Aftershock – Memories of an Israeli soldier in the Occupied Territories

Think being a soldier is a good idea? Check out this video…

Avraham Burg: Israel’s new prophet

Avraham Burg: Israel’s new prophet?

Avraham Burg was a pillar of the Israeli establishment but his new book is causing a sensation. It argues that his country is an “abused child” which has become a “violent parent”. And his solutions are radical…

Good News According To Sahar Vardi

Israeli peace activist.

Eighteen-year-old Sahar Vardi is currently in an Israeli military prison. She is being punished for the crime of refusing to be conscripted into the Israeli military. 

A few weeks before her imprisonment she wrote Israel’s Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, explaining her decision to become a conscientious objector. “I have been to the occupied Palestinian territories many times, and even though I realize that the soldier at the checkpoint is not responsible for Israel’s oppressive policies, that soldier is still responsible for his conduct…” She summed up her letter to Barak with the following words: “The bloody cycle in which I live–made up of assassinations, terrorist attacks, bombings, and shootings–has resulted in an increasing number of victims on both sides. It is a vicious circle that is sustained by the choice of both sides to engage in violence. I refuse to take part in this choice.” 

While Vardi is the first woman to be imprisoned this year, she is part of a broader movement of Shministim, high-school seniors who refuse to be conscripted due to the military’s oppression of the Palestinians. Two other conscientious objectors, Udi Nir and Avichai Vaknin, were imprisoned earlier this month and a few others are likely to follow suit. 

Like many other Shministim, Vardi’s conscientious objection is also rooted in a wider pacifist position, which explains why she refused to wear a military uniform once imprisoned. The prison authorities are not sympathetic to such acts of defiance and immediately placed her in the isolation ward, which, according to existing reports, is a site of abuse. 

http://www.counterpunch.org/gordon08292008.html

Good News According To Samaritans

According to Samaritan tradition, Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of the Israelites from the time that Joshua conquered Canaan and the twelve tribes of Israel settled the land. The reference to Mount Gerizim takes us back to the biblical story of the time when Moses ordered Joshua to take the Twelve Tribes of Israel to the mountains by Shechem and place half of the tribes, six in number, on the top of Mount Gerizim, the Mount of the Blessing, and the other half in Mount Ebal, the Mount of the Curse. The two mountains were used to symbolize the significance of the commandments and serve as a warning to whoever disobeyed them

Good News According To Karaites (a Jewish sect)

The Karaites are a Jewish sect which does not recognize the authority of the post-Biblical tradition.

Most of the Karaites were of Egyptian origin.

Karaism is the only Jewish sect from the time of Jesus besides that of the Samaritans that still exists today. 

http://www.karaites.org

Good News According To Israel

Through Israel God gave the world holy scriptures which Jews, Christians and Muslims have all been influenced by.
Today, the people of Israel are once again making the “desert bloom”.

This is the Hebrew word בְּשׂוֹרָה which means good news, good tidings and in some cases the gospel.

come – http://www.nbn.org.il/index.php

Chaim Weizmann
Founder of modern Israel
One of Founding fathers of biotechnology