Portside

One of the seldom-discussed obstacles to the implementation of a two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the demographic change taking place within Israel’s Jewish population. Much has been made of the growth of the Palestinian population within Israel/Palestine, but the birthrate of conservative ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are exercising ever-greater influence in Israeli politics, culture, and the armed forces, also exceeds that of Orthodox and secular Jews.

Seldom, if ever, have Israel's decision-makers been so sharply at odds with their professional watchdogs on so many critical issues. Netanyahu has staked out a position on the nature of Islamist terrorism that's fundamentally at odds with his own intelligence community. Other questions include the causes of the current violence and strategies for containing it, the advisability of goodwill gestures toward the Palestinians, and the feasibility of resuming peace talks.

The current Israeli government is unlikely to permit advances in religious freedom such as civil marriage, equal funding of non-Orthodox institutions and reducing the power of the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate...an alternative to the rigid and insular Judaism that permeates Israeli public life must remind the Israeli state about the power and wisdom of a pluralistic approach to Jewish life, said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, of the Union for Reform Judaism.

There are concerns that Israel will now exert pressure on other allies, including America, Canada and Britain, to use state machinery and legislation to outlaw the growing BDS movement. It is high time, therefore, to expose the French action for what it is in an effort to deter such moves. 'Libert,, ,galit,, fraternit,' are all well and good; but now we must add "hypocrisie" and France should hang its head in shame.

Serving legal documents on high visibility persons involved in international criminal acts is very difficult. However, the temptation of large honoraria for speeches in the USA tripped up former Israeli Prime Minister who has been accused of war crimes for involvement in the murders of ten passengers (nine were killed immediately and a seriously wounded passenger died after being in a coma for several years) on the Mavi Marmara in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Encouraged by the most extreme elements in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, ultra-rightist organizations are demanding Israel extend its control over the Temple Mount or Noble Sanctuary, the compound that is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The continuing Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and rightist efforts to change the status of the mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, has spurred violent confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians.

As Jewish New Yorkers, we firmly believe that no community can ever be safe through the oppression of another. Your advocacy of broken windows policing while in Israel reinforces the Israeli government's ongoing policies of discrimination against Palestinians. The military occupation of Palestinian communities, political and economic exclusion ...and discriminatory and violent policing by the military and police do not increase the safety of the Jewish people.

The nationalists say, “An agreement will never be possible with those bloodthirsty people.” The center-left says, “There’s no way to live together.” The common denominator is racism, and the assumption that the hatred will last forever. To this we must add the arguments over the Jewish state’s sanctity and the end of the Zionist project. In short, one state means the end of the world. And now to the facts. One state already exists here, and has done so for 48 years.

What is happening in Israel today and what happened last week, last month, and for the past almost 50 years is about cementing sovereignty over land the international community agrees does not belong to Israel and over a subject people, the Palestinians, in contravention of international law. Yet, in Israel there is much talk about whether this is the start of the third intifada, but little talk of ending the occupation, the root cause of the escalating conflict.

Scores of Palestinians were injured in clashes across the West Bank and more than 200 were arrested in Jerusalem, after Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday he is running an all-out war against Palestinian terrorism. Palestinians protested Tuesday in a day of rage, Reports from Palestine, statement by Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Jewish Voice for Peace. Protest vigil in Tel Aviv against the occupation and escalation Oct. 9.