Kesher Talk

Jews in odd places: Uganda: Unlike the 18,000-odd remaining Ethiopian Jews, whom Israel recently promised to airlift to Tel Aviv, the Abayudaya of Uganda do not claim a lineage dating back to King David. They converted to Judaism less than a century ago. “It began in 1919,” explains Rabbi Gershom Sizomu. A local chief, Semei Kakungule, had—so he says—been promised a kingdom by the British, but they broke their promise, so he took his revenge on British missionaries by rejecting the New Testament for the Old. ("Equatorial Torah," The Economist, Jan. 22)

posted by William @ 2/27/2004 08:57:49 AM  

Put up or shut up. I posted last month about the Arab Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm, whose mayor said about the proposed fence:

[Terrorist attacks coming through Umm al-Fahm] caused the greatest image debacle to the city. Therefore, we have mixed feelings about the [separation] fence. For Umm al-Fahm it is very good. A blessing. For our Palestinian brethren - the beloved members of my nation, who are flesh of my flesh - and for the prospects of achieving peace, the fence is bad and unfair. But now there is a fence. And from the moment it was built, that phenomenon stopped. What will you say now? Are the city's residents to blame for what happened in the past? After all, this is the proof that it was all by chance. They simply chose us as an access route. What do you hear now on the news? Rosh Ha'ayin, Kafr Qasem, Baka al-Garbiyeh. Why? Because the hole in the fence moved there. . . .

Then the interviewer asks:

What do you think about the idea of annexing Umm al-Fahm to the Palestinian Authority?

"Absolutely not. Ninety-three percent of the city's residents are against that, and I am one of them. This is our home, we are citizens like everyone else, and we have it good here."

What's so good here for you? What about all the complaints of persecution, oppression and discrimination?

"It's all true, as you know. Yet our situation here is still far better than it would be if we were in an Arab state. I admit it. I also say it in talks abroad. It's a fact. That doesn't mean that there is nothing to improve. There's plenty."

Well, Sharon has proposed to put Umm al-Fahm on the other side of the wall, which would at once reduce the militant Arab population of Israel and give the Palestinians more land. In effect, it calls the bluff of Israeli Arabs who use their freedom of speech and representation in the Israeli government to support the intifada.

[Umm al-Fahm] has become infamous in Israel as the headquarters of the northern wing of the Islamic Movement, which is considered sympathetic to Palestinian religious fundamentalists who inspire attacks on Israel. Two former mayors have been jailed on charges of ties to Hamas. . . . even though aid for Palestinian terrorist groups is a marginal phenomenon among Israeli Arabs — most in fact oppose the militarization of the uprising — Israeli security forces cannot ignore the fact the number of cells linked to terror groups has grown inside of Israel.

But the residents of Umm al-Fahm want to have it both ways. Islamist rhetoric is all very well and good, but actually living under the benign rule of Uncle Yassir Arafat rather than the evil racist apartheid war criminal Ariel Sharon? Forget it!

"You want to take us from one of the most advanced countries and put us in one of the most depressed?" says Walid Mahajni, owner of a pastry shop located on a service road with piles of uncollected garbage. But, he adds, his attachment to his Israeli passport isn't just financial. "The Israeli mentality has become part of us. When I traveled in Egypt and Jordan, I realized I couldn't live in an Arab country. We've gotten used to speaking our minds."

"We have a saying here," said Shoaa Saad, 22, "that the 'evil' of Israel is better than the 'heaven' of the West Bank. "Here you can say whatever you like and do whatever you want — so long as you don't touch the security of Israel. Over there, if you talk about [Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser] Arafat, they can arrest you and beat you up." . . . "The problem is we're treated here as B-class citizens, but we're seen [by West Bank Palestinians] as 'almost Jews,' " said Issam Abu Allo, 29, one of three young Israeli-trained lawyers who discussed their situation over a late-night dinner at a pizza parlor. "Mr. Sharon seems to want us to join an unknown state that doesn't have a parliament, or a democracy, or even decent universities," said Mr. Allo, who studied law and social anthropology at predominantly Jewish colleges in Haifa and Netanya.

Of course, this attempt to cede to the future Palestinian State land populated by prosperous educated Arabs dedicated to the Palestinian cause was quickly condemned by PA leaders as well.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said the scheme was "undebatable and unacceptable," and senior Israeli-Arab legislator Ahmed Tibi called it a "racist project" aimed at protecting Israel's Jewish majority.

Well, uh, yeah, that's the idea of a 2-state solution. The Jews get self-determination and self-rule and so do the Palestinians. But you want Jews to be ruled by Palestinians and Palestinians to be ruled by Palestinians. Except, some Palestinians want to be ruled by Jews rather than by you. Sort of - the cognitive dissonance of proclaiming Palestinian independence and loyalty to Israel at the same time produces some contradictory statements:

"We are totally against this plan. We won't agree to be exchanged for settlements. We were born here and our roots are here. I didn't move here," said Um El Fahm Deputy Mayor Zaki Agbarya, referring to the Jewish immigrants to Israel. "I want to stay here and maintain my Palestinian identity."

Well, Sharon is offering you an opportunity to do exactly that: stay right where you are and maintain your Palestinian identity, just by redrawing this temporary fence border. Isn't that what you wanted? A Palestinian state right in your ancestral homeland? No? So if your agitation for the destruction of this liberal Israel you prefer to live in is successful, aren't you going to end up under a repressive thuggish Arafatian mafia anyway?

PS Most recent post on the fence and you can link back to previous posts from there.

UPDATE: According to Head Heeb, Sharon isn't going to give Umm al-Fahm to the PA after all.

posted by Judith @ 2/26/2004 04:22:13 PM  

February 26, 1993. Today is the 11th anniversary of the first World Trade Center attack.

posted by Judith @ 2/26/2004 03:53:05 PM  

Terrorist victims are disgusting, says Hague mayor. As the farcical show trial of Israel's security fence continues, Israeli protest groups are creating quite a stir.

My Dutch wife was surprised to hear from me this week that the mayor of The Hague had sought a court order to forbid pro-Israel demonstrators from publicly displaying the names and photos of terror victims during the International Court of Justice hearing over the security fence. "Wim Deetman?" she asked. "That's funny; he used to sit with my mother on the board of the Netherlands-Israel Friendship Association."

Deetman argued that showing the faces of the 927 terror victims since 2000 was too "provocative" and might add to public disorder during the ICJ hearings. In similar vein, a member of The Hague city council, Robert van Lente, protested the municipal permits granted to demonstrators to display the wreckage of the no. 19 Jerusalem bus blown up last month by a suicide bomber who killed 20. "Our political point of view is that this is unacceptable, although we understand that the mayor has tested the request according to freedom of expression. I believe it is disgusting to use a bus in which innocent victims died in a legal battle," Van Lente told the press.

Much more disgusting and provocative than blowing them up, right? Much more disgusting and provocative than judges who have made prejudicial statements against Israel in the past now judging whether Israel's security fence should be treated differently than that of every other country.

posted by Judith @ 2/26/2004 02:31:15 PM  

Jewish art: Check out Eitan Amir, an Israeli artist.

posted by William @ 2/26/2004 08:54:59 AM  

Jews in odd places: France: On Tuesday Feb. 19, the Jewish community filled the Palais de Congress and Stars of David decorated the Champs Elysee, to greet Israeli President Moshe Katsav. Katsav was visiting France for only the second official visit by an Israeli head of state to France since Israel’s creation in 1948.

posted by William @ 2/25/2004 08:57:55 AM  

Good news from Israel: High-tech investment is booming: According to an annual survey conducted by the IVC Research Center, a division of Giza Venture Capital, investment in "seed-stage" companies tripled in 2003 from the year before. IVC polled 125 venture investors, of whom 66 are Israeli management companies and 59 are other, mostly foreign, investment entities.

Israeli high-tech companies raised $1.01 billion from domestic and foreign venture-capital firms in 2003, managing to stay above the $1 billion mark for the fifth straight year. Although the figure is 11 percent below the $1.138 billion raised in 2002, 20 more private Israeli companies — a total of 372 — raised money in 2003. Moreover, $529 million was invested in the second half of 2003 — the best second half for venture-capital flows to Israeli high-tech since 2000.

posted by William @ 2/24/2004 09:00:38 AM  

Are you a Republican Jew in the Washington, D.C. area?:

Join YJLPAC-DC as we think warm thoughts, curse the groundhog, and get ready for warm days ahead!

Day: Thursday, February 26, 2004
Time: 6pm – 8pm
Where: Tortilla Coast
400 First Street, SE
(Across the street from Capital South Metro station)
202-546-6768 (directions only)

The Young Jewish Leadership PAC is the DC chapter of a national organization for young Jewish professionals dedicated to supporting conservative pro-Israel candidates. More information about us is available at www.yjlpac.org/dc.

posted by William @ 2/23/2004 09:00:09 AM