Israel is experiencing its worst street violence since its founding – Vox

“I don’t think that, since the creation of the state of Israel, we’ve seen this kind of domestic violence,” Ami Ayalon, the former director of the Shin Bet (Israel’s FBI equivalent), tells me. “We are not far from… not a civil war, but a level of violence that I don’t know if we can control.”

Ultimately, the current violence is the result of the longstanding marginalization of Israel’s Arab minority.

Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Israel’s population, have in some ways grown more integrated with their Jewish neighbors in recent years. But at the same time, the Israeli Jewish leadership has grown more right-wing and nakedly racist, with Netanyahu labeling the Arab political parties an “existential threat” in 2019 and subsequently choosing to partner with the Jewish supremacist party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) in the March 2021 elections.

His government passed a law defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people in 2018, implicitly defining Arabs as second-class citizens. The government has largely ignored festering problems in the Arab community, including longstanding discrimination and poverty, leading to the rise of Arab organized crime and a shocking spike in murders.

And Netanyahu’s decision to allow the continued Jewish colonization of the West Bank — territory meant to be part of a future, sovereign Palestinian state — has convinced large numbers of Arabs, many of whom identify as “Palestinian citizens of Israel,” that the state is incapable of seeing them as full and equal citizens.

“If I had to sum it up in one sentence: yes, Netanyahu is completely to blame,” said Yaël Mizrahi-Arnaud, a research fellow at the Forum for Regional Thinking, an Israeli think tank.

Source: Israel is experiencing its worst street violence since its founding – Vox

Navajo Nation president on Arizona’s new voting restrictions: An ‘assault’ on our rights | TheHill

Navajo Nation president on Arizona's new voting restrictions: An 'assault' on our rights Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said that Arizona’s new voting restrictions are an “assault” on the tribe’s voting rights. Nez’s comments come after Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) this month signed into law several GOP-led bills aimed at election reforms. Most notably was Senate Bill 1485, which reforms the state’s permanent early voting list into an active early voting list. People would be removed from the list after they don’t participate in two prior general election cycles. ADVERTISEMENT “This is an assault to the election process for people of color throughout this country,” Nez told The Associated Press. “Here in Arizona, it’s pushing back on the voters of tribal communities, and we came out in big numbers to vote our candidate of choice, which is President Biden.”

Source: Navajo Nation president on Arizona’s new voting restrictions: An ‘assault’ on our rights | TheHill

Racing the Sun

Michael Stephen Wills Photography

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Mexican Poppies bloomed in profusion throughout the Superstitions after the plentiful winter rains of 2008.

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The fourmile climb up the 2,000 foot eastern Superstition Wilderness bajada and escarpment consumed the morning and much of the afternoon. It was the 80 pound backpack that did it. Ten days of supplies, tent, equipment and 3.5 gallons (28 pounds) of water; enough food for a trek across the Superstition Wilderness, water enough for two days. One day in, one day out if thewater could not be replenished. Mine was a water commitment, enough water storage to allow two days to trekking to another source.

Two Bar Mountain
Two Bar Mountain from Tule Canyon trail with corral made from mesquite trunks and barbed wire. Yucca and prickly pear in foreground.

Here the canyon rim view from atop the escarpment…..

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Here I found the huge mountain lion track in the dry…

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Then They Came For Me

A must read – now!

Filosofa's Word

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.


You’ve all heard and read this poem, written by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller, more than a few times.  Niemöller penned this in 1946, at the end of WWII, the end of the Holocaust that took more than 6 million lives.  It is engraved on a plaque at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts, and is known worldwide.  The poem speaks volumes and should serve as a warning to people all around…

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Nakba Day: Free Palestinian Ebooks, Magazines, More Recommended Reading

ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY

There are at least two digital Nakba Day events today; one with poet Najwan Darwish and another the kickoff events for Palestine Art Week:

Also to mark Nakba Day, which commemorates Palestinians’ ongoing, 73-year resistance to expulsion from their homes and lands, Saqi Books is offering 20 Palestinian e-books from their back catalog free to interested readers.

They write: “These Saqi titlesare essential to the study and celebration of Palestinian history and culture. Thesememoirs, literary collections, novelsand histories arewritten by Palestinians, as well as by experts in their respective fields.”

The available books include Mahmoud Darwish’s A River Dies of Thirst,translated by Catherine Cobham; the wide-ranging anthology A Map of Absence, ed. Atef Alshaer; Sayed Kashua’s bitterly funny Native; Raba’i al-Madhoun’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted A Lady from Tel Aviv, tr. Elliott Colla; Christiane Dabdoub Nasser’s Classic Palestinian Cuisine; and more.

They also quote…

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Vacation series: episode#7: Chole bhature, North Indian favourite!

LITTLE CHEF’S APRON

Welcome to Little chefs apron! Today we will make a classic Indian street food dish that I tried on Mother’s Day. It came out amazing and I found it easy to make. It requires ingredients that every Indian household has and the process is also quite simple

At first I used to think that making this is only possible in restaurants but when I tried it, I understood that anyone with the ingredients can make this recipe.

As my mom loves this dish, I decided to make this on Mother’s Day. Starting off with the recipe,

Ingredients for bhatura:

2 Cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoon semolina flour

2 tablespoon wholewheat flour

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt as per taste

Half teaspoon baking powder

Half cup curd

2 tablespoon oil

Water as needed

Oil to fry

Directions:

• First add all-purpose flour, semolina, wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder to a bowl…

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Amerika von oben

Google translation of second paragraph: “A few years ago, when my girlfriend visited Buenos Aires for the last time, I was able to make my dream come true and fly to Patagonia with my husband. The airport had now been built and the regional airlines were competing on low prices. Fortunately, the really impressive glacier world still existed.” good story and wonderful photographs.

Senioren um die Welt

Vor vielen Jahren zeigte mir meine Freundin in Buenos Aires einen Bildband mit wunderschönen Fotos von der Gletscherwelt im Süden Argentiniens. Sie riet mir, so bald wie möglich dorthin zu fahren, da die Gletscher wahrscheinlich durch die zunehmende Klimaerwärmung bald abschmelzen würden. Damals gab es dort noch nicht den regionalen Flughafen, eine Fahrt über Land mit dem Bus wäre sehr langwierig und zeitaufwändig gewesen, deshalb gab ich den Plan auf, in den Süden zu fahren.


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Marking Nakba, Living Nakba 73 years later — Nadia Issam Harhash

Today marks the 73 years of Nakba.  73 years since the beginning of the Palestinian unceasing expulsion, displacement, killing and ethnic cleansing systematically unrelentingly applied.  Today is another day of reflecting on the reality of living under occupation for 73 years to Palestinians. Palestinians who today expose the oneness of their identity, their destiny. For…

Marking Nakba, Living Nakba 73 years later — Nadia Issam Harhash