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NOVANEWS I hadn't planned on writing another post on Passover until I came across the halachic (Jewish religious law) doctrine of milchemet reshut. A 2002 essay on the web site of a Reform synagogue in Sudbury, MA helpfully explains: "[Milchemet reshut is] an optional war" and "one the king may fight with other nations in order to expand the boundaries of Israel and add to his greatness and reputation." Jacob Chinitz, a Masorti (Conservative) rabbi, calls milchemet reshut a "discretionary war" and "a war of aggression". Chinitz says: "The Torah permits such a war to expand the borders of Eretz Yisrael, to capture captives, or because the King of Israel decides [that] a war is good for the country and for God." It is the latter aspect of the doctrine--the idea of going to war for "greatness...

NOVANEWS Moshe Machover was one of the founders of Matzpen, the Israeli socialist anti-Zionist group. A talk that expands on the themes briefly surveyed in this talk is available here. Looking at Zionist irredentism and American materiel and political support for it from the perspective of Marxist political economy makes episodic spasms like the "peace process" is currently undergoing basically meaningless. Aware that the settlement project is braided into both the economy and the culture of Israel and Zionism, and aware that the US and Israel reciprocally benefit from aspects of the Special Relationship, how can we expect the latest spat to widen into a fissure? We can't. Zionism has its own internal dynamic that the US is made aware of every time Netanyahu and Obama/Clinton/Bush huddle i...

NOVANEWS Following the recent arrest in the West Bank of an Australian activist, Israeli blogger Noam Sheizaf comments on the ominous, largely ignored, ramifications: Two international activists, Ariadna Jove Marti (Spain) and Bridgette Chappell (Australia), who are living in Bir Zeit in the West Bank (it’s near Ramallah, and well within the Palestinian Autonomy), were arrested by the IDF last month. The two were about to be expelled from Israel, and as it happens in most cases, they appealed against the decision to the Israel Supreme Court. As Chaim Levinson reports in Haaretz, while trying to defend the arrests and deportation, the state argued before the court that the two activists “…belong to the International Solidarity Movement, an organization “that supports an ideology that is ant...

NOVANEWS Good lord. Here’s Republican Senator Lindsey Graham speaking at AIPAC with his vision for the Middle East (war against Iran, killing Persians and loving Israel). Don’t tell me that Zionism hasn’t deformed public debate in America (via Mother Jones): Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) laid it on thick at AIPAC’s annual gala banquet on Monday. Referring to the pro-Israel lobby, Graham declared, “The Congress has your back.” (What other lobby would he say that to?) He declared that Israel is “our best friend in the world.” (Does that tick off Canadians?) But Graham went especially far when he endorsed the idea of a military strike against Iran. The former Navy judge advocate told the thousands of AIPACers that when it comes to dealing with Iran and the possibility it will develop nuclea...

NOVANEWS Roll up Jewish settlers, come and lay your tired head on a Palestinian grave A Zionist vision: The leader of Israeli settlers’ council has said the regime plans to triple Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank despite international pressures to halt settlement expansions on Palestinian lands. “It’s totally viable to envisage a million Jews living in Judea and Samaria,” said Naftali Bennett on Tuesday. Bennett criticized the Tel Aviv regime for enforcing a temporary halt to construction in the West Bank, claiming, “We’re doing everything in our power to unfreeze the freeze.”

NOVANEWS Occupy another people for decades, get rewarded by the “progressive” EU: Diplomats representing the European Union (EU) have drawn up a new plan for strengthening their relations with Israel despite the expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Spain, the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, is eager that work proceeds on formally upgrading the Union’s political and commercial ties with Israel over the next few months.

NOVANEWS When a serious academic from Sydney University – Ben Saul, co-Director of the Sydney Centre for International Law – writes a piece like this, it’s significant. A respected liberal who simply can’t remain silent any more: Britain’s expulsion of an Israeli diplomat is a lesson for Australia to stop handling Israel with kid gloves. Israel has made clear that it does not respond to gentle persuasion or constructive criticism from its friends, nor does it listen to the quiet language of international law. Israel is willing to abuse the trust of its friends by defrauding their passports, assassinating people on foreign territory, and approving new settlements on Palestinian land on the eve of peace talks. Strangely, Australian politicians from both major parties have often fallen over t...

NOVANEWS Sean Ellman, 37, who runs a chain of drug accessories stores has been found selling 'legal high' mephadrone, known as meow meow. The drug has been linked to six deaths. He is the son of Zionist Labour Mp Chair of labour friends of 'Israel' Zionist Labour MP Louise Ellman's son Sean has been found selling mephadrone UK MP Zionist Louise Ellman’s son Sean sold the controversial “legal high” mephedrone – known as “meow meow” – in his chain of drug accessory stores. Mr Ellman is said to have sold the drug to a Sun journalist at his shop “Dr Herman’s Salsa Shop” in Warrington, Cheshire. Mr Ellman has other stores in Chester, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. Four different variants of the drug were available in the shop. The drug is legally sold as plant food but is illegal for human co...

NOVANEWS by Henry Norr It’s been almost two weeks since I wrote to National Public Radio’s senior Washington editor, Ron Elving, and to the network’s ombudsman, Alicia Shepard, to ask why Elving used an Israeli formulation – "disputed" area – to characterize East Jerusalem, instead of calling it "occupied," the term used by the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and virtually every other international body. So far, neither has replied. While I wait, I’ve spent some time looking a little more deeply into NPR’s coverage of East Jerusalem since Israel’s announcement of plans to build 1,600 new housing units there put the area in the spotlight. The network posts transcripts of all its stories, interviews, and talk shows on the Middle East (and nowadays mos...

NOVANEWS by Scott McConnell An important recent poll by John Zogby on American opinion and I/P was rolled out yesterday at the New America Foundation. The striking finding was the partisan divide. Democrats have negative views of Netanyahu and the settlements, and are increasingly lukewarm on Israel. 63 percent of Dems agreed with the statement “Israeli settlements are built on land confiscated from Palestinians and should be torn down and the land returned to Palestinian owners.” Meanwhile 62 percent of GOPers concurred that “The settlements are necessary for the security of Israel and Israel citizens have the right to build on land on the Palestinian West Bank.” There are many wrinkles on this, but one conclusion is that the issue may become a hot button bone of contention between the pa...