Israel braces for “new Middle East”

Al Jazeera English, January 31, 2011 As massive protests rocked neighboring Egypt, the Sunday edition of a popular Hebrew-language daily announced the arrival of “the New Middle East.” While most Israelis aren’t ready to make such bold claims, they’re keeping a close eye on Egypt, watching with a mixture of excitement, admiration, uncertainty, and fear. …

“Don’t take our girls”

Al Jazeera English, January 29, 2011 Not long after religious nationalists held a rally in Bat Yam under the banner of “Jewish girls for the Jewish people,” a group of rabbis’ wives published a letter urging Jewish women not to date Arab men. Jewish-Palestinian couples remain uncommon here in Israel. But both the rally and …

Do the Palestine Papers help the PA?

Maan News Agency, January 27, 2011 The Huffington Post, January 28, 2011 Earlier this week, Al Jazeera revealed the Palestine Papers — 1,600 internal documents that give a behind-the-scenes look at Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Since then, Middle East analysts, observers, and op-ed writers have been talking about the usual doomsday scenarios: the collapse of the peace …

Israel: The ugly truth

Al Jazeera English, January 22, 2011 There was that jarring week in December—a protest against Arab-Jewish couples, a South Tel Aviv march and demonstration against migrant workers and African asylum seekers, the arrest of Jewish teenagers accused of beating Palestinians, and the expulsion of five Arab men from their home in South Tel Aviv. It …

A week of racism in Israel

Al Jazeera English, January 9, 2011 On a recent Monday, over 200 Jewish Israelis rallied in Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv under the banner of Keep Bat Yam Jewish. The demonstrators, most of whom were religious and strikingly young, were there to protest romantic relationships between Arabs and Jews, particularly those between Arab …