Salman Masalha
"Racism surfaces when a society loses its self-confidence and turns to seeking ways to defend itself against what is different and perceived as increasingly threatening." ...Salman MasalhaRabbis of the Dry BonesThe rabbis’ letter in support of Safed’s Town Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu, the demonstrations against renting apartments to “foreigners” and slogans...
The media fanned the flames
Salman Masalha
The media fanned the flames
It wasn't only pinecones that burst, flew far from the trees and ignited more fires in the forests. The media also set up studios and sent out reporters who stoked another fire, on top of those that engulfed the Carmel.
Faced with...
Dreams
Salman Masalha
Dreams
............................ To Rumi
Beyond my door which faces west
Lives a woman who'll never rest.
She likes to tease my nomad soulWith words she keeps for gloomy fall.But now she flies across the sky,And tries to find a place too highTo paint it blue for me to lookAnd...
An MK by any other name
How European Zionism
has corrupted 'Jewish Arabs'
Salman Masalha
An MK by any other name
Carmel Shama was fed up, so the lawmaker decided it was time to reconnect with his ethnic roots. Responding to all the confusion over his identity, he asked the Interior Ministry...
Logic for Jews only
It seems Professor Avineri is cutting the very branches of logic he seeks to hold on to, one after the other.
Salman Masalha
Logic for Jews only
Professor Shlomo Avineri raises difficult questions and wishes to discuss them, adding: "Anyone who, like me, supports a solution...
The War of Gog and Demagogue
Salman Masalha
The War of Gog and Demagogue
Here is a scenario: A devout Evangelical Christian is elected president of the United States. Fundamental to his ideology is the return of the Messiah and therefore he devotes all his efforts to bringing about the End Time and hastening the coming of that Messiah. Does this sound fantastical to you?...
All the professor’s cats
Salman Masalha
All the professor’s cats
For years a certain peddler roamed the streets with a laden sack on his back, declaring he has many good things. Every morning he set out to try to sell his wares. However, only the sharp-eyed knew what he kept in the bag.
One day, a “Canaanite slave” passed through the town and threw down a banana peel....
Arabs, speak Hebrew!
Salman Masalha
Arabs, speak Hebrew!
Many Arab eyebrows - those of politicians and populist education officials - will no doubt be raised when they read this headline. At the same time, we should discuss the issue of language with due seriousness and detached from the sensitivity connected to it.
The Education Ministry recently published data on...
When Ovadia, or Abdullah, reigneth
Salman MasalhaWhen Ovadia, or Abdullah, reignethThe Days of Awe lie ahead of us. Awful days in Hebrew and in Arabic. Every man will not sit under his vine nor will every senior citizen recline under his fig tree, but rather night and day they will study "Torat Hamelech:...
B. Michael: A Pravoslavic and republican tomato
B. MichaelA Pravoslavic and republican tomato
Prof. Shlomo Avineri (Haaretz, August 13, 2010) debates Salman Masalha, who ridiculed the expression “a Jewish and democratic state” and compared it to the expression “a Muslim and democratic state” (Haaretz, August 8, 2010).
Avineri decides to learn from this barb that Masalha has supposedly denied...
Lev Grinberg: You can't be a Jewish Muslim
Lev Grinberg: "Instead of bringing about the secularization of Judaism, Zionism turned religion into the central element of the definition of national identity, and turned the State of Israel into a tool of the religious redemption project.".....
Lev Grinberg
You can't be a Jewish Muslim
Just like the story about the late Israeli politician Moshe...
Uri Avnery: Poisonous Mushrooms
Uri Avnery
Poisonous Mushrooms
BEFORE THE victory of feminism, there was a popular Israeli song in which the boy asks the girl: “When you say No, what do you mean?”This question has already been answered. Now I am more and more tempted to ask: “When you say Zionism, what do you mean?”That is also my answer when asked whether I am a Zionist.When...
The poet's political correctness
Salman Masalha
The poet's political correctness
"Music from the Maghreb is poor, limited and unsophisticated," a Kurdish-Turkish musician whispered in my ear during a concert held in southern France last month, as part of the "Mediterranean Voices" festival. As I am not...
Alexander Yakobson: What's in a name?
Alexander Yakobson: "Masalha complains that in the Israeli reality, the expression "Jewish, democratic state" sometimes serves as a rationalization for discrimination and the exclusion of the Arab minority. Of course it does....", writes in Haaretz in response to "A Jewish and...
Shlomo Avineri: A Palestinian people, yes, a Jewish people, no?
In response to "A Jewish and Democratic Restaurant," Shlomo Avineri Writes in Haaretz:
Just as Jews are not the ones who will determine whether the Palestinians are a people or not, Salman Masalha cannot determine whether the Jews are a people or not. It is a question of self-determination.
Shlomo Avineri
A Palestinian people, yes, a Jewish...
A Jewish and democratic restaurant
Salman Masalha
A Jewish and democratic restaurant
Compared to other countries, Israel has been blessed with many scientific inventions. If that were all there were to it, we could stop at this point and simply give thanks.
The problem is that in recent decades we have witnessed...
The Palestinians' chance to win a moral victory
Salman Masalha
The Palestinians' chanceto win a moral victory
In an era of political correctness, there are those who think it appropriate to adjust the message to the audience to which it is directed. I don't agree. In my view, political correctness is a defilement - sweet...
Hypocrisy begins at home
Salman Masalha
Hypocrisy begins at home
It may be that the whole world is dazzlingly two-faced, but we should nevertheless focus on the hypocrites in our own region, since after all, hypocrisy begins at home.
Some six months ago, while it was still licking the wounds caused by the barbs hurled at it from all sides because of the lead it cast in...
All in the Same Boat
Salman Masalha
All in The Same Boat
The analytic mind who holds the political security portfolio in the “didn’t know, didn’t hear, didn’t see” government of Israel has finally found the light at the end of the open sewer.
“The hasbara (public relations, propaganda) in...
