Pro-Israel, Pro-Freedom of Speech

Dear UJIA,

I would just like to pass on my support and encouragement to UJIA Chairman Mick Davis, after the so-called 'shockwaves' that have been sent through the Jewish community.

I have both donated to and benefited from UJIA-funded activities and am now encouraged to do more so in future. 

As a Zionist, I support your activities.  As an advocate of Israel, I realise the potential for public criticism being mis-used and the need to be careful.  But as a critical human being, I am pleased to hear people speak their mind.

One may agree or disagree with particular views expressed.  However, it is absolutely right that the oft-used phrase "just because we support Israel, doesn't mean we support all government policies" isn't merely theoretical or vacuous.  And certainly the view of another Jewish leader that "diaspora Jews should never criticise Israel" is absurd and immoral.

As with everything else in life, Zionists have a plurality of opinions.  It is good for Mick to express his.  I'm glad UJIA is showing itself as a "big tent" for all Zionists

Shabbat Shalom.

Neil Clarke

Over 1500 Days Without a Visit

This Saturday is Gilad Shalit's 24th birthday, has been in captivity for four years and has been living without basic humanitarian rights.  The Red Cross, who are meant to ensure such rights, have yet to visit him.  Here is a letter that a cousin of mine who works for the Jewish Agency in Israel has written.  She suggests that it can be adjusted to your personal feelings and send it to one of the addresses at the bottom.

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I cannot express too strongly my disappointment at the clearly feeble and half-hearted attempts made by the ICRC to visit Gilad Shalit.

To claim on your web-site that you are still “working just as hard” to visit Gilad when you first failed 4 years ago only means that you have not increased the pressure nor have you shown- for years- any creative initiative.  For one small soldier the effort is apparently not worthwhile.

You have clearly never countered Hamas’ refusals by trying to “upgrade” your own efforts but have just carried on as before, knowing that you will continue to fail. When asked “What exactly have you asked Hamas to do?” you simply ignore your own interviewer’s question and give no real detail whatsoever, just the same old generalisations and platitutdes.  The conclusion must be that there is no detail to give.

To admit on your website that “there is only so much that we can do for them” is a total abandonment of your creed.  You no longer have true belief in your mission, and your double duties as messenger to one Israeli soldier and as protector of the poor and hungry in Gaza have led you into the worst ways of expediency, well on the road that leads to total defeat.  You have lost your own self-esteem and, I am convinced of it, that of many thousands of others.

It took you four years of failure before you even realised that “working behind the scenes” is a pointless, hopeless way of dealing with Hamas.  FOUR YEARS!!  Against this background, you could never persuade any reasonable man that you have been really trying at all.

Please think of these things…

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Suggested addresses:

For Near & Middle East:  dkrimitsas@icrc.org (Dorothea Krimitsas- Media Relations Officer)

Jerusalem: jerusalem.jer@icrc.org (Ms. Barbara Amstad)

International Office: Review@gva@icrc.org

G-d’s response to the Israeli Settlers

Finally, leaders of pro-Israel countries such as America are taking on the settlers. If only were it the case that a) more countries were strongly pro-Israel and b) countries that are, take a stand against the settlers. Thankfully Netanyahu, if only for reasons of self-interest, is playing along to a certain extent. As a result of this, Gush Emunim are revealing their true colours as some of the great anti-Zionists of our time. Not only are they intent on pursuing a course of action that can only lead to the destruction of Israel in the long-term, they are now advocating soldiers refuse to obey Israeli orders.

R’ Eliezer Melamed, a leading (and I use the words reservedly:) ‘Religious-Zionist’ rabbi has incited soldiers not to follow IDF orders to remove people from illegally constructed houses or settlements in West Bank. Due to this, his Har Bracha Yeshiva has been quite rightly removed from the Hesder Yeshivot programme that allows participants to spend part of their time studying and part of their time serving. People like this only support or see value in the State of Israel so long as it does what they want and serves their particular interests. They don’t support Israel; they only want Israel to support them.

His excuse is that the army is there to protect against its enemies and not against their own countrymen. Surely he cannot mean that the army can never be used against Jews. What if powerful Jewish drug barons started to run a well-armed drug empire from there neighbourhood? He can only mean the army cannot be used against Jewish interests and in this case, expelling Jews from their homes. Well, it is not their homes to start with! The ban is only applicable to new houses that are set up without permission. They are most definitely illegal according to the Israeli government and according to international law. Even (or especially) from the point of view of halacha, it is highly doubtful that Jews should be there in the first place.*

Maybe they would say (and I have heard many people say) that as Jews they say that the land is our natural inheritance given to us by G-d. ‘Greater Israel’ is our possession regardless of Israeli or international law; no-one else should have any of it; and no-one has the right to remove us. Well, fortunately G-d got his response in early (through the mouth of Ezekiel):

Then the word of G-d came to me saying, Son of man, They that inhabit these waste places of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one man and yet he inherited the land, but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. Therefore we say to them, thus says the L-rd G-d: You eat with the blood and lift up your eyes towards your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land? You stand upon your sword, you carry out disgusting deeds, and you defile every man his neighbour’s wife; and you shall possess the land?

The land is unequivocally not ours to do what we want with. We may say along with Leibowitz that: “To speak of the divine promise to Abraham and his issue as a gratuitous gift, to ignore the condition of the promise, and to disregard the obligations it confers on the receivers is a degradation and desecration of the religious faith”.

The settlers have an attitude that “it’s ours, not yours, so get out”. Yet G-d’s response is that if you do not conduct yourself with morality, you the ‘land will spit you out’. This shown by the first Rashi which Religious Zionists often use, but which says the opposite of what they want it to say. No human and no Jews has a ‘right’ to any the land- it is G-d’s land and plays by his rules. That is, it is only for those who are Yashar be’einei Hashem- straight in the eyes of the L-rd. According to Rashi, He can take it away from the Canaanites (due to their lack of morality) and give it to the Jews. However, he can take it away from them and given it to the Romans or Ottomans when the Jews weren’t moral.

In summation, let us quote the Netziv who talks about just this eventuality in the time of the Second Temple:

Regarding this came the justification of the divine judgment, because the Holy One, blessed be He, is a yashar, and He cannot tolerate righteous people like this unless they also function with decency in their dealings with the world

Apart from all the political reasons for being against the settlers, and the universal moral ones, let us say it is an affront to G-d.

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* A Milchemet Reshut, such as a war of conquest, could only be sanctioned by a Sanhedrin, which we don’t have. Thus, when the six day war turned from a defensive war (Milchemet Mitzvah) into one of conquest, the government (and rabbis who supported it) broke Jewish law.

What is Hamas?

Theft is Hamas.  Murder is Hamas. Taking women simply because they are 'fair' is Hamas. Brutality to creatures with inferior strength to your own is Hamas.  Eating meat (outside of sacrificial use) is technically Hamas.

Hamas, in a funny turn of events, is  a halachic category that encompasses all the sins above: 

This going after something which is beyond one's jurisdiction and ontic sphere is called hamas.  Hamas is the universal act of interfering with somebody else's right and prerogatives, usurping something that is not mine, the act of overreaching oneself and reaching out to the non-self. (Soloveitchik, EEM, 33)

And what is the biggest act of Hamas?

Murder is hamas, for if I rob another person of his life which was granted to him by G-d... [he] takes illegitimate possession of divine rights. (Soloveitchik, EEM, 43)

Now, names are certainly signs in identifying the spiritual characteristic of the thing named.  This leads us to ponder which organisation we know whose acts fall under the sin that is Hamas?

Please not Bibi, Please no, Please

The title sounds like it should be read in a mock-baby voice. Whilst not the intention when deciding to write about this, it is indeed an uncontrollable cry. My response, rather than specifically being rational, is at base a simple reaction to the a gross unfairness of a world in which Benjamin Netanyahu could lead our Jewish, democratic state? Maybe having such a leader will, Chas v'Salom, precipitate the end of such a state itself.

It is an unfortunate side effect of 'proportional representation' that in a deeply fragmented society, the winners of a general election are not necessarily the winners of the elections! The leader of the party that wins the most votes will not necessarily be able to form a government. In this case, Livni and Kadima may win the most seats in parliament but will end up in opposition. There are so many parties on so many issues for so many interest groups, that even the main parties will only get 30 or so seats, out of 120 in the Knesset. You only then get into government through coalition with many, many of the smaller parties. There is no guarantee that the main party will, and ample evidence they will not, be able to do this.

These small parties get the deciding vote as to who leads and therefore, proportional representation leads to disproportional influence of these groups. As such, you may doubly end up not getting what you voted for. Firstly, the group that most people want end up in opposition. Secondly, even if those you voted for get into government, you will not be able to recognise them post-election. To get the smaller parties to agree to join them, you basically have to cede your policies to theirs. They often get their votes on the basis of a single issue and this is what the main party will have to cede some ground on. Often this will have benign or amusing effect. Only in Israel could "The Pensioners Party" have such sway over governmental policy!

However, in this case it leads to Bibi being PM!! He is the most able to form a coalition as he the most willing to give up on any principles he has to gain and hold on to power. One thing that this will mean, although I won't go into detail here, is an a major step backwards from the peace process. This isn't do with the fact that he is 'right-wing' as it often only those on the 'right' that can make peace. Nor is it specifically to with his views. If it suited him, he would try make peace by going back on his word about a United Jerusalem in a second. The problem is, is that he will have to go into coalition with the possibly racist Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu. Their minority view- one which hardly anyone accepts or voted for- will have a disproportional influence. It will only serve to amplify Netanyahu's hawkish tendencies.

However, in the short term, his policies will not be all that different from anyone else's. They would all continue the disastrous policy of maintaining the status quo with regards to settlements until such a peace deal is made. Such a policy leads to the slow but sure death of the Zionist dream. Netanyahu may (sadly) put off the surgery but everyone will be dealing with the symptoms of the illness in the same way.

More worryingly about Bibi becoming PM in the short term, is his economic policies. With all the attention on the recent war in Gaza, people have forgotten about social issues. These are things which a) Netanyahu is more principled about (for the worse) and b) where policies will have more immediate effects. Moreover, Netanyahu already has a record in this area and people know (but have forgotten or ignored) what he is capable of. This, more than anything else, puts into doubt the building of a Jewish society.

However, rather than saying anything myself, I will just copy an article by Rabbi Michael Melchior who heads the only religious party in Israel- Meimad. Yes, there are many parties with rabbis in or have the word 'religious' in their title. But they are just one more interest group trying to secure a) money for their yeshivot b) a hawkish foreign policy c) exemption from army service d) control over the institutional Bet Din and Chief Rabbinate etc. Who though is fighting for a Jewish character of society? This is what Meimad, founded by Rav Yehuda Amital, tries to do. Meimad is an acronym for "Jewish State, Democratic State".

Here is what R' Melchior said in 2004 in relation to Bibi's economic policies (originally from Ha'aretz):

"The group of children that gathered around us seemed highly amused. Some of the children held out syringes they had collected n a nearby yard, and demonstrated how to inject drugs "like dults." Others cursed the state and everything to do with it. It is hard to blame them: It is not pleasant seeing a closed community center. Near the gravel road the sewage flowed freely, and the neighbor from the nearby house told us about the complex "ATM" network or selling drugs, which is open for business there from the afternoon to the next morning.

Presumably, the million Israelis that went abroad this summer will not encounter such a scene. It is hiding across the road, two kilometers from Ben-Gurion Airport. During take off and landing it is hard to detect the squalid hovels, the dirt and drugs of the town of Lod, but to its residents it is a painful, depressing everyday reality.

In recent years there have been serious attempts to change the situation and improve the town's image. But just when it seemed that the town was on the right course and had a chance, some of the authorities stopped their activity and now the collapse and destruction loom closer than ever. Israel, which defines itself as "a Jewish Democratic state," has become one of the most immoral states in the Western world.

In one field Israel could win a gold medal, although not in Athens. It is in the income gaps between society's top tier and the lower tiers. These gaps compromise human dignity, and cast grave doubt on our right to be called a Jewish democratic society.

It is not a decree of fate. Only a few years ago Israel was at the top of the education pyramid. The Israeli health system also won a worldwide reputation, even though the economic situation was worse than it is today.

We live in a society in which a million and a quarter people - 40 percent of them working people - are below the poverty line. This is a society that abandons 366,000 of its children-at-risk and throws them into the street; a society that treats its foreign workers like animals; a society that despises its elderly and sends them to rummage through the garbage. It is a society, according to information given the Knesset Committee for Children's Rights, where in the absence of standards, a social worker has to devote an average of two minutes to a family in distress. It is a society among the leaders in the world trafficking in women. Such a society is neither Jewish nor democratic.

The magic solution that the Israeli government has found for this situation is bulimic privatization, taken from the economic school of the finance minister. In recent years Israeli society has been privatizing itself to death. The damages of this dangerous trend are obvious in every direction. Thus, for example, Jewish communities abroad were enlisted to subsidize summer camps for needy children. The days go by, a year passes, and in time fashions change. The amount of money communities gave this year dwindled significantly - the number of children at camps was reduced this summer by two-thirds. By means of the privatization, the government of Israel is washing its hands of its minimal social responsibilities. In the best tradition of the shtetl of the Jewish community in exile, the government leaves education, health and welfare to the mercies f the rich philanthropists.

True, charity has always been the main concern of the Jewish community. But this is not what the State of Israel was meant to be. The Jewish state is supposed to and ought to take care of all its citizens, not only the rich ones, so that they can give their children a good education, and provide all the citizens with health and social services that would preserve their welfare and dignity. Instead of a rule of justice, a rule of charity is being established, based on alms collection and mutual back scratching.

In the beggar state there is no place for single mothers, elderly or handicapped people. The philanthropists prefer to give their money to grandiose marble buildings, or ambulances with their names inscribed on them. In the beggar state the Knesset enacts a "feeding law," which ensures that a small percentage of the school children (who of course are immediately branded with wretched poverty) can have one warm meal a day. A considerable part of this law - hard to believe, but a majority of the Knesset members decided this - will be financed by philanthropists. And what will happen when they prefer to direct their contributions toward other causes?

Beyond the immediate risk of the collapse of the education, health and welfare services, those who need them - the majority of the population - are losing their voice. Where there is privatization, there is no responsible minister, and consequently the children at risk no longer have a mouth at the cabinet table.

Those in the upper class can wait two more years for the tax benefits which the magician Benjamin Netanyahu promised them. Instead of reducing the taxes, the government would have done better to direct those NIS 2.5 billion to the health services, the single mothers and the children at risk. Had it done so, perhaps the old couple who "thanked" Netanyahu before committing suicide due to their economic distress could have thanked him in person. Had it done so, the government could have boasted that it was heading a Jewish, democratic state."

David Milliband and I

Today I hate a private meeting with David Milliband- the foreign secretary.  Well, not quite private.  My good friend Dave, myself and about 59 other people.  He talked about Israel and such like to important communal people!!  I was so enamoured with his responses that I can't remember a single word he said.  Either that or it was before 9 in the morning and I was a zombie.  (It's something to tell the parents at any rate.)

On the whole, the answers which he gave were very politique and thus, friendly and positive about Israel.  On the other hand, he was honest and candid.  So, for example, he clearly said in response to a question: "I don't think Hamas has been politically weakened by the Israeli incursion, and I don't think Mahmoud Abas has been strengthened". 

Example 2: he said that absolutely, allegations of Israeli war crimes should be fully investigated just as Britain are constantly investigated for such crimes in other Afghanistan.  That democracies such as Israel and Britain should be held to higher standards than terrorists is a good thing.  It is our values- Britain and Israel's values- that make us what we are.

Other than this, I can't remember much.  I do remember feeling sorry for the older people in the room.  Standing there, all I could think of "oooooh... ain't he young?"  He looked very good for his age and not a single gray hair.  If I was thinking that, what must everyone else been thinking?

Israel and Gaza: Random thoughts 1

· Isn’t it amazing how there is a humanitarian crisis with no food or medical supplies in Gaza? Isn’t it equally amazing that there are thousands of rockets ready to be fired at Israel? If the Palestinians went to as much effort into ‘smuggling’ food in as they do rockets, the situation would be a lot different. Maybe they haven’t realised that food is cheaper, more portable and less likely to be stopped. Maybe they need reminding that it will do a thousand times more to help the Palestinians than weapons ever will. Maybe they just need reminding and now it’ll stop. Maybe but I don’t think so.

· You can’t help but get the impression that the timing of the offensive was designed with the coming election in mind. The Lebanon War was a ‘flop’, the disengagement led to more attacks against Israel, Kadima’s negotiations with the PA are going nowhere and it seems that Livni is incapable of defending Israel. A whitewash in favour of Netanyahu looms and oh look.... a full-scale assault on the Palestinians. Politicians’ motives are never entirely pure, but to play with lives (on both sides) for such a shallow reason is indefensible. Not to say that that is the reason but....

· There was a beautiful moment at Limmud when we held a one-minute silence for the situation in Gaza and the Palestinians that have lost their lives, followed by a rousing rendition of Hatikvah (Israeli national anthem). If everyone had such pride in their country coupled with empathy of the ‘other’ we would not be in such a mess.

Of course, Palestinians might say this is a phoney ‘show’ of emotion orchestrated by the oppressors. “They can afford such pretence”. Well I say, let them think that. It may even be true but the Palestinians don’t even have the desire to fake it! They seem to have given up entirely on such notions as justice, compassion and the innate morality of certain actions. There doesn’t seem to be any protest to Hamas’ claim that Jews everywhere have given up their right to live.

· The ‘invasion’ (so people have called it) seems to have got just as much ire as that of bombing. As I said on my previous post, I found the bombing to be morally outrageous but as for a ground operation I am less unhappy. Of course, if the operation involves certain tactics then I am just as unhappy. If mortars are fired in such a way that they know it to take innocent lives with the guilty, then there is no moral difference. However, a ground operation has the potential to be far more targeted and far more accurate. Bombings in densely crowded areas will always kill civilians no matter how targeted; going in by foot should allow them to target specific things.

· I don’t know whether to be proud or sick when I see Israeli soldiers by their tanks donning tallit and tefillin. A Kiddush Hashem or a Chillul Hashem? Of course, the secular world and the Christian world would like to see religion confined to Church and the inner sanctum of the heart. Religious people should be saintly, spend their days in monkly solitude or on the parish green and not dirty their hands with worldly affairs. “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, Render to G-d what is G-d’s”. This is a view of religion I reject entirely. If it is not concerned with real life, then it is impotent. Plus you have to bear in mind that regardless of the relation between religion and the army, these men are commanded to put on such garments. Yet... there can be nothing more dangerous than mixing religious zeal and deadly weapons.

· It could be argued that Israel treats Palestinian lives very cheaply and on the part of some, this is true. But at least they value the lives of their own civilians. This is more than can be said for the vast majority of Palestinian groups. It is Israel’s concern for its own that leads it release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for the dead bodies of Israeli ones. It is this which leads the name of each and every name of fallen Israeli soldier to be recited and remembered on Yom Hazikaron. It is this that leads us to campaign on behalf of MIA soldiers decades on.

This is in sharp contrast to Palestinian children’s TV that implores people to grow up martyrs. In sharp contrast to mothers who allow their children to be suicide bombers. In sharp contrast to terrorist groups who use civilians as human shields. In sharp contrast to groups who prevent their injured civilians gaining treatment in other countries. For Palestinian terrorists, there is only one thing better than Israeli deaths: dead Palestinians.

· I get worried by the ‘wavering’ of my moral sense. What, straight after I heard the news, was so certain is no longer. What was so emphatic when I wrote my post is now just a theoretical position I hold. What kept me up at night because of its outrageousness seems ‘not so bad’. Yes, I hold that what Israel did was wrong, but not so wrong. I’m influenced by the fact that there is evidence the bombs were targeted, I am swayed by the deaths of Israeli civilians, I have taken in that the vast majority of Palestinians that died were terrorists and I am assuaged by the very justification I fought so hard against, “What else can we do?”

But the Palestinian civilians that died weren’t only “20-25%” of overall deaths, they weren’t part of the “grand scheme of things”, there is no comfort for a family who knows that their daughter has died accidentally as part of a targeted attack. THEY ARE REAL PEOPLE. Yet, I fall into the numbers game.

As I write this I am swelling up with tears. Lest you think that shows that I care, or that they are part of a morally nuanced position, let me assure you they are purely selfish. They are a detestation of my moral impotence and my inability to see clearly. What good is a morally nuanced position anyway? Who does it help? I couldn’t with any conscience join in a rally against the bombings knowing who I was marching with and what this would imply. I couldn’t with good conscience join in the Israeli propaganda. I can’t with good conscience do anything and that makes me upset.

MORE THOUGHTS TO COME BUT I'M TIRED...

The day that Hamas won

I

Today Hamas has got what it wanted. Today it has celebrated yet another victory. Having riled Israel, committed thousands of unforgivable acts and mobilised world opinion against Israel, it has got Israel to perform an immoral act. Providing no avenue for any constructive solutions to the situation, Hamas have called Israel’s “What else can we do?” card into play to justify something that couldn’t otherwise be justified.

To come from Shabbat to find out that Israel has conducted massive air raids on Gaza and have killed over 200 people is quite frankly sickening. 200 people dead. Forget the rhetoric for a minute, forget who is in the right or in the wrong and forget the situation. Were Israel 100% in the right and it 100% necessary (which it was not), there would be no other reaction one should have apart from desolation. If in Judaism we are taught not to rejoice over the downfall of our enemies, how much more so if innocent civilians have been killed?

It must never be forgotten that hundreds and thousands of rockets have been fired into Israel. Israel must never apologise for the residents of Sderot being well drilled in what to do in an emergency, bomb shelters being effective, or Kassam rockets being crap. Israelis and Zionists must always prefer less people to be killed and have less popularity rather than vice versa. Israel must ALWAYS believe it has a right to exist and never be downhearted or think twice. This is not a numbers game and ‘amount dead’ on each side does not equate to the morality of one’s position.

Yet.... Yet... we must never be desensitized to the amount of pain, hurt and anguish caused to the Palestinians through the death of thousands of them over the years. We must never be deaf to the cries of mothers who have lost their children. Suffering is no one nation’s province. Hurt goes beyond ideology, politics or religion. Tears are a universal language. Israel should never forget this and should never perform an action they know to unnecessarily increase this.
They seem to have forgotten this. Bombing in heavily built-up areas isn’t the most targeted thing one can do, now is it? And for what tangible benefit? For Israel to perform an action that they know will cause so much ‘collateral damage’ (which human life SHOULD NEVER BE) is not something to be criticised heavily.

II

What pains me as a human being, also pains me as a Zionist. Jews and Zionists have already responded by saying “....but what else can Israel do about Hamas?”; “... maybe it is wrong but you can understand why Israel felt it had to do it” and “Don’t you know what Hamas do?”. Yes I do understand and I do know. I said so above. And? What has this to do with the morality of this action? This pains me because we are reducing ourselves to the scum-bag moral level that so-called supporters of the Palestinians show.

People like ‘Baroness Tonge’ understand Palestinian suicide bombers, groups like Jews for Justice for the Palestinians continually point out the ‘oppression’ of the Israelis, and terrorists ask “what else can we do?” The only question we have to ask about suicide bombing is whether it is anything but morally outrageous. Once we know it is, no amount of understanding can serve as a justification for their actions. When Zionists start to use their arguments and we have descended to their moral level, we know we have a problem.

There is a moral disease spreading round the globe. The ‘liberal left’ seem to be infected, the condition in the Arab world seems terminal and I really hope and pray that we are just suffering a bout of illness that will clear up. Where the dignity of human life is sacrificed on the altar of political expediency, someone’s moral condition is at critical.

III

Israel’s actions are frankly what Hamas wants. They are a group that simultaneously spread and feed on this disease. They don’t care about the lives of the Palestinians, one iota. The more Palestinians killed, the more grist to their mill. The worse their lives, the more supporters they have. The more they can provoke Israel, the more hate they can create. They have learnt that terrorism works. TERRORISM ABSOLUTELY BLOODY WORKS.

It doesn’t work in the sense of helping anyone but works in the sense of fulfilling their aims. It works in convincing people of the essential rightness of a position that is essentially wrong. Where the ‘rightness’ of your position is more important to you than human suffering, then they have a great strategy. They can do absolutely anything and get away with it, knowing that they can always lay the blame elsewhere. They don’t have to take moral responsibility for their actions because they were forced into it by “external conditions”. Say it enough and people believe you. Be consistent in your evil and people will understand you. Mobilise everyone on your side and make your enemy think the same way.

IV

Israel try to do the right thing, they get blamed. They try to be PR friendly, they fail. They try to get help from other countries to sort out the terrorists, none is forthcoming. They have a free press and independent judiciary, the world turns it against them. They try their war criminals and their corrupt politicians, they are made out to be nothing but corrupt and criminal. They try for a two-state solution, Palestinians demand its destruction. They try and sort out terrorism themselves, they get mulled. And so on and so on and so on.

EVERYTHING ISRAEL DOES IS ‘WRONG’, SO WHY BE RIGHT? Just as Hamas can do anything and be liked, Israel can do everything short of failing to exist and be hated. Israel’s moral standards do not lead to a moral solution. They will simultaneously get attacked and be blamed for it. The double standards of the international community mean that people will never accept a secure Israel that is able to defend its citizens. This leads to the paradoxical position (to the glee of Hamas) that far from international opinion constraining Israel, it releases them. If they’ll be blamed no matter what, what does is matter to the Israeli government whether they do this or that?

Why risk a targeted ground attack risking Israeli soldiers when you can air bomb the targets? Why warn people in Lebanon that they will be bombed if Hezbollah will intentionally put citizens in just those places? Why allow easy access of supplied to Gaza when they will just use it to transport bombs? Why sit back and let your citizens be bombed by Kassams when you take actions accident. Because the result will be the same- Israel will be ‘in the wrong’ according to international. So Israel might as well do whatever is best for their position, the position we know to be a valuable one, no? NO. ABSO-BLOODY-LUTELY-NOT.

AND I WILL TELL YOU WHY. It is immoral to not allow people humanitarian aid, immoral to endanger innocent lives unnecessarily and immoral to do things which you could not otherwise justify. “What else can we do?” does not overturn a moral decision. It is not a justification. That is Hamas’ position. IT IS THEIR DISEASE. Advancing the ‘right’ position (whether right or otherwise) does not, in an individual moral decision, trump the dignity and infinite value of human life.

I don’t give a flying f*** about world opinion (or at least I should not) but as a human, I care about life and as a Zionist, I care is about the moral integrity of Israel. Let us not be morally debased and stand against wrong wherever it can be found. If, on the other hand, we take Hamas’ position and do whatever they want, then we not only confirm their position to the world but in our own souls

V

At the beginning of last year, Akram, the head of PSG and a co-founder of Leeds Shalom-Salaam told me that Palestinians just want to get on with their everyday lives, want to go to work, and want to raise their families. This, he said, trumps ideology. As a Palestinian himself, I very much wanted to believe him. I still have to have faith that this is true of most Palestinians, but the actions of groups like Hamas and PSG (on Leeds campus and elsewhere) seriously undermine that. If their intentions are good, their actions betray them.

Golda Meir once said, “We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us”. Unfortunately, this is not yet true. Or if it is, and Akram is right, then Hamas have helped spread the disease to me and undermined my ability to see the good in the other side. I must, at least, make sure that our side stays good. Actions, like today’s, make me lose faith. They make me hate Hamas and despair of Israel. They make me see black.

Tonight, we must pray for the Palestinians who have lost their life. We must reaffirm our morality and say that human life is infinite. We must help Israel remain morally strong and a blessing in the world. We must strengthen our resolve to see a solution to this conflict that aids every person’s dignity. We must leave vengeance of our enemies to G-d and not take it upon ourselves. We must weep the tears of others.

Urinating on the motorway, Arabs, environment, Israel and the Palestinians, prostitutes and water buffallo.

Just a few completely random points about urinating on the motorway, Arabs, environment, Israel and the Palestinians, prostitutes and water buffallo.

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IF YOU ARE AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT, DON’T PISS ON THE HARD SHOULDER OF A MOTORWAY. Apparently it’s illegal, but it’s probably not the worst crime in the world. Obviously you are putting yourself at risk, but then driving when you desperately need to go, can’t be much better. You know… when you get to that point where you have to keep moving otherwise it’s unbearable?!?!?

But if you are illegally here and without a driving license, you don’t want to be found out because you needed the toilet. That’s what happened in ‘Traffic Cops’ last night which I was watching for want of anything better to do (you know, one of those filler programmed for Wednesday nights. Why do they put rubbish programmes on, on Wednesdays?). You know, you’d think they would want to keep their heads down or if you are going to get deported, you might as well go out in style.

But when nature calls…

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An interesting note by Rav Hirsch (from the 19^th century) on the positive qualities of Arabs. Funnily enough, it was in article on Jewish women.

“The monotheism of Abraham, the Hamitic sensuality and thirst for freedom that stamped the personality of Hagar, and the virtual fanatic belief in the providence of Almighty G-d, drawn, as it were, by Hagar from the ‘well of the Living One Who sees me’- this mixture of qualities has shaped the traits for which the Arabs are known to this day and with which they have made their own contribution, in the form of poetry and scholarship, to the spiritual symposium of humanity”

‘Nuff said

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I got the overwhelming desire today to buy a car. Why? So I can conscientiously not use it! I hate it when people (and I don’t know why, but specifically Jews do it) drive to university when it is less than 15 minutes walk away. It’s disgraceful. Apart from being horrendously lazy, it’s horrific for the environment.

Now when environmental protestors say that people shouldn’t fly or say that horrendous taxes should be put on it, that’s just stupid. Some people need to fly, others want to fly but only do so occasionally, and those who are filthy rich… well… they are going to fly anyway. Stopping flying is not only something that you cannot achieve, it might not be desirable to achieve.

What really matters for the environment is these small things that you can do stuff about. Yes I know it would take a hell of a lot of not going by car to make up for one plane journey. However, firstly there are a lot of people that can ‘not go by car’. It is practical and unless your are bone-idle, there is no reason not to walk. Thirdly, going by car for a short journey bespeaks a whole attitude and if you won’t drive if necessary, you wont do other things either.

Now I’m probably guilty too. I do accept lifts to morning service. It’s too early and I don’t have the wherewithal to move, let alone put up a principled stand. But regardless of whether I get in the car, the car will be driven anyway. I would never ask for there to be a lift if there wasn’t one already going. And that’s why I want a car, so that if no-one else is going, I can in principle refuse to take people!

An expensive gesture, buying a car for that reason!

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Good news of sorts. Following a decision from Ehud Barak, travel restrictions are being eased for Palestinians in the West Bank, and the PA police (or at least a loyal subsection of them) are getting new equipment. This is following on from continued negotiations between PA and Israel. Also, talks between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas continue. This can only be good news if it helps the lives of Palestinian civilians, and increased Paelstinian compliance in aiding Israel’s security. It’s a shame that it is primarily motivated by one-upmanship against Hamas. Rather than (by either side involved) a real concern for peace or the lives of civilians, it is trying to score political points against Hamas in Gaza. Bloody politics. Please G-d, they find a way to help the humanitarian situation in Gaza without having to give political credence to Hamas.

Although one of my points is proved. Criticism from a friend is far more effective than criticism from someone that hates your guts! The good news in part arose from criticism of Ehud Barak by Condoleeza Rice. The Americans overall (and rightly so) agree with Israel about things. As such, Israel has an incentive to listen to them. Where criticism is needed, it should be given (and probably doesn’t happen enough). Criticism from Palestinian groups, on the other hand, is ineffectual and shows that they don’t really have the interests of Palestinians at heart or if they do, they are very misguided. When you justify suicide bombings, deny Israel’s right to exist (however you dress it up) and will criticise Israel come what may, the criticisms will be as effective as a one-legged chair. When you preach immoral things, your valid criticisms will not be listened to.

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The following incident reminded me of situations with ‘money boxes’ designed to stop people swearing (i.e. put 50p in if you say **** etc) where the child swears, gets told off and says “I’m not ******* swearing, ok?”. This is what Rabbi Ezekial Landau said in court:

"Everyone should know that the wife of the Chief Rabbi is a prostitute and there is a fine, 100 adumim for each utterace that she is a prostitute, and you should also all know that if I had more money I would call her a prostitute again, however I currently do not have the money I will have to satisfy myself with the fact that I have already called her a prostitute."

The following reminded me of when certain Catholics will defend to the hilt not wearing condoms because that is what the Pope decrees, but are quite happy to have sex before marriage (which I’m sure he’s not too fond of):

A Latin document records a troubling incident from 1404 where, "a German speaking Jew visited a non-Jewish prostitute on Shabbat and he refused to pay her, he explained that he could not pay her as it would violate the Shabbat."

It’s fun reading about prostitution!

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Last but not least, I have decided I am a filthy animal. I was watching the ‘One Show’ where they were looking at a reservation park with water buffalo in. They happened to mention that they had cloven hoofs. All I could think about “I wonder if they are kosher!” I couldn’t get it out of my head. I’m a bad man!