Tag Archives: Israel

A Question of Identity (ctd)

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Andrew Stuttaford

More on this story (from the Guardian): Proposals to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the Israeli army, ending an exemption that has lasted for 64 years, are bitterly dividing prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition government ahead of a crucial debate on … Continue reading →

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A Question of Identity

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Andrew Stuttaford

I’m no fan of conscription, to put it mildly, but, if a state is going to insist on it, it should do so fairly.That does not appear to be the case in Israel, where the ability of the ultra-orthodox to … Continue reading →

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Spitting on Children

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Andrew Stuttaford

More grotesque religious fanaticism in the Middle East. AP reports: (AP) BEIT SHEMESH, Israel – A shy 8-year-old schoolgirl has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel’s latest religious war. Naama Margolese is a ponytailed, bespectacled second-grader who … Continue reading →

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Glimpses of Future Disaster

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Demographic projections always have to be treated with a great deal of care, but this (from a piece in the National Interest) still makes disturbing reading: A recent report compiled by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics makes some projections looking … Continue reading →

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Tanya Rosenblit

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Via the New Zealand Herald: She had no intention of emulating Rosa Parks when she set out to find a bus to Jerusalem on Friday but by yesterday Tanya Rosenblit had become a defiant symbol around whom a majority of … Continue reading →

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Choosing

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Via The Tablet, an interesting story from Israel: According to the Israeli government, there are roughly 5,800,000 religious Jews in Israel, 1,320,000 Muslims, 150,000 Christians, 130,000 Druze, and exactly one secular Jew. His name is Yoram Kaniuk—and if a new … Continue reading →

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The Rise of Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox (Again)

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Gershom Gorenberg writes in Slate: Rather than being a diorama of traditional Jewish life in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust, as many Israelis and visitors believe, Israel’s present-day version of ultra-Orthodoxy is a creation of the Jewish state. Policies with … Continue reading →

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Perry & Israel (2)

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Here’s Slate’s Will Saletan on Rick Perry’s curious comment that “as a Christian” he had a “clear directive to support Israel”. Whoa. That’s something George W. Bush never did. Bush never said he had a Christian duty to stand with … Continue reading →

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Perry & Israel

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

These comments by Rick Perry are attracting a certain amount of attention: QUESTION: To what extent do you view America protecting Israeli as a theological priority? PERRY: Well obviously Israel is our oldest and most stable democratic ally in the … Continue reading →

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Against a Bookshop

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

To say that there are huge differences between the three great middle-eastern monotheisms is, of course, an understatement, but it’s interesting to see how their extremists, at least, can sometimes resemble each other. The Guardian reports: A bookshop in a … Continue reading →

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