Some thoughts and reflections on Israel in Gardens, by an anti-Zionist, former Israeli,Jew

"Inside, the Zionists organizers (in my opinion) were trying desperately to win over or to convince bay area liberals (and maybe themselves as well) that Israel is some kind of a diversity heaven."

Well, it kind of is, especially when compared to the neighborhood. Did you happen to notice the B'chol Lashon table- "in every tongue"- it celebrated black Jews, Asian Jews, diverse Jews?


"To push this point even deeper, Idan Riachel, a musician who makes music with Ethiopian Jews was invited to perform. C.D.’s of Riachel were given away in which Riachel is talking about going back to Jewish roots through these Ethiopian Jews."


What an awesome performer. He played last year to a huge crowd at Stern Grove- many people were turned away because the place was packed- thats why he was invited back.


"It was never mentioned that a lot Ethiopian Jews were denied entrance into Israel because of their religion (the Flashmora) was not deemed acceptable by Israeli authorities, "

There are 120,000 Ethiopian Jews in Israel. There are more waiting to come- but Israel doesn't have the money or infrastructure to absorb them yet. Lots of fundraising going on

"or that blood donation from Ethiopian Jews was not accepted by Israeli hospitals, out of prejudice."

No, sweetheart- because of AIDS. The American Red Cross won't accept blood donations from anyone who lived in Sub Saharan Africa either. It can take 6 months before HIV status registers on a blood test- with up to 1/3 of Sub Saharan African affected by the AIDS virus, its not worth the risk. You already knew that, though.

" I started by walking through the entrance where heavy security was present. The security had nothing to do with a terrorist threat,"

Nothing to do with the fact that Hizbollah cells we just activated in the US and Canada? Nothing to do with the fact that Nasrallah has said every Jew anywhere is a legitimate target?
Have you ever noticed that at any Jewish gathering (including holiday observance) there is a security presence? Its just that way, and its very sad. There have been more hate crimes against Jews in America, then any other religion. Did you notice the bomb sniffing dog there?


" People who looked even slightly like activists (long hair, earrings, tattoos) were denied entrance, some of them Jews. “diversity” in Zionist terms means only the diversity that is stripped of its real meaning."

Um. I have long hair. I have a facial tattoos- kinda hard to hide that one. And multiple piercings. People often cross the street to avoid me. I had no trouble getting in, nor did any of my friends

The lead article is rather judgemental. Please don't judge people by their appearence

oops forgot this

Dear Morgan,

Thank for relating to my article, I would prefer it if you can comment on the whole of it, as well.

Israel is not a diversity heaven. Large proportion of the poor are composed of Mizrahim. The jails too, are disproportionably filed with Mizrahim. There are other ways too, in which Mizrahim are oppressed, and we can get into that if you want. And again, all of this exists in a climate of extreme racism against the Palestinians.

Idan Rachel is an amazing singer; there is no debate about that. I’m trying, however, to look at the political line that Richel is promoting. Richel belongs to a movement that is very popular among the relatively young in Israel. Spirituality, going back to our roots, eastern mysticism, love, drugs. The question for me, however, is all of this has anything to do with reality. How can we talk about love when Israel oppresses people on a daily basis? How can young Israelis, after completing their military service, a lot of them in the occupied territories, go to India to learn “the ways of the east” to become more “spiritual”? their are some more things to research about this movement, but my personal opinion is that all those Israelis either don’t see anything wrong with occupying and committing horrible acts against the Palestinian, or try run away from the criminal acts that they performed in their military service.

The Falashmora (and other relatives of Ethiopian Jews) are denied entrance because of their style of religion, which is deemed not Judaist enough. This is unlike how the Russian Jews are treated, some of them only with distant Jewish relative if at all, still they were allowed to emigrate. And still that does not justify un-allowing Palestinians who lived in Palestine for generations to immigrate into Israel.

Ethiopian Jews were denied blood donations long after they emigrate and want through blood tests.

People were denied entrance based on how they looked, I saw people who were denied entrance because they were working fro KPFA. The security was a joke, since the same people manage to come in through other entrances where no security existed. Again, the security had more to do with not allowing activist, or anyone who looked like an activist. I talked to one personal who was trying to promote vegan life style. He had a long hair; he said that the security kept asking him what was he doing. While we were talking security kept walking close to us trying to listen to our conversation.

I think you might be holding yourself (and Israel) to a different standard than you hold the rest of the world to. I think that is probably typical of Jews, but to me, it is almost elitist, almost arrogant You imply "We should know better". Why?


Israel is a young country that needs to work out a lot of kinks. America is a much older country that needs to work out a lot of kinks. We still haven't solved our racial problems- we've been working on them almost 300 years. Why do you expect Israel to have solved these problems in only a few years?


Israel is diverse. Not as diverse as some, but a lot more diverse than, oh lets say
Saudi Arabia 100% Muslim
Afghanistan 99% Muslim
Somalia Nearly 99.8% Muslim
Maldives 99.9% Muslim
Western Sahara 99.8% Muslim
Turkey 68,963,953 97% Muslim

Maybe if you looked at the situation through different eyes, you'd see a different answer.

I found it sad that you have chosen not to comment on any of the issue that I wrote about in my article.

Now, let me address the one point that you choose to comment on.
I think that the racism that exists in Israel is fundamental to how Israel was established and managed. That does not justify any other country that has racist policies. I would oppose any other regime that discriminates against minorities. Which is why I have always supported liberation movements in the countries that you mentioned, or opposed the military support provided to these regimes, by either the U.S. government or the government of Israel.

Take care,
Miko

"still a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest"

Paul Simon

I think you went into the festival with an idea of how you wanted to judge it, and you shot photos that supported your idea.

Any thing militaristic about this photo?
I think it says "tehiyah". That means "renewal".

Most of this festival was non-profits - schools, camps.... you need to open your eyes and open your heart to diversity, because you don't recognize it when you see it.

Tehiya means revival, it also means the rising back to life (from being dead), as in the “tehiyat hametim” the coming to life of the dead when the Messiah comes at the end time (I’m not that religious).
I feel that I went in to sense some of the culture that I grew up in, other than the food and listening to and talking Hebrew, I felt that I could not relate to anything. I think that our differences have to do with ideology, more then eyes. Now, since I’m not relativists, I would argue that the things that I pointed out are wrong, and should be wrong for anyone.

If you feel that I was wrong and that you had a great time, I respect that, but I disagree with your Ideology that allows to either not notice the pictures and the political line that stream from them, or to accept them as normal.
Take care,
Miko

Thanks for this photo essay. I like the way you take the Israeli propaganda and sort of rip off the cover by getting into its own internal contradictions as well as your own personal experience in Israel. I notice some of the people who have posted in response don't want to deal with the issues that you raise the dispossession of the Palestinian people, the racist nature of the Israeli government bot in terms of Palestinians but also of non-European Jews, and the attempt to equate Jewish religious traditions with the policies of the State of Israel. I wish people who support Israel would look at the historical and political questions that you raise and rethink their position.

I welcome the opportunity for dialog, but i suspect indybay does not want to be used as a chat room.

I think our differences aren't so much ideology as outlook. Glass half empty, glass half full- that sort of thing. I see the Ethiopians Jews getting sanctuary in Israel as really cool- when was the last time in history Africans were welcomed as brothers instead of slaves? No- they aren't all out yet- maybe next year we should have a table at this event and try and raise money to get the rest of them out?

Instead of expecting every thing to be perfect, I accept Israel as a work in progress- you seem to be more demanding.

I'm sure we'd both agree that a stateless world is best- that the nation state is an inherently flawed idea. But as nation states go, i think Israel is one of the better ones- look at Burma/Myanmar- the junta in charge was willing to let 100,000 people die rather than accept foreign aid. I look at Israel's overall record on individual human rights- their record on LGBT rights for example and they are better than most of the world. Certainly better than America.

I actually found the diversity inside the event very refreshing. All ages, all colors, all languages.
And yes, many many activist types- including some at the booths.

I don't know what you want me to say about your article and photos. I think you went in angry and looked for things to reinforce that anger. I went in and saw them release doves. I went in and saw them selling peace now t shirts. You went in and saw violence. I went in and saw a striving for peace.

I guess its like the blind men and the elephant, eh?

My friend, the story of the elephant and the blind men refers to not only the question of subjective truth, but also to how much can we know about the universe, how much can we know about reality.
When it comes to art, for example, I cannot say what good art is. We each have our own subjective preference when it comes to, let’s say, music or movies. On the other hand, when it comes to the social sciences, we do have ways in which to investigate reality and determine what is good and what is bad. Oppression against Black people exists and needs to stop not because this is what I believe in my subjective reality to be true. It’s exists and can be proven in many objectives ways. One does not need to grow up in Oakland to understand that this oppression exists, nor does one need to be Black to fight against it. What’s wrong is wrong, and what’s right is right, independently of the agent who produces the theory. We would not have the ability to help people through sciences such as Psychology and Sociology if they were only subjective theories.

I do not want things to be perfected, on the other hand I will not accept oppression that I think flows out of how the state of Israel structured (which is why a two state solution will never work). The nation state is problematic, but more then that to claim that somehow a nation is define by someone’s oppression and religion, is even more problematic. That would equal to saying that a Muslim in Indonesia belongs to same nation of a Muslim in Egypt, or that women because of the oppression that they experience belong to same nation.

I think that I made my point about the treatments of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. It has nothing to do with resources, in my opinion, but I welcome your invitation to come to the next year celebration (are their any progressive synagogues that you can recommend me?).
I would like to suggest this, I would take into my heart your point of view, and you on the other hand, will think and investigate the things that I wrote about in my article.
Take care,
lehitraot,
Miko

How are Chassidim treated in the U.S.? If one is a fully Torah observant Jew, that maintains traditional appearance, the U.S. is a somewhat different place. People stare, children point, it assumed that English isn't understood, educaion for our children is expensive and problematic, appropriately accommodative employment and housing is hard to find and so on. Its why so many Jews emmigrate. But still and with all that, Chassidim are certainly NOT treated like second class citizens in the U.S. and neither are the Ethiopians in Israel. Sometimes adjustments take a awhile. The Emancipation Proclamation was in 1865. We're still dealing with racial issues, so give Israel some time and peace to develop.

The article above is not some kind of a manifestation to how America is a diversity that provides equal opportunity and how Israel is not.

I do not understand the logic of two wrongs make it right, or let just time take care of things. I outlined a lot of things that I think shows discrimination towards Ethiopian Jews.
Here is a question for starter, who has the authority to determine who is “Jewish” and who is not when it comes to Emigration into Israel? Who has the authority to say this or that brand of Judaism is not real Judaism while others are? And more then that, why does this need to involve the right to emigrant into Israel in the first place?

Furthermore, if this the attitude of must Israelis in regard to oppression towards people of color in Israel, why not come and say that? why invest hundred of thousands of dollars in an event that tries to portray Israel as perfect place?

In the above comments I see again and again a motive that comes up in the comments of Zionists, as if what I had to say about discrimination towards Misrahim was not true, that would make Israel a real democracy. What about the extreme oppression towards Palestinians who live inside Israel? What about the extreme oppression towards other non-Jewish groups in Israel?

And the most important question, what about all the issues that I raised in my article?

I did not understand why would you choose to call your comment Paraaha Korech (you mean Parashat, not Parasha). It’s sad and insulting that you would, while relating to only one point of my article, compare me to a traitor who should be killed by G-d. But I think that this crystallizes the attitude of Zionists towards anyone who dares to challenge their program. Ignore or spin the criticism, while dehumanizing the opponent. I forgive you; I don’t think that you know better. If you did, you would actually try to respond to the ideas that I outlined.

Take care,
Miko