“Universally, not only in Israel, people want to feel good about themselves. We all want to feel good to some extent.” PeopleWantFeelsIsraelFeel Good Author:Amos Oz
“The Six-Day War laid a foundation of deep hatred toward Israel 50 years ago. I said this at a very early moment back then, when people were chanting about liberating ancestral land. I was quick to say that regardless of the future of these territories, liberated they are not, because the term liberation only applies to human beings and not to land, not to real estate.” PeopleYearsHumansSaidWarRealMomentsTermHuman BeingsLandSixYears AgoHatredFoundationIsraelLiberationTerritoryEstatesLiberatingLiberatedChanting Author:Amos Oz
“Israel has obviously not liberated the Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank. We have occupied them, but we have not liberated them.” WestIsraelPalestinianLiberatedGaza Author:Amos Oz
“I don't think Israelis are less critical of corruption than people in Italy, France or America. Israel is special in a different way. There is a daytime Israel and a nighttime Israel. The first is self-confident, pushy and passionate, like other Mediterranean lands. It is hedonistic, materialistic and almost arrogant. During the nighttime, people are terrified, people are filled with existential dreads. These fears aren't baseless.” PeopleThinkingWayFirstsDifferentSelfAmericaLandSpecialFilledPassionateIsraelCorruptionCriticalFranceDifferent WaysArrogantDreadExistentialTerrifiedMaterialisticDaytimeNighttimeSelf ConfidentHedonisticPushy Author:Amos Oz
“It's possible a Palestinian state will be installed over the heads of the Palestinians. It could be part of an agreement between the Israeli government and moderate Arab states, but not one between Israel and the Palestinians.” StatesGovernmentIsraelAgreementPalestinianModeratesIsraeli Author:Amos Oz
“I never understood liberal Jews blaming Israel, you know, supporting Palestinians. I've never understood it, until I spoke once to a man named Norman Podhoretz, and he said to me, "Many of you refer to liberal Jews that way. They're not Jews. They are liberals. Liberalism is what is first and foremost in their identity. The fact that they are Jews is not paramount or prominent. It's secondary - and, in many cases, even tertiary - to their identity."” KnowsMenWayFirstsSaidFactsCasesIdentityUnderstoodBlameJewIsraelLiberalismSpokesPalestinianProminentParamount Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Trump's done nothing but be a great friend of Israel, and yet he's being tagged with anti-Semitism here. It doesn't make any intellectual sense.” DoneTrumpIntellectualIsraelAnti SemitismGreat FriendTagged Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Israel is the American watchdog in the Middle East, and that's why the Palestinians remain victims of one of the longest military occupations.” MiddleMilitaryVictimIsraelEastOccupationMiddle EastPalestinian Author:John Pilger
“Israel is the representative of the United States in the Middle East. Its policies are so integrated with American policies that they use the same language. If you read Sharon's statements and George W. Bush's statements, they're virtually identical.” IfsStatesUseLanguageUnitedUnited StatesMiddlePolicyIsraelEastStatementsMiddle EastRepresentativesIdenticalIntegratedSharon Author:John Pilger
“Look at the Israel-Palestine conflict, for example. If you look at a map from 1947 to now, you'll see that Israel has gobbled up almost all of Palestinian land with its illegal settlements. To talk about justice in that battle, you have to talk about those settlements. But, if you just talk about human rights, then you can say, "Oh, Hamas violates human rights," "Israel violates human rights." Ergo, both are bad.” IfsHumansLooksJusticeRightsLandExampleBattleConflictHuman RightsIsraelMapsIllegalPalestinianPalestineSettlementHamas Author:Arundhati Roy
“The Bible portrays God as entering into covenants with people which, when broken, causes him grief and sorrow. The biblical prophet Hosea and God's using him as an illustration of how much Israel's idolatry costs God emotionally points to God's vulnerability. But also the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ who, even as God the Son, suffered for our sins, points to God's vulnerability.” PeopleJesusCausesChristSinGriefSonBrokenSorrowCostJesus ChristIsraelVulnerabilityProphetBiblicalEnteringIncarnationCovenantIdolatryIllustration Author:Roger E. Olson
“I think people need to see on both sides. Seeing how the people in the Palestinian Territories can't move around - it's a maze now, with the wall, the road blocks and everything else. It takes you hours to get from one person's house to your job or to a friend or even to the hospital if someone's hurt. Then you go into Israel and see in Tel Aviv, where they have 12-18 bomb threats a day, which are real. It completely disrupts their life. Or Sderot where bombs are falling daily from the sky fired by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.” PeopleIfsThinkingNeedsPersonsRealJobsMovingFallHouseSidesHoursHurtSeeingSkyWallThreatIsraelBlockBombsHospitalsTerritoryPalestinianBoth SidesGazaMazesHamasGaza Strip Author:Morgan Spurlock
“If you want to find weapons of destruction, you can find them all over the place. Take, say, Israel. There is a very great concern right now about proliferation of nuclear weapons, as there should be. Israel has a couple of hundred nuclear weapons and also chemical and biological weapons. This stockpile is not only a threat in itself but encourages others to proliferate in reaction and in self-defense. Is anybody saying anything about this?” IfsWantShouldSelfCoupleRight NowWeaponsHundredConcernDestructionThreatIsraelDefenseNuclearReactionsChemicalsNuclear WeaponsSelf DefenseProliferationBiological Weapons Author:Noam Chomsky
“Biblical archaeology was developed early in this century in an effort to substantiate the authenticity of the Biblical account. It's by now generally recognized in Biblical scholarship that it has done the opposite. The Bible is not a historical text, and has only vague resemblances to what took place, as far as can be reconstructed. For example, whether Israel ever existed is not clear; if so, it was probably a small kingdom somewhere in the hills, apparently virtually unknown to the Egyptians.” IfsDoneEffortClearCenturyExampleOppositesAccountsHistoricalIsraelKingdomsAuthenticityHillsBiblicalVagueScholarshipResemblanceArchaeology Author:Noam Chomsky
“Elements of the Christian fundamentalist right are one of the strongest components of "support for Israel" - support in an odd sense, because they presumably want to see it destroyed in a cosmic battle at Armageddon, after which all the proper souls will ascend to heaven - or so I understand, again, not from close reading.” WantSoulChristianReadingHeavenSupportBattleElementsIsraelDestroyedOddStrongestCosmicComponentsFundamentalistArmageddonClose Reading Author:Noam Chomsky
“For thirty years, Isreal has been highjacking ships in international waters, killing people, taking hostages, bringing them to Israel, putting them in secret prisons, all with the help of the United States. That's serious piracy.” PeopleYearsHas BeensStatesHelpingWaterUnitedSecretUnited StatesSeriousPrisonKillingInternationalIsraelShipsThirtyThirty YearsHostagePiracy Author:Noam Chomsky
“For decades Israel has been capturing, and kidnapping Lebanese and Palestinian refugees on the high seas, from Cyprus to Lebanon, killing them in Lebanon, bringing them to Israel, holding them as hostages. It's been going on for decades, has anybody called for an invasion of Israel?” Has BeensSeaKillingIsraelDecadesPalestinianRefugeeInvasionHostageKidnappingLebanonHigh SeasLebaneseCyprusPalestinian Refugees Author:Noam Chomsky
“You can't mention Hezbollah in the U.S. media without putting in the context of "Iranian-supported Hezbollah." That's its name. Its name is Iranian-supported Hezbollah. It gets Iranian support. But you can mention Israel without saying US-supported Israel. So this is more tacit propaganda.” NamesSupportMediaIsraelPropagandaIranianHezbollahTacit Author:Noam Chomsky
“There was a free election in Palestine, but it came out the wrong way. So instantly, the United States and Israel with Europe tagging along, moved to punish the Palestinian people, and punish them harshly, because they voted the wrong way in a free election. That's accepted here in the West as perfectly normal. That illustrates the deep hatred and contempt for democracy among western elites, so deep-seated they can't even perceive it when it's in front of their eyes. You punish people severely if they vote the wrong way in a free election.” PeopleIfsWayStatesEyeUnitedUnited StatesDemocracyFrontsNormalEuropeHatredVoteElectionMovedWestWesternIsraelAcceptedPerceiveContemptElitesPalestinianPalestineWrong WayPerfectly NormalFree Elections Author:Noam Chomsky
“Hamas must agree to first recognize Israel, second to end all violence, third to accept past agreements. Try to find a mention of the fact that the United States and Israel reject all three of those. They obviously don't recognize Palestine, they certainly don't withdraw the use of violence or the threat of it - in fact they insist on it - and they don't accept past agreements, including the road map.” TryingFirstsEndsStatesFactsUsePastThreeUnitedAcceptingUnited StatesViolenceThirdsAgreeThreatIncludingIsraelAgreementRejectsMapsPalestineHamasRoad Maps Author:Noam Chomsky
“I've occasionally been asked to talk on Israel-Palestine. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it elicits hysteria in the community.” SometimesCommunityIsraelPalestineHysteria Author:Noam Chomsky
“I think it is less the limited amount of information than the filters that information about the Middle East must pass through before being fairly addressed in the mainstream media. In more intellectual and geopolitical terms, the perceptions of the region are distorted by a combination of Orientalism and the priorities of the state of Israel, including the refusal to discuss the relevance of Israel's nuclear weapons arsenal in the context of addressing Iran on its nuclear program.” ThinkingStatesTermMiddleMediaInformationAmountPerceptionWeaponsIntellectualProgramIncludingIsraelEastNuclearPrioritiesCombinationRegionsIranMainstreamMiddle EastNuclear WeaponsRelevanceRefusalArsenalFiltersMainstream MediaGeopoliticalOrientalism Author:Richard A. Falk
“Israel produces and stores chemical weapons. So therefore the US will prevent the Chemical Weapons Convention from being imposed on the Middle East. But it's necessary to evade this by misrepresenting the convention, and I think maybe 100 percent of the media, or close to it, go along. But that's a critical issue. Actually, Syria's chemical weapons were developed largely as a deterrent to Israeli nuclear weapons. Also, not mentioned.” ThinkingIssuesMiddleMediaProduceWeaponsPercentIsraelCriticalEastStoresNuclearChemicalsConventionsMiddle EastNuclear WeaponsSyriaIsraeliDeterrentChemical Weapons Author:Noam Chomsky
“What is the most entrepreneurial country in the Middle East today? It's Lebanon. Which country has no oil or gas? Lebanon. The same was true of Israel, the same was of Bahrain. You could see a real gradation. Turkey, for instance: no oil and gas, very entrepreneurial. You can either dig your future out of the ground or you can unlock the potential of your people.” PeopleRealCountryTodayMiddleIsraelOilEastInstanceGasOur FutureMiddle EastTurkeysYour FutureEntrepreneurialLebanonOil And GasBahrain Author:Thomas Friedman
“America was the funder of petro-dictatorships. We treated all these countries as basically big, large gas stations: Libya station, Iraq station, Iran station, Egypt station, Syria station, and all we asked of them were three things: Keep your palms open, your prices low and don't bother Israel too much, and you can do whatever you want to your own people.” PeopleWantCountryBigsAmericaThreeCan DoToo MuchLowsIraqIsraelTreatedBotherGasIranStationsDictatorshipSyriaEgyptPalmsThree ThingsLibyaDo Whatever You WantGas Stations Author:Thomas Friedman
“As long as the Children of Israel saw Pharaoh as a friend, they could not see Moses and Jehovah as their true friend. As they came into consciousness - by the wicked things that Pharaoh continued to do against them - that Pharaoh was indeed their enemy, then Moses and Jehovah's call to them to separate from Pharaoh to build a nation of their own became a reality.” ChildrenLongRealityNationsConsciousnessEnemySawsIsraelWickedTrue FriendMosesJehovahPharaohsWicked Things Author:Louis Farrakhan
“Whether you want to say Israel practices apartheid is immaterial. They are doing things, given their history, you think, "Do you remember what happened to you?" Then they clobber you and say, "You are anti-Semitic."” ThinkingWantRememberGivenPracticeHappenedIsraelApartheidAnti Semitic Author:Desmond Tutu
“If somebody here in America is against war crime and against stealing lands from Palestinians by Jews, he's already not allowed into Israel.” IfsWarAmericaLandCrimeJewIsraelStealingPalestinianWar CrimesAgainst War Author:Udi Aloni
“I'm happy that now we reveal something about the true Israel, because, you know, now it's Purim, when all the Jews putting mask. And once, we used to have a liberal mask. The most famous mask now in Israel is the mask of a soldier who murdered in cold blood a wounded prisoner of war. Those are the mask that most of the Israeli kids now are using. So, now, when the mask and the true is the same, maybe it's time for Democrats here to stop supporting Israel, if they care about Jews.” IfsKnowsWarCareKidsUsedBloodColdDemocratSoldierJewIsraelMaskPrisonerWoundedIsraeliPrisoner Of War Author:Udi Aloni
“Palestinians have been banned since forever. And nobody - and it's an unhuman act, and it's a - for me, it's a crime issue. So, nobody has punished Israel ever since they were banning Palestinians. And so, Israel right now feels the power that they can just move on with it, and now they are trying to ban other people that are not Palestinians.” PeopleFeelsTryingHas BeensMovingForeverIssuesCrimeRight NowIsraelPalestinianBansBannedJust Move On Author:Tamer Nafar
“That's the whole thing with Israel. When they do things and nobody is punishing them, not even criticizing them, then that will get them drunk of power to continue on growing up and doing whatever they do.” WholeGrowing UpGrowingIsraelDrunkCriticize Author:Tamer Nafar
“Jews allow to steal lands from Palestinians, only because they are Jews, and those are Palestinian. I want to repeat it, because people here in America don't believe it. We have a new law that settlers allowed to steal private lands of Arabs and take it to Jews. This is an official law. And now they're going to ban everyone who criticize a pure apartheid law. So, in a way, it's horrific. It's only everyone who stand for civil right in the minimum level - liberals, not radical - is not allowed to Israel.” PeopleWayWantBelieveAmericaLawLevelsLandPureDon't BelieveJewIsraelStealingRadicalOfficialsRepeatsCriticizePalestinianMinimumBansApartheidHorrificSettlers Author:Udi Aloni
“I wouldn't be surprised or shocked if, 10 years from now or 20 years from now, Muslims or Christians or non-Jews will be scared to reveal their religion, and they will be walking without - just, you know, hiding their religion. And that's where Israel is heading to.” IfsKnowsYearsChristianWalkingScaredJewIsraelHidingShockedHeadings Author:Tamer Nafar
“I do think you can see, throughout American history, this temptation, and it's both a liberal and a conservative temptation, to take a healthy patriotism a little too far. For liberals the temptation is to say the purpose of politics is to straightforwardly bring the kingdom of God to Earth. For conservatives, I talk about Glenn Beck, the temptation is more apocalyptic and messianic, it's the temptation to say we did have a covenant with God, a literal covenant beginning with the Founding, and we are, like Israel in the Old Testament, falling away from it.” ThinkingLittlesEarthPurposeFallHealthyConservativeIsraelKingdomsTemptationAmerican HistoryTestamentFoundingKingdom Of GodCovenantLiteralOld TestamentApocalypticCovenant With God Author:Ross Douthat
“Americans are an "almost chosen people," which is meant to suggest that there are clear parallels, literal, theological and everything else, between the American story and the Old Testament story of Israel and then the broader story of the Christian church. It's OK to recognize the parallels. It's OK to invoke them. But, you have to keep that "almost" in front of the "chosen." You can't go all the way and say, "America is Israel, America is the Church." That's where I think patriotism shades into, what I call, the heresy of nationalism.” PeopleThinkingWayStoriesChristianAmericaChurchClearFrontsIsraelChosenNationalismShadeTestamentParallelsHeresyLiteralTheologicalOld TestamentInvokeChristian Church Author:Ross Douthat
“The United States was the one nullifying any attempt in the Security Council of the United Nations to sanction those fascist governments, really segregationist and racist. The same thing it is doing for Israel is what it used to do for South Africa who ended up having seven nuclear weapons. Why didn't they act against them like they did against Iraq for the so called weapons of mass destruction during Bush that never existed in the first place?” FirstsStatesGovernmentUsedNationsUnitedUnited StatesSecurityWeaponsMassDestructionSouthSevenIraqIsraelNuclearRacistNuclear WeaponsSouth AfricaUnited NationsCouncilSanctionsWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionFascistsSecurity Council Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“More recently the US has more accurately been viewed as a militarist 'empire' that fights destructive wars and intervenes in a variety of societies, especially in the Middle East to retain control over oil reserves, and lends crucial support to Israel that not only oppresses the Palestinian people but threatens to convert the entire region into a war zone.” PeopleWarFightingSupportMiddleIsraelOilEastVarietyDestructiveZoneEmpiresRegionsCrucialMiddle EastPalestinianReservesWar Zones Author:Richard A. Falk
“Both Israel and the United States have mounted attacks on 'lawfare', that is, counter-hegemonic uses of international law to question policies associated with the occupation of Palestine and criminal tactics of warfare.” StatesUseLawUnitedUnited StatesPolicyInternationalIsraelCriminalsOccupationWarfarePalestineTacticsInternational Law Author:Richard A. Falk
“In the Goldstone Report, Israeli perpetrators of possible crimes against humanity were made subject to prosecution and punishment, although the geopolitical leverage of the United States within the UN prevents implementation. At the same time, several African leaders are being prosecuted for their crimes against humanity and participation in genocide: a double standard of sorts, given the impunity accorded to the West and Israel.” MadeStatesHumanityGivenUnitedLeaderUnited StatesSubjectsCrimeStandardsWestIsraelPunishmentReportsGenocideParticipationIsraeliDouble StandardImpunityImplementationPerpetratorsProsecutionCrimes Against HumanityGeopolitical Author:Richard A. Falk
“The Goldstone Report establishes the credibility of the accusations directed at Israel with respect to its tactics used during the 2008 - 09 attacks on Gaza, but was not able to facilitate the next step that would have involved activating accountability mechanisms either within Israel or at the level of international society.” AbleUsedNextLevelsStepsInvolvedInternationalIsraelReportsAccountabilityMechanismTacticsCredibilityNext StepsAccusationGazaFacilitate Author:Richard A. Falk
“This issue of expanding the reach of international criminal law by reliance on the use of Universal Jurisdiction by domestic courts needs to be balanced against the injustice of according impunity to those with strong geopolitical backing. It is notable that several western European countries backtracked on UJ after threats of retaliatory moves by the United States and Israel. There is no doubt that the domain of UJ is a geopolitical battleground.” NeedsCountryStatesUseMovingLawStrongUnitedUnited StatesIssuesDoubtUniversalCourtThreatWesternInjusticeInternationalIsraelCriminalsNo DoubtBalancedExpandingDomainRelianceNotableImpunityEuropean CountriesJurisdictionCriminal LawBattlegroundGeopolitical Author:Richard A. Falk
“It's such a unique story. Book of Joshua in the Bible wasn't always my favorite book, by the way. Only some ago did I realize that this book covers a seven-year period in the history of ancient Israel in which they literally went undefeated.They did have one setback, but outside of that, they defeated over 30 kings. They recaptured the Promised Land. They did what their ancestors said they could not.” WayYearsSaidBookStoriesRealizingLandKingsPeriodsUniqueSevenAncientMy FavoriteIsraelAncestorDefeatedSeven YearsSetbackPromised LandFavorite BookUndefeatedBook CoversStory Book Author:Max Lucado
“For seven years ancient Israel could not be stopped in the Joshua book. I have found this to be a great imagery and analogy for the Christian life. As Christians, we have the same images. We've come out of Egypt (been saved) we've crossed over, and Jesus Christ is our Moses and our Joshua.” YearsBookChristianFoundJesusChristJesus ChristSevenAncientIsraelSavedChristian LifeEgyptSeven YearsImageryMosesAnalogies Author:Max Lucado
“If Barack Obama was to say Egypt, with the Muslim Brotherhood, is an ally, he's going to be destroyed here by, you know, the opposition saying, "How come you can say that the Islamists are your ally when these people are the same who are Hamas, and Hamas is against Israel?" It's the end of it. So he's saying, "We are just wait and see; we are trying to deal."” PeopleIfsKnowsTryingEndsWaitingDealsIsraelDestroyedBarackOppositionAlliesBrotherhoodEgyptHamasIslamistsMuslim Brotherhood Author:Tariq Ramadan
“Unsettled Middle East, in these times where the people are trying to find their way towards democracy, could be interesting for many reasons - for weapons to be sold, for new geostrategic interests to be protected, and something that we are not talking about, which is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The people who are lost in the whole discussion here are the Palestinians. We have demonstrations in Palestine in West Bank. Nobody is covering this. It's as if they don't exist anymore. And this is, in fact, central. And Israel is silent.” PeopleIfsWayTryingReasonWholeFactsLostInterestInterestingTalkingDemocracyMiddleConflictWeaponsSilentWestIsraelEastDiscussionMiddle EastProtectedPalestinianPalestineIsraeliDemonstrationCoveringNot TalkingIsraeli Palestinian Conflict Author:Tariq Ramadan
“The BRIC countries - Brazil, India, China, Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia even, and Russia - are now new actors. Over the last eight years, China multiplied by seven its economic presence and penetration in the Middle East. And if this happens on economic terms and there is a shift towards the East, the relationship between these countries and Israel is completely different from the United States. And it means that the challenges are going to be different, because China is not supporting Israel the way the U.S. are supporting Israel.” IfsWayYearsMeanDifferentCountryStatesHappensLastsActorsTermChallengesUnitedUnited StatesEconomicMiddleIndiaSouthSevenIsraelChinaEightEastRussiaMiddle EastSouth AfricaTurkeysIndonesiaBrazilPenetrationBrics Author:Tariq Ramadan
“I believe that Israel is very likely not to survive, it's not going to last forever, and now there's nothing that someone like me can do about it, in that it's a threat of nuclear or biological or chemical attack.” BelieveLastsI BelieveCan DoForeverThreatIsraelNuclearLike MeChemicals Author:Mark Helprin
“The people we call the prophets I think are the earliest dissident intellectuals, and they're treated like most dissident intellectuals - very badly. They're imprisoned, driven into the desert. King Ahab, the epitome of evil in the Bible, condemned Elijah as a "hater of Israel." This is the first self-hating Jew, the origin of the term. It goes right up to the present. That's the history of intellectuals.” PeopleThinkingFirstsSelfHateEvilTermKingsJewIsraelDrivenTreatedDesertProphetElijahEpitomeDissidentsAhab Author:Noam Chomsky
“Luckily I was not born in Eastern Europe, because I might have been born into the communist establishment and I'm glad I was not. But in Israel, communists were dissidents. So you grow up in an environment which is very critical of Israeli policies.” Has BeensMightGrowsBornGrowing UpEnvironmentPolicyEuropeIsraelCriticalGladCommunistEstablishmentEasternMight Have BeenIsraeliEastern EuropeDissidents Author:Amira Hass
“Many people just won't connect the social problems with the history of dispossession of the aboriginals. There is one problem with pro-Palestinian activists in Europe and the U.S. with the way they portray Israel as though it were an island of evil in an ocean of goodwill. Unfortunately we are not. This world is not made of benign, progressive states with Israel as the one exception.” PeopleWorldWayMadeStatesProblemEvilSocialThis WorldOceanEuropeIsraelIslandsExceptionProgressiveActivistPalestinianGoodwillBenignAboriginalSocial Problems Author:Amira Hass