Category: Writing

Articles by Mya Guarnieri

Islamophobia: the new anti-Semitism

by adminin Writing

gainesville-articlelargeThe Guardian, August 26, 2010

Today the New York Times reported that a pastor in my hometown of Gainesville, Florida is planning to “commemorate” September 11 by publicly burning Korans.

The photograph that accompanied the story showed the pastor, Terry Jones, standing in a field of grass behind signs that read “Islam is of the devil.” The tall pines of my childhood towered behind him and I was shocked to see the two images together. From my apartment in Tel Aviv, I searched the edges of the photo for something else familiar, something that would soothe me. Where is my hometown? I thought. This is not the Gainesville I grew up in.

Gainesville is quintessential America. It’s swimming pools and popsicles. It’s kids droning about on bikes on lazy summer days. It’s Norman Rockwell America.

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Standard-bearer

by adminin Writing

onestate1

Tablet, August 25, 2010

In the fourth grade, I stopped saying the pledge of the allegiance. While the other children clapped their hands to their hearts, I stood, my arms limp, lips still. It was not an act of rebellion, nor did I intend to disrespect the United States. I’d simply decided—after several classmates had tried to convert me to Christianity—that we were not “one nation, under God, indivisible.” As a Jew, I felt that my place was elsewhere.

One morning, as the chairs around me scraped the floor, I didn’t bother getting up. The collective voice began, “I pledge allegiance …” I stared at my desk, tracing the lines running through the laminated wood.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around. My teacher loomed above me. “… And to the republic …” she said, along with the children, as she gestured for me to rise.

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Behind a Shabak squeeze

by adminin Writing

390501Maan News Agency, August 20, 2010

Alarms sounded through Israel’s leftist camps recently when Jewish-Israeli activist Yonatan Shapira was summoned for an interview with General Security Services, also known by the Hebrew acronym Shabak.

The interrogation came in the wake of the May detention and arrest of Ameer Makhoul, Palestinian-Israeli director of Ittijah—a platform for local Arab NGOs and an organization dedicated to empowering Palestinian-Israelis. During his detainment, Makhoul was allegedly subjected to illegal interrogation methods by Shabak including sleep deprivation and being bound to a chair in an extremely painful position. According to Adalah, a human rights organization that aims to promote and protect Palestinian citizens of Israel, Makhoul also suffered psychological torture.

Along with Dr. Omar Said, a respected political activist who runs a natural medicine company, Makhoul was accused with spying for Hezbollah. The two were indicted for espionage, amongst other crimes—charges both deny. The Palestinian-Israeli community decried the arrests as political persecution.

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An undiplomatic move

by adminin Miscellaneous, Writing

dsc00268The Jerusalem Post, August 20, 2010

As Shabbat drew to a close Saturday, more than 2000 protestors marched against the deportation of migrant workers’ children. On August 1, the Israeli cabinet adopted criteria that will make 800 children eligible for naturalization, subjecting another 400 to deportation. Observers have pointed out that many minors who seem to meet the criteria for naturalization could fall through the bureaucratic cracks, significantly raising the number of those who face expulsion.

Amongst Saturday’s demonstrators were the embassy cases—families that, in a twist of irony, are threatened with deportation because they spent many years working in Israel legally.

In 2005, Israel announced that it would give residency to migrant workers’ children. A one-time decision, similar to that made in early August, parents rushed to file the paperwork.

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Shots fired at Turkish embassy

by adminin Lead Story, Writing

936531Maan News Agency, August 17, 2010

An armed Palestinian man entered Turkey’s embassy in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, opening fire and taking at least one hostage, Israeli officials told Ma’an.

The alleged shooter, Nadim Injaz, was injured by a gunshot to the knee, police officials said.

He has not been evacuated from the embassy, they said, because Israeli officials have not been given permission from Turkey, which quickly took control of the area.

Relations between Israel and Turkey have grown tense since Israel’s deadly 31 May naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave.

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Falling through the cracks

by adminin Writing

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The Jerusalem Post, August 13, 2010

Despite the imminent deportation of 400 migrant workers’ children, South Tel Aviv’s black market kindergartens are still up and running.

Sometimes referred to as “pirate kindergartens” or “babysitters,” this is where most of the kids who face expulsion spend their days. Many of the older children who meet the government’s criteria for naturalization also come to the kindergartens, arriving in the afternoon during the school year.

Almost all are operated in the homes of undocumented migrant workers. The kindergartens range in condition from the unthinkable—one woman, alone, with dozens of children and only a bucket for a toilet—to the near-professional.

At one, backpacks hang neatly from a rack by the door. The walls are painted a cheerful combination of rose and apricot. Children sit on bright yellow chairs, playing with blocks and puzzles. They seem to have no problems cooperating or sharing. One little boy works on a puzzle alone, a look of intent focus on his face as he slides each piece across the table.
In another room, toddlers are out of their cribs, padding about on a red, oriental carpet. One of the kindergarten’s three employees hands out snacks.

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Israel to deport hundreds of children

by adminin Migrant workers, Writing

dsc09999The Huffington Post, August 3, 2010

Maan News Agency, August 4, 2010

After a year-long battle over the fate of 1200 children of undocumented migrant workers, the Israeli cabinet has finalized plans that will lead to the deportation of at least 400 minors, along with their parents.

The government also approved criteria that would make approximately 800 of the children eligible for naturalization.

Children must have studied last year in the state school system, they must be registered for first grade or higher, they must have been here for at least 5 consecutive years, they must have been born here or arrived before the age of 13, they must speak fluent Hebrew, and their parents must have arrived on a valid work visa.

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Trapped in Gaza

by adminin Politics, Writing

gaza1Al Jazeera English, July 31, 2010

Fatma Sharif is a lawyer at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, a non-partisan, Gaza-based NGO that has voiced sharp criticism of both Hamas and Israel. A women’s rights activist, Sharif planned to study at the West Bank’s Birzeit University for a Master’s in human rights and democracy, a degree unavailable in Gaza.

But whether or not she could travel from Gaza to the West Bank rested in Israel’s hands.

As Sharif, 29, applied for an exit permit, there was reason for hope. In 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court urged the state to let Gazans attend West Bank universities in “cases that would have positive human consequences.” Sharif’s work and intended course of study seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

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Lawyer guilty of document scam must refund ill-gotten gains

by adminin Migrant workers, Writing

dsc02443The Jerusalem Post, July 23, 2010

Muhammad Fokra, a local attorney accused of cheating scores of migrant workers and Palestinians out of thousands of dollars, has been ordered by a Tel Aviv court to refund his clients. The civil suit against Fokra was filed by attorney David Ben-Haim, who represented 25 migrant laborers from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Romania and Turkey. They are thought to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of other migrant workers are believed to have fallen victim to the scam.

Almost all tell a similar story. Most had either lost or overstayed their work visas. And Fokra, who keeps an office in Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station – a popular meeting place for foreign workers – promised to protect them from deportation.

After they’d paid between $3,000 and $4,000, Fokra provided his clients, most of whom don’t read or write Hebrew, with court documents. According to his clients, Fokra claimed the paperwork meant they could stay in Israel and continue to work for up to five years.

Some say Fokra referred to it as a “protection visa” – a category that does not exist.

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Children are just Israel’s latest victims

by adminin Israel, Writing

dsc08886The Guardian, July 20, 2010

Michelle is the 14-year-old daughter of undocumented migrant laborers from the Philippines. In fluent Hebrew, she sums up the inhumanity of Israel’s plans to deport children of foreign workers. “It’s like they’re taking sheep and packing them,” she says, comparing the expulsion to herding animals.

While Michelle will probably be naturalized, Israel is set to expel scores of minors, along with their families, to their parents’ country of origin. The criteria that determine who will get residency are rigid and arbitrary. Because of tight age restrictions and an even smaller window to get one’s paperwork turned in—parents will have just three weeks to submit documents that might be impossible to obtain—many children will be left out in the cold.

Hundreds of protestors gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday night to rally against the deportation. The scene was heart-rending. Little girls sat on a ledge, swinging their feet, holding a poster that read, “Don’t deport us.” A young boy gripped a sign with the message, “We are all Israeli children.”

Noa Kaufman, an activist with Israeli Children, a grassroots movement founded specifically to advocate for the kids facing deportation, said that all must be allowed to stay. She remarked that the expulsion would not only damage the families of migrant workers, it would be harmful to Israel, as well, making the country “so white and so ugly.”

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