All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Binyamin Netanyahu’s nationality bill is at odds with the Hebrew Bible

It’s politics, racism, and xenophobia, not religious belief driving them!

 

Deuteronomy 10:19 goes as follows: “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” Its not a one-off passage. Again and again precisely this formula of expression is used to encourage identification with people who find themselves living in someone else’s country and culture. And this sense of solidarity is such that the Bible insists that both Jews and non-Jews are to be subject to the same laws, the latter having the same legal protections as the former. The Book of Numbers has it thus: “The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord. The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.”

This passage clearly demonstrates that the latest move by the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is a direct contradiction of the Hebrew Bible, both in word and in spirit. For the new nationality bill that he and others are currently fighting to get through the Knesset is designed to deny national rights to non-Jewish Israeli citizens. In its supporters’ minds it is supposed to be all about expressing the Jewish nature of Israel, that this is a state whose lifeblood is Judaism. And as its detractors have pointed out, this sets Israel’s Jewish character above its democratic character, defying the founding principles of Israel as expressed in the declaration of independence in 1948. This is bad enough, but what makes the move utterly absurd is that it flies in the face of the very religion that it is designed to protect.

via Binyamin Netanyahu’s nationality bill is at odds with the Hebrew Bible.

Israel FM supports paying Arabs to leave – Middle East – Al Jazeera English

Foot in mouth award is his and so is jerk of the year!

 

Israel’s foreign minister says he supports paying Arab citizens to leave the country.

Israel’s foreign minister says he supports paying Arab citizens to leave the country.

In a manifesto of his right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, Avigdor Lieberman said he favoured ceding Arab majority areas in northern Israel to a future Palestinian state and providing economic incentives for Arab-Israelis – about 20 percent of Israel’s population – to encourage them to emigrate.

The manifesto, published on Friday, did not set out positions on the most difficult issues in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, including the status of Jerusalem and Israel’s borders.

But it does acknowledge the necessity of territorial compromise in reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians, and also with moderate Arab countries.

Once a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lieberman is now seen as harbouring prime ministerial ambitions himself.

His offer to pay Israeli Arabs to leave comes as Netanyahu pushes forward with a contentious parliamentary bill to formalise Israel’s status as a Jewish state – a measure that many Arab-Israelis say will institutionalise their status as second class citizens.

The bill, which Netanyahu says is necessary to safeguard Israel’s future, is opposed by a wide range of Israeli political figures, including the largely ceremonial president, but is strongly supported by right wing members of his ruling coalition, including Lieberman.

via Israel FM supports paying Arabs to leave – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Petchary's Blog

I am sharing below a blog post from one of my favorite Jamaican tweeters. I edited it slightly as I was unable to re-blog it properly (I wish everyone was on WordPress!) @MizDurie responds to a remark by a leading local politician that those who comment on social media are irrelevant. Why? Because they are a) a minority  b) articulate and c) politically motivated. Our political leader prefers to work with the inarticulate majority of “ordinary Jamaicans” that shout at political meetings and vote blindly, without thinking about the issues. THEY are politically motivated of course – for the correct political party.

I joined three other tweeters on local radio this morning to discuss this with broadcast journalist Cliff Hughes. We agreed that we are not about to shut up, any time soon. We noted the inter-connectedness of social media, the rapidly increasing participation of more and more Jamaicans (everyone has…

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Muhammad, Jesus and Moses (peace be upon all of them) are three men who preached a common message. “WORSHIP ONE TRUE ALLAH ” !

YA BAKİ ENTEL BAKİ

semras,Quran

semras-world1

Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.

The Noble Qur’an ~ Surat An-Nisa’ [4:36]

Say, “We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him.

The Noble Qur’an ~ Surat ‘Ali `Imran [3:84]

semras-world1

Ve Allah’a ibâdet edin, hem O’na hiçbir şeyi ortak koşmayın; sonra ana-babaya, akrabâya, yetimlere, yoksullara, yakın komşuya, uzak komşuya, yakın arkadaşa, yolda kalmışa ve ellerinizin altında bulunan (kölelere ve…

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A Peaceful Protest Today – Please Spread the Word

Petchary's Blog

Here’s a message (from a woman I have had the honor of working with in women’s leadership training with WMW Jamaica) shared widely on social media, regarding a peaceful protest this afternoon in Kingston. My apologies for posting it so late. As my last blog post noted, let’s stand  up and be counted!

Friends Jamaicans. I’ve listened to enough to know its a pretty bleak future if changes are not made about how we make decisions about Jamaica’s resources. Its time that we earned a bit of self-respect as a people. No fight, no quarrel. I am inviting all of us who think this country is of worth and value to join me and other like-minded Jamaicans TOMORROW 4:00-5:30pm at the corner of Knutsford Blvd and Oxford Road to let our leaders know that the Board of the NHT needs to be dissolved and proper governance structures be put…

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