Tarek Fahmy: Cultural Critic

There was once a dream. I hope ‘we’ don’t let ‘them’ kill it; if it’s not already dead!

EVENT HELD @: Congregation Ansche Chesed
Co-sponsored by Congregation Ansche Chesed and J Street NYC

I found out about the New Israel Fund (NIF) via an old college friend,
(Hillit Zwick, Associate Director - NIF).

I am on their mailing list and I have been getting invitations to interesting events that promote communication and understanding. I like their overall peaceful message that stresses coexistence with the ‘Other‘. Off-course, the ‘Other‘ is the archetypal other tribe, other ethnicity, other color, other religion, the other person that is not like me.

On their website’s About Page, the first paragraph reads:

The New Israel Fund (NIF) is the leading organization committed to democratic change within Israel. Since 1979, NIF has fought for social justice and equality for all Israelis.  We believe that Israel can live up to its founders’ vision of a state that ensures complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, without regard to religion, race or gender.

I like that message a lot and I truly hope that it’s for real and not just empty rhetoric. Whether the above applies to non-Israelis & non-Jews as well is an entirely different issue that I will not address here. I still love the fact that this organization is progressive and supports a two state solution.

I also understand that inside Israel there is a class system and a social hierarchy amongst Jews that needs to be addressed as much as the Palestinian question.  You see, there are a number of ethnic divisions amongst Israeli Jews. Some of these ethnicities are:

• Ashkenazi Jews: Eastern Europe, Hungary, Russia, Lithuania, Belarus (European Jews)
• Sephardi Jews: The Iberian peninsula Jews (Spaniards, Moroccans, Portuguese, Turks)
• Romaniotes Jews: Greeks
• Yemenite Jews: Separate from Ashkenazi & Sephardi
• African Jews: Amongst the African Jews there are many subsets and divisions.
• Chinese Jews: Kaifeng Jews is a prime example and an old example as well.
• Mizrahi Jews: Middle Eastern Jews. Similar to Sephardic but not exactly.
• Bene Ephraim & Cochin Jews & Bnei Menashe
  & Bene Israel & Baghdadi Jews & : Indian Jews
  (The above is taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions)

There are many sects, subsets, and permutations of the jewish peoples living today in Israel. Within these ethnic divisions there exists this tribal mentality of Us Vs. Them and a social class hierarchy that cannot be ignored. I believe that the NIF’s main message is to work on these seeming inequalities, within the Israeli society, and not only the Palestinian issue.

Next time you hear the words Israeli Jew ask yourself which ethnicity are they referring to. Israel is such a complicated country occupied by a melting pot of different ethnicities situated in an even more complicated area of competing religions. No wonder, I feel, that we will probably never see peace in Palestine any time soon.

This Thursday July 1st at Congregation Ansche Chesed Mr. Avraham Burg will hold a talk about Israeli politics and a potential two state solution.

If you are in the New York area RSVP here. I will be there!!

Below are screen shots of the event’s invitation page taken from the NIF website.

These are my favorite books:

Here we go again. On the day marking the death of Husayn Ibn Ali (Ashura) the Iranian opposition is protesting in the streets and paying with their lives as a result!

Very disturbing footage @ 4:10

After a long hiatus, I am back. I’ve been blogging elsewhere and I will start to devote some attention to my own blog. See-ya around!

I am Back