Balagan

E15 - I am not seeking for REVENGE, we need to REBUILD - With Avi Dabush

As time goes by, the numbers are still growing - So far, more than 1,400 people have died in the horrific Hamas massacre in Israel, and more than 200 people are still being held hostage under Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Almost 200 people are still considered missing (Neither dead nor hijacked. Status unknown).

Avi Dabush is a social activist and the CEO of Rabbis for Human Rights. He was also living in Kibbutz Nirim, one of the 11 Kibbutzim built as part of the 11 Points project to settle the area bordering Gaza / Egypt (1948 border).

On the Black Sabbath, Avi was seiged with his family in the shelter for 8 hours; his Kibbutz lost 5 community members who Hamas terrorists murdered.  

Hear his story - that is the story of the survivors. If you wish to help the Kibbutzim Nirim and Nir Oz who were attacked and suffered heavy losses in lives (Nir Oz lost more than 100 people out of a community of 400 people in total!) and property, here are a few links to donate and also a campaign to free our hijacked civilians with Posters you can download and hang - 

Nirim - https://my.israelgives.org/he/fundme/Nirim

Nir Oz - https://my.israelgives.org/he/fundme/kibbutzniroz

Kidnapped from Israel Campaign - https://www.kidnappedfromisrael.com/languages

The Black Sabbath - October 7th 2023

On Saturday, October 7th, At 6:29, simultaneously with an attack of hundreds of missiles fired at Israel and under the IDF radar, more than 1,500 armed Hamas terrorists breached the wall between Gaza and Israel. In a well-planned attack, they raided 11 IDF outposts and bases and more than 20 Israeli civilian settlements - The city of Sderot, Kibbutzim, and Moshavim, all in the Gaza envelope (A description of the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, which is located up to approximately 6.5 miles / 10 kilometers from the border). They were well armed, crossing the wall with well-weaponized vans and motorcycles by land, motorboats by sea, paraglides, and drones by air. What Happened? A special episode of BALAGN. To join the campaign to release the hostages -

https://www.kidnappedfromisrael.com/

To see Nas Daily videos -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNW2p0nTEto&ab_channel=NasDaily

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw9bfddQzxw&ab_channel=NasDaily

 

E13 - Reclaiming Zionism with Major general Yair Golan

Former MK Major General Yair Golan served the state of Israel and its people most of his life. His Military career ended after 38 years, and he jumped into politics from there. Golan was perceived as controversial. As Deputy Chief of Staff, Golan made a speech on Holocaust Day in 2016 in which he drew a parallel between Europe in general and Germany in particular in the 1930s and current-day Israel by saying, "If there is one thing that is scary in remembering the Holocaust, it is noticing horrific processes which developed in Europe – particularly in Germany – 70, 80, and 90 years ago, and finding remnants of that here (in Israel) among us in the year 2016." Since then, he was marked by the Right-wing extremists and their allies in Israel. Listen to what he has to say.

#YairGolan #Democracy #ElorAzaria #Netanyahu

Episode 12 - Let’s talk about Jewish Fundamentalism with Dr. Tomer Persico

Episode 9 - Israel is captivated by Fundamentalist Jews with Dr. Tomer Persico

 

The Judicial Overhaul in Israel is led by four different groups of interest - Netanyahu, who is invested in stopping his trials; Likkud members, who seek Power and control; the Haredim, who care about being exempt from military service and continuing their control over the Rabbinical institutions, and the Extremist Nationalists from "Religious Zionism," Jewish Power and Noam - A group of  Messianic Orthodox. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Betzalel Smotrich, Simcha Rotman, and Avi Maoz all represent different approaches to Jewish Supremacy that are nurtured from the same origins. To Discuss Jewish fundamentalism, I am glad to have Dr. Tomer Persico, a Research Fellow at the Hartman Institute, a religious and secularism researcher and thinker. He is the author of Jewish Meditation and In God’s Image - the idea of individualism, freedom, and equality.

 

To read his last post at Sources “A Natural Act of Vengeance”: Settler Violence and Two Types of Jewish Fundamentalism

To read more of Dr. Persico’s thoughts - tomerpersicoenglish.wordpress.com/

#Israel #Extremists #JewishSupremacy #IsraeliDemocracy

Episode 11 - World Jewry need to step up in support of Israeli Democracy with Yossi Klein Halevi

On this episode, I spoke to Yossi Klein Halevi, an American Israeli, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem author, and a known Zionist speaker. In our conversation, we discussed his history, coming from supporting Meir Kahana and the Jewish Defence League(JDL) in the US to being one of the biggest opposers to Kahana and his ideology, which recently was legitimized by PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.

We also discussed the shifting relations between Israel, Israelis, and American Jewry, and finished with a powerful massage to All Israel lovers in the world - Stand up in support of the Pro-Israeli protest movement to keep Israel a vital Jewish and Democratic state.

BTW - Yossi wrote a book about his memoirs as an Extremist. You can read more about it here - 

https://www.yossikleinhalevi.com/

#YossiKleinHalevi #Zionism #Israel #IsraelDemocracy #Kahana #Netanyahu

Episode 10 - 30 years to the Oslo Accords with Gidi Grinstein

On September 13th, 1993, a ray of light shined. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Negotiator Mahmoud Abbas signed a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, commonly called the “Oslo Accord,” at the White House. Israel accepted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace. Both sides agreed that a Palestinian Authority (PA) would be established and assume governing responsibilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five-year period. Then, permanent status talks on the issues of borders, refugees, and Jerusalem would be held. While President Bill Clinton’s administration played a limited role in bringing the Oslo Accord into being, it would invest vast amounts of time and resources to help Israel and the Palestinians implement the agreement. However, by the time Clinton left office, the peace process had run aground, and a new round of Israeli-Palestinian violence had begun.

Along with Gidi Grinstein, Co-Author of (In)Sight: Peacemaking in the Oslo Process Thirty Years and Counting, I discussed the importance of the Oslo Accords and their ongoing impact on today's relationship with Israel's neighbors and the impact on American Jewry.

You can find Gidi's book on AMAZON.

#Peace #Oslo30 #OsloAccords #Israel #Diplomacy #(In)Sight  #Peacemaking #Israel

Episode 9 - Defenders of Israeli Democracy from abroad with Offir Gutelzon

One of the phenomena of the Judicial coup in Israel is the great awakening of Israelis who live abroad and until recently did not set foot in a Jewish setting or were involved in Political activity are now protesting in their thousands. All around the world, groups of concerned Israelis are rallying in city centers and trying to raise awareness of what is happening in Israel.

I had the pleasure of hosting my dear friend Offir Gutelzon, founder of UnXeptable, a grassroots movement, to speak about the growing involvement of Israelis abroad and why it is important that Diaspora Jews join the rallies and have their voice heard.

Between September 18-22, the UN General Assembly will convene in New York City, and the protestors are waiting for PM Netanyahu with many surprises.

 If you are interested in reading more about the protest movement and what you can do, please check the following links - 

UnXeptable - https://www.unxeptable.org/

Donate to Unxeptable - https://www.americaisraeldemocracy.org/unxeptable

UnXeptable Link. tree - https://linktr.ee/unxeptable

Usa4IsraeliDemocracy - https://www.usa4israelidemocracy.org/

 

#IsraeliDemocracy #Israel #Democracy #Netanyahu

This is what the Pro-Democracy camp need to do with Rachel Azaria

The different groups collaborating in the backlash against the Judicial Overhaul seem to have different leaders, pulling in different directions. While some say it should focus on the Judicial Overhaul only, other groups target some of Israel’s deeper issues - The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the tension between Ultra-Orthodox society and the Settlers. Is this the way to stop the judicial overhaul? To discuss how to gain the most out of the protest movement, I am glad to host Rachel Azaria, former MK of the Kulanu Party, and author of “Guided Revolution” (In Hebrew, it sounds better - המדריכה למהפיכה).

The Judicial Overhaul is ruining Israel’s locomotive with Inbal Orpaz

One of the strongest engines of the protests against the Judicial Overhaul is Israel’s economic engine -  The High-Tech industry. that its leaders joined forces against what they see as a threat to the state of Israel as the Start-Up Nation with a thriving economy needs a strong democratic foundation. On the other hand, some parts of the high-tech industry actually help populist leaders strengthen their control over massaging, tracking opposition and bypassing the conservative media channels with no filters.

One of the loudest voices in the Israeli High-Tech scene calling her friends to go out to the streets is here with us - 

Inbal Orpaz is a strategic consultant in the fields of innovation and start-ups, the Founder of the "#WomanInTech" initiative to promote women in high-tech, and a visiting researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)

 

#WomenInTech #Israel #JudicialOverhaul #Democracy

It’s all about Money, Power and Respect with Eran Etzion

Money, Power, and Respect - That is the Philosophy in a nutshell.

Under cover of the demand to improve the ability of Governance, the coalition members narrowed civil rights. They cut budgets for minorities and not-for-profit organizations while over-budgeting the Ultra-Orthodox and the Religious Zionism projects. The Likkud, which used to be the Liberal Party, is now the Populist Party, which appoints point persons only based on their loyalty to Netanyahu or being good friends with Likkud Politicians. 

To discuss the looting of the nation's resources, I am glad to have Eran Etzion, former Deputy head of the National Security Council and former Head of the Policy Planning Division at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and current protestor against the Judicial Upheaval again.

 

#Israel #IsraeliDemocracy #JudicialOverhaul