More on Israeli Apartheid Week

By smelamed March 5, 2010

To start, let me apologize for the delay. I was in the midst of a move and was unable to access the Internet until now. Fortunately, this gave me the opportunity to further grapple with Israeli Apartheid Week–and my editor Ben’s response–and hopefully formulate a coherent defense of my position. First off, let me acknowledge…

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Creativity: Check!

By Carly Silver March 3, 2010

Imagine Narnia’s Aslan as the Lion of Judah. Or a wardrobe as the Tabernacle. Unlikely, says Michael Weingrad in a recent book review. “To no other field of modern literature have Jews contributed so little,” he writes. The idea that Jews can’t transport ourselves into another dimension? Ridiculous. I’ll readily admit I’m a fantasy enthusiast….

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The Global Citizen on Corporatocracy and the Jubilee

By feabdelhak March 3, 2010

The Global Citizen is a joint project of New Voices and the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Throughout the year, a group of former AJWS volunteers will offer their take on global justice, Judaism, and international development. Opinions expressed by Global Citizen bloggers do not necessarily represent AJWS. John Perkins held a job covertly called…

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The Problems with Israeli Apartheid Week

By Ben Sales March 1, 2010

It’s not often that I take to the New Voices blog to disagree with one of our writers, but I’d like to respond to Sam Melamed’s post from earlier today. Sam defends Israeli Apartheid Week as an effort “to louden international calls for the BDS movement – that is, the boycott of Israeli goods, the…

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Israeli Apartheid Week Begins, Blame Game Commences

By smelamed March 1, 2010

Today, the sixth incarnation of Israeli Apartheid Week gets underway.  Aiming to amplify international calls for the BDS movement–that is, the boycott of Israeli goods, divestment from the Israeli economy and placement of sanctions on Israeli imports, respectively–organizers have planned various demonstrations in more than 40 international cities over the next 14 days.  And though…

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What On Earth???

By astrick March 1, 2010

I was down in the shukh this week and I encountered what seemed to be a nest of alien eggs! Spindly, green, and round, they seemed to have come here from somewhere near Neo Nebulus Nine and were getting ready to hatch and begin phase two of an invasion of Earth. They were on sale…

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Labelship Down

By ckessler February 27, 2010

As another Friday night set in, I pondered whether to schlep out of my warm house into the snow flying sideways to make the long trek (a seven-minute bus ride) down to Hillel, and after I coordinated with some friends at the University of Pittsburgh–whom I hadn’t seen all week–I decided that the schlep was worth…

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Israel for the first time

By hdilman February 25, 2010

One of the most exciting events, and a personal favorite of mine, is seeing Jews arrive in Israel for the first time.   Before they arrive in Israel they brew up high expectations that cause them terrible excitement.  Therefore, they are generally overcome by  emotion when they do arrive in Israel.  I have only hazy memories of…

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More Than Archaeology

By Carly Silver February 24, 2010

King Solomon lives (maybe)! Well, he’s hardly the next Elvis come back from the dead, but it seems archaeologists have found something to say that Solomon actually existed. I can imagine biblical archaeologists salivating over this latest find, a wall dating back to three thousand years ago. If this wall is indeed that old, says…

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Egypt 5770 (Part I)

By meuriarte February 24, 2010

Rob, Hannah and I took turns posing in front of the “Welcome to Egypt” sign as we crossed the border.  We were on break for Sukkot and thought the best way to celebrate the exodus from Egypt was to visit Egypt. At the last of four checkpoints, the three of us conferred and decided not…

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It’s Finally the Time to Make Hamentashen!

By kseeger February 23, 2010

With Purim right around the corner, I feel like it is appropriate for me to post about one of my favorite Jewish holiday cookies—Hamentashen! A hamentashen is a triangular cookie with a filling in the center (often fruit or poppyseed). It is funny to recognize the different stories behind the shape and symbolism of hamentashen….

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The Middle East’s Mirage

By smelamed February 22, 2010

Before coming to Israel, everyone I spoke to raved about Tel Aviv. Oh, you’ll love it there, It’s such a hip city, and so on and so forth. All this was music to my ears, except when I remembered that I’d actually be living about 100 kilometers east in the very austere and very un-hip…

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A Taste of Home

By astrick February 19, 2010

The non-stop supply of Falafel, Israeli Salad (Tomato and Cucumber), Cabbage Salad (affectionately dubbed: the purple stuff), Hummus, Tuna Salad, Tehina, Tabouli, Salad, Salad, Salad is making me go crazy!! I needed a taste of home. Something hearty, italian, tomatoey and cheesy. I decided to make eggplant parmesan, but give it a little bit of…

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The Global Citizen: The World Isn’t Flat

By feabdelhak February 19, 2010

The Global Citizen is a joint project of New Voices and the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Throughout the year, a group of former AJWS volunteers will offer their take on global justice, Judaism, and international development. Opinions expressed by Global Citizen bloggers do not necessarily represent AJWS. I must admit, I am guilty of…

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I really, really, really dislike modifiers

By Ben Sales February 18, 2010

Read the following sentence, from the cover story of this month’s Utne Reader: On the trail of decoding attention, Mike Posner–unarguably the greatest attention scientist of our time–is invariably two steps ahead. Now, try this sentence: On the trail of decoding attention, Mike Posner–the greatest attention scientist of our time–is two steps ahead. It’s the…

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