I had intended to write a post reflecting on the past year, but the conflict in Gaza put paid to that. Nonetheless, as 2008 segues into 2009, I want to record a debt of gratitude to the following: Eamonn McDonagh, who joined me as a writer on this blog back in July and brought his insight and wisdom along with him; our guest writers, in particular the esteemed Karl Pfeifer and my colleagues Ken Stern, Michelle Sieff and Kenneth Bandler, for their superb contributions; our friends in the blogosphere, especially Gene and David T at Harry’s Place, David and Mira at Engage, Terry Glavin, Contentious Centrist, Normblog and the many other must reads on our blog roll; our sponsor, the American Jewish Committee, for its generous and unstinting support; and you, our readers, for putting Z Word on the map in our first year of existence. Thank you all.
Archive for December, 2008
Members of Iran’s Jewish community have held what is described as a demonstration outside the UN’s office in Tehran protesting against Israel’s actions in Gaza. Though there are a number of fringe Jewish groups outside Iran who would be delighted to jet into Tehran of their own accord in order to wave banners (this lot or this lot), the Jewish community inside Iran doesn’t have that luxury.
This is a guest post by Michelle Sieff of the American Jewish Committee.
Two prominent Israeli writers have published thought-provoking articles on the unfolding conflict in Gaza: the journalist Yossi Klein Halevi in The New Republic and historian Benny Morris in the New York Times.
Demonstrations are being held here in New York and across the United States today against Israel’s defensive military operation in Gaza. It may be that the protests attract those who are unaffiliated but who nonetheless are seized by the desire to “do something;” in which case, beware of who you march with.
This cartoon is from the respected Spanish daily El Pais. Given the grotesque Jewish caricature above, a translation may be superfluous, but my co-writer Eamonn McDonagh has provided one nonetheless.
Continue reading ‘Gaza: Bring on the Antisemitic Caricatures’
This a guest post by Eric Lee of Labourstart.
Maybe it’s because it’s Christmas week, or maybe it’s because the issues are complicated, but there has been a distinctly muted trade union response to the fighting in Gaza.
This is a guest post by Michelle Sieff, Assistant Director of the American Jewish Committee’s Africa Institute.
The South African Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) - which includes several self-described “prominent” South Africans, among them former Intelligence Services Minister Ronnie Kasrils, Professor Steven Friedman of the University of Johannesburg, Patrick Craven of the Cosatu trade union federation, and Eddie Makue, the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches - has strongly denounced Israel’s attack on Hamas targets in Gaza. The group has called on the South African government to sever diplomatic relations with Israel and impose sanctions as well.
Continue reading ‘Gaza: From the Apartheid Analogy to “Genocide”’
Israel is being harshly criticized for the supposedly disproportionate nature of its actions in Gaza. Fabián Glagovsky deals with this criticism in this post, part of which I translate below.
Continue reading ‘Gaza and the Question of the Proportionality’
This is a guest post by British writer Edmund Standing.
Compare two announcements following Israel’s defensive actions against Hamas in Gaza, as reported by the BBC.
Continue reading ‘Israel, Hamas and a Perverse Inversion of Reality’
This is a guest post by Lisa Goldman, a Canadian - Israeli journalist.
I am against the attacks on Gaza because they won’t work. Neither air force bombardments nor a ground invasion will stop the Qassams. In fact, the IAF and IDF attacks will make life more dangerous and disturbing for the residents of Sderot and the western Negev, because Hamas and Islamic Jihad will respond by increasing their rocket barrages.
Daniel Levy has a piece here in which he analyses the latest events in Gaza. Though he makes a couple of decent points along the way, he falls into the trap of failing to treat Hamas with the respect and seriousness it deserves.
Across the Arab and Islamic worlds, there has been a predictable wave of protest against Israel’s continuing operation to defend the western Negev from the rocket and mortar attacks of Hamas. More significantly, though, there is also a growing awareness that Hamas is not an innocent party.
There are two key questions in terms of military strategy in Gaza: how strong is Hamas? And how is Hamas evolving as a military force? According to leading Israeli analysts, Hezbollah in Lebanon is a potent model.
When Israel acts to defend its civilian population, as it is doing now with the Gaza operation, there is a weary inevitability to the discordant voices comparing the Jewish State with Nazi Germany, or making the related argument that Israel should, in the light of modern Jewish history, simply know better.
It won’t be long before the first wave of whining, hypocritical and malevolent op-ed pieces condemning the Israeli operation that began in Gaza this morning rolls in. Israel will be accused of acting disproportionately, committing genocide, deliberately targeting babes in arms and much else besides.
Continue reading ‘Gaza, Israel and the Howling Chorus of Hypocrisy’
