It would appear I volunteered to lead a team aimed at busting the myths and misinformation concerning the Occupation towards the Student body at TAU, my Uni.
I really like being a part of the Student Coalition*.

Dude, talk about stress, especially since my fellow team leader lives quite far away from me and both of us have tons of stuff to do academically. But both she and I thought that the most important thing to get out there is the fact that there is a whole lot of misconceptions in the Israeli public (in this case the average TAU student) concerning Gaza, Sderot, '67 and its consequences (for which this activity is being done, this week is the 41st anniversary to the Six Day War and the Occupation of those extra pieces of land), the Settlements in the West Bank and the whole "1984" mentality of "Security is Peace".

I think I need to get some of my friends to join this and spread it around, hopefully we'll get a large audience at Uni.

A new subject related to the above.

Every Wednesday there's a Happening on Campus, which I hadn't noticed was a regular thing, it just seemed that the Student Union *snort* arranged stalls and booths sponsored by various private companies on random days... it's quite nauseating. The Union *snort* isn't really interested in actually representing the student body (my faculty rep is such a bitcah I can't even describe how much she irritates me!) and "earns" money by getting these companies to participate in these Happenings.
There's not much to say, other than that the Union considers us consumers and not the actual people they exist for. That, and it's just a political jumping board for the Union Committee, which in and by itself is fine, but not when they use my fees to use it for their own benefit!

I had a point.

Oh, the Union has put the financial support they are meant to supply to the Student Coalition on hold, in an attempt to shut up any kind of critical or oppositional action that the Coalition has put forth.
Which is at once irritating and hypocritical.
They're meant to support any kind of student action or activity (so long as it isn't treason, and I'm sorry, criticism of Student leadership doesn't count as national treason!).

I hope the low key activity the Coalition has planned for the end of the month, won't be brought to a sudden halt because the Union has decided to go into cahoots with more "moderate" factions in the University activist population. Apparently the demo that the Coalition and the committee for Arab Students put on the 15th of May to commemorate the Nakba wasn't well received and a Zionist Student Coalition was formed based on the Coalitions organisation.

So here's to hoping the Union has a new Chair next year that isn't an ass and that the committee have an iota of integrity.

Who am I kidding, my cynicism gave me a big pinch when I wrote that sentence.

*Which is just a shorter way of saying "The Coalition of Students for Left Action and Students Against the Occupation".

I just got this notice from my Student Coalition for Action mailing list:
Controversial and noted Historian and critic of Zionism and the Israeli Occupation is the Territories was arrested at Ben-Gurion Air Port, he is now in the hands of the ministry of the interior and the שב"כ (Shin-Bet) and banned from entering Israel for the next ten years!

This is absolutely outrageous, creepy and Orwellian. Censorship and the detaining of civilians for their thoughts and opinions should not and cannot be tolerated!

I urge all of you, who value free speech and human fucking decency to write, email, fax and phone Israeli authorities and demand the immediate release of Dr. Finkelstein.

Israeli interior ministry
+972 2 670 1501
Fax: + 972 2 6701572
Email: SAR@moin.gov.il - Israel's ministery of the Interior
pniot@moin.gov.il
dover@moin.gov.il - the ministry's spoker
dover@moin.gov.il - in charge of "freedom of information"

Minister of Interior Mr. Meir SHEETRIT
Israeli Ministry of the Interior
2 Kaplan St., Qiryat Ben-Gurion
P.O. Box 6158, 91061 Jerusalem
Tel. +972-2-670-1411 / +972-2-629-4722
Fax: +972-2-670-1628

or

Mr. Meir SHEETRIT's numbers at the Knesset
Telephone 1: +972-2-640-8410
Telephone 2: +972-2- 640-8409
Fax: +972-2- 640-8920
Email: mshitrit@knesset.gov.il

In Israel:
Foreign Minister's office - sar@mfa.gov.il
Director General's office - mankal@mfa.gov.il
Public Relations - pniot@mfa.gov.il

Ministry Address:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
9 Yitzhak Rabin Blvd.
Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Jerusalem 91035
Tel. 972-2-5303111
Fax 972-2-5303367

From Democracy Now!:

Israel Arrests Outspoken Academic Norman Finkelstein
And the American academic Norman Finkelstein has been arrested and ordered deported from Israel. Finkelstein arrived in Tel Aviv earlier today on his way to the Occupied Territories. He was immediately detained and told he is banned from Israel for ten years. He’s expected to be deported tomorrow. Finkelstein is known one of the most prominent academic critics of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Edited to Add: The Ministry will be closed through Saturday for the Jewish Sabbath. Thus, if you are in the US please call your congressman and senator NOW and advise them a Jewish American U.S. citizen is being denied access to Israel!!

If you are an Israeli start working the phones...this denial of entry is all being done in our name and that is unacceptable!

What an interesting story.

On the gut level I thought; fuck that's a brave thing to do.
On the more cognitive level I thought; damn that's clever.
On the student-who-analyzes-everything-she-reads level I thought; well, that's one of the most rebellious, subjective things she could do in that situation.
On the absurd/political level I thought; those men harass her to the extent to which she must bare all, literally and she's reprimanded!?

Just goes to show that sexual harassment is the most normalized crime, there really is nothing wrong with wolf-whistling to a total stranger in the street.
She retaliates to a perceived threat and gets the punishment.

A few prize quotes from the article, just to show a little bit more of the absurd/political side of this:

"She gave the explanation that she had been ... pestered by New Zealand men. She's not an unattractive-looking lady," [Sgt. Peter Masters] said."

Police treated the incident as a one-off.

"She was taken back to the police station and spoken to and told that was
inappropriate (behavior) in New Zealand," [Sgt. Peter Masters] added."

And since this is Ha'aretz, the woman in question is an Israeli tourist.
Take from that what you will.

( Feeling linkphobic? Just Follow the cut )

My peeps :D


The Student Coalition at Tel Aviv University presents its 3rd extra-curricular, extra-political and extravagant course, Hurray!

This year, we will be discussing neo-liberalism and privatisation. How do these rather abstract concepts relate to different spheres of life in Israel/Palestine and what kind of influences do they have on various social groups?

We will also look into struggles and alternatives and investigate new forms of anti-capitalist action. You don't want to miss it.

Mondays, 18:00, Room 326, Gilman (Humanities) Building.

( Flyer and Course list )

I'm not going to make it to the May Day march happening in Tel Aviv today and I mentioned it to Mummy, because I share things with Mummy and generally she likes it when I share things her.

She said that May Day is passé. That it doesn't mean anythings anymore. That only old pensioners still want to march and that only the crazy Left factions still choose to march, that they're on the fringe of the political map.
And now that the Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore it's a meaningless communist holiday.
She said that when she lived in South Africa and communism was illegal and she marched in Anti-Apartheid demos on that day it meant something.

Well, it does still mean something.
It's not a "communist" holiday.
The official title for May Day is International Workers Day, or International Workers Rights Day.

In this era; in which temp workers have almost no rights in their work place.

In which the minimum wage in most countries doesn't correlate with the standard of living.

In which the welfare system discriminates against single parent families (usually singe mothers as we know).

In which there are one day strikes where bosses make promises and get the workers back on track but in fact nothing changes.

In which my friend who works as a Barista in a chain doesn't see the point of a union because she isn't going to stay long enough at the job for it to do any good.

In which strikes demanding better pay, better terms, better education are ignored by the government and completely miss the opportunity to show a united front, in Solidarity, for education, higher learning and a future for those who will get a mediocre education.

In which globalisation enables the movement of cheap labour from a "Third World" country to a "Western" country and these workers are used, abused and can barely sustain themselves because they send the majority of their wages back to their families;

In which the lining of ones pocket is more important than the fact that the majority of the peoples pockets are empty.

In which a burgeoning food crisis is immanent and those who grow the food will have nothing left because it will all be taken and distributed all over the world just so "we" won't be without our precious rice.

In which small business, like my Father's pharmacy, have to compete with giant chains and he works so hard to make sure his children want for nothing and works from eight AM to eight PM, being the boss, the worker and the professional.

In which 19(!) families control 34% (maybe more) of the income of Israel's 500 leading companies - Ynet Article.

In this era of exploitation, by-any-means-necessary-profit, "voluntary" over-time, Life Style and unsustainable economics, it is imperative to mark a day, be it a traditional one or a new one, so long as it's international, where those who are exploited, used and have their rights/see their comrades rights being abused move together in solidarity for a better future for everyone.

And to those who say; there has always been exploitation, there has always been inequality, there have always been those who have and those who don't.
I (and I'm sure many others) say: if there is no change, there is only stagnation and the only "always" that comes from that is death.
...
Um, yeah.
I'm done.

Happy (after)May Day Everyone!

I had this really good entry all thought out, with lots of examples and points and arguments. But all that has seeped out of my brain due to end-of-Semester stress.

See yesterday Army (most of them Air Force) officers traveled around schools all over the country in a joint project with the ministry of education. This project is part of the 60 years to Israel commemorations, celebrations and what not.
At one of the school in which some of these officers came to speak, a demo by New Profile in which they constructed a huge papier mache brain and proceeded to squirt at with soapy water. I thought it was really smart and funny.

I told about it to my brother and mother and was really blown away by their negative responses.
My brother said they were being stupid and my mother asked if the demonstrators don't ask themselves what they can do for Israel.

Ahem.

See, the officers were there to talk about values and meaning of Israeli citizenship and what it means to be a Jewish nation in Israel - according to what I read about the project wasn't about convincing hight school kids that it's better to serve that to evade (which has been, according to the media which is trying to ensue a moral panic, imo, on the rise for the past two years).
I personally think it's wrong for the army to be a presence in schools other to give an overview of the positions available in the IDF and for that to be in after school hours so that it doesn't take over academic times - but that's really optimistic.

I don't believe for a minute that all they spoke about yesterday were "the values of Israeli citizenship" - Army service since the conception of this country has been a formative part of Jewish Israeli Identity (Druze and Bedouin can volunteer for the draft, but it is not mandatory). I'm pretty convinced that they spoke about the fact that to be good citizens they should serve their country through the IDF, that in the IDF they will learn what it means to be a moral, ethical and good Israeli citizen.

I think it's been a long time since the IDF has participated in a War that was solely for the protection of its citizens. All the operations across the borders have been offensive since the 80's and all withdrawals have been unilateral, meaning no agreement was discussed with those whose territory we were leaving. Almost all the operations done on the civilian population in the West Bank (and once Gaza) are defended by saying it's in the name of security are excuses to control said population by fear and humiliation. The soldiers (boys and some girls of 18 and 19, commanded by 20-somethings) are scared and they have guns and they've been taught to hate that little girl in a hijab, or that teenage boy with hate for them in return.
Do I even need to mention the immorality of the collective punishment on Gaza?

A small aside about Gaza: I can talk about the fact that Hamas fires Qassams at innocent people in the West Negev and Sderot, but seeing as the government that is funding this oh so educational project gives less than a shit about those people being fired upon, the less said the better.

I was asked why I don't have sympathy for those soldiers who have to do those horrible things in the name of security. I do. I have a lot of sympathy towards them and the fact that they are serving in an Army that requires them to do such unethical things and that they are educated to view those who are not like them as less-than-human.
Those soldiers traumatize and in turn are traumatized as well.
I wrote about this phenomena not too long ago.
Those soldiers, my soldiers, are ordered to invade other peoples homes in the name of security. They sometimes take food and other electrical supplies from those homes.
Some of them remain silent about what they once they are discharged.
Some of them break through this silence.

I don't believe that the Army does what it is supposed to do and it is because of this that I criticize it, that I feel a reform within its system and the way we, as Israelis, view the function of the military in our lives.
The gun is never a sacred instrument... in Hebrew it is equivalent to male genitalia.
Maybe I'll give a feminist reading of the role of the IDF, it's been done before, but now I've said what I felt had to be said about how I feel about the Army entering schools and talking about civic "values" and "duties".

Most of you know about the whole Basic account and Interests Fiasco.

I too will be striking on the 21st of March and maybe actually do something worth while to celebrate Purim and the Equinox.

For details on the strike check out beckyzoole's information posts: First and Second.

Do join in, as consumers we do have a say.
And as bloggers it is our responsibility to do so.

Here's the actual notice which I also urge you to spread:

ONE DAY CONTENT STRIKE

For one day, Friday, March 21, make no posts. Make no comments. Let there be NO new content added to LJ.

SUP obviously does not realize that Basic users have given something of value to them, that it is content that drives the site.

So, for one 24-hour period, from midnight
GMT to midnight GMT, let's see how many people we can get to pledge to contribute NO CONTENT.

This will create a permanent downward spike in the daily-posts statistics, a permanent reminder of the power of the userbase.

Full information at The Fox's Den.

SPREAD THE WORD!

<b><center>ONE DAY CONTENT STRIKE</center></b> For one day, <b>Friday, March 21</b>, make no posts. Make no comments. Let there be NO new content added to LJ. SUP obviously does not realize that Basic users have given something of value to them, that it is content that drives the site. So, for one 24-hour period, <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?year=2008&month=3&day=21&hour=0&min=0&sec=0">from midnight GMT to midnight GMT</a>, let's see how many people we can get to pledge to contribute NO CONTENT. This will create a permanent downward spike in the daily-posts statistics, a permanent reminder of the power of the userbase. Full information at <a href="http://beckyzoole.livejournal.com/tag/content+strike">The Fox's Den</a>. <b>SPREAD THE WORD!</b>

Court case reveals how settlers illegally grab W. Bank lands.
( Body Of the Text )
Granted this is very case specific and situational, but it's something in the right direction, in the proper and appropriate direction. I'll be looking out for more stories like this and for follow ups.

Part the first and not to forget that these are the answers to the Meme.

The car I drive

We have one car and it's a Renault Kangoo. It's a gear engine, meaning that during rush hour it is a pain to drive and in my itsy-bitsy country every hour is rush hour.
I enjoy driving alone, but because of my slight paranoia I drive much more carefully when I'm in company than alone and I hate driving while my parents are passengers, it's uncomfortable any way you look at it.

Women, Men and In between
( Cut for sex talk and a bit of TMI )
Activism - where I fit in and my thoughts in general

I only began to be really active in the past two years so I'm really trying to find where I feel most comfortable in the huge array of Leftist social activism in Israel, which is as diverse as can be due to the turbulent nature of our little stretch of land.
At this point I consider myself affiliated with feminism, queer pride, anti-oppression, anti-war and anti-occupation, I don't know at this point how to incorporate all of them into action even though my own ideas, ideals and principles include all those things.
So I'm registered to a bunch of email lists that let me know of activities, I'm friends with people who do more than me or are actually members of groups and organizations and they let me know when stuff is happening.

I don't do nearly enough, but I know I do more than a lot of people, so I'm trying to juggle the whole Uni thing as well, which is a bit overwhelming. Not to mention that being active, puts yourself a whole lot more out there and exposed, which this little sheltered child was never exposed to as a child - I mean I knew it happened to other people and I knew that my parents were active in South Africa, but by the time I came along those times were long past (goodbye 70's, hello 80's).

Activism in Israel (like anywhere when you think about it) especially Left activism can, at times, be very divisive; what issue is more important? The Occupation? Women's Rights? Israeli Palestinians Rights? Queer Right? Privatization of public offices and issues?
All these things are a part of the same symptom, which gives the whole "One Struggle" theme a great deal of validity, but on the other hand it ignores the inherent differences and history of each issue and aspect - like at times anti-Occupation actions ignore the fact that when you're affirming one national identity (Palestine) you're calling the cancellation of another (Israel), it just doesn't work that way.
Or the way Queer activism calls for equal rights in marriage when there isn't even civil marriage in Israel... let's get rid of the Rabbanut before we start with specific demands to certain communities.
And all that.

So that's what I think.
Yeah.

I've been boycotting Coffee Bean for a little over a year now, because the chain managers fired workers when they tried to unionize, stole tips and basically were very, very bad managers.
I always liked the Coffee Bean's coffee and ice-coffees, though I can't really say I've missed it as such, but I've certainly been aware of what I've stopped consuming.

So finally success!

Histadrut, "Coffee Bean" sign breakthrough labor agreement
By Haim Bior

The Histadrut labor federation and the coffee shop chain "The Coffee Bean" signed a labor agreement on Tuesday, ending a long dispute between the company's employees in the 14 branches nationwide and the management.

This marks the first collective agreement between the Histadrut and a restaurant.( Read more... )

I don't know if I'll actually go back to drinking their coffee on a semi-regular basis (like I did before the labour dispute between the workers and the chain, but it's nice knowing that the Unions are gaining control again and perhaps will overthrow this neo-liberal money wasting machine we call an economy... or not and they'll just keep their workers rights in tact - no small feat these days!

There is joint blog about the reality of Gaza and Sderot, that two men have been writing together since January. An Israeli who goes by the alias Hope Man and a Palestinian who goes by the alias Peace Man are the writers and it's called Life must go on in Gaza and Sderot.

As you can imagine they've both been writing quite a bit the past few days.

The two writers have started a petition that calls for everyone to sign, obviously, and calls for a cease fire on both sides and one month to give the two sides time to rethink their policies.

Sign the Petition - One Month

Things are tense as you can probably imagine.
I'm not really good at putting my point across when it comes to things I'm passionate about, there are often times where my chronic foot-in-mouth disease becomes acute.

I always end up sounding so emotional and irrational and blubbery, as though those are bad things and make my arguments thinner. It's bloody irritating that the only times my views are even listened to is when I speak "logically", "unbiased" and "rational".
As though there's anything logical, unbiased and rational in the situation we're living in.

Yep rockets, sieges and disharmony... the balanced way of life. *sigh*

I think I give the impression, or I actually may be, a whole lot more moderate than other activists I'm in touch with.
I'm as anti-Occupation and pro-Human Rights as they come... but I can't deal with hypocrisy.
The hypocrisy of "Anarchists" who fight for the right of National Determination while saying that another kind Nationalism is wrong - "we only fight against the Occupation!" - yes, well that's all very nice isn't it, if your point of view is so narrow you can't see the wide spectrum of where you're standing.
Like I previously mentioned, I believe that since Jews have a homeland, Palestinians deserve the same thing.
Often when I mention this to the more anti-Zionist people I know (my kind of post-Zionism is too moderate for most of them, as I've said) and I ask them what will you do if there is no longer an Israel? Where will you go?
What does that matter? They reply.
A great deal - citizens of the world we all want to be, but to be rootless and disconnected from where we come, to be doomed to become "Wandering Jews" again... that kind of Cosmopolitanism kind of ended in disaster... more than once.

Maybe it's the memory of persecution, maybe it's just a sense of unfairness, but I was born here and this is the only home I know and I want it to be a better place for my Nephews, Niece and my next potential Nephews and Nieces and maybe even potential children.
To just give up and go? To abandon what's been built here, what's been accomplished and what can still be built and accomplished?
That seems like anathema to me.
I won't give up on being Israeli, because I want to have allies and friends (in Palestine and beyond) and not wander loosely in the world with only a memory.

And in a less wolly manner: my brother, that clever guy, if only he wrote his ideas (hint-hemlock_sholes-hint).
He has great suggestions for non-violent direct action which would really be constructive if people were made aware of how powerful they could be.
I'll definitely pass those ideas along to people who might actually be able to do something.

---

I wish I had time to write feminist comic book and sci-fi criticisms like I used to, but all I do now is read my articles for Uni and my News feeds and blogs.
Doesn't let my brain veg in a constructive manner.

I went to Bil'in today, as it was the three year anniversary for the struggle against the Separation Wall (which in that area is a fence) and to mark the half year mark since the Supreme High Court declared the path of the fence to be moved.
This hasn't happened and the weekly demonstrations have and will continue.

This was my first demo in the area so I stayed on the hill and didn't go into the wadi and as such avoided the actual "action" of being tear gassed and shot at with rubber bullets. Today twenty or so activists were injured (one had to be evacuated to hospital, thankfully there was Red Crescent presence) from the soldiers actions and one soldier was injured from a stone thrown at him.

I managed to take some pictures that weren't total crap with my obsolete Point & Shoot Digital Cam: ( Don't Miss Them )

We arrived there at about 11:30, began marching at 12:30, began disperding at around 15:00, I got home at 17:30.
Long, good and productive day, I feel.

23/02/08 10:25 - Edited to Add: Link to English Ha'aretz story.

As per request: ( a translation of the conversation )

Israel's Education Ministry has decided that Arabic Language classes in Junior High are redundant, because the ultra-Orthodox find it, um, "unacceptable", or at least not as worthy as other subjects... because literature and science is oh so important in religiously fundamental circles, dontcha' know!

Apart from the decree being unbelievably racist! It really can't be all that legal seeing as Arabic, along with Hebrew, is written in the law as a national language, not that we're taught it from grade 1 to read, write and speak it (like Arab pupils have to learn Hebrew from grade 1), but it is/was compulsory to study it from grade 7 to 8 (which I didn't since 10 years ago you could pick between Arabic and French and I went all Euro-centric... I hate French btw), it's something, not much, but at least it isn't a complete and utter exclusion of the Arab minority in Israel, like the complete removal of it would cause - though one wonders if things could get any worse in that respect.

Of course there hasn't been complete silence on the matter, Education Minister Yuli Tamir will be looking into, perhaps, maybe reversing the decree and not appearing like a complete political push over and there is a petition to be signed (only those with an Israeli/Palestinian(?) ID or Passport) and it can be found here at Indimage, Education in Mixed Cities.

If you oppose institutionalized racism and are able to sign the petition I urge you to do so!

The Petition

Those of you who have been paying attention know that the Senior Lecturers of our Universities have been on strike (we are now in week six of the strike). In an act of raising awareness to the issues for which the strike is happening (legitimate, though aggravating it may be), I will be joining my fellow students, junior and senior lecturers in locking the University gates for the day and continue with a rally later this week and next.

I hate this strike.
Really I do.

And while I know this little stand will do little to move things along, it's too important to not make a stand for the crumbling education system (both Higher and Lower) in this farkukt country!

With my luck it will probably rain.
But it'll be worth it and after all, sit-ins are fun!

( And a meme )

ETA: Oh, and a Happy 1st Light of Hannukah to all the Jew Grrlz and Boiz who read this and to everyone else have a Good Week!

Amnesty International has launched a new ad campaign to raise awareness for the fight against female genital mutilation.
Pandagon and Feministing have already posted about it.
I found the ads very evocative: ( Pictures under the cut )

I think it details the meaningless destruction of something beautiful, without making it look obscene or cliched.

Flowers have more often than not been used to describe or be a euphemism for female genitalia, not just the vagina, but the vulva, the clitoris, the labia majora and minora, and of course we can't not think of famous painter Georgia O'Keef who made famous the use of flowers to describe the beauty and sexuality of female genitalia.

I've heard from people that it is now considered cliche to use flowers as genitalia, but I think in this ad campaign it is used excellently, because the flowers evoke innocence, which is exactly what these (most usually) pre-pubesant girls lose when they are mutilated in such a way.

I'd love to hear what y'all think.