It can often be difficult being a Jew and a proponent of individual rights for all when that clashes with the actions of the Jewish state that claims to represent and defend you. For years I have fought to just educate my family members on some basic facts on the founding of Israel and what happened to its original inhabitants — facts that were created before Palestinian terrorism was a concern. British “ethnic Ashkenazi” artist Mike Marcus has taken this to another, more active level in actually moving to Israel, experiencing the occupation himself, and then expressing his outrage through art projects. He was in my neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn recently, pasting up one of his pieces, and one of my neighbors interviewed him for a local art publication. Check out my blurb on local website BushwickBK.com for more info on Mike Marcus, the man who gassed himself (so he could cry).
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Discrimination Against Ethiopian Jews Goes On
“forced to undergo a humiliating symbolic conversion. And there have been all too many incidents of prejudice:
n Twice over a period of 10 years, blood donated by members of the Ethiopian community to Magen David Adom was secretly thrown out for fear it was contaminated with infectious diseases;
n A school principal in Ashdod decided on his own to teach the Ethiopian children in segregated classrooms;
n A couple of years later the same principal was accused of abusing Ethiopian children in a different school and was acquitted by the court;
n The mayor of the city of Or Yehuda refused to accept Ethiopian children because he said they are “weak and will bring the education level downâ€;
n A bus driver in Jerusalem refused to let an Ethiopian woman commute from her home to work each day on his bus;
n Another bus driver driving into Hebrew University refused to let an Ethiopian security guard check his bus.
While the incidents mentioned above were noted in the media, day-to-day discrimination experienced by many Ethiopian Israelis goes unreported. Worse yet, this discrimination exists at all levels of Israeli society.”
http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c40_a1452/News/Israel.html
ISRAELI Discrimination Against the ETHIOPIAN Hebrews “JEWS”!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBIHxSJDbuw&feature=related
” Within Israel there are really four levels of citizenship, the first three being various levels of Jewish participation in Israeli society, which are thoroughly racialized. At the top of the pyramid are the Ashkenazi, the white European Jews. At the level of power the huge contingent of recent Russian immigrants–now about 20 percent of Israeli Jews–are being assimilated into the European-Ashkenazi sector, though they are retaining a very distinct cultural identity.
The next level down, which is now probably the largest component of the Jewish population, is the Mizrachi or Sephardic Jews, who are from the Arab countries. At the bottom of the Jewish pyramid are the Ethiopian Jews, who are black. You can go into the poorest parts of Jewish West Jerusalem and find that it’s predominantly Ethiopian.
This social and economic stratification took shape throughout the last 50 years as different groups of Jews from different part of the world came, for very different reasons, to Israel. So while the divisions reflected national origins, they play out in a profoundly racialized way.
The Yemeni Jews in particular faced extraordinary discrimination. They were transported more or less involuntarily from Yemen to Israel. On arrival they were held in primitive camps, and many Yemeni babies were stolen from their mothers and given for adoption to Ashkenazi families. In the early 1990s a high-profile campaign began to try to reunite some of those shattered families.
Beneath all these layers of Jews come the Palestinian citizens.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BEN108A.html
“There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their [the Palestinian’s] fault? They only see one thing: We have come here and stolen their country.”
-David Ben-Gurion
Tell me:
Do Muslims ever take by force that which does not belong to them? Do women and children never die en-masse at the hands of Muslims? I suppose it is okay if Muslims kill Muslims – such as with the Hama massacre of Syria or the genocide (…yes, to use the word appropriately, GENOCIDE) in Darfur. Why is nobody crying about the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Muslims dying at the hands of other Muslims?
Is this perhaps not the correct place to speak of such things?
Israel may not be perfect, but it is a democracy. People of faiths other than Judaism may worship (…or not) freely and openly, women have equal rights, homosexuals may be themselves without fear of stoning or lynching, and people other than Jews have a voice and may participate in Israeli government. Dissent is not quieted by the lopping off of heads.
You are so adamantly against the Christian Fundamentalism of the Right. Why not also the Muslim Fundamentalism your own Left?
Israel is so small and insignificant in comparison to what is going on in Darfur or what happened to the Kurds in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. There are other instances of Muslim on Muslim aggression I can mention. I can also point to the demonization of Jews in Muslim comic strips and panels. Where is the condemnation of that in this arena?
I want an answer. You cry so much about stolen land. I would prefer to speak of lost opportunities. When given the Gaza strip, those who seized control, instead of seeking out foreign investment to assist with infrastructure projects and the betterment of their economy, have been single-mindedly focused on the unacceptability of living next to a country governed by non-Muslims. Instead of thinking, “How can we make this a great place to live?”, every thought was dedicated to, “How may we drive the Jews into the ocean?”
You are so against Christian fundamentalism, by extreme reaction, you have come to the defense of Muslim fundamentalism.
What has happened to the Left? How did what passes for “Liberalism” these days go from the struggles of the sixties for social reform and equal rights end up being commandeered by Muslim extremism? How could you let yourselves be so blinded? Are you truly any different from the Right at this point?
Honor killings are not tolerated in Israel, and a woman may go where she pleases, to speak with whomever she pleases, whenever she pleases. I’m just trying to get a grip on how you all can be so upset by this unimaginably tiny country that you cannot see the greater injustices going on in the rest of the Arab League nations.
What exactly does the Left represent today?
I know.
The question was meant for you.
“When given the Gaza strip…” ?!?
so the israelis are big heroes for giving back land that they stole in the first place.
perfect
Jews are indigenous to the Middle East. They have always been under the thumb of Muslim rulers.
What don’t you understand about this?
Muslim Sunnis are killing Muslim Shia, and vice versa.
Muslims are killing each other in Darfur.
Muslims have conflicts with each other everywhere. Muslims routinely steal from one another. But, I suppose, that’s okay, because it’s the Muslims doing the stealing.
This is not to say that Israel has stolen anything significant in comparison to what routinely goes on in the Muslim world.
There is only one fact in this entire conflict: No matter how beneficient Israel may be, it can not be accepted simply for its Jewishness. There is no other underlying reason.
Certainly concerning countries that are far larger than Israel I would understand your argument regarding displacement. Hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur have been murdered by the Janjaweed, and perhaps millions have been displaced.
I figure you already have a lot on you plate in your own back yard without first having to think about little ol’ Israel.
what right do europeans have to move to palestine and terrorize hundreds of thousand of people from their homes and land?
I don’t think you’ve been listening to what I’m saying.
Perhaps if I use a larger font…
MUSLIMS KILL MUSLIMS ALL THE TIME. MUSLIMS ROUTINELY STEAL FROM ONE ANOTHER. WOMEN ARE TERRORIZED. HOMOSEXUALS ARE TERRORIZED. THERE IS NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION WHERE IT COMES TO POLITICAL DISSENT.
New paragraph…
JEWS ARE NOT “THE CRUSADERS”. THERE IS AMPLE ROOM FOR EVERYONE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
Now, remember what I said in the first paragraph? Good. With that in mind, also think about the following statement.
THERE IS ONLY ONE FACT IN THIS ENTIRE CONFLICT: NO MATTER HOW GOOD AND DECENT ISRAEL MAY BE, IT CAN NOT BE ACCEPTED SIMPLY FOR ITS JEWISHNESS. THERE IS NO OTHER UNDERLYING REASON.
ISRAEL IS NOT COMMITTING A GENOCIDE AGAINST “PALESTINIAN” ARABS. PALESTINIAN ARABS ARE SIMPLY ARABS. IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT A GENOCIDE, ONE GROUP WOULD HAVE TO ENTIRELY EXTERMINATE THE GROUP OPPOSED. THERE ARE ARABS ALL OVER THE M-E.
IN SPITE OF THE AGGRESSION THE SURROUNDING MUSLIM COUNTRIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED AGAINST ISRAEL – SIMPLY FOR BEING NON-MUSLIM – ISRAEL HAS SHOWN AMAZING RESTRAINT TOWARD USING RETALIATORY ACTIONS.
LET ME REMIND YOU THAT JEWS HAVE THEIR ORIGINS IN THE M-E. SOME LAND MAY HAVE BEEN STOLEN IN THE FORMATION OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL; HOWEVER, MOST OF IT WAS TEMPORARILY ABANDONED WHEN THE SURROUNDING COUNTRIES SAID, “GET OUTTA THERE, FELLOW ARABS! WE’RE GONNA DRIVE THE JEWS INTO THE OCEAN, THEN YOU CAN RETURN TO YOUR HOMES.”
WHEN THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN, THE ARABS WERE PISSED. SO? THEY GAMBLED, THEY LOST, TOO BAD.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION TO THE M-E, ANYWAY? DO YOU SEE ANY PROBLEM WITH MUSLIM IMMIGRATION TO EUROPE OR OTHER PLACES IN THE WORLD WHERE THEY MAY PRACTICE THEIR RELIGION OUT IN THE OPEN AND WITH IMPUNITY (…ALSO, AS IN ISRAEL)?
???
I hope this larger font has been a better visual aid for you, rather than the smaller font.
Did you understand this time…?
ah.
i think i’m beginning to see your line of reasoning: since muslims kill muslims, europeans are entitled to kill muslims, too…
…especially if, in the act of killing muslims, those europeans can terrorize hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and land, which will enable the europeans to set up their own little supremacist stronghold on that land.
very good.
No. I still don’t think you are understanding me.
Your interpretation of my “logic†is: “since muslims kill muslims, europeans are entitled to kill muslims, too…)
No. No, I don’t see any allusions to that in ANYTHING I’ve written.
What I am trying to illustrate to you is that if Muslims kill and steal from one another, you will not raise a fuss. If Israel were to do it, however, that is anathema. Mind you, I am not saying that Israel is doing anything to anyone. What I said previously is, “ISRAEL HAS DEMONSTRATED AMAZING RESTRAINT TOWARD USING RETALIATORY ACTIONS.” And, it’s true.
Muslims blow themselves up in public places all the time. I don’t recall a Jew ever blowing himself up in the midst of Muslims milling about innocently in the marketplace or perhaps visiting a cafe. Jews value life so much, they are willing to trade many convicted criminals for a single abducted Israeli. Israelis don’t strap suicide belts and military weapons to their children for “cute†photo-ops of their little “martyrs-for god†in progress.
I would like you to spare me the rhetoric and answer the following questions directly:
With so many Muslims being stolen from and dying at the hands of other Muslims – in many horrible ways – all over the Middle East and North Africa, in countries and territories vastly larger than Israel, what is so overwhelmingly terrible about Israel that it must be your single-minded focus?
Are you unwilling or incapable of criticizing the actions of your own fellow Muslims when they do something wrong in the world? And, if so, give me some examples of what you are critical of.
Will you admit that the only reason that you hate Israel is because it is a country in your midst that is ruled by Jews?
How do you feel about honor killings? Or, the fact that political dissent is not permitted in Muslim countries (…often, by penalty of death)?
How do you feel about the fact that Muslims may be permitted to fully express themselves, religiously, in Western countries, though under Muslim rule in the Middle East, it is forbidden to openly practice that which is not Islamic?
How do you feel about permitting homosexuals live openly in Muslim countries as they do in Israel?
How do you feel about permitting women not to wear hijab in any Muslim country, if they do not feel like it, as they may in Israel?
How about a woman’s right to speak with the person of her choosing in a public place (…as in Israel) without being stoned or whipped with a stick?
Please, please answer these questions. If you will answer these questions for me, I will be happy to answer any of yours; however, you must first answer mine.
Do not answer my questions with other questions, as defenders of Hamas do when questioned by newscasters, “Do you consider those people who send missile into Israel terrorists?†(…The answer is always something like, “Well, we have the right to defend ourselves against the Zionist Entity.†That’s not an answer, and you know it.
As I’ve said so many times before, Israel has tolerated, and tolerated, and tolerated, and tolerated, and still the missiles come over the barrier wall.
Please answer the questions that I’ve posed to you. Show me just how “Antiwar†you are.
your position is hardening in face of dawning realization that israel was a bad idea in the first place.
you’re trapped, arent you? the more rabidly you defend israel, the more you demonstrate how badly israel has corrupted israeli morality.
maybe netanyahu will get you into enough hot water that you’ll be able to demonstrate the ultimate corruption of israeli morality, your samson option.
You state: “your position is hardening in the face of dawning realization that israel was a bad idea in the first place.”
My reply: To whom does the “dawning realization” belong that Israel “was a bad idea in the first place”? I certainly never alluded to such a thing. Again, I ask: What is wrong with a Jewish state in the land where Jews originated?”
You state: “you’re trapped, arent you? The more rabidly you defend israel, the more you demonstrate how badly israel has corrupted israeli morality.”
My reply: So, are you publicly announcing on this website – which is QUITE to the Left and proudly liberal – that you do not believe in reproductive rights for women? Are you, in fact, saying on this website that homosexuality is immoral and should be punished in Muslim countries? Is that what you mean when you say on this “Antiwar” liberal website: “…how badly israel has corrupted israeli morality”? Please, PLEASE say it. I would love to see you write that down on this website!
You state: “maybe netanyahu will get you into enough hot water that you’ll be able to demonstrate the ultimate corruption of israeli morality, your samson option.”
My reply: I am not a Conservative or a Republican and I am irreligious. I consider myself a Progressive. Perhaps you should acquaint yourself with the term “Progressive” (…I think a lot of people on this site should re-analyze what it is they consider themselves to be and what they allege to stand for).
You are just dying for Israel to do something terribly evil, aren’t you? When the lot of you are screaming, “Genocide! The Zionist Entity is committing GENOCIDE!”, I can’t believe that you could possibly accuse Israel of anything worse. And yet, by your last statement, there seems to be room in your mind for more monstrous things to come from Israel than mere “genocide”. How do you think your Muslim comrades would view your opinion that genocide simply isn’t the very worst thing that Israel could possibly do? Next, you’ll be telling me that Jews drink the blood of Christian children.
Please, I implore you to tell me – tell ALL of us on this website – what it is that you really think about the Western world, and how immoral homosexuality, women’s rights and civil liberties are. I would love to plaster that all over this Antiwar site.
Just one more question. This is a very simple one:
Do you believe a woman should have reproductive rights?
If you can do nothing else, please just answer that one single question.
why havent you answered this question?
what gives europeans the right to move to palestine and terrorize hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and land?
You’re a broken record, dude.
You can’t even answer a simple question.
“what gives europeans the right to move into palestine..?”
What gives the Janjaweed the right to go into Darfur in Africa to terrorize and murder hundreds of thousands of native Africans?
Please, PLEASE answer that question if you can. It’s only one question. Can you handle that? Your track record isn’t so good, buddy.
Look at the Israeli Jew who wrote below this. He is self-critical. He is critical of Israeli policy, AND HE LIVES THERE.
Yes, one may publicly dissent in Israel.
Do you have anything critical to say concerning your fellow Muslims?
Do you believe in a woman’s right to the self-determination of her own body???
Answer, if you dare.
ISRAEL: founded in lies, terror and injustice
all you are doing, with your little tapdances, is demonstrating how badly israel has corrupted you… corrupted you to the point you’re unable to see the injustice in polish terrorists killing thousands of palestinians and driving another 700,000 of them from their homes.
would you like to discuss jewish terrorism as it applies to netanyahu’s first words about september 11, 2001….?
now then, you can pooh-pooh all those million and a half hits on those urls i just posted, but after that, you’ll have to explain why anyone in their right mind would believe you, seeing as how you seem to represent people who’ve lied americans into two wars, and are attempting to lie americans into more wars.
please note that the “million and a half hits” applies to my post on darfur, below.
I had this bad thing happen with freemasonry. I did some research and found some article http://www.eaec.org/newsletters/2008/vol_8/showdown-in-jerusalem-digest.htm which helped me understand why it happened. I support the existence of israel but am against genocide. Our political leaders are Zionists. Zionists, follow the political ideals of Herzl, as a group have hundreds and trillions of dollars and now own the world and everything in it. We now live in a Dictatorship. Right to life is now in the hands of the state. With all the FEMA camps jumping up around the country and the allegations of foreign troop influxes into the country, I believe our country is set up for the American Holocaust. As conditions worssen from the financial collapse, or a large-scale attack on the United States while soldiers are off fighting in wars far away. It may also come from large-scale nuclear attacks on American soil, all pre-planned. I guess the president has threatened the use of martial law on multiple ocassions to get bills passed through the senate. I have always strived to do good things for other people and be a positive part of peoples lives. I have a bad feeling about the future of the United States of America. I pray for peace on earth.
the “genocide” in darfur has been pumped up by the jewish organizations who are so proud of spearheading the drive for “humanitarian intervention”, which is the euphemism for occupation of the chad/darfur oil patch and eviction of the chinese oil company in south sudan.
it’s no mystery why there’s some conflict going on in darfur, since the rebels are being supported by israel, with a view towards raising enough cain that the so-called “humanitarian intervention” can be justified…. and by the same token, it’s no wonder that the jewish agencies leading the drive towards intervention are exaggerating the casualties.
so, according to israel, what’s the problem with darfur?
the problem isnt so much in darfur as it is with sudan… sudan sells lots of oil to china, and china is israeli america’s main rival when is comes to acquiring oil… worst of all, the chinese can buy oil faster than israeli america can steal it.
so the israelis and israeli americans are applying a familiar tactic… they’re stirring up hillbilly malcontents in darfur to destabilize sudan with the aim of expelling the chinese and claiming sudanese oil that’s adjacent to darfur, which may explain why the “darfur rebels” have opened an office in israel.
this tactic has, with wide support from the zionist media, had some success… the president of darfur has been declared a war criminal, but the israeli american armies are spread kinda thin at the moment, so sudan’s been put on the back burner, militarily speaking.
Regarding Darfur, you state:
“the “genocide†in darfur has been pumped up by the JEWISH organizations who are so proud of spearheading the drive for “humanitarian intervention..,†(Emphasis mine.)
“…the JEWISH agencies leading the drive towards intervention are exaggerating the casualties.” (Emphasis mine.)
First of all, it’s always about the JEWS with you, isn’t it. I have been open about Israels imperfections, but you are still loathe to critisize your fellow Muslims. AS THOUGH THEY ARE INNOCENT BABES WHO CAN NEVER DO ANYTHING WRONG. I am still waiting to see some self-critisism. Though, being a robot, I do not think you can override your own programming.
So, you are pro-Janjaweed and anti-Justice and Equality Movement. That says a lot.
You say that THE JEWS are “…exaggerating the casualties”. That is one of the fundamental problems with Muslims, right there. We hear the same thing from Holocaust deniers. “The figures are GREATLY exaggerated.” As if to say that even a few hundred thousand is acceptable.
Is that what you’re saying? Are you telling me that it’s alright if the Janjaweed only kill a not so inflated number of people? Where does it end with you??
You say that the Justice and Equality Movement rebels are supported by Israel, as if that is a bad thing. Not to put too fine a point of the name of that organization, THEY ARE FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES! You and your kind should be so noble as to fight for what is just and right.
“…they’re stirring up hillbilly malcontents in darfur to destabilize sudan with the aim of expelling the chinese”???
“Hillbilly malcontents”??? You are such a bigot. And, what of expelling the Chinese? I know politics make strange bedfellows, but now a Muslim is defending Communist, Atheist China. Despite the fact the government there is godless, it is fitting that you support China because neither of you support basic human rights. Strange bedfellows? Not really.
So, you don’t consider the president of Darfur a war criminal? I live in America, and I consider George W. Bush a war criminal. You seem oddly selective when it comes to picking your “war criminals”.
Yes, it is true that certain Jewish leaders have had their shortcomings. It is true that some have been involved in criminal activity. It is true that some have been involved with the Stern Gang. I, AS A JEW, am not condoning that behavior. If anything improper ever happened in the formation of Israel – as it obviously did in some instances – it was not on a large scale. That is not to say that I am defending such actions. With the grace of God, little Israel stood up to all of your countries three times and won handily. We needn’t have commited any criminal activity whatsoever in order to acheive our objectives. However, war in never the ideal strived for. It was a time of upheaval. Today, Israel is – and has been – a very fair democracy. It is a place where A JEW CAN BE OPENLY CRITICAL! For, unlike you, I AM NOT A ROBOT!
Just as I can state that Jews have done remarkable things for the world, I can also accede that we have not always done what was right. Can you do the same? Do you dare to critisize the Muslim world, or are you all simply beyond reproach.
I remember Ahmadinejad stating that there are no homosexuals in all of Iran. Your denial of any wrong doing under Muslim governments and of Muslim society is equally laughable.
I no longer have time to converse with robots such as yourself. Posing intelligent questions to you and awaiting for answers is like talking to the wall.
I will, however – for the second or third time – leave you with one last question:
“DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A WOMAN – ANY WOMAN, MUSLIM OR NOT – HAS THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION OVER HER OWN BODY?” (i.e., reproductive rights)
I’m certain you will not dare to advertise your true feelings concerning this issue on this hand-wringingly Liberal website. Let’s just help keep the Liberals in the dark a little longer, no?
we’re supposed to ask, “is it good for the jews?” and, “is it good for israel?”
when are you going to ask the real question… is israel good for the jews?
you cant ask that question, because the answer is too ugly… the real answer implies that common jews are again being exploited by their own supposed leaders.
http://www.road90.com/watch.php?id=OrfFEfyK5F
i will assume for the sake of argument that the video you posted is what it’s purported to be… although the provenance of that video is suspect.
so you’ve provided more evidence of how israel and its defenders have managed to corrupt and brutalize not only jews, but also the people they’ve terrorized for 60 or 70 years.
The palestinians are native to the land. They are only arabized in the same sense that the mesopatamians, syrians, phoenicians, egyptians, etc were also arabized. The only true arabs are gulf arabs from sotuhern arabia. It has been proven that the palestinians are related to the ancestors of the land more so than the jews. Many palestinians are simply jews that converted. In fact jews are racially mixed, so palestinians in fact have a greater legitimacy to the land. Imagine mestizo (mixed native and spanish) latin americans conquering spain, and kicking the native spanish out of their homelands.