Thursday, March 26, 2009

Another Jew Roundup

It's all I have time for between wooing my shiksa goddess.

The IDF released its casualty list from Operation Cast Lead. It claims a Palestinian death toll of 1,166, with 708 being "Hamas terror operatives". Its list of children (under 16) casualties is considerably smaller than that being put out by Palestinian sources. My guess is the truth is somewhere in between.

Gaza and Darfur: Some Lives Matter More Than Others. The events in Sudan, of course, shouldn't exempt Israel from exacting critique of their actions towards the Palestinians (and vice versa). But let's not pretend that the statements of many foreign governments towards Israel are anything but provincial power politics.

Latino radio host stirs up anti-Semitism in California (some of which seems clearly anti-Semitism in the form of criticism of Israel, and some of which has nothing to with Israel). Via Aliza "La Jewminicana" Hausman.

Shmuel Rosner tries to spin this as a problem, but the fact remains that 72% of American Jews approve of how Barack Obama is handling the Arab/Israeli conflict. To be sure, the strength of support is even higher on other issue areas. But it's more intensity of support: Obama's overall job approvals are at 74%.

Jews with tattoos. The reason (okay, one of the reasons) I don't get a tattoo is that I don't think it coheres with my religious values. But I don't judge other people who view their Judaism differently than I do.

The Israeli Air Force reportedly struck an arms smuggling convoy in Sudan -- Hamas denies the arms were meant for them.

Yemeni Jews reluctant to be rescued. The Forward reports that while conditions for Jews do seem to be worsening in the Arabian Peninsula state, the Jewish residents are reluctant to depart, citing inadequate jobs and opportunities elsewhere and the lack of compensation they would receive for their homes. I'd add that the Yemenite Jewish community is thousands of years old, and for many people, this is their home. Why should they have to leave? If they want to, that's fine, but if they want to stay, then our efforts should be focused squarely on pressuring the Yemenite government to give them all the protections of law and equality enjoyed by other citizens of the nation.

6 comments:

PG said...

At least Whitey is getting some blame too. Is there some particular thing about having blue eyes to signify power?

Anonymous said...

PG, that link made my day. Just yesterday, I was saying "Why is it always the Jews controlling and manipulating everything? Why can't we get a conspiracy theory in which white Christian men manipulate the government and financial institutions for their own advantage?" I think this is probably as close as I'm going to get, so I'll take it.

I would guess the blue eyes reference is meant to indicate Americans and northern Europeans, so that while he is saying that white people have harmed black and brown people, he is not roping in white Brazilians. Though it's a bit odd because in southern Brazil there are a lot of people of German and other northern European extraction, and it's not unusual to see blond hair and blue eyes. (A lot of farmers from that part of Brazil were moving into the region of Paraguay where we lived, and occasionally my mostly-Swedish husband was taken for a Brazilian.) That area, though, is culturally distinct in a number of ways, and he may not have felt compelled to take them into consideration as "real" Brazilians.

Anonymous said...

Another Jewish tattoo for you.

PG said...

LOL, I'll have to pass chingona's comment along to the friend who alerted me to the story. He's sort of the blond, blue-eyed version of Stephen Colbert (even comes from SC!).

Jack Steiner said...

I don't understand the fascination some people have with tattoos.

PG said...

FYI, some analysis re: white phosphorus. Query whether the people now expressing upset at its use in Gaza took a similar stance even when the U.S. used it in Fallujah? Blog archives probably worth trolling.