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February 6, 2005
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 Sharon, Abbas to Have First Summit in Egypt by Mark Heinrich
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Egypt this week, the highest-level summit between the sides in four years of armed conflict. The talks would aim to build on a fragile, de facto cease-fire engineered by Abbas after his Jan. 9 election by launching a peace process based on a U.S.-backed "road map" to a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Sharon and Abbas accepted an invitation from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to a meeting on Feb. 8 in the Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. (Reuters)
Israel to Free 900 Palestinian Prisoners by Ravi Nessman
Senior Israeli Cabinet ministers last week approved the release of 900 Palestinian prisoners and the handover of the West Bank town of Jericho to Palestinian control in coming days - gestures meant to build goodwill ahead of next week's Mideast summit. Some 500 prisoners would be released shortly after Tuesday's summit. The remaining 400 prisoners would be freed within three months. (AP/Washington Post)
Israel Embarks on Tsunami Aid Campaign by Greer Fay Cashman
The Israel National Emergency Coalition's nationwide fundraising drive for the victims of the tsunami disaster was launched last week. President Moshe Katsav has called on all citizens of Israel to join in the campaign for long-term humanitarian aid to Southeast Asia. (Jerusalem Post)
See also Sri Lankan President Thanks Israel for Aid by Greer Fay Cashman
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandranaike-Kumaratunga has written to President Moshe Katsav to express appreciation for Israel's concern and humanitarian relief. The letter states: I am deeply grateful for the prompt and generous humanitarian assistance being provided by Israel. This is a reflection of your country's strong sense of solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka and would be of immense help in our ongoing relief efforts. (Jerusalem Post)
 Now's the Time for a 'Glass Half-Full' Approach by Aluf Benn
A source in the defense establishment described the dilemma now facing Israel following mortar fire in Gaza: On the one hand, the public wants quiet and is ready to close "half an eye" to give the cease-fire a chance. On the other hand, Israel cannot give up the principle that the PA prevent attacks. The solution to the dilemma is also split into two: verbal pressure on the PA and restraint on the ground. (Ha'aretz)
What Abbas's Actions Tell Us About Arafat by Ze'ev Schiff
The speed and the way in which the deployment of the large Palestinian force in northern Gaza was executed indicated that the force had always been ready, but that someone had prevented its deployment and involvement. In other words, Yasser Arafat did not want to do so because he had an interest in continuing the violent conflict. One man prevented the deployment of these forces because he did not want to end the military dispute. One man did not consider the heavy losses incurred by his people. (Ha'aretz)
Triumph of Hope over Experience by Uri Dromi
Being a veteran of the Oslo process and someone who has participated in such parties in the past, I reserve for Tuesday's Sharm el-Sheikh summit a measured optimism only. Frankly, it reminds me of what Oscar Wilde said about marriage: "Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience." When it comes to Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees, Mohammed Abbas hasn't suddenly registered as a member of the Zionist movement. But he is pragmatic, and he has people to feed and support. (Miami Herald)
Sharon's True Colors by Michael B. Oren
Ariel Sharon's transformation from warrior to peacemaker, making the Gaza withdrawal his personal crusade, has shocked the Israeli left, but many right-wing Israelis long anticipated that change. Raised in a secular Labor environment, Sharon was never nurtured on religious or conservative ideology, and, for all his opposition to a return to Israel's pre-1967 borders, he repeatedly conceded territories captured in the Six Day War. Sharon is actually a Mapainik. Mapai members were also renowned for their pragmatism, for knowing when to compromise and consolidate their gains while hoping to expand them in the future. (The New Republic)
Babson: Rabbi Bleich Leads Students on Tour of Israel by Jason Bedrick
A group of Babson College students and Wellesley's own Chabad rabbi, Moshe Bleich, joined Jewish students from around the country on a 10-day excursion through Israel. At the "birthright israel" Mega-Event in Jerusalem, thousands of Jewish students from America, Canada, Argentina, Great Britain, Uruguay, South Africa, France, Brazil, and dozens of other countries got together. It was amazing to see that after thousands of years, Jews everywhere still have a special place in their hearts for the birthplace of their faith, the Promised Land. (Wellesley Townsman)
Brandeis: Former Terrorist Changed his Ways by Christopher Moore
Walid Shoebat, self-described former terrorist with the PLO, spoke before a packed house at Brandeis University last week, describing the hatred of Jews he was taught growing up in the Middle East and the culture of anti-Semitism that still exists there today. Shoebat, now a Christian, praised the Jewish culture and religion for promoting peace and valuing human life. However, he did not see himself as "preaching to the choir," because he said American Jews lack a true understanding of the Middle East situation. (Daily News Tribune)
UC - Davis: Idan Raichel Plays at Campus Concert to Benefit Sudanese People
Several UC Davis groups have come together to bring attention to genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Through this effort, and in honor of Black History Month, a Sudan Human Rights Crisis Benefit Concert is planned for Monday, Feb. 14, on campus. The concert features one of Israel's hottest new bands, "The Idan Raichel Project," comprised of Israeli and Ethiopian performers singing in both Hebrew and Amharic. They present a new and exciting blend of music influenced by Middle Eastern and Ethiopian traditions. (Davis Enterprise)
See also York: Not Your Grandmother's Jewish Music by Aliza Libman
In front of a packed house, Raichel and band performed their hits, which combine Hebrew, Arabic and the Ethiopian dialect, Amharic. Behind his keyboard in a Rastafarian ‘do, Raichel led his mixed bag of bandmates in songs as they all danced barefoot across the stage in front of the adoring crowd. Audience members didn't have to understand the Amharic lyrics mixed with evocative passages from the biblical love story (Excalibur)
UC - Irvine: A Bombed-Out Reminder by Elia Powers
Born in Haifa, Merav Ceren, a UC Irvine junior and president of Anteaters for Israel, helped hundreds of students and community members make a visual connection to one of the more unsavory aspects of Israeli life. Bus 19, a public vehicle that was attacked in a January 2004 Jerusalem suicide bombing, served as the backdrop for an on-campus "anti-terror" rally highlighted by passionate speeches from those directly affected by the attack. Ceren said the event was intended to be an eye-opener. (Daily Pilot)
UCLA: Speaker Focuses on Palestinians' Future Under New Leader by Hoorig Santikian
Kenneth Stein, the director of the Institute for Modern Israel at Emory College, addressed community members, professors and students about what the death of Yasser Arafat means to the Palestinian people and to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Arafat's death was one more factor...in the emancipation of Palestinian self-determination," Stein said. Mahmoud Abbas was elected in January as the new Palestinian leader. The high voter turnout demonstrates the desires of the Palestinian people for a reformed government system and one that responds to their needs, Stein said. (Daily Bruin)
Johns Hopkins and Goucher: Baltimore Student Service Mission to Israel. by Anna Yukhananov
Tools in hand, a group of students from various schools in Baltimore walked along Melchet Street in Haifa. It was the first day of volunteer work for the Baltimore Student Service Mission to Israel. Twelve students from Johns Hopkins and Goucher College spent two weeks in Israel gaining a deeper understanding of the issues facing Israeli society. The group volunteered for three days on Melchet Street, cleaning yards and painting walls. (JHU Newsletter)
Montana State: Trip to Israel Provides Insight to Student Leaders by Carol Schmidt
A week-long seminar in Israel has given a new view of the world and politics to Blake Rasmussen, Montana State University student-body president. Rasmussen was one of 15 college and university leaders selected to travel to Israel as part of Project Interchange. "I think the thing that surprised all of us was the difference in values," Rasmussen said. "Americans care about being the biggest, fastest, strongest and richest. In Israel, people are very family-oriented and not as materialistic. Jerusalem shuts down on Friday nights when everyone has dinner with family. It's a completely different world." (Billings Gazette)
North Dakota: Eye-Opening Visit to the Middle East by Daryl Sager
While other students were resting and relaxing this winter break, Student Body President Jordan Schuetzle took a trip to Israel to learn about their country and culture. "For me personally," Schuetzle said, "the highlight was visiting all the Christian sites. Floating in the Dead Sea was really cool...I also got to be baptized in the Jordan River. It was a really spiritual trip for me and very informative. We were talking to high-ranking government officials all the time that gave us a lot of information. And, of course, Israeli women are very attractive." (Dakota Student)
SOAS: UK College Tells Students to Reverse Israeli Ban by Polly Curtis
The student union at the School of Oriental and African Studies is being accused of censorship after attempting to ban a senior Israeli embassy official from taking part in a debate later this month. Roey Gilad was invited by the student union's Jewish Society. But students voted to ban his appearance and the society was sent an email instructing them that hosting any speaker from the embassy would be "against union policy" and that they should "uninvite" him. Last week authorities at the college, which is part of London University, forced the student union to reverse the decision, which they said would have contravened freedom of speech laws. (Guardian-UK)
Wisconsin-Platteville: Faculty Senate Passes Divestment Bill by Karl Stampfl
On Jan. 25, the University of Wisconsin at Platteville's Faculty Senate voted to recommend that the University of Wisconsin system divest from companies that provide the Israeli army with weapons and other supplies. The senate recommended that the Board of Regents remove investments from six companies - Catepillar, General Dynamics, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grunman and Raytheon - from the university's trust fund. In 2003, the issue came up before the Michigan Student Assembly. Two students sponsored a resolution that the University divest from Israel. MSA voted the resolution down by a near two-thirds majority. (Michigan Daily)
York: Ethiopia Jews in Israel Struggle for Opportunities by Aliza Libman
Leah Biteolin, a young Ethiopian Israeli, works with the Jewish students of the University of Western Ontario. "I came to Israel 20 years ago when I was three years old," she says, describing life with three siblings in rural Ethiopia. Culture shock was a huge problem for the Ethiopians, who came from a rural agrarian community into Israel, an urban information-driven country. Every year, she says, there are "more and more people who succeed," adding that Ethiopians are becoming professionals - doctors, lawyers and professors. (York Excalibur)
I'll Have a McShwarma, Please by Rachel Cohen
This past fall, during my last year of law school, I was searching for an excuse to make my fourth trip to Israel. The "excuse": a two-week study of conflict resolution from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim perspectives being taught at Hebrew University. I think everyone should make the effort to go to Jewish conferences and meet Israelis at every opportunity. And the best place to meet them, of course, is Israel. Here are some of the experiences that moved me: Climbing a hilltop to gaze upon Tiberias, Safed, the snowcapped Harmon, and three other beautiful cities during sunset. (Cleveland Jewish News)
UC - Irvine: Anteaters for Israel (AFI) Defends Peaceful Dialogue by Merav Ceren
The displays that have been put up on our campus by the Society for Arab Students and the Moslem Students Union these last few weeks have been nothing short of poisonously anti-Semitic. SAS and MSU has been doing their best these last two weeks to foment hate at UCI, despite the best efforts of Anteaters for Israel. Eventually, they were going to succeed in provoking someone. When a voice emerges in SAS or MSU eager for dialogue, they'll find that we've been waiting for them the whole time. (New University)
See also Anti-Semitic Incitement at UC Irvine (Stand with Us)
Columbia Soft on Anti-Semitism by Ryan Sager
Columbia University is about to host yet another apparent anti-Semite. On Feb. 10, Columbia's Heyman Center for the Humanities will host a talk by Tom Paulin, an Irish poet infamous for telling an Arab paper that Brooklyn-born Israeli settlers "should be shot dead...they are Nazis, racists, I feel nothing but hatred for them." Paulin also says that Israel has no right to exist. Ariel Beery, an undergrad says: "Columbia would never invite a speaker who called for the killing of African-Americans or homosexuals." (New York Post)
Columbia Takes One on the Chin - Editorial
Columbia University suffered profound embarrassment last week when the Israeli government withdrew from a school-sponsored conference on Mideast peace. Ambassador Daniel Ayalon's refusal to appear was a ringing denunciation of Columbia's failure to aggressively address anti-Israel bias in its classrooms. Columbia history Prof. Richard Bulliet says the department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures is "locked into a postmodernist, postcolonialist point of view, one that wasn't necessarily well-adapted to giving students instruction about the Middle East." He also said the university should have reformed the department five or 10 years ago. (New York Daily News)
Johns Hopkins: Student Group Attends Israeli Conflict Meeting by Sarika Talve Goodman
They're starting to talk to each other in the holy land again. On the kibbutz where we stayed in the Western Galilee, there is a program called the Center for Humanistic Studies in which 10th grade Arab and Jewish Israelis from the area voluntarily engage in a two-year program dedicated to learning the narrative of the other. They confront hate, prejudice and fear of the other side. (JHU Newsletter)
McGill: Academic Freedom Works Both Ways by Gil Troy
Watching feminists ignore Palestinian sexism, gay activists overlook Islamic homophobia, pacifists rationalize suicide bombing, humanists excuse anti-Semitism, professors abandon academic freedom and scholarly rigor, and teachers violate basic norms of classroom decency has exposed a moral rot at the core of the campus. The Balkanization of the academy, wherein we only mobilize to defend our own, however defined, must end. Gil Troy is a professor of history at McGill University. (New York Jewish Week)
Toronto: Imbalance of Exposure - 'Israeli Apartheid Week' by Tilly Shames and Lauren Parl
The success of Hillel Toronto's IsraelFEST 2005 went almost unnoticed by the media, instead overwhelming coverage was given to Israeli Apartheid Week, which was developed to detract from our positive Israel programming on campus. By creating a media spectacle for the Arab Students' Collective, external groups, both Jewish and non-Jewish, inadvertently advertised the very events they worked to undermine. (Ha'aretz)
Birthright Buzz by Jill Blum
For five years I had signed up for birthright Israel trips, then canceled due to fear. "Next year it will be safer," I thought. And suddenly I was 26 and there was no more "next year." This time I was going, no matter what. I went to the birthright israel Web site. First on the list was Aish HaTorah, so I applied. In eight days of speed-touring, I learned more about Jewish history than in 13 years of Hebrew school. I fell in love with this land, and these people. There is an unseeable force flowing throughout Jerusalem; the energy buzzes at all hours. (Baltimore Jewish Times)
Post-Crisis Identity Crisis by Joshua Goodman
Over the past four years, the level of pro- and anti-Israel activism on American campuses has waxed and waned more or less in tandem with the level of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Now, as the situation in Israel and on campus has become comparatively quiet, some Zionist student groups are finding themselves adrift, with declining memberships and unclear objectives. Israel should be viewed as more than just a state whose reputation must be defended from slander, but as a homeland whose ethical and cultural up-building is incomplete and invites our participation. (Ha'aretz)
Keepin' It Israel by Irin Carmon
Israeli rap in America is the stuff of JDate's junior set and of journalists looking for a new angle on the bloodbath. Subliminal fancies himself Israel's patriotic Eminem. The sprawling Hadag Nachash (pictured) would like to be the Roots. So far, Hadag Nachash hold the record on songs we chosen people aren't embarrassed to play in front of the goyim. Another rapper, Sagol 59, put it in an interview with a Harvard senior writing his thesis on Israeli hip-hop, "When the messiah comes, we'll have a subway in Israel, and then we'll have graffiti." (Village Voice)
Israel to Help its Neighbors Eradicate the Mediterranean Fruit Fly by Allison Kaplan Sommer and Yael Zisling Adar
Israeli expertise in pest control is going to benefit its neighbors in the Middle East thanks to an initiative to eradicate the number one enemy of agriculture in plantations and orchards - the Mediterranean fruit fly. After irradiation neutered flies will be dispersed by planes across orchards, where they will mate with fertile females - but produce no offspring. Hence, the number of flies will quickly drop dramatically. (Israel21c)
Israeli Bluesmen to Turn Memphis Red Hot by Harry Rubenstein
Israeli blues? The two just don't go together. But all that may change at this week's International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. Israeli blues band CG and the Hammer will compete against more than 100 bands from around the world for the coveted title of 'Best Unsigned Blues Band' and over $25,000 in cash and prizes. (Israel21c)
See also Click here to hear CG & the Hammer (CD Baby)
Natalie Portman Among Jews Up for Oscars
Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman and British director Mike Leigh head this year's list of Jewish Oscar nominees. Portman, born in Jerusalem and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, was nominated for best supporting actress for her role in Closer, a look at love and betrayal in contemporary London. She won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress in the film. (The Canadian Jewish News)
Driver Becomes First Israeli in Formula 1 by Chanan Weissman and Sam Ser
Never in the history of ultracompetitive motor racing has an Israeli tasted the glory of driving a Formula One race car - until now. In a press conference at Tel Aviv's Hilton Hotel last week, Faenza-based F1 team Minardi presented to the industry and racing officials from throughout the world their new signing: Chanoch Nissany, the first Israeli ever to drive in the world's most prestigious racing circuit. (The Jerusalem Post)
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 - Should Israel Trust a Palestinian Ceasefire? | Not Before They Disarm
by Yaakov Amidror
- After more than four years of hard fighting against murderous terrorism, the question we Israelis have to ask ourselves in this context is not an easy one. On the one hand, who isn't happy to live in peace and quiet, without terror on the streets and Qassam rockets landing on Sderot? But on the other, a hudna clearly does not permit an offensive against the terrorist infrastructure, and this could entail a significant cost in the future.
- During the past three years of the war against terror, the Shabak (General Security Service) and the IDF succeeded in reaching and silencing nearly every terrorist activist in Judea and Samaria.
- Today the level of terrorism in Judea and Samaria is very low, mainly due to the IDF's success, with the fence contributing in several important regions.
- In contrast, in the Gaza Strip, precisely because the territory was never reoccupied, the IDF's success is very limited. In a few unusual operations the Hamas leadership was badly hit, but the capacity to produce Qassams--the primary threat from Gaza--was not constrained.
- The option of re-conquering all or part of Gaza was apparently under discussion just prior to the hudna. Had the IDF embarked on such an operation it would have produced a different capability for combating terrorism that emanates from Gaza: after a few months of occupation the level of terrorism there would also have dropped markedly.
- The hudna stopped the military dynamic; now we are beginning to discuss a political dynamic. But lest we forget, in parallel with the political peace process and the talks between the sides, the ceasefire will enable the terrorist elements to refurbish, rebuild their capabilities, train their activists, acquire ordnance, and rest.
- The terrorists will be that much more prepared on the day when someone in Ramallah or Damascus, Gaza or Tehran decides that the time is ripe to renew terrorist attacks.
- Shielded by a temporary quiet, as the hudna is historically defined, the Palestinians will seek to renew the political peace process. Should Israel agree? Based on the experience gained here since the Oslo Accords, the answer must be an unequivocal "no".
- Every time Israel ignored Palestinian efforts to rebuild a terrorist capability while the sides were engaging in political contacts, it paid in blood.
- We learned then, the hard way, that a leadership that does not constantly fight terrorism eventually gives in to it.
- Israel must condition a return to political negotiations on the readiness of the Palestinian security establishment to act against the terrorist organizations, arrest their leaders, disarm them, destroy their explosives laboratories, and take immediate steps to cease all incitement to terrorism. (Bitterlemons.org)
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An Impressive Beginning
by Yossi Alpher
- In case we needed a reminder of the devastatingly negative effect the late Yasser Arafat had on the prospects for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is providing it.
- In scarcely days he has negotiated a ceasefire with Palestinian militants and begun redeploying Palestinian security forces to maintain the quiet.
- Security coordination with the Sharon government has been reestablished, and the two sides are poised to begin discussing additional confidence-building measures such as prisoner release and Israeli withdrawals from West Bank cities.
- Only the passage of time will tell us whether it is genuine, and in particular, whether Abbas' control over his own security forces is sufficient. Beyond the obvious need for patience and good will on the part of both sides, there arises an additional requirement to translate the ceasefire into a new political process.
- Here we return to the roadmap. Both Palestinians and Israelis, as well as the international community represented by the Quartet, continue to address the roadmap as the desired political frame of reference.
- Abu Mazen has made it absolutely clear that he has no intention of collecting illegal weapons and "dismantling the terrorist infrastructure", as phase I demands. Rather, he seeks to co-opt the militants into the existing Palestinian political and even police/military infrastructure.
- From the internal Palestinian standpoint the ceasefire is intended to provide breathing space for cooptation negotiations to take place and to succeed.
- Both Israel and the PA are going to have to be flexible with their roadmap phase I demands if this ceasefire is to lead to a political process of some sort.
- In particular, Israel is going to have to agree to forego the forcible dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure and give Abu Mazen a chance to integrate Hamas and the Fatah dissidents into the Fateh-dominated PA political establishment, as he advocates.
- The test will be whether this permanently ends Palestinian terrorism, bearing in mind that the total destruction of Hamas has proven a near impossible task for Israel, let alone the PA.
- We demanded of Arafat that he end the violence by force of arms. This made sense, insofar as Arafat himself symbolized Palestinian violence. But we owe it to ourselves to give Abu Mazen's way, which is diametrically opposed to Arafat's strategy of violence, a decent chance. (Bitterlemons.org)
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