CATEGORY: English
06.03.2012
The handshake that launched a thousand planes?
This is the picture released today by the Israeli Government Press Office after the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama.
From looking at the picture, and from reading the remarks, it seems to me that the two men have not come to an agreement that whittles down the grey area between the two countries’ red lines on Iran. Obama went through his main talking points clearly: there is still time for a diplomatic solution, and for sanctions. The military option remains firmly on the table; and that Israel should trust him that when it comes to Israel’s security, “America has Israel’s back,” he says.
Netanyahu’s main point is that Israel reserves the right to act as it sees fit to remove any existential threat. It is the master of its own fate, Bibi says.
Obama wants Netanyahu to wait, and Netanyahu wants Obama to act now, or at least not get in Israel’s way.
No common ground on this main issue.
The picture shows a strong handshake, with both men pursing their lips, both men coming from a strong position. They’re both completely convinced of their position. Both men look determined, and entrenched.
And so if that is the case, my assessment is that Netanyahu will not let Israel’s window of opportunity for an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities close. He will not take the leap of faith that Obama has asked him to take. The essence of Netanyahu’s message is that “you cannot ask us to put our fate into your hands. The whole point of the Jewish state is that we don’t ever have to do this.” READ MORE
CATEGORIES: English Politics Short Story
04.03.2012
Stop worrying and love the Iranian bomb
In the run-up to the 2009 general elections opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu criss-crossed the world saying the year was 1938. “It’s 1938 and Iran is Germany. And Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs,” Netanyahu told delegates at the annual United Jewish Communities General Assembly. “Believe him and stop him,” he said of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “This is what we must do. Everything else pales before this.” While the Iranian president “denies the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said, “he is preparing another Holocaust for the Jewish state.”
A YEAR AND A HALF later and we are deep into 1939.
Israel’s, and the world’s, failure to stop Iran from achieving a nuclear breakout capacity is now a sad and undeniable fact.
While the Iranians were somewhat slowed down in their progress (some experts say that had it not been for various covert sabotage operations they would have reached breakout two years ago), they finally got there.
The Iranians now have all the components they need to independently build nuclear weapons. They have thousands of scientists working at multiple facilities across Iran; they have all the enrichment hardware they need (their software recently took a bit of a knock, but once the “bug” was discovered and sealed they continued apace); they have advanced missiles of varying ranges; and now all they need to do is enrich to weapons grade levels and put a warhead on a missile.
This is not a simple process, but the Iranians can do it, by themselves, whenever they choose to. They have all three necessary elements and now all that they need to do is to take the political decision to put a couple of bombs together and become a regional hegemonic power. They achieved this by spreading their nuclear program broadly, over multiple facilities, with slow and methodical progress. READ MORE
CATEGORIES: English Politics Social Culture WTF
03.03.2012
Stories of post-Nazi era
I have just returned from a journey through several Extermination Camps in Poland. The stories that you’re about to read, simply popped up during this terrible but wonderful trip (which included a feature magnificent coincidence). Also, I sincerely think that every person deserves to visit Auschwitz at least once, the same way as everyone deserves to experience pure happiness, at least once. This good-evil-good axis is also commonly known as…life.
Yellow
…the old man looked a bit odd. His hair untidy, his glasses out of fashion. He behaved very insecure. Nobody wears these pyjama-like brown shirts anymore. Especially not with a yellow Star of David on the chest. For 200 EUR you can get one of those, second hand though, but still yellow. “Our revenge is the fact that we both are still here”, I said to him. “We are still living in Naziland”, he answered.
All I could do was simply getting out of the very non-kosher McDonald’s…
CATEGORIES: Documentation English Politics Press Religion Short Story Uncategorized
03.03.2012
THE BEAT GUIDE TO YIDDISH (mixtape) DOWNLOAD THE MIX FOR FREE and hear Yiddish in a way you would have never thought possible.
Diwon has been featured on MTV for his blend of hip hop and dancehall, on 2DOPEBOYZ & ALL HIP HOP for his rap flips of 80′s inspired sonics, but it’s his unique blend of world music and cultural rarities with beats that give his work that distinct Diwon feel. In ‘The Beat Guide To Yiddish’, Diwon’s use of traditional Yemenite and Sephardic music, sets him apart from other artists in the genre. Influenced heavily by his family’s roots in Yemen, Ethiopia and Israel, the multicultural maestro is always full of suprises and this release from a couple years back, is no exception. Diwon’s Beat Guide mixes some of his own music into forgotten sounds from Eastern Europe.
DOWNLOAD THE MIX FOR FREE and hear Yiddish in a way you would have never thought possible. Inlcuded on the mix are sounds from; Gershon Kingsley, Jewdyssee, Sam Medoff, Lipa, Seymour Rechtzeit and a few other gems.
02.03.2012
Back in Brooklyn for Shabs! Nothing like the smell of freshly baked Zucchini Muffins to fight vacation withdrawal. Happy Shabs xxo
When this dish was served at a Shabbat meal several months ago, I was hesitant to have a taste since Zucchini was one of the ingredients. If it had been a kugel, then I would not have given it a second thought, but Zucchini cake? After my husband rolled his eyes I realized I was being childish and gave it a try. After that first bite, I had 2 slices!
This recipe can be served as muffins, as a side dish in a loaf pan or for dessert in a bundt pan! It is fluffy and moist with a hint of cinnamon.
02.03.2012
Lapid: Moses, Obama, or just Yair?
Just attended a meeting with Yair Lapid at the Sanhedrin Forum in Tel-Aviv; a forum of young professionals that meets about once a month with top Israeli and international opinion makers in an informal setting.
My impressions of the journalist-celebrity-turned-aspiring politician:
He’s oozing charisma. In this way he reminds me a lot of Barack Obama when he was campaigning for the Democratic nomination. Lapid is engaging, funny, intelligent, and shoots straight. The man certainly has rhetorical skills.
What I like about him more than his charisma is that it’s quite clear that he’s human, just a human. While most of the time he can be erudite in explaining what’s wrong with the Israeli political system and what he plans to do to fix it, at other times he stumbles, shyly, because he doesn’t have all the answers. At those moments when he’s in uncomfortable territory, he’s endearing in that he tries; he looks like a man who knows that he needs to start taking this politics thing seriously now that he’s in it.
At other times one wonders if he really knows what he’s doing and what cesspool he’s jumping into. He’s not the first journalist to enter politics with an attitude of “I know how to fix this system because I’ve been reporting on its faults for so long” – only to then slip into the Knesset inside a small or medium-sized party and be swallowed up by the system. That’s what happened to his dad.
Which brings me to an important point: in my previous postings about Lapid, I wrote that I thought he was making a mistake by establishing a new political party instead of joining an existing party like Kadima or Labor. I argued that in essence, what Lapid would be doing is further fragmenting the center-left political bloc [which would total roughly 30-38 mandates] thus ensuring that the Likud would win the next election and could, if it wished to, choose the exact same coalition to govern. Not that I’m picking sides, but doing this would negate Lapid’s stated intention of being an agent of change. He would also inject yet another political party into the already crowded and sectorial political system, making it even harder for a ruling coalition to govern and giving rise to a slew of private interest legislation. So tonight, when Lapid was asked why he didn’t join an existing party, he said that there were simply no parties in the current system that he could identify with; that they were all rotten to their core, that they were staffed by people of the past who hop from one party to another because all they’re interested in is maintaining the status quo, and their jobs. READ MORE
01.03.2012
Love in the time of Uranium
“America’s commitment and my commitment to Israel and Israel’s security is unshakeable. It is unshakeable. I am proud to say that no U.S. administration has done more in support of Israel’s security than ours. None. Don’t let anybody else tell you otherwise. It is a fact. We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. And that’s why, rest assured, we will take no options off the table.” – US President Barack Obama, December 17, 2011
A war-weary gentleman holds his young, tempestuous, and fiery lover close, in a warm, yet slightly too strong embrace, not only out of mutual respect and love but, lately, mainly out of real concern that his young lover could break his grip and dash across the room to attack the ugly man standing in the corner; that smirking stranger playing with himself, growing larger and larger, panting, frothing, disgusting, taunting the young woman, threatening to explode all over her. That ugly man has been making lewd gestures at her, and she is frightened that he will come and take her when her lover is not looking, when he’s distracted or asleep. The beautiful young one tells her older lover that she will not leave him, will not just disappear into the night, that she won’t, out of fear and desperation, lash out at her tormentor alone, that she will always remain close, always in contact, that she will keep her cool, and that if she goes out for the night, she’ll tell him where she’s going and when she’ll be back. But she also says that she has to go out into the night; it’s coming, it’s calling her, that she’s been hurt before, deeply hurt, that she’s afraid of the ugly man in the corner; she can’t sleep because of the ugly man in the corner; she wants him gone, gone now… he’s coming to get me, he’s promised to do terrible, horrible things to me….I can’t live, I can’t breathe as long as he’s out there…playing with that thing…that disgusting thing…I can’t take my eyes off it, and he is not taking his eyes off me…I can’t stay with you if you don’t take care of him….I won’t….take him away from me forever…and if you can’t, or won’t, then let me go. Now. READ MORE
CATEGORIES: English Politics Short Story WTF
29.02.2012
Sexual Ethics in Judaism – Interview with Mark Lazar
What would you think of talking about sex in Krakow Jewish Museum? As for Mark Lazar, it’s just a right topic in a right place. And sitting at his seminar ‘Sexual Ethics in Judaism’ just next to an exhibition on abandoned synagogues and Jewish cemeteries of Polish Galicia, ‘provocation’ would be the last thing you think about. Relevance, humor, preciseness, openness.
Mark might look as a rabbi or a hippie, though in fact he is not. His stories may sound like teenager jokes and profound religious treaties at the same time. Speaking on sexual ethics, he goes from biblical examples to modern laws and rules, supporting it with various quotes both from ancient Jewish manuscripts and today’s rabbis and Jewish thinkers.
- Mark, thank you so much once more for agreeing to give this short interview. What surprised me the most during my research was your involvement in numerous different projects and having lectures on numerous topics. Tell me more about it: how did you start, how do you manage it and what are the things among those which are the most important for you personally?
- I guess one reason why I’ve been involved in different projects during the past years is getting older, as I get more time to do it (smiles). Also I was never good in formal education, so when I started college in the early 70s to study theater, for me it was much more important actually to do theater. Most of what I have done was self-taught. I love teaching, I love engaging ideas. I always try to learn more. I like writing, I like having a lot of different jobs. What is very important for me is working with people. I want to help people look at themselves, to grow – whatever age they are, to examine themselves, to try to be the best person they can be. I find it in a Jewish context, but I think it’s universal as well.
- I see you have been involved in different things from young age. Was it always connected with Judaism?
CATEGORIES: English Religion Social Culture
28.02.2012
MK Ahmad Tibi gives Israeli Jews a ‘lesson’ in Hebrew
MK Ahmad Tibi is probably the most well known Arab MK in Israel these days. Unfortunately, much of that has to do with the occasional media stunt he pulls. But hey, if Bibi can use the media – why not Tibi?
I found it quite amusing that Tibi was a guest on the ancient radio segment on the Voice of Israel called “A Moment in Hebrew,” a short little program that deals every day with everything and anything that has to do with, you got it: Hebrew.
I can’t say I agree with just about everything Tibi says here, and my translation might be off in a few places (apologies), but in some instances he makes a pretty good point.
As originally posted on: +972
CATEGORIES: English Politics Social Culture Video
27.02.2012
On the couch with Bibi Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his weekly therapy session.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Doc, you don’t know how much I needed this session today. I’m a wreck.
Psychologist: I’m sorry to hear that. What’s going on?
PM: It’s happening again. I feel like I’m fighting with everyone. I feel like I can’t trust anyone. I’m angry all the time. I’m scared.
Psychologist: We’ve spoken about your trust issue here before, several times.
PM: Yes. I know. It’s come up again, I’m left with nobody to trust, no one to confide in.
Psychologist: Tell me what happened.
PM: They took away Nathan. Can you believe it? Let me tell you, that was a total shock. I saw it on TV. On TV! My Nathan, on TV! I was in shock. It’s not good for a Prime Minister to be in shock. And Nathan! My right-hand man and my left-hand man. He’s the only one who knew what the right hand and left hand were doing. My main man. The only one I really could trust from that whole gang. Hendel! Couldn’t trust him. He was too good-looking. He was too serious looking. Too seriously good-looking. He stabbed me in the back. He had to go. I showed him the door the same way I heard about Nathan’s story: on TV. Ha! Showed him. Hendele comes to me, says he’s sorry about how it all came down. I says to the guy: ‘it’s all wrong what you did. I have absolutely no faith in you anymore. None.’ So he says: ‘Ok, well, in that case, I’ll resign immediately.’ And I says to the guy: ‘Ok, but let’s announce it in a day or two, once I find a replacement.’ And then you know what I did doc? I leaked it straight to the TV! Shame, poor Hendele, never knew what hit him. What goes around comes around, that’s what dad always says. And Zvika, I showed him the door too, on live TV. I let him have it. ‘Lock the door, just lock it, why can’t you just do what I tell you to do?’ Poor Zvika, he still hasn’t gotten the message. Wait until he tries to get a spot in the Likud, that will be something heheh.
Psychologist: You’re very angry. I heard they said that they had your best interests at heart. Are you maybe being too harsh?
PM: Rubbish. Of course I’m angry. I’m not being harsh enough. I could be much, much harsher, believe me. But we are in a vibrant democracy after all. The only one in the Middle East. These guys, these jokers, Hendel, Hauser and Locker betrayed my trust. They went behind my back doctor. They deserve to get booted out. I can’t work with people like that.
Psychologist: Let’s get back to Eshel. Why are you so upset about him? I mean, he did after all harass a member of your staff. He did take inappropriate photos of her. He hacked into her mail. This man was obviously creating an unhealthy atmosphere in your office, and, in a sense, now that he’s gone, the unhealthy atmosphere is also gone. You should be happy about that. Perhaps not at the way it was done, but the final result is the same. But you’re really upset about losing him, aren’t you. disproportionately upset, aren’t you? Let’s explore that.
PM: They took away my Eshel. My Eshel, he was mine. My loyal, loyal Eshel. Loyalty like that comes around once, maybe twice in a prime ministerial term. I trusted him like I trust you. I told him everything. He’s done so much for me, for my office, for this country, for the Likud. It’s a tragedy. I’m in grief. I’m grieving doctor. So is Sarale.
CATEGORIES: English Politics Short Story Social Culture WTF
