A blog dedicated to the two topics usually best avoided: Religion and Politics.With a special focus on Israel/Palestine, the Middle East, Judaism, and Islam.
-----------------------------------
For my personal blog, check out Zaataronpita.tumblr.com
Here’s a really Funny Joke
Abbas sent a letter to Netanyahu demanding that Israel return to the pre-1967 borders…well, here is what it means:
Gaza-Would then be given to Egypt
Golan Heights-Would then be given to Syria
Jerusalem and West Bank-Would then be given to Egypt
So…explain to me how this plan makes sense, Abbas, cause I don’t see it.
No, that isn’t what it means at all.
First of all, the Golan heights were taken separately in a later war, so that isn’t covered with the issues of the Palestinian state.
Second of all, Jerusalem and the West Bank were never part of Egypt … parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank belonged to Jordan.
Third of all, and maybe most importantly, dictating were Israel’s borders should be, doesn’t dictate the borders of any other existing Arab state. The point is that after Israel withdraws to those borders, a Palestinian state will be built on that land. Neither Egypt nor Jordan would occupy it.
Around the city of Lublin Poland, on empty buildings as well as inhabited ones, in the alleys of the old city and on streets of the newer parts, I posted photos of different examples of Jewish people who lived on these streets in these houses of the center of Lublin in between in the nineteen twenties ‘till 1941.
In a modest gesture, I return the people in the photos to the place they were taken. The photos show all kind of Jews. Young, old, modern, religious, political activist, Bundist, Zionist, nihilists, bourgeois, Hasidic, yeshiva student, communist, who knows? In some photos the identity is clearly visible, while in others it’s not so clear.
Near the photos appear different questions in polish:
Czy zawsze czu?e? si? inny od swoich przyjació?? / Have you always felt different from your friends?
Czy w twojej rodzinie jest wielka tajemnica? / Does your family hide a great mystery/secret?
Czy twoja babcia mamrocze w obcym j?zyku przez sen? / Does your grandmother mumble in her sleep in a foreign tongue?
Jakim ?ydem jeste?? What kind of Jew are you?
(via thecakesokay)
Peter Fuss had the idea to place the station in Gdansk in Poland these posters. With a message of peace, these posters are a reminder not to think with stereotypes, and the need to step back from what we hear.
(via akitron)
veliseraptor asked: #I have a questionable sense of humor Excuse me, I think you misspelled wonderful?
You are too kind. But now I have to continue.
So then the “who were the Pahlavis” blog is taken down. And the “who are the Ayatollahs” start following me. But the theme is totally broken because the Ayatollahs aren’t a dynasty in the sense that the Qajars or the Pahlavis were.
Maybe there should just now be a “what is the Islamic Republic of Iran” blog?
Okay, this blog is supposed to be my serious one. I am failing at this task.
whoweretheqajars started following you
Thanks for the follow! Don’t mind me as I totally pretend an old Persian dynasty is following my blog.
stay-human replied to your post: stay-human: When Palestinians launch rockets out…
I understand what you’re saying, I basically posted this to point out the hypocrisy in the second paragraph- I mean under what circumstances are Palestinians NOT considered terrorists -_-
Yeah, I get you. I don’t understand how targeting soldiers is terrorism either if targeting militants isn’t. There’s another definition of terrorism, though, that clears it up in that case. Terrorism implies killing just for the emotional impact - that is, carrying out a battle or killing when it doesn’t have actual military significance but just to make the statement. Or to terrify. In that case, Israeli airstrikes targeting militants wouldn’t be terrorism, since they’re militarily successful but Palestinian targeted killings or kidnappings of random soldiers are.
However, this is not usually the definition people use, so it doesn’t actually clear up the hypocrisy.
When Palestinians launch rockets out of Gaza that may fall in civilian areas in Israel, that’s terrorism—but when Israeli airstrikes actually kill droves of innocents in Gaza that’s a misfortunate ‘accident’.
We already know that, what’s new (but not surprising) is that when Palestinians target Israeli soldiers that’s still terrorism even though Israel tragetting Palestinian ‘militants’ is as right and normal and legitimate as can be.
Explain this to me. Please.
Accident is the key word. People who defend Israeli airstrikes believe that civilians aren’t targeted and so it isn’t terrorism. Whereas when Hamas and Islamic Jihad sends rockets into areas in which there are only civilians, they must be targeting civilians (and in fact they don’t deny it) and so it is terrorism.
Targeting civilians is always terrorism. If Israeli airstrikes actually do target civilians and not just militants, then that is state terrorism. If they don’t target civilians but civilians are killed anyways, that is not terrorism, but neither is it merely an unfortunate accident. Just because it isn’t terrorism, it doesn’t meant that civilian deaths are so easily excused.
![escenariosreg:
Many killed as Lebanese clash over Syria
Twelve people reportedly killed in Tripoli as opponents and supporters of Syria’s regime fire machine guns and grenades.
Twelve people have been killed and dozens wounded in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli in clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, local media reports.
Among the dead on Saturday were a woman and her son, killed by a rocket in the Bab al-Tabanneh district, a mostly Sunni Muslim community which supports Syria’s opposition, a security official said.
At least five were wounded in Jabal Mohsen, an area mainly populated by Alawites who support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Residents of the neighbouring districts have clashed repeatedly in recent weeks, but Saturday’s death toll is the highest in a single day in Tripoli.
Sporadic gun and rocket fire broke out at midnight and continued through the night, forcing some residents of the port city to flee their homes.
“Over recent months, people have been warning that the crisis in Syria was going to spill over into the country,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the capital, Beirut, said.
“It actually has spilled over, and it’s becoming a dangerous reality.
“Ceasefires have come and gone but without a political consensus, it’s likely that we’ll see more clashes.
Pictured: The army has been called in to quell fighting in Tripoli, where sporadic clashes have continued for months [Reuters]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50oy4hwvA1r165eko1_500.jpg)
Many killed as Lebanese clash over Syria
Twelve people reportedly killed in Tripoli as opponents and supporters of Syria’s regime fire machine guns and grenades.
Twelve people have been killed and dozens wounded in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli in clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, local media reports.
Among the dead on Saturday were a woman and her son, killed by a rocket in the Bab al-Tabanneh district, a mostly Sunni Muslim community which supports Syria’s opposition, a security official said.
At least five were wounded in Jabal Mohsen, an area mainly populated by Alawites who support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Residents of the neighbouring districts have clashed repeatedly in recent weeks, but Saturday’s death toll is the highest in a single day in Tripoli.
Sporadic gun and rocket fire broke out at midnight and continued through the night, forcing some residents of the port city to flee their homes.
“Over recent months, people have been warning that the crisis in Syria was going to spill over into the country,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the capital, Beirut, said.
“It actually has spilled over, and it’s becoming a dangerous reality.
“Ceasefires have come and gone but without a political consensus, it’s likely that we’ll see more clashes.
Pictured: The army has been called in to quell fighting in Tripoli, where sporadic clashes have continued for months [Reuters]
The Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards — which sets halachic policy for the Conservative movement — has voted unanimously to provide the approximately 1,600 Conservative rabbis with guidelines on performing same-sex marriages.
The move is an official sanction of the ceremonies by the movement.
The CJLS approved the documents Thursday by a 13-0 vote with one abstaining ballot. For years, the Conservative movement has debated how to approach same-sex unions.
As I wrote last week, Jews have options (and I presume that Christians and Muslims do too). Despite the injunction against homosexuality in Leviticus, there is no need for a Jew to join a congregation that condemns homosexuality or even makes gays and lesbians feel in any way unwelcome. And so, as a Jew, I gravitate toward congregations that are welcoming to gays and lesbians and toward rabbis who speak out in favor of equal rights and equal treatment.
Especially meaningful to me, because while I daven in all sorts of shuls and actually prefer Orthodox services, I identify as part of the Conservative movement of Judaism and follow its stance on Halacha.
Here’s What’s Happening Now in Israel!
June 02, 2012
Today in Israel, thousands took to the street in at least three of Israel’s largest cities, another sign that the energy and organization of last year’s broad protest movement in Israel is reigniting. More than 5,000 took to the streets in Tel Aviv, Saturday’s largest protest.
Protesters were seen holding signs with messages like “Capitalism isn’t kosher,” and “The people demand social justice!”
The 2011 Israeli Social Justice Protest Movement
From July to October of 2011, hundreds of thousands took place in regular protests in Israel often referred to as the “2011 Israeli social justice protests.”
In August and September of 2011, exploded with much larger protests and public support with their tent encampments. The protests paralleled the Occupy Movement and are sometimes included in the movement, referred to as “Occupy Israel,” and “Occupy Tel Aviv.” Whatever the title, the movement expresses the same kind of dissatisfaction with capitalism, the status quo and institutionalized social injustice.
2012
Like the Occupy Movement, things have been quieter for the Israeli Social Justice Movement in 2012 than they were in the second half of 2011. However, over the last month the movement has conducted several coordinated protests, each gaining momentum and progressively getting larger. Today marks the largest coordinated protests from the movement since October of last year.
-R.Cunningham
They’re back!
