[Marxism] The Romance of Birthright Israel
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Romance of Birthright Israel By Kiera Feldman clip - The seekers are young, just beginning to face the disappointments of adulthood. Their journey is often marked by tears. They may weep while praying at the Western Wall, their heads pressed against the weathered stone, or at the Holocaust Museum, as they pass the piles of shoes of the dead. Others tear up in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery, while embracing a handsome IDF soldier in the late afternoon light. But at some point during their all-expenses-paid ten-day trip to a land where, as they are constantly reminded, every mountain and valley is inscribed with 5,000 years of their people’s history, the moment almost always comes. When Julie Feldman (no relation), then 26 and a Reform Jew from New York City, arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in December 2008, she called herself “a blank slate.” She returned as the attack on Gaza was under way, armed with a new “pro-Israel” outlook. “Israel really changed me,” she said. “I truly felt when I came back that I was a different person.” It was mission accomplished for Birthright Israel, the American Zionist organization that has, since its founding in 1999, spent almost $600 million to send more than 260,000 young diaspora Jews on free vacations to the Holy Land. Birthright co-founder Charles Bronfman claims he just provides free airfare and lodging. “Then,” he says, “Israel does its magic.” Indeed, in 2009 Brandeis University researchers found that almost three-quarters of alumni describe their Birthright experience as “life changing.” “If you come here, and you connect to the origins of the Jewish people, the country that forged our existence, our faith, our values,” then–Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu promised in a 2008 Birthright video, “it’ll change your life forever.” Bronfman’s partner in founding Birthright, Michael Steinhardt, professes faith in Israel as “a substitute for theology.” Steinhardt understands that for a generation weaned on irony, Birthright could offer an opportunity for deep, wholehearted conviction. “My liberal arts education taught me that any distinct concept or ideal will crumble under the scrutiny of too many questions,” laments a recent college grad writing on her Birthright experience, which taught her “it was okay and even honorable to believe in the state of Israel, to adopt, so to speak, the settlers’ original dream.” Her Jewcy.com essay is hardly unique: Birthright has generated reams of effusive essays and blog posts over the years. full article - http://www.thenation.com/article/161460/romance-birthright-israel?page=fullutm_source=Mondoweiss+Listutm_campaign=9f686eb19b-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGNutm_medium=email Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Glenn Greenwald - Today in Endless War
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Today in Endless War By Glenn Greenwald - Tuesday, Jun 21, 2011 07:22 ET As usual, there are multiple events from just the last 24 hours vividly highlighting the nature of America's ongoing -- and escalating -- posture of Endless War: *(1)* In December, 2009, President Obama spoke at West Point and, while announcing his decision to (yet again) deploy more troops to Afghanistan, he assured the nationhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6705332/Afghanistan-Barack-Obama-sets-date-of-July-2011-to-begin-withdrawal.htmlin a much-heralded vow that after 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. He repeated that claim in May, 2010, prompting headlineshttp://articles.cnn.com/2010-05-12/politics/us.afghanistan.karzai_1_president-karzai-afghan-governments-afghanistan?_s=PM:POLITICSdeclaring that Obama has set July, 2011 as the target date for when withdrawal from Afghanistan will begin. Now we're less than two weeks away from that target, and *The New York Times* today makes clearhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/world/asia/21policy.html?_r=1hpwhat withdrawal actually means: President Obama plans to announce his decision on the scale and pace of troop withdrawals from Afghanistan in a speech on Wednesday evening . . . Mr. Obama is considering options that range from a Pentagon-backed proposal to *pull out only 5,000 troops* this year to an aggressive plan to withdraw within 12 months *all 30,000 troops* the United States deployed to Afghanistan as part of the surge in December 2009.. . . . Even after all 30,000 troops are withdrawn, *roughly 68,000 troops will remain in **Afghanistan**, twice the number as when Mr. Obama assumed office.* So even under the most aggressive withdrawal plan the President is considering -- one that he and media outlets will undoubtedly tout as a withdrawal plan (the headline on the *NYT* front page today: Obama to Announce Plans for Afghan Pullout) -- there will still be twice the number of American troops in that country as there were when George Bush left office and Obama was inaugurated. That's what withdrawal means in American political parlance: *doubling* the number of troops fighting a foreign war over the course of four years. *(2) *So frivolous and lawless are Obama's excuses for waging war in Libya in violation of the War Powers Resolution that they have provoked incredibly harsh condemnations even from those who typically defend the President. In *The Washington Post* today, Eugene Robinson aggressively denounceshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-novel-definition-of-hostilities/2011/06/20/AGrFhVdH_story.htmlObama's arguments for waging war without Congress: Let’s be honest: President Obama's claim that U.S. military action in Libya doesn’t constitute hostilities is *nonsense, and Congress is right to call him on it.* Blasting dictator Moammar Gaddafi’s troops and installations from above with unmanned drone aircraft may or may not be the right thing to do, but it's clearly a hostile act. Likewise, providing intelligence, surveillance and logistical support that enable allied planes to attack Gaddafi's military -- and, increasingly, to target Gaddafi himself -- can only be considered hostile. These are acts of war. Yet Obama, with uncommon *disregard for both language and logic*, takes the position that what we are doing in Libya does not reach the hostilities threshold for triggering the War Powers Act, under which presidents must seek congressional approval for any military campaign lasting more than 90 days. House Speaker John Boehner said Obama's claim *doesn't meet the straight-face test, and he's right*. . . . Most important, what are we doing there? Are we in Libya for altruistic or selfish reasons? Principles or oil? Assuming Gaddafi is eventually deposed or killed, then what? Do we just sail away? Or will we be stuck with yet another ruinously expensive exercise in nation building? There's also a moral question to consider. The advent of robotic drone aircraft makes it easier to wage war without suffering casualties. But without risk, can military action even be called war? Or is it really just slaughter? Afghan War advocate Andrew Exum similarly condemnshttp://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawama/2011/06/its-war.htmlObama's attempt to justify violation of the WPR as simply one of the stupidest things I've read in some time and -- echoing Robinson -- proclaims that it does not pass the laugh test. And in *The New York Times*http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/opinion/21Ackerman.html?ref=opinion, Yale Law Professor Bruce Ackerman explains that, through their lawyer-cherry-picking, the White House has shattered the traditional legal process the executive branch has developed to sustain the rule of law over the
Re: [Marxism] Zizek and Lady Gaga
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Is it my imagination or has Zizek become the Marshall McLuhan of Marxism? MATT. On 21 Jun 2011, at 11:18, marxism- requ...@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu wrote: Message: 9 Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:47:46 + From: Ben fogel benfo...@hotmail.com To: marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Subject: [Marxism] Zizek and Lady Gaga Message-ID: snt144-w3145defb1c2c6456b74f9bc1...@phx.gbl Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 It is all in the dialectic http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/marxist_muse_befriends_gaga_v3XXqED29kGoAf5bvJKPuM r5fPp4s --- 'In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.' Proclamation of Independence, 1916. 'The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.' Karl Marx, 1852. a.marx...@gmail.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Holt Labor Library Announcement: Labor Defender 1926-1927, on-line.
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Holt Labor Library (hll.org) is pleased to announce the completed digitizing of the first 2 years of LABOR DEFENDER, 1926 - 1927. The LD was the monthly pictorial of the International Labor Defense with dozens of photographs and drawings from the best labor illustrators of that era. Articles were written and edited by, variously, Upton Sinclair, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, James P. Cannon, Max Shactman, Carloline Scollen and Eugene V. Debs, among dozens of others. Thanks to the following individuals and institutions that made copies of the Labor Defender available and helped scan and process them for this archive: Dr. Marty Goodman of the The Riazanov Project, Rod Holt and David Walters from the The Holt Labor Library, and Tim Davenport of the Early American Marxism archive. The digital archive for the first 24 issues of this journal is located here: http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/index.htm Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Hoxha Lives On
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://marxistupdate.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-hoxha.html *On The Thought and Political Line of Enver Hoxha* *By Arlen Tracey* * * Enver Hoxha led the People’s Republic of Albania from the time of its inception in 1944, until his death in 1985. Of all the leaders who emerged in post-war Europe to lead “People’s Democracies” as fascism collapsed, only Enver Hoxha seem have had an ideological influence. But what is the ideology of Enver Hoxha? What made his teaching and world outlook separate from the likes of Khrushchev, Tito, Mao, and the others he subjected to constant polemical attacks? Why did an international develop around Enver Hoxha as never did around his contemporaries in Eastern Europe? What political differences cut Albania off, first from the USSR, and then from China? When one reads the work of Hoxha, and the publications of the Party of Labor of Albania, one can see a clear, unique interpretation of Marxism-Leninism. It has key distinctions from other schools of Marxist-Leninist thought. *The Value of Confrontation* When the Nazis and Italian fascists occupied Albania, this was the starting point of the revolution. Enver Hoxha turned a small sect of college radicals into a leading force of Anti-Fascist resistance. This then became a Guerilla Army. This then became a “Democratic Front”, which eventually became a Communist Party with a monopoly on power. The genius of Hoxha during the anti-fascist revolution was his ability to always be “one step ahead” of the Non-Marxist anti-Fascists. When Hoxha formed a Communist led national Anti-Fascist group, the liberals formed one as well. So, then Hoxha formed a Guerilla Army. The liberal, catching up, formed one of their own. Then Hoxha called a unifying Congress of the Anti-Fascists, to unite into a Democratic Front. The liberals, desperately trying to catch up, did this as well, with much less support. Unlike the Popular Front practiced by Earl Browder and various other western Marxist-Leninists, in which Communists surrender to the wishes of the liberals in order to have “class peace among democratic forces”, Hoxha used the Anti-Fascist war as a moment to expose and humiliate the liberals and capitalists. The Albanian Communists had no shame or fear in fighting the fascist as intensely as possible. The liberals of course, had many reservations, and were happy to compromise with the fascist elements. While his illegal, underground Communist party hid inside a “Democratic Front”, Hoxha used extreme anti-fascism to expose all other anti-fascist forces as worthless, and win hundreds of thousands into the ranks of his party. Hoxha used the Anti-Nazi struggle to fight two wars at once. He led Albania against the fascists, and he led the Anti-Fascist workers against the “democratic capitalists.” The battle went on inside hidden mountain caverns, secret meetings in basements and forests, and makeshift bunkers where he and his comrades were armed with smuggled Soviet Rifles. Doing this took a high level of political genius. Hoxha had his emotional ear to the ground, and could figure out exactly how to win the support of the population for his Guerilla War against the Nazis. No red army marched in to liberate Albania. It was Democratic Front of Albania, led by Hoxha and the Communists that drove out the Nazi invaders. Hoxha’s later speeches to his international followers flow with the same wisdom he used anti-fascist struggle. In late 1970s and 80s, Hoxha gave thundering lectures to his followers around the world, especially Europe and the United States. He urged them, mostly former Maoists, to not be ultra-leftists, campus radicals, or soap boxers like so many of the 1960s left, but to embed themselves among the people. The job of the Communist Party, according to Hoxha, was to keep its ear to the ground, find the areas ripe for conflict to arise, and then spark a confrontation. Hoxha warned his followers that in the 1980s the ground was not fertile for Marxist-Leninist agitation. It was time to win a base, like Hoxha had, by proving that those armed with the correct ideology, are the best armed in workers economic and democratic struggles. ( http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/marxist-leninist.htm ) *The Importance of the Working Class* The other theme that arises from the work of Enver Hoxha is the importance of the working class in the struggle for socialism. Hoxha, always one to be controversial and never shy with his words, addressed his followers in Ecuador proclaiming that Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a national hero and legend was “not a Communist.” Why did Hoxha make such an argument? He said that Guevara’s base of support was among the peasantry, and based on a program of land
Re: [Marxism] Zizek and Lady Gaga
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On 21.06.2011 20:30, Matt Kelly wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Is it my imagination or has Zizek become the Marshall McLuhan of Marxism? Apparently it's all a hoax: http://www.lefteyeonbooks.com/2011/06/slavoj-zizek-and-lady-gaga-arent-friends/! Einde O'Callaghan Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] RAC-LA Interview on Brazilian Anarchist Radio on Friday!
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == -- Forwarded message -- From: Cordel Libertário radiocordel-liberta...@hotmail.com mailto:radiocordel-liberta...@hotmail.com Date: 2011/6/21 Subject: PROGRAMAÇÃO DA SEMANA 22/06 e 24/06 To: PROGRAMAÇÃO DA SEMANA 22/06 e 24/06 Para esta semana a Rádio Cordel Libertário juntamente com as suas parcerias, continuara fazendo o debate sobre o anarco-feminismo e também sobre as iniciativas libertárias ao redor do mundo, por isso não deixem de escutar e participar da programação dessa semana. 22/06 - 4ªF: ENTREVISTA COM A MILITANTE Mabel (João Pessoa/PB) Iniciaremos a semana entrevistando a militante Mabel de João Pessoa/PB, o bate-papo será sobre o Anarco-feminismo, o espaço que 'colocam' as mulheres nesta sociedade, o machismo, enfim o tema será bem amplo sobre organização e ações feministas, por isso não podem deixar de participar e fomentar este tema tão pouco discutido em nossa sociedade e coletivos/organizações em geral. Venha contribuir 24/06 - 6ªF- Entrevista ao vivo com jenny e mauricio do movimento comunidades autônomas revolucionárias (R.A.C) de los angeles/EUA Nessa sexta-feira entrevistaremos Jenny e Mauricio integrantes do Movimento R.A.C (Comunidades Autônomas Revolucionárias) de Los Angeles EUA, nesse bate papo ela/e falara um pouco desse movimento e as atividades que promovem juntamente com a população imigrante dos EUA. Será uma boa oportunidade para quem quiser conhecer melhor sobre as iniciativas libertárias nos E.U.A, por isso não percam!!! Por isso não perca a programação desta semana! Faça parte desta Rede de Comunicação Libertária divulgando a programação para sua lista de e-mails e para toda sua rede social, e também se tiver algum contato ou conhecimento de algum Coletivo/Movimento Libertário/Anarquista existente, mande para a Rádio o e-mail, contribuindo assim de forma direta na programação e o fortalecimento deste meio de comunicação. LEMBRANDO * Transmissão ao Vivo: 21:10 * Reprise no dia seguinte: 09:00 * Reprise das Transmissões da Semana nos Finais de Semana: 20:00 OBS: Lembrando que durante essas transmissões ao vivo as/os ouvintes poderão participar ativamente da programação, por meio de perguntas e reflexões através do chat presente no blog, ou mesmo AO VIVO. Quem quiser acompanhar/escutar as entrevistas que já ocorreram, elas já estão disponíveis no blog na página PROGRAMAS ANTERIORES. SAUDAÇÕES LIBERTÁRIAS Rádio Cordel Libertário A Rádio que Valoriza e Respeita a Liberdade e a Diversidade! radiocordel-libertario.blogspot.com radiocordel-liberta...@hotmail.com mailto:radiocordel-liberta...@hotmail.com orkut: Rádio Cordel Libertario Facebook: Cordel Libertário Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism-Thaxis] Fw: Fw: Solidarity needed with striking Palestinian workers of the salitQuarry!
- Original Message - From: Roni Ben Efrat To: o...@netvision.net.il Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 2:23 PM Subject: Solidarity needed with striking Palestinian workers of the salitQuarry! WAC-Maan palestinian workers Workers organized in WAC- Maan insist: No work without an agreement (See about solidarity below) by wac On June 16, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (a settlement area east of Jerusalem) began a general strike. The workers, organized with the independent Union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. The strike began after the workers and the union approved a draft agreement, while the management tried to take advantage of the opposition of a small number of more privileged workers in order to break the union and avoid the agreement. WAC and the workers demand that the agreement be signed immediately. If the agreement is not signed, the strike will continue. For full article: http://www.wac-maan.org.il/en/article__200 Photo by: Noam Frankfurter The Palestinian workers in Salit Quarry need your support! You can send an email to the quarry and block their mail with messages of support to the workers. Send mails to the General Manager Mr. Hezi Soroka Send mails also to Mr. Natan Natanzon chair of board of Salit please send us a copy to You can also donate to a strike fund: WAC does not have a strike fund. We do not know how long the strike will last but we would like to have some emergency funds to give the workers in case the strike continues for over a week. If money will arrive after the strike ends it will be put in a special strike fund for future struggles. Our bank account Name of bank: Bank Leumi Branch: 801 Name of Account holder: Workers Advice Center - Ma'an Account: 101-537704 Address: Jerusalem boulevard # 1, Jaffa (Tel: 972-3-5120333) Swift Code: LUMIILITTLV IBAN: IL03010801001537704 Roni Ben Efrat (Ms) Tel Work: 972-3-5373271/ or 268/ or 28 Mobile: 972-504-330038 E-mail: r...@hanitzoz.org.il E-mail private: o...@netvision.net.il Skype: roni.ben.efrat 57 Year Old Mom Looks 27! Mom Reveals $5 Wrinkle Trick That Has Angered Doctors! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4e007e38580e0115551st02vuc ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
