Some of the programs I have watched and articles I have read have stunned me at the way that the Israelis live with little awareness of the Palestinians that they oppress. I have seen programs where Palestinian youth have reached out to the Israelis who don't seem to have the time or will to continue a relationship.
I am a little surprised about these protests that the Israelis are having about the cost of Cottage Cheese. Now it is more about housing and cost of living. When I heard it was about housing - I sighed and said that they ought to do what the Palestinians are doing - living 2 to 3 or more families in one house. Netanyahu keeps talking about natural growth in the settlements and such but what about the Palestinians? They are not allowed to build houses next to one another much less get more land to expand for natural growth. Israel is having such a hard time financially and that is with them receiving 3 or 4 BILLION dollars from the US. every single year! What are they doing with all of that money? They are not suppose to use it on settlements and there are other restrictions on it not being used against the Palestinians.
Mr. BASKIN, whom I follow on Twitter, writes very insightful articles and below is information he shares about these protests.
I am a little surprised about these protests that the Israelis are having about the cost of Cottage Cheese. Now it is more about housing and cost of living. When I heard it was about housing - I sighed and said that they ought to do what the Palestinians are doing - living 2 to 3 or more families in one house. Netanyahu keeps talking about natural growth in the settlements and such but what about the Palestinians? They are not allowed to build houses next to one another much less get more land to expand for natural growth. Israel is having such a hard time financially and that is with them receiving 3 or 4 BILLION dollars from the US. every single year! What are they doing with all of that money? They are not suppose to use it on settlements and there are other restrictions on it not being used against the Palestinians.
Mr. BASKIN, whom I follow on Twitter, writes very insightful articles and below is information he shares about these protests.
I remember a conversation I had with an Israeli Jew some 33 years ago, when I told him I was going to live in the Palestinian- Israeli village of Kafr Qara and do volunteer community work for two years. He asked why I would want to do that. I said: “I think there are a lot of things worth learning about our Arab neighbors,” to which he responded: “what could we possibly learn from them?” “There is nothing the Arabs can teach us!” he asserted.Read the full article: Encountering Peace: I should be a... JPost - Opinion - Columnists
As some of the speakers said on Saturday night, this is not about Left and Right, religious and secular, etc. etc. But, unfortunately, it really is. Israel will not meet its full potential until Jews and Arabs are equal here, and until Israel no longer rules over millions of Palestinians who reject that rule.
I was slightly encouraged when Aviv Geffen sang his most famous protest song “Until it is” with the words “let’s conquer the peace and not the territories,” and the crowd in Jerusalem cheered and applauded. Social justice will only be achieved when we achieve peace.
08/01/2011 The writer, GERSHON BASKIN, is founder and co-director of IPCRI, the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information. He hosts a weekly radio show in Hebrew on All for Peace radio, and is a voluntary columnist for The Jerusalem Post.
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