Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links
Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.
Shabbat shalom.
Posts Tagged‘Israel’
Words of the Week, III
More excerpts from noteworthy news items.
Jodi Rudoren, “Civilian or Not? New Fight in Tallying the Dead From the Gaza Conflict” (The New York Times):
“[T]he difference between roughly half the dead being combatants, in the Israeli version, or barely 10 percent, to use the most stark numbers on the other side, is wide enough to change the characterization of the conflict.”
and
“The Times analysis, looking at 1,431 names, shows that the population most likely to be militants, men ages 20 to 29, is also the most overrepresented in the death toll: They are 9 percent of Gaza’s 1.7 million residents, but 34 percent of those killed whose ages were provided. At the same time, women and children under 15, the least likely to be legitimate targets, were the most underrepresented, making up 71 percent of the population and 33 percent of the known-age casualties.” (more…)
Words of the Week, II
Another collection of noteworthy words:
Shimon Ohayon, “No Jews = No Outrage” (The Times of Israel):
“The feigned outrage on the streets of Europe is a peculiar cocktail of hypocrisy, ignorance and above all, hate.”
Noa Tishby, “Artists Without Borders. Or Facts.” (Jewish Journal):
“So if you prefer acting or partying to fact-checking that’s fine, but please just stick to that. With power (and millions of Twitter followers) comes at least some responsibility.”
Jeffrey Goldberg, “What Would Hamas Do If It Could Do Whatever It Wanted?” (The Atlantic):
“People wonder why Israelis have such a visceral reaction to Hamas. The answer is easy. Israel is a small country, and most of its citizens know someone who was murdered by Hamas in its extended suicide-bombing campaigns; and most people also understand that if Hamas had its way, it would kill them as well.” (more…)
Words of the Week, VI
For those waking up: soon after ceasefire, Hamas executed surprise attack on Israeli troops involving a suicide bomber & kidnapped a soldier
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) August 1, 2014
Letter from #Israel to the #UN on Hamas's violation of humanitarian cease-fire & kidnapping of Hadar Goldin pic.twitter.com/sLJ8Jr15fV
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) August 1, 2014
If you think you know how to conduct war more humanely than the IDF, suggest something specific. Otherwise you are simply vilifying Israel.
— Marc Leibowitz (@Marc_Leibowitz) August 1, 2014
From Amos Oz, quoted in an interview with Deutsche Welle:
“I have been a man of compromise all my life. But even a man of compromise cannot approach Hamas and say: ‘Maybe we meet halfway and Israel only exists on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.'”
From Uriel Heilman, “The Images Missing from the Gaza War,” on JTA.org:
“Either reporters and editors are uninterested in telling the side of the story that shows what Hamas is doing in Gaza or they’re unable. Let’s consider that latter possibility.”
And on a related note: “Forty Questions for the International Media in Gaza”
Words of the Week, V
More current-events items culled from the news (& the blogosphere).
From Terrence McCoy, “Why Hamas Stores Its Weapons Inside Hospitals, Mosques, and Schools,” in The Washington Post:
“During one short-lived lull in rocket fire, The Washington Post’s William Booth saw a ‘group of men’ at a mosque in northern Gaza. They said they had returned to clean up glass from shattered windows. ‘But they could be seen moving small rockets into the mosque,’ Booth wrote. He also reported that Shifa Hospital in Gaza City had ‘become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices.
Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Casey tweeted an image of a Hamas spokesman giving an interview at a Gaza hospital. With the shelling, ‘You have to wonder … how patients at Shifa hospital feel as Hamas uses it as a safe place to see media.’ The tweet was later deleted.” (more…)