BREAKING THE SILENCE
Israeli Soldiers Talk About The Occupation
Sunday, MARCH 9, 7:30PM
Sponsored by
CONGREGATION BETH ELOHIM, 274 Garfield Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn (near corner of 8th Ave.)
Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the occupied territories during the second intifada and thereby give public witness to the impact on Israeli society of military service in the West Bank and Gaza.
BTS member Dotan Greenvald will share a collection of photographs, interviews by Israeli soldiers and his own story of the daily reality of being a soldier in the occupied territories. Co-sponsored by the Brit Tzedek v’Shalom Chapter of New York City, Meretz USA, and Americans for Peace Now.
I’ve never been much for the Hip Hop Hoodios, the Latino Jewish hip-hop outfit from New York. But this made me crack a smile.
Lessig backs off Congressional race, decides to focus on Change Congress movement instead.
OMG OMG OMG!
Mazal tov to Yoseph & Idit on the birth of their baby daughter at 10:30 this morning, Israel time!!!!
In part two of this series, responding to Bill Levinson’s egregious smear against Barack Obama, I address Levinson’s contention that,
Obama belongs to a church whose pastor said that “white America” got its “wake up call” after 9/11, and that Israel occupies Palestinian land illegally. Jeremiah Wright also compared the United States to Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The same church has a “non-negotiable commitment to Africa.” […] Obama’s church also gave an award to the vicious anti-Semite and racist Louis Farrakhan, although it must be said that Obama distanced himself from Farrakhan.
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Afrocentrism: No worse than Judeocentrism
In March of last year, when allegations of racism first arose against Barack Obama’s long-time pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr., I took pro-Israel blogger Anne Lieberman to task for perpetuating this baseless slander. Bill Levinson has read my post on the subject, which thoroughly demolishes the claim. But whereas he continues to insist upon the truthfulness of the charge, I will rehash my original remarks.
More…
Bill Levinson, the right-wing pro-Israel blogger who has made a name for himself by slandering MoveOn.org at every available opportunity, published yesterday on IsraPundit an outrageous smear against Senator Barack Obama, seeking to portray the Democratic front-runner as a coddler of antisemites due to his associations with Rev. Al Sharpton, Pastor Jeremiah Wright, and of course MoveOn.org. My next several posts will thoroughly challenge each of the fallacies perpetuated by Levinson, and will hopefully serve as a valuable source for confronting these lies as they make their way through the Jewish community.
In my first post, I will challenge Levinson’s contention that “Obama endorsed Al Sharpton and his National Action Network, both of which have a long track record of promoting hatred of white people and especially Jews.”
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I do not contest the fact that Al Sharpton is a troubling figure. His inflammatory antics over the years can be described as irresponsible at best, and I think, in all fairness, they ought to be deemed far worse. Yet whatever one’s dismay at Sharpton’s incendiary past, the fact remains that Sharpton is an incredibly influential political figure in the United States and that everyone is vying for his blessing. Even President Bush.
I empathize with Jewish voters who are disturbed by Sharpton’s behavior and annoyed that politicians persist to legitimize and pander to him in spite of his record. But, in the grand scheme of things, Sharpton is hardly a credible threat to Jewish interests. As Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman told The Jewish Week, in response to similar smears against Al Gore, whom the GOP was desperately trying to link to Sharpton in 2000, “Al Sharpton has been a lot of things: a rabble-rouser who plays on the fringes of anti-Semitism and has engaged in racism. But he is not an enemy of the Jewish people.”
More…
Time magazine warns us that perennial Green Party candidate Ralph Nader is likely going to announce a bid for the White House on Meet the Press this Sunday. Considering that Zogby has Obama with a 7% lead over McCain in a national match-up, is it any wonder that he’s stepping in now?
In 2004, Nader not only took cash from the GOP, he took illegal assistance from the Bush campaign to get on the ballot in Oregon. It would not surprise me in the least if Nader is once again receiving encouragement and assistance from the Right, which — you can be certain — will do whatever it takes to make sure their man takes it in November.
If anyone you know mentions their intent to vote for Nader, you have my permission to club them upside the head with a blunt object.
I just made my first campaign contribution ever. I have never spent $100 so well.
To all my friends in California’s 12th (from where I’ve just returned): Vote Lessig in ‘08!
