Comments on: Israeli government willingly lays foundations for Jewish terrorism

By: Piotr Berman

Piotr Berman — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:09:47 +0000

Right wing leaders taking responsibility? Apparently there were two gruesome incidents by juveniles who do not know how to avoid blabbing. The short story is that the kids will get some punishment, probably not too much, but who knows.

In both cases these were yeshiva pupils. Will teachers take responsibility? Will Education Ministry consider any changes? We know what changes they already considered — firing the coordinator of civics programs who was insufficiently nationalistic.

“Inflamed atmosphere” is produced by members of the Knesset and government employees — nationalistic rabbis.

By: BOOZ

BOOZ — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:30:53 +0000

How come I can’t read in + 972 balanced remarks such as the one made by Gil Troy in Open Zion ” Young teenagers calling out “Death to the Arabs” while beating a fellow human being is a despicable byproduct of an inflamed atmosphere, and reflects the worst of Israeli society. Predictably, Israel’s critics have jumped on the incident, using these crimes to indict Israel’s society, culture, and politics more broadly. But that simplistic demonizing narrative overlooks the fact that Israel’s “right wing” leaders are taking responsibility for such violence and trying to educate youth away from such horrors.”

By: Blake

Blake — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 18:11:17 +0000

I was replying to Laurent actually.Replying to the rest of your comment: I am not interested in how technologically advanced “Israel” supposedly is. White South Africans claimed to be first world too. Did not make apartheid right. In fact its as far from right as humanly possible.

By: Laurent Szyster

Laurent Szyster — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 12:06:55 +0000

The only thing secular in the founding elite of Pakistan was its british dress code.

Actually, Jinnah was a very unsuccesfull secularist and, as the constitution of 1956 showed clearly, it was Iqbal’s islamism that came to define the institutions of Pakistan.

Actually I cannot think of a more moronic comparison than Youri’s equation between a mostly secular state with small pockets of religious fanatism on one hand and on the other an islamist state with very few pockets of sanity.

By: Piotr Berman

Piotr Berman — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 22:02:43 +0000

You put words into Yossi’s mouth. Israel is not failed, sectarian and backward but successful, sectarian and advanced.

That said, the redesign of 972mag.com is not a success story of Israeli software industry.

By: Piotr Berman

Piotr Berman — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 21:51:13 +0000

Thanks Bryan. Yossi actually graduated from a Yeshiva, but I guess it was a while ago. Moreover, I personally trust Yossi because of my experience so far, but he has a clear tendency of translating religious terms into contemporary common terms and vice versa. This is exactly what happen here: we have a neo-platonic type of hierarchy with “the one” on top and perhapse inanimate matter on the bottom, those diagrams are not linear and the role of different places can be interpreted differently. In particular, if G.d wishes the gentiles to observe the seven laws of Noah, then gentiles are moral agents and have souls. About a week a go on a bus from NYC to Boston I was asked if I am a Jew, and upon giving a negative answer I was informed that not only G.d wishes me to obey Noahite laws, but also Rev Rabbi Schneerson. Somehow Haredi teens did not offer the same advise to Oriental people on the bus (nearly half of passangers on a bus from Chinatown).

However, given that I got wrong mitochondria, no amount of abstinence from shrimp, cheesburgers, sex with menstruating spouses, mixed thread cloths etc. will elevate my soul to a higher level. It is not even clear if I can count to 8.

In any case, the conjecture that wilding teens were influenced by cabalistic concepts is a bold one, and Yossi did not present it as a sure thing.

However, given the key role of the mitochondria that Jewish girls can bestow on the future Jewish generation, some vigilance is justified.

Pakistan comparison is very on the mark. The state is created under a secular elite but according to a principle defined by a religion. It leaves the elite defenseless against creeping encroachment of religiosity and religious laws over the public sphere, and against various pocket of outright fanaticism. Fanatics are very good believers, and good believers are almost the alternative definition of good citizens. As Pakistan was created before Israel, and Muslim League was created in 1906, clearly the phenomenon is highly parallel to Zionism/Israel, and may well be another reflection of European Romantic triple unity of soil, blood and religion.

By: Blake

Blake — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:33:26 +0000

You make it sound like the Palestinians were oppressing you in your eastern European shtetls. Truth is always on the side of the oppressed so give up your ruse.

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:30:33 +0000

Condemnations are opportunistic ways to please the few allies Israel have left and should of course not be taken seriously. Last week Israel reached out to jordanian king much on the same lines.
Pakistan comparsion is quite well founded, along with the South African example.

By: Laurent Szyster

Laurent Szyster — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:56:05 +0000

Yet another hysteric load of bullshit likening Israel’s government and society to one of the many backward, sectarian and failed muslim countries.

Suprisingly, nobody at +972Mag dared to make a comparison with the kind of incitement that can be found daily in Palestinian medias, from its government and legislators.

By: Greg Pollock

Greg Pollock — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 02:33:16 +0000

Once again I admire this journalist. I do not think comparing Israel to South Africa, Weimer, or Pakistan to be of much value, as it produces flagged “absurdities” used to deligitimize the logic overall. Pakistan’s social economic condition is quite different than Israel’s.
.
As you note, these events have been nurtured directly through Israeli State policy. The very concept of “citizen” is under attack, as are the values of many of the Disopra. It will at some point become impossible to ignore the actualized hatred within Israel, shunting all into the protectionism of the West Bank occupation and Gaza seige. The hatred will become yet more explicit, the attacks against such as you even greater. And that means the battle is going well.