Note: I generally do not edit posts after I write them (except to correct spelling errors etc.). I would like this weblog to be an honest diary, which includes my mistakes as well as (hopefully) some insights that are correct. Below is my original post, but please see the comments section for a correction - the hospital involved was evidently an Arab-run and not an Israeli-run institution, which may influence how some readers interpret the story.
I spent many years taking care of uninsured patients at a Latino clinic in Washington, DC before I moved to Massachusetts - so this story from the BBC caught my eye. Evidently a Jerusalem hospital tried to hold a newborn baby - one of three triplets - hostage to ensure that the mother, an Israeli Arab, would pay her bill.
Because the children’s father was a Palestinian resident of the West Bank, the hospital demanded payment of the bill as it was not certain of recovering the costs from the National Insurance Institute (NII).
When the woman said she was unable to pay, the hospital released only two of the babies, keeping the third as a “guarantee”.
The baby kept by the hospital was not in need of medical treatment.
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Terrific news.
Thurman of XPatriated Texan has announced that the first Progressive Faith Blog Convention, which he and many others have been planning for months, is now a reality. It’s going to be at the Montclaire State University Convention Center from Friday July 14 through Sunday July 16.
Please come! It’s geared toward the (suprisingly) large number of bloggers who are religious and politically progressive - in other words, those of us on the Religious Left. We’ll have a chance to network, talk politics, learn about our respective religious traditions and, of course (always a favorite at blogging conventions), find out about cool new blogging stuff like podcasting and AJAX. Best of all, it’s free!
You don’t need to have a blog to attend - I think anyone who’s interested in the intersection of religion and progressive politics, or in the internet as a tool for activism, will enjoy the conference… |inline
Readers over sixty may recall the moment when Mississippi Senator James Eastland, a notorious racist and an ally of anti-Communist witch-hunter Joseph McCarthy, declared to Jacob Javits, “I don’t like your kind.” Javits was a liberal Republican, a civil rights supporter, a McCarthy opponent, and the only Jew in the Senate.
Now, ironically, some Jewish groups are resorting to outright McCarthyist tactics against a critic of Israel’s settlement policy - and claiming they are doing it in Javits’ name. The Conference of Presidents, the American Jewish Committee and other groups are pressuring the Empire State Development Corporation to reject a plan for the 1.7 billion dollar redesign of the Javits Center because the architect has ties to a group critical of the separation wall… |inline
There’s a huge need for a strong national organization to give voice to the many Jews who oppose Israel’s occupation and annexation of Palestinian territory. Up till now the Jewish anti-occupation movement has consisted mainly of individual activists and small local groups. We’re largely shut out of the mainstream Jewish organizations. Our influence on policy is meager, and we haven’t been very successful in reaching the “silent majority” of Jews who are disturbed by Israel’s actions but afraid to speak out.
I think, though, the tide may be starting to turn… |inline
Haaretz is reporting that Hamas leaders agreed in Moscow today to extend the ceasefire hammered out at last year Sharm al-Sheikh for another full year… |inline
