Hey, here’s some good news. Lawrence of Cyberia is blogging again. Her fans definitely noted her absence, checking back sadly every few weeks to see her 17.August Quote of the Week ("Israel is running out of time…") and wondering if she’d be coming back. She did! The new quote, from recently deceased soccer hero George Best, is "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I just squandered..."
Archive for November, 2005
The New York Times and The Guardian are reporting today on a leaked British Foreign Office report that sketches out in stark detail Israel’s strategy for Judaizing Arab East Jerusalem in order to prevent it from becoming the capital of a Palestinian state in future negotations. The report, prepared by the British consulate in Jerusalem, was presented at a meeting of the European Union foreign ministers, but was tabled at the request of the Italian representative (Italy being Israel’s most steadfast European ally). According to the report, Israel is using settlement construction, the security barrier and the non-issuance of work and building permits to Arabs as a means of limiting Palestinian access to and residence in East Jerusalem: "the Jerusalem master plan has an explicit goal to keep the proportion of Palestinian Jerusalemites at no more than 30% of the total..."
Here is this week’s Torah portion, open for comment as usual, in the spirit of the Talmud (by the way, check the comments on the last portion - they’re quite interesting). Abraham, a sojourner despite his wealth and power, purchases land for Sarah’s burial place. He finds Isaac a wife, Rebekah - there’s a wonderful description of her modesty and kindness. The passage sees Abraham’s death as well, and his burial next to his wife. Both the Jewish and Islamic traditions recognize Abraham as a patriarch. This might provide common ground for understanding between the two faiths. I would be very interested to know how Islam sees the Abrahamic stories…
The building reputed to be the Tomb of the Patriarchs still stands in Hebron, and it is a sad and violent place. Militant settlers, guided by their interpretation of this passage, have tried to claim it for the Jews, at terrible cost to the Arab population that once inhabited the Old City. What better testament to the importance of the continuing work of interpretation? These texts continue to guide human actions, in ways that may be constructive or destructive. Can we find a reading of the passage that allows us to share this sacred place?
Old friends and new. I had the privilege of eating lunch a couple of weeks ago with Rachel Barenblat, the author of one of my favorite blogs, Velveteen Rabbi (subtitle: "When can I run and play with the real rabbis?"). I’d been reading it for a while. Rachel is a wonderful source of information on Jewish rituals and traditions. She doesn’t spell out the halakic details of how to observe, say Sukkot. Instead she writes beautifully about the palm leaves used in the service - where they come from, different interpretations of their meaning, and the tastes and scents of canning them afterward…
I have been putting off writing this, half hoping the situation would change, but it looks like it’s final - Brad Brooks-Rubin is leaving Semitism.net. He’s taking a new job and, for reasons of time and to avoid any conflict of interest, he won’t be able to post here anymore. I’m not sure how much he’d want me to say about his new position; but readers can be assured that he’ll be in the public sector, and continuing to work for a better world. I wanted to take a little space to appreciate all that Brad has done for this site, and for the dialogue on Israel and Palestine, in the time that he’s been writing here…
There has long been talk of what Robert Rosenberg of Ariga calls the "Big Bang" of Israeli politics. Ever since Ariel Sharon formed the Likud in 1973 and displaced labor as the ruling party, the two have maintained a precarious balance, with the parliamentary majority shifting back and forth between them, each holding the other back from implementing its full agenda. Furthermore, both Labor and Likud have been forced to court the smaller parties to maintain ruling coalitions, which has given Israel’s religious right power beyond its numbers. The Big Bang would be the moment when the left wing of Likud and the right wing of Labor broke off to form a centrist party, which could command a clear majority as Labor did in days of old. Well, now it’s happened…
As I indicated in a post last week, I have taken a new job that necessitates an end to my blogging on this site. Although I am very excited about this new job, this aspect of it leaves me with a heavy heart. I am forever grateful to Andrew for providing me with this space for the past 8 months (and supporting me in every way possible, from technical to psychological, as I used it). Andrew is an inspiration — I have learned much from him in this time, and I know I will continue to learn from him as a reader. I am also eternally grateful to those who took the time to read, consider, even comment on, what I wrote. Finally, let me just say that I hope Andrew, too, can stop blogging in the near future (or at least have it just be posting the weekly parahsot), because the Israeli/Palestinian issues covered on this site simply are not issues anymore.
