There is apparently only one way of getting New York State’s elected representatives out of office—they have to be indicted or the focus of a scandal. The fall of Sheldon Silver is not quite a Shakespearean tragedy, but it is riveting nonetheless. For twenty years he was probably the most powerful person in the state government, the speaker of the state assembly, remaining in place as a revolving door of five different governors came and went, the most resolute of the legendary “three men in a room” (along with the senate majority Leader and the governor) the three deities who actually determined what happened in New York State. And in 6 days, all of his power was gone. On the good side: he was generally a good liberal, and generally fought for good liberal causes. He will be missed. On the bad side: ideology is relatively unimportant in New York State politics. It’s a matter of who gets what from whom and how. And in this, Silver was the incarnation of how constricted, how sclerotic, how undemocratic New York State government has become. read more

Shopkeepers in Hebron now address me respectfully as ‘Amti, or “Auntie”—a title that means I am not elderly, but well, matronly. And it means that I have worked in Hebron for a full generation—twenty years, minus the five that the Israeli government decided to deny me entry into Palestine.

In 1995, my organization, Christian Peacemaker Teams, responded to an invitation from the Hebron Municipality to address  the violence of the Hebron settlers in the Old City for a period of five months beginning in June . At the time, people believed there was a realistic chance Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin would remove the Hebron settlers and an actual plan existed to redeploy the Israeli military from Hebron at the end of the summer. read more

Republican leaders came to Washington last week to do the people’s business. They were rightly energized by the elections and animated by the fact that they now have a comfortable majority in both houses of congress.

The House of Representatives chose as its first piece of legislation a bill to criminalize most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. They hoped to have the vote to restrict self-ownership on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade on January 22, 2015. The Republican bill failed because women within its own ranks said, “No.” read more

Narrative of a Trip to Israel and the West Bank: IV Hebron
Peter Eisenstadt

The highlight and lowlight of our time in Israel was definitely the scalding day we spent in Hebron, the most populous city in the West Bank, and the only one with settlers in the middle of the city. If you’re not a settler, the only way to get into downtown Hebron is on a roundabout, twisting and turning road. Our taxi got lost, though Kathy found the way. She has spent much time in Hebron as a member of an NGO that seeks, non-violently, to interpose itself between the IDF and the city’s residents, and document the daily violence exacted on Palestinians in Hebron, and we were staying at the NGO’s apartment. We arrived at their apartment, at the end of a street that has been barricaded and surrounded by barbed wire by settlers, blocking access to Hebron’s main thoroughfare, Shuhada Street. It is near the central poultry market of Hebron. Most of the dealers, save one, have left, but at least one brave rooster remained to wake me up (and I hoped, a few of the settlers on the other side of the wall) around 3 AM. read more

Signs of Hope for Peace and Social Justice in Israel on MLK Day

A Million Hands for Peace, an unaffiliated citizens’ organization in Israel for peace and social justice has come up recently with two major campaign goals: to encourage citizens’ participation in the coming elections in Israel and to put pressure on political parties to commit to achieving an agreement with Palestinians for two states for two people and to take immediate measures to reduce the highest ever social disparity in Israel and an out of control soaring cost of living. read more