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Italy to Fingerprint Gypsy Population

riotgoy — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:27:56 -0500

In a throwback to the Second World War, Italy's new Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, has announced an initiative to fingerprint all Roma adults and children living in the country. Using a planned census of the community as cover, the program is scheduled to start some time this fall.

Immediately after Maroni's disclosure of the plan, Italians began voicing their concerns. 'In order to respect children's rights of equality, it would also be necessary to take fingerprints from every Italian child,'' UNICEF Italy president Vincenzo Spadafora told Italy's biggest news agency, ANSA.

Contending that Italy had lost it's memory of the Holocaust, former Jewish community chief Amos Luzzato told ANSA that the program was "unacceptable" and a form of "ethnic surveying," explaining to La Repubblica that it criminalizes the gypsy community, and is "a clear and unacceptable sign of racism."

Anyone expecting anything different out of a government led by Silvio Berlusconi ought to have their head examined. Both Berlusconi and his coalition partners aren't exactly known for espousing multiculturalism. As even the most casual observers of Italian politics will tell you, quite the opposite, in fact.

What remains open to question is how a country that is a respected member of the European Union can get away with prosecuting policies like these. With the EU fretting over whether to admit Turkey over it's treatment of the Kurds, how could it tolerate such illiberal behavior from fully integrated member states?

At the very least, the European Union should move to censure member governments who take such actions against their own people. The longer it waits to do so, the more the entire continent will end up sharing responsibility for such crimes against Europe's increasingly diverse and vulnerable citizenry.

Taking Responsibility

riotgoy — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:15:26 -0500

Glowing in the aftermath of his victory over Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama told the U.S' most powerful 'pro-Israel' organization, AIPAC, that the war in Iraq had in fact weakened Israel's security, because of how it had impacted Iran.

As though on cue, Senator Joseph Lieberman responded negatively, saying that Obama was wrong to blame American foreign policy. "Iran is a terrorist, expansionist state," the Jewish Telegraphic Agency quoted the conservative Connecticut legislator as saying.

As an Israeli citizen, I'd like to testify as to what a rare instance it is to hear a little self-criticism coming from an American politician. The Bush administration's Mideast policy has profoundly exacerbated tensions between Israel and Iran. It's high time someone in Washington took responsibility for this.

Though Lieberman's reply was meant to represent the 'Jewish' point of view on this issue, he definitely does not speak for me, or the growing number of American and Israeli Jews who have questions about what the 'best' U.S. policy decisions for Israel might be.

To Israel's America Lobby

riotgoy — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:06:17 -0500

It was an event that held a little significance for everyone. For Israelis, because of the commitment that the US President reiterated to their security. For Americans, because of the opportunity that their leader took to excoriate their country's opposition in a foreign parliament. And, for Iran, which was once again reminded that, despite how poorly the US is faring in Iraq and Afghanistan, America would still protect Israel from any manner of threat. In other words, it was an exercise in consistency, one that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert duly noted by nearly falling asleep during the President's speech in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Notwithstanding the umbrage taken by the US press to Bush's address to the Knesset, for anyone familiar with the importance that the Republicans have attached to securing Jewish votes in the forthcoming elections, it all made sense. Of course the President would take advantage of such an ideal opportunity. The problem is that, aside from the advantages that Israel most definitely accrued from playing host to the occasion, it had less to do with Israel than it did with the United States, and the failings of the present administration to make any positive achievements in the Middle East during Bush's two terms in office. With the failure of Lebanon's government to contain Hezbollah, one cannot ask for a more timely display designed for domestic consumption during an election year.

As the United States slowly loses Lebanon to Iran, despite the immense investment the Americans made in the Siniora government, once again we have another example of how US intervention in the region has worsened Israel's security. Sandwiched in between an Iranian-supported state in the south, and not one, but now two in the north, Israel's situation, at the end of Bush’s final term in office, is actually worse than it was on 9/11. No wonder Israelis would want the kind of dramatic security guarantees that the US President has offered. No wonder they'd want it specifically from Bush, and that Israel would place so much value on it, too. Given how poorly the Israel Defense Forces have performed in recent years, the need for American reassurance, of the kind that the President reiterated, is that much more important. Its a horrible situation.

Yet, there is also good reason to argue that Thursday's event in Jerusalem had little to do with reaffirming the significance of Israel's security, however flawed America's conception of it might be. Bush's speech, as an editorial in Friday's Haaretz suggested, also signaled the President's willingness to use Israel's conflict with Iran as a way of maintaining control over US Mideast policy after leaving office. To implicate Israeli security requirements with such a possible maneuver can only serve to further damage Israel's long-term interests, not simply because precedent suggests that the US would lose such an engagement against the Iranians. But, as important, because it would implicate Israel's security interests in contravention of America's electoral process.

Americans may not have a clear idea of an effective Mideast policy alternative to that of Bush. Though the Democrats have not exactly offered any compelling options, the amount of energy that Republicans have expended trying to debunk Obama's alleged positions suggests that conservatives fear another emerging policy is surely out there, and that it really is different. For as nebulous as that position might be, the desire for such a policy change is an enormous part of what will motivate millions of Americans to vote Democratic in November's Presidential election. As the Bush administration's failures in the Middle East have repeatedly demonstrated, that's exactly why Israel ought to remain open to whatever alternatives an Obama-led government might have to offer.

The Last in Line

riotgoy — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:27:27 -0500

Three quarters of the way through his speech, the President's mouth seized up, as though he were about to say something important that he just could not figure out how to put into words. Alas, this moment would be forever frozen in time, as the video player refused to restart, prematurely ending George W. Bush's address to a gathering of Israeli and foreign dignitaries at the Facing Tomorrow conference, held this evening in Jerusalem.

Snapping a screenshot of this scene, I could not help but giggle at what a great photo opportunity this was, capturing the America leader stopped in his tracks, his mouth wide open. No amount of contempt could sum up the tremendous satisfaction that welled up in my chest as I imagined how speechless the President really looked. The pleasures I've been able to derive these past seven years are few, my revenge fantasies limited to short, ironic moments like these.

Obviously, Bush is an easy target. Provincial, religious, and inarticulate, he's the most opportune of prey to have one's adolescent way with. A paradigmatic philistine, or an anti-democratic ideologue straight out of central casting, the President's horrible record lends much credence to his critics, who blame him for every ill that has befallen the U.S. since 9/11. From a collapsing economy to the war in Iraq, Bush has left Americans feeling poorer and more insecure than any President since Woodrow Wilson.

This is why, at least for me, it's important to not over-emphasize the singularity of this moment. As inclined as Americans might be to harangue Israel for being so automatically willing to grant Bush such a warm welcome, it's important to remember that Israel has never been the President's sole foreign supporter. The governments of Tony Blair and John Howard, Silvio Berlusconi and Jose Maria Aznar, were, of equal, if not to greater degrees, supportive and admiring, as is French President Nicolas Sarkozy today.

Though I'd prefer that Israel's Prime Minister not be a member of this club, there was something positive about being forced to watch this evening's proceedings. With his days looking increasingly numbered, Olmert will not be the last foreign leader to have such an intimate connection with the Bush era. That honor will be left to Sarkozy, who, from the looks of it, will end up outliving both besieged heads of state. No great shakes, but at least, for once, it will be a European that will be the last in line, and not another Israeli.

Beirut Readymade

riotgoy — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:01:21 -0500

Amongst the photos we received from Reuters today, this remarkable shot of a Hezbollah-identified adolescent chanting slogans in front of the UN headquarters in Beirut really stood out. Between the teddy bears, fake blood and barbed wire, Banksy has finally found his match.

Israel As a Vocation

riotgoy — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:24:07 -0500

Today, Israel commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of it's founding. Unlike the celebrations of the country's 50th birthday in 1998, today's events have a far more somber quality to them, as though they are observing the passing of something far more tentative and fragile than we imagined back then, just before the peace process ground to a halt. Predictably, this month has witnessed the publication of a number of controversial articles questioning whether Israel will survive, generating, in turn, the expected reactions. In other words, business as usual.

As an Israeli citizen, and as an American-born editor working in English-language news publishing, I've resisted the temptation to draft my own thoughts on the subject, if only because I'm loathe to indulge the cliches that inevitably accompany the ritual of commenting on any specific nation's annual observation of it's independence. Especially those penned by U.S. Jews, which I read all of the time, and inevitably drive me nuts. Whether its spreading the love, or demonstrating disappointment, more often than not, it all reads the same.

This isn't to say that I'm not using the date as an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the state my friends and family continue to create. I am, just as I do every day, as someone who, for better or worse, always has Israel on his mind. If Israel has succeeded in establishing itself as it's own unmoved mover, to quote my divinity school training, it would make Aquinas proud. Nothing in my mind is not somehow related to or impacted by it. Israel is everywhere, and everything.

However, I don't feel the least bit sentimental about it, and there's something about recognizing this that I find relatively liberating. To wit, my wife and I will be going home to see my parents in a month's time, and the country will not feel any different than it did the same time last year I returned home, or, for that matter, this week, as I worried about the fact that I was not worried whether I'd write anything about this date at all. Israel, quite simply, exists, and feels more a part of my life than ever.

Of course, like the pundits I like to read, I could offer my own interpretation of the country's Italian-style political scene, and what I think the future holds in store for Israel under a coming Berlusconi-equivalent. Or I could offer it by way of talking about the remarkable films I saw this week at the San Francisco International Film Festival, such as Vasermil, Children of the Sun, or Under the Bombs, all of which offer rich insights into how Israelis and Arabs alike experience the country. At some point, I'm sure I will.

But, today, I guess, my point is far more mundane. For me, as it is for many Jews, Israel is something of a vocation. If that's what citizenship ultimately means, that's fine. I gladly accept it. As much as I'd like to find the identity somehow transformative or more involving, over the years, I've had to set certain instinctual limits to it because the psychic burden of being Israeli is traumatic enough. Adding anything else to the equation would be, for lack of a better of way of putting it, completely overwhelming.

Rootless Occidentalism

riotgoy — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:26:44 -0500

C'mon Fairuz, where was this album really recorded? The fine print on the upper right says Lebanon, but the LP's title indicates that it might also have been made in the US. The ambiguity of the record's ideal location, as somewhere in between America and the Middle East, suits this 1971 release extremely well. How contemporary, especially considering the fact that the record is nearly fourty years old.

Anatomy of a Scapegoat

riotgoy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:12:23 -0500

His name name is Robert Malley, and he's one of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's chief advisors on the Middle East. Portrayed as 'anti-Israel' by those opposed to Obama's bid for the White House, Gershom Gorenberg, one of Israel's leading investigative reporters, explains why in today's online edition of The American Prospect.

Media Censorship in China

riotgoy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:15:41 -0500

It is a reputation well-earned. Legendary for the controls it imposes on journalists, in recent years, the Communist government in Beijing has become equally notorious for the restraints it imposes on what Chinese citizens can read and write on the Internet.

Stoked by an increasing number of allegations of a state-imposed media lockdown stemming from civil unrest in Tibet, in Tuesday's Huffington Post, Michael Standaert gives us the latest update on China's management of news coming out of the country.

Ready For War?

riotgoy — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:57:22 -0600

In a daring move, Colombian forces raided Ecuador Monday in order to liquidate a FARC rebel leader. Now, Ecuador has severed ties with Colombia and moved troops to it's border, while neighboring Venezuela has followed suit, and mobilized its military.

Despite Ecuador's diplomatic positioning, the question worrying observers most is whether tensions between Venezuela and Colombia will evolve into armed conflict. Rory Carroll and Sybylla Brozinsky break down the brinksmanship in Tuesday's Guardian.

Earthquakes Versus Equality

riotgoy — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:23:17 -0600

On February 12th, Israel's High Court handed down a landmark decision permitting same-sex couples to adopt children. The first such ruling since a 2006 decision that the state must recognize same-sex civil marriages conducted abroad, the 2008 ruling has not failed to elicit criticisms from the usual religious quarters. As in the past, they have been fast and forthcoming.

What's different about them this time is the unique geological ammunition a recent 5.3 earthquake that shook Israel provided a leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party to frame his disapproval. "Why do earthquakes happen?" asked parliamentarian Shlomo Benizri? "One of the reasons," he answered, "is the things to which the Knesset gives legitimacy, to sodomy."

Citing the clear linkage between geological upheaval and homosexuality in the Gemara, the troubled Knesset member sounded every bit the Israeli version of an American-style Protestant fundamentalist, looking to such phenomena as though they are unambiguous signs of divine disapproval.

Irrespective of the anxiety the decision is causing members of the religious community, the decision is a welcome one to the 18,000 same sex couples reported to live in Israel. With over two thousand lesbian partnerships found to be raising children, for many supporters of the High Court's decision, it couldn't have come any sooner.

Rock the Casbah

riotgoy — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:15:34 -0600

In a renewed effort to win the hearts and minds of Iraqi civilians, American troops have been heard blasting Arabic language love songs from their Hummer patrol vehicles.

Basil Adas reports on the campaign in Wednesday's edition of Iraq Updates .

Baghdad Airport Attack

riotgoy — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:49:28 -0600

In one of the most telling signs that the insurgency is rebounding, a barrage of Katyusha rockets slammed into a complex housing workers at Baghdad's international airport today, leaving scores of casualties.

According to Middle East Online, five civilians were reported killed, and sixteen persons, including two US military personnel, were wounded. Following the strike, coalition and Iraqi forces arrested several suspects.

Call in the RIAA

riotgoy — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:57:18 -0600

In what amounts to one of the most flagrant instances of copyright infringement to hit the music industry in years, the Huckabee campaign is alleged to have used music by the band Boston without authorization.

Placing Huckabee's transgressions in the context of a primary season in which musical theft is increasingly common, Howie Klein paints a fascinating portrait of the continued importance of music to politics.

Resurrecting Stalin

riotgoy — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:16:45 -0600

Despite a reputation as one of history's most violent of tyrants, Gennady Zyuganov, the Presidential candidate of Russia's Communist Party, is busy rehabilitating the reputation of the former leader of the USSR. Der Spiegel's Uwe Klussmann reports.

Basic Facts About Pakistan's Elections

riotgoy — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:12:55 -0600

Who are the players are in today's polls? Why they are significant? The Guardian's Allegra Stratton provides a basic overview of Monday's voting in the populous south Asian nation.

Taking Obama Seriously

riotgoy — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:33:12 -0600

Barack Obama's recent successes in America's Democratic Party primaries are a sign of huge shifts taking place in US politics. In Thursday's edition of openDemocracy, Anthony Barnett helps explain why.

Hezbollah Leader Dead

riotgoy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:31:15 -0600

The second in command of Lebanon's vaunted Shi'ite militia, Hezbollah, was killed by a car bomb in Damascus earlier today.

One of the most wanted terrorist figures in the world, Imad Mugniyeh's assassination is considered an event of global political significance.

An AP report carried by Al Sharq Al Awsat was careful to note that the event could also be construed as a warning to the Damascus-based Hamas leadership, as well.

Back in the USSR

riotgoy — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:00:34 -0600

In an episode recalling the darkest days of the Cold War, according to the BBC, Russia is reported to have threatened to target the Ukraine if it joins NATO and permits the US to station an anti-missile system in the country.

Italian Electioneering

riotgoy — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:57:32 -0600

In an effort to turn back Italy's political clock, Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi made the banning of abortion a central theme of his 2008 election compaign today. According to ANSA, the ex-premier made his plans clear when Berlusconi announced he was creating his own 'pro-life' ticket for the April 13th poll.