There's Hope Yet

Gabe Pransky was so kind as to share this post on 'The New Face of the IDF' with me on Google Reader (btw, anyone with a Gmail account can sign up for the Common Sensorium's rss feed and get off my email list ;-). It tells the story (briefly) of an Arab girl from the Galilee, Elinor Jozef, who become the first female Arab combat soldier in the IDF. Despite objections from her friends, who remind Elinor the IDF kills Arabs, Elinor replies:

There was a Katyusha that fell near my house [during the 2nd Lebanon War] and also hurt Arabs. If someone would tell me that serving in the IDF means killing Arabs, I remind them that Arabs also kill Arabs... I believe in what I am doing…[a]t the end of the day, this will always be my home too.

So thank you Elinor Jozef for breaking down boundaries and bringing together people of differing backgrounds who share in common that they live in Israel, in a single country on a single piece of land.

As the article concludes:

Tellingly, Jozef does not distinguish between Jew, Arab, Muslim or Christian – in as much as the katyusha rockets from across the border do not make the same distinction either. For her they are all equal; they are all Israelis. And so too is she.

As someone who disavows ideological identities, the Common Sensorium salutes you! At the end of the day, people can't really be boiled down merely to the sum total of their beliefs. There is so much more color and complexity than that. Elinor Jozef realizes this at the young age of 20. Anti-Israel ideologues everywhere, take note.

Non-Israelis Need Not Apply

I really shouldn't be blogging on a Friday with so much work to do so I'll make this brief (my epic blog on my best 10 concert experiences ever will have to wait... ;-(

My only point today is that people that don't live in Israel and don't understand the complexity of the situation here and Jewish-Arab/Muslim dynamics shouldn't express strong political opinions one way or another. I have had only positive interactions with Arab residents of this city since moving here almost 6 years ago. The just-ended World Cup only served to highlight that. I had many 'football'-related conversations with passersby, cabbies, gas station attendants, people out strolling on the local promenade overlooking the old city, mostly with arabs. They were all pleasant and fun - Arabs take their football very seriously.

It was capped with my going to watch the final this past Sunday with my friend David over at his work, JVP. I ran into the former editor in chief of Seeking Alpha there with his son (what up Mick?!) - he works there now and sat in the row behind us. Directly in front of him was an old ulpan buddy of mine named Wahid, an Arab E. Jerusalemite. He does some freelance work for JVP and lives nearby in Abu Tor - a mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhood nearby. The ulpan I attended in early 2006 was mixed about 50/50 between Jewish immigrants and E. Jerusalemite Arabs looking to improve their Hebrew for university. Wahid and I always hit it oof and Sunday night was no exception. He seemed genuinely excited to have run into me and spoke very highly of me to his friend he was there with (also Arab). He's a huge football nut (of course) and a generally very affable guy who spends much of his time working with Jews. We agreed to hopefully meet up again sometime soon (I'm leaving to NYC for a month in 3 days).

I write all this because the general perception among both the left and the right living outside this country is that all (or the vast majority of) Arabs living in Israel hate Jews. For the left, it is because of the original sin of Jewish resettlement in this place, only exacerbated by 43 years of settler activity. For the right, it is offered as 'proof' there will never be peace here so damn all Arab Israelis, let's just dig in deeper to our bunkers, because even if an Arab seems nice, he's really just trying to kill us. Living here daily, the reality is infinitely more complex. Oppinionated outsiders, please take note.

Elton John Rocks the Casbah

After months of lead-ups and cancelled gigs by other supposed top-flight acts (though IMHO, The Pixies and Elvis Costello pale in comparison), Elton John took the stage during the opening notes of the symphonesque (and damn trippy) Funeral For a Friend and rocked the crowd of 50,000 strong last night in Ramat Gan for almost three hours. He was clearly happy to be in Israel, giving a big F.U. to the musicians that have boycotted ('Ain't gonna stop me from coming here baby... Musicians don't cherry-pick their consciences, OK').

Sir Elton filled the stadium with his overpowering baritone and virtuosic piano playing that meandered from rock, blues, and country into jazz, honky tonk and gospel at times - especially during extended versions of Rocket Man, Levon, Take Me to the Pilot and Madman Across the Water. And his band rocked out hard - some of the band members have been playing with him since 1969 (who says rock musicians are fickle?). A few of his band members are straight out of Spinal Tap, which really added to the fun and was worth more than a few good-humored laughs... his guitarist Davey Johnstone wore cowboy boots, leather pants, a leopard print shirt, flowing blond hair, and get this, a double guitar! Totally awesome! People were dancing in the aisles and in-between the sections by the end of the night. I couldn't have asked for a better time.

Here's David Brinn's review from the JPost. I agree with the first talkback's comments - Brinn wasn't all that in tune with the crowd at all times, it seems. Still, it's a decent review. Shout out to my crew - my Tiny Dancer, Simone, Ilana Rachel's 'Alright Right for Fighting', lovebirds/Crocodile Rockers Hillel and Charlotte (who got married three weeks ago!), and Ora, the Designated Driver - you better watch out when she's on the roads, b/c the Bitch is Back, baby! Was amazing to be there with you all.

Peace!

The Neighborhood Bully Strikes Again

It's time for a bit of common sense. Some of you won't like it but that is what this blog is all about after all. Here's the unfortunate truth: The majority of people around the world hate Jews. Always have, probably always will. In demonizing Israel for doing the same thing any other nation would do - namely, defend its people against constant attack, the world has conveniently paved the way for Israel's Jewish residents to be massacred and to simply shrug and say, 'well they had it coming.'

Despite the obvious video footage showing how Israeli commandos were savagely beaten with pipes and knives as they landed on board boats trying to break our blockade of an enemy that refuses to recognize out right to exist, and the proof that this was an intentional provocation meant to demonize the world's lone Jewish state ('Go back to Aushwitz'), the world continues to condemn Israel. Sweden is boycotting Israeli ships. The Pixies cancel a show (do any of these groups consider cancelling shows in the U.S. despite the never-ending drone attacks on Pakistani and Afghani civilians). The Turks threaten to cut off ties. Even supposed allies like the U.S. don't really get our back. The NY Times continues to morally equivocate, as always with Israel.

People like Leon Pinsker in Auto-Emancipation believed the reason anti-semitism existed was because Jews lacked a state of their own; Had we had a country, we would be welcomed into the world of nations. I think 62 years after the founding of the state, we can safely conclude Pinsker couldn't have been more wrong.

So what's a lone Jewish state living in a sea of hate, surrounded by an ocean of indifference, hypocracy and double-standards to do? Is there any place on earth Jews are actually allowed to live? Or by simply defending ourselves in our country, are we flagrant 'offenders' no matter what the provocation or threat to our existence?

We need to remain a thorn in the world's side, continuing to survive and even thrive here against all odds. We need to start playing hardball with enemies sworn to our destruction. No one wants a quarter million dead Palestinians but if they continue to provoke us, demonize us, question our right to exist, push us to the point of existential threat, they will push us far enough that that may be the end result. Same with Iran.

The irony is that the biggest moral blight against Israel - the settlements - seem increasingly logical in a world that doesn't really even accept our right to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Can we really trust Islamists to not shoot missiles by the dozens into Tel Aviv were we to pull back to borders that left us just a 10 mile buffer in most places? Better we can live in relative peace than we cede land to people bent on our destruction and neither us or them has any modicum of peace.

If there was any lesson from the Flotilla incident, it's that when you beat someone to within an inch of his life, and his friend is standing there with a gun, you're liable to get shot. So a warning to the world: Israel has always been an incredibly just, moral and sensitive country. But we're painted as the least moral of countries. Reserved for us is the kind of condemnation that mass murderers and brutal dictators don't even receive (see North Korea's sinking of a South Korean ship in international waters with no provocation only a few months ago as Exhibit 'A'). So continue pushing us up against the wall like the Israeli commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara, continue to make us feel we have no friend in the world, continue to hit us and deny our right to hit back. Let's see if when all's said and done, Israel doesn't turn into the demon we've been painted as for too long. Because our will to live is stronger than anyone's will for us to die. And like Samson in the temple of Philistines (Palestinians?), if we're pushed far enough, only then will the world understand the true meaning of Jewish vengeance.

Working the EJ Message Boards

Check out my 'letter' posted on the main Elton John fansite in response to this retarded video montage asking Elton to cancel his Israel show, which is scheduled for 3 weeks from tonight!

Another Musical Boycott by Another Spoiled Liberal Hypocrite

Got my tix to Elton John in Tel Aviv yesterday (Thanks JJ)! Less than a month to go until showtime.

Some interesting Elton quotes from a recent interview he did:

It's all or nothing when it comes to drugs.
"For some people a gram of cocaine can last a month. Not me. I have to do the lot, and then I want more. At the end of the day, all it led to was heartache."

His take on Christianity.
"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead."

As a gay man, Elton John has no illusions about muslim society in the way (apparently) shills like Santana and Elvis Costello - the latest all-knowing musician to cancel his gigs here for political reasons - do. Elton was recently banned from playing in Egypt because he's openly gay. As Tom Gross points out in the linked piece above, where were Elton's entertainer friends to defend him when he was banned from performing in a muslim country simply for being gay?

The defeaning silence of the very people who purport to criticize Israel on the grounds of non-discrimination and self-determination for the Palestinians says all you need to know about the true nature of their moral character.

Biting the Hand You Should Be Feeding

There was a great piece of journalism by the Jerusalem Post's Larry Derfner in this Saturday's magazine. It tells the story of how after 5 years, the Knesset abruptly decided to shut down Israel's version of the 'Wisconsin' Program which took people off of welfare and gave them job training and job placements and rewarded companies for placing people.

What is most irksome is that the program was just abandoned after its most successful year to date - certainly the program wasn't perfect but according to comprehensive research by the JDC, it was far more successful than the national employment office, and even more successful than similar programs in other countries. And it's a real pity, because it helped society's weakest members - 40% of the programs participants were Arab (many of them women being offered their first chance to work out of the house) and another 33% were immigrants.

So why was the program cancelled if it had been a success and was only become more effective?

According to Derfner, the Knesset caved in to the Histadrut - this country's labor monopoly, which only represents well-paid public sector employees. It was a classic socialist gambit - in the name of protecting the 'weaker' members of society and keeping away 'evil, private interests', the Knesset sided with rich, lazy unions over poor people trying their hardest to make it after many years of dejection and failure.

You see, Israeli socialism isn't real socialism. It's a system that pays homage to high ideals in name only. Its patron saints are nepotism and special interests, not to mention heavy bribery. 18,000 poor people losing their jobs is a small price to pay to uphold these sacred Israeli values. So in case you still hold that popular belief that Israel is somehow more moral than other countries, read the article. The Israeli people may have very high standards but our government is nothing of the sort. And until we find a way to make this a more just place, our leaders will continue to drag us down with them.