos on them. Then they started to get responses from Iranians, who take a real risk when they communicate with Israelis in any way.

Here are some of the posters they have received from both Israelis and Iranians. 

An Iranian Happy Nowruz (New Year) poster - Nowruz is happening right now.

From the Israeli satire show, Eretz Nehederet - these two guys appear on the show as workers in an Iranian atomic plant.

And here's the message that Ronny sent out with the first posters:

To the Iranian people
To all the fathers, mothers, children, brothers and sisters

For there to be a war between us, first we must be afraid of each other, we must hate.
I'm not afraid of you, I don't hate you.
I don t even know you. No Iranian ever did me no harm. I never even met an Iranian...Just one in Paris in a museum. Nice dude.

I see sometime here, on the TV, an Iranian. He is talking about war.
I'm sure he does not represent all the people of Iran.
If you see someone on your TV talking about bombing you ...be sure he does not represent all of us.

I'm not an official representative of my country. but I know the streets of my town, I talk with my neighbors, my familys, my friends and in the name of all these people ...we love you.
We mean you no harm.
On the contrary, we want to meet, have some coffee and talk about sports.

To all those who feel the same, share this message and help it reach the Iranian people

ronny

http://israelovesiran.telavivnet.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pushpin

I hope that this Facebook campaign turns into a real political movement against war with Iran.

Gilad Atzmon in Geneva, New York

BobFromBrockley reminded me that Gilad Atzmon is now on a tour of the United States, and one of the places he visited was Geneva, New York, not too far from Ithaca, where I usually live. I found an article about his visit on the Finger Lakes Times website. He was, as usual, sponsored by Daniel McGowan's outfit, Deir Yassin Remembered. He was accompanied by his regular sidekick and fellow antisemite, Rich Siegel, playing at the Cracker Factory (no, I did not make up this name!).

At the same time, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) sponsored a showing of a documentary entitled "The Anatomy of Hate," by Mike Ramsdell, who also led a discussion about the film. The Geneva Human Rights Commission attended the film screening instead of going to hear Atzmon, something that McGowan complained about The Commission also placed an ad in the Finger Lakes Times called “10 Ways to Fight Hate.” About 110 people attended the film screening, while only about 30 went to hear Atzmon.

I don't know if the movie was scheduled purposely to counter Atzmon's visit. McGowan is a former professor of economics at HWS and has gotten into hot water in the past with the administration for his open advocacy of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

The March 14, 2012 issue of the Finger Lakes Times reported on Atzmon's visit: "Controversial Israeli-born musician draws sparse crowd; more attend film on hate."

Mellow jazz mixed with controversial politics Tuesday night at The Cracker Factory, where about 30 people gathered to hear Gilad Atzmon play the saxophone and denounce his native Israel as a state “dominated by Jewish racist expansionist ideology.”

Across town, another group gathered for what the Geneva Human Rights Commission promoted as a positive alternative to Atzmon’s performance: A showing of the award-winning documentary “The Anatomy of Hate” at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

... Atzmon denounces Zionism, the movement that founded Israel as a Jewish state and defends it as such. He also believes Israel and Jewish Americans influence U.S. policy and use it to defend a system that discriminates against Palestinians.

Critics say Atzmon, at best, creates an atmosphere that fosters anti-Semitism and, at worst, makes anti-Semitic statements himself.

He lived up to his controversial reputation Tuesday, describing himself as a “self-hating Israeli Jew” and comparing Israeli policy to Nazism.

Siegel, who once led a Zionist youth group, likened Judaism to a “cult” and himself to a “cult survivor.” Atzmon, however, drew a distinction between people who follow the Jewish faith and people who consider themselves Zionists or adhere to what he described as Jewish ideology.

Karen Baer, the director of the Human Rights Commission said, as reported in in the same article, “The timeliness of ‘The Anatomy of Hate’ screening is perfect and significant in that it can serve as a positive alternative to the Gilad Atzmon concert taking place at the same day and time at The Cracker Factory. The concert is an event, we believe, that is intended to target, demonize and stereotype valued members of our diverse community.”

The article also reports more complaining by Daniel McGowan.

In a written statement, he said she was trying to smear two Jewish performers and the Deir Yassin Scholarship Fund he leads.

“Is our director an anti-Semite?” he wrote. “Or is she so philo-Semitic [biased toward Semitic people] that she cannot accept the charge of apartheid levied against Israel by Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and even President Jimmy Carter. ... ‘The Anatomy of Hate’ is an excellent film that promotes dialogue and understanding. But for the Geneva Human Rights Director to promote that film simply as a tool to bludgeon two Jewish performers whose work she has not read and for whom she has no time for dialogue is manipulative and shameful.”

The author of the article should have known better - "philosemitism" means that one is pro-Jewish. The word should be read as the opposite of antisemitism - hatred of the imagined quality of semitism that is characteristic of Jews, not of all "Semites" (an imaginary racial category).

So, another victory for sanity - 110 people decide to attend a film combating racism and antisemitism, while 30 decide to attend Atzmon's failed tour of the US.

Is it 2012 or 1955 in the United States? Postmodern antisemitism

While I've been living in Israel, working on my book, waiting for it to finally get warm here (It's warmer in Ithaca than in Jerusalem today - that is so wrong!), and worrying about missiles being fired at cities in southern Israel by Islamic Jihad, and on the longer term, worrying about whether there's going to be a war with Iran, the United States has apparently been obsessed with the crucial issue of whether women should use birth control, because if a woman uses birth control this means she's a slut, or something. Welcome to 1955!

I am sure that all my US readers know the details about Sandra Fluke's encounter with the unpleasant Rush Limbaugh, who called her a slut for the crime of being a young female. It turns out that the whole brouhaha about Fluke and birth control has descended completely into the gutter, more than you might imagine. I was just reading Marc Tracy of Tablet about a new wrinkle in this revolting story. Some right-wing agitator named Brooks Bayne posted a rant attacking her and her (supposed) boyfriend, who is Jewish. He attacks them both for being socialists, attacks Brandeis University as socialist (the boyfriend's family has given money to the university), while at the same time attacking them as members of the 1%. The boyfriend's great-grandfather was a wealthy man, and at one time headed the United Jewish Appeal, that terribly radical Jewish organization.

Bayne has thus succeeded in engaging in that unique trick of modern antisemitism - accusing Jews at the same time of being socialist agitators and very wealthy. I think I'm finally understanding why Jews can be smeared by such a ridiculously self-contradictory accusation - as socialist agitators, Jews are accused of undermining social stability and the correct hierarchy of society; as rich people, Jews are the enemies of the hardworking middle class. This rhetorical trick doesn't work if you think there's nothing wrong with rich people (the basic position of the Republican Party), but it is appealing to right-wing populists who can attack both the rich and socialists.

Ran Boker (Ynet) on living under rocket fire in Beersheva

Ran Boker, a columnist for Ynet, wrote a very powerful article on what it's like to live under attack, in Hebrew. I've translated his column (Ynet hasn't yet posted it in English).

What escalation? There’s a crazy after-Purim

Ran Boker

Friday afternoon, the pots are on the stove, the table is already set, and Shabbat is knocking at the door.  A little update from the internet tears apart the festive atmosphere: the liquidation of a senior figure in the Resistance Committees. “Ema,” I call, “I don’t want to ruin your Shabbat, but look forward to a stormy Shabbat.” Her glance was troubled and fearful. I hope that nothing will happen. We, the residents of Beersheva and all the residents of the south, we have suffered enough. The evening approaches and the fear only increases.

Fleeing to the center is not an option, my soldier brother has just now returned from his military service. The truth? We also don’t have a protected room in the house, so we decided to pack up and to pass the Shabbat with our aunt and uncle, there they at least have a protected room. My soldier brother cancels his plans to enjoy himself, and is satisfied with a costume and sitting in the protected room of friends. My mother, wearing pajamas after a hard week, only waits for the siren so that this will pass. Ten at night, and now it arrives. The first siren. We descend to the protected room with a hysteria that will never pass, no matter how much we get used to it.

The waiting there only to hear the boom, in the small and empty protected room, to understand that we have been saved. This siren really signals to you that only a minute separates between you and another life, if indeed there is life. We go out of the protected room, and Ema has her regular hysteria. My little brother tries to calm her: “Ema, learn to enjoy the siren.” We go to sleep, with the windows open despite the freezing cold. None of us wants to miss the siren. “See you later with the Grads of 6 a.m.,” one of our cousins writes on his Twitter account.

Six in the morning? Ah, you’re joking with me. One in the morning, three in the morning, seven in the morning, and ten in the morning. The siren screams, go try to sleep after the difficult week that was. These trips to Tel Aviv every day. Ah, I’m sorry, I haven’t presented myself, I am Ran Boker, the gossip columnist for Ynet. I travel every day from Beersheva to Tel Aviv, round-trip. An hour and a half of traveling on the railroad, which separates between the fear, the darkness, the hysteria, the sirens, and the booms, and the city that never stops.

I want to be with them, to be afraid with them.

I was angry with my friends from the center who haven’t asked how I am. One SMS, it wouldn’t kill them to see that I’m okay. “We saw your status on Facebook, and saw that you’re okay,” they answered me. I don’t think that they don’t worry about me, I simply don’t think that they have any idea. They were busy with Purim parties. The truth is that I don’t really blame them. When the Qassams fell in Sederot for eight years, that didn’t really interest us in Beersheva, except for a “tut-tut” on our tongues when we saw them running for the shelters. In the afternoon, after the direct hit of the Grad on Beersheva, I became angry.

When I heard about the (Grad) falling (on Beersheva), no “item” interested me. I didn’t even eat anything, I only wanted to be there, with them, with my family in Beersheva. To feel the pain, to fear, and to feel them. I said, “There was a direct hit on Beersheva.” No one turned around, this really didn’t interest anyone. My friends in Tel Aviv continued with their own affairs. Until one righteous person in Sodom asked, “What? What did you say?” “Nothing,” I said, “Be ashamed of yourselves, there’s a direct hit in Beersheva and you’re not interested at all?” One of my acquaintances answered: “It’s Bibi who throws the Grads at you, be angry with him.” Do you get it? He still hasn’t asked if there were injured people and immediately turned it into a political argument. They will never understand. I only wish that they, my friends in the center, will come sleep at my house for one night. To feel what it’s like. I didn’t say another word about the fact that my friends in Beersheva are praying that a missile should fall on Tel Aviv, “so that they’ll understand.” Yes, the anger and the pain have reached this level.

I don’t know why I’m writing these words, perhaps so that the Tel Avivis will understand us, even though I don’t believe that will happen. There’s an after-Purim that it’s impossible to miss, that’s more important. Maybe I just write to weep over the keyboard, because aside from that there’s really nothing we can do. Understand that your fate is placed in the hands of Iron Dome, four cement walls, and a dangerous Grad missile. But what idiotic things am I saying? Today Big Brother is on television, only there shouldn’t be a special news program so that they have to cancel the broadcast.

US Atrocity in Afghanistan: American soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians

This is appalling - what are we doing in Afghanistan? Cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians:
U.S. serviceman kills 16 in house-to-house village shooting, Afghan officials say.

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- A lone American serviceman slipped away from his base in southern Afghanistan before dawn Sunday and went on a methodical house-to-house shooting spree in a nearby village, killing 16 people, nearly all of them women and children, according to Afghan officials who visited the scene.

The NATO force confirmed that the assailant was in military custody, and that he had inflicted an unspecified number of casualties during the shooting spree at about 3 a.m. Sunday. The U.S. Embassy called for calm and expressed deep condolences; the Taliban referred to the killings as an “act of genocide.”

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that the shooter was a staff sergeant and a member of the U.S. special operations forces who had been involved in training the Afghan police.

Gay men are being brutally murdered in Iraq

This is an incredibly disturbing article about the killings of gay men in Iraq ('Emo' Killings Raise Alarms in Iraq):

BAGHDAD (AP) — Young people who identify themselves as so-called Emos are being brutally killed at an alarming rate in Iraq, where militias have distributed hit lists of victims and security forces say they are unable to stop crimes against the subculture that is widely perceived in Iraq as being gay.

Officials and human rights groups estimated as many as 58 Iraqis who are either gay or believed to be gay have been killed in the last six weeks alone — forecasting what experts fear is a return to the rampant hate crimes against homosexuals in 2009. This year, eyewitnesses and human rights groups say some of the victims have been bludgeoned to death by militiamen smashing in their skulls with heavy cement blocks.

This is in stark contrast with the lives of gay and lesbian people in Israel, which are steadily getting better. There is certainly homophobia here in Israel, but you can live openly in a same-sex relationship, raise your children, and be accepted by almost everyone you meet. There are gay members of Knesset and local city councils. You can enlist in the IDF without being harassed.

And to think that some people believe that to point out this stark difference between Israel and any Arab country is "pinkwashing"!

More wild winter weather in Jerusalem - and maybe snow!

Another windy, stormy cold front has hit Israel, heralded yesterday and earlier today by the famed "ovekh" that I like so much (the adjective is avikh). The sky was a very peculiar brownish-white color this morning.

I'm sitting in the National Library listening to the wind gusts and the rain falling on the skylights. This is the first time I've been here in a week - I injured my left knee last week and have had a hard time walking, but I'm feeling better today. According to the Jerusalem weather forecast on Yerushamayim, we might get snow in Jerusalem late tonight and on Friday all day. The expectation is for no more than 5 mm of snow - not much.

Hebrew has a lot of words for different kinds of rain - the yoreh (יורה) is the first rain of the season, in the fall, and the malkosh (מלקוש) is the last rain in the spring. On the Yerushamayim site someone commented that in the Old City there is gishmei bracha (גשמי ברכה) - rain of blessings, strong but not too strong. We also have geshem meorav (גשם מעורב) - mixed rain, either with hail (ברד or barad) or snow (in Ithaca we call this a "wintry mix"). When snow falls it can be mixed with rain, or it can be שלג נקי (sheleg naqi) - "clean snow," or just snow, unmixed with anything else. In addition to hail, there is also גראופל (graupel). What is graupel? According to Wikipedia, it is "also called soft hail or snow pellets," and it refers to "precipitation that forms when supercooled droplets of water are collected and freeze on a falling snowflake, forming a 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) ball of rime."

Video of riots at the Temple Mount today

Al Jazeera has a balanced video report on the rioting today.

Riots on the Temple Mount today

Today, after Friday prayers, there were clashes on the Temple Mount between Muslims and the Israeli police - this is after a couple of weeks of clashes, which were first provoked when posters calling for Jews to go up to the Mount and take it over were posted.

The poster, below, claims to be connected to Moshe Feiglin, a right-wing leader of the Likud Party, although Feiglin has denied that he had the poster made. It appeared on a website called "Our Temple Mount" (הר הבית שלנו), and is available at http://lamikdash.blogspot.com/2012/02/blog-post_08.html.

This is a translation of the poster:

The Likud

Members of the Central Committee

together with thousands of supporters

under the leadership of R. Moshe Feiglin

Chairman of “Likud Leadership”

are invited to ascend to the Temple Mount to praise and thank the creator of the world, to announce that leadership is alive, and its complete control over the Temple Mount is at its beginning.

Purification of the place from the enemies of Israel, stealers of the land, and building of the Temple on the ruins of the mosques.
Not to fear at all!

We meet on Sunday, 19 Shevat, on the steps of the Rambam Gate, at 8 a.m.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ynet appears to have the fullest report on what happened this afternoon:

Officers hurt in Temple Mount riots; 4 arrested

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers hurl stones at police, Border Guard forces who in turn raid compound. Eleven officers lightly injured

Yair Altman 02.24.12, 15:29 / Israel News, Ynet

Friday prayers at Jerusalem's Temple Mount turned into a scene of violent riots as protesters hurled stones at security forces who in turn broke into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Police dispersed the protesters using shock grenades. Eleven officers were lightly wounded by stones and treated at the scene. Four rioters were arrested. Left-wing activists said that about 15 Palestinians were lightly hurt by the crowd-control measures used by security forces.

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers at the Mughrabi Gate hurled stones at police and Border Guard forces who raided the compound to evacuate them. Dozens initially refused to leave the mosque but later cleared out on their own accord. Police say further arrests are expected.

Following the Temple Mounts riot, similar unrest was recorded in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, Isawiya and Ras al-Amoud, as well as near the Qalandiya checkpoint. Security forces in each of the locations suffered stoning and the hurling of Molotov cocktails. The forces responded using crowd-control measures.

The riots have caused a stir in the Arab world. Al-Jazeera carried a live broadcast from the Temple Mount. Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Hussein of the al-Aqsa mosque said: "We demand that no settlers, radicals or soldiers enter the mosque to avoid friction." He claimed that the Israeli government is responsible for the situation and will "bear the consequences."

Officers dispersing rioters (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Meanwhile, some 400 Palestinians and Israelis took part in a Hebron rally marking the 18th anniversary for the Cave of Patriarchs massacre. Some of the protesters waved Syrian flags in support of the Syrian people. The 1994 shooting saw a lone gunman, far-right Kach movement member Baruch Goldstein, open fire on Muslims praying inside the Ibrahim Mosque. Twenty-nine worshippers were killed and 125 were wounded.

Jerusalem District chief Nisso Shaham told reporters that the riots broke out after a right-wing activist posted online ads calling to "cleanse the Arabs from the al-Aqsa Mosque." He said Friday's events were the climax of riots in the past two weeks.

Wounded officer cleared from area (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Shaham was referring to an ad announcing a future Temple Mount visit by Moshe Feiglin and his supports. Fearing riots police closed the area to Jewish visitors.

On Thursday, Jerusalem Police declared a heightened state of alert at the Old City due to mounting tensions over calls by right-wing elements and members of the Temple Mount Faithful group to visit the site.

"This time it was decided not to restrict entry to the Temple Mount so as not to harm the freedom of religion," Shaham said.

Several cases of stone throwing were recorded in the Old City in the past week. The first incident saw police arrest 18 protesters suspected of rioting after hurling chairs at security forces. Several days later, an officer was injured when Arabs hurled stones at him. Police arrested three suspects.

Iran's "peaceful" nuclear program

It's rare to find official news agencies, especially from oppressive regimes, actually telling the truth. In this article from the Fars News Agency, the wife of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan Behdast, an Iranian scientist who was assassinated in January of this year, says that "Annihilation of Israel was 'Mostafa's Ultimate Goal.'"

"Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel," Fatemeh Bolouri Kashani told FNA on Tuesday.

Bolouri Kashani also underlined that her spouse loved any resistance figure in his life who was willing to fight the Zionist regime and supported the rights of the oppressed Palestinian nation.

Iran's 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan Behdast, a chemistry professor and a deputy director of commerce at Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was assassinated during the morning rush-hour in the capital early January. His driver was also killed in the terrorist attack.

Old City of Jerusalem

The other day I decided to pay a visit to the Old City because it was a warm, sunny day. I spent the earlier part of the day working on an article, and then in the middle of the afternoon took the bus to Safra Square (where the Jerusalem city hall is) and walked over to the Old City. The first photo is of Elisha Street, which goes down towards the northern part of the city from Safra Square.





My next photo is of the walkway that leads to the Old City along Jaffa Road, which was just renovated last year and now is much nicer to walk along.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

The next photo is of Jaffa Gate, which was renovated last year (that is, the stones were cleaned –they look cleaner and have a lighter color than they used to). Notice the man standing to the right of the gate, with a cart next to him – he’s selling what Israelis call “bageles.” Obviously the same word as bagel, but referring instead to round or square bread with sesame seeds on it, which is best eaten with zaatar. All sorts of people were entering through the gate, including those you can see in the photo.









The photo below is from outside the walls – it shows a church on Mt. Zion, which is now mostly filled with Christian churches and cemeteries.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

After I entered the city through the Jaffa Gate I continued down David Street into the Arab shuk (market). I passed by a spice shop – it had piles of aromatic spices artistically displayed, as well as nuts and dried fruit, and loose teas. I went in and bought spices, tea, and nuts – the spice was called “Philadelphia” (but not after the American city – it’s also one of the names of the Jordanian capital Amman), as well vanilla tea (really tasty), and mixed pistachio nuts and cashews. I didn’t take a picture, so I can’t show you how colorful the shop was.

I then walked over to the Jewish Quarter and continued along the Cardo. The Cardo is a street that was excavated when Israel conquered the Old City in the 1967 war. The Jewish Quarter was left in ruins after the 1948 war, and was not rebuilt by the Jordanians (who held the Old City from 1948-1967). When Israel retook the city, they decided to excavate the Jewish Quarter before beginning the rebuilding. This was a very smart decision – if they had just started to rebuild, it would have been impossible to do a really good archaeological excavation. One of the places that was uncovered was the old Roman road (the Cardo), one of the two main market streets in Jerusalem in Byzantine times (from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE). (The other is still a market street – David Street). You can see the pillars that had been on the road, which were re-erected by the archaeologists, in this photo.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

The next photo shows Jerusalem in Byzantine times, in a copy of a mosaic map that is found in a church in Madaba, Jordan, from the sixth century CE. Someone placed the mosaic copy along the Cardo (which also has modern shops built into it). I’ve marked the map with several of the important buildings and streets of Byzantine Jerusalem.

My next stop was the main square in the Jewish Quarter, as you can see below.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

I then went down the stairs from the Jewish Quarter to the Kotel (Western Wall). The Wall itself is part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount – it was originally built under King Herod the Great in the first century BCE, when he created a huge platform that was much bigger than the original rocky outcropping where the Temple stood. The retaining walls were needed to keep in the fill that was under the platform. The next two photos are of buildings that are currently on the Temple Mount – the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock is a much older building, from the late 7th century BCE, not long after the Muslim conquest. An early version of the Al Aqsa mosque was probably also built in the 7th century, but it was destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. The current building goes back to the Crusaders in the 12th century.

Yesterday there were riots on the Temple Mount when Palestinians started throwing stones at tourists who were wandering around there - the Palestinians had been incited by false reports that right-wing Jewish activists intended to take over the Al Aqsa Mosque. Unfortunately, there are Jews who would like to destroy the Dome and the Al Aqsa, but they are a very small minority and the police keep a close eye on them.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

The Temple Mount is holy to both Jews and Muslims: Jews because the Temple used to stand there (it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE) and Muslims for several reasons – because it’s holy to Jews, and because the location of the Dome of the Rock is identified as the place from which Muhammad ascended to heaven (while still alive) to meet the other prophets who had come before him.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

The Dome itself was re-covered in gold leaf about a decade ago – it was financed by King Abdullah of Jordan. The tiles on the outside were made by Armenian craftsmen. It is a beautiful building inside and out – although now the Muslim authorities won’t let non-Muslims inside, unfortunately.

The holiest place where Jews can pray is at the Western Wall (the Kotel). Below is the women’s side, and after it is a close-up of two pigeons standing on ledge above the women’s heads.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

I went to the women’s side, and while I was there, I heard a woman praying out loud in a very soulful manner. I started listening to what she was saying, and I realized that she was reciting a prayer that is usually said only in the morning prayers (Nishmat Kol Hai). She was leading a number of other women in prayer – I went over and asked her for the booklet she was using, and followed along as she sang part of the prayer and then asked if any of the women wanted her to give them a blessing! Her hair was covered and she was wearing a long skirt, so she looked like a pious Orthodox Jewish woman, but she was doing something very unusual for the women’s side of the Kotel – leading others in prayer, and even singing as she did it. Usually, at the Kotel, women only pray by themselves, as individuals, while the men prayer together as a group. And if women try to engage in communal prayer, with one woman leading them, they often get harassed by others (like the group called “Women of the Wall,” which was established over twenty years ago and still can get harassed). This women was clearly accepted by those around her. I had never seen or heard this before, but apparently it is a pious practice for both men and women, done when one has been saved from trouble or is praying to be saved. The woman who was leading the prayer at the Kotel asked women who were single to come to her and she would give them a blessing that they would find their mate and get married and have children.

The next photo is of a sign at the back of the plaza in front of the Western Wall. You may or may not have heard of this, but there are groups of ultra-Orthodox Jews who are trying to create even more separation between men and women – even telling them not to walk on the same sidewalk in religious neighborhoods, or making women sit in the back of buses that go through those neighborhoods.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

They have also tried to do the same thing at the Western Wall plaza, without a whole lot of success, since people freely mingle outside of the prayer area.

I left the Old City via Bus #1, which goes to one of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of the city, but fortunately there was no separation of the sexes. The bus let me off close to where my visit to the Old City had started – at Safra Square. It was starting to get dark. I wandered around a bit, and then came to a charming sight in front of one of the buildings – three cats waiting for someone to come out of the building and feed them.

From Jerusalem, February 13, 2012

After staring for a while at the cats, I started on my way home.

Snow doesn't fall in Jerusalem

Today was supposed to be the big day for snow in Jerusalem, but all I saw was a little bit of snow on the lawn in the morning, and when I was at Shabbat lunch, there were a few brief falls of hail. It snowed in the north and on the Hermon, however.

A picture from my lawn this morning:

This afternoon, when I got home from Shabbat lunch and the sky had started to clear.

A pretty cloud in the southern sky.

I, personally, am waiting impatiently for spring to really spring. Today I saw some snapdragons and petunias flowering. The cyclamens are also flowering (they are called raqefet in Hebrew - רקפת).

To sunnier days!

Weather words in Israel - sand, rain, and snow

A couple of weeks ago, the weather was described as ovech (אובך). It was cloudy (מעונן) or partly cloudy (מעונן חלקי) and there was ovech. I looked the word up in the dictionary, and the translation was "mist." But it wasn't misty outside - instead the sky was cloudy and the air was not clear. It looked like fog, but it wasn't fog. I found out that ovech refers to sand particles hanging in the air and blocking visibility - in other words, a sandstorm, but in this case a rather gentle one.

This morning I got up, opened the shutters and looked outside - and behold (הנה), it's cloudy and there is also some ovech. In the southern part of the country there is, in fact, a sandstorm.

And now the whole country is preparing for two days when it is so'er (סוער) - stormy, gashum (גשום) - rainy, and qar (קר) - cold. On Mt. Hermon, in the far north, it is mushlag (מושלג) - snowy. (The word for snow is sheleg (שלג)). Since it's been snowing on Mt. Hermon, hordes of people have rushed up to see the snow and to ski.

The news this morning warned that tonight in Jerusalem it will get to 1˚ C - just a smidge above freezing, and that we should prepare and make sure our apartments are warm enough. Tomorrow in Jerusalem it may actually snow! And people are very excited and hope it will happen. Speaking as an Ithacan, I am not looking forward to snow, since one of the reasons I decided to spend my sabbatical in Israel was to avoid the cold and snow in Ithaca.

Stay tuned for updates...