Something to Do On a Friday (or Why I Go Out to Demonstrate)

By Yuli Novak and Translated by Jesse Lockard and Rotem Linial

Sheikh Jarrah has come to symbolize the Israeli government’s Judaization of Jerusalem’s Palestinian neighborhoods. An email from a protestor, dispelling myths about the policy, and those Israelis who oppose it.

Was Scott Brown's Win about Health Care?

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser and Zeek

Zeek interviews Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who spearheaded the effort to pass Massachusetts’ innovative health care reform bill, about the Senate race and what it signifies for “Obama-care.”

Loving Israel, Demonizing Jews

By Rachel Tabachnick

Christian anti-Semitism hasn’t died. Its just gone in drag as Zionism. What has changed is the willingness of Jewish rightists to overlook it, in exchange for foreign support of the Occupation.

Tzedakah for Haiti

The people of Haiti need the help of every community in the world. Here is a list of Jewish organizations presently engaged in relief efforts.

Israel Cracks Down on Free Speech

By Mya Guarnieri

The Jewish state has frequently been cited for its toleration of debate about Israel’s failings. In recent months, however, both the government and security forces have grown increasingly uneasy with this environment. Mya Guarnieri on Tuesday’s arrest of Ma’an editor Jared Malsin.

A Policy of Failure

By Moshe Yaroni

All Israel’s siege of Gaza accomplishes is to further diminish the Jewish state’s damaged reputation, harm its relations with its remaining Muslim allies, increase the difficulty of returning to talks with the Palestinians and, of course, greatly magnify the suffering of its civilian victims.

The Sophistry of Daniel Ayalon

By Moshe Yaroni

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister is well-known for his extremist views. Most recently, Minister Ayalon has reintroduced the term “Disputed Territories” in order to undermine the commonality of Diaspora usage of the term “Occupied Territories.” Moshe Yaroni explains why this campaign has been undertaken, and what its real objectives are.

Tzedakah, Take Two

By Jill Jacobs

With only one day left for tax-deductible giving in 2009, it’s time to look again at tzedakah. There Shall Be No Needy author Rabbi Jill Jacobs answers questions about how much money to allocate to tzedakah, and how to give it away most effectively.

On the 'Right' to Be a Settler

By Louis Frankenthaler

Jewish settlers are increasingly resorting to the use of civil rights discourses to legitimate their illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. An Israeli activist draws our attention to the phenomenon, contending that its purpose is to conceal the denial of basic human rights to Palestinians.

A Most Unlikely Source of Hope

By Moshe Yaroni

It was about as likely as Daniel Pipes converting to Islam, and taking up residence in Gaza. Under intense US pressure, Benjamin Netanyahu, it appears, is throwing his weight behind the two-state solution. The source of this revelation: Steven Rosen, the controversial ex-AIPAC staffer, indicted for espionage by the Justice Department.

Reclaiming Hanukah From the Occupation

By Moshe Yaroni

This Hanukah, there is a fork in Israel’s road ahead. Is it going to confront the fundamentalists who threaten to turn the state into a theocracy, as its Justice Minister advocated last week? Or is it going to strive to find peace in secure borders, with a shared Jerusalem and good relations with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world?

The New Aliya

By Jacob Savage

The heroic age of Zionism is over. Organizations like Nefesh B’Nefesh and Birthright Israel have taken the meaning out of making aliya. If you lack a sense of purpose at home, you can always pick up and move to the Holy Land. There’s no shortage of organizations that will help you get there.

When is War Justified? Afghanistan

A month ago, ZEEK sent an email to over fifty leaders and thinkers in the Jewish and progressive world, asking them what they thought about the conflict in Afghanistan. I wrote: I keep asking myself an old question that seems ever more relevant today in the context of Afghanistan: When is war justified? Here are responses from Rabbi Arthur Waskow and journalist Greg Palast. You are invited to add your own.

“Justify My Love": J-Street’s Obsession with "Loving Israel"

A vignette: in a discussion session defining what it means to be pro-Israel, one woman courageously stood and said, “I don’t love Israel.” It was like a wave rushed over the room. Silence. No one seemed to know what she meant. Sitting there, I felt she held up a mirror to everyone in the room–everyone at the conference–as if to say, “You say you love Israel. Do you know what you mean?”

Elie Wiesel Needs New Friends

By Rachel Tabachnick

Christian Zionists speak in an Orwellian vernacular. On the one hand, they claim Scripture to support the State of Israel. On the other, they pray for the destruction of the Jewish people. Rachel Tabachnick takes to task novelist Elie Wiesel for his befriending America’s best-known proponent of this doublespeak, Pastor John Hagee.

Disintegration

By Joel Schalit

Israeli-American relations are at a crisis point. Some might even say a breaking point. Despite endless US demands to freeze settlement construction, and to reinvigorate the peace process, Israel refuses to cooperate. The Americans have yet to understand their responsibility for this situation.

Harvey Milk Was Here

By Aeyal Gross

The cold blooded killings at a queer youth center in Tel Aviv last August put into stark relief the plight of gay Israelis. How can the most sexually liberated state in the Mideast sincerely proclaim the singularity of its freedoms when its GLBT citizenry live in fear of being murdered?

I'm Broke. Please Help

By Sue Swartz

“I hate to ask,” the hand-written sign apologized, “but I have to. I’m broke. Please help.” It’s mid-morning, mid-week, and drizzling. I’m stopped several car lengths down from the traffic light where the man with the sign stands unprotected from the elements and the stares of strangers.

The State of Utopia

By Shai Ginsburg

It is difficult to believe that three weeks ago the main news item in Israel was Netanyahu’s endorsement of the two state solution. Notwithstanding the coverage his Bar Ilan address received, within days, it had largely slipped from public consciousness. While Obama’s Cairo speech continues to reverberate throughout the Middle East, the Israeli prime minister’s so-called acceptance of the “leftist” program has left no marks. The dismissive reception that Netanyahu received when he traveled to Europe afterwards, coupled with persistently blatant demands—even from Silvio Berlusconi—to cease all settlement construction in the Occupied Territories shows how little Netanyahu was taken seriously by Israel’s so-called best friends.