November 2005

Zach over on Voices of the Right looks at the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and asks some common sense questions. On Nat’l Religious Voices, Zeev blasts the Israeli government’s decisions to turn over suspected underworld figure Ze’ev Rosenstein to the American police. Jews should not hand over other Jews, he says. And in the Left Corner we have a new blogger, Jamie, who we’ll properly introduce a bit later today. Check ‘em out and weigh in with your thoughts. Do you want to blog? Contact us at blogsofzion @ gmail.com

As I was walking back from class about 2 blocks away from my dorm (I go to college in Washington, DC), I saw on a Church message board outside “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”.

At first I was kind of confused, I didnt know there was such a day, and additionally, I wondered why this church was supporting it. I checked it out and it is a real day, commemorated every November 29th, the day of the UN Partition plan to divide up British Mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.

I have no problem with the Palestinian’s right to a state, I just don’t know why there isn’t an International Day of Solidarity with the Kurdish people, they haven’t had a homeland, and they still don’t. I dont see the UN making a international day of commemoration for them, or how about the Basque’s in Spain, or the Uighur’s or any other national group that has been oppressed in the last 50 years and has no country of their own. What makes the Palestinians so special that they deserve all of this extra attention from the UN? Of course it’s the fact that the UN hates Israel, but it is absolutely ridiculous.

Yossi Alpher: Peretz could be revolutionary, but Sharon might be better now. Key point:

For Amir Peretz to try and fail to make peace with the Palestinians could be less helpful to long-term peace prospects than another successful round of disengagement under Sharon.

Maybe. I’m torn.

The Daily Star tells of a movie about to come out with a fresh look at the Palestinian past, as experienced through the story of a family.

It’s interesting to note that family-story-based-novels were a staple of Jewish literary activity around the end of the 1800s, as Jews became more secure in their host countries. Maybe this means that Palestinians are coming to terms with the new world they live in, one where Israel is an accepted reality?

The State of Israel is preparing to hand over a Jew to a foreign entity - and no one seems to be bothered by it (Courtesy of Ha’aretz).

The Supreme Court unanimously decided Thursday to reject an appeal filed by suspected underworld figure Ze’ev Rosenstein and allow Israel to extradite him to the United States, where he is wanted for his alleged part in major drug-trafficking deals involving Ecstasy.

Many will argue that Rosenstein is a criminal, and as such, he should pay for his crimes, and if that means his being extradited to stand trial in the US, then so be it.

I agree that Rosenstein should pay for his crimes, assuming he is found guilty of them, but let him pay for them here, in a cold, dark prison cell in the Jewish State of Israel.

In attempting to justify the decision, Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy stated:

…the U.S. has the natural right to protect itself against those opposing to from overseas.

And what of the rights of the Jewish People?

Isn’t the Jewish State of Israel obligated to ensure the safety and well-being of every Jew who seeks refuge and shelter under her canopy?

This would not be the first time that Israel has agreed to extradite a suspected Jewish criminal to the US. The most famous example of this being Israel’s extradition of Jewish gangster, Mayer Lanksy:

In 1970, with the FBI after him for income-tax evasion, Lansky moved to Tel Aviv, spent a happy year there and applied for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, which grants citizenship to all Jews. But under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department, Golda Meir’s government turned him down, as did the Israeli Supreme Court.

The only difference between Rosenstein and Lansky is that Rosenstein has always called Israel his home, while Lansky sought refuge here, fleeing from the US authorities. Both were abandoned by the Jewish State.

And, while we are on the topic of Jews who have been abandoned by the Jewish State, let us not forget Jonathan Pollard, (who should not be mistaken for the likes of Rosenstein or Lansky, but who was similarly abandoned by the Jewish State of Israel, even though the crimes he committed were in her name and defense).

The State of Israel does not only belong to certain types of “acceptable” Jews, but to every single Jew in the world, and if it is to truly be a Jewish State, it can’t shirk that responsibility.

(Hat-Tip: Strong Bad)
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In the early days of Zionism, the religious Zionists, led by Rabbi Reines, felt threatened by the secular Zionist factions’ decision to involve the Zionists movement in issues of Jewish education and culture. Reines and his supporters felt the need, reluctantly, to form their own party and fight to safeguard on the sanctity of Judaism in the movement. This was the beginning of the two tiered government education system in Israel, one of which is secular and the other religious. Here is a Haaretz piece about the situation in the RZ schools today, especially their relationship with the state, 100 years later.

If you haven’t heard enough from Jacqueline Rose, author of critically decried the Question of Zion, here she is again, telling us what she really wants. Speaking about the situation on the ground in Israel and Palestine she quips,

It’s a very dangerous moment and it’s a very pessimistic moment. But the good thing that’s happening is that it’s so rigid and brutal in its enactment that it’s going to provoke increasing resistance.

Viva la Resistance!, eh Jacqueline?

And I thought that movement towards two-states for two-nations was a good thing.

David Duke does Syria, shows sympathy.

“It is only in America and around the world, it is only the Zionists who want war rather than peace,” Duke said in a speech which seemed to illustrate the convergence of white supremacist ideology with the rhetoric of radical voices in the Arab world.

“It hurts my heart to tell you that part of my country is occupied by Zionists, just as part of your country, the Golan Heights, is occupied by Zionists. The Zionists occupy most of the American media and now control much of American government,” he added.

Well now, isn’t that nice. Sounds a lot like this guy.

Sheikh Nasrallah wanted us all to be clear on why Hizbullah chose this exact moment to attack Israel:

“We won’t renounce our right and duty to assist Syria and Iran, which helped us against the Israeli occupation,” Nasrallah added amid “death to Israel, death to the U.S.” chants from the crowd.

Guess the whole “thou-shalt-not-kill” thing gets the back-seat to Syria and Iran for Sheikh Nasty of the Hizzie. As pressue on Syria and Iran rises, expect more of the same.

It was supposed to be a show of strength for the European approach to the Middle East, but Barcelona is turning out to be a sign that MENA just doesn’t care:

European leaders sought to play down the absence of their North African and Middle Eastern counterparts on Sunday, saying that the reasons appeared unrelated to the conference… “These leaders have different reasons for not coming,” said Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. Their absence weakens European claims that their approach to the Muslim world - based on economic development, dialogue, strengthening the rule of law, and other forms of soft power - has greater credibility with the region’s leaders than what they see as the Bush administration’s more aggressive approach.”But I’m sure we’ll have a good conference nonetheless…”

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