Word: jewish
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...population in Israel has plagued the nation's authorities since the state's foundation in 1948. Lacking any positive or even consistent policy regarding the Arabs, Israel's contact with them was limited, in the first decade especially, to the determined strengthening of Zionist control and the extension of Jewish landownership. The Israelis retained British Mandatory Emergency Regulations, the repressive laws of wartime, to deal with the Arab population--despite the Zionists' adamant opposition to those regulations imposed before statehood. These measures, however, made it possible to evict Arab farmers from their fields, to place unreasonable curfews on villages...
...Arabs alike, to government policy vis a vis the Arab minority. The military apparatus organized in 1950 to deal with every aspect of Arab life, a system which lasted formally until 1966 and continued to exert a major influence over administrative practices thereafter, was criticized repeatedly by established Jewish groups, notably the Mapam Party...
...Asmar, who wrote for Mapam's Arabic-language newspaper early in his career, describes warmly the many Jewish acquaintances and personal friends who helped him deflect political persecution, participated in common protests against official actions, and were eager to open channels of communication with Arabs in order to begin integrating them into Israeli life. But even Mapam was willing to go only so far, and that far principally in search of the Arab vote: eventually el-Asmar found himself barred from effective free expression and finally he was removed from his job. But el-Asmar's narrative in itself offers...
Both authors chronicle the gradual, and still very partial, relaxation of government policy towards the Arabs. However, it is very clear that even a positive official position--if such were to be initiated--could not alleviate the problem completely. The Jewish population's attitudes remain hostile and suspicious, and social interaction between Jews and Arabs is infrequent. Clearly, normalization of relations is linked to a wider Middle East solution--but even if that is not forthcoming, there is much that the Israeli government and populace can do within Israel to defuse the threat of a hostile, unified Arab minority...
Epps's recent condemnation of a Lampoon parody advertisement (penned by the author), appearing in the Lampoon "Religion" issue, claimed the piece was horrific for its making light of a tragic incident in history (Jewish persecution and annihilation in German Death Camps). He sees the tragic in seeing humor in a tragic event. One might also see humor in his seeing the tragic in seeing humor in a tragic event. (I could do this all day.) The argument has been writhing through history since Aristophanes angered Athens. Epps would have the Lampoon become an institution devoted to the cause...