Jareth Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 (edited) Another reason for starting this thread is that I find it all gets a bit awkward when Israel is brought up - it has become a topic whereby any comment on the country is inherently analysed for hints of antisemitism, but my view is that Israel is a major player in the world and deserves to be talked about - it shouldn't be an awkward subject. Of course others might not care so this thread should rightfully plummet down the pages - but I found this by Margaret Hodge today, a sign of how bad things have gotten there - There are so many wonderful things about Israel but the deeply anti-democratic proposals being considered by Benjamin Netanyahu’s new extreme rightwing government, alongside a renewed assault on the homes and most basic rights of Palestinians living in the occupied territories, will only deepen division and heighten tensions. They will end the dreams of the postwar idealistic Zionists who sought to build a new Jerusalem in the Middle East... ...Funding grassroots organisations that work to build confidence between Arabs and Jews from the bottom up is hugely important. However, international pressure, especially from the diaspora Jewish community, to curtail the excesses of the present government, is also needed. And it needs a country outside Israel to actively work to facilitate negotiations between the two warring communities. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/03/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-jewish-diaspora-palestinians Edited March 3, 2023 by Jareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted March 15, 2023 Author Share Posted March 15, 2023 Still intent on pushing this - personally I'd like to hear the views of anyone who has any affinity with the Israeli state at this time, the silence on what is happening is deafening. Recently far right ministers were accused of representing 'Jewish supremacy' - it is unbelievably shit how the victim has become the bully. I'm not saying it is not understandable, but there simply must be criticism. A main point of contention in the planned overhaul is an amendment to the way in which judges are selected. The president’s plan would see the selection committee include three ministers, the president of the high court, two judges and two civil servants who will be agreed upon by both the president of the supreme court and the justice minister. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/15/israeli-president-civil-war-is-within-touching-distance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 Netanyahu not getting great response to his latest attempt to change the laws to try keeping himself out of jail or by firing the defense minister who opposed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 Seems to be getting a bit spicy over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto_Villan Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 (edited) Yeah. From tomorrow (which I guess is now today) there's a general strike with large portions of the business / education / transport world going on strike, including the airports shutting down. As large portions of the military also oppose this change I'm not sure he's got the option to just try and push it through anyway. The rumours are that he's going to abandon the changes, which may well bring down his coaltion (because the far-right parties supporting Netanyahu want him to push it through). But who knows how it will all play out. My knowledge of the situation is pretty superficial. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end for Netanyahu and we'll see Israel move in a more inclusive direction in future. Edited March 27, 2023 by Panto_Villan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 He's decided to postpone it until April. Not sure what he thinks would have changed until then but I guess he hopes the protests and strikes will die down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted March 27, 2023 Author Share Posted March 27, 2023 5 minutes ago, sne said: He's decided to postpone it until April. Not sure what he thinks would have changed until then but I guess he hopes the protests and strikes will die down. And in exchange for his far right coalition partners agreeing the delay, he's giving them their own private national guard army, under their control. What could possibly go wrong here... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 1 minute ago, Jareth said: And in exchange for his far right coalition partners agreeing the delay, he's giving them their own private national guard army, under their control. What could possibly go wrong here... He embodies the worst of Trump and Erdogan. Wonder if he'll stage a coup or go for the civil war approach if he doesn't succeed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted March 27, 2023 Author Share Posted March 27, 2023 25 minutes ago, sne said: He embodies the worst of Trump and Erdogan. Wonder if he'll stage a coup or go for the civil war approach if he doesn't succeed. I'd add Boris to that too. Bunch of old corrupt men who'd rather burn it all down to save themselves. I can only think a month is too short to raise an army and long enough for the US to exert pressure. It's that or civil war in a nuclear state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 Massive protest tonight after the politicians voted to give themselves more power and the supreme court less power. Already been one incident where an anti protester drove his car into a crowd of protesters. Gonna be a horrible night. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted July 24, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted July 24, 2023 I feel distressed and sad to see Israeli sliding toward authoritarianism. I can't believe it -- don't want to believe it. It disrespects the memories of Jewish European refugees and their descendants who escaped such damaging hatred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post chrisp65 Posted July 24, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 24, 2023 Israel’s day to day actions against the very people they share a living space with disrespects the memory of the European refugees. The existing political system is foul, racist. That its potentially going to slide further down the sewer feels to be of little relevance for those it already makes homeless, stateless and hopeless. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted July 24, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted July 24, 2023 Careful now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bielesibub Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 1 hour ago, sne said: Massive protest tonight after the politicians voted to give themselves more power and the supreme court less power. Already been one incident where an anti protester drove his car into a crowd of protesters. Gonna be a horrible night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted April 28 Author Share Posted April 28 Israeli politics threatens to drag us into a world war - we have already defended Israel militarily - when do we call in this favour? An Israeli provocateur tried to get the Met police chief fired by provoking a situation during a palestinian supporting march, whether folks see it or not but Israel has via political lobbyists or via stunts, is setting the narrative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Lifeboats Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 (edited) 6 hours ago, Jareth said: Israeli politics threatens to drag us into a world war - we have already defended Israel militarily - when do we call in this favour? An Israeli provocateur tried to get the Met police chief fired by provoking a situation during a palestinian supporting march, whether folks see it or not but Israel has via political lobbyists or via stunts, is setting the narrative. When do we call in this favour? Some would say that we owe it to them. We did "give" them a heavily contested and occupied land to build their country. We turned away thousands of Jews trying to flee Hitler's Germany. We tolerated Hitler's persecution of the Jews for many years. Let me make this very clear. Israel's current government is a disgrace. But its no worse than some of the other countries in that area. Blaming Israel alone is ridiculous. There's blame on all sides. The Jews were subjected to a holocaust. Nothing that is happening today registers anywhere near that level of bloodshed. Edited April 28 by Mandy Lifeboats Added details 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Lifeboats Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 I now await the aggressive and virtuous replies that avoid any rational discussion and completely ignore the bit of my post where I describe the Israel government a disgrace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted April 28 Moderator Share Posted April 28 7 hours ago, Jareth said: Israeli politics threatens to drag us into a world war - we have already defended Israel militarily - when do we call in this favour? An Israeli provocateur tried to get the Met police chief fired by provoking a situation during a palestinian supporting march, whether folks see it or not but Israel has via political lobbyists or via stunts, is setting the narrative. An Israeli provocateur or a Jewish rights campaigner? Not understanding the difference is anti-Semitic Do you have any evidence linking the Campaign Against Antisemitism to the Israeli Government? Gideon Falter is an arsehole but you have zero evidence to call him an Israeli Provocateur You keep conflating Israel with Jew, you really should stop doing that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 29 minutes ago, bickster said: An Israeli provocateur or a Jewish rights campaigner? Not understanding the difference is anti-Semitic Do you have any evidence linking the Campaign Against Antisemitism to the Israeli Government? Gideon Falter is an arsehole but you have zero evidence to call him an Israeli Provocateur You keep conflating Israel with Jew, you really should stop doing that I believe at the time, the man next to Falter was identified as having been the security adviser at a number of official Israeli appointments in the U.K. His name was issued along with photos of him at multiple venues and events. That doesn’t ‘prove’ anything. But as ever, it places the truth somewhere in the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted April 28 Moderator Share Posted April 28 36 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: I believe at the time, the man next to Falter was identified as having been the security adviser at a number of official Israeli appointments in the U.K. His name was issued along with photos of him at multiple venues and events. That doesn’t ‘prove’ anything. But as ever, it places the truth somewhere in the middle. No it really doesn’t, there is no middle ground here. There’s no sort of, you can’t be sort of black or sort of French. You either are or you aren’t. Israeli provocateur implies he was undertaking his actions at the behest of the state of Israel. There is literally no evidence of this. So he should be regarded as a Jewish rights campaigner until such times as actual evidence exists To say what Jareth says is actually giving this arsehole what he wants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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