Op-Ed: Why are Christians funding Israel’s anti-Zionist fringe?

[Mosby]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The State of Israel is celebrating its 66th birthday. For Israelis, Jews around the world and all supporters of Israel, this is a joyous occasion. By and large, even Israelis who are critical of some of their country’s policies nevertheless celebrate its remarkable accomplishments and contributions to the world.

Amid these celebrations, there is a minuscule group of Jewish Israelis who support Palestinian rejectionist ideology and identify with the “Nakba” (Arabic for “catastrophe”) narrative. The importance of this unrepresentative fringe is inflated far beyond its numbers due to support from some powerful Christian institutions, including Catholic frameworks.

For example, Zochrot (Hebrew for “remembrance”) is an Israeli NGO whose activities are made possible in large part through the support of European church aid agencies. It aims to “raise public awareness of the Palestinian Nakba” and to “recogniz[e] and materializ[e] the right of return.” In this way, Zochrot is overtly political, promoting a radical vision for the Middle East that does not include the right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality.

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/05/05/news-opinion/opinion/op-ed-why-are-christians-funding-israels-anti-zionist-fringe#ixzz30xTD4pdL

[Scootaloo]

1. Gibberish

Amid these celebrations, there is a minuscule group of Jewish Israelis who support Palestinian rejectionist ideology and identify with the “Nakba” (Arabic for “catastrophe”) narrative.

In other words, people who recognize the reality of history. Right out hte gate, Emily Ziedman is engaging in historical denialism of the same sort, were it targeting Jews, would outrage her.

The importance of this unrepresentative fringe is inflated far beyond its numbers due to support from some powerful Christian institutions, including Catholic frameworks.

Bandwagon fallacies do not a coherent argument make. If you're going to argue that the majority of Israelis pretend the Nakba never happened, or is of no relevance to Israel, then fine - that means the majority of Israelis are dipshits, not that they're correct. Of course we have no figures or citations other than Ms. Ziedman's assurances that it is so. So we'll just have to take her at her word that the majority of Israelis can't tell their asses from their mouths when it comes to history.

It aims to “raise public awareness of the Palestinian Nakba” and to “recogniz and materializ the right of return.”

Good, and good. Events of ethnic cleansing need awareness, and human rights need to be followed through on.

In this way, Zochrot is overtly political, promoting a radical vision for the Middle East that does not include the right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality.

Lots of NGO's are overtly political. NGO Monitor, for instance.

The Middle East is a region vastly larger than Israel / Palestine (Though you'd hardly guess from Western media most days, I'll grant)

"Sovereign Equality" is one of those sort of made-up phrases that probably sounds good when you're jotting down notes for Oleh's First Essay but falls apart as meaningless twaddle on examination. Sorta like "Islamo-fascist." Don't worry Emily, you don't have to make sense to get published on JTA.

This directly contradicts the “two states for two peoples” formula supported by the international community, including the government funders of the church aid agencies that serve as Zochrot’s benefactors.

Liberal Zionists seem to have real difficulty understanding that a free people don't need to march in lockstep with the government, even if receiving some benefit of that government. Shall we call for Finland to send Finn Church Aid on gulag for this dissidence? TO ÅLAND WITH YOU!

In this scenario, Jews would return to the pre-1948 predicament of everywhere being minorities, vulnerable to the whims of sometimes-hostile majorities.

Rather than being the majority whose whims are imposed? I think there might be some space between these two poles. But by now we're in full-on panic mode - seems to come easily for Libzis - so rational thought ain't gonna happen.

Zochrot’s activities, then, undermine these governments’ own policies.

There's no rule for NGO's to be emissaries of government policy. That's what the N and the G stand for, Ms. Ziedman

For example, the heads of this fringe group joined a 2012 trip to South Africa, sponsored by HEKS, in order “to learn from cases of expulsion and return.” Afterward, Zochrot co-published “The Cape Town Document,” which states, “It is our hope that the new political structure created in de-Zionized Palestine will be that of a single democratic state.”

Such scoundrels!

More recently, in September 2013, Zochrot held a conference called “From Truth to Redress: Realizing the Return of Palestinian Refugees” to further spread its agenda of Israel’s disappearance. At the time, Zochrot’s funders sought to justify their support under the guise of promoting refugee rights and justice, reflecting a lack of due diligence and serious engagement by the funders

It's not a "guise" if they're actually doing what they say they're going to do. Seriously I know it's all the rage among little fascist fucks who think Israel is the best thing since flammable crosses to claim that people who advocate for Palestinian rights "really" don't care, but even the dumbest of the JDL skinhead set know better than to link to something that scuttle the argument.

It is startling that so many Christian groups fund an NGO that openly rejects Israel’s existence, the single most important manifestation of Jewish empowerment and self-determination in the world today.

Well one, we've only looked at one of these groups, Zochrot, and nowhere do they "reject Israel's existence." They simply call for a different kind of Israel.

Next, Israel is probably the least important thing in the lives of most Jews in the world - most of them don't live in Israel, and Israel does exactly jack squat for them. many seem really bothered by a pseudofascist militarist racist-nationalist state occupying, and brutalizing people in their name.

Third, considering how much money floods into Hard right zionist groups from Christoans, I don't think there's really much to complain about. John "God Bless hitler" Hagee has won numerous awards for his "philanthropy" towards Israeli NGO's (most of whom, let's note, forget what the N and the G stand for... but hey, that's up to them.)

Instead, they echo the tortured history of Jewish persecution and marginalization in European Christian societies and the extreme demands of radical groups.

It's great that Ms. Zeidman is so confident in her own ideas. However, I'm pretty sure that not only can sending a check to Zochot not be compared to fifteen hundred years of persecution of Jews by christians, but further I think the simile is amazingly banal and offensive.

Also, "extreme demands of radical groups"? Again just 'cause you use the words doesn't mean they work the way you want them to.

It is hoped that he will send a powerful message of true peace by stating firmly and without equivocation that the vision of a world without Israel clearly contradicts church teachings

Oh... oh man. You really want to defend Israel using christian doctrine, huh? Tell you what, Ms. Zeidman... Pick up the new testament and have a read through the Book of Revelation. Yeah, uh... According to Christianity, Israel's existence is necessary... So that all the Jews are in one place when Jesus comes back to kill them all and cast them into hell foe their unrepentant heresy against him. Also, keep that in mind when - if- you ever notice one of those pro-Israel Christian groups I mentioned.

This is a message that the officials of powerful Catholic aid agencies who channel money to groups that demonize Israel will need to internalize.

Speaking of extreme demands of radical groups...

Thanks Mosby. Always a hoot to know what they pay the interns at NGO monitor for.

[Israeli]

2. NGO monitor is out in force today .....

ref : http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4516669,00.html

Could it be that something has upset them ???

Could it be this ...??????

Memorial Day Ceremony

The Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony, which has been held on the eve of Memorial Day for the last eight consecutive years, comes to remind us that war is not an act of fate but human choice. This ceremony is the largest annual event held by the Combatants for Peace movement. On this particularly difficult day we call for both sides to acknowledge the pain and the aspirations of those living on the other side of the fence and to strive to prevent the next war. Let us hope that on the next Memorial Day we will not have to acknowledge additional victims. At the ceremony, Israeli and Palestinian bereaved families speak about their personal pain.

The ceremony was held, during the few first times in the Tmuna Theater. It was initiated by Buma Inbar whose son Yotam fell in Lebanon in 1995. Since the initial event in 2006, the number of participants has increased every year. Last year about 2,500 people attended the function which was held at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds. Over the years the ceremony has been attended by intellectuals and artists including Yoni Rechter, Prof. Yehuda (Judd) Ne’eman, recipient of the Israel Prize, Alon Oleartchik, Achinoam Nini, Noam Rotem, Mira Awad, Prof. Eva Illouz and others. Year after year the event attracts increasing media attention in spite of the fact that we had to deal with protests and attempts by right-wing politicians to sabotage the event.

This Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony demonstrates the reality of empathy and mutual respect among peoples.

The ceremony demonstrates, however briefly, the possibility of peace, not on the basis of disregard for or indifference to the pain, but rather with a direct reference to the loss and bereavement on both sides. This statement, delivered by Prof. Eva Illouz at last year’s ceremony, is not radical. It is so basically human that we cannot allow anyone to thrust it to the sidelines.

This is the basis of the importance we place in the event, and in our efforts to expand it and increasingly bring it to the center of national thinking.

Source : http://cfpeace.org/?page_id=4412

[Scootaloo]

3. There's nothing they fear more than people identifying with and relating to one another

The entire narrative of "THEY hate US! WE are better than THEM! THEY are OUR enemy!" breaks down rather rapidly when the bubble is penetrated.

[Israeli]

4. you saw the title of the link I gave you .....

???

Between post-Zionism and auto-anti-Semitism

now read this :

http://972mag.com/the-burden-and-wall-of-zionism/90571/

quote :

" In the public domain, the distinction of Zionist or non-, post-, anti-Zionists is used to delegitimize people, and portray them as outside the consensus.
Yet that use of Zionism is solipsistic: it refers only to itself, having gutted this rich world of all substance.
In short, Zionism has been reduced to a wall: a ghetto wall separating Jews from other Jews, that we have built ourselves and a eight-meter high concrete separation wall, separating Jews from Palestinians.
It is a burden. "

There is nothing they fear more than the truth Scootaloo.....that is the bubble we penetrate .

[Mosby]

5. Hey, what do you make of this?

Most secular Israelis given a choice would rather live in the United States, than be subject to the extreme right wing religious political culture that dominates Israeli society today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=798107

This is what your friends at DU think about secular Israeils. Nice huh?

[Israeli]

6. He probably read this Mosby :

Bye, the beloved country - why almost 40 percent of Israelis are thinking of emigrating

@ http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/bye-the-beloved-country-why-almost-40-percent-of-israelis-are-thinking-of-emigrating.premium-1.484945

Fantasy or reality, the fact cannot be ignored that many Israelis want, at some level, to live elsewhere. The tendency to consider leaving is most prominent among voters for center and left-of-center parties; the 30-49 age group; secular, salaried individuals; as well as among inhabitants of the south of the country and the Greater Tel Aviv area.

Indeed, the Haaretz survey shows clearly that voters for right-wing parties and people who are religiously traditional or Orthodox tend to say that they will not leave because Israel is the central place of the Jewish people. Not everyone who took part in the survey would agree with that proposition. Treves: “The right and the left in present-day Israel are in dispute over one issue: where on our scale of identity we place Jewish identity. The more of a humanist and liberal you are, the lower you situate your Jewish identity. It’s been like that ever since Benjamin Netanyahu whispered into the ear of [the late kabbalist] Rabbi Kaduri, ‘The leftists have forgotten what it is to be Jewish.’”

Many of those who categorize themselves as belonging to the political center or left will probably reject that claim (maybe even angrily). Nevertheless, a chasm seems to have opened between their conception of what it means to be Jewish and the way they grasp the state’s conception of what it means to be Jewish. The moment the decision to live in Israel is no longer based on values, economic parameters enter the equation -- at which point no few Israelis think their future lies in other, greener pastures.

The country has become more religious, he believes, and people who define themselves as liberals are finding it more difficult to connect with it. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar, he adds, is trying to deepen people’s connection with the state but is doing so by evoking controversial symbols, such as sending schoolchildren on mandatory visits to Rachel’s Tomb in the territories. “That is a big mistake in terms of understanding the new ties that link people in the open world,” Manella says.

Ben-David conducted a study of the brain-drain phenomenon five years ago. He explains that although the brain drain to the United States is not exclusively an Israeli phenomenon, there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world in terms of its proportions. “There are eight Israelis in the Computer Sciences Department of Stanford, which is almost a subdepartment,” he says with a half-smile. He is concerned not only about the future of the universities in Israel but about the country’s character and image as a whole. “I am apprehensive that we will reach a point of demographic no-return here.

“Demography refers not only births but also to those who remain here to live,” he explains. “At present, it is still possible to shift the country onto a sustainable track, but in another decade that will no longer be possible. Today, half the children in Israel receive a lower-level education than is the case in Third World countries, and that number is only increasing. That’s what the elections should be about.”

There are 250,000 Israelis in the United States, Balasha says. That’s more than the population of Netivot, Ofakim, Beit She’an and Nesher put together. The large number of people translates into large differences in terms of success. Even though the statistics say that one in every five emigrants return, in practice even longtime emigrants find it difficult to admit -- even to themselves -- that they are not likely to go back.

[Mosby]

7. that article doesnt say that Liberals are leaving Israel because of religious conservatives

They are leaving or thinking about leaving for economic reasons, something I have brought up before.

Hopefully the government in Israel can do something about wages and living expenses. I heard that they are going to break up some of the larger companies, do you think that will help? I'm not sure it will but it's a start.

[King_David]

8. Your like a hyperlink clipping machine,

Your opinions posts and answers to any question is always a "clip" of someone else's opinion.

It would be interesting to know what you actually think or believe .

Unless your the real Adam Keller ?