Gershom Gorenberg
A bit delayed, I’m posting my American Prospect article on the latest, nutty attacks from the Israeli right on universities, NGOs, and even wanting natural gas producers to pay the government for the gas they extract:
During a decade in Israel’s Parliament, Michael Melchior made his name as an effective legislator. The rabbi and [...]

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Gershom Gorenberg
The terror attack south of Hebron took place a few hours after I filed my curtain-raiser on the Washington peace talks for the American Prospect. Besides my pain at hearing of the deaths, I also had a tinge of professional self-criticism: Without intending to, I’d made a prediction of quiet in the West Bank, [...]

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On meeting Haim Gouri at the shut gate to Sheikh Jarrah
Gershom Gorenberg
My new article on the Sheikh Jarrah demonstrations is up at The American Prospect. This was written just before yesterday’s demo, which I’d guess drew between 500 and 1,000 people – a large increase from previous protests. During Ramadan, the demos will be held [...]

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Gershom Gorenberg

Stop the Racism: Show Solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah, August 6, 4 p.m.

It’s been a year since the eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. The eviction was carried out under laws that give Jewish refugees from 1948, or whomsoever appoints themselves to act in those refugees’ names, the right of [...]

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Gershom Gorenberg
I know that today is Tu Be’Av, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Av, an obscure holiday from the Second Temple period that has been secularized in Israel as the Day of Love – and that, according to Chana Pinchasi, should really be understood as an assertion of women’s freedom and a rejection [...]

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Gershom Gorenberg
My new piece is up at The American Prospect:
Dror Etkes picked me up in front of the bank, next to the convenience store, on a normal Jerusalem street where nothing slows the morning commuters except normal traffic jams. I wanted to visit the Palestinian village of Silwad. To that, Etkes added [...]

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Haim Watzman
Here at South Jerusalem we’re proud that we provide our own commentary and eschew the “Wow! [link]” type of post that seems to typify so many blogs. But sometimes someone else says all there is to be said, in this case Yam Erez at Stand By Your Name.
Yam, I await your thoughts on Israel’s [...]

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Gershom Gorenberg
Anshel Pfeffer’s article last week against fasting on Tisha Be’Av seemed written for me. I hate to fast. An old friend once told me that on Yom Kippur, he looks at my face in shul to get a real sense of suffering. Enough chastising the flesh. It makes you feel bad.

‘There is no sanctity [...]

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Gershom Gorenberg
The human rights group Hamoked has posted an online quiz about the conditions faced by Palestinians living under occupation. It’s worth testing yourself. Since I would never give away answers to a test, I won’t mention that the key to a perfect score is being grimly pessimistic.

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Gershom Gorenberg
It’s a reminder to be careful, to avoid making even implied predictions.
For the latest edition of Hadassah magazine, I wrote an article on Barack Obama’s relation to Israel. The idea that Obama is less committed to Israel than his predecessors is a “misconception,” I said very politely. (English provides a more forceful term, but [...]

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Gershom Gorenberg
Busy researching a major writing project, I’ve had too little time in both the real and virtual South Jerusalem. So I’m only belatedly posting recent articles.
Here’s a piece of my piece from the American Prospect, scoring the the raid on the Mavi Marmara:
Hamas
Ismail Haniye’s rejectionist government in Gaza could turn out to be a [...]

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Haim Watzman
Downtown is closed off, and it looks like half the country is there. So’s my wife, Ilana, who as a soldier’s mother identifies completely with Shalit’s mother. Give Hamas whatever they want, just get the boy home.
As much empathy as I feel for the Shalit family, I can’t agree with that call. As the [...]

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