Religion Dispatches
…on is the result of its own actions. Rather, Israel seems to exist in a parallel dimension—one in which its actions are always justified, no matter what the actual circumstances are. While this worldview may make sense to those who consider Israel a ‘miracle’ it makes little sense to most others; especially to those Israelis, Arab and Jew, who dissent from their government’s policies. Twenty percent of Israel’s citizenry is Arab, and the dissentin…
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…sive and dictatorial regime with a democracy. But those of us with ties to Israel tend to see a more complicated picture, with Israel tracking the unfolding events and viewing a potentially democratic Egypt simultaneously as a victory for freedom and a political liability. For more than 40 years, one of the most salient reasons given for the unfailing US support of Israel was that it was “the only democracy in the Middle East.” One can, of course,…
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…hink the state of Israel should do it,” said Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezal*]}*el Smotrich, earlier this year. Though shocking to many at the time, it now seems like a popular sentiment among Israel’s political class since Hamas militants invaded southern Israel, attacking a kibbutz, a music festival, and civilian outposts, killing hundreds in a particularly brutal fashion. What came next was as familiar as it was predictable: Prime Minister Benjami…
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…Warsaw Ghetto and they’re not living in concentration camps. Holocaust parallels only illustrate the extent to which Zionism is in a deep crisis of identity. Thomas Friedman famously claimed Israel had become, or is susceptible to become, “Yad Vashem with an air force.” He was criticized, and the remark was overly provocative, but when one hears Israel’s president and prime minister openly make Holocaust comparisons, they simply affirm Friedman’s…
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…f Christianity… The German persecution of a whole race seems to have no parallel in history.” What then, according to Gandhi, were the Jews of Germany to do? If someone with courage and vision can arise among them to lead them in nonviolent action, the winter of their despair can in the twinkling of an eye be turned into the summer of hope. And what has today become a degrading manhunt can be turned into a calm and determined stand by unarmed men…
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…ober 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, which included the horrific murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians. In response, Israel launched an unprecedented wave of deadly bombardment across the Gaza Strip, murdering thousands of Palestinian civilians, denying food, water and electricity to residents of the besieged enclave in an act of brutal collective punishment, and causing a mass displacement of hundre…
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…g Palestinian rights while also raising the ability of Jews to build critical alliances with other vulnerable minorities. While advocates of the JDA hold a wide variety of beliefs about the future of Israel/Palestine—whether two states, a binational state, or some sort of confederation—all are committed to equality for everyone who currently lives “between the river and the sea.” This means that Jewish security cannot justify Jewish supremacy or P…
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…hristian advocates converged in Washington D.C. to demand U.S. support for Israel. This was the summer of 2006. Israel’s invasion of Lebanon had entered its second week when affiliates of the newly formed organization Christians United for Israel (CUFI) met with lawmakers in solidarity at a time when the international community urged the U.S. to pressure Israel on its use of excessive force. The destruction and civilian death toll didn’t alter the…
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…support for Israel one of the pillars of evangelical politics. When Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority in 1979 he made unconditional support for Israel a part of the organization’s platform. Both Graham and Roberts—who died in December at the age of 91—had a significant role in transforming the religious landscape of the twentieth century. With the help of radio, and later television, millions across the globe received their message and were…
Read More…ng-standing monopoly on defining what it means to be a proper Jew and “pro-Israel” has unleashed vicious witch-hunting and guilt-by-association tactics to discredit a rival. The conservatives, like Weekly Standard contributor Michael Goldfarb (formerly a John McCain campaign spokeperson), former American Israel Public Affairs Committee staffer Lenny Ben-David, and the Zionist group Stand With Us, have engaged in the worst kind of bogus litmus test…
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