Several reporters have written lately about the rightist Israeli government’s misapprehension of the Arab Spring. They note that instead of calling it “Arab Spring,” ideologues like current defense minister, Bogie Yaalon, called it the “Islamic Winter.” Further, they espoused to a certainty the conviction that these uprisings would bring radical Islamists to power throughout the […]
Israeli Political Leadership Uses War as Tool for Dampening Social Protest
Smadar Lavie (CV) is Scholar in Residence at UC Berkeley, whose academic field is the study of the role of women, particularly Mizrahi women, in Israeli society. She’s just published a fascinating essay that examines three seemingly disparate Israeli social phenomena which have a great deal to tell us about how the Israeli national security […]
Kadima Fiddles and Folds While Rome Burns
UPDATE: Haaretz reports that while Tzahi Hanegbi has deserted Kadima and returned to Likud, he has not yet succeeded in persuading any colleagues to jump ship. Mofaz is trying to invoke Knesset sanctions against four of the rebels, which indicates that they will probably be joining the Likud soon. Since the brain-death of Ariel Sharon, […]
Social Justice Demonstrator Immolates Self
At today’s Tel Aviv J14 social justice protest, one of the demonstrators, Moshe Silman, immolated himself to protest injustices done to him by the State. He is now in serious condition in a local hospital. With the help of Dena Shunra, I’ve put together some of the tragic circumstances that led the 52 year-old man […]
