Saturday Mezze: Six Not-So-Easy Pieces / Problem Defining Antisemitism + Moral Army Myth + Anti-Terrorism Law + Feminists Opposing Oppression + Hunger Outrage + NYACLU Sues Columbia
Mezze - المزة - a wide selection of small dishes served as appetizers, including such delicacies as hummus, cheese, eggplant, brains, stuffed grape leaves, calamari, and much more
Family, Friends, Colleagues, and Visitors,
In advance of a Palm Sunday column I will be posting tomorrow I thought, as Jews, Christians, and Muslims are about to enter a week where their calendars, faiths and traditions overlap - Purim, Holy Week, Ramadan - that it might be a good time to share some more serious reading I have been doing and invite you to share your thoughts about the following six pieces which engage and concern believers in justice and liberation, whether secularists or believers in faith traditions
The Problem With Defining Antisemitism
“Kenneth Stern helped write a definition now endorsed by more than forty countries. Why does he believe it’s causing harm?... At the West End Temple, after a Shabbat service that ended by honoring members of the congregation who were about to go to Israel, Stern offered a more tempered view. There were times when anti-Zionism ‘clearly is antisemitic,’ he said, and other times when it was not. He noted that many Jews did not identify with Zionism or even see it as compatible with Jewish values. ‘Imagine if you were a Palestinian,’ he said. ‘How would you think about Zionism?’ Stern peered around the sanctuary and asked if anyone had ever spoken with a Palestinian about the subject. About half the hands in the room went up. ‘I don’t see Palestinians as antisemites at all when they say, “Look what Zionism did to me—it stopped my ability to control my land,” ‘ he said.”
https://www.newyorker.com/news/persons-of-interest/the-problem-with-defining-antisemitism
The Myth Of Israel’s “Moral Army”
“The Failure of the IDF’s Targeting Protocols Is Producing Massive Civilian Casualties ... In truth, Israel is not doing that. It has waged a brutal campaign in Gaza, only loosely upholding the protocols its armed forces are supposed to follow to minimize civilian deaths. But even those guidelines are insufficient: an investigation of prior campaigns in Gaza reveals the inadequacy of Israeli targeting guidelines, which do not truly curb civilian casualties. In the latest round of fighting in Gaza, Israel has failed to follow even those restrictions—leading to untold devastation and making a resolution to the conflict even harder to reach.’"
The author is the head of the Israeli Break the Silence whistleblower group and details the myth of the Israeli military's morality in an op-ed for Foreign Affairs.
I am having trouble providing a workable link for you - try this - you might have to put in your email address to read the whole opinion:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/myth-israels-moral-army
If it doesn’t work just search Foreign Affairs and see their online link.
The Origins And Growing Dangers Of U.S. Antiterrorism Law
“The anti-Muslim thrust of ‘War on Terror’ policies was built on a pre-existing foundation of hostility to the Palestinian liberation movement. And these foundational antiterrorism policies and practices remain solidly in the U.S. legal arsenal, subject to further expansion and exploitation by anti-Palestinian groups, even as some of the most outrageous manifestations of the War on Terror have faded from view.”
Opposing Oppression Is A Feminist Act – Don’t Look Away From Gaza
Arwa Mahdawi: “We have never seen children pushed into malnutrition so quickly in any conflict in modern history,” the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, has said. “We have never seen a civilian population made to go so hungry so quickly and so completely … Israel is not just targeting civilians, it is trying to damn the future of the Palestinian people by harming their children.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/09/opposing-oppression-famine-gaza
100 Gazans Were Killed Trying To Get Food. Jews Should Be Outraged
"There’s a concept in Judaism that we should always keep two pieces of paper in our pockets, and pull each out when we need it. One says, 'The whole world was created for me,' and the other, 'I am but dust and ashes.' The idea is we’re supposed to be able to hold two competing impulses in our hearts."
https://forward.com/opinion/588365/gaza-deaths-food-aid-convoy-judaism-morality-war/
NYCLU And Palestine Legal Sue Columbia University Over Student Group Suspension
"The New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal today announced a lawsuit against Columbia University for the unlawful suspension of its chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) for engaging in peaceful protest."
“Columbia must protect all Jewish students and voices, not just those adhering to a specific political belief,” said Cameron Jones, an organizer with Columbia’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. “The university's decision to suspend a Jewish group sets a concerning precedent for safeguarding free speech on college campuses. It not only took away our rights as a club, but told us that our university does not support or respect anti-Zionist Jews or their beliefs.“
Salamaat,
Robert
theother.azzi@gmail.com