Rambling down Memory Lane…….
BYE BYE AMERICA! … BONNE FÊTE CANADA!!
July 1, 2018 at 08:49 (Canada, DesertPeace Editorial, Holidays, Ramblings...)
THE MOTHERLAND CALLS
March 4, 2018 at 14:30 (Anti fascism, DesertPeace Editorial, Ramblings...)
In the summer of 1978 I visited the Soviet Union. I visited the city of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), the scene of the fiercest battle against the nazis during WW2.
We were taken to a hill where thousands of soldiers and civilians lie buried. At the top of the hill stood the most magnificent statue I ever saw in my life. (See THIS related post)
Last Thursday night I was presented with a foot high duplicate of this beautiful statue from a close friend that lives in Moscow.
International Women’s Day came early to my home this year. To me, this statue represents the strength and beauty of all women throughout the world.
To the Motherland!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA ! – BONNE FÊTE CANADA
June 30, 2017 at 09:28 (Canada, DesertPeace Editorial, Holidays, Ramblings...)
Rambling down Memory Lane…….
SIRENS SOUND IN ISRAEL AS AN ‘EDUCATIONAL EXERCISE’ … AND MEMORIES OF OUR OWN IN THE USA
February 15, 2016 at 08:39 (Corrupt Politics, Gaza, History, Israel, Ramblings...)
Be sure not to miss my addition of Cold War Memories at the end of this post ….
Air raid sirens sounded throughout Israel as part of a nationwide drill for the educational system.
Is there a better way to prepare our students for Israel’s next planned aggression on Gaza?
Air raid sirens sound throughout Israel in school drill
Air raid sirens sounded throughout Israel shortly after 10 AM as part of a nationwide drill for the educational system.
The IDF Homefront Command and the Education Ministry announced the drill ahead of time.
The Israel Police, Magen David Adom emergency services, the Israel Fire and Rescue Service, and local authorities are simulating their response to a real missile attack on the Israeli home front from multiple arenas simultaneously, that strikes when schools are in session.
State and local radio stations were to play an audio recording announcing the drill, while announcements on TV stations and internet sites provided details about the exercise.
Pupils in institutions of learning have received instructions on how to respond.
Home Front Command search and rescue teams were scheduled to rehearse rescue operations in six schools across the country.
The IDF Spokesman’s Unit said the annual drill has been planned ahead of time for 2016.
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Cold War Memories
Students in the USA were also ‘trained’ for the pending attack by the Soviet Union, the enemy of the day during the Cold War.
The sirens sounded and we had to huddle under our desks for protection ….
We were also ‘issued’ dog tags similar to those worn by soldiers. We were told that when the sirens sound we were to put them under our tongues so that our parents would be able to identify us after the bombs were dropped .
My father forbid me to wear this tag and assured me that the Soviets would never attack us …. so it sat in my drawer all these years.
Those ‘games’ were not much different than the ones being played in Israel 60 years later.
With the demise of the Soviet Union, the West had to create a new enemy and demonize it as it did with the Soviets …. When will they ever learn?
Image by Latuff
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA ! – BONNE FÊTE DU CANADA
July 1, 2015 at 06:16 (Canada, DesertPeace Editorial, Holidays, Ramblings...)
Rambling down Memory Lane…….
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HOW THE FBI INVADED MY PRIVACY WHEN I WAS ONLY 10 YEARS OLD
April 22, 2015 at 11:14 (Cold War, DesertPeace Editorial, F.B.I., Nostalgia, Ramblings...)
A survivor of the Cold War
As I get older I find my mind wandering back to events of the past. I look at this as my brain finding ways to keep me young, at least that’s what I tell myself.
Looking back to 1954 has reminded me of my very first personal encounter with the FBI .First, a bit of a background …… to this day I find the incident rather amusing.
First, a bit of a background
I grew up in a Working Class Jewish community in Brooklyn called Brighton Beach. It was known as a ‘hotbed of Communism’ in those days and was often referred to as “Moscow By The Sea” (strangely enough it is referred to today as “Odessa By The Sea” because of the multitude of immigrants living there from the Former Soviet Union. It is now ‘the hotbed of the Russian Mafia’)
But, back to 1954 …
Those were the days when the Social Networks had it’s emphasis on “Social”. People actually inter reacted with people, not via electronic devices but face to face. We knew who our neighbours were and we knew almost everything about them without having to rely on FaceBook or Twitter.
After school activities did not involve sitting home and watching TV or texting our friends on mobile phones, they involved continuing our education after school hours. Many of my contemporaries went to Hebrew lessons at the local temples or synagogues. As zionism was completely alien to my family I was sent to a Yiddish language school.
And that’s where it happened ….
On the wall of our classroom, two framed photos were hanging ….
One was of the Yiddish writer Shalom Aleichem
The other was yet another Yiddish writer I.L. Peretz
One afternoon two FBI agents entered our classroom and arrested the teacher. Someone had apparently ‘reported us’ for teaching Communism, proof being that one of the photos resembled Lenin, and the other Stalin.
In those days, just pointing your finger in accusation was enough ….
Just a year earlier the switch was pulled executing Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Communism was something to fear, and Jews were to be watched carefully to prevent its spread.
Much like Muslims are treated today in the USA …. strange, eh?
Just another example of not learning the lessons of history and repeating it.
But, just as I ‘Survived’ those ugly, dark days of the Cold War, so will the victims of today.
LOOKING BACK TO THE FUTURE
April 13, 2015 at 09:38 (Activism, Civil Rights, Cuba, DesertPeace Editorial, Nostalgia, Peace, Ramblings...)
A WEE GLANCE AT MY PAST AND WHY I BELIEVE IN A BRIGHT FUTURE
Today, April 13th, would be the 80th wedding anniversary of my parents. In 1960, on this day, their family and friends organised a surprise party for their 25th anniversary. I was sent to our local Woolworth Store to buy some crepe paper rolls to decorate the walls. When I got there I was greeted by a picket line, was handed a leaflet that I did not read and went into the store to buy what I needed.
When I came out the demonstrators asked if I read the leaflet I was given, I responded “not yet” … it called for a boycott of Woolworth because their stores in the South refused to serve Blacks at their lunch counters. I felt as if I committed a crime by not heeding their call, so I promised to join their demonstration the following week. I kept my word and continued with these good people for over a year until Woolworth finally changed their policies.
The reception from those passing by was not always the friendliest, I was called every name in the book, from ‘N’ Lover to Communist … I didn’t even know what a Communist was even though I was around during the McCarthy days and the Rosenberg Spy Case. I found it strange that suddenly, because I was against segregation in the South I was a Communist. There were shouts of ….
Russia??? That was a place that my mother left in 1922 for good reasons. Why would I want to go there???
The 60’s were years of change in America. A Catholic was elected President, the Civil Rights Movement grew by leaps and bounds as did the Peace Movement. Fidel Castro was the leader of a new Cuba, just 90 miles away putting an end to the infamous dictatorship of Batista. Times were good and the future looked promising.
It was a natural move to get involved in the ‘Ban The Bomb Movement’. There I found myself in the company of great notables like Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Spock, Linus Pauling, Bertrand Russell and so many more … and we were all called Communists (sic). Some of us investigated the name calling and realised that the shoe fit, so we wear it to this day.
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Despite the horrible situation that the world is in today, the hope for a bright future prevails. Just yesterday America’s Afro-American President met for the first time with the leader of Cuba.
There are moves to control the spread of nuclear arms throughout the world.
We lost many Brothers and Sisters along the way, but our ranks continue to swell. Both are the reasons that I never lost the hope of a bright and peaceful future …. and that all started on April 13th.
The rest is history!
A Blessing to the memory of those who are no longer with us to see the great changes taking place.
WHO AND WHY I AM WHO I AM
July 22, 2014 at 15:28 (DesertPeace Editorial, Flashback.... from the archives, Israel, Palestine, Ramblings...)
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I went rambling through the archives on this Blog today and wanted to give you all a pretty good picture of who I am …. So be sure to click on all of the links and then you might have a better understanding of WHO AND WHY I AM WHO I AM.
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A post from yesterday began with ….
Growing up in my Jewish family, it was a given that Jews supported civil rights, opposed the Vietnam War and believed in education, science and progress. This didn’t make it easy to be a teenager in a small working-class town in central Pennsylvania, an area not known for either diversity or liberal views at the time. Israel was a distant place where survivors of the brutal European Holocaust struggled to live in peace, occasionally beset by terrorists and attacking armies from the surrounding countries.
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Except for the part about growing up in Pennsylvania, I could have written those opening lines. In an open letter that I wrote to Neil Sedaka four years ago, asking him to cancel an upcoming concert in Israel, you can read a bit about my own personal background. (The letter was ignored)
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I am thankful that there are many of us, Jews that oppose the ethnic cleansing and genocidal policies sanction by the State of Israel. Most are no longer silent, they are quite vocal and active in their beliefs as can be seen in THIS post.
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THIS link will take you to a post from the archives that is long, but it is a must read for anyone who is Jewish. It explains the Arab position on many problems still facing us today. It could be an eyeopener for many who refuse to look at the ‘other side’.
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For the non Jew to speak out against Israel, there could be ugly consequences. The truth hurts, especially if it is muttered by an ‘outsider’ as in the case of Helen Thomas. The truth has always been the greatest enemy of zionism.
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Yes, Jews suffered …. but that does not give them licence to inflict suffering on others. NEVER AGAIN means just that! NEVER AGAIN …. to ANYONE. There are others today with identifying tattoos on their arms as well …
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As can be seen in THIS post, not all Palestinians agree with my own personal beliefs. There are various opinions, but hopefully we will all be able to live together as family. I can’t think of one Jewish family I know where all of the members are in agreement (on anything).
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So, why do I Blog? Why open myself up to attacks? THIS POST might explain that.
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There are many people who might wonder why all Jews don’t come to live in Israel … THIS post might explain why. As for those that do live in Israel, there are the GOOD as well as the bad …. never forget that. This is also recognised by many a Palestinian …. one example can be found HERE. Some might wonder why I myself live here … THIS should explain that.
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Bottom line is that PEACE IS POSSIBLE. It is not a distant dream that will never be. Living in Israel for 30 years has only strengthened my convictions about that. HERE’S a glimpse of my own neighbourhood in Jerusalem.
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I will end this by posting a thread that I wrote eight years ago …. it is as valid now as it was then.
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A MESSAGE TO MY FELLOW JEWS
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IF YOU LOVE ISRAEL SPEAK UP FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE!
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I have often said that it is very difficult to remain objective towards something when the subjective circumstances seem to be stronger.
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The case of Israel and Jews is one of the cases that comes to mind. Many Jews outside of Israel support Israel blindly. The attitude is very similar to the American attitude during the Vietnam War… “My country right or wrong”..
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That concept alone is wrong. If you really love something than you let it know when it is wrong… this is not happening in the case of Israel. If you really love Israel then you must treat it as you would treat your own child. Not to do so will only make a very bad situation that much worse. As a result, Israel will think it has a ‘green light’ to pursue its policies of occupation, apartheid and most recently, brutal aggression towards its neighbours. Since the war started in Lebanon, the aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza has not subsided. Do not let our brothers in Palestine think we have forgotten them..
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If you support these policies and actions, then you do not love Israel as you claim you do. You are, in effect, helping Israel self destruct.
In order to survive and flourish, Israel needs peace. There is no other way. The Torah is the Law that governs the lives of observant Jews. Rabbi Hillel said the following regarding the Torah…
“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour.
That is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary.”
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Answer the following questions….
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DO YOU BELIEVE THAT…
*Peace in the Middle East will only come about with mutual recognition and respect and must be seen as just by both sides.
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*Peace requires the end of illegal occupation and settlement.
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*Violence against civilians is unacceptable.
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*Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza are breeding hatred and resentment.
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*It is crucial that Jews speak out for Palestinians’ human rights.
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*The values of Israeli society have been corrupted by the Israeli State’s human-rights abuses.
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*A lasting peace must be seen as just by both sides.
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*Britain, the EU, the USA, Russia and the UN must be persuaded to implement UN resolutions on Palestine.
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If you answered yes to all or most of the above questions then you must act on the situation. To remain silent is to be as guilty as the government of Israel is. To remain silent is to witness the very destruction of the State of Israel… from within.
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Show your support for justice by speaking out against the wall of apartheid.
Speak out against the occupation of Palestine.
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Boycott Israeli goods until Israel becomes a State worthy of your support.
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Show that you truly love Israel and fight for PEACE and JUSTICE… nothing else will do!
MOTHERS NOT BLINDED BY RAMPANT HATRED AND MURDER
July 7, 2014 at 12:04 (Activism, DesertPeace Editorial, Israel, Palestine, Peace, Ramblings...)
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Back in the turbulent days of the 60’s, it was women, mothers in particular that were the most vocal and active force in the struggle to end the war in Vietnam. Organisations such as Women’s Strike For Peace demonstrated daily in every major city of the US. The group started at the height of the Cold War and was instrumental in getting the United States and the Soviet Union to sign a test ban treaty.
Going back a decade, it again was women and mothers that were at the forefront to end segregation in the Southern Public Schools.
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And on Public Transportation as well ….
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Today the situation in Israel/Palestine is horrendous. Murders and kidnappings on both sides of the wall have created a situation totally unbearable for all parties involved. Again, it is the grieving mothers that could be a force in ending this madness, I have always maintained that Peace must come from the people, from their hearts. Decades of negotiations by corrupt government officials on both sides have lead and will continue to lead nowhere. HERE is just one example of a real Peace Process in action … A former classmate of mine penned the Following where she speaks of the anguish of being a Peacenik, but never giving up hope.
Also from the grassroots, a Book written by a dear friend. A must read for anyone who wishes to see the Peace we speak of.
‘No More Enemies’ is available from Amazon
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And now, what could be the beginning of a new hope for a new day FROM
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Asked why they had come, one Palestinian said, “Things will only get better when we learn to cope with each other’s pain and stop getting angry at each other. Our task is to give strength to the family and also to take a step toward my nation’s liberation. We believe that the way to our liberation is through the hearts of Jews.”
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Families of Slain Israeli and Palestinian Teens Turn to Each Other for Comfort
Rachel Fraenkel Touches Hearts With Open Door Policy
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The families of murdered Israeli teen Naftali Fraenkel and murdered Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir are drawing comfort from an unexpected source: each other.
Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat took to Facebook on Sunday to write about an “emotional and special telephone conversation between two families that have lost their sons.” He said that during his visit to the Fraenkel family home, he had a chance to speak to Hussein Abu Khdeir, Mohammed’s father, and express pain at the “barbaric” murder of his son.
Barkat then suggested that Abu Khdeir speak to Yishai Fraenkel, the uncle of Naftali Fraenkel who recently told the press that “the life of an Arab is equally precious to that of a Jew. Blood is blood, and murder is murder, whether that murder is Jewish or Arab.” The two men took Barkat’s advice and comforted one another by telephone.
In a separate visit organized by Rabbi Rafi Ostroff, chair of the religious council of Gush Etzion, Palestinians from the Hebron area showed up at the door of the Fraenkel family, looking to comfort the bereaved.
Asked why they had come, one Palestinian said, “Things will only get better when we learn to cope with each other’s pain and stop getting angry at each other. Our task is to give strength to the family and also to take a step toward my nation’s liberation. We believe that the way to our liberation is through the hearts of Jews.”
He later said that the visit went very well from his perspective. “They received us very, very nicely. The mother [Rachel Fraenkel] was incredible.”
“I see before me a Jewish family who has lost a son opening the door to me,” he added. “That’s not obvious. It touched my heart and my nation.”
The Palestinian visitors also mentioned an initiative spearheaded by Jews and Muslims to transform July 15, the Jewish fast day known as 17 Tammuz, into a joint fast day for people of both religions who wish to express their desire to end violence in the region.
HOLIDAYS IN ISRAEL ~~ A TIME TO LOVE OR TO HATE
September 17, 2013 at 14:27 (DesertPeace Editorial, Ethnic Cleansing, Flashback.... from the archives, Holidays, Israel, Land Theft, Palestine, Ramblings...)
LIFE IS STILL TOO SHORT
May 25, 2013 at 19:49 (DesertPeace Editorial, Flashback.... from the archives, Israel, Ramblings...)
THE EVIL CROWS THAT RULE IN ISRAEL
February 5, 2013 at 11:40 (DesertPeace Editorial, Ethnic Cleansing, Israel, Ramblings..., zionism)
DONALD TRUMP // PERSONA NON GRATA
January 17, 2013 at 07:43 (Flashback.... from the archives, Israel, Israeli Elections, Ramblings...)
‘THERE’S A GUY IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD THAT LOVES ARABS’
October 29, 2012 at 08:16 (DesertPeace Editorial, Israel, Palestine, Ramblings...)
You see everything in Jerusalem. It draws tourists from all over the world, every race, every religion, every political persuasion. Our own local population is quite a mixture as well…
We have Jewish men that dress like these men…
It was once thought that ignorance is bliss… that is certainly not the case today and there is no excuse for much of our ignorance, especially when it pertains to our fellow citizens.
A quote from a beloved Star Wars character, Yoda is…“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
It was expanded by an unknown writer to say…”IGNORANCE leads to FEAR which causes HATE which leads to ANGER, which ends in SUFFERING.”
I prefer the second quote and it is fitting to the following episode I wish to relate here…
There was a woman walking towards the bank in my neighbourhood the other day. She was dressed like the woman in the photo. A man, on his way to the coffee shop passed her, he was dressed like one of the men in the other photo.
She covers her face so it would not be seen by men other than her husband, he, by his garb represents the ultra orthodox section of Judaism, is not supposed to look at other women. But he did, and he panicked. He ran from that woman as if he saw the devil himself. Why, because of ignorance. He had no idea why her face was covered. He was afraid. Most likely his fear will lead to hate and that will lead to suffering.
We cannot continue to live in our little isolated worlds. We have to open our windows and see who else dwells there. That alone will be a start to end this type of behaviour. It might even lead to peace.
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The Guardian’s Comment is free ran the following about my neighbourhood a few years ago … after reading it you will understand why I chose this particular area as my home. It will also clue you in to the fact that I am not the only guy in my neighbourhood that ‘loves Arabs’.
Thank God, Thank God Almighty I am not alone!
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Could the harmony that has developed from an influx of Arab families in an area of Jerusalem set the tone for the rest of the country?
By Seth Freedman
The district of French Hill, which is technically over the Green Line but in reality bears little resemblance to the typical “settlement” stereotype, has seen a steep rise in the number of Arabs seeking to move into its neighbourhood in recent years. Not wanting to be caught on the “wrong” side of the security wall, many Arab families have sought homes on the Israeli side of the barrier, in order to ensure their Israeli IDs aren’t revoked, as well as to avoid hours-long delays at checkpoints as they commute to and from work.
With prices in the Arab villages of East Jerusalem soaring in the wake of a flood of eager buyers, those with fewer funds available have opted to move into Jewish parts of the city, including French Hill and nearby Pisgat Ze’ev. Their arrival hasn’t been to everyone’s liking, with the usual suspects up in arms and demanding that other residents band together to keep the Arabs out and ensure that the neighbourhoods remain strictly Jewish.
One such charming individual was quoted as saying: “As a Jew I am happy to be a racist,” claiming that it was the only way to preserve his children’s future in the face of the Arab invasion. Fortunately, however, his odious attitude is very much a minority one – at least, as far as I could tell from a visit to the area.
On arrival in the town centre, it was plain to see that the more level-headed and sedate residents have no problem with their neighbours and fellow shoppers. Jews and Arabs alike thronged the cafes, jostling for position in the bright sunshine as they downed cappuccinos and mint teas at the outdoor tables. The local bank was doing equally brisk business, and customers in kipot (skullcaps) stood in line behind others in Arabic headscarves with no hint of tension present.
Sitting behind the counter at Cafe Malcha, the Jewish owner spoke proudly of the mixed group of customers who pack his shop every day. “There’s no problem here. Jews and Arabs sit together, everyone’s friendly, and they come from all over, including the centre of Jerusalem and the surrounding [Arab] villages.” He pointed out that it is mainly the secular Jews and Arabs who socialise with one another, “since the religious on both sides are far more cautious.”
Iyal, a 19-year-old Arab who waits tables at the cafe, agreed with his boss that French Hill is largely devoid of any racial tension. “I’ve worked here for years”, he said, “and I never see any racism in the area”. Sitting outside was a group of five Arab workers, chatting loudly to one another in Arabic and clearly at ease in their surroundings – belying the image that some reporters portray of French Hill as being a hotbed of anti-Arab racism.
However, that’s not to say that under the surface there doesn’t linger some degree of antipathy between the area’s ethnic groups. Isawiya’s youth have something of a poor track record when it comes to their treatment of any Jews who enter the village. Many Jews go there to shop, or get their cars repaired, and are often pelted with rocks and stones by the local children, which does nothing to enhance relations between the two sides. At the same time, local Arab residents have made no bones about their desire to keep their neighbourhoods all-Arab, forbidding the sale of homes to Jewish buyers for fear of losing the Arab identity of their districts.
Similarly, one Jewish girl I spoke to had a great deal of venom in her system when it came to the local Arabs. “I can’t trust them enough to live alongside them,” she said flatly, before going on to assert that “they all want to kill us simply because we’re Jews, so why should we let them move into our neighbourhoods and get the chance to?” When pressed, however, she conceded that her work as a local receptionist has brought her into contact with plenty of Arabs, “and the ones I know aren’t like that at all. I suppose I shouldn’t generalise about them, actually.”
Despite it going against her defensive mentality, it is clear that the experience of working alongside Arab colleagues and discovering what they’re like as individuals – rather than collectively tarring them as “the Arabs” – has produced a chink in her armour. While I still wouldn’t want her in charge of the peace process, given her overriding penchant for painting the Arabs as bloodthirsty Jew haters, the fact that she softened her position at all during the course of our conversation indicates that the process of assimilation is bearing positive fruit.
And, in the words of another local I spoke to who said: “I can barely tell who’s Jewish and who’s Arab round here”, the success of French Hill’s multicultural exercise might well set the tone for the rest of the country one day. Of course, things aren’t going to change overnight – Arabs are still treated with a great deal of suspicion by many Israelis, at both street and institutional levels, but that shouldn’t stop the moderates on both sides forging on with their goal of overcoming the prevalent racist attitudes.
There is an aphoristic piece of graffiti sprayed near thecheckpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem that reads: “Fear builds walls,” which is as true as it is depressing. However, one unlikely byproduct of the security barrier’s construction could, ultimately, end up eradicating at least some of the fear that exists between the two communities, thanks to the Arab migration into Jewish neighbourhoods that it has created. And that, despite the overarching negativity that surrounds the building of the wall in the first place, is well worth clinging on to for those seeking at least a modicum of hope from a seemingly hopeless situation.
MY WORLD WAS PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS
July 11, 2012 at 12:04 (Blogging, DesertPeace Editorial, Flashback.... from the archives, Nostalgia, Ramblings...)
A DesertPeace Editorial
In the early 60’s I shared an apartment in Lower Washington Heights/Upper Spanish Harlem with my best friend Tommy. It was mainly a Hispanic community at the time, quite lively and musical 24/7.
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THE RED DIAPER BABIES ~~ THEN AND NOW
May 2, 2012 at 08:34 (Activism, DesertPeace Editorial, Nostalgia, Occupy Wall Street, Ramblings...)
Occupy Camp Kinderland
By Josh Nathan-Kazis
On the fringes of the Occupy movement’s May 1 rally in Manhattan’s Union Square, a group of older Jewish activists gathered under the yellow banner of a leftist Jewish summer camp and prepared to march.
“We have to be here,” said Judy Rosenbaum, longtime staffer of the unremittingly progressive Camp Kinderland. “It’s what we do. It’s what we are for. It’s what we support.”
Rosenbaum, whose days as a Kinderland camper are 64 years behind her, was one of a handful of Kinderlanders who had come out for what activists hope will be the reawakening of the anti-corporate Occupy movement, which has been largely dormant since protesters camping in a park in downtown Manhattan were evicted in November.
Founded in 1923 by Jewish Communists, Kinderland is perhaps unique in the degree to which it has maintained its activist traditions. Its theme this summer? “Occupy.”
Asked why she had come to the protest, current Kinderland camper Bonnie, 11, answered: “My mom.” Bonnie’s mother, Catherine Fitz, explained: “I think this is an important moment…I don’t think I would forgive myself if I let my kid miss it.”
Kinderland wasn’t the only leftist Jewish group with a presence at the Union Square rally. Activists with the New York-based Jewish social justice group Jews for Racial and Economic Justice announced in an email that they would participate, though this reporter did not see their banner over the course of an hour and a half in the crowded park.
Other activists also said that they had seen members of the socialist Zionist youth movements Hashomer Hatzair and Habonim Dror at May Day events earlier in the day, wearing their trademark blue shirts. One activist was handing out free pamphlets of the writing of the Polish Jewish Marxist Rosa Luxemburg.
Like at last year’s Occupy events, protest regulars hawking radical newspapers mixed with hip kids dressed in the styles of Brooklyn’s more fashionable neighborhoods.
The south side of Union Square had the feel of the rock festival. And it kind of was. Tom Morello of the leftist band Rage Against the Machine led a sing-along to “This Land is Your Land” from a stage at the foot of the park, followed by hipster rap group Das Racist playing their single “Michael Jackson.” Later a choir sang the union ballad “Solidarity Forever.”
As young women danced along, one 30-something-looking man was overheard remarking: “I’d kill to be a 20-year-old right now.”
The scene on the square’s west and north sides was more generally sober. Unions representing teachers, transport workers, and nurses, among others, prepared for their march down Broadway.
Banners in the square mostly targeted Wall Street banks and social inequality, favorite themes of the Occupy movement. But at least one argued against an attack on Iran, while another read “Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.”
“I tend to be very anti-capitalist,” said Jesse Marcus, a yarmulke-wearing activist at the Union Square rally who said he had been involved in organizing Jewish-themed elements to the Occupy protests in the fall. “Capitalism makes for workforce discrimination.”
With reporting by Charlie McLaghan
KAHANE WAS RIGHT
February 12, 2012 at 09:51 (Activism, Civil Rights, DesertPeace Editorial, Extremism, fascism, Israel, Racism, Ramblings...)
Peace Now office site of latest extremist attack
Right-wing extremists spray painted “no leftists, no terror attacks” on left-wing group’s Jerusalem offices
Right-wing extremists struck again on Thursday, with the latest graffiti attack against Peace Now’s Jerusalem offices.
The extremists sprayed “No leftists, no terror attacks” on the fence outside of the office, located in the German Colony neighborhood.
Police opened an investigation.
The attack came on the 29-year anniversary of the murder of Emil Grunzweig, an activist who was killed by a grenade thrown at a protest outside Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s residence in 1983. Peace Now executivedirector Yariv Oppenheimer said he doubted the vandals knew the anniversary, but it was still symbolic.
“On this date, it shows even more clearly our feeling that the violence from political right and the price tag attackers won’t stop,” said Oppenheimer. “Without taking care of this problem from the root and dealing with the hilltop youth, the problems will just continue to develop.”
This is the fifth time this year that Peace Now has been vandalized by right-wing extremists. One Peace Now staff member has had graffiti sprayed outside her apartment twice, and the offices have had racist messages three times.
Oppenheimer worried that the attacks will only get worse. “Now we’re in a quieter period and [price tag attacks] are still happening.
Just think about what they will do if the government stands by their decision to evacuate Migron, the violence will just continue to get worse,” he said.
Due to the general strike, the graffiti will most likely stay there over the weekend, according to a municipality spokeswoman.
The attack at Peace Now came two days after the most recent price tag incidents in Jerusalem. On Tuesday, two cars and a stone fence at the Valley of the Cross Monastery, below the Israel Museum, were covered with anti-Christian graffiti, and the cars’ tires were slashed. The vandals wrote “Jesus drop dead,” “Death to Christians” and “Kahane was right.” They called themselves “The Maccabees of Migron” and left the words “price tag.”
Vandals also attacked the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education elementary school in the Patt neighborhood, where they spray painted “Kahane was right” and “death to Arabs” on the wall in large letters.
There are no suspects in the events from earlier this week, police said on Thursday.
THE ARMENIAN HOLOCAUST AND THE CRUCIFIXION
December 29, 2011 at 07:34 (Armenian Holocaust, DesertPeace Editorial, Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide, Holocaust denial, Israel, Ramblings..., Turkey)
Recognize Armenian ShoahOp-ed: With Turkey ties at nadir, time is right to finally recognize Armenian tragedy |
ECHOES OF HELEN THOMAS IN ISRAEL?
December 22, 2011 at 07:42 (DesertPeace Editorial, Flashback.... from the archives, Israel, Nostalgia, Occupation, Palestine, Ramblings..., Settler Violence, zionist harassment)
Tekoa’s rabbi calls for firm action against ‘price tag’ activists, says their acts ‘present settlers as savages’
‘SOCIAL NETWORKING’ HAS TURNED US INTO AN ANTI-SOCIAL SPECIES
June 1, 2011 at 07:53 (Blogging, DesertPeace Editorial, FaceBook, Internet, Ramblings...)