XPost: uk.legal, soc.culture.usa, alt.bible.prophecy
On Mon, 07 Jul 2025 21:08:56 +0100, Ron 'I'm not some fucking jew'
Jacobsohn <
rj11@std.c0m> wrote:
On Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:21:40 -0400, rjac@shell02.TheWorld.com wrote:
On Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:50:58 -0500, "Zionism is a cancer growing on
Uncle Sam's ass" <kike_on_bike@yahoo.com> wrote:
An unhelpful discourse on Israel
The following article is written by Israeli/American peace activist Jeff >>>Halper for the Australian Jewish News but the paper refuses to run the >>>piece, despite spending weeks attacking Halper and his supporters in its >>>pages:
The uproar in the organized Jewish community over the prospect of my >>>speaking in Australia is truly startling to an Israeli like me. Granted, I >>>am very critical of Israel's policies of Occupation and doubt whether a >>>two-state solution is still possible given the extent of Israel's >>>settlements, but this hardly warrants the kind of demonization I received in >>>the pages of The AJN. Opinions similar to mine are readily available in the >>>mainstream Israeli media. Indeed, I myself write frequently for the Israeli >>>press and appear regularly on Israeli TV and radio.
Why, then, the hysteria? Why was I banned from Temple Emmanuel in Sydney, a >>>self-proclaimed progressive synagogue? Why did I, an Israeli, have to >>>address the Jewish community from a church? Why was I invited to speak in >>>every university in eastern Australia yet, at Monash University, I was >>>forced to hold a secret meeting with Jewish faculty in a darkened room far >>>from the halls of intellectual discourse? Why, when the "leaders" of the >>>Jewish community were excoriating me and my positions, did the Israelis who >>>attended my talks express such appreciation that "real" Israeli views were >>>finally getting aired in Australia, even if they did not all agree with me? >>>Given the support my right to speak evidenced by most of the letters >>>published in The AJN, this all raises disturbing questions over the right of >>>Australian Jews to hear divergent views on Israel's conflict with the >>>Palestinians held by Israelis themselves.
It raises an even deeper issue, however. What should be the relationship of >>>Diaspora Jewry to Israel? Whatever threat I represented to the organized >>>Jewish community of Australia had less to do with Israel, I suspect, than >>>with some damage I might to do to the idealized "Leon Uris" image of Israel >>>which you hold onto so dearly. This might seem like a strange thing to say, >>>but I do not believe that you in the Diaspora have internalized the fact >>>that Israel is a foreign country as far from your idealized version as >>>Australia is far from its image as kangaroo-land. Countries change, they >>>evolve. What would Australia's European founders think - even those who >>>until very recently pursued a "White Australia" policy - if they were to see >>>the multi-cultural country you have become? Well, almost 30% of Israeli >>>citizens are not Jews, we may very well have permanently incorporated >>>another four million Palestinians - the residents of the Occupied >>>Territories - into our country and, to top it off, it's clear by now that >>>the vast majority of the world's Jews are not going to emigrate to Israel. >>>Those facts, plus the urgent need of Israel to make peace with its >>>neighbors, mean something. They mean that Israel must change in ways Ben >>>Gurion, Leon Uris and Mark Leibler never envisioned, even if that's hard for >>>you to accept.
Yet I see this as a positive thing, a sign of a healthy country coming to >>>grips with reality, some of it of its own creation, even if it means that >>>Israel will evolve from a Jewish state into a state of all its citizens - a >>>bi-national or democratic state. Rather than "eliminating" Israel, this >>>challenge is in fact a natural and probably inevitable development. It will >>>not be easy, but if you can become multi-cultural, so can we.
But that's our problem as Israelis. What's your problem? Why should >>>discussing such important issues for Israel be the cause of such distress >>>for you? Because, I venture to say, you have a stake in preserving Israel's >>>idealized image that trumps dealing with the real country. In my view, >>>Israel is being used as the lynchpin of your ethnic identity in Australia; >>>mobilizing around a beleaguered Israel is essential for keeping your kids >>>Jewish. I would go so far as to accuse you of needing an Israel in conflict, >>>which is why you seem so threatened by an Israel at peace, why you deny that >>>peace is even possible, why a peaceful Israel that is neither threatened nor >>>"Jewish" cannot fulfill the role you have cast for it, and thus why you >>>characterize my message as "vile lies."
This, to be honest, is the threat I represent. Only this can explain why >>>rabbis, community "leaders" and Jewish professors choose to meet me secretly >>>rather than have me, a critical Israel, in their synagogues or classrooms. >>>This is all understandable. You do need a lynchpin if you are to preserve >>>your identity as a prosperous community in a tolerant multi-cultural >>>society. I would just question whether the real country of Israel can >>>fulfill that role, or even if it's fair to Israel to expect it to.
We are different peoples. Israel can no more define Diaspora Jewish life >>>than you can define Israel. Rather than knee-jerk defense of an imaginary >>>place, you need to develop a respect for Israel and Israeli voices, a >>>respect that will come only when you start regarding Israel as a real >>>country. And you have to get a life of your own. You have to develop >>>alternative Diaspora Jewish cultures and identities. Ironically, after all I >>>have said, the Israeli government will resist that, for it uses you as >>>agents to support its policies, often extreme right-wing and militaristic >>>policies that contradict your very values of cultural pluralism and human >>>rights. Remember: Israel does what it does in your name. Unless you take an >>>independent position, you are complicit.
What befell me in Australia is just a tiny piece of a sad story of mutual >>>exploitation: you using Israel to keep your community together, Israel using >>>you to defend its indefensible policies. Perhaps something good can emerge >>>from all this: robust discussion on the nature of Israeli-Diaspora >>>relations. I'm going home to Jerusalem. You have to let Israel go and get a >>>[Jewish] life.
Jeff Halper is the Director of the Israeli Committee Against House >>>Demolitions, a peace and human rights organization dedicated to achieving a >>>just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
http://antonyloewenstein.com/2009/03/31/an-unhelpful-discourse-on-israel/
There must be a Final Solution to the jewish question in order for
there to be a lasting peace in the Middle East. Any suggestions?
"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"
From the river and into the Mediterranean, Palestein vill be
Judenrein!
Yes, a jew-free Palestine is the only solution. Tossing them into the Mediterranean Sea is the most cost-effective way to do it. No need to
provide boats or any provisions; just point the machine guns at them
and direct them into the sea. Fuck 'em if they can't swim.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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