Hello and welcome to the third issue of the Verb – a fortnightly digest of news and views from around the world. We’ve already had requests in for our special student comment feature – if you’ve got something to say, please do be in touch.
Your comments are welcome at the bottom of this page, you can also @reply to our Twitter account TheVerbUJS and comment on the UJS’ Facebook group.
In this week’s issue:
Middle East
British film director Mike Leigh has decided to cancel his planned visit to Israel, following the policies of the Israeli government over the past few months. In a strongly-worded letter to the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, Leigh argues that the loyalty oath was the ‘last straw’ in a chain of events that include the ‘ongoing criminal blockade of Gaza’ and the flotilla attack in May. In response, Renen Schorr, director and founder of the film school has written back to challenge Leigh’s decision, arguing that an academic-cultural boycott of Israel is counterintuitive and unproductive as it does nothing for the cause it seeks to promote and in fact weakens Israel public concern in Israel for the plight of the Palestinians.
In the last issue of the Verb we reported on an article by Peter Beinart which showed that American Jews are becoming disenchanted with Israel because of unqualified support for the State. However, as reported in Ha’aretz, a new survey by Brandeis University's Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies has shown that this may not be accurate. According to the new study, 63 percent of respondents felt "very much" or "somewhat" connected to Israel. Elsewhere in Ha’aretz though, Ofri Ilani outlines why Beinart’s article had such a profound effect on American Jewry. If you’re keen, the full Brandeis report can be found here. By means of comparison, the Jewish Policy Research in the UK produced its own study last July.
The Verb asks: What are the factors that promote or hinder Jewish students’ connection with Israel?
Religious affairs
UJS part time shaliach and guest blogger on the Verb, Yoav Heller, outlines the controversy in Israel over proposals from Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s foreign minister and the leader of the political party Yisrael Beiteinu for a new loyalty oath. Shlomo Sand, the controversial Tel Aviv University professor, argues that the oath is the result of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s insecurity over his Jewish identity. Only 56 out of the 120 members of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) have said they support the bill requiring Jews and non-Jews to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
The Verb asks: Is this nothing but a storm in a teacup over an issue that was actually proposed in 2009 with limited media coverage or a symptom of an underlying fracture in Israeli society that is growing ever wider? Could this split the coalition government enough that it would collapse?
During the festival of Succot, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that the barriers erected to segregate men and women on the streets of the Ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem suburb of Mea She’arim were unacceptable.
Jews in the news
The hilarious Jon Stewart from Comedy Central’s Daily Show is planning a Rally to Restore Sanity. Fed up with city protests being dominated by angry people who shout a lot, Stewart is organising a Rally in Washington on October 23 for busy people who don’t have time to spend all day protesting and need to be back in time for tea. Stewart will be joined by fellow Comedy Central stalwart, Stephen Colbert who will be countering Stewart with his own rally designed to Keep Fear Alive.
Rabbi Shifren from California is over in the UK to support a rally outside the Israeli Embassy in London led by the English Defence League. Rabbi Shifren is the self-styled ‘Surfing Rabbi’ who is currently running a campaign to be elected to the American Senate.
And finally...
We at the Verb were most amused by a video doing the rounds on the internet which lays out the various merits of a boycott of Israeli goods. The boycott would include the new and bizarre high-tech skin patch produced by an Israeli company as a means to cure acne.
