Religion and State I
November 1, 2009 at 11:45 pm | In Islam | 4 CommentsIt is amazing to see Westerners talk about Islam. It is interesting how they see Islam, from this very Christian perspective, although mostly they are probably atheists.
Westerners anticipate that there is a modern Islam somewhere, well at least they think, that there should be something like that. And if not than there should be a reformation in Islam like there was one in Christianity and out of this should follow a more modern Islam with a divison between Religion and State.
It shows how little they understand of Islam and even of Christianity and the Reformation.
“This is the end of the Jewish Diaspora of Yemen. That’s it.”
November 1, 2009 at 10:58 am | In Antisemitism / Antizionism, Islam | Leave a CommentI mentioned it some time ago: It is most likely that Yemen will soon be judenrein. Now some more Yemenite Jews have left Yemen – after 2500 years there – because life was made unbearable for them. Last year a Yemenite Jew was murdered because he dismissed demands to convert to Islam.
Islam used to do be a civilization that does not persecute religious minorities of the monotheistic religions. Whereas Christianity persecuted just everybody. Under Islam Jews and Christians were second class citizens, but they were in some way protected, although acts of violents were not uncommon, and they had to pay a special tex. I really wonder what happened, that all that changed. Why is Islam declining and declining and no end in sight?
What went wrong?
Violence toward the country’s small remaining Jewish community began to intensify last year, when one of its most prominent members was gunned down outside his house. But the mission also hastens the demise of one of the oldest remaining Jewish communities in the Arab world.
Jews are believed to have reached what is now Yemen more than 2,500 years ago as traders for King Solomon. They survived — and at times thrived — over centuries of change, including the spread of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula.
“They were one of the oldest exiled groups out of Israel,” says Hayim Tawil, a Yeshiva University professor who is an expert on Yemeni Jewry. “This is the end of the Jewish Diaspora of Yemen. That’s it.”
For some time …
October 23, 2009 at 7:42 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment… I have not written anything on this blog. One reason was that I spent a long summer outside of Israel and ignored almost everything that had to do with Israel in particular and the Middle East in general. Refreshing as it was I will not be able to go on with that for good. But I decided to make some changes concerning this blog. Meaning that I will focus also write about stuff that is not, or not only, or not directly connected to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
A trip through the West Bank
July 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentOn Shabes I got up really early, took a Minibus to Jerusalem and from Damascus gate a bus to Ramallah. And from Ramallah a Minibus to Yericho. We pretended to be tourist from Poland and Germany on a visit to the Holy Land.
In Yericho there is not so much to see. They have an old city, but that is not more than a few humps of sand and stones. Maybe interesting for archeologist. There were two Americans (I guess archeology students) who looked intensely on all that sand and apparently saw something in it. I heard one saying something about stairs…. Continue reading A trip through the West Bank…
Maping Palestine in minds
July 19, 2009 at 12:41 pm | In Antisemitism / Antizionism, Arab-Israeli conflict, Islam, Israel, Palestinians, The blogosphere | Leave a CommentI will present some maps and give a brief explanation, from a historical point of view.
The second map shows something that never existed in reality. It shows the political landscape according to the UN partition plan. The very plan that the Arabs did not accept and the Jews did accept. Two states. An Arab state for Arabs and a Jewish state for Jews and Arabs. Continue reading Maping Palestine in minds…
Human Rights patch
July 16, 2009 at 10:47 am | In Antisemitism / Antizionism, Israel | Leave a CommentHuman Rights Watch is often accused of being anti-Israeli, producing biased reports about Israeli actions and ingoring vast Human Rights violations in many other countries. Their reports on the last wars in Lebanon and Gaza or about Israel in general might show that or not – depending if you are willing to be critical about them. But now they themselves have done something point that out.
A fundraising group of HRW went to Saudi Arabia to meet state officials in order to make them become donors. Quite insane, isn’t it? A Human Rights Organisation meets with officials to one of the severe Human Rights violaters to get money from them to protect Human Rights. And what do they do there? Continue reading Human Rights patch…
European taxpayers
July 6, 2009 at 11:01 pm | In Arab-Israeli conflict, Israel, Palestinians | Leave a CommentThe European Commission stated that Israel’s settlement policy strangles the Palestinian economy and complained that the European taxpayers are paying the price of that. That is because the Palestinians rely on help from the EU.
Is that so? Or is merely the unwillingness of the Palestinians to make peace with Israel causing the EU to support them which makes the European taxpayers pay!?
Maybe the Europeans should turn it up-side-down and put it straight: If they would stop supporting the Palestinians the latter would have to make an effort and make commitments. Commitments to peace. Finally.
George 2U Bush
July 4, 2009 at 6:06 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentFound this on the Freunde der offenen Gesellschaft blog.
Two cases
July 1, 2009 at 4:11 pm | In Arab-Israeli conflict, Israel, Palestinians | Leave a Comment(1) Today the so called Zada trial started. The charge is against 12 Arab-Israelis for lynching a Jewish-Israeli after the latter murdered 4 Arab-Israelis. They had him disarmed but instead of handing him over to the police they beat him to death. Forces on the spot could not prevent them from doing so. Well actually they could have, but then they would have needed to use their weapons against them, what they did not do.
Arab-Israeli are protesting against the trial against those who killed the murderer after he was overpowered calling it a “political trial”.
(2) The Israeli High Court ruled to retry an Israeli soldier for the shooting (a rubber bullet in the leg) of a handcuffed and blindfolded, arrested Palestinian on more severe charges. The High Court’s decision followed a petitition that was filed by the victim of the shooting and several Israeli human rights organisations.
Very klein
June 27, 2009 at 11:48 am | In Antisemitism / Antizionism, Arab-Israeli conflict | Leave a CommentNaomi Klein was in Israel to present her new book and visited the West Bank town Bil’in where protest against Israel’s security fence are held on a regular basis.
She reiterated her support of boycotting Israel explaining that
“Boycott is a tactic (…) we’re trying to create a dynamic which was the dynamic that ultimately ended apartheid in South Africa.”
Well, is that really what a boycott of Israel is about?
Israel is not an Apartheid state. Every Israeli citizen – Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Arab – has the same rights (Arabs ony do not have the obligation – they do not have to but can – to do military service.
So if this protest would not aim on bringing down a Apartheid that does not exist, on what does it aim?
It is aming on Israel. Israels existence is what the Antisemites cannot stand.
One question remains: If Klein supports a boycott of Israel, why does she publish and sell her book in Israel?!
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