Huffington Israel

April 10, 2008 - 4:45 PM by

Raymond Leon Roker, Los Angeles based publisher of URB Magazine , describes himself as the son of a “lapsed Jewish mother”. Accordingly, curiosity and cultural ties drove him to visit Israel. Roker blogged it on The Huffington Post under the sticky heading: “Broken Promise Land: What I Saw in Israel”.

A share:

The media would have you convinced that Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are free-fire zones, where rock-throwing kids are de rigueur and suicide belts are bought in corner stores like soda. The images I had as an American were that every inch of the nation was under constant siege. Anybody who’s lived there or visited will tell you otherwise. Despite the consistent and morbid televised reporting, Israel is a community where you best assume that you know very little and let the people inform you. On my week-long trip, I found beautiful, smiling Palestinian kids, and welcoming ultra-orthodox Jews. From my Arab cabbie I rode with on the way to the airport, to the 60-year-old Turkish-Israeli fisherman who had visited, of all places, Tarzana, California — I found people eager to share their vision of the country and its ongoing attempts at grace. Throughout my trip, I met Israeli civil and human rights organizers, who, against the predominant conservative slant of the country, push forward progressive and social agendas aimed at uplifting and protecting the rights of Arab citizens. This isn’t the side of society that makes for good media coverage and most Israelis are probably unaware of this burgeoning social justice ecosystem. Israelis don’t speak from one playbook — many held more progressive views than I expected to hear given the daily and all-too-realities of living in that part of the world.

Head to Roker’s column for the rest. There’s controversy but we’re used to that, aren’t we?

Tags: • Category: Blogging, History and Culture, Politics 

Comments

3 Comments on Huffington Israel

  1. David-Joe on Fri, Apr 11th 2008 4:55 AM

    2. Huffington is one of the most despicable people and her blog is one of the most anti-American, overtly Jew-hating and Israel-hating on the web.

    As the American left, liberal sector of politics has become anti-Israel, they are celebratd.

    They are also extremely pro Obama, and it still amazes me, that given the solid the right wing support for Israel in America, around 75% of Jews STILL vote Democrat.

    As an Israeli, living in America, I am solidly supportive of the Republicans and especially Prez. Bush. He has been a good ally of Israel generally and it will be a disgrace if the American Jews show their consideration and gratitude to the conservatives, by voting for the leftist Democrats in November.

    How any Jew will vote for Clinton, and especially Obama, will be a disgrace.

  2. Darlene Roker on Mon, Apr 14th 2008 6:47 PM

    3. Here’s my response: I am Jewish, I am a career educator (retired, now working PT), and I abhor what the Republicans do to public education in this country. NO election or politician is a one-song playbook. We each have our priorities, and a top one of mine is good public education available to all.

  3. Peter Burman on Tue, Jan 5th 2010 8:56 PM

    4. Your post seems to blame non-progressive Israelis for the problems of Arabs in and around Israel. That’s a misunderstanding of history. It is 100 years of Arab refusal to recognize the rights of Jews to live in the area and 60 plus years of rejecting Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state that has caused the situation we see today. It was Arab racism and terrorism that came first, and prompted Israel to have to defend itself in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, 2000, 2006 and 2008. “Progressive” Jews in Israel are the problem, not the solution. What is needed are “progressive” Arabs who will stand up to Hamas and Fatah and recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and stop trying to kill all the Jews.

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