INTRODUCING Miss Calculatsia, that fashionable foreigner, the new star in Israeli discourse. To a Hebrew ear, she sounds like a young beauty, like “Miss Israel”. But Miss-Calculatsia, the Hebrew version of “miscalculation”, is neither young nor beautiful, nor even female: just another pretentious foreign word taking the place of a perfectly good Hebrew one. (In … Read more
The boy Khalil Sha’erWas waiting for a busNear Tekoa,When he was seizedAnd beaten to deathBy five soldiers.Almost every dayIn the West Bank and GazaThe army killsChildren, womenAnd other unarmed people.A matter of routine.While Olmert babblesAbout peace,The occupation is gettingMore and moreDeadly, destructiveAnd rapacious. Ad published in Haaretz, August 17, 2007
ON THESE hot, sticky days of the Israeli summer, it is pleasant to feel the coolness of Oslo, even if the visit is only virtual. Fourteen years after the signing of the Oslo agreement, it is again the subject of debate: was it a historical mistake? In the past, only the Right said so. They … Read more
Most buyersOf apartmentsFrom the failedHeftsiba companyIn Matitiyahu, Har HomaAnd Ma’aleh AdumimKnew that theyAre being builtOn stolen land.What rightDo they haveTo complain? Ad published in Haaretz, August 10, 2007
THE KING of Siam knew how to deal with domestic opponents: he would present them with a white elephant. White elephants are rare in nature, and therefore sacred. Being sacred, they may not be put to work. But even a sacred elephant does eat, and eat a lot. Enough to turn a rich man into … Read more
“To returnPride and motivationTo service in the army!” -Demand the Chief of StaffAnd the Defense Minister.Pride and motivation -To guard the settlers?To steal the land of the villagers?To run after stone-throwing children?To harass inhabitants at the checkpoints?To carry our “targeted killings”?The IDL must become againAn Israeli Defense Force! Ad in Haaretz, August 3, 2007
LAST WEEK, James Wolfensohn gave a long interview to Haaretz. He poured out his heart and summed up, with amazing openness, his months as special envoy of the US, Russia, the EU and the UN (the “Quartet”) in this country – the same job entrusted now to Tony Blair. The interview could have been entitled … Read more
The Jewish National FundBehaves as ifThe State of IsraelDid not exist.In a democratic state,Land is not allottedAccording toRace, nation,Religion or gender.A bill aimed atPermitting thisIs a disgraceTo all Knesset membersWho vote for it. Ad published in Haaretz, July 27, 2007
The Jewish National FundBehaves as ifThe State of IsraelDid not exist.In a democratic state,Land is not allottedAccording toRace, nation,Religion or gender.A bill aimed atPermitting thisIs a disgraceTo all Knesset membersWho vote for it. Ad published in Haaretz, July 27, 2007
The Israeli Ministry of Education has decided that pupils (or at least Arab pupils!) are permitted to learn that the 1948 war was, in the eyes of the Arabs, a catastrophe – or, in Arabic, “Nakba”. Arab pupils know this already, of course. What is important is that Jewish pupils should also understand this. In … Read more