War and peace in Israel/Palestine

"US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation" seeks new Executive Director

2009-07-03T16:46:00.001+03:00

Lest I be branded a traitor (and therefore not worthy of Israeli citizenship) by the Liebermanites, I attach the following without comment…. JOB OPENING—EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a national coalition of nearly 300 organizations working to change U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law, and equality, is now hiring

Israeli schizophrenia

2009-06-27T00:18:00.001+03:00

I heard a report on the radio yesterday that former Israeli Chief Justice (of the Supreme Court) Aharon Barak said at a conference in Tel Aviv yesterday “If you would ask Israelis if they want equality for Arabs in Israel, they would say yes. If you would ask them if they want to throw the Arabs into the sea, they would also say yes. And they don’t see any contradiction between the two”.

2009-06-20T05:34:00.002+03:00

David, We're home finally and so I've had a chance to read this... I could hardly bear it...My stomach began to feel weird and I felt shame for the human race. The sense of power that this gives the IDF is appalling and undermines the integrity of the situation. The excuse that it has to do with Shalit doesn't ring true for me. It feels totally punitive. I actually felt ashamed reading it.

Bibi's speech - an analysis

2009-06-14T22:53:00.000+03:00

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech this evening at Bar-Ilan University in Israel will doubtless be analyzed to pieces by all those with infinite patience for miniscule steps on the path to an Israeli-Palestinian peace. Bibi’s points: 1. He’s ready to start with ‘unconditional’ negotiations with the Palestinians, and then he lays outs his

2009-06-13T19:51:00.002+03:00

The following article appeared in the magazine of the Haaretz weekend edition yesterday. There is something terrible in the banality and organization of this oppression and ghettoization. Once again memories of another past which totally escape the Jewish public in Israel. Last update - 16:04 11/06/2009 By Yotam Feldman and Uri BlauEvery week about 10 officers from the Israel Defence

AN ISRAELI CALL FOR URGENT HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN GAZA

2009-01-14T19:54:00.000+02:00

A Clear and Present Danger A Call for Urgent Humanitarian Action in Gaza by 9 Israeli Human Rights Organizations January 14, 2009 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Defense Minister Ehud Barak Chief of Staff Lieut. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi OC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant Atty. Gen. Menachem Mazuz RE: Warning of a clear and present danger to the lives and well-being of tens of

2009-01-14T14:45:00.002+02:00

AN INTERFAITH DECLARATION FOR PEACE (from Boston)We, members and leaders of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities in Greater Boston - all having deep and symbolic ties to the land and peoples of the MiddleEast - are anguished by the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza. Recognizing the legitimate needs of all peoples, including all those living in

2009-01-14T11:54:00.002+02:00

Israeli and Palestinian narratives Although it’s difficult at an emotional time like this to study the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it’s important. Some valuable work has been done by the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East . One can download and read workbooks they have produced which present (side by side) the Palestinian and

2009-01-14T09:58:00.003+02:00

A letter from a Rabbi The following is a letter send by a British rabbi to members of his congregation:Tuesday 13 January, 200917 Tevet, 5769Dear CommunityI have never before written to the community twice in one week. But so many people, of many different opinions, all full of anguish over the present and hope for a

2009-01-14T09:51:00.002+02:00

Wednesday's letter from Gaza Dear friend 14/1/2009Due to the rejection by Hamas of the Egyptian initiative yesterday, I was expecting a hard night , but I was wrong and I gained a long night's sleep , until I woke up on a very big bombardment from an F16 at 5:00 early morning .I thought that this was in our area only , but I discovered that

2009-01-13T18:18:00.004+02:00

Today's letter from GazaDear friend , As quiet as was the Israeli Southern town ( Sederot ) last night, so was it a terribly violent night for Gaza City , especially the South West , and North West parts of the City !! It was so horrible , I believe that it was the most horrible and heaviest bombardment nights since 27/12/208 .I am living in the South West part of the City , where the

2009-01-12T20:40:00.004+02:00

Israel bans Arab parties from running in upcoming election This is the headline of a article on the Ha'aretz website reporting that the Central Elections Committee in Israel's Knesset voted to ban 2 Arab political parties from running in the upcoming Israeli general election. I was truly shocked until I heard on a news item on Israel's Channel 10 TV news explaining that the same thing

2009-01-12T19:08:00.005+02:00

YouTube wars Just a few minutes ago I received the following email:The IDF ("Israeli Defence Force", i.e. the Israeli Army) have set up broadcasts on U Tube explaining what's going on. U Tube wants to remove the IDF site, using the excuse that too few people are logging in to view it. Please visit the site and encourage all your friends to do so as

2009-01-12T18:55:00.002+02:00

Just Imagine....Just in case this cartoon is unclear, it depicts, under the headline "Just Imagine..." a Hamas jet fighter bombing Tel Aviv as the Hamas fighter pilot speculates "Ha! This will make the Israelis turn against their government! "Think about it, friends, especially my Israeli friends, think about it....

2009-01-12T09:48:00.003+02:00

Today's letter from Gaza My friend from Gaza writes today:Last night can be considered quieter than the night that preceded it, especially in the South-Western side of Gaza City .... But this night was marked by heavy machine-gun fire from the helicopters, in addition to other arms such as tanks , Navy artilleries and F16

2009-01-11T18:34:00.003+02:00

An Open Letter to an Israeli Friendby Samir El-youssef, a Palestinian living in EuropeDear Friend Yet again we find ourselves on opposite sides of a divide where people believe that their own action is totally justified while the reaction of the other side is sheer aggression. Yet again we find ourselves resorting to silence fearing that what we might say could be interpreted as a statement of

2009-01-11T17:26:00.002+02:00

A letter from Gaza A friend from Gaza sent this email today:Dear friend Last night passed as a hell on our area , where I live (For the one who knows Gaza : The house of President AbuMazen is the 2nd House adjacent to my House , where I live ) .From my point of view , may be the Israeli Army started it's 3rd stage , or Israel wanted to send a message to Hamas and Egypt by escalating the

2009-01-11T14:25:00.004+02:00

The "Other Voice" A week ago I travelled down to the town of Sderot near the Gaza border with a group of activists from the Forum of Peace NGOs . Not something most people in Israel would do these days because Sderot is still (or rather once again) on the receiving end of improvised Qassam rockets fired from Gaza. We went to meet a local group

2009-01-11T07:35:00.005+02:00

State of Israel = State of WarAlthough I have lived in Israel for 35 years now and participated (passively) in 4 wars and 2 Intifadas, the penny has only now dropped for me that Israel is actually is a permanent state of war with only rest periods in between. This is amusingly (and terribly) illustrated by Doron Rosenblum's column in last Friday's weekend magazine of the Ha'aretz newspaper .

2009-01-10T23:24:00.001+02:00

Tel Aviv - Gaza, 08.01.09 by Adi Ophir, Professor of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University The assault on Gaza started on Saturday morning, December 29th. In the early afternoon some activists used emails and sms to call for a demonstration in down town Tel Aviv. Almost 2000 people gather that evening in front of the cinemateque and then walked to the defense ministry compound. Almost every day

2009-01-10T23:18:00.002+02:00

Balance of aweOne of my extended family (over dinner): We (Israel) should create a balance of awe with them (the Palestinians in Gaza). For every rocket they shoot at Israel we should kill 100 of them

2009-01-10T10:28:00.004+02:00

The Home FrontIn the "good old days" of the early 20th century and before most wars were proxy affairs as far as the civilian population was concerned, fought by regular armies on battlefields usually conveniently far from population centres. In the Second World War both sides learnt the "value" of inflicting casualties and damage on the civilian population. And so was born the concept of the

2009-01-10T09:03:00.005+02:00

Conversations from a dinner partyLast night Irit and I were invited to the 70th birthday party of a friend from Haifa. The party took place in a large and luxurious house in one of the expensive suburbs north of Tel Aviv. I don't know whether anyone had dilemmas about having the party during a war but I suspect not. We were about 90 minutes drive from Gaza where dozens of Palestinians are getting

2009-01-09T18:26:00.003+02:00

In Tel Aviv they're celebratingOnce a week I come down from Haifa to Tel Aviv to meet my two grown-up daughters. We usually meet in a restaurant for Saturday lunch. I tried to book this week and was told by two restaurants that they are full up. Life goes on and in Tel Aviv the restaurants are evidently full. I imagine we wouldn't need a reservation for a restaurant in Gaza, Beersheva or Sderot.

2009-01-08T09:45:00.005+02:00

A new day dawns(in the current Gaza war)I had literally just finished my last post(see below) when I received the following news flash by SMS on my mobile phone "This morning: Katyusha rockets fired in the north"This, to remind you, was the central motif (for us civilians in northern Israel) of the 2nd Lebanon War in which several thousand missiles were fired by the Hezbollah in Lebanon at

2009-01-07T22:33:00.003+02:00

Random conversationson a random day during the current Gaza warHe: (when I arrived at a work meeting) How are you?Me: Very troubled (by the war)He: Do you have anyone inside? (this is Jewish Israeli speak for "Do you have a personal connection to anyone in the (Israeli) army who is fighting in Gaza?")Me: (I expected a different question from someone who has dedicated much of his life to

2007-11-02T16:40:00.000+02:00

A History of Modern PalestineI have recently read most of a history of the geographical area known as Palestine in the last 150 years written by Ilan Pappe, one of a very small breed of so-called Israeli revisionist historians . He was until recently a lecturer at Haifa University in Israel and now at Exeter University in the UK. Pappe's revisionism is his challenging the classic Israeli

2007-10-30T17:12:00.000+02:00

The prospects for peaceMy (96-year old) Dad asked me today whether I think we are any closer to peace now with the various peace activities that I am involved in. I don't think so. He is worried that a new Intifada might break out after the upcoming Annapolis conference fails. He thinks (and I tend to agree) that the Palestinians (as usual) are asking for the moon. It may seem just (maybe even

2007-07-19T18:59:00.000+03:00

Going on a cruiseIt's trivial, it's almost ridiculous but it illustrated to me for the nth time the incredible divide between us Israelis (mostly western, Jewish and middle class) and Palestinians who live so close to us in very difficult circumstances.I am off in a couple of days on a family adventure - a cruise in the Mediterranean on one of those nice cruise ships. Not a vacation that I would

2007-06-17T22:02:00.000+03:00

Palestine splits in twoFor those of us in Israel who yearn and work for peace and a decent life for ALL the people of Israel and Palestine, the latest situation in Gaza raises many issues.Firstly, it is unclear what exactly has happened in Gaza. What we do know is that armed factions of Hamas have attacked Fatah installations and offices and have killed Fatah supporters, sometimes with great

2007-06-17T18:32:00.000+03:00

Iran 5 minutes from Askhlelon This was the headline of last Friday's (15th June) edition of Yediot Achronot, Israel mass circulation tabloid daily newspaper. This brilliant headline was the newspaper's calming way of bringing home to the (mostly Jewish) fearful Israeli population that we have something new to worry about. The news (and it is news) behind the headline is that the armed factions

2007-05-27T09:37:00.001+03:00

Building an Arab houseOn 19th May, Irit, Einat, my girls, my Dad and I joined our friends Ibtisam and Subchi in the village of Faradis to celebrate building of their new house.We wish them all happiness and success for the completion of the house and the peace center that Ibtisam plans there.Salamaatdavid2@lisbona.comYou can see pictures of the celebration at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlisbona

2007-04-19T08:06:00.000+03:00

Just discovered this similarly named Arab-Israeli Peace Blog - must check it out....David

2007-03-20T12:52:00.000+02:00

This illustration of Iran's Presdident Ahmedinajad (seen at an exhibition at the Museum of Illustration in New York) is a classic demonisation of an unloved foreign leader. Note the missiles as sharp molar in his mouth. Not exactly peace oriented....

2007-02-25T11:14:00.000+02:00

Diwan bookshop in CairoThe most attractive bookshop I found in Cairo for English (and other European language ) books is Diwan. It is in the upper middle class district of Zamalek. The shop is very attractive with a wide range of books in English, CDs and a small cafe. An island of Western culture and modernity in CairoAddress: 159,26th of July st.ZamalekPhone: +202- 7362578

2006-02-17T08:11:00.000+02:00

Visit to Israel of the Dalai LamaOnce again the Dalai Lama is visiting Israel and it seems to be creating a huge buzz. Even though I have only briefly looked at the television news and the newspapers in the last few days, the amount of attention that is giving to this man's visit seems amazing.I admit that my connection to the Buddhist peace camp in Israel in these last few years, mostly through

2005-03-23T06:51:00.000+02:00

Koby Huberman, chairman of Israel2020 speaking at a presentation of Israel2020 to Arab sector in Israel - Nazareth March 2005

2005-03-23T06:48:00.000+02:00

Panel of speakers from Israel2020 at Nazareth Cinematheque - March 2005

2004-01-16T12:41:00.000+02:00

It's strange how some suicide bomb attacks get to to you more than others. The day before yesterday, a religious Palestinian mother of 2 infants Reem Salah Riashi (22) exploded a bomb around her waist at a security checkpoint between the Gaza strip and the Israeli- managed Erez industrial zone. In addition to killing herself, she killed 3 Israeli soldiers serving at the checkpoint and a civilian