Friday, July 29, 2011

Imperfect

Before 1967 it was rarely the tendency of Zionists to cite God as their master. Even Zionists of a distinctly religious bent formulated an esoteric but highly effective theology according to which Zionists were—albeit unknowingly—serving God, not vice-versa.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Test

It is an accepted if oft-forgotten truism that political fortunes can change with dazzling speed, especially in a country as volatile and contentious as Israel. No one, however, could have predicted the sudden change in the fortunes of the current Israeli government. It has come, politically and metaphorically, out of left field.

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Fallen Woman

Media coverage of the sudden though not entirely unexpected death of British R&B singer Amy Winehouse mentioned only in passing that she was Jewish. This says something in and of itself, but the truth is that Winehouse’s Jewish identity was always just below the surface of her fame, particularly among her Jewish fans.

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Tahrir in Tel Aviv?

For a moment, at least, it felt as if – to steal a line from Albert Camus – all the guns of Tel Aviv were firing at once. The night of Saturday, July 23, 2011 marked the largest political demonstration in Tel Aviv in over a decade.Tens of thousands of people took to the streets, marching to the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, across the street from the Kirya, the underground headquarters of the IDF.

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