Photo of Raquel Evita Saraswati, www.raquelevita.com
Original post: http://raquelevita.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/watch-what-you-wave/
What it means to have a Jewish state.
"Blood And Religion" The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State
Published in 2006, Jonathan Cook’s book "Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State" is the subject of this review. It's the rarely told story of the plight of Israel's 1.4 million Arab citizens, the discrimination against them, the reasons why, and the likely future consequences from it. Israel's "demographic problem" is the issue Cook addresses. It's the time when a faster-growing Palestinian population (excluding the diaspora) becomes a majority, and the very character of a "Jewish State" is threatened. Israel's response - state-sponsored repression and violent ethnic cleansing, in the Territories and inside Israel. more
The Demasking Law
The Loyalty oath law supports the stance of all the Zionist parties; It demasks the take over of fascism in Israel. more
The Palestinians of Israel are poised to take centre stage
In a quiet street in the Sheikh Jarrah district of occupied East Jerusalem 88-year-old Rifka al-Kurd is explaining how she came to live in the house she and her husband built as Palestinian refugees in the 1950s. As she speaks, three young ultra-orthodox Jewish settlers swagger in to stake their claim to the front part of the building, shouting abuse in Hebrew and broken Arabic: "Arab animals", "shut up, whore". more
Israel's loyalty oath: Discriminatory by design
There are two narratives at work in Israel that have a bearing on the capacity of its leaders to negotiate the creation of an independent Palestinian state next to it. The first is official and intended for external consumption. It is the one that claims Israel is ready to sit down with the Palestinians in direct talks without preconditions and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, should not have wasted so much of the 10 month partial freeze on settlement building before he did so. more
Israel's loyalty oath: Discriminatory by design
There are two narratives at work in Israel that have a bearing on the capacity of its leaders to negotiate the creation of an independent Palestinian state next to it. The first is official and intended for external consumption. It is the one that claims Israel is ready to sit down with the Palestinians in direct talks without preconditions and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, should not have wasted so much of the 10 month partial freeze on settlement building before he did so. more
Harming Democracy in the Heart of Democracy
Over the past two years, we have been increasingly troubled by expanding tendencies to harm Israel's democracy. These trends are extensively surveyed in the State of the Democracy Report – published by The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) in intermittent chapters. The two chapters that have been published so far deal with education system, and with the status of the Arab minority in Israel. The three future chapters will address the Knesset and the judicial system, free media, and freedom of protest and political activity. more
Segregation of Jews and Arabs in 2010 Israel is almost absolute
Under the guise of the deceptively mundane name "Amendment to the Cooperative Associations Bill," the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee this week finalized a bill intended to bypass previous rulings of the High Court of Justice. If indeed this legislation is approved by the Knesset plenum, it will not be possible to describe it as anything other than an apartheid law. more
Shattering Israel's image of democracy
In the Negev, an area targeted for so-called 'development', lies the Israel that its government does not want to be seen. more
Democracy or Apartheid?
"Israeli Arabs" are citizens and can vote, but are a subordinated and marginalized minority. more
Israel Official: Religious Law Must Become Binding
The notion of instituting religious law in a democratic society is a sensitive one in Israel, which is largely secular but marks the Jewish Sabbath and all Jewish holy days as national holidays and has always allowed rabbinical authorities control over procedures like marriage and divorce. more
IDF Chief Rabbi: Troops who show mercy to enemy will be 'damned'
The Israel Defense Forces' chief rabbi told students in a pre-army yeshiva program last week that soldiers who "show mercy" toward the enemy in wartime will be "damned." more