How to Struggle Against the Occupation in Tel Aviv

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The other night, when I was coming back to Tel Aviv after spending nearly two weeks in Occupied Palestine, I fell asleep on the bus. When I woke up I was underneath the overpass next to Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station. In my exhausted state, I thought that the column of the overpass was the base of one of the many watchtower throughout the Occupied West Bank — I was carrying the occupation into Tel Aviv.

While some of the most active human rights activists and Palestinian supporters live in Tel Aviv, the majority of people live isolated intellectually as well as physically from the situation in Occupied Palestine — that is the point of Tel Aviv — to feel normal, to be isolated, to enjoy human rights like art and culture, drink and dance. I myself did this for a number of years, due to a desire to know a “normal” Israel. However, since I started engaging the occupation and traveling to the Occupied Palestinian Territories three months ago, I’ve found it very challenging to move between the near ghetto that we have created in the West Bank and Tel Aviv without saying something.

When I come back, I feel a responsibility to engage my Tel Avivian friends, who rarely think about or discuss the conflict — I must bring the occupation to Tel Aviv, confront the Tel Avivians. At the same time, I know that it has to be done gently. In order to have an open constructive dialogue, I have to be thoughtful about how I engage my friends and neighbors. One example of this, is using art.

In this post, I want to share with you a photograph recently taken by Ben Kelmer, an Israeli photojournalist, in al-Arakib (August 4, 2010), the day the Israeli Land Administration, came to the village for the second time in a week and destroyed the temporary homes (why? read here) — which were built in solidarity with Jewish – Israelis (If you don’t know about this issue, you can view this video which was released the same day that the re-demolition happened).

In order to create an opportunity to discuss the occupation with a friend of mine from Tel Aviv, I shared this photograph with him. In a short analysis of our chat conversation, I try to show how a structure created and reinforced by politicians, the media and other powerful actors creates and uses fear — typically attributed to Hamas — to justify violence and make the population compliant with the occupation.

Resident of al-Arakib next to home rebuilt with aid from Jewish – Israelis and redestroyed by the Israeli Land Administration by Ben Kelmer, August 4, 2010


Analysis

This conversation, like many others I’ve had, reveals how perceived threats and fear result in disengagement with the conflict and compliance with the occupation. The photograph, which can be interpreted in many ways, creates a space for us to have dialogue about violence indirectly.

After my friend agrees to have a conversation with me about the photograph, he looks at the photograph and immediately connects to the human struggle. He says, “It shows the hell and heaven living together in this woman’s life”. Knowing that this woman has just seen her home demolished by the Israeli government a second time, he tries to ease his pain and guilt by saying, “It seems she is happy at this point when the pic was shot, because she knows this is how it goes, it’s a hard life.” Thus, in order to affirm his lack of responsibility, he frames her life as a victim of a force that cannot be changed, she becomes a bi-standard in a life that is predetermined to be horrific or “hard” as he puts it.

In order to blame someone for the pain he sees, he starts arguing that I am biased and demonizing Israel.  ”What bothers me is that you only show the weak side, which is the Palestinians…[Israel] has to sacrifice in this situation and prove to the world that its not its fault.” I remind him that this woman is a Bedouin, who lives in the Negev (not a Palestinian) and ask him, “Who is responsible for this?”

Even though I provide him with an answer, the Israeli Land Administration — the Israeli government — he continues to evade my question and starts to de legitimize my choice to write about the oppressed. He does this in two ways that journalists will be familiar with: one by telling me that a good journalist doesn’t take sides — a good journalist is “balanced,” “objective” and must remain neutral (or silent), two because I haven’t lived here long enough.

When we start to go into the history of the conflict, using the “facts” that he so desired, he tries to use the “let’s agree to disagree” card to end the conversation. I ask him as a friend to continue in dialogue with me, and to know that this conversation is framed to be a win-win situation for us both — it’s about listening to each other not about solving or conquering.

Once we regain common ground, he engages again in dialogue and admits that sometimes Israel is wrong. He also opens up and speaks about how he personally did not want to go to the army “to kill people” but justifies this act because he needed to protect his home. This thinking shows how Israelis view service in the army as a the solution to their fears — a way to feel secure.

However, the army and the army spokespeople are responsible for creating a perceived connection between fear and military service — protection and “legitimate” violence. Hence, I ask him what is the connection between protecting your family, home and the army? “Is it possible that you could protect your home better by listening to people, forgiving and building trust with your enemy?”

And then we arrive at the most common site of legitimate fear Israelis can articulate — Hamas. ”As long as the Hamas is there, Israel will never help [the Palestinians],” he says. According to him, Israel wants to talk to Hamas, they are just waiting for Hamas to change. This puts the responsibility in the hands of Hamas — not in the European Union, the United States or Israel which declared Hamas a terrorist organization and ended all dialogue with the organization. While my friend acknowledges that the seige is created to communicate how strong Israel is, he isn’t able to acknowledge that Israel doesn’t want to open dialogue with Hamas. Instead, as I try to explain to him, Hamas is used as a legitimate excuse to keep people scared, to keep them complicit and continue accepting of the seige and the occupation.

This is the end of our conversation, which starts with a photograph of physical violence and ends in a discussion about the subtle violence of politics and rhetoric — the violence that is created and amplified in order to make the population fearful and compliant with further human rights violations and violent acts (Lisa Wedeen, “Ambiguities of Domination”). In addition to traveling to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and demonstrating amongst supporters, we must also struggle against the occupation in our minds — we must speak with people that we don’t agree with and bring our anti-Occupation work to the Tel Avivians if we ever hope to see the end of it.

Full Text

Engagement

me: I have a picture I want to show you and I want to know what you think. Interested?
Friend: sure
After seeing picture.
Friend: it is very symbolized
me: in what ways? what does it remind you of
Friend: it shows the hell and heaven living together in this woman’s life
me: oo i like that interpretation. i like that it’s in black in white–it reminds me of the connection of this moment to history, how many times this moment has been experienced
Friend: it seems she is happy at this point when the pic was shot, because she knows this is how it goes, it’s a hard life
me: and some how she smiles.
Friend: yes that’s the whole point

Who is Responsible?

Friend: yes but showing one image make people believe that all Arabs in Israel are suffering and it makes Israel looks liked its blamed while it really has to sacrifice in this situation and prove to the world that its not its fault
me: Who is responsible for this?
the Land Administration, a government organization
our Israeli government
Friend: As i said you don’t live here long enough to understand all history that is responsible for this shit
but you should not blame Israel
This situation is existed even before Israel was announce as an independent country
you see now the results
me: Yes, these villages existed before
and colonization existed before Israel
the British

This is Just One Side

Friend: What bothers me is that you only show the weak side, which is the Palestinians
You need also to show the hard side of Israel
to remain balanced
and not take one side or opinion, it will make you a better journalist to be objective
at this point its very clear you are totally subjective
this makes all the world watch the reality and judge it, you need observe and not to take a side if you work for the press
me: not necessarily, i think this perception of a need to be objective has to change.
Friend: its a choice
me: no, it’s impossible to be objective. you can strive to be, but you will never be purely objective.
i should not listen to two sides and pick one
me: i should listen to many sides and create places for dialogue
Friend: the media need to show all facts and not be a part of it
me: there is no such thing as facts
“facts” are created and defined by the media
as well as the people
governments
economies…
there are several groups that make something “true” or “fact”

Making a Change, Accepting Some Responsibility?

Friend: ok i dont want to get into this again
we wont agree
but its ok
me: well it’s important to discuss
this is the way to make a change, it is to talk with your friends
i’m trying to share something with you, and you me — you don’t have to be fearful that we won’t agree
perhaps just being thoughtful and learning from each other is enough.
Friend: i understand you side
which is very important
i’m not saying that Israelis are innocent
me: yes, that is good. we must accept responsibility
Friend: i really don’t say it
me: no one is purely innocent.
Friend: i even didnt want to go to the army
to kill people
but
i know where is my home
and i need to protect my home
me: well what does the army and killing people have to do with protecting your home?
Is it possible that you could protect your home better by listening to people, forgiving, building trust with your enemy?
Friend: this wasnt what i said
Israel in one hand need to protect itself and from the other hand need to help these people rebuild themselves and live like normal people

The Problem Is Hamas, God and Fear

Friend: the biggest problem Israel is facing is Gaza, which is controled by Hamas
And as long as the Hamas is there
Israel will never help them
Once Israel will see someone that they can have a dialog they will do it
me: I wish that were true
I dream that some day
we will come to that place
but I think that today, we don’t have a leader that wants real dialogue
he wants to say he tried
but creating a space for dialogue is not what’s important to him
Friend: Israel see everything
they just ignore
its easier
me: no one can see everything
no government
no religion
only god
and we can’t see god
Friend: I never said Israel doing good things here
god isn’t here, this is the issue
The issue here is that Israel want to show the world that she is powerful
me: The Israeli government doesn’t want only to show the world, but Israeli population as well — we need to be fearful and have our material comforts, or else we won’t comply with the status-quo.
So tragedies like the flotilla, become opportunities to scare the local population, and cry to the world that they came to harm us so we had to respond with disproportionate violence.
A long pause.
Me: so much in a picture :)

Alison Avigayil Ramer is a writer, independent journalist and new media consultant who specializes in using the internet to engage people in peaceful political dialogue. If you would like to hire Alison for consulting or donate to her efforts you can send a donation to her through paypal.

Also free to join the lively, peaceful conversation here, on Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to Alison Avigayil’s Dispatches via email.

Now Blogging for The Huffington Post

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I’m excited to announce that in addition to blogging here, at my home base, I’m now going to be blogging for The Huffington Post. Early this morning (Israel time) my first article for Huff Post was published, “Do International Activists Help or Hinder The Palestinian Struggle?“.

I’ve been working on the article for several weeks and really, it took a village. In addition to my interviewees, I specifically wanted to thank the following people Michael Gould-Wartofsky, Sara Sorcher, Mati Milstein and Ronnie Gross for their expertise, input and encouragement.

What’s Next?

While the subject matter of this article won’t surprise most of my readers (at least that’s what I think), my next article might. It was a challenging article for me to write, requiring me to dig back into Jewish Studies knowledge and to learn more about orthodox Judaism in Israel. I won’t spoil the surprise, but I’m excited to write about a new subject and will be making some big moves in the coming weeks that will give me the ability to further grapple with and engage this religion and Judaism (hint, hint).

To my surprise, it has been difficult to find a home for the article outside of my blog. Even though I pitched the article to several traditional news organizations that I thought would be receptive to the piece, the subject matter was deemed “too religious” by more than one editor. All frustrations that journalists are wrought with due to change in media aside, luckily in today’s Web 2.0 world every article can find a home.

Alison Avigayil Ramer is a writer, independent journalist and new media consultant who specializes in using the internet to engage people in peaceful political dialogue. If you would like to hire Alison for consulting or donate to her efforts you can send a donation to her through paypal.

Also free to join the lively, peaceful conversation here, on Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to Alison Avigayil’s Dispatches via email.

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Removed YouTube Video of Israeli Soldiers Dancing in Hebron

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Just as a new YouTube video of IDF soldiers dancing in Occupied Hebron started to go viral, the creator of the video removed it from YouTube. Luckily, I was in the middle of writing a post about the video and was  able to capture the video online.

Using song, dance and humor in conflict zones is a topic that I will definitely be further exploring. Perhaps the IDF soldiers were inspired by the US soldiers in Iraq who recently published their a remake of a Lady Gaga’s “Telephone.” What do you think about the video?


Alison Avigayil Ramer is a freelance journalist, entrepreneur and communications consultant who specializes in using the internet to engage people in peaceful political dialogue. If you would like to hire Alison for consulting or donate to her real and virtual reporting efforts you can send a donation to her through paypal.

Also free to join the lively, peaceful conversation here, on facebook or subscribe to receive Alison Avigayil’s Peace Dispatches via email.

Cultural Boycott? Recent Cancellations by International Musicians Spur Debate in Israeli Public

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While I love posting my work here on my blog, I’m also working on getting guest posts up around the web. My latest piece, that I wrote with Ronnie Gross, covers the reaction that Israelis are having to the cultural boycotts that Santana, Costello and the Pixies have decided to participate in by canceling their performances in Israel. The article is published at Jewlicious and you can read it here.

Thousands Protest the Occupation and Flotilla Raid Across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

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To mark 43 years of Israeli occupation, Israelis and Palestinians held protests throughout Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories this weekend. While many of these protests were planned in advance, many organizers and the IDF did not know what to expect since the Gaza Flotilla Raid has heightened emotions across all sects of Israeli and Palestinian society — Arab, Jewish, left and right etc.

Saturday, June 5th 2010

Tel Aviv

The prime minister drowns us all. We need to row to peace.

15,000 – 20,000 left-wing people peacefully protested the Israeli occupation and the “Gaza Flotilla Raid” in Tel Aviv (notice how the name of the Wikipedia article has now changed from “Gaza Flotilla Crash” to “Gaza Flotilla Raid”).  They were also joined by 200 – 300 right-wing people who came to oppose the left-wing protesters and support the occupation.

The number of protesters surprised many of the protest’s organizers who estimated that no more than 3,000 people would attend. “I thought that because of the flotilla incident that moderate leftists would not turn out, but I was very surprised,” said one of the organizers, Itamar Broaderson.  “Instead, because of the flotilla more people came.”

While the protest is held annually to mark the beginning of Israel’s occupation, when the Gaza Flotilla Raid happened, the organizers changed the title of the protest from “Protest Against 43 Years of Occupation” to “The government cannot sink us. We will continue rowing for peace.”

Several right-wing protesters spit on left-wing protesters and one person threw a smoke grenade. At the end of the protest, right-wing protesters attacked 81 year old leftist activist Uri Avneri, the head of Gush Shalom, and the police had to escort Avneri to his car.

The protest was organized by several left-wing organizations and parties including Meretz, Peace Now, Gush Shalom, Hadash and Physicians for Human Rights among others.

Friday, June 5, 2010

Nebi Saleh, Occupied Palestinian Territories

I went to Nebi Saleh with photojournalists Mati Milstein, Ben Kelmer and blogger Lisa Goldman. Seasoned blogger Noam Sheizaf was also there and I liked the way that he summed up the history of the village in his post about a series of demonstrations yesterday:

The Palestinians of Nebi Saleh try to regain access to a tiny pond that was taken over by settlers from the nearby Halamish settlement. As usual, the weekly demonstration started with a march toward the pond, which was stopped on the village’s main street by the Army. Then came some stone-throwing by several of the Palestinians, to which the soldiers responded with tear gas.

The weekly protest began with young village members blocking the main road into the village where the IDF enters with stones and lighting tires on fire. Less than five minutes later, the IDF arrived and closed the road for several hours.

The villagers (accompanied by no more than ten young international activists) marched down the hill slowly and cautiously and eventually exchanged stone throwing for tear gas.

Other than the journalists, Ben Gurion University professor of Chemistry Eyal Nir was the only person who came from the villagers’ protest to speak with the army. After several minutes of shouting passionately at the army to leave the village, Nir was taken into an army jeep for insulting a soldier with a racial slur (see pictures below).

When the IDF was shooting tear gas, more than one canister landed in a nearby house. After the tear gas exploded, a woman came out of the house and gagged repeatedly on top of the roof. There was no damage to the house, since the window was already broken from similar incidents.

I spoke with one of the village leader who along with his wife, who serves as a medic, monitor the young village protesters. He explained to me a bit of the village history = 1 family, 400 people and a culture of resistance. I took some pictures of the resistance art they’ve made and several of the women and children who stand on their porches weekly for the past six months protesting the settlers take over of their spring (see below). He also told me that the night before, three young villagers had been arrested in the middle of the night, after last week’s protests.

At the top of the hill in a small community building, several middle aged men debated their protest strategy hotly. They decided to call the protest off for the day because they said a woman in Gaza had been killed. Photojournalist Mati Milstein informed the IDF of their decision, resolving the conflict for the day.

Bil’in

At the weekly protest in Bil’in, Palestinian protesters constructed a model of the Gaza flotilla and were met with the usual tear gas. See the video here.

Highway 443

Hundreds also marked 43 years of occupation on highway 443 where demonstrators protest Palestinians’ limited access to the highway which runs through the west bank.

Tab for the Day:

This reporting took over 8 hours of work plus food and fuel. I rode in a car, which I cannot afford, shot pictures on a $1,000 camera and wrote this story on a $2,000 computer. Please do your part to support independent journalism in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Also free to join the lively, peaceful conversation here, on facebook or subscribe to receive Alison Avigayil’s Peace Dispatches via email.

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“Lynch”, “Attack” and “Massacre” – Shooting Down Words in International Waters

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Words

The first post I wrote after I heard the news that 10 activists had been killed and several soldiers wounded on the flotilla headed for Gaza, was about how the media uses language to describe conflict. The headlines on the television, radio and web were all so drastically different. The words being used too accusatory too quick.

Everyone, from the IDF and traditional media, to independent journalists, bloggers and commentators must think critically about the words they are using. These are the words that will forever be found on the web, will be carried by friends, co-workers and family members and written into our collective histories.

Here is a roundup of other journalists calling us to be wise with words:

Sources

It is also critical that we look at sources. Currently, the majority of raw (or trimmed) video circulating online, is coming from the Israeli Defense Force itself (they learned about YouTube during the last war in Gaza). While some journalists are waiting to be deported in Ben-Gurion airport, according to Reporters Without Borders another 60 – 100 journalists that were on the flotillas are still being held by the Israeli army.

Reporters Without Borders has also learned that the Al Jazeera crew that was aboard the flotilla, including correspondent Abbas Nasser and cameraman Isaam Zaatar, was expelled yesterday.

Reporters Without Borders is aware of 16 journalists being held at Be’er Scheva detention centre. They are Svetoslav Ivanov and Valentin Vassilev of Bulgaria’s BTV, Muna Shester of the Kuwait News Agency, Talat Hussain of Aaj TV, Paul McGeough and Kate Geraghty of the Sydney Morning Herald, Mario Damolin of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, David Segarra of teleSUR, Ayse Sarioglu of Taraf, Murat Palavar and Hakan Albayrak of Yeni Safak, Sümeyye Ertekin, Ümit Sönmez and Ersin Esen of TVNET and Ashwad Ismail and Samsul Kamal Abdul Latip of Astro Awani.

In addition, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, “Othman Battiri, a senior producer at Al-Jazeera who was on board the Mavi Marmara and released on Tuesday, told CPJ that soldiers confiscated Al-Jazeera’s cameras, tapes, satellite phones, and mobile phones.” However, one video was released by Al Jazeera’s journalists before they were censored and several accounts from Freedom Flotilla activists who are in Jordon now are starting to surface.

With this flood of information, we must choose our words wisely, check our sources twice and support the release of all journalists, video tapes, cellphones and cameras in hand.

Journalists are increasingly being censored in Israel — making independent reporting more essential than ever before. You can help “break the blockade,” if you will, by supporting independent journalism now. Contribute one time or become a monthly subscriber. Feel free to contact Alison Avigayil for further details.

Also, feel free to join the lively, peaceful conversation here, on facebook or subscribe to receive Alison Avigayil’s Peace Dispatches via email.

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Demonstrations for and against Israel, the IDF and Turkey in Tel Aviv following Flotilla Incident

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Demonstrators at the Ministry of Defense, Tel Aviv, Israel

Two demonstrations were held in Tel Aviv today in response to the confrontation between the Free Gaza flotilla and the Israeli Navy in international waters, which left between ten to nineteen people dead and no more than ten Israeli soldiers injured.

The first demonstration was held at the Ministry of Defense and called for Jews and Arabs to stand together against the IDF and Israeli government’s actions. The second demonstration was held at the Turkish Embassy at 7:30 pm against the “attack from Turkey, the harming of IDF soldiers, latest mission to try to assist Hamas, the terrorist organization, under the umbrellas of “humanitarian aid.”’ According to several attendees, both demonstrations were spontaneously organized in response to the incident through telephone, email, facebook and Twitter.

Demonstrators in protest pin at the Ministry of Defense, Tel Aviv, Israel

The demonstration at the Ministry of Defense started at 7:00 pm and lasted several hours, drawing between 800 – 1000 demonstrators who opposed the IDF’s response and approximately 50 demonstrators who supported the IDF’s use of force. The demonstration was organized by several notable left wing organizations including Women for Peace, Rabbis for Human Rights, Gush Shalom and Anarchists Against the Wall among others. Many of the demonstrators had attended the recent protests against the eviction of Palestinian-Israelis from their homes in the Arab village of Sheik Jarrah in East Jerusalem.

Roni Hirsch, an twenty-seven year old Israeli citizen from Tel Aviv, called for Ehud Barak, the Minister of Defense, to resign and for Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes in international court. Several demonstrators also expressed their fear that the military actions against the flotilla will escalated the situation between Israelis and Palestinians even further.

“Now we will have to face the prospect of a third intifada and continued military conflicts …” said Arik Segev, an Israeli television writer from Tel Aviv. He attended the demonstration because he wanted the world to know that even though “the international media often presents Israelis as warmongers, the majority of Israelis just want peace.”

Segev, who identifies as a Zionist stated, “the best way to preserve Israel and Zionism is to support a Palestinian state.”

Someone at the window the Turkish embassy looking down at demonstrators, Tel Aviv, Israel

Like others at the demonstration, Mayan Dar, a thirty year old Israeli from Tel Aviv, noted how confusing the information about the incident was in the the Israeli media. She also said, “it doesn’t matter that the IDF made it clear before hand that they will use force if necessary…it was a brutal act of violence in international waters…and is a sign that the government should have ended the siege [on Gaza] long ago.”

The IDF left the Gaza Strip in 2005 as a part of Israel’s unilateral disengaged plan and along with Egypt continue to blockade the strip until today.

One demonstrator, Adar (who wished not to disclose her last name), traveled to Ashdod with Women for Peace, Gush Shalom, Rabbis for Human Rights and other notable leftist organizations earlier in the day to greet the flotillas. Witnesses of the demonstration in Ashdod said that between 250 – 300 people gathered in support of the flotilla.

According to Adar, one bus from Tel Aviv was stopped and held at a checkpoint at the entrance to Ashdod, where a representative of the army told the demonstrators on the bus that it was a closed military zone. The army eventually let the demonstrators on the bus join the demonstration in the port.

Adar called for the Israeli government to end the siege on Gaza and to end the use of “collective punishment”. She also said that she wants Israeli civilians to stop being apathetic to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and hopes that this incident will raise awareness about the continued siege, which she thinks many Israelis consider a “non-issue”.

Demonstrators at the Turkish embassy, Tel Aviv, Israel

Yoni Yosef, a thirty year old resident of Shimon Ha’Tzadik, North Jerusalem neighborhood that borders Sheik Jarra, and spokesperson for the Shimon Ha’Tzadik Association–a settlers organization that operates in East Jerusalem–attended both the demonstration in front of the Ministry of Defense and the demonstration at the Turkish Embassy. He said he came to oppose the left-wing demonstrators and support the IDF’s actions.

“Arabs just want to finish Israel by killing all the Jews…Everyone that is a threat to Israel has to be executed, and I’m not shy to say that.” he said. “All the Jews who are on the left want to be spies to the Arab world and Hamas. The Nazis had the same plans as the Arabs, to kill the Jews when they can.”

The demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy started at 7:30 pm and was organized by several right-wing organizations, including Im Tirzu and MyIsrael.org among others. Between 800 – 1000 demonstrators who supported the IDF gathered at the Embassy to protest Turkey for several hours. Many of the demonstrators waved Israeli flags, wore t-shirts distributed by MyIsrael.org and sung the Israeli national anthem and “Am Yisrael Chai”. No demonstrators protesting the IDF’s response or sympathizing with Turkey were seen.

Shaul Goldstein, the mayor of Gush Etzion, also attended the demonstration at the embassy in order to respond to the anti-semitism that he says the incident encouraged around the world. “[The IDF] used a necessary amount of force. I know two of the soldiers who were on the boat. They don’t want to hurt people…but [the people on the boat] did not want to act peacefully, they came with masks and weapons–they chose not to be peaceful. This proves that they were trying to hide something.”

Joshua Kahn, an Jewish-American-Israeli who recently finished serving in a combat unit of the IDF, came to join the demonstration. “The video from the IDF proves that the peace activists provoked a confrontation [of this level].  They came with knives, bars and Molotov cocktails… seven Israeli soldiers were injured.” he said. “If the activists really cared about the cargo, they would have followed the IDF’s orders…”

“The army needs to investigate the situation. The truth is not so clear and in the end the activists got what they wanted.”

“Nice that religious and secular people are coming together. The nation needs to come together in this time of crisis.”

Alison Avigayil Ramer is a freelance journalist, entrepreneur and communications consultant who specializes in using the internet to organize peaceful political dialogue and engagement. Please be aware that this article is the result of a full day of work–four hours of research and five hours of writing and reporting. If you wish to donate to Alison’s reporting efforts you can send a donation to her through paypal.

Roundup: At least 10 dead as Israel Intercepts Aid Flotilla headed to Gaza

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As fast as I possibly could, I created a round-up of headlines and video from across the web. While events like this certainly feel urgent, at moments like this it is more important than ever for journalists, editors, PR professionals and bloggers to carefully choosing the words they use to describe what has happened.

At this moment, the only conclusion I can come to is that this is tragic for all parties involved — the number of people dead or what prompted this deadly situation is unclear. What is meaning of the word “provoke“, “attack” and “defend” ?

World

Israeli commandos storm aid flotilla; 10 killed – Associated Press

“Ten dead as Israel storms aid ships” – Reuters

“Israel Attacks Gaza Aid Fleet” – Al Jazeera

“Israeli Forces Storm Gaza” – Guardian

American Media

“Israel Blames Activists for Fatal Ship Raid” – Fox News

“Assault likely to rebound on Israel” – Financial Times

“At Least 10 Killed as Israel Intercepts Aid Flotilla” – NYTimes

“Protesters on ship bound for Gaza killed in rioting” – Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Israeli Media

“Barak: Gaza flotilla responsible for 15 activists killed” – Jerusalem Post

“…10 activists killed in clashes with navy” – Haaretz English

Haaretz Hebrew – “Defense Minister Ehud Barak: The organizers are responsible”- שר הביטחון, אהוד ברק: האחריות מוטלת על המארגנים

Ynet – “This is how it happened: A planned ambush on the Marines”  – כך זה קרה: מארב מתוכנן לשייטת על  ה”מרמרה

Government

“IDF Forces Met With Pre-Planned Violence When Attempting to Board Flotilla” – Israeli Defense Forces

The White House has not yet released a statement.

“Press Release Regarding the Use of Force by the Israeli Defense Forces Against the Humanitarian Aid Fleet to Gaza” – Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Analysis

A Special Place in Hell / The Second Gaza War: Israel lost at sea – Bradley Burston, Haaretz

A race to contain the damage – David Horowitz, Jerusalem Post

“Israeli attack on Gaza aid ship” – Richard Spencer, Telegraph

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Response to Peter Beinart – Your Uncomfortable Zionist is Here

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Sheik Jarrah, East Jerusalem 5/21/10

Peter Beinart I’m here–I’m that “uncomfortable Zionist” you called for in your recent essay in the New York Review of Books. And while some may think that the “two-minutes-to-midnight urgency” tone in your essay is too much, I’ve been waiting for an American-Jewish leader like yourself to make just this kind of call for quite some time.

I have always been a politically passionate liberal American-Jew. Now 23, I grew up in the time of George W. Bush. My junior year of high school was marked by the War in Afghanistan and my senior year by the War in Iraq. Outraged by these wars, I enrolled in college and started studying politics and the Middle East.

While I always identified as Jewish, my first two years of college were marked by a disengagement with Judaism. Yom Kippur was off my radar and Passover passed right over me. When Israel came up in my Middle Eastern studies classes I didn’t feel any connection to Israel–neither connected nor disconnected. Like most American-Jews my age,  in a soft way, I was rebelling against Judaism in my 20s and had resigned to revisit the topic when I started making life choices like who to marry and how to raise my family.

Then one day, a Jewish student approached me in the cafeteria of my school. She had just been on Birthright and now she wanted to sign me up so that I could have “the experience of a lifetime”. It was the most evangelical Jewish experience I’ve ever had. She was trying to convert me to Zionism — “Zionism?” I thought. Like most non-orthodox American-Jews, I really had no idea what that was. But once she told me that after 10 days of Zionist rhetoric I could extend my trip and visit Egypt and Jordon, I agreed to sign-up.

This ten day trip was my turning point–my first encounter with Israel and Zionism. In these ten days everything changed for me and a whole new dialogue started to unfold between Judaism, Zionism, Israel and I. When I returned to the United States, I had a whole lot of questions about my identity to answer and a new community of people to converse with. For the first time, I was able to engage other Jewish youth about their connection to Israel and grapple with several conservative and orthodox Jews about how they could be liberal and support a state that implemented racist policies and violated human rights on a daily basis.

While I am not surprised that Luntz’s study found that “Jewish youth used the word ‘they‘ rather than ‘us‘ to describe [their relationship to Israel],” I am surprised that your essay and the responses written to your article haven’t articulated the impact that Birthright is having on American Jews. Even though Birthright may not profess a type of Zionism that is healthy for the Jewish people or the State of Israel, it most certainly has put Zionism into young Jews vocabulary and encouraged young liberal Jews like myself to grapple with Zionism and their connection to Israel — an essential part of growing up Jewish, and undoubtedly the reason that I’ve come to identify as a liberal Zionist.

I have been living in Israel now for three years and made aliyah in 2007. While Birthright surely counts me as one of their success stories, I didn’t make aliyah because I believe that this is my homeland or that I have the Right of Return. Like many young Jewish-American immigrants here, I came because I recognize that there is no “us” and “them”. I understand that for thousands of years, Jewish people just like me dreamed of having a state of their own, and that if liberal democracy is being threatened in the only Jewish state on earth I have no choice but to try to save it.

At the same time, as you noted, the current political climate in Israel is very disturbing. The right is increasingly powerful and extremist and the next generation of leaders, my Israeli peers, are falling in line with this hostile right-wing Zionism. While I am hesitant to draw comparisons between my short lived experience in the United States and Israel, I do remember a time when the American left was in crisis (after George Bush was elected a second time), a time when we realized that the seeds for the rightest revolution had been planted years in advance and that right wing youth had been given every opportunity to grow and prosper, while the left wing youth had been left to flounder.

The situation in Israel isn’t far from that. The majority of opportunities to become influential in Israeli politics exist for right wing Jews, while leftist Israeli youth (Jews and Arabs alike) lack the funding and institutional support that they need in order to become a strong, powerful minority. In addition, many of the avenues for leftist Israeli youth that do exist come from NGOs focused on the conflict, while an institution focused on building the next generation of leftist politicians and organizers seems to be missing.

Yesterday, almost four years after my first trip to Israel, I was in Sheik Jarrah protesting the illegal removal of Palestinian families from their homes. There I met Yoav Peck, an American-Israeli Jew who has lived in Israel for 38 years and Jerusalem for 28. Since 1979 he has been active in the anti-war movement in Israel because he believes that “if we can get it right [here], we can get it right anywhere”. The one thing he mentioned that makes Sheik Jarrah unique, aside from the fact that it is a liberal Zionist struggle,  is that the movement is being led by a large group of young leftist — the first group of progressive youngsters he’s seen in years — and this, this is giving him hope.

While your article and organizations like J Street are giving us hope here in Israel, we also need the support of the older generation of Israeli left, funding and an institution (like the New Organizing Institute in the US) that can give the young courageous liberal youth in Israel a chance to win seats in the Knesset and influence Israel’s national political climate as well.

If you haven’t been following Peter Beinart’s article or the lively debate that it inspired you can read some of the responses here:

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Best Jewish Social Action Videos

Posted on by Alis
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I love internet contests and festivals–they almost always result in excellent collections of videos, articles and comments creating a new network of connections online. For businesses, NGOs and entrepreneurs, they are excellent ways to increase web traffic, brand awareness and involvement in their organization.

That’s where Leadel.NET, ROI Community and Jewlicious.com comes in. Their “Jews That Do” video competition drew in entries from around the world and attracted tens of thousands of community votes. In addition, I received their great press release through a trusted email list that I subscribe to, making it oh-so-easy to share it with my online community. Enjoy!

Grand Prize Winner: Sasha Perry, Los Angeles, California, USA

Earth’s Promise

Your browser may not support display of this image. “Earth’s Promise” is filmed in Israel, edited in the U.S. and commands the attention of a global population. Perry captures how individuals can truly make a difference as this short documentary tells the story of a Jewish activist, Isaac Hametz, doing his part to spread ecological consciousness in Be’er Sheva by helping to create a green city through urban agriculture, such as composting satellites and better resource management. In doing so, Isaac is bringing the dispersed Ethiopian olim (immigrants) back to a sense of community. Through these efforts, he hopes to revitalize the Negev, which he sees as Israel’s future.

LINK: http://www.leadel.net/jews-that-do-contest/videos/earths-promise

1st Runner Up: (Community Vote Winner) Peter Friedman

While studying in yeshiva in Jerusalem, Friedman was able to interview Uzieli after getting to know him personally where he mans his shop out of one of Jerusalem’s most colorful neighborhoods, Machneh Yehuda. Uzieli, a Yemenite, runs a very popular juice stand that not only refreshes but heals. Born in 1949, he uses the traditions of his home country for the “health and the happiness of the people.”

LINK: http://www.leadel.net/jews-that-do-contest/videos/yemenite_healer_man

2nd Runner Up: Bradley Cohen

Lev Olam


Bradley wanted to make a difference in the lives of orphans, and for sick and poor children, who often appear not as human souls but as statistics to most people. Yet for him and the organization he created in 2008, Lev Olam (The Heart of the World), these are children with real needs. His work embodies the spirit of tikkun olam, the ancient Judaic tradition of making the world a better place for all.

LINK: http://www.leadel.net/jews-that-do-contest/videos/bradleycohen_levolam

3rd Runner Up: Alon Nir

Tweet Your Prayers @Kotel

Need a prayer answered? Can’t get to the Kotel? Are you nowhere near Jerusalem? This one-man operation prints (via Twitter) and inserts your prayers in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Alon wanted to make the Western Wall “accessible” to the whole world, and has been featured in news media throughout the world, including CNN and the New York Times. He says the prayers haven’t stopped pouring in, and believes his work gives people hope to become better members of their communities.

LINK: http://www.leadel.net/jews-that-do-contest/videos/alon-nir-tweet-your-prayers-thekotel

4th Runner Up: Shira Z. Carmel, Jerusalem

“Lot’s Wife”

As a singer/songwriter, Shira touches the hearts of people around the world with her artistic talent, which some have called “mesmerizing.” In this music video, we hear the lilting voice of the ancient story of Lot made anew for the jaded youth of today. Ms. Carmel also teaches yoga in her spare time.

LINK: http://www.leadel.net/jews-that-do-contest/videos/shirazcarmel_lotswife

5th Runner Up: Dr. Aharon Abraham, Kiryat Arba

“India to Israel”

Born Vagirds Frads in Mumbai, India as a Hindu, this medical doctor is now a religious Jew living in Kiryat Arba, near Hebron. How did that happen? Watch as he speaks of his past misery and aimlessness that motivated him to seek out a new path. Judaism opened up to him, and he dove into an orthodox lifestyle that gave him happiness. As he became a Jew, he associated with Beit Chabad in Mumbai and became the family doctor for Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rebbeca, both of whom were murdered in the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008.

LINK: http://www.leadel.net/jews-that-do-contest/videos/from_india_to_israel

Want to know more about Leadel.NET? Visit them online here.

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