Breaking news from the only democracy in the Middle East...
100,000 Israeli demonstrators demand right to segregate European from Middle Eastern Jewish students
Thu, 2010-06-17 11:23
#1
100,000 Israeli demonstrators demand right to segregate European from Middle Eastern Jewish students
Thu, 2010-06-17 11:26
#2
In a state and society founded on ethnic/religious exclusion and dispossession, you reap what you sow:
[url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/100-000-haredi-demonstrators-protes... haredi demonstrators protest segregated education ruling[/url]
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protesters gathered in Jerusalem and in Bnei Brak on Thursday to support the right of Ashkenazi Hasidic parents to keep their children in classes segregated from their Sephardi peers. [...]The demonstrations were called after the High Court of Justice handed down a two-week jail sentence to parents in the settlement of Immanuel who refused a ruling requiring the Ashkenazi (European origin) and Sephardi (Middle Eastern origin) girls to study in the same classes.
Thu, 2010-06-17 13:18
#3
Chilling. I wish God had never told those people that they were his chosen ones. It appears to have gone straight to ther hatted heads.
Thu, 2010-06-17 13:51
#4
bagkitty
Unionist, can you clarify something for me please. The article says that it was a religious school, do you happen to know if it was under the control of a specific sect or other denominational construct? I think I am working with North American blinkers on, and would assume that a "religious school" would have a particular "bent" and the religious practices would have been uniform. (If you have the information and are the least inclined to go off on a tangent, would be fascinated to know what the particulars are of the "religious practices" that are so different.) Turning to you since you were the one who posted the article in the first place...
Thu, 2010-06-17 14:01
#5
remind
do ya think God really told them that?
lmaooooooooooo
Thu, 2010-06-17 14:08
#6
Yes bagkitty, these are religious schools, run by the "Haredim" - who are also called ultra-orthodox. But there is no global "religious" difference between Ashkenazim (European descent) and Mizrahim (Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, etc.). Within each group of Jews, there are wide ranges of religious observance and practice. Here, however, the segregation which the courts ruled to be unlawful was purely ethnic, although the Haredim try to cover it up by saying that they are different "cultures" and that the religious orientations are incompatible etc. etc. In other words, it's not like Catholics vs. Protestants.
Having said this, I don't want to overemphasize the racist bigotry of the Haredim. I meant what I said - the ethnocentrism upon which Israel is based, and the disenfranchisement of the Palestinian people, necessarily produces racist ugliness in every pore of the society. I totally agree with [url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/who-s-more-harmful-than-a-y... Levy[/url] on this score. The Haredim are a large but self-isolated easily identified group, whom other Israelis love to hate. But the far greater menace are the settlers - and they enjoy the protection of the entire state and military machine. Please read Levy's article to get a flavour of the situation which may help answer your question better and more fully than I can.
Thu, 2010-06-17 14:18
#7
*shakes head*
Kind of makes you wonder why they are even bothering to build that wall if they are busy stringing up chicken wire inside of it.
Thu, 2010-06-17 14:24
#8
bagkitty, in Israel there is a vast array of Jewish practice and belief and there are about just as many schools to cater to each community. Even within the "ultra-orthodox" camp, there are huge differences and different hasidic sects, will have their own schools. Within Judaism, there is a concept called "Minhagim" - which translates loosely as "customs" or "practices". The idea is that two different customs can be equally valid but you should follow the one that your family or group has traditionally followed. Among Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardi Jews there are different practices. I haven't found the differences that vast but I'm not coming from the POV of being highly observant an grasping all of the subtleties. Even when it comes to political parties in Israel, there are huge divides based on religious practice. There's a party of ultra orthodox hasidic Jews and another of non-Hasidic ultra Othrodox (both Ashekanzi) and then there's an ultra-orhtodox party of Sephardim. Policy-wise they're quite similar but they're under the authority of different rabbis. Among the highly observant, there's a strong sense of wanting to protect one's traditions and identities. And it can go both ways too. I'm an Ashkenazi of Polish and Lithuanian descent and can tell you that my wife's parents - Sephardic Jews from Iran -weren't all that pleased initially when she started dating someone outside of that background.
Thu, 2010-06-17 14:27
#9
writer
Kind of makes you wonder why they are even bothering to build that wall if they are busy stringing up chicken wire inside of it.
Why, we just have to look south of the border! One of the highest incarceration rates on the planet, and gated communities everywhere.
Thu, 2010-06-17 15:09
#10
bagkitty
Thanks Unionist (SSC too). Just spent an "interesting" 45 minutes skimming through the Judaism section of wikipedia... who knew the correct method of "laying on" tefillin could take so long to explain, and not arrive at the same conclusion from one entry to the next. I am still not certain it matches the Catholic dispute about the number of angels dancing on metal implements (cause that results in the same correct answer "all of them" - although never settles the question of whether or not that number is finite), but I recognize certain similarities. I am going to go away from this with the feeling that these are people who should be required to read Swift's little travel book over and over, and would probably miss the point every time. I will retreat into my description of myself as an equal opportunity atheist, and just shake my head is dismay.
Thu, 2010-06-17 15:19
#11
If I said it once, I've said it...well, twice now to be precise. People just didn't understand the timelines that I was operating under. When I mentioned a promised land someday, I was talking about the Catskills.
Thu, 2010-06-17 15:24
#12
bagkitty
G*D - still wondering how you got away with such a sloppy operator's manual. Seriously, are angels quintessence or pure thought? The parts department is no help, and mine wore out. I am having a devil of a time finding a replacement.
Thu, 2010-06-17 15:35
#13
Think of it as a punishment for thread drift.
Seriously though, if you're referring to quintessence in the classical sense, I can only tell you that you're mortal counterparts have moved physics on a wee bit since Aristotle. He even owns a Periodic Table of the Elements himself now. His of course is complete. Regarding pure thought, that's fortunately a myth. You really don't need to have pure thoughts to get to Heavan, so go wild and indulge youself, girl!
Like you aren't already. 
Thu, 2010-06-17 17:59
#14
GOD spelled "your" wrong! GOD spelled "your" wrong! GOD needs an editor! GOD needs an editor! Nyah Nyah!
Thu, 2010-06-17 18:03
#15
Many lolz. *happy clappies*
Thu, 2010-06-17 18:10
#16
Oh my god, I just realized that I'm the one who got it wrong!
Well, turn me into a pillar of salt.
Thu, 2010-06-17 18:18
#17
You really don't need to have pure thoughts to get to Heavan ...
GOD spelled Heaven wrong. No wonder so many lose their way there.
Or is that "they're weigh their"?
... you're mortal counterparts ...
You were write after all, Michelle.
Thu, 2010-06-17 18:19
#18
bagkitty
Some editor... Michelle, the first "you're" is employed correctly, the second instance should of been "your". As to the final sentence of the first paragraph, perhaps "youself" was supposed to be "yourself", or maybe G*D is using some slang I don't recognize. As for the "girl!", G*D is either being very campy, or has a severe case of gender confusion. What puzzles me is the third sentence: "His of course is complete." I think G*D should have gone with "His, of course, is complete." or even "Of course his is complete."
You were correct the first time, G*D needs an editor.
Thu, 2010-06-17 18:29
#19
writer
Midrash, for 10 points!
Thu, 2010-06-17 18:32
#20
Tori Amos was right:
Sometimes HE just DON'T come through.
(But who knew she was talking about HIS grammar skills?)
Thu, 2010-06-17 18:49
#21
Some editor... Michelle, the first "you're" is employed correctly, the second instance should [b]of[/b] been "your".
Ahem... "should [b]of[/b]"!?
As for the "girl!", G*D is either being very campy, or has a severe case of gender confusion.
So much for omniscience, eh?
Thu, 2010-06-17 19:00
#22
bagkitty
Hey, I'm a typesetter, not an editor! (And obviously not a proofreader either, or I would have caught the curious spelling of Heaven) - Don't call on me to do things outside of my job classification or I will be talking to my shop steward and a grievance is going to be coming your way.
Thu, 2010-06-17 19:05
#23
You really don't need to have pure thoughts to get to Heavan ...GOD spelled Heaven wrong. No wonder so many lose their way there.
Or is that "they're weigh their"?
... you're mortal counterparts ...You were write after all, Michelle.
Yew shall be wayed in the balence and found wanting...
Say, how could God have joined babble on Jun 18, 2002? Wouldn't God have created babble, or at least been omnisciently present all long?
Come to think of it, maybe God spelled Canaan wrong, and really promised Canada to the Hebrews.
Thu, 2010-06-17 19:07
#24
Say, how could God have joined babble on Jun 18, 2002? Wouldn't God have created babble, or at least been omnisciently present all long?
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten discussion board, that whomsoever posteth on it should not perish, but they shall have everlasting life in Google's cache. Amen.
Come to think of it, maybe God spelled Canaan wrong, and really promised Canada to the Hebrews.
So that's how my parents ended up here... a typo!
Thu, 2010-06-17 19:08
#25
bagkitty
GOD's a sock puppet.
Thu, 2010-06-17 20:09
#26
...er, of whom?
Thu, 2010-06-17 20:26
#27
Meh. Gods been drunk since Mary told him she was preggers.
Thu, 2010-06-17 20:29
#28
Cueball
I think that was Joseph, who prayed: "Oh God, she is pregnant!"
Thu, 2010-06-17 23:03
#29
Old joke, along the absurdist lines of this thread.
Lenin dies and is turned away at the Pearly Gates, sent down to the Other Place. Within a week, the Prince of Darkness is being driven mad by the job actions initiated by Lenin among Damned Souls and Devils alike. He calls up Heaven and persuades God to take Lenin off his hands, based on a series of favours God owes him (Lucifer). Another week goes by and Lucifer realizes he is now bored, missing the excitement of the strikes and protests and the challenges posed by Lenin. He calls up Heaven once again, to see how Lenin is doing up There.
"Hello. Is that God? Lucifer here."
"Let me make two things perfectly clear to you," answers the voice at the other end. "First of all, you will address me as Comrade God. Secondly, I don't exist."
(PS: Anyone know how long has this joke been around?)
Thu, 2010-06-17 23:08
#30
[url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/hunt-for-haredi-parents-evading-jai... for Haredi parents evading jail in segregated school row: Police seek warrants as 35 fathers of girls at an illegally segregated ultra-Orthodox school arrive at prison to begin two-week sentence - but mothers fail to show.[/url]
Fri, 2010-06-18 02:13
#31
Cueball
Old joke, along the absurdist lines of this thread.
Lenin dies and is turned away at the Pearly Gates, sent down to the Other Place. Within a week, the Prince of Darkness is being driven mad by the job actions initiated by Lenin among Damned Souls and Devils alike. He calls up Heaven and persuades God to take Lenin off his hands, based on a series of favours God owes him (Lucifer). Another week goes by and Lucifer realizes he is now bored, missing the excitement of the strikes and protests and the challenges posed by Lenin. He calls up Heaven once again, to see how Lenin is doing up There.
"Hello. Is that God? Lucifer here."
"Let me make two things perfectly clear to you," answers the voice at the other end. "First of all, you will address me as Comrade God. Secondly, I don't exist."
(PS: Anyone know how long has this joke been around?)
Fri, 2010-06-18 02:44
#32
HOLY GHOST (WRITER?)!GOD spelled "your" wrong! GOD spelled "your" wrong! GOD needs an editor! GOD needs an editor! Nyah Nyah!
Fri, 2010-06-18 03:04
#33
I guess Zionism really is racism. Here's some more stats and polls
"75% of Israeli Jews oppose living with Arabs in the same building, 55% of Israeli Jews do not belive Arabs can reach the same level of cultural development as Jews, 57% of Israelis think that human rights organizations that expose immoral conduct by Israel should not be allowed to operate freely, 55% of Israeli Jews think Arab Israelis should be encouraged to emigrate..At present and counting a full 8% (462,000) of Israeli Jews are settlers in the Occupied Territories for whose protection comfort and sustenance - over 40% of the area has been confiscated by Israel. Meanwhile a conservative 5 million Palestinians versus 5.6 million purebred Israeli Jews live in Historical Palestine. Do the math..."
http://thinkingfits.blogspot.com/2010/06/collapse-of-israels-old-narrati...
The Collapse of Israel's Old Narrative: When the Chicken Came Home to Roost
Fri, 2010-06-18 13:35
#34
Was chatting about this with my (Sephardi) brother in law and, apparently, Rabbi Ovedia Yoesef, who most Sephardim consider the leading rabbi in Israel, actually came out in favour of this segregation as well.
Fri, 2010-06-18 14:06
#35
It's always handy when the hatred is mutual. Then the white racial arrogance is easier to excuse.