gdp's Comments

Borderline Crimes : Fear and Advice: on Jews in the pro-Palestine movement

Wed, 5 May 2010 07:05:51 +0000

what exactly is conflicting, in your view?

Borderline Crimes : Privileged Pessimism: On the Israeli Mainstream

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:40:53 +0000

More on the photo: Activists hold signs reading in Hebrew "Freedom - without fences, without borders" (center) and "The wall must fall" (left) during a protest in center Tel Aviv on the 10/12/2009 for the immediate release of Abdallah Abu Rahmah and all the political prisoners. On the night of the 9/12/2009 seven Israeli military jeeps pulled over at Abdallah Abu Rahmah's residence in the city of Ramallah. Soldiers raided the house and arrested Abu Rahmah from his bed in the presence of his wife and children. Abu Rahmah is a high school teacher in the Latin Patriarchate school in Birzeit near Ramallah and is the coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/activestills/4175352...

Borderline Crimes : Learning About 1948

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 07:12:43 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ6lIsl-pHU Pictures from a refugee camp in 1950. The commentary is problematic, but the images are very touching.

Borderline Crimes : Ma'asara 7/24/2009

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:03:01 +0000

I didn't have the energy to repeat this, but if anyone is asking themselves "isn't the wall important for Israeli security?", the answer is that the ROUTE of the wall, deep within the territories and not along the Green Line, was set not for security reasons but for political ones (to enable the expansion of settlements). Don't listen to me - listen to the Israeli Chief of Staff: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005914.html

Borderline Crimes : Stonewall and the Occupation

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:41:46 +0000

I think it is especially imortant to point out these parallels in the context of recent attempts by Israeli officials to co-opt GLBTQ issues in order to divert attention from the abuse of Palestinian rights. For example, "David Saranga, who works in the New York consulate, was more open about the need to promote Gay Israel as part of showing liberal America that Israel is more than the place where Jesus once walked. The gay culture is an entryway to the liberal culture, he said, because in New York, it’s that culture that is creating "a buzz." Israel needs to show this community that it is relevant to them by promoting gay tourism, gay artists and films. Showing young, liberal Americans that Israel also has a gay culture goes a long toward informing them that Israel is a place that respects human rights, as well, said Saranga". http://www.glbtjews.org/article.php3?id_article=2...

Borderline Crimes : Stonewall and the Occupation

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:51:47 +0000

A really excellent post. One issue you hint at is how these riots have now been canonized. According to wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots#Open... it looks like no one was seriously hurt, but some of the people routinely arrested and assaulted for years by the police did strike back at them ("An officer shoved a transvestite, who responded by hitting him on the head with her purse as the crowd began to boo"). For Palestinians, any form of protest gets stigmatized as violent, even when it is non-violent. No kind of Palestinian violence is ever seen as legitimate (an application of pacifism towards Jews only, even if they are members of armed forces), whereas the routine and often harsher violence of the occupation is presented as a legitimate enforcement of law and order. I also there are parallels to be drawn between the ritualistic sadism policemen practiced in gay bars and the ritual humiliations of Palestinians at checkpoints, like the ones in this report - Israeli troops humiliate Palestinians - and put it on YouTube http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094242.html