The Young Diplomat

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black: Hamas, the Arab League, and a Comedy of Errors

2012-01-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Arab League should try a career in stand-up comedy. In an attempt to strut about like a legitimate international organization, they sent a fact-finding mission to Syria to investigate "allegations" about the Assad regime's unjust slaughter of thousands. As the bloodshed continues unchecked and Syrians lie dead in the street, the Arab League's announcements grow increasingly laughable.

Lt. Gen. Muhammad Ahmed al-Dabi

For their first act, the man they sent to investigate crimes against humanity is Lt. Gen. Muhammad Ahmed al-Dabi, former Sudanese military intelligence chief and owner of a human rights record as questionable as Justin Bieber's gender. He stands accused, amongst other things, of forming the janjaweed militia that perpetrated atrocities in Darfur. As an al-Bashir lackey, he is the ideal authoritarian side-kick-- like a malicious, iron-fisted, megalomaniacal version of Robin, i.e.- the prime candidate for sweeping the Assad regime's no-nos under the rug of human rights violations.

The Arab League's private, guided tour of the Syrian urban battlegrounds-- escorted by Assad henchmen-- yielded some interesting comments from the most qualified human rights expert in the Arab world (or so one would presume if he got the job). When he inspected Homs, a crucible of anti-government protest that has been the scene of scores of civilian deaths, he was quoted by Reuters as blandly stating (with a yawn, no doubt): "Some places looked a bit of a mess, but there was nothing frightening." I suppose everything is relative when compared to Darfur.

As if this farcical panoply of human rights besmirching on behalf of the Arab League wasn't laughable enough, the General Secretary of the Arab League announced that they are asking for Hamas's assistance in curbing the Assad regime's violence. Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas chairman, was integral in gaining Syrian compliance with the Arab League mission, has once again been called upon to "ask the Syrian authorities to honor their commitments" and cease the violence against their people.

If that isn't the most absurdly antithetical proposition I have ever heard. Perhaps the Arab League will also ask Khaled Meshaal to host a lecture series on religious tolerance, civil disobedience, or Jewish history. Having Hamas ask Syria to curb the slaughter of its protesters is hypocrisy at its worst-- like having a rapist give a sex ed class.

As much as I would like to see the violence in Syria cease, in some slightly twisted way I am curious to see what other stunts the Arab League can pull before it's all over.

Clampdown on campus politics in Israel feeds social apathy

2012-01-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

By Issa Edward Boursheh

Let me start by making a few essential points: I believe that academic work should not be politically influenced, pressured or manipulated, and any argument that is discussed in class must be supported by methods, terms, tools and criticism that fit the world of research methods. I am against professors promoting their political agenda in class, based on emotions or so-called facts, which are not supported scientifically. Having said that, I think it’s the role of students to bring politics into universities and campuses by any legitimate means necessary.

The main demand of the Free Speech Movement of ’64-’65 in Berkeley was for the university’s administration to lift the ban off of on-campus political activities, and acknowledge the students’ right to free speech and academic freedom. One wouldn’t envision that such concerns from the 1960s would still apply in Israel of 2011.

Yet Tel Aviv University’s security department recently wrote to professors from in the history, philosophy and literature departments: “I will be grateful for your handing over the students’ details as soon as possible, including full name, ID number and telephone number,” with a YouTube video of students protesting reportedly attached to the email. And in Ben-Gurion University, students, represented by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, recently appealed (Hebrew) to the Supreme Court demanding it lift a ban on the distribution of pamphlets and posters protesting the current government’s policies.

Education / Awakening

In the summer protest, the Students Union played a major role in the social justice protests and activities. Regardless of what we think about the leaders, the movements involved and the participants, I think we can all agree that the students played a major role in this awakening. Apathy was partially kicked aside and replaced by a little bit of self-awareness and a motivation to act. Yet activism in universities lacks authentic elements, as political parties are still involved, the Students Union still behaves at times like a business and professors are left alone in trying to foster an atmosphere of fertile ground for a real debate over topics that concern our future.

As the majority of Israelis spend much of their youth in the Israel Defense Forces, absorbing strict concepts of discipline and conformity, academia lacks the youthful spirit that is common in other campuses in Europe and the United States. One can only hope that the youth in Israel will free itself from these constraints and practice a thriving academic (and preferably political) life, contributing to a better future for our society.

Cheers to academic freedom!

This piece was originally published on Issa’s blog, 20:40.

Israel's double standards

2012-01-03T09:43:00.004-05:00

When people used to refer to the Israeli-controlled West Bank as the Wild West Bank, there was only one connotation: Palestinian terrorism. Now, the term has taken on a completely different meaning.

Israel’s troubling double standard of law enforcement and the maintaining of democratic justice in the disputed West Bank Palestinian territories cannot be more grotesquely apparent as the aftermath of this past month’s violent anarchy by Jewish zealots continues to unfold.

More torched and desecrated Mosques; continuous stoning of Palestinian vehicles; incitement within local religious centers and schools; the storming of an Israeli military base. This series of events resembles the making of a civil war, with a blatant display of a dangerous type of pseudo-religious, Israeli manifest destiny.

This is not a condemnation of Israeli settlers, nor is it meant to be a scathing critique of their nationalistic, religiously-driven political movement. This is not even a debate about whether or not Israel should evacuate its West Bank settlements.

However, as long as Israel remains in control of the disputed Judean and Samarian territories, it must commit itself to enforcing an identical rule of law and judicial standard that applies to all those living under its mandate – both Jew and Arab alike.

It is harder to decide what is more troubling: the viciously sinister acts of hatred themselves; the fact that the perpetrators are rarely apprehended and prosecuted; or the Israeli Government’s prolonged silence in taking responsibility for its failure in stopping the violence and insane acts of complete disregard for any basic human values.

Although Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has suggested that the legal definition of terror be examined as a means to include such calculated acts of aggression, no one can deny the terror and fear that these actions are meant to incur both physically and psychologically.

Furthermore, the lack of initiatives to invest the proper resources in curtailing these oppressive and thug-like practices only perpetuates the blind-eye that the Government and security forces have given in allowing certain groups of West Bank settlers to dictate their own agenda within the rule of law – or in this case, the lack thereof.

Had these situations been reversed - - the perpetrators Palestinian - - there is no doubt that the military would have used full force – even lethal force - in stopping the aggression, while the designated Police units would have turned over every rock in the area in order to apprehend those responsible for the destruction.

Labor MK and former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer was brazenly truthful and spot-on when he said that the soldiers should have defended themselves against the assailants by shooting them. Differentiation must not be made.

As soldiers we are taught to discharge our weapons when facing a direct threat to our lives.

Was it the illegal entrance into the base by dozens of ravenous ‘hilltop’ youth, foaming violently at the mouth that was not considered enough of a threat? Or was a brick in the face of the base’s Brigade Commander not enough of an imminent danger?

If it had been 55 Palestinians storming the base, 55 would probably not have come home alive.

The semantics of the word terror need not be debated, as the week’s incidents - regardless of the definition – have unarguably terrorized the military, the West Bank’s Arab residents, and the spiritual comfort that houses of worship are supposed to provide.

The growing plague of nationalist and religious hatred has reached a level that resembles the prevailing sectarian violence that has plagued Israel’s neighbors in the region throughout the years.

Israel must look at itself in the mirror and decide if this is how it seeks to define the future of Jewish democratic rule and self-determination. Currently, as it appears in parts of the West Bank, the word ‘democratic’ has been left out of this doctrine.

Instead of building the land, elements of fanatical, religious Zionism are destroying it.

If the Israeli settlement movement truly sees itself as visionary in the country’s future survival, it must do all it can to destroy its extremist components. The failure to do so will not only shatter the remaining credibility it has, but will also destroy the country it claims to embody.

Let’s just hope the Government does its part.

This article first appeared on the website Your Middle East: For the original version, click here

The Democratic People's Republic of Israel

2011-12-17T20:01:00.002-05:00

This article was printed on page 11 of The Jerusalem Observer on 16 December 2011, and can be found online here.

Israel must continue its policy of internationalisolationism. By closing our doorsto foreign funding of NGOs we are preventing foreigners from corrupting Israelidomestic issues. This will keepIsrael Israeli and preserve the integrity of our democracy. But these measures are not enough. More steps must be taken by Israel toensure that she will never be contaminated by the monies and ideas ofoutlanders.

She should bar herself from foreign companies who stealIsraeli markets from Israeli companies, and instead set up nationalconglomerates and monopolies, and raise protective tariffs to protect ournative industries. Why should weleave Israel’s nascent commerce open to the ravaging effects of internationalcapitalist piracy?

She should shut her gates to foreign workers who rob Israelisof honorable low-wage jobs. Theyundermine our society, make it impure, and multiply within our borders. Let us deal wisely with them, lest theymultiply, and it come to pass that, should war befall us, they ally with ourenemies and fight against us. Keepthese foreigners out and protect Israel.

She should keep tourists from countries that criticize herout. They only come to thiscountry to point out our flaws, so why let them in? She should tell the American Jews to keep their no-strings-attachedbillions to themselves. TheirJewish identities and practices are corrupted by American life and theirpolitical allegiance to Israel suspect. And the private donors that build Israel’s schools and universities and hospitalsshould donate the money to Israeli government, who will allocate it, in itswisdom, as necessary. Thoseindependent institutions should not be trusted with funds from individualsabroad.

She should tell the US government to keep its billions of dollarsin annual military aid. We arestrong and can manage without their guns, missiles, and planes. She should tell the Egyptians we don’tneed their oil and gas, that they should keep it for themselves. She should tell the meddling Turks tomind their own business, and keep the water we once wanted to buy by thebillions of cubic feet—we’d rather parch. She should tell the EU that we’ve had enough of their bleeding heartNGOs. We need their trade no moreif it comes with those strings attached. We are better off without any of these.

Israel should tell her citizens to stop traveling abroad,that there is nothing worth seeing in the outlands of chul. Everything theyneed can be found in the land of their forefathers. She should urge her forgotten sons and daughters to returnto the motherland, lest they forget the promised land from whence they came orthe holy tongue they once spoke. Urging the diaspora homewards with expensive propaganda campaigns, sheshould precipitate the influx of hordes of Jews from abroad and build concretemetropolises to house them, and factories to employ them.

There is no reason why we should rely on foreign countriesor their seditious funds. Israel is strong and we can do it on our own. We can grow our food, make our owngoods, protect our own people, and revere our leaders as they are meant to be,and preserve democracy for the Israeli people. To reassure everyone, however, of our democratic identity, we should also rename the state the Democratic Jewish People’s Republic ofIsrael.

Social Justice Fail

2011-12-04T07:05:00.001-05:00

This article was published on page 16 of The Jerusalem Observer on 2 December 2011 and can be found online here:

Inspired by scenes of uprisings inTunisia and Egypt, Israelis cascaded into the streets this summer demanding“social justice”. The figureheadof the movement—a woman whose sole accomplishment was pitching a tent when shebecame homeless—had started a Facebook group that sparked the inferno ofdiscontent among Tel Avivians. Inno time flat, she and a small cadre (known as the “Rothschild Gang”) became theleaders of what was reported as the largest protest movement Israel had ever witnessed.

The movement Daphni Leef initiatedwas nothing more than a decapitated millipede—a mass of legs with no head. Holding placards and demanding “socialjustice”, the protesters this summer made a list of demands but proffered nopractical solutions to their woes. Their greatest threat to the establishmentwas that they would continue to march to the street. In many ways they reminded me of a South Park mob shouting “rabble, rabble, rabble”and “theytook our jobs!”

The unwitting leader of the socialjustice movement demonstrated her leadership acumen and diplomatic panache afew weeks ago when she told Bibi that “you are looking at a tired woman. Butmore than this, a determined and furious woman,” and that she would not talk tohim directly again. Sounds to me likeLeef pulled one out of Bibi’s playbook and was met with similar success. She followed these comments up withanother ambiguous statement: “we and many others will be in this Knesset toprove that the public wants something else.”

Pray tell, Daphni Leef, what doesthe mob want? As a leader she isas effective at moving people as the Jerusalem light rail during rushhour. Thomas Friedman published anop-edNovember 15^th, 2011 in The New York Times wherein he pointed outthat Facebook and Twitter have convinced everyone that they are the tip of thespearhead in social movements. Unfortunately, “…at the end of the day…someone needs to meld those ideasinto a vision of how to move forward... Those are called leaders.” NeitherDaphni Leef, nor the Rothschild Gang, nor the heads of the student unions,whoclaim it is their turn to lead the charge, can claim that title. None have putforth plausible, sensible solutions and a clear vision of what “the publicwants”.

The Facebook leadership syndromehas infected the minds of this generation’s Israelis. We are convinced that by clicking “like” we have made astand, or that starting a group or event makes one a leader. And the many participants in Jewishleadership programs who strive to be the future of Israel, where are they?

It therefore comes as no surprisethat the ill-conceived plans of the mob crying for social justice have beenwashed away with the winter rains. Netanyahu, who is made of sterner stuff than Leef reckoned, hasnegotiated this minor obstacle with finesse. After all, if he can wile his way past Obama, Biden, and therest of the international community for three years, he can handle a Tel Avivyuppie living in a tent. If thelikes of Daphni Leef are the best Israeli youth can offer, then there is nohope for social justice in Israel anytime soon.

Something is Rotten in the State of Israel: On a Constitution, or Lack Thereof

2011-11-08T12:45:00.002-05:00

Civilliberties in Israel are under assault. In December 2009, Anat Kamm was placed under house arrest. Kamm, a reporter for Israel’s Walla news, allegedly stole sensitive defenseministry documents and gave them to a Ha’aretzjournalist who ran an article about IDF violation of Supreme Court orders. An Israeli court issued a gag order,silencing the Israeli media and government officials, inhibiting freespeech. Until the foreign pressgot hold of the story, the entire incident was under wraps. Richard Silverstein, an Americanjournalist at the forefront of breaking the news, queried: “In what kind of country does a journalist simply disappearwith other journalists and news outlets having no recourse to publish about it?China? Cuba? Vietnam? Iran? North Korea? Is that what Israel is aiming for? Tobe no better than countries ruled by despots?”[1] This would be an outrageous quashing offreedom of the press, but no constitution exists to protect it. The “Anat Kamm Incident” is the latestheadline to expose the troubling shortcomings of Israel’s unsustainabledomestic status quo.

The State of Israel struggles to juggle Jewish identity,social pluralism, and democracy without a written constitution. This is a bit like sword-swallowingwhile walking the tightrope blindfolded—with no net. Demographic shifts favoring the Haredi and Arab populations,and the growing empowerment of the nationalist Right threaten to undermineIsrael’s tenuous balance of democratic and Jewish identities. Without constitutional safeguards toprotect the liberal values on which the state was founded, it is only a matterof time before the house of cards topples. As a juvenile state with deep social divisions, it is imperativefor Israel to enact a popularly-supported constitution that ensures long termstability and peaceful (or at least tolerant) cohabitation through the defenseof civil and collective rights.

Part I: How Israel never got a constitution.

Explaining Israel’s pressing need for a constitutionrequires mention of how it never got one in the first place. UN Resolution 181 advancing thepartition of Palestine also called for the drafting and ratification of aconstitution containing universal equality and suffrage, minority rights, and“human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion,language, speech and publication, education, assembly and association”.[2] On May 14th, 1948, David Ben Gurion announcedthe establishment of the State of Israel, founded on the principles of “freedom,justice and peace”. In accordancewith Resolution 181, his speech promised “complete equality of social andpolitical rights to all its inhabitants irrespective ofreligion, race or sex…freedom of religion, conscience, language, education andculture” under a future constitution (emphasis added).[3] The Declaration of the Establishment ofthe State of Israel is the basis for Israel’s unwritten constitutionallaw. Ben Gurion further statedthat a constitution was to be drafted and ratified by the Constituent Assembly nolater than October 1948. Israel’sstate of emergency during the War of Independence delayed the constitutionalprocess until a ceasefire could be negotiated and the country stood on terrafirma.

During Israel’s War of Independence, Leo (Yehuda Pinhas)Kohn drafted a tentative constitution based principally on the American andFrench models. His draft includeda Bill of Rights and crafted the Jewish national homeland as a state of itscitizens—Jew and non-Jew alike. Universal equality and suffrage registered high on the priorities ofthis document. Article 4 ensuredequal political and legal rights for all inhabitants of the state regardless ofrace, religion, tongue, or gender. Freedoms found in the American Bill of Rights, such as freedom ofreligion, expression, conscience, and assembly were protected under law, as wasthe Jeffersonian sacrosanctity of life, liberty, and property (Articles 12, 13,and 14). Protection of religiousminorities’ rights found legal assurance under Article 15. Protection of minority linguistic andeducational rights for Arab communities were protected under Articles 5 and25. Kohn’s constitution embodiesWestern liberal precepts in its emphasis on individual rights, tolerance, andequality.

Wary of democracy’s overthrow, Leo Kohn asserted itwould be foolhardy for Israelis to delude themselves into believing that “nothinglike [the fall of German democracy] could happen in Israel”.[4] Having witnessed firsthand the downfallof many European democracies in the thirty years prior to Israel’s founding,Kohn recognized Israel’s need for a constitution that enshrines civilliberties, prevents perfidious government action, and safeguards the individual. Kohn cites the interwar constitutionsof Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Baltic states as exemplars for Israelbecause of their “special guarantees of national minority rights alongside theaccepted guarantees of individual rights”.[5] Kohn’s constitution died in utero. Had it passed, Israel might have become a state of Jewsrather than the Jewish State.

The Israeli government’s failure toreach a consensus on a constitution between 1948 and 1950 is ascribed to twomatters: disagreement over the Jewish State’s national identity, and powerpolitics between First Knesset parties. Orit Rozin recognizes identity politics as the greater impediment thatprevented the ratification of a constitution. Inasmuch as any constitution would define the state’sreligious, cultural, and ideological identity, opponents argued that “theidentity-forming aspect of the constitution was liable to ignite a culturalcontroversy and even a Kulturkampf”.[6] With mass immigration anticipated fromacross the Jewish world, some parliamentarians were hesitant to set the stagebefore most of the actors arrived. Even among those present there was little agreement as to how Israelshould brand itself. Some secularrepresentatives found the religious overtones of Kohn’s draft distasteful andpushed for a revision completely devoid of such implications.[7]Religious representatives opposed liberal ideologies—like gender equality and freedom ofreligion—that contravened Orthodox norms, and were dead set against anydocument that would effectively supersede the Torah as the Law of Israel. Although a minority, politicalsolidarity among the religious contingents allowed them to punch above theirclass and prevent the passing of a constitution. Both sides of the religious divide questioned the status ofnon-Jews in the Jewish State. Howa one-nation state identity could reconcile the existence of a non-Jewishminority—in addition to determining what rights and responsibilities thatminority would have—was a matter of great debate. Perhaps the biblically-versed MKs recalled Exodus 1:10, whenPharoah spoke of the Israelite slaves, and applied it to Israel’s Arab minority:“come, let us deal wiselywith them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there befallethus any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight againstus”.

Prime Minister David Ben Gurion’s unwillingness torelinquish power, not only ideological opposition to a constitution, is anotherconsideration. Mapai, Ben Gurion’s party, had secured amajority in the First Knesset and he understood that enacting a constitution thatwould limit parliamentary power could undermine government capability at acritical juncture in Israeli history.[8] A more cynical approach argues BenGurion’s disinterest in divesting himself and his party of unbridledparliamentary dominance through the passing of constitutional limitations. The Israeli parliamentary system grantsunchecked power to the ruling coalition—headed then by Ben Gurion and the Mapai party. Governments amass, not relinquish, power. Instances of the latter are exceedinglyrare, and Ben Gurion was not one of them.

Rather than engage in the requisite “negotiation andpainful compromise among different groups”, the Constitution, Law and JusticeCommittee opted for what became known as the Hariri Compromise: a compromisenot to compromise.[9] Everyone agreed to disagree and let noconstitution be written, and on 13 June 1950 the Knesset resolved toagglomerate basic legislation chapter by chapter. The First Knesset did not sort out critical state formationproblems of political and national identity, the role of religion andnon-Jewish minorities, and civil rights, and left them to fester unresolved.

In the past sixty years, the Basic Laws of Israel havebeen gradually written, ratified, and amended. Starting with the Basic Law: the Knesset in 1958, they nowalso include the Basic Laws of the Presidency, the Government, the Judiciary,the Israel Defense Forces, Jerusalem, Lands, the State Comptroller, the StateEconomy, and Human Dignity and Liberty, and Freedom of Occupation. The last two are the most recentadditions to the legal compendium, having been passed by the Twelfth Knesset in1992 and 1994, respectively. Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak proclaimed their passing a “constitutionalrevolution” and considers them a de facto Israeli constitution.[10]Since their ratification, Barak claims, the Israeli public, executive, legislative,and judicial branches recognize “that democracy is not just formal democracybut also substantive democracy, based on the supremacy of values such as theseparation of power, judicial independence, rule of law, and human rights.”[11] Barak spoke overzealously. No such revolution occurred. Israel’s Basic Laws are too inadequateto assume the title of constitution.

Part II: Constitutions

Constitutions are multipurpose documents that, in part,fill the role of the social contact. They define the nature of society’s political arrangement (monarchic,democratic, totalitarian, etc.), blueprintgovernment machinery, and draw the purview of its branches’ powers. Out of an inherent distrust ofpower-holders, democratic constitutions are “the process by which governmentalaction is effectively restrained”.[12] Systems of checks and balancescircumscribe the power of the branches of government, as exemplified by theAmerican Constitution. Aconstitution also acts as the authoritative rulebook for running government,the qualification and election of officials, and the induction and dissolutionof government.

Outlining basic and inalienable civil rights is the nextmajor role. First conceptualizedin the American Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man,civil rights fall into three major categories. First is the protection of the individual from governmentalimpingement and universal equality under law. These are typified by the American Constitution’s FirstAmendment right of petition, Fourth Amendment protection against unlawfulsearch and seizure, and Amendments V-VIII’s guarantee of due process, habeas corpus, trial by jury, andpunishment fitting the crime. Equivalentsare found in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, in the German Basic Law of1949, and most other Western constitutions.

The second category is measures to protect theindividual from social injustice. In his text On Liberty, JohnStuart Mill states that aside from safeguarding the people from the government

there needsprotection also against the tyranny ofthe prevailing opinion and feeling; against the tendency of society toimpose, by other means than civil penalties, its own ideas and practices asrules of conduct on those who dissent from them; to fetter the development,and, if possible, prevent the formation, of any individuality not in harmonywith its ways, and compel all characters to fashion themselves upon the modelof its own.[13]

These manifest themselves as the constitutional guarantees of freedom ofconscience, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech. Personal freedoms, according to theGerman Basic Law of 1949, France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man, andAmerican Supreme Court interpretation, are curtailed only in the case of harmto others.

Withthe emergence of multinational states in the 20^th century, legalprotection of the cultural, ethnic, and/or linguistic rights of minority groupsfound their way into constitutions. Papua New Guinea (PNG), the most linguistically and culturally diversecountry in the world[14], hasconstitutional “recognition that the cultural, commercial and ethnic diversityof our people is a positive strength, and for the fostering of a respect for,and appreciation of, traditional ways of life and culture, including language,in all their richness and variety”.[15] The PNG constitution takes extrememeasures compared to most constitutions to protect linguistic the rights ofPapua New Guineans. If arrested, acitizen is entitled to state-provided interpretation so they understand thecharge, the nature of the offense, and any subsequent courtroomproceedings. In a country whereonly 12% of the population lives in urban centers in contact with globalcultures, preservation of traditional village communities and their customs isimportant. Minority lifeways find legalprotection from majoritarian intrusion under the constitution. Though the American State Departmentreported PNG human rights abuses including

arbitrary orunlawful killings by police, police abuse of detainees, poor prison conditions,police corruption and impunity, lengthy pretrial detention, infringement ofcitizens' privacy rights, government corruption, violence and discriminationagainst women and children, discrimination against persons with disabilities,intertribal violence, and ineffective enforcement of labor laws,[16]

there were no reported instances of linguistic, cultural, and religiousminority rights violations, demonstrating the efficacy of the constitution insmoothing those points of conflict.

A constitution also acts as the paramount law—a “norm ofnorms”—above the government and people alike. The English Magna Carta of 1215 was the first Western lawcode to place king and subjects under a common law. The Magna Carta was the seed from which a British politicalculture developed. That culture ofthe rule of law and democratic values upholds British democracy without needfor a formal constitution, but in that regard Britain is an exception. Hearkening back to the spirit of theMagna Carta, the drafters of the American Constitution proclaimed:

ThisConstitution…shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in everyState shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of anyState to the Contrary notwithstanding.[17]

A constitution’s sacrosanctity is usually protected by a requisitesupermajority vote to be amended. TheGerman Basic Law, for instance, requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament topass amendments. The Bill ofRights found therein(Articles I to XX), however, are impervious to alterationaltogether.[18] Such measures prevent alteration on awhim and protect the constitution from its opponents.

In praxis and in language, constitutions emulate divinewrit; they serve as an inviolable legal authority above state and citizen alike. In as such, modern constitutionssupplant human figureheads and abstract notions of patria as the object ofparamount loyalty. “Theconstitution tends to become a symbol, and its provisions become so manysymbols in turn. It is thissymbolic function of words whichmakes the constitution a political force,”writes Carl Friedrich.[19] This modern social phenomenon has beentermed constitutional patriotism. By “proclaim[ing] all the values theirframers believe essential to a good society” constitutions create a commonidentity for the entire citizenry based on “the norms, the values and, moreindirectly, the procedures of a liberal democratic constitution” regardless ofcultural, linguistic, religious, or racial differences.[20][21] The principles found in theConstitution of the United States define the American people just as the Grundgesetz defines Germanness. Further, it is to the values enshrined in these texts thatutmost allegiance is paid. TheUnited States Oath of Allegiance reads “I hereby declare…that I will supportand defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies,foreign and domestic,” and its contents are mirrored in the Presidential oathof office and the armed forces oath.[22] It is to the Grundgesetz that utmost fealty is sworn, as the foreword to the Basic Law of 1949 reads: “WeGermans have every reason to be proud of our Basic Law and to defend it to thebest of our ability”.

Part III: Shortcomings of the Status Quo

The absence of an Israeli constitution bodes ill formany reasons. There is a completelack of provisions for the primacy of the Basic Laws over future Knessetlegislation or the hodgepodge of existing Israeli laws. The Basic Law: Human Dignity andFreedom—the closest thing Israel has to a Bill of Rights—is not legallyentrenched like its foreign counterparts. It doesn’t require a supermajority, or even a regular majority, to beamended.[23] The Supreme Court has ruled that “theKnesset could do pretty much what it wanted,” including suspend or abolish aBasic Law, “to protect the Jewishnessof Israel”.[24] Until now the Supreme Court has been abastion of liberality in supporting civil rights and striking down violatinglegislation, but this is happenstance. A determined parliamentary coalition under annon-interventionist Court could revoke civil rights in the name of a nebulousnotion of “Jewishness”.

Just as the Basic Laws can be amended or repealed byordinary Knesset proceedings, so too were they created. Unlike the American Constitution, whichwas assembled by a constitutional convention outside governmental politics, theIsraeli Basic Laws were drafted and ratified by elected officials withpolitical interests. Inasmuch as“the people are the source of authority for the constitution and the values andinstitutions it affirms”, the Israeli Basic Laws insufficiently encapsulate thewill and identity of the Israeli populace.[25] Representatives of the body politicoutside government have little to no role in their creation. Few governments legislate limitationson its purview of power; any such modifications must come from without bypersons with no vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

Granting the Knesset such unchecked power isdangerous. In the American Constitutiona tripartite division of governmental power limits the potential for abuse. Free-reigning legislature is shackledby a Supreme Court that can strike down unconstitutional statutes. Gordon S. Wood warns that aconstitution-less state like Israel that “appoints a legislature, without anyreservation of the rights of individuals, surrenders all powers in every branchof legislation to the government”.[26] The current configuration accordsunchecked power to the Knesset with no real regulation. The Supreme Court’s authority tointerpret constitutional matters is not firmly grounded, being limitedexclusively to legislation contravening entrenched statutes. Prejudicial or conflictual legislationfound in the rat’s nest of Israeli law predating 1995 can not be retroactivelyuprooted. New laws may be reviewedbut problematic ones, like the Law of Return and the British Defense EmergencyRegulations 1945, are untouchable. Judicial review is limited in theory and practice to “cases in whichthere is a fundamental divergence from the basic principles of the system,”those being, in the words of the Basic Law of Human Dignity and Liberty, “thevalues of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state” in that order.[27] Former Supreme Court Justice MeirShamgar argues that an entrenched constitution would

provide for aframework of ordered freedom within a set of rules which prevents bothmajorities and their elected parliamentary representatives from acting againstthe basic freedom of individuals, minorities, or the definition of the power ofpublic authorities.[28]

Without aninterventionist judiciary preventing parliamentary abuse of power, the BasicLaws gird civil liberties in paper-thin armor. As we have seen in the Anat Kamm Incident, a Supreme Courtruling against assassinating terrorists when arrest is possible was flouted bythe IDF. The only repercussionswere those Kamm suffered for exposing this dangerous erosion of Supreme Courtauthority.

Judaismis a comingling of nationhood, religion, and culture. Therein lies the problem of Israel’s definition as a “Jewishand democratic state”. To whatextent ought the Jewish religion play a role in the running and identity of theJewish state, and who says which interpretation is authoritative? At Israel’s inception, Ben Gurionconsulted Jewish scholars worldwide about civil identity and how the Jewishstate should mitigate religion. Sir Isaiah Berlin’s reply in 1959 is as relevant as the day it waswritten:

…the civil statusof the State of Israel must be sharply and definitively divided from Judaism asan established religion … and that this is the moment to establish once and forall the principle that a modern liberal State is, and must be, secular incharacter and that the religion of its citizens must be, in so far as it is astate and nothing else, indifferent to it….[29]

No such arrangement segregating religion and state materialized. As Western democracies go, Israel has agreater intermingling of religion and state than any other.[30] Freedom of religion does not exist inthe Holy Land.

Ben Gurion’s Status Quo Agreement conceded publicobservance of the Sabbath and kashrut,separate state-funded religious schools, and rabbinic management of personalstatus in exchange for political support from the Orthodox parties.[31]Insofar as the state is concerned, Orthodoxy is the only Judaism, and whoqualifies as a Jew is determined by the Orthodox Rabbinate. In Israel, citizenship and nationalityare two separate concepts. ThoseIsraelis considered Jewish by the Orthodox establishment are Jewish nationals,whereas non-Jews are conferred national status based on their religionaffiliation. There is no civilmarriage under Israeli law. Although foreign marriage certificates are recognized, in Israel Jewishcitizens can only marry Jews, and the ceremony must be presided over by anOrthodox rabbi. Burials must havea rabbi present, and only Jews can be buried in state-sponsored cemeteries.

Official preference of one faith over another inreligiously divided societies breeds conflict. India, Canada, and Republic of the Philippines exemplify dividedsocieties that utilize constitutions to establish the rule of law and protectindividuals as well as ethnic, linguistic, and religious communities. Each country consists of a number religiousgroups lumped into a single state, and each mitigates majoritarian maltreatmentof minorities through constitutional measures. Canada makes no specific separation of church and state—someCatholic schools are government-funded—but grants the unbounded practice ofreligion. The Indian government,reigning over a subcontinent chock-full of faiths, takes a stance termed“principled distance”, whereby the state can interfere in religion (eitherhelping or hindering) in order to reduce intra- and inter-religious conflict.[32] The Philippines takes an American-esqueapproach by completely removing religion from state affairs.

Secular Jews and non-Jews togetherconstituting a majority of the country’s population, the time has come forIsraeli identity to be divested of its religious trappings. How can a large portion of Israel’spopulation uphold the current state if they do not associate with its abstractconcept of judeonationalism? As it currently stands, the Jewish religion’s privileged role in stateaffairs undermines national cohesion by excluding those who do not identifywith the official state religion—over 30% of the population. A constitution that recognizes citizensas individuals rather than members of a nationalist grouping is necessary toprevent a national identity crisis. An Israeli constitution needs to separate Israel from Judaism thereligion and make the state indifferent to the religious identities of itscitizens.

How can this democracy endure withoutendowing its populace with democratic constitutional patriotism? The Basic Laws not only do not defineIsraeli national identity, but do not instill democratic principles upon thecitizenry as the American constitution does. Whereas in the United States the principles found in theConstitution serve as the foundation for American patriotism, no such guidinglight or expression of “We the People” exists in Israel. Professor Rafi Cohen-Almagor notes theabsence of the teaching of democratic principles—liberty, fallibility, equalityand tolerance—to Israeli schoolchildren, and that Israel does not

have a sharedraison d’être with 20 percent of its population—Arabs….And then there isanother 25 percent Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox who’d be happy to replacedemocracy with theocracy….On top of that, we have another 20 percent,immigrants from the Soviet Union, who know nothing about what democracy is allabout, who are suspicious about government and have never lived underdemocracy.[33]

An Israeli constitution should encapsulate these missing values in adigestible form so as to bestow a passion for democratic principles and a senseof constitutional patriotism that Arab, secular, and religious Jew can rallyaround.

As they presently stand, the Basic Laws do not meet the needs of theIsraeli body politic. None of themaddress the deep ethno-cultural rifts in Israeli society, leaving subgroupsvulnerable to legal and social marginalization. Several fundamental rights remain unprotected by law—mostnotably freedom of expression, freedom of demonstration, freedom of religion,and freedom of assembly—and their absence “leave[s] the door open, at leasttheoretically, to contradictory legislation” that would strip Israelis of theirinalienable rights.[34]

Erosion of rights seems underway already in light of the infractionsagainst said freedoms thus far in 2010. The Mossawa Center reported in March that the Knesset tabled at leasttwenty one bills discriminatory against Israel’s Arab population, up fromtwelve in 2009 and eleven in 2008. The authors of the report were quoted in Haaretz as saying: “there has never been a Knesset as active inproposing discriminating and racist legislation against the country’s Arabcitizens”.[35] Further, bills were proposed that contradictfreedom of expression. One suchbill called for the incarceration of anyone who publishes or says anything thatwould “bring contempt upon or discomfort to the country”. In another instance from January,Minister of Culture and Sports Limor Livnat pulled Israeli Film Fund financingfrom the controversial movie Lipstikka, aPalestinian adaptation of director Jonathan Sagall’s mother’s Holocaustsurvival story. Livnat’s decisionto withhold NIS 1.3 million killed the project. Noam Sheizaf of the PromisedLand blog aptly commented: “Allocating fundsaccording to the political message of films means that from now on only certainviews would be allowed to be shown”.[36] That same month Hagai El-Ad, head of the Association for CivilRights in Israel, was among several arrested for protesting the usurpation ofPalestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. Cracking down on left-wing protests comes in conjunctionwith Justice Ministry attempts to pass legislation that would allow thegovernment to scrutinize foreign funding of left-wing organizations.

The Israeli government retains British Mandate Defense Regulationsof 1945 that were originally enacted to quell Jewish resistance and maintainorder. Despite multiple attemptsto repeal them in the intervening sixty-five years, Regulation 88—executed inthe ongoing Anat Kamm Incident—allows the Israeli Army Censor to “prohibit theimportation or exportation, or the printing or publishing of anypublication…which, in his opinion, would be, or be likely to be or become,prejudicial to the defence of Palestine or to the public safety or to publicorder”.[37] Other regulations in this legalheirloom, claims Sammy Smooha,

enable the authorities toissue military injunctions on a regular basis, and not necessarily during theconduct of war, to detain or restrict the movement of activists, to outlaw apublication or organization, or to declare areas as closed and lands asconfiscated. These excessivepowers are kept for making it easier to deter, police, and punish those amongthe Arab citizens of the state contemplating hostile acts. It is plausible to assume that theseDraconian emergency regulations would have been repealed had the Arab minoritynot been perceived as a liability to national security.[38]

These outdated provisionsare antithetical to the spirit of the Israeli Declaration of Establishment andconstitute a chink in the armor of Israeli democracy. While the floodgates of tyranny may not have brokenopen yet, these factors testify the fractures forming in Israel’s liberalfaçade. Now, more than ever,Israel needs reforms to halt the rise of government tolerated or approvedracism and protect personal liberties.

Inthe past decade the Israeli constitutional process revved, stalled, and is nowpropped up on cinderblocks, waiting for rust to set in. Several years ago, KnessetConstitution, Law, and Justice Committee Chairman MK Michael Eitan spearheadeda “Constitution by Broad Consensus Project” meant to jumpstart the processthrough popular involvement. Aproposal was proffered to the Knesset in February 2006, but considering thattheir website[39] has notbeen updated in close to four years, it can be safely inferred that thisproject has ground to a halt. Forthe better part of two decades, Israeli government energies have been focusedon “national security” and the peace process. Constitutional reform has become an eldorado, spoken of likean ever-distant messianic time that will arrive after peace comes toIsrael. The defense establishment (read:government) in Israel opposes the drafting of supra-governmental law untilarrival at a final settlement with the Palestinians. Many academics, David Kretzmer and Chaim Gans for instance, considerIsrael’s political environment unripe for drastic constitutional change untilfinal agreements with the Palestinian Authority are made.[40] With the unresolved Palestinian issuelooming like a white elephant in Israel’s living room, with Hezbollah fumingand arming on the doorstep, and Syria just next door, many argue that nationalsecurity takes precedence over domestic issues. Deal with the Palestinians first, politicians andconstituents alike say, then we will address “bringing Israel’s democracy up tocode” with the rest of the West.[41] This mentality impedes progress towardsconstitutional reform, but it is not alone. The religious population, comfortable with the status quo,is opposed to constitutional reform that might compromise religious governanceof public life and/or public funding for religious organizations. Religious parties—as well as the othermajor factions-- are fearful of giving up the advantages of legislativesupremacy inherent to the present system.[42] Like Ben Gurion, none are interested inconstitutional reform that would divest them of legislative power.

Talking with Professor Bernard Avishai about theprospects of an Israeli constitution in the coming years is a grim affair. With no impetus for changing the statusquo from any of the major parties, it is an unrealistic vision. The presiding Supreme Court Justiceswho defend civil liberties are remnants of the European-educated, bygonegeneration. They are a rearguard,he remarked, a dying breed, and once they are gone there is no saying whatstance the Court will take on executing judicial review.

Short of a constitutional revolution that could resultin catastrophic upheaval, the sole realistic possibility rests in the “Bulgariaoption”. Bulgaria’s 1991constitution provisions for the protection of minority rights. Like Israel, Bulgaria is aself-declared one-nation state, approximately 20% of which is non-Bulgarminorities. Bulgaria addressesthis conflict between exclusive national identity and minority populationsthrough constitutional and extra-constitutional means. Articles 44(2) and 162 banethno-national or linguistic discrimination and protect the linguistic rightsof non-Bulgar speakers. Bulgariaconcedes legislation specific to minority rights to the international treatiesto which it is party as an EU member state. Though not wholly perfect in practice, Bulgarian minoritiesnonetheless enjoy equal rights under law and proportionate representation inthe National Assembly—31 of 240 seats, or 13% overall. Israel could take a similar,extra-constitutional approach of adopting legislation from without—by joiningthe European Union and becoming a signatory to the Charter of FundamentalRights like Bulgaria. But fromthis end of the Mediterranean the EU seems a long way off.

The bottom line is that “rights are constitutional, not natural”.[43] A democratic establishment without aconstitution is prone to mob rule,and individuals are subject to the “tyranny of the majority” Mill cautionedagainst. In the coming years,pressure on liberal institutions unbolstered by constitutional law willcontinue to increase, threatening to topple Israeli democracy and supplant itwith theocracy or Judeo-fascism. Israelis—religious, secular, Jew and non-Jew—must sit down and make thedifficult decisions and painful concessions their forefathers failed tomake. Kohn’s exhortation not to bedeluded into believing “nothing like [the fall of German democracy] couldhappen in Israel” should ring in the ears of every Israeli. It would be a shame to see the MiddleEast’s sole functioning democracy—imperfect though it may be—go the way of theRoman and Weimar Republics.

[1]Qtd. in Miller, Judith. “Israel’sCensorship Scandal.” The Daily Beast. 3 April 2010. Accessed online at on 6 April 2010.

[2] The UnitedNations. “General AssemblyResolution 181.” Part 1, SectionB. Accessed online at on 21 March 2010.

[3] “Declarationof the Establishment of the State of Israel.” 14 May 1948. Accessed online at on 21 March 2010.

[4] Kohn, YehudaPinhas. A Constitution for Israel. Tel Aviv: Government Press, 1949. p. 18.

[5] Ibid. p. 19.

[6] Rozin,Orit. “Forming a CollectiveIdentity: The Debate over the Proposed Constitution, 1948-1950”. Journalof Israeli History. 26:2, p.253.

[7] Ibid. p. 256.

[8] Gavison,Ruth. “A Constitution for Israel:Lessons from the American Experience.” Azure. Winter 2002. Section 4, para. 6.

[9] Ibid. Section 1, para. 4.

[10] Barak,Aharon. “Human Rights in Israel.” Israel Law Review. 39.2, 2006. p. 18.

[11] Ibid. p. 20.

[12] Friedrich,Carl. Constitutional Government and Democracy. Ginn and Co.: Boston, 1950. p. 129.

[13] Mill, JohnStuart. On Liberty. New York:Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1947. p. 5, ll. 148-157.

[14] Aside fromthe official languages of English, Hiri Motu, and Tok Pisin, Papua New Guineais home to approximately 860 indigenous languages, more than a tenth of theworld’s total, and thousands of individual communities with unique customs andtraditions. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pp.html)

[15] Constitution of the Independent State ofPapua New Guinea. Preamble:Article 5, section 3. Accessed online at on 20 March 2010.

[16] U.S. StateDepartment. Advancing Freedom and Democracy Reports, May 2009: Papua New Guinea. Accessed online at on 20 March 2010.

[17]Constitution of the United States. Article VI. Accessed onlineat on20 March 2010.

[18] “Basic Lawfor the Federal Republic of Germany.” Article 79(3). Accessedonline at on 20 March2010.

[19] Friedrich,Carl J. p. 170.

[20] Müller,Jan-Werner. Constitutional Patriotism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007. p. 1.

[21] Edelman,Martin. “The Status of the Israeli Constitution at the Present Time.” Shofar. 21.4, 2003. p. 5

[22] Accessibleonline at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website: .

[23] Edelman,Martin. p. 12.

[24] Avishai,Bernard. The Hebrew Republic. Harcourt Inc.: Orlando, 2008. p. 57.

[25] Gavison,Ruth. Section 3, para. 1.

[26] Qtd. inJacobsohn, Gary. Apple of Gold. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, 1994. p. 98.

[27] Navot,Suzie. The Constitutional Law of Israel. Kluwer Law International: The Netherlands, 2007. p. 163.

[28] Shamgar,Meir. “On the Need for aConstitution.” Israel Affairs. 11:2, 2005. p. 348.

[29] Berlin, Isaiah. " ‘Who Is a Jew?’: —Professor IsaiahBerlin's Memorandum to the Prime Minister of Israel, 23 January1959." Israel Studies 13.3(2008): 170-177. 13 Mar. 2010.

[30] Fox,Jonathan and Sandler, Shmuel. “Separation of Religion and State in the Twenty-First Century.” ComparativePolitics. 37:3, April2005. p. 326.

[31] “The ‘Whois a Jew?’ Controversy.” U.S.Library of Congress. Retrievedfrom 13 March 2010. Para. 2.

[32] As relatedby Rajeev Bhargava at conference on “Constitutions and Democracy in DividedSocieties”, Tel Aviv University, 5 January 2010.

[33] Avishai,Bernard. p. 40.

[34] Shamgar,Meir. p. 354.

[35]Khoury, Jack, and Weiler-Polak, Dana. “‘Current Knesset is the most racist in Israeli history.’” Haaretz. 21 March 2010. Accessed online at on 1 April 2010.

[36] “CulturalBoycott? It’s already happening inIsrael.” Promised Land. 27January 2010. Accessed at on 1 April 2010.

[37] “DefenceEmergency Regulations.” 88.1. 1945. Accessed online at on 8 April 2010.

[38]Sammy Smooha,“Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution: National Security and the ArabMinority,” in National Security and Democracy in Israel, ed. Avner Yniv(Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner, _993). p. 115.

[39]www.cfisrael.org

[40] As per statementsat conference on “Constitutions and Democracy in Divided Societies”, , Tel AvivUniversity, 6 January 2010.

[41] Avishai,Bernard. p. 123.

[42] Barak-Erez,Daphne. “From an Unwritten to aWritten Constitution: The Israeli Challenge in American Perspective.” ColumbiaHuman Rights Law Review. Volume26. p. 355.

[43] Friedrich,Carl J. p. 171

When September 20th comes

2011-09-17T17:05:00.000-04:00

It is now but a few days until the Palestinian authority approaches the UN with the request of acknowledgement in the Palestinian state.

Let us assume that Mr. Abbas will indeed make that request and not back out in the last minute quoting some American or Israeli gesture as "giving the negotiations a new hope". Even so, the request is the act itself is like the proverb "fire cups for the dead", i.e. completely pointless.

Why am I so skeptic you ask?

First of all, remember Yasser Arafat has already declared the independence of a Palestinian state, and this was accepted by a host of countries, resulting in him being invited to speak to the UN general assembly in 1988. Looking today, that move wasn't all that helpful to Palestinian statehood.

Second, the PA does not really represent the Palestinian people today. Officially they do, but in reality, the PA and Fatah have no control over the Gaza strip, and the two governments are quite hostile to each other. Furthermore, in disputed areas, where it is unclear if under any future agreement they will be a part of Israel or Palestine, most Palestinians would rather stay under Israeli rule than be a part of Palestine (Hebrew: http://www.news1.co.il/Archive/003-D-58771-00.html, English: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4064783,00.html). There are also many Palestinians living in refugee camps in neighboring countries, would the new Palestinian state take care of all of them, or will they keep insisting Israel has to take them in, despite having their own state?

Third, Assuming Hamas does yield to Fatah, how are the two parts of this state supposed to work together not through an agreement with Israel? The two parts of Palestine are divided, and Israel has no interest in allowing movement between them if it the declaration of statehood is one-sided. This would make it very hard for the new state to function as one cultural-economic unit (see Pakistan for reference).

Lastly, though I have barely touched on the issues above (some of which are quite "big"), there arises the simple question of the ability to exert control and authority over they territory claimed. The simple truth is that the PA does not really control all the land it claims, and even worse, cannot control it, whether it is because the IDE sits there, or because Hamas controls it, or simply because the PA security mechanisms are too weak to do the job.

There are many more factors in play which I have not mentioned here. It is enough to consider only those I have mentioned here to come to the conclusion that even if the PA applies for statehood on September 20th and is grated that status, such a state will not come into existence. There are many countries that already recognize Palestine, and many more will no doubt join. The pressure on Israel to withdraw from territories will mount. However, none of it will change any on the facts noted above that show that the Palestinians will be unable to establish and run a state for completely different reasons. If Mahmud Abbas is aware of any of this, he will find a way to back away from his plan. Only a few more days remain to how he acts.

Israel's Million March

2011-09-03T04:33:00.000-04:00

Democracy is not just about voting. On Saturday, September 3^rd, go out to the street and make your voice heard.

I had long tiring numerous conversations in February 2009 with many of my friends. I was so eager to see everyone going out to the polls and vote. Without caring much about the party of selection or the political tendency, I gave several tiresome long speeches to friends and family with a call to vote. I also participated in a course by Prof. Israel Waismal-Manor and along with my classmate ran a video campaign to promote voting for the Knesset election.

Today, when the real civil involvement is seen in the streets at its best, we all should take a stance and make our voice heard. This is what democracy is about. Voting for a political party is an important first step to be taken as an active citizen. Protesting and marching the streets is more significant and effective that the mere act of voting.

Watch Stewart saying it best (do change his “vote” to “protest”).

Cross posted from 20:40

Bringing the many faces of Judaism to Israel

2011-08-29T10:42:00.003-04:00

America’s marketplace of ideas has permeated to the Jewish world, resulting in the beautiful tapestry of American Jewry today. The diversity varying religious denominations within the Jewish framework permits individuals to relate to Judaism and their religious identity in a way that appeals to them and connects them to the community.

I may not feel a connection to Conservative or Reconstructionist Judaism, but their existence helps keep the flock together.Growing up in the United States, my parents kept a traditional home: Shabbat was diligently (but not overzealously) observed, as were Kashrut and holidays. As children we went to a Conservative day school, a pluralistic summer camp and then a modern Orthodox high school in Boston.

After high school I came to Israel with Young Judaea, another pluralistic program that opened my eyes to the wonders of Israel and the diversity of the Jewish people. My peers were a kaleidoscope of varying types of Jewish observance, identity, and background.

Attending my brother’s wedding last weekend in Harrisburg, PA, I participated in Shabbat services at the Conservative synagogue his father-in-law leads.

Although the prayers were recited beautifully, the sanctuary was elegantly decorated and the rabbi and congregation’s devotion was uplifting, the experience was a glove a few sizes too small for my hand. Peppering the service with English passages and explanations felt out of place; egalitarian seating and praying felt right in principle but unfamiliar in practice. The congregants’ enthusiasm was touching, but it wasn’t for me.

Yet although I remain most comfortable with Orthodox prayers, American Judaism has many faces.

Israeli Judaism, by contrast, is far less diverse. While ethnic traditions abound, they all fall under the umbrella of Orthodoxy. Reform and Conservative Jews in Israel are far and few between, and their rabbis cannot perform weddings, burials or other religious ceremonies with government recognition.

Although having Orthodoxy as the predominant religious affiliation in Israel provides a common Jewish language for the majority of the populace, it limits the options of those who seek a different path. If an Israeli disagrees with Orthodoxy, and yet yearns for religious meaning, there are no viable options.

Without these alternatives, many Israelis go without Jewish tradition altogether, when if given the option they would have merely chosen a different religious affiliation. This lack of options only serves to further widen the secular-religious divide.

How many secular Israelis could be turned on to Judaism through alternative streams extant in the Diaspora? Those who shun or are oblivious to Jewish religion because of the singular association with Orthodoxy might prefer Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist Judaism, but have never been introduced to them.

Many of my Israeli peers are wholly unfamiliar with non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and consider them as foreign as knishes and Sundays (real Sundays).

The major obstacles to changing this singular Israeli approach to Judaism are the lack of education about Diaspora Jewry in Israeli schools and the monopoly the Orthodox Rabbinate holds in Israel.

Conservatism is a Diaspora-encrusted breed that reflects the ideals of the land that birthed and nurtured it. But that does not mean that if given an opportunity, it could not take root and flourish in Israel. The introduction of alternative approaches to Judaism could not only provide a salve for the growing rift between Israel’s religious and secular, but it could also give Israelis a better understanding of their brethren overseas.

As a country that prides itself as a safe haven for Jews, Israel must provide its citizens with religious options that reflect - not stifle - the diversity of its populace.

Fresh Outrages in Syria, and the World Stands By

2011-08-15T23:50:00.004-04:00

The outrages in Syria have gone on long enough. The Los Angeles Times reported the Syrian regime's latest crimes in Latakia: civilians have been herded into stadiums, their ID and cell phones taken from them, in advance of the military's leveling of their neighborhoods. Amidst shelling from land and sea and the slaughter of innocents, Latakians are being stripped of their homes as easily as their freedom.
We Americans have fought two unnecessary, unjust wars in this past decade over far less than the injustice that the world has witnessed in Syria these past months. And yet our government, paralyzed at home and entangled in Afghanistan and Iraq though it may be, has little but "strong words" of condemnation.
Though I do not advocate unilateral military action by the United States, I expect more than what the Obama administration has done thus far. The United States has managed no visible results through the United Nations, whose sole reaction to months of human rights abuses has been tsk-tsking barely audible across the East River in New York City. Three months have passed since the Human Rights Council condemned the violence in Syria (but, at no surprise, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Gabon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, and the Russia, those esteemed paragons of human rights, voted against the measure). Nothing has been done since and the bodies keep piling up. At least the UNRWA posted an article expressing its "grave concern" on its homepage.
If Israel were the country culling unruly citizens, uprooting Palestinian refugees from their homes (as Syria is now doing), or arresting protesters by the thousands, the international community would be outraged and the UN and its agencies would not stand idly. A hue and cry the likes of which has only been heard from Glenn Beck the last time Obama was seen golfing would emanate from deep in the bowels of every UN office worker until it was heard around the globe.
This double standard is unacceptable yet goes on every day while innocents die. The UN Human Rights Council cries crocodile tears and whimpers like an attention-seeking puppy about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza while Syrians protesting for their freedom are cut down like curs. To quote the late George Carlin, "Something is fucked up. Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. " And all the while the UN stands tongue-tied and hand-bound.
All the while, the most impressive show has been made by Turkey, who has not only let in thousands of refugees along Syrians northern border but has issued a chilling ultimatum: "This is our final word to the Syrian authorities: Our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally. If the operations do not end, there would be nothing more to discuss about steps that would be taken." Would Turkey act independently? Whether or not it will, the Republic of Turkey has been the only government to suggest real action against Assad.
If the Obama administration is unwilling or unable to act in Syria, it should do more at the UN to see something done to stop the madmen in Damascus. The lame-duck, politicized, hijacked, corrupt, and self-interested United Nation needs more than just American funds, it needs American leadership. Otherwise it's clear where Congress should make its next budget cuts.

Passover Sacrifice with the Samaritans

2011-04-20T10:33:00.003-04:00

Fire pits in the foreground, trench in the background, and dais to its left.

As the armored Land Rover Defender I am riding in grinds to a halt with a flurry of dust and the general riding shotgun steps out, droves of foreign tourists are pushing one another trying to get into a gated-in courtyard on the crest of Mt. Gerizim. They and we are making our way to the annual Samaritan pascal sacrifice. Following my officers closely, we wove our way with no small effort through the envious masses and past a hefty bouncer in Samaritan costume who bars the gate after our entry.

Inside the gate and down a brief flight of steps opened a crowded plaza riddled with pits, gouged down the middle by a trench about thirty yards in length, and mounted by a paved dais on one side.

Samaritans standing beside the trench

The Samaritans mill about in their all-white garb, some sport red fezzes, others baseball caps; some hold staves or knives and others bucking, bleating sheep. Intermingling with the Samaritans were Israeli and foreign tourists, Israeli soldiers (like myself) in uniform, Israeli and Palestinian police officers (smiling and chatting with one another), and a profundity of journalists and photographers. Like flies on a carcass they buzzed about clicking their cameras at everything and everyone. The center of the dais was flanked by rows of chairs for we gentile spectators. On the stone wall behind, curious characters reminiscent of a Hebrew alphabet that fell out of style millennia ago are inscribed.

I interviewed Ovadia Cohen, the ritual's emcee, before the hubbub began. He told me that the Samaritans, who hold both Israeli and Palestinian ID cards, live in limbo between their more populous Jewish, Muslim and Christian neighbors. Despite the hardships they've experienced in recent years because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they "hope to act as a bridge between the two peoples" in the drive towards peace. The turnout for this year's Passover offering is evidence of the improving security situation in the West Bank, Colonel Raid Mansour says. The number of non-Samaritan attendants eight years ago was a fraction of this year's, which was estimated at over a thousand.

The Samaritan elders congregate in a concentrated mass, distinguishable from their flock by their brightly colored robes and a cream and gold band wrapped around the base of their fezzes. Chanting prayers as one in a language reminiscent of Hebrew but ringing of antiquity, they began their sacred rite. (I was later informed that their prayers were in Aramaic.) Several dozen sheep, bewildered by the multitudes of spectators and participants were herded to the edge of the trench and held by eager youths brandishing razor sharp blades. The high priest, donning a blue and white tallit like many I had seen in synagogues, uttered a final cantillation in an ululating, wavering voice. His prayer reached a climactic pitch, and with a whoop and cry the ritual sacrifice was on. In the blink of an eye several dozen knives slit the throats of the sheep, whose blood splattered on the pristine white clothes of their slaughterers and was smeared, like ash on Ash Wednesday, on their foreheads with the thumb.

Entrails on the altar

The men then set to work removing the wooly coats of their quarry, gutting them, and impaling them on ten foot spits. The fires were ignited and the smoke started billowing upwards. Guts were cleaned of their still-digesting contents, and soon the first entrails were tossed onto the massive grill thrown over the flame. The recently baaing carcasses were carried to the barbecue pits and the Passover offering was prepared for consumption.

As I left, the fires were crackling and the sheep were being moved onto the flames for the exclusive consumption by the Samaritans. Israelis and Palestinians stood clustered together as the Samaritans hustled about with unleavened bread (that closer resembled lafa flatbread than the water cracker style matzah that European Jews eat on Passover) and sprigs of bitter herbs, getting ready to add fresh meat to their pascal meal. Were it not for the cameras and cell phones, I reflected, there was little different about Sunday night's ceremony from the barbaric Jewish sacrifices carried out in this land in days of yore.

To all readers, a happy passover! חג שמח!

To pee or not to pee, that's being a soldier

2011-04-15T01:59:00.001-04:00

Being in the army, regardless of your role, reconnects you with the most primal aspects of being human. As a friend in my unit remarked over lunch the other day, soldiers are always hungry, tired, and horny, no matter what they do. Whether you're a desk jockey or a combat soldier, you are constantly wary of lurking foes- most often referred to as officers- which exacts a heavy toll on your nerves.
Far worse, however, is the perpetual motion between base, home, and points inbetween. Together with food that would make a gastronome contemplate suicide, regular long distance bus travel reminds each and every soldier how limited in size a colon or bladder can be, and how very precious the comfort of a clean bathroom. An average trek home in Israel's midsection from my base in the craggy heart of the West Bank takes an exhausting three bus rides totaling four or more hours. According to soldiers posted on Israel's extreme peripheries, far from the beaten path of public transportation, I am fortunate. That is of little relief when you are stuck in traffic and really have to go.
The true sanctum of the god of war lies in Morpheus's arms. No matter how much sleep I had the night prior, when I get home I immediately change out of uniform and curl up in bed. Sleep on base is a physical necessity, a chore imposed upon us by our bodies; at home it is a visceral pleasure akin to sex.
On leave in Jerusalem the other night, my brother and I ate an impromptu dinner (my second, closely chasing a bagel and cream cheese) with his friend, Josh. Passover is fast approaching, so consumptive eradication of leavened goods like whiskey, pasta, beer, and bread were in order- with a side of salad. Josh apologized for the botched baked ziti. I reminded him (a former soldier himself) how any food off base beat the monotonous slop they fed us daily and ate it with gusto.
As I sipped Balvenie I contemplated these and other oddities of army life: the value of a quality rubber band for rolling up a pant cuff, the pervasive hurry up and wait attitude, the ease with which politics are put aside with your jeans and t-shirts- and laughed.

Sardine season at TAU

2011-04-11T09:11:00.012-04:00

According to a recent study by U.S World News Report - and already reported heavily within the Israeli media - Tel Aviv University ranked as one of the world's top universities for 2010 in terms of academic citations per faculty. In doing so, the White City's most esteemed institution for high learning surpassed Cambridge, Oxford, Yale and Columbia while sitting right next to Harvard, MIT and Princeton as far as faculty productivity and research quality goes (see Carlo Strenger's piece in Haaretz for the complete breakdown) You may be asking yourself what the hell this means in the first place as far as academia is concerned and why TAU is rarely mentioned in the same breath as the above listed schools let alone within Israel itself as other institutions - albeit not even close to being on par academically with TAU (sorry IDC students) - seem to be the front running choices for many prospective scholars.

On one hand, it means that the quality of research coming out of Tel Aviv University and the strength that research has provided to other academics and scholars is second to none worldwide. Yet, on the other hand, it means there are a number of inadequacies as applied to the ability of students to fully absorb themselves within the intellectual surroundings provided by the school's rich academic expanse as espoused by its faculty. This may best be explained by the Tokyo-like subway feeling that students experience as they sit sandwiched between other students while trying to focus on what the lecturer is saying instead of thinking about how they don't even have enough room to take notes as their elbows frequently meet others's in an attempt to scribble down what is being said. Simply, this situation is unacceptable. The year is 2011 and the majority of classrooms at TAU resemble what one might find in the not so illustrious public high schools in many of the US's largest cities. There is not even enough room on each desk/piece of wood to put a normal sized notebook. Hence, taking notes on 3x5 index cards may be more efficient than struggling to make sure an 8x11 notebook does not go sliding off the pieces of scraps that the university deems as suitable student desks.

So after 2 years of studying the 'Cuban Missile Crisis' and attacking it from every angle (thanks Graham Allison), I finally decided that sitting wedged in like a sardine was a miserable way to spend what should be a beautiful spring/summer - full of rebirth, seminar papers and day beers. And as much as Tel Aviv University is genuinely a place where students are exposed to a wealth of esteemed scholars, professors and other professionals, students will rarely feel those lasting influences, only to lose their focus as they think about how miserable it is to be crushed between other students that are feeling those same frustrations.

A brief and belated remark

2011-04-09T11:04:00.000-04:00

Before serving in the army I had spent next to no time in the West Bank, certainly nowhere near as much as I have in the past month. My army service is with CoGAT, and for the last month I was stationed at the field headquarters outside Ramallah. The offices were a former Jordanian hospital, and the rest of the base is the typical thrown-together assortment of tin-roofed trailers and temporary outbuildings. Just one hundred yards from where I slept, a mosque on Ramallah's outskirts blared the call of prayer (waking me up regularly at 4 and then 5am. What astonished me most how close I was to the rising construction cranes and broad avenues of downtown Ramallah, and yet how far and detached everything on base seemed. Though surrounded by Palestinians, there we were, managing the affairs their government should, spending our time, effort, and money on things Israelis don't benefit from.

Driving to base on the 170 bus only reinforced that impression. After crossing through the Hizme checkpoint, we bypassed every village on the way as if they were leper colonies, only to stop at a lonely gas station near Psagot to unload and take on passengers. The winding roads that hug the hillsides weave their way through the Samarian hills, past terrace upon terrace of olive trees and dull beige clusters of farm houses, and meander upwards to lonely Jewish outposts of concrete and trailer homes crowning fog-blanketed peaks. What would ordinarily be a forty-five minute ride in a car takes two hours on a public bus, for they service each of these thousand or two strong settlements nestled above their Arab neighbors. The names of these villages proclaim the religious beliefs and heritage of those inhabiting them: Shiloh, Eli, Brachot, Psagot, Ariel.

While topographically there is no difference between the hills around Jerusalem and those around Nablus or Ramallah, there is a wholly different vibe. Palestinian license plates and flags merely demarcate an already clear divide between Israel and the West Bank, a divide that transcends political nuance. No amount of religious or political demagoguery can convince me otherwise now that I've seen it for myself. Though beautiful, it is foreign.

Before you criticize...

2011-04-06T14:43:00.007-04:00

For many, criticizing Israel for the continuous construction of new building projects in the post 1967 captured territories has become like drinking a cup or two of coffee - part of the daily routine. Obviously, Israel has become its own worst enemy in terms of garnering this criticism as it has arrogantly pursued a jaded policy of refusing to stop settlement construction within areas that will eventually become part of a future Palestinian state - assuming that the current stagnation in negotiations does not lead to a de facto Palestinian entity come September as deemed by the UN or even a binational state, something whose likelihood is gaining more ground with each passing day (see Qaddafi's Israstine). Clearly, there are certain areas beyond the Green Line, in particular within the Eastern part of Jerusalem - that due to their majority Arab population - will surly be transferred to the Palestinians (i.e Abu Dis and Sheikh Jarrah) while other predominantly Jewish areas, despite being part of the post 1967 territory, will remain as part of the Israel of the future.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of emphasis by the media in reporting the many territorial proposals jointly drawn-up by both sides. Instead, everything is blindly referred to as all land captured in 1967 after the Six Day War. However, the majority of shelved initiatives, accords and written agreements (see Clinton Peace Plan, Geneva Initiative, Abu Mazen-Yossi Beilin Agreement) have addressed the legitimacy of Israel in holding onto the bulk of Jewish neighborhoods in the Eastern part of Jerusalem, despite the fact that they are recognized as occupied land both by the Palestinians and the International community.

At this point, the Palestinian leadership realizes that evacuating certain Jewish neighborhoods to the North, South and East of the Green Line is not feasible, assuming that the Arab areas of East Jerusalem - those that already suffer from an inadequate balance of services supplied by the Jerusalem municipality - will be integrated into any future Palestinian state. So as much as we may be quick to condemn the approval of new Jewish housing units in Sheikh Jarrah, we must be equally critical of those who unequivocally bash Israel for new construction within particular areas that will remain within the current status quo as publicly agreed to and recognized by some of the Palestinian Authority's most respected veteran officials.

So before you criticize and before the media decides to roll with misleading and controversial headlines regarding Israel's approval for new construction in Gilo - as made evident today - please make sure you understand the previously agreed bilateral documents which have already addressed and settled 90% of the issues between the two sides. As for the other 10% that hasn't been settled...well, that is for the young diplomats to decide.

Qaddafi –At the Right Rlace and at the Right Time

2011-03-25T04:53:00.007-04:00

March 17th , 2011 will enter the history books as the date when the Security Council approved resolution 1973 calling for the enforcement of a no "fly zone in Libya" including the authorization of " all necessary measures to protect civilians". Since this is only the third time in history that the UN has approved a resolution authorizing collective force against a sovereign nation, it is crucial to investigate why and how this occurred. Despite the second clause of the resolution, no one should make the mistake of thinking the main interest of the countries involved is to protect the lives of Libyans. An International uproar over Qaddafi’s actions provided the leaders of the US, France and UK the perfect platform to pursue their domestic political interests by executing a low risk, limited military operation.

For President Obama, engaging in a limited military operation is the exact foreign policy he needed to strengthen his internal political stand following his loss at midterm elections last November. With a Republican majority in the Congress, Obama faces a domestic gridlock that does not allow him to pursue any meaningful domestic legislation that follows his Liberal agenda. The fear among the Obama camp is that not being able to perform domestically; he might lose public support and consequently the 2012 elections. To avoid such a scenario Obama can either change his agenda or gain political credit by appearing stronger in the international arena – a tactic that was used by other American Presidents in the past. Ronald Reagan experienced a similar reversal in his midterm elections and as a response he adopted a more aggressive anti-Soviet foreign policy approach which helped him win the 1984 elections. Although some conservatives criticize Obama for not taking the leadership role in the international effort, Obama is aware that such a role would hold greater political risks than benefits. American leadership in this war would entail greater risk for the lives of American soldiers and most likely result in the alienation of some of America’s closest allies. Therefore, the central but not leading role adopted by the US is the right step for Obama to achieve his domestic political needs.

French President Sarkozy faces even a greater risk, than Obama, to his political future in the upcoming elections in France. According to a survey conducted earlier this month by Le Parisien newspaper, Sarkozy is expected to receive only 21% of votes in the first round of the elections while Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right party, is predicted to garner23% of the votes. By announcing the launch of an international attack on Libya and having French jets be the first to attack Libyan targets, Sarkozy might have satisfied the apparent French voters' rightward trend and gained more support among French Muslims. Moreover, by taking a leading role in the attacks, Sarkozy has increased France's international standing and created the possibility of reviving his Euro-Mediterranean initiative in the aftermath of the Libyan attacks.

The Libyan endeavor could also be the savior of British foreign policy and revive the political career of British foreign minister William Hague. Hague is in desperate need of positive public relations following several embarrassing scandals. When events in Libya started to unfold, Hague ordered a poorly executed mission to evacuate British citizens from Libya and authorized a covert operation to send diplomats and SAS agents in a mission to make contact with rebels in eastern Libya. The unannounced arrival alarmed Qaddafi's opponents and the agents were taken hostage and almost killed. Adding to that, Hague was recently involved in a domestic scandal after defending a British diplomat linked to an American convicted sex offender. To save his reputation and political future, it was imperative for Hague to present a strong British foreign policy by supporting resolution 1973 and taking a leading role in the military operation.

Russia and China chose to abstain from the vote. However they did not veto the resolution as they had done for other past "pro western" UN resolutions. It is highly likely that the rapprochement process between Russia and the US which includes cooperation on missile defense program, Russia's acceptance to the WTO and a surprising proposal by Putin to cancel mutual visa requirements between both countries, helped persuade Russian diplomats to not veto the decision. Similarly, China which follows a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries did not veto the resolution in this instance. Most likely China did not want to suffer the diplomatic repercussions that would come from being the one country that vetoed the resolution.

Qaddafi's ruthless attacks on his own people created a unanimous international condemnation that strangely placed the US and Al Qaeda on the same side. Global popular outcry for a military strike against Qaddafi's forces required a response from world leaders who saw this as an opportunity to promote domestic political interests in a low risk operation. Libya is considered to be an easy target because its military is ill equipped and the country is located on the shores of the Mediterranean- close to the American 6th fleet and to Italian air bases. Thus, resolution 1973 passed because there was a linkage between national and international interests that came at the right time and the right place. The current inconsistencies among the allies as to the objective, length and command of the military operation indicate that the decision was made mainly to satisfy national interests rather than to pursue a common global peaceful cause.

Nonetheless, facts on the ground demonstrate that a forceful international coalition has so far managed to execute a large scale joint military operation which received the approval of the world’s most acceptable form of global governance institution. This stands as a warning to the leaders of Yemen, Syria and Iran who stand accountable for their acts in front of the international community. They might turn out to be the next target if national and international interests intertwine once more.

Back in the game

2011-03-15T07:20:00.003-04:00

March Madness is here! The playing field is set. Teams are gearing up for their opening matches and millions of dollars are being exchanged in betting who will be crowned the next champion on the court.

No, this has nothing to do with college basketball. So if you wanted to read a sports story, you can stop reading here. Instead, this has to do with Shakespeare's 'ides of March' and the ensuing 'March Madness' - non basketball related - that has erupted like Mt. Vesuvius. Maybe it is simply the Madness of Jan. 2011 carried over to an unexplainable tipping point, but either we look at it, March has gone nuts. Final.

Since the massive Earthquake and ensuing Tsunami pummeled Japan, it is as if the attention to the events unfolding in the Middle East have simply been whisked away by a flying carpet. The horrifying events in Japan have created another great tragedy in our prickly region - a tragedy of excuses; an easy way for many to turn their focuses and efforts elsewhere while forgetting that the world order continues to be abruptly shifted with the voice of the Middle East masses echoing across the globe.

If nothing more, the events in Japan should teach us that at any moment, our world can be overturned with a intense and destructive domino effect that will leave us all asking - what could we have done to better protect ourselves against such disasters? It is precisely this protection that we must surround ourselves with immediately.

A war has erupted in Libya that has left everyone dumbfounded in terms of how to best alleviate the situation in a country that plays a key part in both the global oil economy as well as the 'War on Terror'.

Scary uncertainty has arisen in Egypt and Tunisia as to the future of the outcome of two greatly successful revolutions.

A brutal massacre of an Israeli family by Palestinian militants has only given more legitimacy to the sensationalized security concerns of the current fear-mongering Israeli government, that in turn approved the building of 500 new housing units in the West Bank. Nevermind the fact that these units are going to be built on land that will most likely remain part of Israel in any future peace accords or the fact that incitement against Israelis appears to be on the rise in the Palestinian territories.

With regards to the stabbing death of the Israeli family and the subsequent approval for new construction, Netanyahu and Abbas must look at themselves in the mirror and realize that neither right nor wrong is not what needs to be debated. Rather, what needs to be decided is what is practical and necessary. This is not a time to point fingers, nor is it a time to make excuses as to why Israelis and Palestinians cannot coexist.

Instead this is a time when great leaders are born: the types of leaders who can take crippling events and turn them into regenerated seeds of hope and an encouraging future. There don't need to be any pseudo-scintillating speeches by Netanyahu (see Bar Ilan 1) and Abbas does not need to incessantly bash the faltering Israeli leadership.

What needs to be done is for both leaders to realize that this is not an equal world in which every individual gets what he or she wants. Childish games have gone on for too long and the opportunity for both leaders to miss another opportunity is once again upon us.

The field is set and the players are familiar with their opponents. However, in the game of negotiation, winning and losing are outcomes that both sides must experience. An absolute victory is uncertain; yet the absoluteness of a positive future are something that both sides can achieve.

And as for The Young Diplomat, we are back in the game.

The Egyptian Uprising – Implications for Regional Stability: the US, Iran and Israel

2011-02-07T16:33:00.002-05:00

The popular uprising in Egypt will have far reaching consequences for many years to follow. Regardless of the domestic implications of the uprising, the impending regime change will have a profound impact on Middle Eastern geopolitical stability. The region is due to enter a period of volatility and increasing chances for eruption of violence. This argument is based on the following assumptions. First, neither President Mubarak, his son, nor any other political figure affiliated with his corrupt regime will remain in power. Second, the next President or ruling party will be chosen democratically, or at the very least will be more representative of the political aspirations of the people. The majority of Egyptians identify Mubarak's corrupted regime as a tool for American and Israeli interests. To receive public support, a new government will likely not follow his pro western line. Third, Egypt has been a regional power as well as the pillar for the moderate pro-western axis that countered radical Islamist groups in the Middle East. In the ensuing transition period and possibly afterwards, Egypt's political system will be divided, weak, and more vulnerable to external intervention. Consequently, it will prove harder for Egypt to maintain its regional dominance. The region's three main actors, the United States, Iran and Israel, will react to these developments accordingly.

The US: Many analysts are puzzled as to why the US has preferred to support values of global human right rather than to pursue its national interests that entail support for President Mubarak. I argue that the response by the United States to the events in Egypt correlates with Obama's new foreign policy. US' foreign policy in Obama's second half of his presidency has focused more pressingly on Asia rather than the Middle East. The main reason for this change was the appointment of Tom Donilon as Obama's National Security Adviser. Donilon, who was appointed last October, believes that the US should re-balance its international interests away from Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East towards China and India which pose a greater challenge to US economic interests. An additional factor for consideration is that the Middle East has not yielded any positive political gains for a US President since President Bill Clinton. As a brilliant politician, Obama realizes that in order to be re-elected for a second term, his policies must focus on rebuilding the American economy rather than entanglement in the never ending problems of the Middle East. Evidence of this approach can be found in Obama's State of the Union Speech from January 25th during which he did not mention the Peace Process at all, as well as the recent and more frequent mutual visits between American and Chinese officials. The waning influence of United States in the region can be observed from their withdrawal from Iraq, lack of involvement in the events taking place in Lebanon, the deadlocked Peace Process, and now the eminent fall of one of the closes allies of the US in Middle East, Husni Mubarak. The American void gives more room for the increasing influence of the two prominent regional powers: Turkey and especially Iran.

Iran: Egypt and Iran are both regional powers that have competed for regional supremacy and influence in the Middle East since they took opposite directions in 1979. It is highly like that Iran is looking to take advantage of a weakened Egypt to promote its interests in the region. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert says: "If there is a vacuum of power and leadership in Egypt, Iran is not going to stay on the sidelines and watch, it will try to exploit the situation by funding its like-minded cohorts. Iran has used this playbook in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon". Despite Shia-Sunni differences and rivalry, Iranian leaders share theological background and regional interest with the Muslim Brotherhood – the largest and most organized political party in Egypt. Before the 1979 revolution Ayatollah Khomeini used the writings and ideas of Sayyid Qutb, one of the founders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the master mind behind Al Qaeda ideology, as the basis for his notion of an Islamic State ruled by clerics. Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran share a common enemy (Israel), a motivation that has been historically used to bridge cross-sectarian and other deep rooted differences. In order to expand its influence in Egypt, Iran can use its ties with Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. The congenial relationship between Hamas and Iran was further enhanced during the Gaza campaign in 2009. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal praised Iran by saying "Iran has definitely played a big role in the victory of the people of Gaza and is a partner in that victory." From the Iranian perspective, the turmoil in Egypt could not have come at a better time. President Ahmadinejad has successfully entrenched his rule after crushing political and public opposition in the aftermath of the 2009 disputed elections and Hezbollah is close to gaining political control over Lebanon.

Israel: Since the signing of the peace agreement in 1979, Egypt and Israel became strategic partners and along with American support effectively maintained a moderate pro-western alignment in the Middle East. Egypt supplies Israel with nearly half of its natural gas supply, allows Israeli war ships to sail through the Suez Canal, tacitly supported Israeli war against Hamas and acted as a mediator with the Palestinians. In a further show of support, Egypt did not intervene during Israel’s war with Lebanon and operation in Gaza and only demonstrated symbolic diplomatic protest during the two Intifadas. A possible regime change in Egypt will alter this close relationship for two reasons. First, the main viable political alternatives to the current regime seem to be the Muslim Brotherhood or Muhammad El Baradei, both known as being hostile towards Israel. Second, the demonstrators who demand an end to Mubarak’s rule see him as an "Israeli-American agent" and will pressure any new regime to revise this approach and support the Palestinian cause. The remark of former Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, Eli Shaked, further highlights this point:"The only people in Egypt who are committed to peace are the people in Mubarak’s inner circle, and if the next president is not one of them, we are going to be in trouble.” In the near future, Israel might be forced to defend its southern border and reallocate its military and economic resources. Nevertheless, any new Egyptian government will have to consider the significant American annual aid it receives when planning its approach towards Israel. Taken together with the breakdown of relations with Turkey, Israel may very soon remain without any ally in its neighborhood.

Looking at the big picture it is clear that the balance of power in the Middle East has dramatically changed. Egypt is about to join Iraq and Lebanon in experiencing a protracted period of domestic political turmoil. With less American influence, Iran will likely use this situation to promote it interests in the region, destabilizing the existing status quo, leaving Israel more isolated than ever and the Middle East more prone to violence. Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman was right when he said "the recent events in the Arab world prove that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is not the main issue in the area". However he is wrong for not realizing that once the Arab world gains its freedom, the Israeli –Palestinian conflict will definitely be the main issue in the area and there will be no pro-Israeli regime to counter popular sentiments. Therefore, a sensible Israeli government should re- focus its foreign policy agenda and push forward with the Peace Process. The only other option is isolation and conflict.

Final thoughts before enlisting

2011-01-26T08:09:00.001-05:00

Here I am, four days away. On Sunday I enlist in the Israeli Defense Force as a veritable geriatric 25 year old volunteer. For six months I have waited, and for the coming six months I sign away my freedom for the sake of country, career, and adventure (though I am told I shouldn't hold my breath for the latter). Friends bombard me with the same question: "are you excited?"

My reply is typically something along the lines of "I'm keeping it at a low simmer."

"Why?" they inquire with genuine or feigned interest and concern.

I suppose it's because I have no inflated delusions of what my time as a soldier will be like. I know it will-- for the very large part-- not be fun and I will be treated like a grunt. I am fine with that. I am too old (they told me) to serve in a combat unit and too valuable (I told them) to be wasted thus, so my brief time in the IDF will not be on the front lines or involve anything "heroic". That's fine with me. I've read enough Hemingway, James Jones, Wilfred Owen, and Tim O'Brian and seen "Band of Brothers", "The Pacific", and "Empire of the Sun" to have illusions of grandeur about the military. I am not "ardent for some desperate glory" or fooled by "the old Lie: dulce et decorum est / pro patria mori". Go ahead and scoff at my being a jobnik soldier, I don't care.

Nonetheless, I can not help but grow anxious about my impending enlistment when Israel's neighbors are trembling with rumors of revolution. Lebanon trembles as Hezbollah makes a parliamentary powerplay and unrest grows. Should violence ensue, Israel's territorial integrity and security could very well be compromised. Egypt has been wracked by days of protests and a bout of self-immolations inspired by the uprising in Tunisia and nigh unto three decades of totalitarian rule under Hosni Mubarak. With Mubarak not getting any younger and the Muslim Brotherhood's underground popularity at an all time high, revolution in Egypt would not bode well for Israel. Lastly-- and possibly most significantly, the Palestine Papers, released this week by al-Jazeera, have undercut Abbas and Fatah's popularity among the Palestinian public by exposing their concession of territories considered vital to the future Palestinian state. Fluctuation in the balance of power among the Palestinian factions-- especially the empowerment of Hamas-- will certainly have averse effects for Israel.

All I can do is wait and keep my wits about me.
I will continue writing about my experience as a soldier in the IDF, and specifically (if things play out as I've been told) as part of the Israeli military administration in the West Bank.

Aztmaut: a return to political escapism

2011-01-17T22:28:00.000-05:00

Cults of political personality dominate Israeli politics. For a third time, a major political contender has diverged from his party to create a new one. Ben Gurion divided the Mapai party in 1965 and formed Rafi, taking ten seats that election, and formed the National List party in 1969 when Mapai and Rafi reunited. Six years ago, Ariel Sharon rived the Likud party asunder and formed Kadima around himself, forming a coalition to boot. Yesterday, the left-leaning Labor party, already a minority in opposition, was split by Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak; four MKs formed the new "centrist, Zionist and democratic" Atzmaut (Independence) party. Not without a large dose of irony, Kadima's formation five (and change) years ago proclaimed its foundation as a centrist party committed to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state advocating a two state solution, too.
Bernard Susser and Giora Goldberg, in their 2005 Israel Affairs article "Escapist Parties in Israeli Politics ", sum up "New Start" escapist parties like Atzmaut as being:

"ideologically unfocused. It is difﬁcult to use conventional categories like left and right, dove and hawk, socialist and capitalist, establishment or anti-establishment to describe them. Their answers to political dilemmas tend to be sensational, uncomplicated and ethically charged. They promise quick results and dramatic successes. They display a low threshold for political ambiguities."

What is critical to mention is the relative success rate of these parties, and their cumulative effect on the political landscape of Israel. Rafi dissolved three years after its formation despite its initial success, and Ben Gurion's National List party disintegrated after one term. Kadima enjoyed three years in power before losing political steam and the election to Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu in 2009. Now, in 2011, an already deflated Labor party has been cloven. Barak seeks to succeed where Ben Gurion and Sharon failed by using the same tactic: rally around the figurehead.
Not only shall his ambiguous aims not succeed, but Atzmaut will find that further division among the Israeli Left, rather than cohesion and compromise, will only yield greater isolation and failure. Not only for the Left, but for the Israeli public as well.
Over Israel's 62 years, Knesset parties multiply as they fracture into factions, creating ever-more political instability. Coalition strength has declined drastically, resulting in ineffectual governments incapable of compromise and progress. Rarely has the distribution of seats among the various parties ever been so spread out, and rarely do such configurations remain stable or succeed in reaching necessary compromises. The ability for the legislature to arrive at a consensus will only grow increasingly difficult; adding another party to the mix only complicates matters and is sure to strengthen the ruling coalition of right-wing and religious parties and the Left and Center's expense.
Without distinct aims, and by repeating the platitudes of Kadima from the left side of the political spectrum, Atzmaut offers little to the Israeli public.

Oh, I See.

2010-12-25T07:13:00.003-05:00

My best wishes to those who celebrate Christmas. To those who read The Young Diplomat, we are also (coincidentally) celebrating our one year anniversary!
Speaking of religions...and now for something completely different.

The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has proposed a controversial resolution at the United Nations that has raised the hackles of those concerned for human rights, specifically freedom of speech. Though last week they announced on International Human Rights Day that they are “deeply committed to the Human Rights and in upholding the noble principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948”, they are nonetheless embarking on a veritable crusade against perceived anti-Islamic speech worldwide. The resolution put through the UN’s Third Committee—which passed by a 76 to 64 margin with 42 abstaining—aims to internationalize the prohibition of speech critical of religion and inhibit free speech.

The draft resolution “Combating Defamation of Religion” was put to vote on 24 November 2010 and was presented to the General Assembly on Tuesday. Critics of the proposal object to its treatment of religion as an entity entitled to protection—at the cost of human rights. The document

“urges all States to provide, within their respective legal and constitutional systems, adequate protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from vilification of religions, and incitement to religious hatred in general”

and makes specific mention that “Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism”, highlighting the resolution’s underlying agenda. No other religion is mentioned with such specificity. American Deputy Representative to ECOSOC John F. Sammis spoke out against the resolution because it

“still seeks to curtail and penalize speech. The changes that have been made from the original tabled version, while representing an important gesture, unfortunately do not get the heart of our concerns - the text's negative implications for both freedom of religion and freedom of expression.”

Nevertheless, the draft resolution was passed by the General Assembly on 21 December 2010 with 79 favoring, 67 opposed, and 40 abstentions.

A more seditious and conniving measure against the fundamental principles of human rights has never been passed by a UN body. The motion aims to arm non-democratic states against those they deem religious dissidents and clad them in international legalistic armor of the most deceitful kind. Under this malicious resolution, OIC states—the overwhelming majority of which are despotic—can justify the continued persecution of non-conformist Muslim communities (Ahmadis, Allawis, etc.) and non-Muslim minorities under the UN’s aegis.

Having been brought before the Third Committee each of the past five years, each successive vote has brought an ever-increasing number of countries to the “nay” side. (For last year’s vote tally, follow this link.) Various island nations —The Bahamas, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, St. Lucia, The Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu—changed their votes from abstentions to nays in the 2010 committee vote. Former advocates of the resolutions, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republic of the Congo, and Honduras, changed from yeas to abstentions. One fence-sitter, Sri Lanka, opted to vote yes, while Argentina, who had formerly supported the motion, fell in with the Western states who voted unanimously against the motion. Notably absent from the list of democratic nations voting against the proposal, India stands among the non-aligned amidst this cold war, too. By changing its vote to nay, India, the world’s most populous democracy and home to numerous religions and the largest Muslim minority population, could inspire other states to do likewise.

There is little doubt that the OIC’s commitment to human rights and democratic values is strictly lip service; in practice these states are among the most repressive on the planet. Their hijacking of the UN’s Third Committee is a disgrace to the organization and the values for which it stands. With voting records on resolutions like these, one has to wonder which pillar of the Declaration of Human Rights will fall next. Those critical fence-sitters from Europe, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania, as well as much of South America, could have swung the vote to a decisive nay, but, alas!
Let us hope the definitive proposal is quashed once and for all.

Merry Minority

2010-12-24T05:49:00.001-05:00

One of the smallest minorities in Israel is Christians. Christmas is the time of the year in which we enjoy the spotlights and the glamorous atmosphere of Christmas. This is also a time to think things over.
A press release issued today by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) outlines the following statistics; definitely worth taking a look.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Christians in Israel are a little bit over 150,000 making up 2% of Israel's population. Looking a bit closer on the stats, reveals that 80% of the 150,000 are Arabs/Palestinians. The remaining 20% are mainly immigrants from former USSR. In this post, I will not discuss the non-Arab/Palestinian Christian population.
The majority of the Christians live in Northern Israel - 71.5%, while 13% live in the Haifa region and 9.5% in the Jerusalem district. I am assuming that Ramleh-Lid-Jaffa is considered Jerusalem district, let's hope my family didn't answer that long questionnaire/interview by the lovely CBS interviewer in vain. The top 3 largest communities are to be found in Nazareth (22,300), Haifa (13,700) and Jerusalem (11,500).
The Christian population growth rate is the lowest in Israel; 1%, while it is 1.7% amongst the Jewish population and 2.6% amongst the Muslim population. This phenomenon is also common in other Middle Eastern countries amongst the Christian population, especially in Lebanon. It seems like with the never ending "demographical battle" in Israel, mainly between extremists, the Christians play an insignificant role.
Assuming you're running for parliament and you would dedicate 365 days to attending Christian weddings in Israel, you would have to write a check for 806 couples. The median age of a Christian groom is 29.1 (the Jewish groom is a year and a half younger, the Druze groom is 2 years younger and the Muslim groom is three 3 younger) and the Christian bride would be 24.5 years old (the Jewish bride is a year older, the Druze bride is 3 years younger and the Muslim bride is 4 years younger). This basically means I will get married somewhere around Dec/Jan 2012 and my bride would be born in the summer of 1987.
In the year of 2009, exactly 2009 Christian newborns started their life in Israel. The Christian women will give birth to 2.2 children (knock on wood) while the Druze, Jewish and Muslim will give birth to 2.5, 2.9 and 3.7 respectively (also, knock on wood).

As for the economic aspect, the Christians form 33,400 households which constitute 3% of the total Israeli households. The Christian household includes 3.8 residents while the Jewish household is 3.1 and the Muslim household is 5 members. Single membered households (or with unrelated members) amongst the Christians are 14% while it's 5% amongst Muslims and 22% amongst Jews. I would think this is related to the common movements of students out but there's more than just that.

As for the unemployment amongst the Christians it is 5.5% , 6.6% amongst men and 3.6% amongst women.
This report seems very trivial to me, but it gives us a little more perspective about a minority in Israel and where changes are possible to create a more equal society with a better future to everyone. I was impressed with the preciseness of the details that CBS are looking into, yet I would also take into account few alterations and distortions.

Greek Catholic Church of Annunciation in Mi'ilya, Israel

Cross post from 20:40

Shankaboot

2010-12-12T14:07:00.001-05:00

I was introduced to Shankaboot, the first Arabic web drama, through a friend from Haifa University. The show is a huge success in the Arab world and worldwide, I am personally a fan. The show is broadcasted in Arabic with English subtitles allowing the coverage of broader audiences. Shankaboot is produced and funded by Batoota Films, The BBC World Service Trust and The Welded Tandem Picture Company.

Suleiman is the main character, also known as the king of delivery – Shankaboot. His adventure in the reality of Lebanon includes meeting Ruwaida, fleeing the life of abuse and oppression and her dream of freedom and becoming a star. The drama also includes Suleiman’s journey with his best friend Chadi and his dark and ambiguous past. Running away from Beirut with Chadi and Ruwaida, they meet Teta (Grandma in Arabic) and her granddaughter Yara. Suleiman falls in love with Yara but later, worried Teta sends her off to Brazil for a better future. Amongst all the characters, the show also stars Doulica, the migrant worker from Sri Lanka and the humiliating treatment from her employer Mme Najem.

Shankaboot’s most interesting method of delivering its social agenda is not just through its episodes but also through the ‘behind the scene’. An interview with Mme Najem for example about migrant workers in Lebanon is broadcasted in a sarcastic way, criticizing the Arab world and the stereotypes towards foreigners. One of my favorite ‘behind the scene’ is the interview with Teta in the airport in regard to sending away her granddaughter Yara to Brazil, away from her first love and the life she knew. Teta also criticizes Twitter and Facebook in her own special way. Let’s not forget her Portuguese carnival singing and dancing.

The show is a must for the average Israeli revealing the hidden world of the daily life in Lebanon, just a few kilometers away from Israel. It also fits just right with our modern uncommitted lifestyle to television drama.

This post is a cross post from 20:40

Hannukah, O Hannukah, Let's Not Repress Religious Freedom

2010-12-01T08:52:00.002-05:00

Hanukkah's placement around the end of the olive harvest celebrates the seasonal production of the oil necessary to light up the lengthening, darkening days of winter ahead. That alone would be a wonderful purpose to celebrate the holiday, and one I wholly embrace (as someone who revels in sunlight and most certainly suffers from a touch of seasonal depression in these drearily dark days). As Avi Taranto, writer for this blog, noted, for most Jews Hanukkah's modern incarnation is one of "presents, and latkes, and just eating together with family and friends". Not everyone shares this sentiment. A strong cultural current celebrates the Maccabean victory over the Seleucid Greek empire from whence the holiday originated.

They commend and commemorate the rededication and re-purification of the temple in Jerusalem (חנוכה "Hannukah" means just that-- dedication) and the suppression of Hellenistic culture and society. They perceive the historic events as a "triumph of light over darkness (in the metaphorical more so than the literal sense), of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality," according to the Chabad website. Ynet contributor Howie Mischel wrote today: "We have much to be thankful for and to celebrate in our land as we find inspiration in what occurred here more than 2,000 years ago."

What does Mr. Mischel find so inspirational about the Hanukkah story? Let's take a look. Jewish day school taught me that the saintly, religiously fastidious Judaeans were all upset about Greek oppression, they revolted, and everyone lived happily ever after once the temple was cleaned of its pagan adornments (check out this vomitrocious modern spin on the story). Not exactly. The Maccabees were rabble-rousing religious fundamentalists comprising a small contingent of the Judaean population. A large portion of Judaeans were contently secularized and enjoying the best of both cultures and they were actively harassed, persecuted, and killed by the Maccabees for embracing Hellenism, emphasizes historian Solomon Zeitlin in The Rise and Fall of the Judaean State.

Like Mr. Mischel, many of the religiously inclined are juvenilely infatuated with the heroism of the Maccabees and the cause they stood for. They approve of the "down with Hellenism and assimilation" message interpretable in the holiday and laud Judah Maccabee--a man whose sole accomplishment was leading a ragtag band of armed bandits around the highlands, killing Greeks and those who approved of their culture (which means he's a rare Jewish equivalent of Tomás de Torquemada, Osama bin Laden, or Henry VIII). They place radical nationalism and xenophobia on a pedestal and trod on cultural pluralism. They adhere to the tenet found in the Mishna Torah that claims

"It is a mitzvah...to eradicate Jewish traitors, minnim, and apikorsim, and to cause them to descend to the pit of destruction, since they cause difficulty to the Jews and sway the people away from God, {as did Jesus of Nazareth and his students, and Tzadok, Baithos, and their students. May the name of the wicked rot.}"

and celebrate the Maccabees for doing so.

I may not go so far as Christopher Hitchens to say that "the display of the menorah at this season...has a precise meaning and is an explicit celebration of the original victory of bloody-minded faith over enlightenment and reason", but some certainly view the holiday and its paraphernalia in that manner. That does not mean we should let them ruin a celebration of illumination and enlightenment--however you prefer it-- in these dark times. I don't advocate stamping out Hanukkah altogether, but I do agree that the message imparted by modern religious nationalists is detrimental for our diverse society. Let's keep it to a celebration of luminescence and fatty foods like it should be.

!חג אורות שמח : Happy Festival of Lights!

WikiLeaks: A weak climax

2010-11-29T06:32:00.005-05:00

With every news agency across the world commenting on the WikiLeaks phenomena, The Young Diplomat could not let the opportunity to offer its own perspectives slip by. Mind you, our main objective is to facilitate more open and communicative political thought and cooperation; however, as we are a blog dedicated to the diplomatic and political world - in Israel and abroad - there is no way we could not give our own commentary on what is definitely the biggest security and diplomatic fiasco over the last century.
In a nutshell, what do these documents portray: cunning and astute bargaining amongst diplomats and heads of states; assessments of terror and nuclear threats; surprising statements by world leaders; quirky wry humor amongst security officials?
Besides giving a more profound look into the Iranian regime's internal conflict and its nuclear development, nothing we did not already know was released.
Skimming through newspapers worldwide, anyone can - on a daily basis - find lengthy articles regarding the wishes of Arab leaders to see the complete destruction of Iran's nuclear program, even if a military strike is the sole way in achieving this goal. Already back in June, reports were published regarding comments by the U.A.E Ambassador to the United States in which he advocated a US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
"I am willing to absorb what takes place at the expense of the security of the U.A.E," he said, referring to the possible destruction and consequences posed by a military strike (for the full audio-interview conducted by the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, click here).
When an ambassador expresses such issues as related to security and defense, it can only be assumed that those statements are nothing short of the official stance taken by his or her government - be it a monarchy or a thriving democracy.
Are people really surprised that the United States is responsible for the armament of Yemeni forces in their fight against rebel groups providing refuge to thousands of al-Qaeda and Islamist operatives while vying for control of Yemen?
Are the different Israeli assessments regarding an effective timeline for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities something new to us? Isn't there something in the press every five minutes about this?
Is anyone shocked that the US and Pakistan are feuding over that country's internal policies as applies to the War in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan's fragile and unprotected nuclear arsenal? What would be shocking is if the WikiLeaks reports were to reveal a trusting, mutually beneficial relationship between the two!
For understanding the complicated trickery and deceit inherent in Middle East politics, one does not have to jump on leaked information regarding the US State Departments inner workings within the region. Simply living here is enough to make anyone realize that shifting alliances are nothing more than a way to shape foreign policy on a day to day basis.
The alliances of today will most likely be gone tomorrow.
Besides making for a great novel turned Hollywood feature, the release of the WikiLeaks documents only expands on reports that have been circulating for years.
Embarrassing? Yes. Enough to restructure the world political divide? Not a bit.

The Stranger in Thine Midst

2010-11-28T10:22:00.001-05:00

This morning Netanyahu's cabinet approved the construction of a camp by the Egyptian border to reign in and crack down on the "swelling wave threatening Israeli jobs, a wave of illegal migrants that we must stop because of the harsh implications for Israel's character", stated Netanyahu. The cabinet's decision to crack down on migrant workers by placing them in a detention camp will have various deleterious and far-reaching consequences.

What Israeli character is Netanyahu talking about? No longer do Israelis toil in the fields to make the dry earth bloom. The Israeli in the fields is an antiquated mythos of bygone generations. Nowadays backbreaking fieldwork is performed overwhelmingly by migrant workers, legal and illegal, and cordoning them off in camps will not change that fact. What Netanyahu doesn't consider is that the jobs taken by migrant workers are those Israeli refuse to do: laborious, low paying positions in oftentimes difficult conditions. Sectioning them away, rather than legally inducting them into the workforce, will only hurt the Israeli economy by depriving the agricultural and service industries of desperately needed manpower.

Perhaps Netanyahu means the exclusively ethnically Jewish nature of the Jewish state, in which case he is again wrongly mistaken. That has never been a reality, nor was it ever a vision of Israel's founders. Theodor Herzl wrote of a Jewish state in Altneuland where "we do not ask to what race or religion a man belongs. If he is a man, that is enough for us." Is barricading these people off because they washed up on our shores, desperate and destitute, part of Herzl's vision or in Israel's character? Is it Jewish whatsoever to maltreat foreigners among us thus? Does it not say in Exodus 22:21 :

"וגר לא תונה ולא תלחצנו כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים"

"Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt"?

How can either side of the religious/secular spectrum find this course of action appropriate or justifiable? The cabinet's decision to incarcerate refugees is universally morally reprehensible and unjustifiable.

Too many have already compared this new detention facility to that at Atlit, where some sixty-five years ago the British incarcerated illegal Jewish immigrants seeking a better life, so I shall refrain. The comparison is nonetheless apt. This decision is a PR fiasco in the making. Israel already stands accused of human rights violations that-- legitimate or otherwise-- murky its international standing . This decision merely adds more (in this case legitimate) fuel to the fire, furthering Israel's rap as a racially discriminatory ethnocracy. This development can only mar Israel's reputation further.

Breaking News: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Resigns

2010-11-17T14:27:00.001-05:00

This afternoon at 4:37 PM Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman handed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his letter of resignation in what can only be called "pulling a Palin". Coming as a complete surprise to everyone, Lieberman's ambitious drive to undermine the peace process, continue West Bank construction, and introduce draconian citizenship requirements was beginning to yield fruit. Peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, restarted a couple of months ago after a multi-year hiatus, have ground to a halt. Once again the Israeli Foreign Ministry had regained its long-held position as Israel's least productive bureaucratic arm, and Lieberman's party is the Knesset's third largest. And yet despite it all Avigdor stepped down from his cabinet post.

"My work here is done," Israel's former chief diplomat said at a press conference in Herzliya earlier today. "I shall now set out to pursue of my greatest joy in life!" Only when pressed by further questions by the press did he direct the curious pack of reporters to his newly opened falafel and shawarma stand next door:
בשר וכדורי אביגדור: Avigdor's Meat and Balls.
"Yalla!" He shouted encouragingly at the gathering crowd. "If you think I can serve up a dish of hot insult at the UN you should try my fried eggplant! Nu? Who wants a falafel in pita?"
When asked (amid mouthfuls of salad and spit-roasted turkey) where funds for his new establishment came from, former Foreign Minister chuckled and said "Ha! You think the Jerusalem light rail really costs 1.2 billion ₪?"
Netanyahu announced later that Lieberman's replacement would be little-known United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni (picture at right, for his credentials follow the link). Gafni is best known for passing gas in the Housing committee, passing water in the main Knesset chamber, and passing out during Vice President Joe Biden's visit last March. Netanyahu said Gafni is, in fact, "overqualified for the position".

Gabe Ciuraru contributed to this report.

Bring on the Dark Ages

2010-11-15T07:27:00.001-05:00

Sandwiched between irrelevant and baseless ad hominem attacks on authors, this blog is often criticized for laying into Israel too much with negative criticism. What I understand from this is that those readers would like a more balanced criticism of Israel (scrutiny of Palestinians). Well, here it is, criticism of the other side of the Green Line:
The same standards by which I hold Israel should, ideally, be held for our Palestinian neighbors. Sadly, however, freedom of speech and freedom of religion are even more fleeting on the other side of the partition fence. A recent headline renewed my concern for those Palestinians (and indeed they exist in no small number) who do not conform to mainstream or radical Islam and who wish to express their views freely and peaceably. Walid Husayin of Qalqiliya, an anti-theist who criticized Islam, Mohammed, and Allah on Facebook, has been detained and charged with "insulting the divine essence". He may get away with only life in prison, but some are calling for some good, ol'-fashioned burning at the stake to teach the young man--and others-- a lesson.
What kind of Palestinian state shall come into existence in this sliver of land? A Salem Witch Trial sharia state that burns dissenters to death or one that embraces Western ideals of free speech, free religion, and tolerance? This development in the West Bank casts a dark shadow on the Palestinian Authority, an organization that supposedly walks a totally different walk than their Hamas counterparts. There has been little outcry over the infringement on Walid's free speech-- both in the West Bank, in Israel, or internationally. The Palestinian judges set to hear his case will hopefully recognize the gravity of their decision: free Walid and he will be lynched by a mad Muslim mob, lock him up and set a malicious precedent in a nascent proto-state striving for secularism.

James Jones: The Ice-Cream Headache

2010-11-11T17:16:00.002-05:00

I picked up James Jones' collection of short stories entitled "The Ice-Cream Headache". He's better known for his war novels The Thin Red Line and From Here to Eternity, but I figured I would give him a shot. Besides, short stories are the bread and butter of good authors. They are the yardstick by which a writer should be measured.

In a short story called None Sing So Wildly I ran across a passage that, though written in the wake of WWII and talking about it and its predecessor, is as relevant to the post-Bush world. His words could have been written today:

"The misconception was in the security. It had al of it been done for security. Yet there never had been any security. Everybody fought and killed and gave up their young dream, for security. Just as we now were preparing to fight a third war, for security. But it was not security that was gained, security was never gained, only herding and mechanization, fear was gained, but never security."

Jones' prose speaks across generations. He reminds his readers of the folly of war and warns of its frequent reincarnation under the poisonous bromide of security. The language he employs hasn't changed at all in the past sixty years, nor have the justifications and tendencies towards war or its human impact. Security has been the battle cry of the United States, Israel, Nazi Germany, and everyone in between, because it plays into the deep-rooted human longing for stability. "We continue to fight the world for security," wrote Jones, in search of this ever-sought tranquility, and shall do so so long as we are gullible enough to kill and die for the false idol of national security.
The futility of it all -- seeing that nothing has changed since the last great war despite supposed safeguards like the UN -- drowns hope for a better world.
More people should read Jones and strive to break this frustrating circle of violence and self-destruction.

The road to Ramallah: toward a dead end

2010-11-03T16:53:00.001-04:00

For many years I have attended the annual memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin. I planned to attend this year, too, particularly after hearing that it might be the last one to be held in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, which was called Kings of Israel Square when the late prime minister was assassinated there, at a peace rally, in November 1995. I thought I was willing to make a lot of sacrifices in order to be there, but it turned out I was wrong about that.

On the morning of 30 October, the day the memorial was supposed to take place, my mother asked me to join the family in visiting relatives in Ramallah. October 30 is both my father’s birthday and my 8 year old little cousin’s, and the families wanted to celebrate together.

I was a bit disappointed, but the long, tiring debate over whether the rally should be politicized or not ended up being the deciding factor. I always wanted to hear stronger voices for peace rather than the mainstream voices – mainly the voices of politicians – that have taken over the event.

I was listening to the speeches live on Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) as I drove along the crooked roads to Ramallah; and as I was passing all those settlements I heard the echoing voice of renowned artist Yair Garbuzas he said:

“For fifteen years we have gathered to ensure an end to the occupation and its corruption of our society. But not only have we failed to end the control of another people; we have also lost control of ourselves and our country, which has been conquered from within by our so-called leaders.

“So-called leaders that are nothing more than a bunch of Napoleons – egotistical hedonists disconnected from the people. They have no vision and not even a simple practical plan other than their adherence to populist sentiment and destructive pleasures of power. Fifteen years since we swore: enough to bereavement! And we continue to kill and be killed.”

It was striking to hear those words while driving on the road to Ramallah. We all fail to understand the meaning of occupation until we actually observe it. Even a Palestinian-Arab-Israeli citizen like me fails to see it (God, I need to find a one-word self-definition).

The meaning of the occupation starts with Route 443, the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway that was built on expropriated land owned by West Bank Palestinians and then restricted to non-Palestinian cars. It continues through the checkpoints, the soldiers, the neglected Palestinian villages, and even the Ramallah bubble (similar to the Tel Aviv bubble in a sense).

We are slowly heading toward a dead end – attacks on democracy and the rule of law are consistent and well organized, murdering any hope for those seeds of peace Rabin sowed to grow. The voices of sanity are suffering serious losses in the parliament, daily life and even in academia. We are failing on a daily basis to see the grim reality.

I guess Robert Allen Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) says it best with ‘A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall’:

Oh, what did you see, my blue eyed son ?
And what did you see, my darling young one ?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand takers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

Cross-posted from +972 Magazine

Papers published by Young Diplomat authors

2010-11-03T15:05:00.002-04:00

Two contributors, Arik Segal and Ilan Ben Zion, have published papers on The Middle East Post, a Middle East politics blog. Arik's insightful articles on Syria and Iran were previously published here on the Young Diplomat. Those of Ilan Ben Zion, one on Israeli constitutionalism and another comparative paper on Israeli and Palestinian radical religious movements, were as of now unpublished. They can be found at the links above.

The חוק האברכים (chok ha'avrechim) protest in Jerusalem

2010-11-03T09:27:00.003-04:00

The demonstration Monday night started slow, a roiling, swirling swarm without direction or objective within the confines of Paris Square, barricaded by armed police and buses. Three or four epicenters formed within the mass, jumping, flag-waving, shouting youths lead by t-shirt clad megaphoners. The shrill cries of a thousand whistles tore through the crisp night air above the gathered thousands. Banner and fliers fluttered in the breeze and the roar of many score unguided voices rose over the policemen, journalists, cameramen, hoteliers, and onlookers.

I was initially disappointed by the turnout, but numbers swelled quickly. Ha'aretz put the figure at "thousands" (more here) and The Jerusalem Post at ten thousand.
As if by divine direction, a horde began marching up King George Street towards downtown, towards Mea Shearim. From the storefronts to the far sidewalk, row upon row strode forward chanting:

"!ביבי תתעורר! הסטודנט שווה יותר: Bibi, wake up! Students are more valuable!" and "אנחנו לא פרייארים: We are not suckers!"

Others called for social equality and for the return of Gilad Schalit. Bumper stickers handed out featured a char and a Hebrew play on words: "גם אנחנו לומדום בישיבה: We also learn while sitting (or in yeshiva)." Some called for the end of the country's captivity at the hands of religious minority parties.
Block upon block, a wad of humanity hundreds strong wended its way to כיכר ציון: Zion Square. Bewildered tourists and unsuspecting American yeshiva students stood by as legions of Israeli students marched past. I was somewhat surprised there was no counter-protest by the Haredi community. They must have been off learning.
Zion Square filled to the brim as Hadag Nachash lyrics blared on loudspeakers: "לא אנחנו לא פרייארים: No, we're not suckers." Once at the front of the crowd, I found myself engulfed by a tide of tweens and threens chanting against the government's unjust budget allocation and growing injustice against the dwindling mainstream. I could barely more by the time orators started speaking. It took as long to get out of Zion Square as it did to march there.
To add insult to injury, a proposal in the Knesset would add a tax to scholarships. Is the government out to destroy Israel's future middle class? This Robin Hood government aims to steal from the working classes to give to the poor. Let's hope democratic action by Israeli youth will bring reason to the Knesset.

A trip to Hura

2010-10-31T09:56:00.004-04:00

Elijah and I hopped on our bikes, filled up our tires at a nearby gas station, and headed eastward on Route 60, towards Hebron. It rained last night, the first of the season, and the blue sky was a patchwork of fluffy white clouds. The air was crisp in our lungs as we set out to find an Arab village to visit. The land lay flat us as we rolled past Tel Sheva and Omer, suburbs of our town. Then the desert, peppered by occasional houses and stands of trees, spread before us.
With my brakes in desperate need of tuning (both front and back), we decided to turn into the village of Hura, at the junction of Routes 60 and 31 about halfway between Beer Sheba and Arad -- smack dab in the middle of nowhere, Israel. It is situated on a series of hilltops above the Jewish moshav of Meitar and only a few kilometers from the Green Line. By the minarets, flat roofs, and illogical layout of the village streets (not to mention noticeable fragrance of barnyard and burning dung from two clicks out), we both knew Hura was an Arab village long before we arrived. What remained to be determined was whether its inhabitants were bedouin-- as Elijah hoped-- or Palestinian.
We stopped at a convenience store to ask for directions to the center of town. I stood by as Elijah asked a man standing in the doorway in Arabic where that could be found. His skin was far darker than most Arabs, nearing pitch black, and his facial structure and hair was more African than Arab. Somewhat puzzled by Elijah's Egyptian Arabic, he muttered something incoherent and asked to switch to Hebrew.
"I'll be damned," I thought to myself. "Linguistic economics in action."
In Hebrew, he explained he was not a local. He was visiting from Rahat and was bedouin.
"The center of town? There isn't one, really. Try up by the mosque," pointing to the green domed mosque at the top of the hill, lording over the village like a castle.
Up we rode past children who shouted aleikum salaam in response to our greetings. When we reached the top I needed to piss, so I dismounted and walked up the steps of the mosque. I had never entered one before, so I took every step cautiously and tried to break no taboos. I removed my shoes at the entrance and proceeded down some stairs to where the bathrooms were. The first chamber was an ablution room of polished stone with seats placed before faucets. A corridor at the back led to the bathrooms. The stench, however, was overpowering. Barefoot, I peered inside and found untoilets: holes in the ground from which emanated a horrific odor. No offense to the mosque or its frequenters, but I felt no compunction for turn-tailing it out of there having lost all need to micturate. At least the old man entering as I retied my shoes warmly clasped my hand as I gave him a sheepish salaam.
From he crest of the hill, high above the surrounding lowlands, we could see into the West Bank. As we descended back into town we felt as though we had entered it. Though we could see Beer Sheva in the opposite direction, Hura seemed another world. The locals were curiously puzzled to see two cyclists cruising about a town off the beaten track and everyone we passed replied to our greetings.
A whiff of narghile brought us to a stop at a coffee shop where, over a hookah, oranges, chocolate, and coffee blacker than midnight, we rested. The local teenage boys ogled our bikes and asked to take a ride. Though I offered mine, it was not without hesitation. Three took it out for a spin, and each time, I admit, I worried how I'd get home if it vanished. (Juan Williams you're not alone?) To my relief, it always came back, and none worse for wear. They were mild mannered and kind.
I asked Tariq, who gave us oranges from the produce stand next door, whether many Israelis came to Hura. He said he studies in school with local Israelis, and that they come in to the shops. All together the situation did not seem grim.
Rides home always seem shorter. Whenever you have a defined destination the road slips effortlessly beneath your pedal strokes. Inclines seem less steep, and the burning in your calves is less painful. When at last you reach your door, you have the strength and eagerness to go out once more.

חוק האברכים (chok ha'avrechim): The Schnorrer's Dole

2010-10-26T16:23:00.005-04:00

A Knesset vote to approve the 2010-2011 budget has been frozen by Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu. For once Netanyahu's freezing something was for the better. The proposed budget included a 111 million sheqel stipend for Yeshiva students (or read more here) -- the equivalent of 11,100,000 falafels from the stand in my neighborhood. The already heavily subsidized, widely unemployed religious sector of the Israeli population will get yet another hand out. Rather than encourage married Haredi men to join the workforce and be productive members of society, a cadre of theocrats feathers its constituents' nests. The bill received stern condemnation from Kadima and Labor MKs, but public outcry is rumbling but has not yet erupted.
This is not the Middle Ages, this government will not be the Church, and the Haredim will not be our monks and priests, living off the fat of the people. We, the citizens, shall not tolerate political trickery to pillage the public purse for the benefit of the religious.
A protest has been organized in Jerusalem for this coming Monday (November 1st) in Jerusalem at 7pm. Join the group on facebook here. Come one come all! Stand up and make yourself heard! Let's not let schonorrers take our tax money.

Another Case for Constitutionalism

2010-10-26T05:38:00.009-04:00

I grow weary of reading the inane claptrap that qualifies as news in Israeli newspapers nowadays: "Many overweight Israelis are in denial, poll shows", or "When Israel stars in U.S. campaigns – is it good for the Jews?" Tedious and bothersome, in my opinion. But what really got my goat in today's Haaretz was the unnecessary huffing by Professor Menachem Mautner of Tel Aviv University over why the Israeli Supreme Court is considered a left-wing institution.
He explains that both right- and left-wing parties file petitions to the court over political grievances and, because the left-wing parties typically construct an argument rather than claim personal harm, the court overwhelmingly rules in their favor. His solution to this perceived bias is that

"The High Court should understand that these petitions inflict serious harm (how precisely, Mautner does not say). It should change its doctrine regarding the right to a hearing and turn away MKs seeking that it adjudicate political matters."

No, Professor Mautner. You may be right that the Supreme Court should not be deliberating in political arguments, but you are wrong in suggesting they change their policy.
What is absolutely necessary is a constitution that clearly delineates the Supreme Court's role in the political process. "If [an MK] claims that a personal right of his has been violated (by the Knesset speaker or the attorney general, for example ) he should be able to petition like anyone else. But when an MK wants the court to rule on a political matter, the court should reject the petition," Mautner argues. Professor Mautner, the problem lies not in the Court's policy, but in the excess of "should" in legal procedure. For this reason all other states (with the notable but explicable exception of the UK) have a constitutional document delineating the manner and methods of such matters.
Thank you, Professor Mautner, for inadvertently making an yet another argument for Israeli constitutionalism.

Yet Another Misadventure in Self-Censorship

2010-10-19T20:07:00.003-04:00

Western media are falling to radical Islamic pressures like dominos. Comedy Central censored South Park’s Islamic censorship episode in April of this year, the Washington Post pulled a Wiley cartoon entitled “Where’s Muhammad?” last week, and now the BBC is adopting a “impartial” outlook on religion, science, culture, and ethics. The BBC Trust stated that “when BBC content deals with controversy within these subjects, it must be treated with a level of impartiality adequate and appropriate to the content, taking account of the nature of the content and the likely audience expectation.”

Few reasons exist behind the BBC’s change of policy besides radical Islamist . Hostility against Western media for publishing “Islamo-sensitive” material (or even suggesting such) has triggered violent responses across the Muslim world from Manchester to Malaysia. The fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie’s harm after publishing The Satanic Verses 1989, Theo van Gogh’s murder in 2004, the worldwide riots after the Jyllands-Posten lampooning of Mohammed in 2005, and death threats sent to Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park earlier this year are all symptomatic of the free speech's assault by radical religion (Islam in particular). What is increasingly disconcerting is the West’s submissive response to totalitarian intimidation.

For the proper functioning of democracy, citizens must engage in a bountiful marketplace of ideas; agents of the free press must brave opposition to market wares. The trend in the West in recent years, however, has been towards treading on eggshells by self-censoring in order to avoid further infuriating those who already abhor our liberties.

The BBC has cowardly submitted to radical demands rather than uphold the tenets of free conscience and expression. Out of fear of breaking eggs, they forgo omelets. They have fallen into lockstep with the Western media’s spineless avoidance of all things Islam, thus quashing all manner of discussion over a critical world issue. This step towards self-censorship has changed the BBC’s motto of “Nation shall speak peace unto nation” into “Nations shall speak appeasement unto Islam”.

Having joined the invertebrate community and succumbed to the threat of violence, what’s next for the BBC? Will they ban their comedians from poking fun at the French (a classic BBC pastime) for fear of cross-channel retribution? Will they pull David Attenborough because his espousal of evolution by natural selection does not sit well with creationists, Muslim, Christian, and Jew alike? Will they omit reports on Vatican pedophilia charges so as to avoid insulting Catholics?

The bottom line is: where does it end? Major media outlets have demonstrated that violence or the threat thereof is sufficient to break the back of Western values. At this rate of inch-giving we will soon run out of miles for them to take. Once freedom of expression falls, what liberty we hold dear will be next? (Freedom of religion comes to mind.) John Stuart Mills wrote that "We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still." To address the growing impingement of liberty by radical religion, democratic citizens must discuss all opinions no matter how impartial.

States' Rights at Risk

2010-10-15T21:00:00.003-04:00

California is unique among the fifty states in holding popular referenda, arguably rendering it a purer form of direct democracy, truly res publicus, a thing of the people. This coming election day, Californians head to the polls to vote on Proposition 19, a measure to legalize and regulate marijuana. There are greater things at stake than the right to purchase and smoke pot on the west coast.

Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced yesterday, October 15th, that the Federal government would

"vigorously enforce the CSA against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law."

It wouldn't make a difference whether this was about the buddha or bourbon, abortion or official languages. The Obama administration's, specifically the Department of Justice's, treatment of California's potential (or probable) ratification of Proposition 19 carries enormous significance for states' rights in the Union. Blocking the implementation of a Californian plebiscite by Washington would constitute a gross violation of core American principles.
States' rights have been a bitterly disputed issue (need I recall the Civil War that broke out primarily over it). Though our omniscient Founding Fathers omitted any clear definition of the relationship between the Federal government and its constituent states, Article 4 section 4 of the Constitution unambiguously states that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government". What, I ask, is more indicative of a republican government than the government being, in the words of Abe Lincoln (with a strong dose of irony), of the people, for the people, and by the people? Quashing a Californian referendum favoring the legalization of marijuana would violate the governing principle of our Republic: the rights of the states but moreover their constituents to govern by consensus. Defending the Controlled Substances Act against the will of the State of California and its citizens is nothing short of unconstitutional.

For more information about Proposition 19, visit www.yeson19.com or their Facebook page (address above).

The Emergence of Syria as a major actor in the Middle East

2010-10-12T12:58:00.007-04:00

The short- and long-term stability of the Middle East is governed by the struggle between two rival axes who compete over power and influence. The moderate pro-western axis includes: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and some Gulf states with the patronage of the US and the western powers. The radical pro-Islamic axis is led by Iran which tries to gather Iraq, Lebanon and Qatar and Turkey behind her. In the midst of these axes stands Syria which holds a key role in the current developments in Lebanon, Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The most significant development for Syria is its reestablishment of relations and control in Lebanon. Since the Hariri murder and the consequent international pressure, Syria extracted all of its forces from Lebanon in 2005 and significantly reduced its control in Lebanon. The conclusions of the Hariri Murder Investigation Committee, which are meant to be published in the next few weeks, serve as the main factor which changed Syria's attitude towards Lebanon. The rising possibility that figures in Hezbollah will be charged in Hariri's murder, is a cause for concern within the moderate axis in the Middle East. Nasrallah asserted that if his organization will be found to have responsibility in the Hariri murder, Hezbollah will deny it and immobilize the Lebanese government. This could lead into clashes between Sunnis and Shiite Hezbollah supporters, a renewal of the civil war, or maybe even another conflict with Israel if Hezbollah needs a common enemy to win domestic unity. A preview of what might happen occurred on August 24th in Beirut: violent clashes between Sunni militia and Hezbollah left three dead including a Hezbollah leader.

The worst case scenario worries the moderate Middle Eastern axis. A Saudi prince was flown to Damascus to meet with the Syrian President and Lebanese Prime Minister in an effort to block a possible attempt by Hezbollah to destabilize Lebanon. The Saudi prince, who was the first Saudi official to visit Syria in four years, pressed Bashir al-Assad to mediate between Hezbollah and the Hariri government. Assad convinced the Lebanese Prime Minister to state that "the unity of Lebanon is more important than the blood of his father". Prime Minister Hariri met Assad in Damascus for the first time in mid July and signed 18 different cooperation treaties and memos. Assad has become the Lebanese peace broker and is also a key figure in maintaining stability in the new Iraq.

American combat troops leaving Iraq left a big vacuum for a failing democracy to handle sectarian violence and the interference of other states such as Iran on its own. Syrian newspapers report that Assad held a meeting in Damascus with two potential Iraqi Prime Ministers in an effort to help create the new Iraqi government. According to this report, Assad took the lead in these negotiations.
Moreover, Syria is the gateway of radical Islamists to and from Iraq. According to Amir Kulik and Yoram Shwaitzer from the Israel National Security Studies, in the last few years Syria has provided a logistic platform to Al Qaeda activists by providing them with forged Syrian passports, safe houses, and training areas. American sources claim that 85-90% of suicide bombers entering Iraq come through Syria and, in spite of American warnings, Syria has not acted to prevent them. Following Syria's reluctance to interfere, American Delta forces killed a high ranked Al Qaeda logistician in the Syrian village Sukkariah in 2008. Now that American combat troops have left Iraq, Syria is the only state that controls the passage of Jihadists into an almost lawless Iraq.

In addition to giving al-Qaeda a safe haven, Syria also hosts the headquarters of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas' political wing in Damascus. These organizations hold a large stake in disrupting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad will accept a Israeli-Palestinian agreement that would leave them out of the picture. Ha'aretz recently reported that Syria received cautionary warnings from the Obama administration not to interfere in the peace negotiations, and to restrain the Palestinian organizations acting under Syrian sovereignty. The US and Israel are aware that failure of these negotiations could spark a renewal of armed conflict in the Middle East.

Geopolitics and historical circumstance place Syria in a key position to influence Middle Eastern stability in the short and long terms. The recent visits of American and French diplomats in Syria, and Assad's statements that he considers other mediators (aside from Turkey) for negotiating with Israel, indicate that all are aware of the new Syrian stance. It is up to Assad to decide whether to further strengthen his ties with the more radical axis, or to cooperate with the moderate pro-western axis and halt Iran's growing influence in the Middle East. Considering Syria's primary foreign policy goal-- survival of the regime-- it is likely that Assad will continue balancing between the two axes so long as it serves Syrian interests.
From the Israeli point of view, this could be both an opportunity and a risk. Israel can push Syria towards the moderate axis by reinitiating peace negotiations and pushing a wedge between Syria and Iran. The major risk is empowering Syria at the expense of Iran and Hezbollah If they lose Syria as an ally, they will likely resort to violence on Israeli's northern border, leading to Israeli retaliation. Israel should weigh its next move carefully and recognize Syria's emergent, critical position.

Avigdor Lieberman starring in: "Goonraker"

2010-10-10T18:21:00.002-04:00

Foreign ~~Sinister~~ Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Hugo Drax of "Moonraker"

Avigdor Lieberman (aka- Bond villain Hugo Drax lookalike) is at it again, this time trying to push through a law requiring all non-Jews to swear an loyalty oath to Israel as a Jewish and Democratic state in order to gain citizenship. (For more details, check out the following articles, for example: VOA, Ha'aretz, Al Jazeera, JPost). While this motion obviously targets Palestinian Arabs, there is another sector of the population, wholly overlooked in general but also in this particular instance, who will be aversely affected by this motion. These are the refugees and children of migrant workers of Israel.
While the current citizens of Israel, Jew and Arab alike, will not be affected by the amended Citizenship Law, those seeking asylum in Israel shall be. While, admittedly, all states have clauses whereby new citizens must swear loyalty to the state, none that I know of require loyalty to an ideology or to a foreign ethnicity, namely, the Jewish nature of the State of Israel.
Avigdor wishes to have his Jewish majority and impose its supremacy on the citizens of the state even (if and) when it no longer exists. There is no avoiding the ever-increasing non-Jewish population in our borders and the growing concerns surrounding their rights and responsibilities to the Jewish state. A draconian oath of fealty reminiscent of medieval serfdom ("I will to my lord be true and faithful, and love all which he loves and shun all which he shuns.") will only yield more problems. Creating an environment whereby the Jewish majority serves as a guiding light in a pluralistic society, through liberal democracy, education, and tolerance, will greatly improve Israel's lot in the coming decades.
Then again, perhaps Avigdor, like Hugo Drax, would prefer to engineer a racially pure Jewish state in space instead. It sounds like an equally rational and well thought-out decision.

Addendum (11 October 2010): As proof of the fact that this is not a proposition supported by the whole government, Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor commented along similar lines on Israel Radio (as quoted in Ha'aretz):

"the moment there is a Jewish state, and it is an unprecedented historical success, we should show compassion toward the minorities among us – the way we have always yearned to be treated by others."

It is good to hear a voice of reason in the Israeli government.

Beer in Beer Sheba

2010-10-04T12:07:00.001-04:00

Sleepily nestled on the edge of the Negev Desert, the modern city of Beer Sheba rests day-round. During the oppressive midday heat-- even now in October-- going outdoors is even more uncomfortable than sitting indoors, which isn't too comfortable either. When waves of hot air aren't pouring in the window, the air is as still as death, making you dream of a cool wisp of breeze. Even at night the streets are relatively bare of people compared to the (relative) metropolises of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Things move at a slower, more rustic pace.
This is Israel's back country.

"It's as hot as Vulcan's dick!" exclaimed my traveling companion earlier today, quite appropriately.
The town seems to be devoid of nightlife as well as less enterprising forms of diversion. The center of town seems almost entirely deserted, even on a Saturday night. The mall, one of the few comfortably air-conditioned places to sit, is similarly empty.

Elijah and the Miwi

We walked across town, a hardly strenuous twenty five minutes, to Shchunah Gimel, the neighborhood where the university and bars are. Rusticly Negev, the soil was a dusty yellow in the light of streetlamps, and the houses the color of the surrounding desert sands. Pines and palms hovered above, barely providing shade during the daytime hours, and in the barely cooler night air they stood still as statues.
Elijah found a cluster of bars huddled around an unpaved parking lot, set among a stand of pines. Compared to Tel Aviv, these watering holes in the city of seven wells had a bucolic nonchalance. One bartender poured us a free shot of mouth-burning rotgut whiskey apiece on hearing Elijah had made aliyah just this week.

MiWi game system

All in all, I feel like this dusty desert oasis town-- fully equipped with Chinese bootleg Nintendo Wiis called "MiWi"-- could be an interesting but welcome change of pace and scenery from the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv. (Not to mention the fact that rent here is half that in Tel Aviv for a comparable apartment). A slight Zionist pulse can still be felt walking around here on the frontier, something missing from the White City and the capital.

Too little, too late

2010-10-02T13:46:00.002-04:00

Fifty protesters marched into the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim last Tuesday, an almost un-newsworthy incident in response to enforced gender segregation of a Jerusalem street this Sukkot holiday. The division of the sidewalk into men and women's sides, mimicking the separation of sexes in Orthodox synagogues, was a temporary fix, reportedly done each year during the heavy pedestrian-trafficked holiday. The fifty protesters-- only fifty were permitted by a High Court of Justice order-- were accompanied by a phalanx of armed policemen, a testament to the threat posed by some among whom they stood against.

This by no means justifies what is undeniably a discriminatory act, but this tiny outrage has been replied to with an equally insignificant and ineffectual outcry. From their Greater Tel Aviv bubble, most secular Israelis are blissfully unaware, insulated from the creeping infiltration of religious dogma into public Israeli life. Yet here in Jerusalem it is becoming simply unavoidable-- albeit in varying degrees-- no matter where in the city you are. Segregated buses and now streets, as well as increasingly hostile demonstrations against "infringing" secular acts (e.g.- parking garage feud and gay pride parade) are just the tip of the iceberg. This precipitous shift to the religious right is evident in Israeli politics on the whole, to which the ongoing Battle of Daylight Savings, the Settler movement, and the frozen issue of Jewish conversion attest.

Credit be given to those who marched-- albeit symbolically-- in protest of this minor action by religious radicals. But their numbers were pathetically few, and only responding to the least of the great injustices perpetrated by those who wish theocracy and strive for its eventual triumph. Before other civil liberties fall victim to radical religion in our state, more must rise against their injustice.

Time Magazine Rains on Israel's Parade

2010-09-07T09:24:00.000-04:00

Check out Time's most recent publication that mercilessly debases Israel before the reader can even get a chance to form their own opinion. This article from The Wall Street Journal tears it apart. Biased much?
What ever happened to the old hippie battle-cry "give peace a chance"? Why is Time magazine defecating on the peace talks before they've come to fruition? This seems like a senseless decision made in poor taste that is simply counterproductive regardless of the opinions stated in the issue.

Top 5 reasons why Avigdor Lieberman should appoint Eden Abergil to the Foreign Ministry

2010-08-21T18:33:00.002-04:00

(For more info about Eden Abergil, see article below: "O Abergil...".)

#5: Abergil's political views are so far right that she makes him look like Kadima by comparison -- maybe next election he can broker a deal with them.
#4: Someone has actually heard of her.
#3: Appointing her to any position would be such a blunder that it would take the spotlight off the corruption charges against Lieberman currently under investigation.
#2: Abergil is the only known Israeli to be even more tactless than Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. If that doesn't sound like diplomat material I don't know what does.
#1: She's the only right-wing Israeli who can manage a sit-down, let alone a photo-op, with Palestinians.

Any other suggestions?

O Abergil, Saint of the Silly

2010-08-20T09:13:00.004-04:00

Eden Abergil has caused quite the stir with her Facebook snapshots posing in front of Palestinian prisoners Abu-Ghraib style. Already a smattering of groups have popped up decrying her actions in a typically Facebook way: "Tous unis conte la barbare Eden Abergil (We are all united against the barbarian Eden Abergil)", "I Hate Eden Abergil", "Eden Abergil- Demon", "Eden [sic] Aberjil Sucks", and "Eden Aberjil, Verguenza para la Humanidad (Eden Aberjil)". Such declarations of disgust, some bordering on hatred, are commonplace for Facebookfolk. What is surprising (aside from the fact that there is one group, 1,500 or so strong in support of the woman) is that no one, not even the Israeli Army, has simply dismissed her immoral actions as those of an immature dolt whose scope of foresight is limited to what she can put up on her Facebook page for the amusement of friends. She is undoubtedly and undeniably a complete ignoramus. Her statements on Facebook annunciate a primitive, brutish outlook ("I would gladly kill Arabs-- even slaughter them") typical of football hooligans and stultified post-lobotomy patients. Any conscience she was meant to possess must have been tossed out with her frontal lobes or washed down with the grain alcohol her mother drank while pregnant.
The Israeli public, in light of these pictures and the disgraceful actions of one of its (thankfully now former) soldiers, should denounce Eden and make it abundantly clear that she is neither representative of the standard nor the norm of Israel or its armed forces.
Abergil's pictures inevitably churned up the debate, once more, about the occupation, the Israeli army, and either's deleterious effects on Israeli society. Rather than delve into these hot topics (here are some links to articles discussing them: http://sachim.tumblr.com/, Who's Right, the IDF or Abergil?, It's all too easy for Israeli rights groups to call the IDF's bluff) I will take the time to express my unceremonious distaste for this silly sow, her seemingly unsurpassed stupidity, and her senseless despicable, unsanctioned acts.

Here is her original Facebook posting with its responses. The highlighted title to the album reads "The army...the most beautiful time of my life :)". Considering what I've heard about army service, that is not saying much about the quality of her life. Perhaps it was a step up from eating paint chips and living in a cardboard box under high-tension power lines, who am I to say.
Her friend, Adi Tal, remarks that she is sexiest this way, referring to Ms. Abergil's posed fawning over a bound and blindfolded prisoner. I must say that I agree: this picture makes the wretch on the left look vaguely desirable because the man on the right is within ten feet of her. Unfortunately, he is bound and blindfolded, suggesting that such proximity was not only against his will, but that he has no idea what kind of deranged pillock is next to him. Ms. Abergil, I hope you do look him up on Facebook and tag him so that he can be thoroughly revolted by the other pictures of you (and not only for the humiliation you caused him and everything you stand for).
Ms. Abergil, I hope you've learned a lesson: don't post incriminating pictures on Facebook that make you-- and more importantly your whole country-- look bad, and take a minute to weigh the consequences of your actions. Everyone else out there, I wish I could say she is a wholly isolated incident, but she is not (see the Magnes Zionist's article on the matter). Nevertheless, know that Eden Abergil is not representative of Israel, the IDF, or Israelis. She is, in fact, the Israeli patron saint of bad taste, myopia, and tactlessness.

Something completely different

2010-08-08T15:49:00.007-04:00

In tune with my eclectic (or so I am told) taste in music, I stumbled upon an emerging new artist by the name of Christopher Tin. His album, "Calling All Dawns," was released last year but never made its way to my computer until today. The album's concept is multilayered and fascinating: three cycles corresponding to day, night, and dawn. Each one of the twelve tracks is sung in a different language and joined by an orchestral accompaniment.
Beside the wonder of hearing each language's unique cadence, Tin somehow manages to seamlessly link each song to the next in such an elegant manner as to make each language flow into the next. It may not seem impressive, but considering that the twelve languages are as diverse as Swahili, Japanese, Mandarin, Portugese, French, Latin, Irish Gaelic, Polish, Hebrew, Farsi, Sanskrit, and Maori, Tin's feat is truly incomparable, certainly unparalleled.
The opening track, "Baba Yetu," a moving rendition of the Lord's Prayer in Swahili, is familiar to anyone who has played Civilization IV (it's a song so impressive, they synced the Dubai Fountain to it, check out the link). Although the briefest of the twelve tracks, the Hebrew song "Hayom Kadosh" (Today is Holy) is an adaptation of part of Nehemiah 8:10:

"כִּי-קָדוֹשׁ הַיּוֹם, לַאֲדֹנֵינוּ; וְאַל-תֵּעָצֵבוּ"

"...For today is holy to our lord; do not grieve..."

Tin's adaptation of biblical verse tastefully employs instruments traditionally associated with biblical Israel: flutes, drums, and strings. As the opening track for the third cycle, dawn, symbolic of rebirth and renewal, "Hayom Kadosh" is also an appropriate selection for the opening of the section.
His closing track is the one I wish to close with here. Its lyrics have a magical, almost otherworldly ring to them imbued by the majesty of the Maori language. The song, "Kia Hora Te Marino,"is a Maori farewell that, in its entirety, reads:

"Kia hora te marino / Kia whakapapapounamu te moana / Kia tere te karohirohi i mua i t koutou huarahi"

"May peace be widespread / May the seas glisten like the green stone /And may the shimmer of light guide you on your way"

"Kia Hora Te Marino" sets the listener on an epic journey with a fond farewell. Its message is a simple yet powerful one that, like the other tracks, imbues a sense of universality -- one that would do well to be heard here in Israel and elsewhere. If there is a bottom line to this album, it is this: despite our differences, universally human emotions tie us together the same way Tin's music seamlessly flows from one tongue to the next.
Don't take my word for it, check out Tin's album yourself.

Kia hora te marino!

My Experience in Haiti

2010-08-03T18:50:00.005-04:00

How was Haiti?

It is a question I am frequently asked by both friends and family when they hear I have returned from my 12 week volunteering expedition. Regrettably, the situation I experienced can only be described as bleak.

(Side note: I was not serving as a “voluntourist” [someone classified by paying money in order to volunteer, in the form of a program fee other than what is necessary to cover food and board], but rather living as closely to the standards as those who were displaced by the earthquake as possible. This meant no running water [water was generously provided to our “camp” by the United Nations], sleeping in a tent, no electricity, a glorified hole as a latrine, and no blackout-tinted SUVs. I was working in Haiti from March-June and the majority of my work was manual labor in the form of clearing cement and rubble from destroyed schools)

Located on the Southern coast, Jacmel was the base for my time in Haiti. In the 1960s, Jacmel was a hippie tourist destination, but by the arrival of the 1980s as well as a coup de etats, Haiti’s annual tourism revenue severely dropped and Jacmel’s wealth followed.

After a Dramamine-doped 3 hour bus ride from Port Au Prince, I took a motorcycle taxi through Jacmel to better acquaint myself with my new base of operations. While my driver was busy avoiding zealous dogs, bountiful piles of trash steaming in the Caribbean sun, and pantless children yelling “Blanc! (White!)”, I was hit by the relative cohesion of this dusty city. There were numerous fully-standing buildings, and besides the obvious leering there was a sense of safekeeping I never felt in the capital.

While affected greatly by the earthquake, its devastation (economic and human losses) was no match for the areas of Leogane and Port Au Prince. Little changed my three months of service. There appeared to be plenty of UN workers, ample money being spent on luxurious hotels for the organizations to stay at and there were certainly more marked NGO vehicles on the roads than civilian cars, but oddly enough nothing ever managed to improve. No permanent housing was built; food distribution services were highly curtailed and little to no new employment for locals with the exception of the “cash for work” programs.

Anecdotally, there were cynical expats who cited that no permanent houses were being built until after the hurricane due to the expected death toll (“Why build houses for dead people?”). There were other alleged NGO workers who claimed there was simply no money to build at the moment, which at the offset sounded preposterous. Haiti was promised over 5 billion US dollars to help rebuild their infrastructure and housing, and surely it could not have been spent in the first 5 months?

This, in fact, is true. The money has not been spent. By and large, according to CNN, because it never showed up. According to their investigation, “less than 2 percent of that money has been handed over so far to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission.” The United States is one of the guilty parties with none of its 1.15 billion dollars having been sent. The Haitians with whom I had the pleasure of working often repeated a mantra that has served important in the face of adversity which I feel terribly applicable to this situation, “Neg di san fe, bondye fe san di” (People talk and don’t act, God acts and doesn’t talk).

In retrospect, I cannot truly say I lived like a Haitian during my time volunteering. While the conditions may have been comparable, the work to me was always temporary and I was able to have mental solace in the concept that this was not my “real” home. The daily work was physically and emotionally distressing (sifting through the crushed identification papers of children who have been killed is a job I would wish upon no one) and finishing a day knowing that tomorrow will bring the same work with little change is a cerebral stumbling block to both foreigners and Haitians. The only bright spot is that outlying cities that weren’t completely leveled, such as Jacmel, have the ability to be rebuilt when the money does (hopefully) arrive.

How to Solve Israelitis

2010-07-29T04:35:00.012-04:00

A few readers have commented that there is too much criticism and not enough praise of Israel in this blog. Given the state of the country, it is hard to see through the gloom and doom sometimes. Mind-rending frustration is an inevitable consequence of dealing with any government office, bank, telephone company, healthcare provider, etcetera, etcetera.
The other day I went to Arlozorov station to catch a bus to Jerusalem. Because boarding typically involves elbowing your way through a horde of travelers massed before the door of the bus, Egged (the company operating the line) recently installed a series of barriers and benches meant for people to form a queue.

The concept is simple: line up, and when the bus pulls up to the beginning of the line, board. No one followed this procedure and, instead, continued to crowd the sidewalk and street and bludgeon their way aboard. I only succeeded to board the fourth bus that arrived after the better part of an hour in the sun.

Enough my kvetching. Now for the praise.

Nothing assuages the aches and pains of life in Israel better than leaving the city. Getting out to the countryside, immersing oneself in the sunshine and fresh air is the best remedy for Israelitis (inflammation of the soul by prolonged exposure to Israeli society, politics, or people).

Abu Ghosh and the Vineyards of Kiryat Anavim (click to enlarge)

I disembarked at Mevasseret Zion and hiked to Har Adar. To be alone amidst a sea of silence was splendorously calming, especially after being crammed into a bus like a sardine in a can. The air in the hills around Jerusalem was far more arid than the coastal plain where I reside, clearer and fresher, too. Scaling a hill and rising above the surrounding landscape, the wooded hillsides were a pleasant change of pace from the concrete jungle of Tel Aviv. As I mounted the crest, a bowl shaped valley spread beneath me, its sides coated in parallel rows of grapevines. Beyond, the town of Abu Ghosh, nestled close to the side of the mountain like a child to its mother. The sun, oppressive when combined with the humidity of Tel Aviv, was in its last quadrant, setting towards the horizon, and comfortingly warm. Taking a refreshing quaff of my lime water, I looked out over the Judean hills and, like god at the end of six days of creation, said "הִנֵּה-טוֹב מְאֹד": "behold, it is very good."

Har Adar, a few rises later, was perched atop the summit of a forest-capped mountain, its red-tiled roofs and whitewashed stucco walls a beacon of my arrival at my cousins' house.

The vineyards of Kiryat Anavim

The next morning, refreshed and still sated from enough sushi to feed a small army, I descended the heights by a different route. At a clearing in the forest I espied the barrier fence, whose concertina wire and patrol road cut a vicious and hideous scar in the deceptively tranquil panorama. I sighed deeply and continued my way down to the wadi below.

Leaving the city was a much needed escape from the taxing reality of life in Israel. Thankfully, the natural beauty found outside settlements (in general, not the politically charged ones) more than makes up for it. Praise be the natural beauty of Israel.

The Shin Bet, Pearlman, and what it means for the rest of us

2010-07-17T18:29:00.001-04:00

What, exactly, is more disturbing about this Haim Pearlman case? The existence and flourishing of Jewish terrorists in our midst, bent on violent means of achieving political ends, or the Shin Bet's alleged hiring of Pearlman as a hitman? The fact that Jewish terrorists exist in Israel or that they are not pursued with equal vigor as their Arab counterparts despite the immoral equivalence of their actions?
Pearlman, a long-time Kachnik, has been implicated in numerous violent acts in the past two decades. He currently stands accused of seven murders in the past thirteen years, according to Yediot Acharonot. The only thing more disturbing than the psychopathic violent streak he is accused of exhibiting is the quite overt radical religious ideology that spawned the vehement hatred and hell-bent vengeance that drove him to assault and murder Arabs.
Whether or not he is convicted, this should be a wake up call for Israelis. As Amir Oren put it in this week's Haaretz, "there are Jewish terrorists. They are no different from other terrorists in terms of the danger they present, except....they are part of the society against which they are plotting"and therefore constitute a less obvious threat. Pearlman is not the first (far from it), and he undoubtedly will not be the last. Unfortunately, between headline-grabbing incidents involving Baruch Goldsteins, Yigal Amirs, Eden Natan Zadas (remember him?), Yaakov Teitels, and Haim Pearlmans, Israelis tend to forget about violent radicals among them and often see Jewish terrorists as isolated cases; as independent actors rather than a broader trend in a greater drama. The ideology that binds them together, combined with individual psychoses, produces bloody results.
As for the Shin Bet, they allegedly took Pearlman on as a hitman for the assassination of, among others, Sheik Ra'ad Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel. They claim that they had no knowledge of Pearlman's involvement in the murders, and that charges that they employed Pearlman are erroneous.
If Pearlman is found guilty, it says little about the efficacy of the Israeli FBI for anything besides cracking down on the Arab population. As reported in Haaretz, "the Shin Bet's Jewish Division has found it difficult to track violent individuals within extreme right-wing circles". If the Shin Bet also hired Pearlman as a thug, one has to wonder whether the Jewish Division's priorities lie in sponsoring or catching Jewish terrorists. Either way, this whole incident casts a grim shadow on Israel's domestic security establishment and its priorities.

Where Crude and Greed Appear

2010-07-14T11:39:00.049-04:00

As I drive down Alabama Highway 43 South I sense that I'm approaching the scenic Mobile Bay. I pass by the familiar stands selling homegrown watermelons and boiled peanuts. In my car I hear the sound of waves crashing and birds chirping. This isn't the sound of nature though. This is a BP commercial. A man with a southern accent much like my own comes on the radio in my Toyota pick up truck assuring me that BP is doing everything it can to fix the “situation” in the Gulf of Mexico. The “situation”? What situation exactly are we talking about here? Oh yes, the one where a greedy and irresponsible multinational corporation spilled over 200,000,000 gallons of toxic crude oil into my Gulf. The Gulf where I spent my summers as a youth building sand castles on its beautiful sugar white beaches. The Gulf in whose crystal clear emerald waters I learned to boogie board. The Gulf that I pulled a behemoth red snapper out of three years ago. The Gulf where my family lives. The Gulf that provides livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of hard working Americans and foreign workers. The Gulf that is currently being destroyed by tens of thousands of barrel's of BP's toxic, disgusting crude oil spilling into it every single day destroying the ecosystem and economy one 55 gallon drum at a time. That “situation”.

All is not lost on the Gulf Coast though. The people here are a hardy bunch. The residents have built their houses and businesses to withstand the destructive winds and water of hurricanes which regularly batter the Gulf Coast. Names like Ivan, Katrina, Opal, and Frederic are notorious in this part of the world. However, this is a new type of disaster for which no one was prepared. Locals know how to batten down their windows and which evacuation route is the quickest route out of town. Such is the irony of this disaster: the only way anyone will survive on the Gulf Coast is if people do not evacuate. What this region desperately needs is for the tourists to keep streaming in to keep the economy pumping.

Enter Jimmy Buffett.

Tens of thousands of sunbathers, beer drinkers, and families recently crowded the beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama to dance the disaster away. Jimmy Buffet, a Gulf Coast native whose sister operates a restaurant/bar in Gulf Shores, decided that what the Gulf needed more than anything right now is a little trip to Margaritaville. Buffett organized and headlined what has to be one of the most successful concerts this region has ever hosted this past weekend. He gave away over 35,000 concert tickets for free to try and help draw people back down to this blighted region. It worked. The beaches were full of “tourists covered in oil” and for a minute it seemed that everything was back to normal. Revelers packed the beaches all day long drinking beer, laying under beach umbrellas, building sand castles, swimming in the Gulf, and soaking in that bountiful Alabama sunshine. Buxom women clad in two piece bikinis danced alongside sunburned men swaying back and forth as Jimmy Buffet cranked out such familiar hits as “Margaritaville”, and “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. Country Music Television (CMT) broadcast the event live with no commercial interruption to a nationwide audience. As Jimmy Buffet sang an updated – and tear jerking – rendition of his song “When the Coast is Clear”, the only thing better would be if we could have been able to go “stick a wine cork in that hole”. Unfortunately, its not that simple.

As I left the Gulf Coast heading north towards my home in Tuscaloosa I reflect back on what I've observed “down at the beach”. The people there are not going to give up on their way of life. They adamantly refuse to just roll over and die. Sure, BP has managed to spill world record setting amounts of oil into one of our region's most treasured assets, but the people of the Gulf will survive. Not only that, the people of the Gulf will thrive again someday. If there is one message I think the people of the Gulf Coast would want you to hear it is “We are open for business!”. People are still on the beaches and the booms are working to a good extent keeping the oil off the beaches most days. On the days when the oil does manage to come ashore it tends to happen at night and the government has clean up crews that clean it up before most tourists ever notice. The drinks are still cold and the women are still hot! So what they really need is for y'all to come on down, have a beer or ten, get sunburned, make a fool of yourself at the world famous Florabama Lounge, buy a t-shirt from Surf Style, eat some oysters at Tacky Jack's, and see what this incredible part of the world has to offer you.

-Joseph Berman

The Following is a link to Jimmy Buffett singing "When the Coast is Clear".

http://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/536045/when-the-coast-is-clear.jhtml

*Author's note:

These are photos that I took around the Ono Island / Perdido Pass area. My family lives on Ono Island so this is very painful for me to see, but I wanted to remember this for the future. The closed signs and oil booms are not the full story though. For every photo here of a negative there are 100 positive photos of happy people partying or relaxing on the beach I could have taken. I think this is important to see though.

The Iranian Government Rains on My Parade

2010-07-09T03:41:00.004-04:00

I breathed a great sigh of relief when I saw this morning's headlines. No, it wasn't because LeBron James is going to the Miami Heat, or because the Israeli police busted two Haredis with ten kilos of blow at Ben Gurion. It wasn't even because the Cold War is back on with this Russian spy ring in the US. I exhaled with satisfaction because progress is finally being made in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The bastion of fundamentalist Islam and the rule of shari'a law is being chipped away by international pressure.
I speak, of course, about Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43 year old Iranian woman accused of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. It was announced today that she will be granted reprieve from that ancient, barbaric, yet most comedic, form of execution. The mother of two will no longer be buried up to her neck and pelted with stones until she dies.
Hooray for freedom and democracy!
A successful public diplomacy campaign by international protesters brought about the successful liberation of this woman from the grips of a tyrannical Islamic regime. The international press lauds this achievement as a triumph of reason and justice over cruelty and intolerance. This will undoubtedly be the first in a succession of victories against the rule of the mullahs; Sakineh's salvation from stoning marks the beginning of the resurgence of liberalism in Iran.
Wait, what's that? She's still probably going to be hanged to death for adultery? Even if her sentence is commuted her family will still tear her limb from limb for staining her family's honor?
Well, when it comes to Iran: baby steps. We shouldn't expect the Islamic regime to be reasonable about the crime of adultery after cracking down on democratic protests only a year ago. After all, she has only suffered four years of imprisonment and only 99 lashes. I suppose all we can hope for is that she is dispatched mercifully by some other heinous, medieval method of execution: beheading? drawing and quartering? burning at the stake?
We can only hope. Besides, change doesn't come overnight in this part of the world. Who ever heard of an Iranian revolution?

The land of the free, and the home of the brave

2010-07-04T04:52:00.005-04:00

I always wanted a national anthem for myself. I have been trying to find one for a long time with no success – and the World Cup sure isn't helping.
Israel’s national anthem is problematic, if I may put it that way. It was never intended to represent the Arab minority living in Israel. Every time I attend a ceremony where the national anthem is played, I feel that sense of disappointment and frustration. Worst thing is, I can’t blame anyone over this – I think…
The anthem’s wording including “A Jewish soul” and “An eye still gazes toward Zion” is nothing I can relate to – even if I really try to. Even though words like “to be a free people in our land” could soften the stiffness, it is followed by “the land of Zion and Jerusalem”. I already shared my thought about Jerusalem in a previous post and regarding Zion I need not add. I think Zionism ended in the 70s and the broad discussion over Post-Zionism or Neo-Zionism is nothing close to my expertise.
I never gave much attention to Hatikvah. I have never encountered a situation where I was expected by behave professionally during its playing. In my graduation last month at Haifa University, I stood up like a “proud” Israeli while everyone was mumbling the words. I was surprised by other Arab students standing up, behaving in an official conformist way. Question is - would anyone reconsider those words of the national anthem? What about a version of “Shir LaShalom” or just a poem by Nathan Alterman or Alexander Penn?
I guess with the continuing effort of the non-Jewish minorities in Israel to blend in, the national anthem is a lost case. I don’t see that changing anytime soon, if ever. All we are left with is the “La Mantovana" melody and an itch in our hearts.

As long as in the heart, within,

A Jewish soul still yearns,

And onward, towards the ends of the east,

An eye still gazes toward Zion;

Our hope is not yet lost,

The hope of two thousand years,

To be a free people in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Over-summitting

2010-06-26T22:47:00.000-04:00

Last week the G8 met in Huntsville, Ontario and this week the G20 meets in Toronto with even greater fanfare and to do. Canadians, typically a cheery and chirpy bunch, are rightly pissed off. Al Jazeera cites the estimated cost of the two summits as a whopping $1 billion on security alone. The cost of security at the last two G20 meetings in London and Pittsburg came to only $25 million put together. NPR reported that the G20 created a fake lake in downtown Toronto for journalists-- newsflash, Toronto is on Lake Ontario.
This merely reconfirms an increasingly popular opinion that these G-whatever summits are great get-togethers for world leaders that achieve nothing but wasting money. Nowadays they're a dime a dozen. It is way easier to keep track of the bowel movements of celebrities than these great summits of world leaders. The fact that they are increasing in regularity merely means that their annual costs are skyrocketing and that taxpayers worldwide are footing the bill for their parties.
Don't get me wrong, I am a big advocate of open channels in diplomatic communication, of transparent relations, and of summit meetings of world leaders to solve critical issues, but this has gotten out of hand. To put it in perspective: there have been five G20 summits since I started my degree in November, 2008, and there's another one scheduled for this coming November.
It is hard to say what, precisely, these summits achieve aside from creating amusingly nonsensical photo ops (thank you Silvio Berlusclowni, at right). Can anyone explain that part to me?
I just wonder why, if the objective of these meetings is economic welfare, why the people who need it most are getting the shaft while the people who need it least have a luxury weekend getaway. I propose that the G20 summit in Seoul this November be sponsored by Skype, and save the Korean taxpayers a billion dollars or two.

Calling All Young Diplomats - WE NEED YOU!

2010-06-20T06:05:00.003-04:00

Today in Jerusalem, the Jewish Agency will be hosting a concentrated focus group aiming to establish a base for the new direction that the agency must take in its objectives to strengthen Jewish identity within the United States and that identity's cohesiveness and attachment to the State of Israel. With this being said, the Agency appears to be moving away from its historical mission of actually building the State of Israel and moving more towards one hindered on strengthening the Jewish people and their external connection to the State.

A conversation with a good friend who will be speaking at today's panel triggered a number of pressing issues regarding the Israeli-American alliance and Israel's lack of a concrete plan to counter the new generation of anti-Israeli attitudes amongst an astounding number of bright minds on the American street and its college campuses. This is not a matter of bigoted anti-Semitism, rather, it is a combination of educated (albeit misinformed)and intelligent young adults who are easily and understandably swayed by an extremely powerful Palestinian narrative. Unfortunately, Israel - in its Public Relations strategy - has neglected and taken for granted its American Jewish support base by not having the proper resources in place to allow those Jewish liberals to properly defend the state in a manner that stresses compassion for the Palestinian people while at the same time reinforcing the sentiment that a two state solution is the only way.

It is scary to think that these well-educated, anti-Israel individuals are the future of America and its leadership. There is a new generation that is no longer enamored with the state of Israel; rather, they are angry and do not understand how America can keep its constant support for Israel at a maximum. It is this same generation that will be leading American over the next 50 years - a 50 year period that has never been more crucial in terms of Israel's long term survival.

Wake up people. The existential threat that Iran poses to Israel is not nearly as threatening and immediate as is the one coming from those that will eventually be shaping American foreign policy and its policies on Israel. In this sense, Israel is its own worst enemy, slowly fulfilling a self professing prophecy of an 'existential threat' by not having the proper resources in place to educate some of America's brightest minds. The battle for Israel will be neither by its Air Force nor its Cold-War tactics in slowly eliminating immediate threats to the state; rather, it will be won both in the Media and on American college campuses.

Over the last few years, the American Jewish community has become justifiably disillusioned with the State of Israel. No longer is it the mighty David that defeated the Arab Goliath in a "do or die" fight for existence; rather, it has become a an extra stress in trying to explain and understand its policies in both contrast and connection to their generally, American-Liberal perspectives. So although the majority of these American Jews may still feel that support for Israel within themselves, they are mentally exhausted in having to defend her while at the same time being taken for granted as a bastion of support by Israel and its policy makers. We are already losing the battle within future generations of non American Jews, that much is clear; however, we still have the opportunity to influence the hearts and minds of our own kind.

This same friend to whom I was speaking told me about a "forum" denouncing Israel that he attended on a college campus in the states. He proceeded to tell me of the Palestinian Americans and their PR machine that came out at the forum: intelligent, organized and convincing. "Who wouldn't jump on the bandwagon after hearing their rhetoric?", he chided. In turn, the Jews (save my friend) who were set to speak were unorganized, misinformed and many of them had not even seen the facts on the ground over here, let along stepped off the plane to smell that musty Mediterranean air. A double slap in the face.

With all that I have stated above, it only seems logical that the Jewish Agency in conjunction with other Israeli organizations would make a 180 degree shift in how it manages its image within the United States - both within the Jewish and non Jewish communities. That does not mean it has to make throw in the towel and stop shaping its internal policies in a manner that would be a threat to its security; rather, it must learn how build bridges of understanding with those that will eventually help shape our destiny via their external influence.

Calling all Young Diplomats