Kesher Talk

Benefit for Israeli terror victims. Up We Stand, a comedy-variety show featuring:
- the comedy of Lewis Black (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) Todd Barry (Letterman, Conan) Demetri Martin (Letterman, Conan) Jessi Klein (Premium Blend);
- Hasidic Reggae maestro Matisyahu; [I've seen this guy - he's great! - JSW]
- the world's most neurotic balloon artist;
- a raffle including goodies from The Daily Show, Avenue Q, Upright Citizen's Brigade, Late Night w/Conan O'Brien, et al.;
- and much more!

All proceeds to benefit ATZUM, a low-overhead, 501(c)3 non-profit that directly aids victims of terrorist attacks in Israel.

WHERE: Knitting Factory, Main Performance Space, 74 Leonard Street, New York City, NY 10013, 212-219-3132
WHEN: Monday, February 23rd
TWO shows: 8:00pm and 10:30pm
Buy tickets online.

posted by Judith @ 2/19/2004 11:30:02 PM  

It can't happen here? Part IV. Dr. Dot's ordeal of being beaten up in a NYC bar by a German tourist because she was wearing a Star of David pendant made the Forward.

posted by Judith @ 2/19/2004 09:46:26 PM  

Jews in odd places: United Kingdom: A recent poll published in Britain's Jewish Chronicle newspaper found that almost 1/5th of Britons don't want a Jewish Prime Minister, and 1/7th believes the scale of the Holocaust is exaggerated.

The poll comes as the Conservative Party gears up for the next election under a Jewish leader, Michael Howard.

The poll, which interviewed 1,007 people in England, Scotland and Wales, found that 18 percent disagreed with the statement, "A British Jew would make an equally acceptable prime minister as a member of any other faith."

Nearly half the respondents (47 percent) did not fully agree that a Jewish prime minister would be as acceptable as a non-Jewish one.

Of those surveyed, 18% also believed Jews had too much influence in the UK, with 47% disagreeing.

The findings of the poll, which was conducted by the ICM research company, showed that 15 percent of those surveyed agreed the scale of the Holocaust has been exaggerated. Seventy percent disagreed and 62 percent disagreed with it strongly, according to the survey.

The poll also found 37 percent agreeing that Jewish people make a positive contribution to the political, social and cultural life of Britain, with 20 percent disagreeing.

posted by William @ 2/19/2004 08:58:05 AM  

A very cold $2bil/yr. peace. Interesting information from Tacitus:

A couple of my Arab co-workers (one specifically employed as an Arab specialist, the other, well, just Arab) were chatting near me, and one of them mentioned all the risks that the Egyptian government was taking in sending so many arms to the Palestinians via Gaza and the Rafah crossing.

This was news to me, so I broke in and asked if I'd heard right: is Mubarak really sending arms to the PA? They looked at me like I was from Mars. "Oh, [real name]," sighed the specialist, weary at my naivete. "Of course they are."

posted by Judith @ 2/18/2004 11:53:06 PM  

Um . . . never mind . . . The International Court of Justice hearing on the inhumane oppressive racist apartheid Israeli wall? Stick a fork in it - it's done.

The United States and most European countries will not appear at the International Court of Justice to press their arguments regarding the legality of the security fence in the Palestinian territories, a diplomat said Wednesday. Thirteen countries, along with the Palestinian Authority, Arab League and Organization of Islamic States, will participate when the U.N. court convenes on Monday to hear oral arguments, the diplomat told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The number was far fewer than the 44 U.N. member countries that submitted written briefs of their position to the court. The countries scheduled to speak before the 15 judges are Jordan, Algeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Cuba, Belize, South Africa, Madagascar, Senegal, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Yeah. Belize, Madagascar, and Indonesia are going to be directly affected by Israel's fence. Prepare those briefs, guys.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, the ICRC response to the fence is drearily predictable.

posted by Judith @ 2/18/2004 04:25:37 PM  

Israeli PR Dept. Are you good at catchy slogans? Israel needs you:

A nationwide search for a billboard design that best illustrates Israel's progressive policies launched today. The winning design will be featured this Spring on several prominent billboards throughout the San Francisco area.

Local advocacy group Blue Star PR created the campaign in response to the sharp spike in attacks on Northern California Jews. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) documented 118 incidents in Northern California in 2002, compared with 13 incidents in 2001. This represents the largest increase and the greatest number of attacks in the Bay Area in the past 20 years. The ADL found that perpetrators use Israel's response to terrorism as an excuse to assault Jews.

I like the "what Israel contributes to the world" angle, which takes the wind out of the "why do we give Israel all this aid?" question and debunks a surprisingly common misconception that Israel is a Third World country.

A recent example: Korean teachers make field trips to Israel to learn Israeli educational methods.

"The Koreans are convinced that every Jew is a genius on two feet," explains Rosenthal. This conviction is evidently deeply entrenched in the Korean consciousness, even among the educated elite. . . . This amazement at the Jewish genius was especially evident during a visit this Monday to the Torah and Science High School Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Established seven years ago on the campus of the Jerusalem College of Technology, the school has 120 pupils in grades 9-12, who have been diagnosed as gifted. . . . It is not clear what impressed the visitors to an 11th-grade class more: the fact that the math is second-year university level in Korea, or that the pupils were not afraid of interrupting the teacher and asking questions.

. . . The conflict between religion and science was of great interest to the Koreans, who asked about it frequently during their visit to the yeshiva. Based on their questions, it was clear that they concurred with the message that the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Amos Klieger, tried to convey: "We feel that the ostensibly old religion is not at odds with modern science, and that tradition can live in peace with scientific research."

posted by Judith @ 2/18/2004 02:23:34 PM  

Jewish philanthropy: Australia: We added a sidebar link last month to Jewish Care Australia for all our Australian readers (we do have some, right?).

The "oldest and largest Jewish charity in Australia," it seems to function like an umbrella organization similar to the Jewish Federation and UJA/UJC.

posted by William @ 2/18/2004 08:34:48 AM  

Dazzling literature department. This week I've been reading Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, the true story of her childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, told in graphic novel form. (Does that make it a graphic memoir?)

The artwork is stark, almost woodcut-like. The characters practically leap off the page. Satrapi shows us the weird, confusing, terrible events of the Revolution and the early Iran-Iraq war through a child's eyes, and makes her childhood voice believable (no simple task for an adult whose memories are necessarily colored by the intervening years). When the book begins, she is nine and the Shah is still in power. When it ends, she is fourteen and so much has changed...

Persepolis is an excellent primer on life in Iran during those years. It offers insight into how one ordinary family dealt with the revolution, the regime change, the propaganda. It is beautifully-written and beautifully-drawn.

Some might argue that there's little connection between an Iranian woman's memoir-in-comics and the (presumably Jewish) readers of this Jewish blog. I'd disagree, and not just because of the poignant vignette about the Jewish family on Satrapi's street. The nations of the Middle East continue to struggle with the inevitable tension between those who support religious states and those who favor secularism -- a tension this book chronicles and humanizes admirably -- and engaging with Satrapi's story is both broadening and sobering.

Time's reviewer agrees with me. The Village Voice liked it, but thinks it doesn't hold up beside Art Spiegelman's masterwork Maus. I'm actually more with Time than with the Voice on this one (mark that on your calendars!) -- I think Persepolis belongs on a shelf with Maus, and with Howard Cruse's Stuck Rubber Baby, for that matter: powerful stories of our time, told in an unexpected way.

posted by Rachel @ 2/17/2004 06:07:10 PM  

You job search, the Jewish way: Sites include JewishJobs.com, J2J Network, Hatzlacha.com, and JewishJobFinder.com. The Orthodox Union plans to get in on the act soon, too.

Learn more about your growing Jewish online job search possibilities.

posted by William @ 2/16/2004 08:37:07 AM  

Who is breaking the Wailing Wall: "Just as we predicted, the collapse of part of a stone embankment adjacent to the Western Wall during yesterday's rare snowstorm and last week's earthquake has prompted a "dispute" between Jewish and Muslim clerics. Not surprisingly, the Muslim "authority", the Waqf, blamed Israeli building work nearby for the problem; but an Israeli architect said construction by Arabs was making the wall unstable." (Smooth Stone)

PS More on the history of Arafat's WAQF and the Temple Mount. Basically, they are erasing Jewish archeological evidence with parking lots, a side effect is that the stability of this 2000 year old wall is being weakened, and they refuse to take responsibility for it. The Temple Mount archeological devastation is a story that has not gotten as much publicity as it deserves.

posted by William @ 2/16/2004 08:14:02 AM