We’ve already written about the women of Palestine’s proclivity for provocative panties. While that post did raise the ire of some, I enjoyed writing it because it provided insight into some of the more relatively banal realities of Palestinian culture. It was humanizing to know that despite all the hullabaloo, people still share the same concerns across cultural barriers: as Tom Robbins put it, “Who knows how to make love stay?”

Robbins’ solution included the following exhortation: “Wake love up in the middle of the night. Tell it the world is on fire. Dash to the bedroom window and pee out of it. Casually return to bed and assure love that everything is going to be all right. Fall asleep. Love will be there in the morning.” Nice. But in Palestine, and particularly in Gaza, the solution to this conundrum has traditionally been fancy, almost outrageous panties as a fundamental part of every Palestinian bride’s boudoir.

This traditional aspect of Palestinian culture is now under attack by the sticky wickets over at Hamas. The ruling strongmen of Gaza, as part of a new modesty drive, have decided to target women’s underwear and have ordered lingerie shops to display more modesty:

A week after banning women from smoking water pipes in public places, the Hamas-run police force has told stores selling women’s underwear to remove scantily-clad mannequins and any posters of racy undergarments… “These measures have stemmed from complaints and pressure by ordinary people. They have to do with upholding our traditions,” police spokesman Ayman Al-Batniji said Wednesday.

Apparently, these efforts, as well as the recent banning of public female nargillah smoking, shutting down by police of a hip hop concert and attempts to get female lawyers and students to wear traditional Muslim clothing are part of an attempt to mollify conservative Islamic factions that have accused Hamas of failing to sufficiently uphold Islamic Sharia law.

But no one thinks about the detrimental effect this will have on the birthrate and domestic Palestinian cohesion. Why doesn’t anyone think about the children? Oh the humanity. In any case, most Palestinians voted for Hamas for political rather than religious reasons and this drive, like the others mentioned, will in all likelihood fail due to lack of popular support.

Phew!

Naomi Klein is a world class hypocrite. In this video, she complains about how freedom of expression is curtailed in Canada. She is speaking to “Queers Against Israeli Apartheid” and says,

“There has been a very powerful attack on freedom of expression in this country. A McCarthyite campaign against people who fall outside of the Harper government’s version of what we should be saying or doing.”

This is incredible.

Naomi Klein, together with filmmaker John Greyson and activists from Palestine House such as the organizer of the York University one-state academic conference, Mazen Masri, took the initiative last year of boycotting and/or protesting the Tel Aviv commemorative film section at the City to City section of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). At the time, Klein felt no compunction about injuring the right of speech of Israeli filmmakers in order to make her political point. She and her cohorts justified their attacks on films and filmmakers from Israel and ensured that anybody who attended City to City would not be able to separate the political attacks from the films.

In fact, their tactics have proven to be successful:

TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey revealed that, to avoid what happened last year, they “made sure to choose a city where people can focus on the filmmaking rather than other issues.”

Success for Palestine House, Naomi Klein and John Greyson. They have ensured that TIFF will stay away from controversial topics and will henceforth focus only on pleasant cities, you know, like Paris and Seattle. And, of course, the films will be nothing more than pablum. Who wants to have to answer tough questions about whether your film festival is supporting “apartheid” and “war crimes?”

Thus, authors and filmmakers who demand freedom of expression, as does Klein in the video, or Greyson in a film about censorship which is the one he withdrew in a boycott action against TIFF, have no problem curtailing and censoring others. As long as they’re Israelis, supporters of Israel or people who wish to exhibit, discuss, present or be involved in Israeli culture. They, of course, deserve no speech, according to our noble freedom fighters.

Meanwhile, these same folks demand the right to speak out freely with their lies and obfuscations, not to mention using these rights to protect their ridiculous academic conferences or, with John Greyson, the right of a film professor to call all over the world seeking to boycott an Israeli student film festival.

Yup, world class hypocrites.

Not only that, but Naomi Klein is also either a boor, an idiot or a world-class liar. In this same speech she says that “fighting apartheid” in Israel is “the last great civil liberties issue of our time.”

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

Really?

Here is the latest shopping mall in Gaza.

See what a pressing civil liberties issue this is? It doesn’t compare at all to China and Tibet:

Or Russia and Chechnya.

Or Zimbabwe and its outrages against its own citizens.

Take a look at Wiki’s stats of countries listed by intentional homicides. “Palestine” is in 55th place and Israel is in 74th place. Ah yes, the “last great civil liberties issue of our time!”

Who cares about “honor killings” in societies where women have have to cover every inch of their body except their eyes?

Who cares about the brutal regime in Burma?

Israel is listed #38 on the Democracy Index, but “fighting Israeli apartheid” is uppermost on Naomi Klein’s mind because it is the cause of our time.

As I said, boor, idiot or liar. I can’t be sure, but I suspect the last. And let us not forget that Klein stood in front of an audience and claimed that “our parents” “lied to us” about Israel.

She was wrong then and continues to be wrong now. So are her partners in crime.

There is that old question that has plagued humans for eternity, if your throw a blue stone into the Red Sea, how will it come out?

Wet

And what if the stone is Oliver Stone?

Last Sunday in The Times of London, the film director and Wall Street scion had some pretty nasty things to say about Jews and the Israel lobby in America. He said that Hitler did more damage to Russia than he did to the Jews, that Israel “f**ked up” American foreign policy, and some other choice items. Earlier this year, he mentioned that Hitler was an easy scapegoat for industrialists. What was perhaps worse were the comments added to internet blogs that agreed with him, and went much further. Stone was quick to apologize after the article appeared. He said his comments were “clumsy.” But the backlash has not ended.

Word on the street is that Ari Emanuel and Haim Saban, two Hollywood leaders with roots in Israel and the Jewish community, have individually reached out to CBS and asked if it is appropriate for CBS’s Showtime media property to broadcast Stone’s upcoming 10-part series, “A Secret History of America.” Saban reportedly hopes that Stone and Mel Gibson should both be retired from Hollywood.

Where are my linen garments so that I can banish them?

DeScribe (pictured on the right) will be performing at this years Shemspeed Hip Hop Festival on August 2nd at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge! The evening will be in celebration for the release of “A Tribe Called Tes” by Brooklyn’s own Tes Uno as well as Y-Love & Diwon’s new single, “Move On”. If that is somehow not enough, Shemspeed will also be hosting some of their other favorite artists that night, including; Kosha Dillz, Ted King & guest Geng Grizlee, Night, Meyhem Lauren, J. Stone, Kyle Rapps & special guests.

CLICK TO RSVP FOR CHEAP TIX, RSPV TO FACEBOOK &/OR GET TICKETS.

Download “A Tribe Called Tes” – here.
Listen/Download “Move On” below:

p.s. DeScribe, Shemspeed, a ton of elected officials, a senator, Bob Marley’s son and people you wish you knew will all be at the “Harmony” Music Video press conference, if you are a journalist/tv reporter/influential blogger and would like to attend the conf, be in touch ASAP. For conf info, please visit – www.shemspeed.com/harmony

What now Lord? What now?

Rampant consumerism, that’s what.

Further adding to the tragedy, you’ll note no H&M. No Gap. No IKEA. No American Apparel. All of these are available in the Zionist entity. At least neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians have a Target…

Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)

FYI, TJC’s translation of the conversion bill can be found here.

Camp Jewlicious Aug. 19!!

I never went to summer camp. My Mom said that summer camp was for Ashkenazic kids whose parents just wanted to get rid of them for the summer. Instead my parents and sisters would pack a cooler on Sundays and hit one of the many lakes in Quebec, Vermont and upstate New York. I honed my outdoor chops on occasional overnight camping trips and fishing excursions with my Dad. These close knit family trips stand out as some of the happiest times of my life.

But… I guess there’s something to be said about Jewish camp. My Ashkenazic classmates (the ones whose parents hated them) seemed to always come back from summer camp genuinely happy, people seem to always cite their summer camp experiences as a defining part of their adolescence and a teacher at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem told me that a significant percentage of those going into the Reform Rabbinate are, to one extent or another, simply trying to prolong their camp experience. Wow. Powerful stuff this summer camp thing!

Thus it cam as no surprise to me when Rabbi Yonah first broached the subject of having a summer-time Jewlicious event centered on reliving the summer camp experience – but as adults! What does that mean? A lot less rules, more intelligent programing and uhm… super duper cool counselors! OK, maybe I was kidding about the cool counselors, but Camp Jewlicious will in all likelihood be a lot cooler than your own summer camp experience.

In typical Jewlicious style we will combine awesome programs and speakers with great music and one of the best camp facilities I have ever heard of! The Brandeis Cardin campus is actually 300 lush beautiful acres with activities ranging from horseback riding to mountain biking. The facility has a great pool, zip lines, rock climbing walls – let’s just say, you won’t lack for things to do, that’s for sure.

For those of you wishing to relive Jewish camp – Camp Jewlicious has got to be an irresistible proposition. As for me? Well let’s just say that Mom understands. Does all this sound enticing? Then head over to CampJewlicious.com and sign up today! I’ll see ya there!

… of nature, of life, of beauty, of music, of being with people, and looking at the stars, and taking a break from life and doing something completely different.

People who hang out with me for a while will hear me say that my favorite thing is Jewish summer camp. There is something magical about camp, and since I was 11, camp was the place I wanted to be, all summer long.

The camp where I grew up, Habonim Camp Tavor in Three Rivers Michigan, had none of the fancy stuff of other camps. We had no power boats, no horses, no climbing, no computers. It was super rustic, and we slept in MASH style tents, with army bunks and mosquito netting. And I still loved every minute.

So it was no surprise to my wife Rachel, the co-founder of Jewlicious Festival, when I told her I wanted to do a summer camp Jewlicious style, for young adults.

Three years later, countless proposals, emails, phone calls, and car rides later, Camp Jewlicious is a reality.

I want to give a shout-out to the Disco Biscuits, who reminded me that summer camp isn’t just for kids. Camp is a place for for everyone.

Camp Jewlicious has amazing facilities, beyond anything that I could have dreamed of. Plus, we have all the down home campy stuff too. I will be posting more soon! Prepare for a time that will you will never forget.

Space is limited — prices go up at the end of July!
See photos from our walk through here on Facebook.

Disco Group Censored

Last week in Ramallah, 70s Disco legends Boney M performed at the Palestine International Music Festival. There they thrilled hundreds of spectators with hits like “Rasputin,” “Ma Baker,” and “Daddy Cool.” But when it came to their hit song “Rivers of Babylon” the group was asked not to perform it because it was deemed to be “inappropriate.” The song quotes from the Book of Psalms which refers to the exiled Jewish people seeking a return to the ancient land of Israel. By way of explanation, The London Telegraph posited that “Palestinians often question the Jewish historical connection to the Holy Land.”

Maize Williams, a founding member of the original Boney M stated:

We were asked not to do it, here they told us not to do it. I know, we wanted to do it but they asked us not to do it. I don’t know if its a political thing or what but they asked us not to do it and we were a bit disappointed because we know that everyone loves this song… I believe you should entertain wherever you are asked to entertain, whether it is Israel, whether it is Palestine, whether it is Lebanon, where ever it is, we go … At the end of the day, politics is one thing and entertainment is another thing and when I got into the entertainment business I didn’t get into it for politics. I got into it to make people happy.”

Well, for those who went and missed it, here is Boney M performing “Rivers of Babylon” circa 1978:

Benny Ziffer at Haaretz wrote a great piece called “Ra-Ra-Ramallah” wherein he describes his time in Ramallah covering the show:

On Tuesday toward evening you could see them – the trend-hunters from Tel Aviv, promenading in the streets of Ramallah, speaking English just to be on the safe side, without realizing that their Israeliness sticks out a mile, in the way they walk, in their body language. They came for a performance by Boney M which was due to start at 8:30 P.M. in the plaza of the Ramallah Cultural Palace. It is doubtful whether they would have bothered to go to a nostalgic performance like this if it had taken place in Tel Aviv. But in Ramallah, it’s a different story. It feels dangerous, it embodies a whiff of the longing for a world without barriers and fences and separation walls. Come to Ramallah to dream of a better world… This is an enclave within an enclave, and here too the naked eye detected a table of Israeli diners trying to look like someone or something they weren’t, until a noisy gang of beer-drinking young Palestinians at the adjacent table shattered their illusion and spoke to them in fluent Hebrew. One of them called out to me: “Kol hakavod [good for you] – you have a big heart for coming here. We hate Israel.”

Heh. Boogie on down Palestine!

The soul of American journalists, Daniel Schorr, passed away at 93 today in Washington DC. A protege of Edward R Murrow at CBS News, one of the first employees at a start-up called CNN, and for the last two decades, a commentator on National Public Radio (npr), Schorr gained fame for being on U.S. President Richard M. Nixon’s “enemies list,” an achievement that Schorr delighted in more than being on the Emmy’s (awards) list.

Born in the Bronx, he wrote in his memoir (which sits next to my bed), that he had an unhappy childhood, and grew up fatherless, fat and Jewish. At the age of 12, he sold his first story to a local Bronx newspaper, and in college he wrote stories. After serving in WW2 in a U.S. Army intelligence unit, he learned Dutch and wrote for a Netherlands West Indies news service. But what he wanted most of all was to be a foreign reporter for The New York Times. He finally got his chance in 1953, and was given a three day tryout with The Times. He was supposed to write a few paragraphs, but his scoop was so great (an interview with Robert Moses), that he wrote and published a page. He never got the job though. He was told that there were already too many bylines with Jewish sounding names at The Times. He was wooed by Edward R. Murrow at CBS TV instead, and it was there that Schorr became a household name in America and in the Kremlin.

Schorr won Emmy’s in each of the three of the Watergate years 1972-1974, and was hated by the heads of the CIA and FBI. David Broder, a longtime columnist for The Washington Post, said, “I think he’s unique in the sense that he’s been at the center of so many different stories, both here in Washington and overseas, for so long. He kept his perspective so well and does not ever exaggerate what’s taking place, but really let you know why it’s important.”

I recall with glee the time I met Schorr at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, and I mainly recall a piece he wrote last September, which read, “This is the first time I have worked on Yom Kippur. I hope to be forgiven. On Monday evening, I should have broken the fast at the home of Bill Safire for the 40th time. Three weeks ago, Helen Safire advised that Bill was “feeling unwell,” and the break-the-fast party would have to be next year.” The piece was his obituary for William Safire.

See some photos here.

In the past, I’ve taken many opportunities to post the paintings of Reuven Rubin. Until today, I knew nothing about his wife, Esther Rubin. She has just passed away at 99 years old, after living in Tel Aviv since the age of 18 when she won an essay writing contest for Young Judea on what Palestine meant to her. She hailed from the Bronx. Sailing to Israel, she was immediately noticed by another passenger on the ship, Reuven Rubin, who was already in his 30s. He proposed marriage within minutes of meeting her.

This means she’s been based out of Tel Aviv, plus or minus some years when they lived abroad, for about 80 years. She witnessed its evolution from a central viewpoint because Rubin was an important artist throughout his career. They were friends with the writer Haim Nahman Bialik and eventually donated their house on Rehov Bialik to Tel Aviv as a museum of Rubin’s work.

What a charmed and interesting life. You can read more at the Jerusalem Post.

You can’t trust anybody these days, can you?

Mr. Sabbar Kashur, a 30 year old resident of Jerusalem, met a woman in September 2008, had sexual intercourse with her in a nearby building, and left without waiting for her to dress. What chutzpah!

Geez. wham, bam and not even a thank you, ma’am.

When the woman learned that he was not Jewish, she had him charged with indecent assault and rape. The complaint said that he presented himself as a single Jewish man seeking a romantic long term relationship. This week, he was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Jerusalem District Court.

Tzvi Segal, the deputy president of the Jerusalem district court, along with his colleagues, Judge Moshe Drori and Judge Yoram Noam, wrote in their verdict that although this was not “a classical rape by force,” and though the sex was consensual between the two adults, the consent itself was obtained through deception and under false pretenses. “If she had not thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have cooperated,” wrote the judges.

Judge Segal added that “The court is obliged to protect the public interest from sophisticated, smooth-tongued criminals who can deceive innocent victims at an unbearable price – the sanctity of their bodies and souls… When the very basis of trust between human beings drops, especially when the matters at hand are so intimate, sensitive and fateful, the court is required to stand firmly at the side of the victims … otherwise, they will be used, manipulated and misled, while paying only a tolerable and symbolic price.”

Can someone get me an Israeli lawyer for an additional opinion? Does this mean that if an American says that he plans to make aliyah, and doesn’t… he he liable to accused of deception? What if one of the sexual partners says he or she is in an elite IDF unit or a prestigious yeshiva. Is this also deception? (psst.. I am a pilot, but used to be in the Golani Brigade) I think that this verdict can change much of how the genders interact in Israel. Or am I woefully wrong?

They opened a new shopping mall in Gaza last week.

I am completely serious.

The Palestinians are laughing their behinds off at the West and especially at Israel.

In the meantime, Israel is entering a new diplomatic fight to attempt to stop another flotilla, this time from Lebanon, from attempting to enter Gazan waters. Gosh darn it, the Palestinians are so desperate for those humanitarian supplies!

By the way, this appears to be an opportune time to quote from Norman Finkelstein’s recent Gaza book, This Time We Went Too Far:

To preserve my sense of purpose, and keep the Palestine struggle from becoming a lifeless abstraction, I need periodically to recharge my moral batteries by reconnecting with the actual people living under occupation and by witnessing firsthand the unfolding tragedy. From each trip I invariably carry away a handful of stark images that I fix in my mind’s eye to dispel the occasional hesitations about staying the course. When the memories begin to fade I know it is time to return.

Fortunately, next time Finkelstein needs to recharge his moral batteries, he can buy them in the new Gaza shopping mall and take away those stark memories into his next book.

h/t Tom Gross.

The Palestinians are very confident these days and with good reasons.

First, let’s take a look at Israel:
-The BDS movement has picked up some key endorsements and supporters;
-Israel is in the international diplomatic doghouse;
-When others aren’t criticizing the Jewish state, Israel finds ways like the attack on the flotilla to generate severe international approbation;
-Within Israel itself the divisions between secular and Orthodox Israelis as well as between the Leftists and the Rightists have never been more pronounced and hostile;
-Israeli Arabs have taken to siding openly with Israel’s adversaries and enemies;
-A number of pro-Palestinian Israeli NGOs as well as the Leftist newspaper, Ha’aretz, have gained significant international voices and influence;
-Israel’s right wing government is distrusted by default by many people including many diplomats and politicians from the West;
-While the settlements are growing, they have become a significant burden to Israel’s international image;
-and, Israel’s relationship with the US has never witnessed the challenges faced with Obama’s administration which has succeeded in making us all miss James Baker.

Let’s next take a look at the Palestinians:
-They have an ideal situation with the separation of the PA from Gaza. Suddenly, Fatah (and the PA) look like moderates in relation to Hamas and nobody, not the Israelis, not the Americans and certainly not the Europeans, is willing to let the PA falter. This means more revenue from donor countries, more diplomatic tuches-kissing of PA leaders, the development with foreign resources and training of a serious Palestinian military force and restraint from criticism that Israeli leaders can only dream about.
-Next, the Palestinian West Bank is thriving economically. It is growing by leaps and bounds with the Israelis attempting to offer as much support as they can within the confines of their security needs.
-Also, the new prosperity is helping the Palestinians grow their towns, villages and Jerusalem neighborhoods with very little oversight by Israel and almost complete freedom of movement to do so. Yes, some houses are being demolished, but on a broad scale, Palestinians are building out and creating “facts on the ground” to a significant degree.
-The so-called non-violent circuses in some key Palestinian villages have proven to be a goldmine as far as Palestinian international media coverage because they are now identified with non-violence while Israel has become identified as violent, racist and unfairly brutal.
-Even Gaza enjoys favorable press these days. Israel now appears to be a violent ogre intent on brutalizing Gazans with war and depriving them of basic needs in times of no fighting. Ironically, there is at the same time an abundant supply of everything from food to toys in Gaza, as well as serious international financial support including a recent pledge of hundreds of millions by the USA itself.
-Finally, while Hamas may be left out in the cold, Abbas has a favorable working relationship with Obama which is not manufactured for the media like Netanyahu’s, while Salam Fayyad is seen as something along the lines of a Palestinian Ben Gurion.

So what are the Palestinians doing with all this good news?

Nothing. Nada.

The Palestinians are continuing to play their waiting game. The latest is that Abbas has informed the US that he refuses to engage in negotiations directly with Israel unless there is an agreement before the negotiations even begin that the borders are defined as 1967 borders. To those who don’t understand the code, this means that Israel must give up the Holy Basin. It also means a run-around international law since UNSCR 242, which can be said to be the defining law surrounding the question of how a peace agreement should look, does not require that Israel return to 1967 borders. Abbas also wants an international force to be agreed to in advance of talks and not only on the Israel border, but also on the Jordan Valley side.

Now, it’s not as if these issues haven’t been discussed with Israel before. In fact, in early 2001 at Taba, Ehud Barak offered to allow foreign troops to control the Jordan Valley instead of Israeli troops. The sequence would take place after 5 years from the signing of the agreement. Barak and Olmert both offered the Palestinians all of Gaza and 95-97% of the West Bank, which is pretty darn close to “1967 borders.”

So what is Abbas doing here? A couple of things. First of all, he is throwing the ball into Netanyahu’s court. When Netanyahu says, correctly, that he has been asking for negotiations for over a year only to be rebuffed, now the Palestinians can say that they have offered to enter negotiations as well. When Israel says that they have offered an outline for peace that has been rejected, now the Palestinians can say they have as well. It doesn’t matter that the Israeli offers have been genuine and have even sought to share East Jerusalem while the Palestinian offers have not and most certainly have not been genuine since they maintain that they will not consider Israel a Jewish state or forego the movement of Palestinians (so-called “refugees) into Israel in the future. The point is the Palestinians can say they made a proposal.

But the most important thing Abbas is doing is postponing. He is playing for time with the confidence of a man who knows that waiting costs his side nothing while providing numerous advantages. The other players actually have electorates to answer to and are feeling enormous pressure to produce achievements of some sort. He can wait. Things are going well for the Palestinians relative to the past and with every new election, new leaders and responsibilities weigh down his adversaries while he remains secure in his position along with all of his PLO and Fatah cronies. His safety is even secured by Israel because they don’t want another Hamas-led province on their border.

What should Israel do?

Israel should accept Abbas’s proposal on the following model: Israel will enter into direct negotiations regarding 1967 borders solely on the basis of UNSCR 242, since that is the international law governing the question of final borders, and only if in advance to negotiations, the Palestinians officially recognize Israel as a Jewish state. After all, if the Palestinians won’t accept the premise of the Jewish state, what purpose is there to the 242 clause demanding that Israel’s neighbors live in peace with it. Second, in order to accept having a foreign military buffer between the state of Israel and the new Palestine, the trade off should be Palestinian consent to remain a demilitarized nation with heavily restricted airspace and borders. Otherwise, based on the experience of the buildup of arms in areas controlled by Hizbullah with a foreign military presence there to prevent such a buildup, Israel has no guarantees that the Palestinians won’t build an army to attack Israel. Finally, Israel should demand the Palestinians concede that the Temple Mount should come under Israeli sovereignty together with the Jewish Quarter in the Old City.

These, of course, are merely demands the Palestinians have to accept before direct negotiations begin.

Of course Abbas will reject these suggestions, but the ball will at least be back in his court.

Sadly for those of us who dream of peace, the reality is that the Palestinians don’t want it unless they are able to include Israel as their country.

Here are previous essays about this topic:

The Palestinians Think They are in the Endgame

The Palestinian Endgame Enters High Gear

More About the Palestinian Endgame

The Palestinians Believe They Have Israel in a Corner

Details of Barak’s Taba Plan

Ehud Olmert’s Insanely Generous Peace Offer/Palestinians Predict They Won’t Talk to Israelis with Obama in Office/a> with More Details by Olmert Himself.

What happens when the first African-American Orthodox Jewish hip-hop artist remixes the notorious Young Money label’s “Roger That” single with Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Wayne? Well, nothing and everything you would ever expect!

D-d-d-ownload the Y-Love/Diwon remix and pass it on!

And We’re LIVE!!!

Streaming from the breathtaking view of the Old City on the mirpeset (balcony) of the Jerusalem Cinemateque. The panel we’re webcasting is an English Panel Discussion on the subject of Social and Personal Responsibility of The Jewish People sponsored by those folks at the Jerusalem Challenge.

Come ponder responsibility, join our panel, and interact in our chat. See you inside…and may you all have an easy and meaningful fast.

Click for Live Streaming… (more…)

Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)

The guy that runs UgliestTattoos.com hates two things: ugly tattoos (duh) and bacon. He once notably opined: “I want to punch bacon in the face harder than Ed Hardy, cupcakes, and Rickrolling combined.” Harder than Ed Hardy even? Man, that’s some hatred! Suffice it to say that a recent post on his site featured his latest attack on ugly bacon tattoos. As a nice Jewish boy, I can’t say that I didn’t appreciate the post’s aesthetic and spiritual sensibilities. Clearly, G*d hates bacon tattoos.

Classy.

News has just come in that Hamas has banned women in the Gaza Strip from smoking waterpipes.

AP reports via the Brandon Sun:

[. . .]

The ban marks the Islamist militant group’s latest effort to impose their harsh Muslim lifestyle in the seaside strip on an often resistant public.

While Muslim law does not technically ban women from smoking the traditional tobacco-infused pipes, tradition frowns upon the habit. Hamas frequently mixes its strict interpretation of Islamic law with conservative Gaza tradition, and over the weekend, the two dovetailed to produce the smoking ban.

“It is inappropriate for a woman to sit cross-legged and smoke in public. It harms the image of our people,” Ihab Ghussein, Hamas interior ministry spokesman, said in a statement released Sunday.

[. . .]

“This is silly,” fumed Haya Ahmed, a 29-year-old accountant who said she has smoked water pipes for 10 years. “We are not smoking in the streets but in restaurants where only a few people can enter.”

She predicted the ban would have the opposite effect of its intention and make water pipes more tempting for rebellious young women. “Everything forbidden becomes desirable. The decision will lead to more smokers,” Ahmed said.

[. . .]

Many Palestinians see the water pipe as inappropriate for women because of its sexual innuendo, and because it looks crass for ladies to smoke, said Palestinian anthropologist Ali Qleibo.

[. . .]

Apparently, the oral insertion of cylindrical or conic objects is not just a popular topic of US teen flicks but also a matter of great concern to Hamas.

Guess that sucks. Either way.

P.S.: Does that imply there are homoerotic connotations to men smoking waterpipes?

Enter NOW, watch and chat with us in a live Webcasting event about international issues regarding Jewish youth leadership. Youth leaders will be speaking via video conferencing with Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein.

This event is part of project Shevet Achim on Leadel.NET and thanks to a special seminar event at a B’nai Akiva summer youth convention in London.

Watch NOW after the Bump… (more…)

When I said ‘pro-youth webcast’, I meant, a Youth Leadership Webcast connecting B’nai Akiva Youth Leaders with a leading Israeli politician. Today at 16:00GMT, 18:00 Israel Time, 11:00 EST and o-dark-thirty PST there will be a virtual connection of Yuli Edelstein in a special session with B’nai Akiva Youth Leaders during a summer leadership seminar in London.

So come back tonight and join us LIVE to observe, chat, and say hello to London.
Broadcast will be here, Jpost.com, and Leadel.NET.

Oh, come on, you mean to say you thought there was no hanky panky going on? Young activists, unattached and full of passion, show up from their affluent Western countries to help the poor, downtrodden Palestinian activists. These Palestinians are, for cultural reasons, predominantly males and in their society young, unmarried women are unavailable to them, especially sexually active females. So, along with UNWRA funding, the West has come together to offer another form of support.

Hookups happen. I mean, they did back when Israel was well-liked by Europeans and they came as volunteers to kibbutzim and hooked up with Israelis. Today, alas, the kibbutz volunteers have been replaced by hard-working, paid, Thai laborers and all the European lovelies and their American counterparts are heading over to the West Bank and East Jerusalem (after a few nights partying in Tel Aviv, of course) where a different type of volunteer work calls out.

There is apparently a dark side to all of this, however. Ha’aretz, Israel’s leftist, pro-Palestinian newspaper reports today (bold is my editorial):

The Palestinian Authority, as well as the leaders of the Palestinian popular protests in villages such as Bil’in, Na’alim, Umm Salmuna, have been trying to keep the following story away from both public knowledge and the media’s eye: One of the more prominent Umm Salmuna activists – a village south of Bethlehem, long entrenched in a battle against the West Bank separation fence – is suspected of the attempted rape of an American peace activist who had been residing in the village as part of her support of the local protest.
…
The European and American female activists reportedly agreed to let Aladdin stay with them after he had told them he feared the Israel Defense Forces were on his tail, adding that he had been severely beaten at an IDF checkpoint only a week before.

During his stay Aladdin allegedly attempted to rape a Muslim-American woman, nicknamed “Fegin” by fellow activists. The woman escaped, later accusing the popular protest man of the attempt. One villager who had encountered the American following the incident said she had been in a state of shock.

Aladdin then refused to apologize for the incident, when news of it reached the village’s popular committee, the popular protests’ governing body, allegedly saying that the incident had been marginal and normal.

Wait, that’s not all. Ha’aretz then adds:

…the Umm Salmuna case is not the only one. Separation fence activists know of other incidents in which Palestinians molested and sexually assaulted foreign peace activists…

None of this is surprising, although it is shameful that knowledge of these types of assaults is being kept from visiting activists who are essentially being sacrificed for the cause in which they so passionately believe. If organizers know these assaults are taking place but are keeping them under wraps in order to protect their anti-Israeli movement, they are putting politics far ahead of the personal safety of their supporters. We’ve seen the truth twisted in service of the Palestinian movement to destroy Israel, but this is a twist of different order.

So, if you’re female and planning to go help Palestinian activism against Israel over in the West Bank, do be careful and make sure you’re always around friends, especially when you go to sleep at night.

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Update: ck quotes from Norman Finkelstein’s Gaza book:

Having just spent several months perusing Mahatma Gandhi’s collected works, and deeply inspired by his commitment to living the life of the impoverished masses, I had resolved to rough it in Gaza. But this was easier said than done. Along with several other delegates I volunteered to stay at a Palestinian family’s home rather than a hotel. Dressed to the nines, hair gelled, and reeking of cologne, several Palestinian youths met our group to select their home-stays. They departed with first one young female member of our delegation, then another, then another. The only candidates left hanging at the end of the evening were middle-aged men. We checked into the hotel.

Yup, the struggle to save Palestine continues. Thank you, young female activists!

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On a side note…Amazingly, this article came, as noted above, from Ha’aretz. I was shocked to see it in there and literally double-checked that I was on the right site because they have so few stories covering Palestinian society in any note other than “victims.” The reporting in Ha’aretz typically resembles the leftist-Islamist alliance against Israel that we see in the West today. The Left provides the idealistic ammo against Israel, even as they ignore the fact that they’re supporting a society whose values, beliefs and actions are antithetical to the Left’s own ideals. Ha’aretz editors should wonder whether having given up any pretense of objectivity in their journalism undermines confidence in their reporting. They should ask themselves whether the constant portrayal of Israeli society in heinous terms, while depicting Palestinians as harmless victims of the heinous society, is responsible. Because it sure isn’t fair, objective journalism.

Ok, I’ll say it.  I think he’s jumped the shark.  I adored his first two books and I count him as one of the greatest influences in my writing style and ideas, simply because his were the first books I read that specifically described the Russian Jew immigrant experience in North America with wry humor rather than introspective self-righteous self-pity a la “The Namesake,” and because they were just so damn relatable to me.  He gave me hope that even descriptions of a niche group would be popular among mainstream American literature.

But, as his popularity continues to grow, I think that, unlike his character in the book trailer who can’t read and therefore cannot mop up influences, he has gotten a bit cocky and even unsure and has started to rehash themes in an unoriginal way, creating meme upon meta-meme within his works.  This was evident even in his last book, Absurdistan, which I still loved to pieces.

All of this shit having been talked, I’ll read it, and who knows, maybe the book will be amazing again.   Because, anyone who can get James Franco to guest-star in their book trailer has something good up their sleeve.

Check out his latest in the New Yorker.