It's been tough to get this blog updated recently, mostly due to a lack of internet connection in my new digs, so now as I wait for a warm laffa with chicken among other treats inside, I update you on the important stuff since the last time I posted.
The biggest thing for me this week was watching this video on youtube and trying to put it into a context that Americans would understand:
As an American, the first two Supreme Court cases I learned about were Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, which set precedents for segregation and integration of African-Americans respectively (African-Americans are still not completely integrated, as is any minority in any country due to the fact that racial/religious majorities will always be scared of an uprising that destroys their rule).
Palestinians are looking at a comparable situation, where the Israeli government evicts them from their homes in order to give them to Jewish families.
Palestinian statehood is a necessity to mollify these problems, but as I continue to say, Israel needs to help. Arab states are known for not being major financial donors in aiding Palestinian development, so Israel must help. For the security wall to work, for Abbas to have real power in the West Bank and possibly have it translate to Gaza, Israel needs to help Palestinian development by improving services such as hospitals and transportation along with basic infrastructure so that there isn't need for people to oppose the state and it can flourish.
This brings me to my next topic: the possible coming fall of Avigdor Lieberman from power. After the US response to the evictions, Lieberman decided to fight back against international opinion by advising the Foreign Ministry to circulate pictures of Hitler and and the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who had met with Hitler to help devise a plan for exterminating the Jews of the Middle East. Lieberman is essentially using the photo to blackmail Western countries into ceasing demands of stopping settlements and condemning the evictions.
This is all a nice distraction, since the Israeli police recently came out with a plan to indict Lieberman for some financial dealings that allowed him to pocket around 10 million NIS while serving in Knesset and as Foreign Minister. Lieberman was reportedly usually careful to not leave a paper trail behind him, but this time was unsuccessful. He had plans to avoid any sort of charges that he got with his deal to join Netanyahu's coalition by getting the Ministries that deals with legal matters under his party's control, but a minister from his party let it continue. So now Lieberman looks like he may be on the way out. Moshe Katsav never thought anything would happen to him, and now he sits as a blacksheep somewhere out of the public eye (probably better for him).
Also on Saturday, a man wearing black attacked a Gay and Lesbian center in Tel Aviv where a support group was meeting, killing 2 and injuring others. Netanyahu and Shimon Peres have come out deriding the incident (still haven't heard from National Religious or Shas, because they probably would say something extremely stupid). And this is definitely a hate crime. I will not pin blame on anyone, but this person was not that mad and blind, he obviousl had some sort of plan to terrorize innocent people who were in the process of coming to grips withtheir identity.
I was in the Golan this weekend, and I have to say, it is a beautiful place. I can't imagine what it would be like under Syrian control, as the Syrians loved to use the advantage in elevation to terrorize Israelis living in the North. But it has such great scenery and awesome hikes that have been incorporated so well into the Israeli National Park system. All I can say is
העם צריך להיות עם הגולן-The nation needs to be with the Golan.
Showing posts with label Jerusalem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jerusalem. Show all posts
Monday, August 3, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Introduction to your Summer Months
This was originally posted here.
As some of you may know, I'm leaving for Israel on Sunday, and I will be writing about my experiences there right here on this blog. While I am over there I will be staying in Jerusalem doing Ulpan at Hebrew University along with working as an intern at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. I have decided to move in this direction of the Israeli-Arab conflict with my major for now, and I hope my work will be beneficial to my professional development along with benefiting the world with better ideas for satisfying all parties in this conflict in the hopes of ending it.
A big issue in this is the United States of America. Support of Israel by Americans is important to the state's survival, and Israel is very aware of this. Yesterday I met with the Israeli Consular General of Philadelphia as well as other consular officials in an effort for them to introduce us to other students studying abroad in Israel, help us prepare for our trip, and to prepare us to be advocates when we return to Philadelphia after our return. This is all very reasonable, and I am sure that I will return with this mindset. But my friend Mariel sent me a disturbing video of Americans who were abroad there this past semester that just disgusted me. Here it is:
Quite a bit of disturbing myth in this, but my favorite is the fat (EDIT: I'm sorry, rotund) girl who first appears at the 1:03 mark and claims to be a Political Science major. I will respond to each of her points right now because she is foolish and stupid, and if you happen to know her, let her know my thoughts:
"I think it's really fucked up that he's going to all the Arab states and not Israel"-Simply put, the relationship between the US and Israel will weaken slightly during Obama's time in office, but in the long-term this will do everyone good. And Obama will make a trip to Israel eventually. Plus, the point of this trip was to revitalize the American relationship with the Muslim world, so staying away from Israel is not that big an issue. He never made a point in Cairo to Netanyahu that was as explicit or status-changing as Reagan asking Gorbachev to tear down the wall, so we'll put your total at one ignorant sentence.
"Oh, he's a Muslim for sure, and who even knows if he was born in the United States? We haven't seen his birth certificate yet"-I like how stupid both clauses of this first sentence are. First off, so what if he is a Muslim? The constitution doesn't say that a Muslim can't be president. And being a Muslim doesn't go hand in hand with anti-Semitism.
Secondly, I know he was born in the United States because he has an American birth certificate that we have seen. Some idiots (read: Fox News correspondents/hosts) have said it is fake. The "Birthers" are insane, but whatever. It's fine that some photocopying error caused the Republican Party to start personally attacking Obama's eligibility before the election, but then again they're turning a blind eye to their own party Bristol Palin abstinence education hypocrisy. If you look at John McCain's birth certificate, it says he was born in Panama. Last I heard, Panama was a sovereign state in Central America that was never part of the United States. Even when McCain was born in 1761 (actually 1936). The exception made for him to run for president is irrational and stupid, but it was never questioned because the Democrats continue to have real issues to use in campaigns instead of personal attacks. Anyways, her belief in this combined with the first part of the sentence causes me to grade this one as 1.5 ignorant, stupid sentences, so she is now up to 2.5.
"Bullshit, he's not from the US, he's like a terrorist."-So when every job you ever apply for in the United States (and probably Israel too) sees this video and decides to reject you, you'll know where to get that first job out of college: BORDER MILITIA!
"Just what is he doing for this country so far? Nothing"-You know, more stuff than the last president who helped get Hamas elected as the majority in the Palestinian parliament and slightly derailed the peace process. And he's actually trying to get the country out of the recession that our last president caused. Democrats as presidents are always cleaning up the economy after Republicans fuck it up (see: Bill Clinton getting us a budget surplus after trickle-down economics failed for the 12th year in a row). And why do Republicans make universal health care sound so bad? RED FEAR so that they can keep their lower-income supporters pissed that they pay such high premiums because the bureaucracy is run by for-profit insurance companies instead of the government. If poor people got real facts about socialism, they might realize it would actually be beneficial for them.
I'm a Political Science major, so like...I KNOW MY SHIT."-The first part of this sentence may be true. The second? We're about to find out it was a complete lie. Unless she dissects her poops to find the stuff she digested and harken back to the buffet meal she put away an hour ago.
Interviewer: "Do you know who Benjamin Netanyahu is?"
Rotund Girl: "No"
Hotter friend: "no"
Rotund Girl: "Isn't he the Israel Prime Minister or something? Who is Benjamin Yahu?"
Exactly. You have no idea what you are talking about. You come to Israel, claim to be a Political Science major, and then can't even pronounce the prime minister's name? You are full of shit, or lard. Or Bissli.
My goal is to dispel blind support and make sure it has meaning. We need to see that both sides have faults that need to be corrected. Idiots like this obese woman need to shut up and read up, and not blindly follow something, because then when someone who is actually informed talks to you, you can't respond. You'll have no chance. Calling Obama a pussy or the n-word will do nothing but make you seem more irrational, but calling him out for specific quotes or policy will do much more. So the goal of my posts for the next 2 months are to kill ignorance and spread knowledge. I'll keep you informed about the news and let you know about my surroundings.
And how about that drunk religious hippy at 2:02? He is by far the funniest part of that video, especially because he smartly doesn't say anything.
As some of you may know, I'm leaving for Israel on Sunday, and I will be writing about my experiences there right here on this blog. While I am over there I will be staying in Jerusalem doing Ulpan at Hebrew University along with working as an intern at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. I have decided to move in this direction of the Israeli-Arab conflict with my major for now, and I hope my work will be beneficial to my professional development along with benefiting the world with better ideas for satisfying all parties in this conflict in the hopes of ending it.
A big issue in this is the United States of America. Support of Israel by Americans is important to the state's survival, and Israel is very aware of this. Yesterday I met with the Israeli Consular General of Philadelphia as well as other consular officials in an effort for them to introduce us to other students studying abroad in Israel, help us prepare for our trip, and to prepare us to be advocates when we return to Philadelphia after our return. This is all very reasonable, and I am sure that I will return with this mindset. But my friend Mariel sent me a disturbing video of Americans who were abroad there this past semester that just disgusted me. Here it is:
Quite a bit of disturbing myth in this, but my favorite is the fat (EDIT: I'm sorry, rotund) girl who first appears at the 1:03 mark and claims to be a Political Science major. I will respond to each of her points right now because she is foolish and stupid, and if you happen to know her, let her know my thoughts:
"I think it's really fucked up that he's going to all the Arab states and not Israel"-Simply put, the relationship between the US and Israel will weaken slightly during Obama's time in office, but in the long-term this will do everyone good. And Obama will make a trip to Israel eventually. Plus, the point of this trip was to revitalize the American relationship with the Muslim world, so staying away from Israel is not that big an issue. He never made a point in Cairo to Netanyahu that was as explicit or status-changing as Reagan asking Gorbachev to tear down the wall, so we'll put your total at one ignorant sentence.
"Oh, he's a Muslim for sure, and who even knows if he was born in the United States? We haven't seen his birth certificate yet"-I like how stupid both clauses of this first sentence are. First off, so what if he is a Muslim? The constitution doesn't say that a Muslim can't be president. And being a Muslim doesn't go hand in hand with anti-Semitism.
Secondly, I know he was born in the United States because he has an American birth certificate that we have seen. Some idiots (read: Fox News correspondents/hosts) have said it is fake. The "Birthers" are insane, but whatever. It's fine that some photocopying error caused the Republican Party to start personally attacking Obama's eligibility before the election, but then again they're turning a blind eye to their own party Bristol Palin abstinence education hypocrisy. If you look at John McCain's birth certificate, it says he was born in Panama. Last I heard, Panama was a sovereign state in Central America that was never part of the United States. Even when McCain was born in 1761 (actually 1936). The exception made for him to run for president is irrational and stupid, but it was never questioned because the Democrats continue to have real issues to use in campaigns instead of personal attacks. Anyways, her belief in this combined with the first part of the sentence causes me to grade this one as 1.5 ignorant, stupid sentences, so she is now up to 2.5.
"Bullshit, he's not from the US, he's like a terrorist."-So when every job you ever apply for in the United States (and probably Israel too) sees this video and decides to reject you, you'll know where to get that first job out of college: BORDER MILITIA!
"Just what is he doing for this country so far? Nothing"-You know, more stuff than the last president who helped get Hamas elected as the majority in the Palestinian parliament and slightly derailed the peace process. And he's actually trying to get the country out of the recession that our last president caused. Democrats as presidents are always cleaning up the economy after Republicans fuck it up (see: Bill Clinton getting us a budget surplus after trickle-down economics failed for the 12th year in a row). And why do Republicans make universal health care sound so bad? RED FEAR so that they can keep their lower-income supporters pissed that they pay such high premiums because the bureaucracy is run by for-profit insurance companies instead of the government. If poor people got real facts about socialism, they might realize it would actually be beneficial for them.
I'm a Political Science major, so like...I KNOW MY SHIT."-The first part of this sentence may be true. The second? We're about to find out it was a complete lie. Unless she dissects her poops to find the stuff she digested and harken back to the buffet meal she put away an hour ago.
Interviewer: "Do you know who Benjamin Netanyahu is?"
Rotund Girl: "No"
Hotter friend: "no"
Rotund Girl: "Isn't he the Israel Prime Minister or something? Who is Benjamin Yahu?"
Exactly. You have no idea what you are talking about. You come to Israel, claim to be a Political Science major, and then can't even pronounce the prime minister's name? You are full of shit, or lard. Or Bissli.
My goal is to dispel blind support and make sure it has meaning. We need to see that both sides have faults that need to be corrected. Idiots like this obese woman need to shut up and read up, and not blindly follow something, because then when someone who is actually informed talks to you, you can't respond. You'll have no chance. Calling Obama a pussy or the n-word will do nothing but make you seem more irrational, but calling him out for specific quotes or policy will do much more. So the goal of my posts for the next 2 months are to kill ignorance and spread knowledge. I'll keep you informed about the news and let you know about my surroundings.
And how about that drunk religious hippy at 2:02? He is by far the funniest part of that video, especially because he smartly doesn't say anything.
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