The Israeli group Breaking the Silence has just released a collection of testimonies by Israeli soldiers that took part in the Gaza attack last December and January.
Author: AJDS
Sol Salby blogs the following–
In the United States we have had a situation over a long time that opinion polls and elections results reflected a very liberal Jewish opinion while community leadership was dominated by the conservatives especially on Israel/Palestine. The emergence of J-Street and the change of personnel in the White House is changing that situation slowly and as editor of the Forward conclude: “As to the new seating arrangements, our best advice is to get used to it.”
Bitter Lemons http://www.bitterlemons.org/ is an example of a website that can offer reasoned debate over controversial issues.
Given the controversy over Hamas (a terrorist organisation or a legitimate political force?), the opinions expressed in a recent issue (July 6, 2009 Edition 26) are well worth considering. Follow the link above, and think!
* The stick-and-stick approach has failed
by Ghassan Khatib
No political process can be successful without Hamas
* Test Hamas intentions separately
by Yossi Alpher
How many Australian Jews would support a nuclear-free Middle East?
Meaning what? Well, perhaps this, for starters. A regional agreement to be open to frequent and regular inspection, monitoring and public disclosure of research and development, investments, organizational capacity-building, importation and trade, planning and implementation of nuclear explosive/contamination weaponry ( including depleted uranium) by a peak international organization such as the IAEA (international atomic energy agency).
Uniquely, as far we we know, this opinion piece by two people well known in the Jewish and Arabic speaking communities in Australia has now been published on the same day(July 2, 2009), by newspapers which serve each community, the Australian Jewish News, and An-nahar. We hope that this article reflects a new era of dialogue and realism not just in Australia, that also has some influence in the Middle East.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech throws a couple of specks of kosher synthetic food freshener on what was always going to be a stale, dry, cold and limp dish he was serving up to his unexpected visitor, Barack Obama. No Palestinians were at the table although they were being offered some drudge-work in the kitchen once they’d passed the indefinite probationary labour test for the pre-breakfast 3AM shift. This was dressed up as economic reconciliation.
****This is an entirely personal viewpoint****
The hysteria surrounding Gilad Shalit in Israel –and passed it on through the Jewish News in Australia–deserves comment. I’ve been thinking about it for some time, and it was only when I read Haaretz (see below), that I thought it was time to comment.
Here`s the cold truth.
Shalit is a prisoner of war.
THE US President’s recent speech in Cairo heralded a new beginning in relations between the US and the Muslim world.The Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS) believes it is in the interests of all countries in the region to respond positively to the opportunity presented by this constructive re-engagement with
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A lead letter published in the The Australian, 16 June 2009
THE US President’s recent speech in Cairo heralded a new beginning in relations between the US and the Muslim world, and signalled a re-engagement with finding a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is, therefore, disappointing that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response has merely restated Israel’s position with a new precondition that the Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
Akiva Eldar and Yossid Sarid have pulled no punches into the inadquacey of Netanyahu’s response to Obama
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1092898.html
A friendly tip from Abu Mazen
By Akiva Eldar
Dear Mr Netanyahu,
I admit that I did not hold my breath in anticipation of your speech. I heard that your first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, said it is not important what the gentiles say – what is important is what the Jews do.