Here is what should have been done this week in Israel: We should have established an organization that supports the ETA, the Basque Homeland and Freedom organization, which has fought to liberate the Basque lands from Spain, a country which, incidentally, still occupies two territories on the shores of Morocco. Then we should have started an organization that supports the liberation of the Malvinas Islands (calls the Falklands by their British occupiers). In Corsica, there is a group that is fighting for the island's independence from French rule. We should support them as well. And there are more.
It wouldn't hurt if we were to also summon the ambassadors from the occupying countries to Jerusalem every once in a while so that we can demand clarifications and reprimand them for colonialism. The English, who still occupy Scotland, feel they have a right to preach to us. So why can't we preach to them-
Meanwhile, here in Israel, several politicians were spotted in various television studios with expressions of pure joy on their faces. After years of bitter disappointment -- prophecies of a "tsunami" that never came about, and pained speeches forecasting a catastrophic visit from U.S. President Barack Obama, which ended in warm hugs -- after all these setbacks, finally, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton came along to fulfill her appointed role: The European Union has adopted guidelines that do not obligate its member states, and in effect won't change the status quo, but hey, the Israeli Left is in such a sorry state that it is grateful for whatever it gets.
The Europeans will obviously deny that they are motivated by anti-Semitism. They merely oppose the settlements. But the assumption that you can get Jews to do your bidding by threatening their pocketbooks is an old anti-Semitic canard. Incidentally, it is also an inseparable part of the cultural legacy that Catherine Ashton represents so well: The Europeans, she says, will carry out a selection of Jews on either side of the Green Line, and subjecting Jews to selections is not something to which Europeans are strangers.
That is why I called the offices of the European Union on Tuesday and asked for the official text of the latest decision against the settlements. The woman on the other end referred me to a link on their website. I told her I wanted the German version.
"Why-" she asked. "You're from Israel, aren't you-"
I replied: "Because in German, you sound much better."
Just saying
The Israeli branch of furniture chain Ikea is considering opening a branch in Ramallah. There simply is no limit to the cruelty of the occupation, is there-
Back to Europe
Immediately following Ashton, Justice Minister Tizpi Livni said the ongoing construction in the settlements was an example of "a colonialist mindset." Was Livni's late father, Eitan Livni, a former Herut MK who pushed for construction in Judea and Samaria, a colonialist-
Livni might find the following quote interesting: "The establishment of the State of Israel was the result of colonialism." That is the opening sentence of the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee's vision paper.
Since this is a territorial dispute, we would be wise to draw conclusions from an event that occurred several years ago to a young, gifted Jewish woman from a small Transylvanian town who left home to attend university in the city of Cluj.
She got off the train with her suitcase and went to an inn where a sign declared there were rooms available. At the reception desk, she said she wanted to rent a room in the building.
"Sorry," the clerk said with a cold tone of voice. "There are no rooms available."
At that very moment, a man with a suitcase arrived at the reception desk, gave his keys to the clerk and said goodbye.
The young Jewish woman turned to the clerk and said, "What luck! Now I can have his room."
The clerk looked at the woman and said, "Can't you take a hint? We don't rent rooms to Jews."
"Jews-" the woman said. "But I'm Catholic."
"If you are indeed Catholic, who is the son of God-" asked the incredulous clerk.
"That's obvious," she said. "Jesus."
"And who were Jesus' parents-"
"That's really easy," the woman said. "Mary and Joseph."
"And where was Jesus born-"
"In a manger," the young woman replied.
"Why was he born in a manger, of all places-" the clerk pressed.
The young woman carefully considered her words, and finally said, "Because idiots like you refuse to rent rooms to Jews."
The relativity of freedom of speech
Last week, Yedioth Ahronoth printed an interview with the actress Yael Poliakov. The interview quoted her saying: "I am not religious, but I believe in the Jewish religion and the Jewish God. I pray to him a lot ... I was in Hebron, in the Cave of the Patriarchs, and I didn't sleep for a week afterward. Crazy energy. I thought that I would become observant ... but religious extremism is not the right fit for me. The religious call us, the secular Jews, inferior. If they were really spiritual and full of faith they would be able to bring a lot of us closer to religion. Settlers are insane extremists, and it is a shame. I am not against settlers, or against religious people. I consider myself right-wing, but let's not get into that. I don't want my mother to have a heart attack ... I'm not allowed to talk about it ... I won't say what I really think."
So how does it happen that freedom of speech is actually blocked by the very people who are supposed to be the enlightened, open-minded ones? How does it happen that anyone who thinks differently than the enlightened ones has to worry about what they say-
The answer could be found in the sub-headline of the same interview. How did they summarize the excerpt above? In three words: "Settlers are crazy."
This one-way freedom of speech takes us to the glorious days of the former Soviet Union. One day, an American representative met a Soviet representative at a conference, and the two settled into a conversation about life.
"You people don't really understand what democracy is," the American said. "I, for example, can stand in front of the White House and yell that the president of the United States is an idiot."
Replied the Soviet representative: "I, too, can stand in Moscow and yell that the president of the United States is an idiot."
Three comments on Tisha B'Av
1. For some reason, we have all come to believe that the majority of Israelis do not inflict suffering on themselves on Tisha B'Av. That notion is mistaken. After all, there is no greater torture than the endless discussions and debates among cultural figures about Israeli society and where it is headed, and comparisons between the past and present, and the relentless blather that takes place on Tisha B'av. Endless talking is a far worse punishment than any fast.
2. We learned that the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred. Today, they would charge for that as well.
3. To those who avoid listening to music on Tisha B'Av: There is no prohibition against listening to Avi Bitter (an Israeli singer who sings depressing songs).
Where they were
Once again the record has been broken for the number of Israelis flying abroad for summer vacations. That might explain why so few demonstrators attended the social justice protest last Saturday.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו