Israel-Palestine, "it's complicated"

Some say the Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn't too complicated. Really? Let me just explain to you how complicated the events of the last week have been.

In the wake of the kidnapping of three males, two aged 16 and another aged 19, by Palestinians with believed connections to groups as various as Al Qaeda to Fatah.

In the response, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the kidnapping, by virtue of the fact that Hamas is now a member of the the Palestinian unity government. before any organisation had claimed responsibility for the action and has sent the Israeli army into Ramallah (the HQ of the PA), and Hebron, the city in which the males were taken.

In the Israeli government sits various members of Arab parties including Haneen Zoabi who recently commented saying that the kidnappers "are not terrorists" and stating that while she disagreed with the kidnapping, it was a result of "Israeli War Crimes".

On the other side of the (quiet literal) fence (wall, or barrier), many media outlets have shown Palestinians, including young children have celebrated the kidnapping by holding up a three fingered sign to signify the three kidnapped males (ed note: One of the photos in this article has since been disputed, as the person has said that the photo was in support of Palestinian Arab Idol contestant Mohammad Assaf). However, at the same time Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly made statements condemning the kidnapping and has made several public statements telling the kidnappers to return the children.

The other kick in this tale? The children were taken while hitchhiking from a settlement in the West Bank, a territory that is highly contentious.

So in Israel, we've got the Prime Minister condemning the kidnapping, and another member of Israeli parliament saying that it's Israel's fault, while at the same time we have some Palestinians celebrating the kidnapping, at the same time that Abbas is harshly criticising the action and demanding the victims be returned.

And all of this has happened over the last few weeks. Which says nothing of the complications that have happened since the start of the conflict (something that pre-dates the existence of the State of Israel).

And that is the last thing I want to say on the kidnapping.

Unequivocal disaster, Education and Sharing Narratives

The following is a post written by me, featured on jewschool.com. The website on Jewschool can be found here.

A teacher stops a history classroom in the middle, the students are learning about the various tragedies of history. “Could all the students please stand up, we are going to have a minute of silence for the victims of the Nakba”. Most of the students stand is silence, thinking of the relatives that were affected, their homes destroyed and families that were forced to flee. Others had relatives that were killed. Two Students stand to the side, and during the silence they begin chatting. Their classmates are openly outraged, jaws are dropped but most students stand silently in their outrage. For these two students, it’s not that they don’t respect the loss of life, it’s that the tragedy of the Nakba is not relevant to them. They aren’t of Palestinian descent; they have their own national tragedies.

Shocked, aren’t you? This is a true story, well almost. The differences between this scenario and what actually happened are relatively minor. Swap the Nakba for the Holocaust, and the two boys for Israeli Palestinians and this scene has been played out several times, over several years and in several different locations. Yom Ha’Shoa, the day of remembrance for the Holocaust, was about a month ago and this happened again. I received a call from a friend who was in shock as two Arab students in her course spoke to each other while the nation- wide siren marking Yom Ha’Shoa rang out. The act was a mark of incredible disrespect for the loss of life, and destruction.

However, the students should not shoulder the entirety of the blame. While they are guilty of being incredibly disrespectful, there is also blame on the failure to properly educate students about the Holocaust, and the lost opportunities in the educational aftermath. Of all the issues of Holocaust education the biggest issue is the number we are commemorating is the wrong one. Yes, six million Jews died and that’s important, but 11 million people died in the camps, gas chambers, forced marches and shootings.

It was 11,000,000 people in total that died in the Holocaust. 6 million Jews, 2-3 million Soviet Prisoners of War, roughly 2 million Poles, up to 1.5 million Romani, 250 thousand handicapped and thousands of Freemasons, Slovenes, Homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses as well as political opponents of the Nazi regime. 11 million people died in the Holocaust. It is still one of the most disturbing events in human history.

However, the problem is that Jewish children learning about the Holocaust aren’t learning the true message that they should be. With the commemoration of the 6 million victims of the Jewish Holocaust, the message changes from “Never again” to “Never again… to us” and becomes the motivation for protectionism at all cost. It may perhaps be naive, but I’m of the belief that in Israel the Holocaust imagery is repeatedly being used to justify more and more right wing nationalism. From comparisons between Iran and Nazi Germany, to the repetition of the right’s “safe guarding the Jewish people from another Holocaust”. If the message wasn’t that we have to protect ourselves at all costs, and be about fighting persecution at all costs, the imagery wouldn’t be as easily manipulated, and instead of the Holocaust being used as motivation to fuel the support for an airstrike on Iranian targets, it could be used to motivate people to become aware of the issues, such as the conflicts going on in Darfur.

While the 5 million non-Jews that died in the Holocaust have less of personal connection to me, it doesn’t make them any less the victims of the same tragedy many Jewish families, including my own, suffered during the 1930′s and 1940′s in Europe.

This leads me on to my next point; we have firmly remembered the slogan of never again. However, the way that we seem to uphold this is by making sure that nothing is ever compared to the Holocaust in any way, and defining it by its sheer uniqueness. No other tragedy in human history can be compared to the Holocaust, from Rwanda to the Nakba. When this happens, we have lost the central moral lesson of the Holocaust, which is that we should never allow evil to triumph over good, regardless of the excuse. We should never allow politicians to be so heartless towards others for the excuses of convenience or economics.

So in returning to the original story, I do blame the students in part. They were incredibly disrespectful to the loss of life during the Holocaust. They were not just disrespecting the Jewish victims, but to all the other lives that were extinguished during the Holocaust. However, I also blame the failed education system, which has turned each event of historical suffering into one of exclusivity and self-preservation. Everyone should learn about the human tragedies of history, from the Holocaust, to Rwanda, and even the Nakba, not for the politics of the event, but to understand that we are all humans, and that more important than anything else is that we should try to co-exist, rather then kill each other.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not

speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did

not speak out—Because I was not a Trade

Unionist

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak

out—Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me—and there was no one

left to speak for me.

Pastor Martin Niemoller

Israel - Pluralism and Diversity if you bend the truth.

The above graphic is from a Facebook group called "IsraelWTF". The page posts "Pro-Israel" Hasbarah material, while glossing over Israel's finer issues. A single look at the graphic above shows you a bright and colourful picture of Israel's harmonious diversity, that thrives in this "bastion of democracy". However, whether through neglect, or negligence, the graphic certainly doesn't show the full picture of the situation for minority groups in Israel.

In regards to Arab members of Knesset, the statistic seems to show a decent representation of Arab members in the Knesset, and certainly no discrimination what so ever. However, for anyone that has followed Israeli news has seen a proposed change in the Israeli voting system. The suggested change would raise the electoral threshold from 2% to 3.25%, to get a place in the Israeli Knesset. While this might not seem like much, the move is sure to choke smaller parties, which mostly include the Israeli-Arab parties. (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/03/israel-new-law-kills-minority-representation-2014311165373497.html)

According to the graphic, the southern city of Rahat seems to be a thriving metropolis with bustling with life as a Bedouin city in Israel's south. However, Rahat isn't exactly a celebration of Israel's celebrated "diversity and pluralism". Despite existing for several decades, and with 10s of thousand people living there, it got a train station (that it shares with the neighbouring Jewish community of Lahav), and a bus service in the last 5 years. However, there are several Jewish outposts which have less than 1,000 people that have had Egged buses connected straight away.

The story of the Bedouins is even sadder when it comes to those that live in communities outside of Rahat. Israel currently hosts several Bedouin communities that live in what is called an "unrecognised village". This means that you are given no rights, no services and the military has been known to turn up from time to time to destroy your house. This includes the Israeli government's infamous "Prawer Plan", which threatened to relocate roughly 30,000-40,000 Bedouins against their will in order to build a highway.

The graphic also boasts of high participation rates from Druze and Bedouins, as if to celebrate the Israeli Militaries ability to integrate people from different backgrounds into the melting pot of Israel, the IDF. However, Druze and Bedouin service rates are part of their culture of serving in the army of which they live in, not related to how well Israelis treat them.

The picture mentions Druze-Israeli head of State, Majalli Wahabi, who was briefly the Israeli President. However, Wahabi only achieved the position because Moshe Katzav took a leave of absence and his second in command, Dalia Itzik, was overseas.

However, my biggest gripe with the graphic above is that all these are expected from a democratic country,  and possibly more, yet Israel barely scrapes the bottom of the barrel of a passing mark in regards to treatment of it's minority citizens. The story gets even worse for people that live in the West Bank under Israeli rule who are subjected to non-democratic army rule.

So sure, you can find fascinating tidbits here and there that can highlight Israel's "treatment" of it's minorities. However, you can only show this if you only show part of the story and bend the truth. The reality is that Israel is failing to treat it's minorities with respect, regardless of whether they are an Ethiopian Jew, Palestinian Israeli, Bedouin or a refugee from Eritrea or Sudan.

Author Note: The Prawer Plan was shelved after protests in solidarity with the Bedouin community sparked across the country. (http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.563497)

What Does Yom Kippur Mean To A Secular Jew?

I was raised in an extremely unique environment. My family raised me in a secular house, while at the same time exposing me to Jewish traditions. All of my family identify in one way or another as being Jewish or believing in Jewish values or traditions. At the same time, my family lived on a street with two orthodox schools, and many orthodox families lived in our area. As such my Jewish identity became a balance of taking certain things from my secular family and taking certain aspects from the religious Jews and trying to create a balance within the two worlds. A good example of this balance between orthodoxy and secular was best seen when I was studying for my Bar Mitzvah. On Sunday mornings I would learn my Parasha, then once my teacher had left the house, my father would prepare a breakfast of bacon and eggs, which my father jokingly called an act of "balancing" to counter balance my religious studies earlier in the day. I often reflect on those moments as symbolic in defining what would become my Jewish identity. This delicate balance is always the clearest for me on Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar.

Yom Kippur is undoubtedly the holiest day of the year for Jews, and what makes it so serious is that it is one of the few Jewish holidays were we do not have a meal. As a matter of fact, Yom Kippur is a complete day long fast, no drinking, no eating, nothing. To the religious Jews, Yom Kippur serves as a day of atonement for what we have done wrong over the past year, and reminds us to ask forgiveness for our sins and wrong doings to God. The idea of not just right and wrong being innate to being human, but also the concept of forgiveness and redemption.

So what relevance does this day have to a Secular Jew? Who is skeptical about the existence of a God?

For me, I believe the connection I have with Yom Kippur and the commemoration is in two parts. Firstly, in the time between the start of the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur you are supposed to make peace with people you've hurt or offended over the past year. The idea of a personal forgiveness makes the holiday very important, as it acknowledges that we often wrong each other, but it doesn't just acknowledge that fact, it asks us to think about it and ask for forgiveness as well. Secondly, while the Religious use Yom Kippur, specifically a day of asking forgiveness from God, I choose to look at it in a different way. My belief is that Yom Kippur should be used as a way to think of the ways you can be a better person for the coming year. The idea that we are constantly striving to be better people, and that we acknowledge our character flaws, but as long as we strive to improve and perfect ourselves, at least we are on a process, rather than just stagnating in our position of morality.

One of the biggest things I've seen is the unwillingness for people to accept when they have been in the wrong, and admitting fault is something that is difficult to do. This is not just about people around me, but I also sometimes struggle to admit fault. The point is that we look to improve and spend a day without the distraction of food to think about it.

State of Secular Judaism

In recent conversations with friends about Judaism and Jewish identity, this article will focus on the state of Judaism in both the diaspora and the different elements effecting Jewish identity. This article is just related to non-observant Judaism, as observant jews are able to rally around the central pillars of their communities such as the synagogue with the rabbi as the leading authority. However, the same can not be said for secular and traditional Jews, many of whom have very little affiliation to a central Shule. This article is divided into two parts, one about the status of non-affiliated Jews in Israel and the other is about non-affiliated Jews in the Diaspora, with the contention of looking at whether Judaism without affiliation is sustainable.

The most important part of this is answering the question of whether Jewish traditions and values are worth passing on, and that keeping up a Jewish identity to the following generations is worth while, and not just having continuity for the sake of continuity.

Secular Jewish Identity in Israel

While a poll taken in 2012 states that above 80% of the Jewish population in Israel believe in a God, roughly 40% are self reported secular Jews, and would not consider themselves affiliated to a synagogue despite their belief in a God. The divide between religious and secular has usually been over a belief in god or not, However, the ability to still call oneself secular while still believing in God is achievable now more than ever. While the initial secular movement, which was aligned closely with the pioneering Kibbutz movements, was innately "in your face" anti-religious and threw away several of the traditions their religious counterparts held so dear. The initial movement rejected the need for the central synagogue, or religious beliefs, many in the extreme would also go so far as to work on Shabbat and eat on Yom Kippur. This seemed to die, as there was no longevity in continuing a tradition that was based on being the anti-tradition of something else, and something that over the years grew closer and closer to the Jews who had pioneered the state of Israel.

Today, the secular/religious divide in Israel is a very political topic, which is especially heated over the areas of Religious controlled Laws (such as the laws of Marriage), The Tal Law which exempts religious people from conscription into the Israeli Army, as well as the fact that a large majority of Israel is closed over Friday night and Saturday morning, to respect the Shabbat and that certain roads in Israel are closed, not just on Shabbat but also on the High Holidays. An argument can be made that the concept of Secular Judaism in Israel is dying, and that many of these self reported secular Jews rely on the fact that they live in a Jewish state to make up for the fact that when it comes to understanding traditions or living by Jewish values, in whatever concept they may chose to define it as.

On the other hand, the ability to freely express Judaism in a Jewish state makes secularism a lot easier, and the issues of assimilation less of an issue than it is when living as a secular Jew in the Diaspora. There are some established "religious" Secular centres, such as Secular yeshivas and places of learning Judaism in a non-religious format. Which show the ability for a thriving secular community to exist.

Secular Jewish Identity in the Diaspora

While this article claims to speak of the Diaspora Jewry, my knowledge base is limited to the non-affiliated sections of the Jewish Community in Melbourne, Australia, but I hope that the experiences are relatable to some extent in other secular Jewish communities around the world. However, statistics on non-affiliated Jews in the Diaspora come, as even Jews that may consider themselves to be Secular or at least traditional, may attend a Synagogue for the High Holidays, and they follow the religious traditions when it comes to celebrating shabbat or the other High Holidays. However, there still appear to be large communities of people that consider themselves secular or non-affiliated to a central Synagogue. While some of these people stay connected through family traditions, such as the annual Pesach seder with the family, or a form of Friday night dinner with the family in the place of Shabbat. The notion that these traditions are valuable to the continuing of Jewish identity are questionable at best.

It seems that a large part of this community wouldn't survive without the existence of a larger, somewhat observant section of the Jewish community to grant itself legitimacy of being "Jewish". The notion revolves around an underlying belief that while many people will not follow the laws stated in the various forms of religious Judaism, they still recognise the legitimacy of the Rabbis who lead Jewish congregations, as opposed to creating their own central system revolving around Jewish values, as opposed to revolving around a belief in God and the teachings of the Torah and commentaries.

While this is the majority, it is by no means indicative of the entire Secular Jewish communities, as seen by the leadership of the Secular Jewish Youth Movements, which are able to form itself as a Secular Authority, which does not need to recognise the Synagogues as the only legitimate actualisation of Judaism. However, the issues these movements have is their limited relevance to those involved in the Youth Movement, which excludes many Secular and non-affiliated Jews who are not reached by the Youth Movements, and by those above the age of participation in the Youth Movements. As much as the Youth Movements would like to attract a wider audience of people, outside of fundraising events, but this isn't something that seems to be changing.

Despite all of these aspects, the Jewish identity continues to thrive in the Diaspora, especially as the mere identification of being Jewish makes you more conscious and thinking of what that means. However, without any meaningful expression, or fulfilment of this identity or belief, the chances of either grasping on to religious constructs for the sake of them being there or assimilation grow as slowly but surely people become disenfranchised with a lack of secular options available to them.

Conclusion

While both the Secular community in Israel and the Diaspora face problems and challenges that they must overcome, whether they be the generational disinterest and disillusionment with a lack of secular activity that pushes them to a choice between polar extremes, or a lack of necessary identification and almost lazy participation in tradition that it becomes arbitrary and meaningless. There is nothing to say that these challenges are insurmountable, and that the next generation to lead will be able to continue to grow Jewish culture, both in a religious way and a cultural way.

War and Peace in the Middle East

Over the last year or so, the Middle East has gone through some dramatic political shifts. The ousting of stable leaders such as Libya's Qaddafi, Tunisia's Ben Ali and Egyptian Hosni Mubarak. In place, protesters demanded democracy, and free and fair elections. However, the revolution has continued, and is some places looks like it is picking up steam. The result has seen to be a struggle between rebels and the government, or even autocratic leaders and the people, depending on your perspective on the issue. Ironically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has restarted negotiations, with perhaps one final hope to finally find a two state solution to a conflict that has now dragged on for over 60 years. This article will look at the juxtaposing issues of War and Peace in the Middle East.

Firstly, as the "Arab Spring" continues to roll through countries, with Mubarak's successor in Egypt Mohamed Morsi having been ousted by the Egyptian military, and fighting continuing in Syria, which it seems has also spread into Lebanon, makes for an interesting direction. With the latest news coming out of Syria that the government has used Sarin Gas on people, and members of foreign governments calling for intervention into the region, the idea that the Syrian Civil War will end sometime soon, looks to be a long shot, and in the case of foreign intervention, this could be the start of a showdown between the two forces in Syria. Firstly the Regime forces, backed by a seeming coalition of Russia, China and Iran going against some of the rebel forces which seems to be backed by America, and several other western countries.

At the same time, for the first time in several years the Israelis and Palestinians are gearing up towards a summit to the end goal of peaceful co-existence and a two state solution to a conflict that has dragged on and claimed thousands of lives on all sides of the conflict. In the lead up, much has been made of ending the conflict, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas extremely determined to reach the final compromise, releasing a statement regarding the fact that in order to find a peaceful solution Palestinians will need to accept demilitarisation and the fact that they will not get to revisit the houses where their families lived in Haifa, or Safeed. This statement marks one of the most positive statements made regarding the two state solution in years, but there is still large scale mistrust of the players on both sides. Palestinians aren't sure that Netanyahu and his government's addiction to an expanding settlement program in the West Bank is capable of delivering on a deal which would end the occupation. While many Israelis are not convinced that Abbas truly means what he says and that while a majority of Israelis believe in the two state solution, a growing number no longer believe that it is feasible due to various factors.

Much has been made of the complexities of the politics of the Middle East, but something that is seemingly forgotten amongst the political power plays, rebellions, repressions and overthrows is the human costs of these actions. This is not to say that it isn't right to rebel against an oppressive government, or that governments have no right to defend themselves against a minority seeking to overthrow a majority if that may be the case, but it is to say that it is always the humans caught in the middle of these political conflicts that seem to suffer the most.

"Pink-washing": A tale of two sides

I'd like to start this article with a cliche in saying that while this article is about Homosexuals, homosexuality and the homosexual community I myself am not a Homosexual, but I'd also like to add that homosexuality is not wrong, icky or strange, it is the same as heterosexuality and bisexuality. It is about the gender to which you have feelings for, nothing more, nothing less. Now with that completely useless piece of information out of the way, a memorial is being erected in Tel Aviv's Meir Park to commemorate the persecution of Homosexuals during the Holocaust, an announcement that has lead to several on the far left to decry this as just another example of Israel's continuing "Pink-washing" campaign, which it claims is an attempt by Israel to display itself as a progressive country with liberal Western values as a cover for the occupation.

Indeed, Israel's Hasbara (literally means explanation, though more often used to describe Israeli public diplomacy) of Homosexual life in Israel, especially in Tel Aviv, as a reason as to why Israel is far more progressive and democratic as opposed to other countries in the Middle East, which are accused of "routinely executing homosexuals in the streets". Israel's extensive public campaign to improve it's public image has certainly used it's promotion of homosexual values to try and improve Israel's standing in the world. Despite Israel's pink-washing efforts, there is still no right for Homosexual couples to marry in Israel, due to Marriage law being controlled by the religious under the Status Quo agreement made around the time of the foundation of the State of Israel, while international marriages, including Homosexual marriages are acknowledged under Israeli law. While several Pride Marches have delightfully taken over the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, they have also been met by hostility in the country, especially in Jerusalem, which is a religious hotbed and the response were been expectedly homophobic from the religious sectors of Jerusalem, while no such opposition exists in Tel Aviv.

However, there is another side to this story, and that is the response to it by various anti-Israel groups, who are completely against Israel and believe that Homosexuals have some sort of solidarity to stand with Palestinians in their fight against Israelis. Organisations such as QueersAgainstApartheid, constantly state their desire to fight against the Apartheid State of Israel, which as their right to political freedom should allow them to do, and they no doubt fight against the injustices going on in Israeli society, which some of their members know from first hand experiences of living in Israel. However, my issue with this is that it too is a version of "pink-washing". Perhaps it is naive of me to think that these people do not speak for the entire Homosexual community, but every positive step taken by any organisation even linked to Israel is automatically dismissed as "Pink-washing", and every pro-Israel homosexual is labelled a "sucker" or is "mislead by the Israeli PR machine", as if any homosexual that doesn't agree with their political stance is an idiot.

In reality, people are allowed to decide their own political agenda, and their sexuality shouldn't define their political stance. In the same way a heterosexual doesn't have to relate all political beliefs back to their sexuality, neither should anyone else. The idea that you cannot be a homosexual conservative is incredibly ignorant, not that I would agree with that person's political views, but the belief that the person is only about their sexuality is ludicrous and insulting.

Furthermore, the memorial was put forth by a member of the left wing Israeli party called Meretz, a party that also actively promotes dialogue with the Palestinians and pushes mainstream Israeli society to end the occupation and grant equal rights to the non-Jewish citizens that live in Israel.