Israel’s best hope lies in a single state

In East Jerusalem, vigilantes prowl, hunting for Jewish girls who consort with Arab men. 

BY SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK

https://www.newstatesman.com/middle-east/2011/03/jewish-girls-israel-arab-state

In Israel, there is a growing number of initiatives - from official bodies and rabbis to private organisations and groups of local residents - to prevent interracial dating and marriage. In East Jerusalem, vigilante-style patrols work to stop Arab men from mixing with local Jewish girls. Two years ago, the city of Petah Tikva created a hotline that parents and friends can use to inform on Jewish women who mix with Arab men; the women are then treated as pathological cases and sent to a psychologist.

In 2008, the southern city of Kiryat Gat launched a programme in its schools to warn Jewish girls about the dangers of dating local Bedouin men. The girls were shown a video called Sleeping With the Enemy, which describes mixed couples as an "unnatural phenomenon". Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu once told a local newspaper that the "seducing" of Jewish girls is “another form of war" and a religious organisation called Yad L'Achim conducts military-style rescues of women from "hostile" Arab villages, in co-ordination with the police and army. In 2009, a government-backed television advertising campaign, later withdrawn, urged Israeli Jews to report relatives abroad who were in danger of marrying non-Jews.

It is no wonder that, according to a poll from 2007, more than half of all Israeli Jews believe that intermarriage should be equated with "national treason". Adding a note of ridicule late last year, Rabbi Ari Shvat, an expert on Jewish law, allowed for an exception: Jewish women are permitted to sleep with Arabs if it is in order to gather information about anti-Israel activity - but it is more appropriate to use unmarried women for this purpose.

The first thing that strikes one here is the gender asymmetry. The guardians of Jewish purity are bothered that Jewish girls are being seduced by Palestinian men. The head of Kiryat Gat's welfare unit said: "The girls, in their innocence, go with the exploitative Arab." What makes these campaigns so depressing is that they are flourishing at a time of relative calm, at least in the West Bank. Any party interested in peace should welcome the socialising of Palestinian and Jewish youth, as it would ease tensions and contribute to a shared daily life.

Until recently, Israel was often hit by terror attacks and liberal, peace-loving Jews repeated the mantra that, while they recognised the injustice of the occupation of the West Bank, the other side had to stop the bombings before proper negotiations could begin. Now that the attacks have fallen greatly in number, the main form that terror takes is continuous, low-level pressure on the West Bank (water poisonings, crop burnings and arson attacks on mosques). Shall we conclude that, though violence doesn't work, renouncing it works even less well?

If there is a lesson to be learned from the protracted negotiations, it is that the greatest obstacle to peace is what is offered as the realistic solution - the creation of two separate states. Although neither side wants it (Israel would probably prefer the areas of the West Bank that it is ready to cede to become a part of Jordan, while the Palestinians consider the land that has fallen to Israel since 1967 to be theirs), the establishment of two states is somehow accepted as the only feasible solution, a position backed up by the embarrassing leak of Palestinian negotiation documents in January.

What both sides exclude as an impossible dream is the simplest and most obvious solution: a binational secular state, comprising all of Israel plus the occupied territories and Gaza. Many will dismiss this as a utopian dream, disqualified by the history of hatred and violence. But far from being a utopia, the binational state is already a reality: Israel and the West Bank are one state. The entire territory is under the de facto control of one sovereign power - Israel - and divided by internal borders. So let's abolish the apartheid that exists and transform this land into a secular, democratic state.

Losing faith

None of this implies sympathy for terrorist acts. Rather, it provides the only ground from which one can condemn terrorism without hypocrisy. I am more than aware of the immense suffering to which Jews have been exposed for thousands of years. What is saddening is that many Israelis seem to be doing all they can to transform the unique Jewish nation into just another nation.

A century ago, the writer G K Chesterton identified the fundamental paradox facing critics of religion: "Men who begin to fight the Church for the sake of freedom and humanity end by flinging away freedom and humanity if only they may fight the Church . . . The secularists have not wrecked divine things but the secularists have wrecked secular things, if that is any comfort to them." Does the same not hold for the advocates of religion? How many defenders of religion started by attacking contemporary secular culture and ended up forsaking any meaningful religious experience?

Similarly, many liberal warriors are so eager to fight anti-democratic fundamentalism that they will throw away freedom and democracy if only they may fight terror. Some love human dignity so much that they are ready to legalise torture - the ultimate degradation of human dignity - to defend it. As for the Israeli defenders of Jewish purity: they want to protect it so much that they are ready to forsake the very core of Jewish identity.

"Let two become one"—Slavoj Zizek argues for a one-state solution for Israel and Palestine

https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/404-let-two-become-one-slavoj-zizek-argues-for-a-one-state-solution-for-israel-and-palestine

Slavoj Žižek argues in the New Statesman for a binational state in Israel & Palestine - the "simplest and most obvious solution" to the conflict. 

Highlighting some disturbing instances of racism (and sexism) in Israeli society (such as the 2007 poll that showed that over half of Israeli Jews believe intermarriage is akin to "national treason"), Žižek makes the key point that: 

What makes these campaigns so depressing is that they are flourishing at a time of relative calm, at least in the West Bank. Any party interested in peace should welcome the socialising of Palestinian and Jewish youth.

He goes on to say: 

Until recently, Israel was often hit by terror attacks and liberal, peace-loving Jews repeated the mantra that, while they recognised the injustice of the occupation of the West Bank, the other side had to stop the bombings before proper negotiations could begin. Now that the attacks have fallen greatly in number, the main form that terror takes is continuous, low-level pressure on the West Bank (water poisonings, crop burnings and arson attacks on mosques). Shall we conclude that, though violence doesn't work, renouncing it works even less well?...

None of this implies sympathy for terrorist acts. Rather it provides the only ground from which one can com. 

Visit the New Statesman to read the full article. 

For a critical overview of the Israeli 'peace camp' liberals and their European supporters, see Yitzhak Laor's The Myths of Liberal Zionism.

WHO WILL WIN THE DEMOCRATIC TUG OF WAR?

July 31, 2018

Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning upset in a congressional primary electionagainst one of the most powerful Democrats in the U.S. House has inspired discussion and debate about how this campaign fits into the project of advancing the socialist left. SocialistWorker.org is hosting a dialogue in our Readers’ Views column. This installment has a contribution from Chris Beck.

https://socialistworker.org/2018/07/31/who-will-win-the-democratic-tug-of-war

The Balance of Power Inside the Democratic Party

Christopher Zimmerly-Beck | 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in a Democratic congressional primary is an exciting development for socialists and the working class as a whole.

As a member of the International Socialist Organization, I hope the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), to which Ocasio-Cortez belongs, continues to grow and win in the electoral arena. The successes of Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign and DSA’s electoral strategy are raising important questions about elections and how the socialist left can and should relate to the Democratic Party during a period when socialism is once again “in the air.”

Echoing what others have already said, I thank everyone who has contributed to this debate, many of whom are far more experienced and knowledgeable than I am. Open debates like this are of vital importance in our current political moment.

I believe Hadas Thier’s contribution to this debate (“New Conditions Give Rise to New Opportunities”) is correct to assert, “Rather than seeking to shield our members or collaborators from contradictions, we should work alongside them, and attempt to explain and to learn along the way.”

My disagreement with Thier is not in suggesting we grapple with contradictions shoulder to shoulder with our comrades in and out of the ISO, but that she overestimates, in my opinion, the impact specific contradictions are having on the Democratic Party and our side’s ability to take advantage of those contradictions.

As we think about whether to use the Democratic Party’s ballot line, the role that the Democratic Party has historically played as the “graveyard for social movements” should loom large.

Thier argues that while the Democratic Party intends to take people away from activism and co-opt social movements, we can’t assume that the party will always accomplish its aim or that “every person who runs on their line has that intention.”

But the intentions of an individual, even an individual propelled into office by a growing polarization and radicalization, are small potatoes when compared with the amount of capital and material leverage behind the Democratic Party officialdom.

This isn’t a hypothetical situation. In practice, we’ve already witnessed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez retreat on the question of solidarity with Palestine. She has come out in support of a two-state solution and apologized for using the term “occupation.”

This retreat on a central question before having even taken office highlights the kind of pressures that will face victorious socialist candidates who find themselves with a D by their names.

Lastly, I disagree with Thier’s assertion that it is contradictory to “think the election of a candidate [running on a Democratic Party ballot line] represents a step forward for our side, but not one which we will support.”

Our experience in the ISO relating to people excited by the politics that Bernie Sanders expressed during his presidential primary campaign demonstrates that we can effectively contribute to movement building and build our organization without accepting the concessions that come with endorsing candidates inside a capitalist party.

Or to put it another way: Our practice has demonstrated that we can embrace the victory of a candidate like Ocasio-Cortez as a step forward, while not throwing our support behind her running in the Democratic Party.

After Trump’s Tax Bill, CEOs Rake In Millions in ‘Eye-Popping’ Stock Payouts, Politico Reports

Ilana Novick

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/after-trumps-tax-bill-ceos-rake-in-millions-in-eye-popping-stock-payouts-politico-reports/

During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump bragged that if he became president, “everybody is getting a tax cut, especially the middle class,” referring to his proposed 35 percent tax cut. President Trump’s actual tax bill, however, was vastly different from what candidate Trump mentioned in his campaign speeches. Seven months after the GOP tax bill went into effect, a Politico analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission data reveals that instead of enriching middle-class Americans, “Some of the biggest winners from President Donald Trump’s new tax law are corporate executives.”

These executives, Politico explains, “reaped gains as their companies buy back a record amount of stock, a practice that rewards shareholders by boosting the value of existing shares.” In addition to their salaries, many corporate CEOs and other high-ranking executives receive compensation in stock. Since the tax bill, which cut corporate tax rates to 21 percent, was passed on Dec. 22, 2017, these executives, according to Politico, “have been profiting handsomely by selling shares.”

Politico reports that “Wall Street analysts expect buyback activity to accelerate in the coming weeks.”

“It is going to be a parade of eye-popping numbers,” Pat McGurn, the head of strategic research and analysis at Institutional Shareholder Services, a shareholder advisory firm, told Politico.

All this is in sharp contrast to Trump’s promises of a tax cut that would benefit the middle class. What’s more, reports of already wealthy executives getting even richer off stock sales following the tax cut could, Politico observes, “undercut the political messaging value of the tax cuts in the Republican campaign to maintain control of Congress in the midterm elections.”

Democratic congressional candidates could easily create campaign ads highlighting how Oracle Corp. CEO Safra Catz sold $250 million worth of Oracle shares, the most shares sold by any executive. Or they could mention Mastercard’s Ajay Banga, who sold $44.4 million worth of stock one day in May, which, according to Politico, is “the largest single cash-out by an executive of the company in at least 10 years, months after the company announced a $4 billion buyback of its own stock.”

Politico found similar stock sales by executives from cigarette maker Altria, Eastman Chemical, biopharmaceutical company AbbVie, and TJX Companies (the parent company of TJ Maxx).

This practice of insider sales, Politico says, “feed[s] the narrative that corporate tax cuts enrich executives in the short term while yielding less clear long-term benefits for workers and the broader economy.”

Politico found that following the passage of the tax cuts:

Roughly 28 percent of companies in the S&P 500 mentioned plans to return some of their tax savings to shareholders, according to Morgan Stanley. Public companies announced more than $600 billion in buybacks in the first half of this year—already toppling the previous annual record.

Critics are also concerned about the connection between buybacks and insider sales. SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson, a Democrat, said that the link is clear. Politico reports: “He [Jackson] studied 385 buybacks since the beginning of 2017 and found that after half of them, at least one executive sold shares within the next month.”

Companies told Politico that critics were falsely looking for connections where there were none, defended the legality of the buybacks, or declined to comment.

Voters may not care about the intricacies of securities law, buybacks or insider sales. They might, however, care that the CEOs of major corporations are getting wealthier—as their own paychecks decline.

Bernie Sanders Thanks Koch Brothers for 'Accidentally Making the Case for Medicare for All'

"I suspect that that is not what the Koch brothers intended to do, but that is what's in the study of the Mercatus Center."

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/31/bernie-sanders-thanks-koch-brothers-accidentally-making-case-medicare-all

After a study by the Koch Brothers-funded Mercatus Center that was clearly designedas a deceptive attack on Medicare for All inadvertently bolstered the economic case for single-payer—which is rapidly growing in popularity among the public and U.S. lawmakers—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday released a video thanking Charles and David Koch for backing an analysis showing that his plan for universal coverage would save $2 trillion over ten years.

"Let me thank the Koch brothers, of all people, for sponsoring a study that shows that Medicare for All would save the American people $2 trillion dollars," Sanders said. "I suspect that that is not what the Koch brothers intended to do, but that is what's in the study of the Mercatus Center."

"At a time when the United States spends far more per capita on healthcare than any other country on Earth, almost 18 percent of our GDP, a Medicare for All healthcare system would save the average family significant sums of money," the Vermont senator added.

Watch:

Speaking to The Intercept on Monday, health policy experts and co-founders of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler argued that even the "whopping" $2 trillion in savings projected by the Koch-backed study vastly overstates the costs of implementing Medicare for All and "grossly" understates the savings that would result.

"The Mercatus Center's estimate of the cost of implementing Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All Act projects outlandish increases in the utilization of medical care, ignores vast savings under single-payer reform, and fails to even mention the extensive and well-documented evidence on single-payer systems in other nations—which all spend far less per person on health care than we do," Himmelstein and Woolhandler said. 

According to an analysis by David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler viewed by The Intercept's Ryan Grim and Zaid Jilani, the Mercatus Center's "report undercounts administrative savings by more than $8.3 trillion over 10 years. Taking those savings into account would lower Blahous's estimate from $32.6 trillion to $24.3 trillion."

Socialism on the Rise as Americans Seek Out Bold, Humane Alternatives to the Brutality of Trump and Capitalism

"Socialism is no longer a dirty word in the U.S."

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/31/socialism-rise-americans-seek-out-bold-humane-alternatives-brutality-trump-and

The thousands of democratic socialists in the United States who have been organizing and fighting for justice in political obscurity for years likely never thought their ideas would be the subject of heated debates on prominent talk-shows like "The View" or feature pieces in such establishment mainstays as PBS and NPR.

But—driven in large part by the persistent popularity of Bernie Sanders' brand of politics and the recent landslide victory of self-described democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York's congressional primary—the past several weeks have seen a torrent of news headlines, television segments, and hot takes on democratic socialism's rapid emergence into everyday political discourse, an indication that ideas previously defined as "fringe" by corporate media outlets, pundits, and politicians are quickly going mainstream.

"Democratic Socialism Surging in the Age of Trump," reads a representative headline from the Associated Press. "Is socialism having its moment in U.S. elections?" asked the title of a recent PBS "NewsHour" segment.

Even the New York Post, a right-wing tabloid, grudgingly admitted, "Like it or not, America is now seriously debating socialism."

Here are a few other headlines that have appeared in major publications over the past few weeks:

"Socialism is no longer a dirty word in the U.S," noted the Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi in a recent column highlighting the massive surge of interest in socialism over the past several months, which has translated into a record-breaking membership spike for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Previously hovering below ten thousand members, DSA's membership exploded past 20,000 in the months following Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential elections. Now, just over a month after Ocasio-Cortez trounced corporate Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley, DSA boasts more than 47,000 dues-paying members.

It should perhaps come as no surprise that Americans—and millennials in particular—are seeking a bold and humane alternative to capitalism, a system that has produced staggering and ever-growing levels of inequality, rampant poverty, an existential environmental crisis, and, of course, soaring wealth for the few at the very top.

As New York City DSA member Neal Meyer explained in a recent piece for Jacobin, democratic socialists want to build an alternative future where—in contrast to the current economic landscape defined by financial insecurity for most—"everyone has a right to food, healthcare, a good home, an enriching education, and a union job that pays well."

"We want to guarantee all of this while stopping climate change and building an economy that's ecologically sustainable," Meyer added. "We want to build a world without war, where people in other countries are free from the fear of U.S. military intervention and economic exploitation. And we want to end mass incarceration and police brutality, gender violence, intolerance towards queer people, job and housing discrimination, deportations, and all other forms of oppression."

If the victory of Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) status as far-and-away the most popular politician in the U.S. are any evidence, such an ambitious vision has widespread appeal. As The Nation's John Nichols noted in a piece pointing to socialism's "winning streak," democratic socialists have also won primary victories in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, providing further evidence that Americans aren't scared of the S-word.

"A political revolution is coming, and establishment politicians can get on board or be swept away," Tascha Van Auken, co-chair of DSA's national election committee, told Nichols.

The fact that so much of the American public finds the ideas pushed by democratic socialists like Sanders has sent the right's chief propaganda machine, Fox News, into "panic mode" as they struggle mightily to explain why free healthcare and education are actually bad.

Most often, the result has been free advertising for progressive policies:

Right-wing fury and fear-mongering seems to have done little to stem the rising socialist tide.

As New York Magazine's Eric Levitz noted over the weekend, "one month after voters in the South Bronx put 'democratic socialism' in the headlines, real America has registered its outrage at the Democrats' hard-left turn—by giving the party a larger lead in the generic congressional ballot."

From a column last week, The Ringer's Justin Charity adds that "socialists have proved more excited, coordinated, and immediately productive than any other Democratic coalition of the past decade."

"In the short term—which is to say, the midterms—the great excitement about left-wing politics will likely prove indispensable to the Democratic Party's efforts to recapture the House, if not also the Senate, and to mount a more resilient bulwark against Trumpism in Congress," Charity concludes. "In the long term, socialism may recalibrate the Democratic Party and the U.S. political equilibrium altogether. "

Ahed Tamimi's Bravery Exposes Israeli, US Cowardice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLhvPB4lyc4dSdoGRgPtkTcKFwvLgC9NKC&time_continue=3&v=iBBGfiKyE2M