Good news (from Reuters): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul until next month amid fears that Israel's worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.
It shouldn't escape our consciousness that this was an attempt to turn the Supreme Court of Israel into an ultra-right wing puppet judiciary which "Bibi" thinks would protect him from prosecution. Hasn't that already happened here?
I have no religious loyalties. But I am impressed with the Jewish traditions of asking questions. The Seder we have (Jewish wife) is loaded with questions. Jewish clergy frequently ask how the principles of their faith will apply to a rapidly changing world. That's called intelligence.
Looking back at the late 40s when Israel was "formed" - what it took to get there - Jewish lives AND Palestinian lives - I have been really ticked off watching these "settlers" continue to push out the people who originally lived there. Boy does that sound familiar! Consider our NATIVE Americans & what was done to them - African Americans and others who were colonized into oblivion - why would the Jews do any differently in their new country? Netanyahu certainly seems to be yet another version of our own attempted dictator. Doesnt bode well for us - looking at that.
This is very inspiring news. I was so disgusted when the corrupt Netanyahu became Prime Minister again. What an impressive display of solidarity among the Israeli people. As we used to say back in the 60s..Power to the People!
Well said TC. Israel has always been a bafflement to me, part heaven and part hell. It often seems at odds with the values of my Jewish friends here who are among the most socially conscious and kind people I know. This recent uprising is heartening and inspiring.
Thank you for using a term other than "reform" in reference to Mr. Nitwityahoo's attempted perversion of the Israeli court system. Reform used to mean a change or set of changes implemented for the purpose of improving an existing situation, but it has lately been used to mean any change for any reason and that has put a notionally positive light on any number of inherently negative acts including the various voting restrictions that have been put in place in this country in the last few years.
Excellent piece of writing too, but you knew that.
The media has been late to the game in covering and reporting on the protest demonstrations, possibly because they thought they were temporary displays of discontent. I believe it is the young people in Israel who are leading the charge against tampering with the balance between the courts and whomever the PM of the day is. It's very telling that the head of Israeli defense voiced disagreement with the planned neutering of the court and was fired by Netanyahu the next day. And it's very puzzling that there is a radical right wing in Israel. Almost like historical amnesia.
The radical right wing in Israel goes back to the days of the OG fascists and nazis. Likud was founded by admirers of Mussolini, and several of their anti-British terrorist leaders were involved in cooperating with Gestapo and SS agents sent to Palestine to create "trouble" as late as 1938-39, after Kristallnacht. Among those "leaders" was Netanyahu's father.
Not sure a religious faith system has much to do with Israel at this point in its evolution; the legitimate question "where was G-d in the camps?" and the trauma of the Shoah seemed to have put faith and belief deeply underground.
Nevertheless, answers have been given; see Melissa Raphael's 'The Feminine Face of Good in Auschwitz,' where women's washing of the bodies of others, "...were a means of washing the gross profanation of Auschwitz from the body of Israel...faithful to Jewish covenantal obligations of sanctification..." Estimates of religious belief in Israel range from 20% to perhaps as high as the mid-fifties, depending on where one looks. From the beginning to today, there were very few 'religious believers' among its leaders, and most could not provide a straightforward answer to the question, Who is your G-d?
As the following article suggests, there are issues that are not being directly addressed by the current protests, either religiously or culturally, and certainly not politically.
Jerusalem Post
Israel is not, cannot be democratic based on Jewish superiority
By GERSHON BASKIN
3-16-23
"At the demonstrations for saving Israel’s democracy, I carry a sign that says, “There is no democracy with occupation.” It is not very popular, and at every demonstration, some people feel compelled to tell me that it is not in the right place. My answer is that those words are central to the struggle for Israel’s democracy and if they don’t like it, they should deal with it. For me, that is the essence of what I am protesting.
I know that the majority of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have taken to the streets are not there because of the occupation. Most Israelis still accept the anomaly of the concept of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. I also once believed that it was possible for Israel to be the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people.
I don’t believe that anymore. There have been too many years of systemic discrimination against Israel’s Palestinian citizens; too many years of Israel occupying and controlling millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; too many years of talking about the Palestinians as a “demographic threat.” Israel is not, and cannot be democratic based on Jewish superiority – meaning preference for Israel’s Jewish citizens....The unfortunate reality is that for 75 years we have kept a façade of democracy. We can even convince a majority of Israelis that there is genuine democracy. We can even get a majority of the member states of the OECD countries to believe that Israel is a democracy. But if we are truly honest with ourselves, we all know that democracy and inequality cannot exist together.
There is no equality for all of its citizens
No honest Israeli citizen can claim that the Palestinian citizens of Israel live as equal citizens in the State of Israel. Israel has never even seriously considered passing a Basic Law for the equality of all of its citizens. No honest Israeli can claim that the military control over millions of Palestinians, without the most basic civil, human and political rights, can really be called a democracy.
No one on the right wing of Israeli politics has any plan for the future of the occupied territories (even if they call them liberated Judea and Samaria) that includes equality and democracy for the Palestinians living there. Most left-wingers still hold onto to the probably unviable two-state solution for the territories and do not consider any genuine democratic option, including equality.
SINCE THE founding of Israel in 1948, more than 900 communities (villages, towns, cities) have been built for Jewish Israelis, but none for Palestinian citizens of Israel except for a small number of government-planned towns intended to house Palestinians displaced from their original communities by Israel..."
It all sounds a bit like our own history, and if we dug a bit more deeply, like what passes for 'religion' in the 'christian' us of a. It's all just another fine mess.
Here's a different take on the Hollywood schmucks. It's tough to watch the hyper-violent opening scene of this documentary, but is it ever worth it. I'm not a M.o.T. myself, but I greatly admire the ideas and contributions that Jews have made to the world.
You g et no disagreement here. The "Hollywood Jews" as I used that term are the ones best described in "What Makes Sammy Run?" There's as many Gentiles as Jews in that collection of crudbirds. It's highly unlikely that the American film industry would have developed as it did if a bunch of "outsiders" hadn't seen it as an opprotunity no one else was taking and stepped in. Neal Gabler's "An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Created Hollywood" is excellent history of these people.
seen it, probably twice. it's a good documentary, even if somewhat incomplete.
and one doesn't usually think of Warner Bros. as a particularly courageous bunch of guys, but they DID do the first feature about Nazis in the US, even if the truth turned out to be a lot worse than the movie ("Confessions of a Nazi Spy") indicates.
They not only made the movie (in 1938), but took a lot of heat from their fellow Hollywood Jews for doing it and causing trouble. Hollywood didn't want to get into this because the German film market for American films was the most profitable in Europe. And they got really POed at Warners when the Germans used that movie to ban US films from German exhibition.
Thank you for this. I have been so disgusted with Bibi and his cronies. He’s just a chump type when Israel needs the real thing. I’ve watched as the situation has deteriorated, especially when that crook was re-elected. May we have the courage to reject crooks on our doorstep.
The story of Israel will always be about being surrounded by 47 Muslim countries committed to destroying Israel. I'm saddened to see open strife within, but I admire their initiative and persistence.
It shouldn't escape our consciousness that this was an attempt to turn the Supreme Court of Israel into an ultra-right wing puppet judiciary which "Bibi" thinks would protect him from prosecution. Hasn't that already happened here?
I have no religious loyalties. But I am impressed with the Jewish traditions of asking questions. The Seder we have (Jewish wife) is loaded with questions. Jewish clergy frequently ask how the principles of their faith will apply to a rapidly changing world. That's called intelligence.
This is good news. May Justice for All prevail everywhere. Ok, I readily admit I'm a dreamer, but one must always have hope...
Without the dream, there is no goal.
Looking back at the late 40s when Israel was "formed" - what it took to get there - Jewish lives AND Palestinian lives - I have been really ticked off watching these "settlers" continue to push out the people who originally lived there. Boy does that sound familiar! Consider our NATIVE Americans & what was done to them - African Americans and others who were colonized into oblivion - why would the Jews do any differently in their new country? Netanyahu certainly seems to be yet another version of our own attempted dictator. Doesnt bode well for us - looking at that.
This is very inspiring news. I was so disgusted when the corrupt Netanyahu became Prime Minister again. What an impressive display of solidarity among the Israeli people. As we used to say back in the 60s..Power to the People!
Whoo hoo TC!!! Thanks so much
for this post. I've been following
this justifiable event in Israel and
so impressed with the people
standing up for JUSTICE.
Well said TC. Israel has always been a bafflement to me, part heaven and part hell. It often seems at odds with the values of my Jewish friends here who are among the most socially conscious and kind people I know. This recent uprising is heartening and inspiring.
Thank you for using a term other than "reform" in reference to Mr. Nitwityahoo's attempted perversion of the Israeli court system. Reform used to mean a change or set of changes implemented for the purpose of improving an existing situation, but it has lately been used to mean any change for any reason and that has put a notionally positive light on any number of inherently negative acts including the various voting restrictions that have been put in place in this country in the last few years.
Excellent piece of writing too, but you knew that.
Thanks, TC, for a wise post, and thanks to many Israelis for working so hard to prevent Netanyahu's efforts to subvert their judiciary.
yes, it really did my heart good to see those massive protests, which seem to have worked (so far).
as I keep saying, there's always been a large Israeli Left. the trouble is, they don't tend to make it into OUR news sources.
but this one was BIG.
good for them.
The media has been late to the game in covering and reporting on the protest demonstrations, possibly because they thought they were temporary displays of discontent. I believe it is the young people in Israel who are leading the charge against tampering with the balance between the courts and whomever the PM of the day is. It's very telling that the head of Israeli defense voiced disagreement with the planned neutering of the court and was fired by Netanyahu the next day. And it's very puzzling that there is a radical right wing in Israel. Almost like historical amnesia.
The radical right wing in Israel goes back to the days of the OG fascists and nazis. Likud was founded by admirers of Mussolini, and several of their anti-British terrorist leaders were involved in cooperating with Gestapo and SS agents sent to Palestine to create "trouble" as late as 1938-39, after Kristallnacht. Among those "leaders" was Netanyahu's father.
Was not aware of its origins in Israel. Thank you filling in my history gaps.
ditto.
Damn, didn’t know that
Not sure a religious faith system has much to do with Israel at this point in its evolution; the legitimate question "where was G-d in the camps?" and the trauma of the Shoah seemed to have put faith and belief deeply underground.
Nevertheless, answers have been given; see Melissa Raphael's 'The Feminine Face of Good in Auschwitz,' where women's washing of the bodies of others, "...were a means of washing the gross profanation of Auschwitz from the body of Israel...faithful to Jewish covenantal obligations of sanctification..." Estimates of religious belief in Israel range from 20% to perhaps as high as the mid-fifties, depending on where one looks. From the beginning to today, there were very few 'religious believers' among its leaders, and most could not provide a straightforward answer to the question, Who is your G-d?
As the following article suggests, there are issues that are not being directly addressed by the current protests, either religiously or culturally, and certainly not politically.
Jerusalem Post
Israel is not, cannot be democratic based on Jewish superiority
By GERSHON BASKIN
3-16-23
"At the demonstrations for saving Israel’s democracy, I carry a sign that says, “There is no democracy with occupation.” It is not very popular, and at every demonstration, some people feel compelled to tell me that it is not in the right place. My answer is that those words are central to the struggle for Israel’s democracy and if they don’t like it, they should deal with it. For me, that is the essence of what I am protesting.
I know that the majority of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have taken to the streets are not there because of the occupation. Most Israelis still accept the anomaly of the concept of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. I also once believed that it was possible for Israel to be the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people.
I don’t believe that anymore. There have been too many years of systemic discrimination against Israel’s Palestinian citizens; too many years of Israel occupying and controlling millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; too many years of talking about the Palestinians as a “demographic threat.” Israel is not, and cannot be democratic based on Jewish superiority – meaning preference for Israel’s Jewish citizens....The unfortunate reality is that for 75 years we have kept a façade of democracy. We can even convince a majority of Israelis that there is genuine democracy. We can even get a majority of the member states of the OECD countries to believe that Israel is a democracy. But if we are truly honest with ourselves, we all know that democracy and inequality cannot exist together.
There is no equality for all of its citizens
No honest Israeli citizen can claim that the Palestinian citizens of Israel live as equal citizens in the State of Israel. Israel has never even seriously considered passing a Basic Law for the equality of all of its citizens. No honest Israeli can claim that the military control over millions of Palestinians, without the most basic civil, human and political rights, can really be called a democracy.
No one on the right wing of Israeli politics has any plan for the future of the occupied territories (even if they call them liberated Judea and Samaria) that includes equality and democracy for the Palestinians living there. Most left-wingers still hold onto to the probably unviable two-state solution for the territories and do not consider any genuine democratic option, including equality.
SINCE THE founding of Israel in 1948, more than 900 communities (villages, towns, cities) have been built for Jewish Israelis, but none for Palestinian citizens of Israel except for a small number of government-planned towns intended to house Palestinians displaced from their original communities by Israel..."
It all sounds a bit like our own history, and if we dug a bit more deeply, like what passes for 'religion' in the 'christian' us of a. It's all just another fine mess.
I hadn’t heard. What a relief. That judicial “reform” seemed like a step on a banana peel for a democratic Israel.
Here's a different take on the Hollywood schmucks. It's tough to watch the hyper-violent opening scene of this documentary, but is it ever worth it. I'm not a M.o.T. myself, but I greatly admire the ideas and contributions that Jews have made to the world.
"Jews, Movies, Hollywood, and the American Dream"
https://youtu.be/MXeHnvImcMk
You g et no disagreement here. The "Hollywood Jews" as I used that term are the ones best described in "What Makes Sammy Run?" There's as many Gentiles as Jews in that collection of crudbirds. It's highly unlikely that the American film industry would have developed as it did if a bunch of "outsiders" hadn't seen it as an opprotunity no one else was taking and stepped in. Neal Gabler's "An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Created Hollywood" is excellent history of these people.
the Gabler book was actually the source for the documentary.
smart documentarians!
seen it, probably twice. it's a good documentary, even if somewhat incomplete.
and one doesn't usually think of Warner Bros. as a particularly courageous bunch of guys, but they DID do the first feature about Nazis in the US, even if the truth turned out to be a lot worse than the movie ("Confessions of a Nazi Spy") indicates.
They not only made the movie (in 1938), but took a lot of heat from their fellow Hollywood Jews for doing it and causing trouble. Hollywood didn't want to get into this because the German film market for American films was the most profitable in Europe. And they got really POed at Warners when the Germans used that movie to ban US films from German exhibition.
Thank you for this. I have been so disgusted with Bibi and his cronies. He’s just a chump type when Israel needs the real thing. I’ve watched as the situation has deteriorated, especially when that crook was re-elected. May we have the courage to reject crooks on our doorstep.
Well said!
The story of Israel will always be about being surrounded by 47 Muslim countries committed to destroying Israel. I'm saddened to see open strife within, but I admire their initiative and persistence.