People probably wonder how folks like me who have criticized Israel have formed our opinions. (Or you may not care. Well, that's cool.) I'm probably like a majority of Americans in that while we were growing up, we saw Israel as an admirable underdog. I saw the movie Exodus and accepted it's premise that the foundation of Israel was a good & just thing. When the '67 Mideast war happened, I was glad Israel won,and didn't think of the implications of Israel's occupation of conquered territories. When Palestinians started reacting to their occupation with armed actions, I saw it as terrorism like most Americans, rather than armed struggle for liberation.
But as events unfolded in the Middle East, examining what Israel has done in the occupied territories more closely has reveled that the government & defense forces of Israel often has acted in a way that can't be explained away as an underdog fighting against hostile countries & hostile terrorists.
In fact, Israel has peace treaties with the two Arab countries who had been the biggest belligerents, Egypt & Jordan, & has intervened twice in Lebanon with overwhelming military force such that Syria is clearly intimidated enough to leave Israel alone. The PLO & Israel seemed to be slowly edging towards a two state solution, but any Palestinian state has been sabotaged by the growth of Israeli settlements & building of a containment wall on Palestinian land. Gaza was unilaterally abandoned by Israel, but has become an open air prison with Israel & Egypt blocking imports & exports, even after the recent bombing campaign that devastated towns & cities.
Where have I gotten my information on Israel? One of these sources is Gush Shalom, the Israeli peace group (Gush Shalom means 'Peace Now' in Hebrew.) They walk the walk- especially in the Palestinian town of Bi'lin which has been surrounded by the 'security' wall- and talk the talk.
Another Israeli peace site isThe Other Israel. It puts out The Other Israel
magazine, & also offers an e-mail bulletin of the magazine. You may subscribe to TOI-Billboard by sending one blank e-mail to
TOI-Billboard-subscribe@googlegroups.com with Cc. to otherisr@actcom.co.il.
Jews Sans Frontieres is an British blog run by a bloke named Mark Elf, though three other posters also blog there. Lots of posts on Comment is free(the Guardian newspaper website), boycotts against Israel in the UK, protests in London, & recently, the play Seven Jewish Children. What I found most interesting was a recent post by Gabriel entitled Durban and the White-Zionist alliance which gave a different take on Durban II.
Amy Goodman at the radio show Democracy Now! is good at presenting the news with a progressive/leftist slant. The MSM didn't report this Friday, but the head of UN relief noted that basic goods haven't reached Gaza yet due to US & Israeli restrictions. Guests on her show have included Noam Chomsky
& Norman Finkelstein.
Other websites I've found interesting ( in no particular order):
Mondoweis
Informed Comment
Jewish Alliance for Justice & Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace
Norman Finkelstein
Noam Chomsky
MuzzleWatch