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Updated 11/08/09 @ 12:59PM EDT
- A pro-Palestinian group is staging a weeklong protest at two British supermarket chains to force them to stop selling Israeli products.
- A leading Kadima Party member presented a plan to establish a Palestinian state within one year.
- President Obama called on Israelis to continue to pursue peace with the Palestinians in a video message screened during a memorial to Yitzhak Rabin.
- The United Nations secretary-general said he will send the Goldstone report to the U.N. Security Council "as soon as possible."
- Reform Jews should eat less red meat and consider more carefully what food they serve in their synagogues, the movement's leader said.
- Palestinian group stages supermarket boycott
- Mofaz proposes Palestinian state in one year
- Obama calls for peace in Rabin rally address
- Security Council to receive Goldstone ‘soon’
- Yoffie to Reform Jews: Eat less meat, blog more
- Wagner great-grandson objects to Berlin Wall event music
- Jerusalem mayor: U.S., Israel should improve communication
- Norway drops war crimes case against Israel
- Obama’s Nobel, Israel’s problem?
- Jews of color come together to explore identity
- FBI: Alleged spy wannabe asked for Israeli citizenship
- Family likely murdered by professional killer
- New signs that Ethiopian aliyah will resume
- U.S. appetite for Israeli food grows
- Female Orthodox scholars helping women talk about sex
- Attacks on J Street as parley approaches
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Posted in: Israel likes speech, stresses security
06/06/09 01:58 PM
When I hear the right wing Israeli response I have to ask "What speech were some Israelies listening to?" I'm a Jew and what I heard is Obama make many more demands on Islamic countries than he did on Israel. He asked them to drop their racist rhetoric , to embrace respect and freedom for all to worship as they wish, to stop spreading revisionist lies about the Holocaust, to grant equality to women and to basically embrace the values of countries in the West. He even asked them to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish people's right to their homeland. It appears to me, that Obama's brilliant speech was directed at the young and moderate within Arab countries. All he asked of Israel was to put a freeze on settlements and its about time for that. Much was made of the fact that he didn't use the word "terrorists". In my opinion his use of "religious extremists" was much more powerful because they are the "seed" of terrorism. After all, while not every extremist is a terrorist, every single terrorist (of all stripes) is an extremist. Bless you Obama. Unfortunately many in the world are too blinded by their own insecurities, fears, hysterical and historical paranoia to truly listen to what you really said. You're a once in a lifetime leader. My only wish is that you stay safe from all of the crazies in the world (including the religious settlers who believe that God (the master real estate agent) gave them title over the land.
Posted in: Netanyahu faces moment of truth
03/16/09 02:12 PM
As a Jew and a lover of the Jewish state, I find the right wing responses on this blog very scary. So many of them, like all religious fanatics, profess to know exactly what God is thinking and relegate him to the role of real estate agent. Shame on all of you. If peace in the region depends on Fundamentalists of the Moslem and Jewish stripe, God help us all! Its time for the moderates on all sides to begin a dialogue. And for those who say there aren't any on the other side. You're wrong! I've met quite a few. Check out the website ArabsforIsrael.com, as well as ishadmanji.com. There are more and more journalists from Arab countries that are speaking about liberalization. What ever happened to that wise philosophy - "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? I hate to say it, but I'm totally disgusted with most of the bloggers on this post.
Posted in: Orthodox group: Rabbi violated rules by joining National Prayer Service
01/22/09 06:48 PM
Sorry for the pun but Rav Herring is a red "herring" when it comes to this issue. Thank you Rab Lookstein for considering the broader - more ecumenical and more humane - picture. I fail to see how anyone can be so insecure in their faith that they won't allow another rabbi to participate in the inauguration of a new president - just because its in a church. This isn't pre-war Poland. Its America. There are no cossacks and no pogroms and no great effort by the general population to try to convert Jews. Get with it. You can still be orthodox while respecting other faiths and participating in such a momentous occaision. Don't worry! I've been to weddings in churches and guess what? I'm still a Jew!!!!
Posted in: Amid anti-Semitic storm, Europe's Jews stand for Israel
01/15/09 02:58 PM
I am generally extremely pro Israel. However, I believe that the time for Israel to have launched a major PR initiative would have been months ago, before they launched their offensive. It would have been relatively easy to get sympathy from the western world if they showed graphic images of Israel's victims along with interviews of ordinary people living in the line of fire of Hamas rockets. Now, unfortunately these pictures pale in comparison to the images of injured and dead children coming out of Gaza. It would also have been helpful had Israel turned to the west for sympathy and diplomatic assistance prior to going it alone. Even if the world didn't help, the PR campaign would have shown the legitimacy and lack of choice for Israel's actions. Unfortunately, the time for any country to simply go off and attack another on their own is over. Look at what happened to Bush and America's image abroad as a result of him playing the Lone Cowboy in Iraq. Unfortunately Israel may win the physical battle but she has definitely lost the battle of public opinion. The special tragedy here is that civilians - unlike Lebanon, have no place to run to. Somehow Egypt is getting off scott-free for refusing to open its borders in order to save civilian lives. I'm not questioning Israel's justifications for defending itself against Hamas terror. I'm questioning the faulty and shortsighted PR tactics that Israel has launched understandably much too late for the world. At this moment its understandably become impossible to justify the feeble images from Israel with the horrific ones from Gaza.
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