Week in Review

Among younger Israelis, ignorance prevails. Studies over the past two decades have found that most university students could not identify the occupied territories, that a majority of Jewish eleventh and twelfth graders failed to correctly answer “What is the Green Line?” (Israel’s pre-1967 boundary), and that less than half of Jewish primary and secondary school teachers were capable of answering the same or listing the major wars Israel has fought.

Joined many thousands at No Kings Day in Oakland.

Other good signs:

Make 1948 fiction again.

Don’t make me repeat myself-

History

“Israel’s national doctors’ union has refused to carry out lethal injections, so those convicted will face death by hanging.”

Appalling.

Book reading at Enso Village, a zen inspired retirement community in Healdsburg California. 64 people attended, sold 16 books. Very well received. My experiences resonated with so many of the women and some men in the group. Reading provoked lively conversations. And they loved my poetry. Would love to do more readings. Recommendations appreciated.

Human rights groups condemned a new Israeli law targeting Palestinian prisoners with the death penalty as a possible war crime and “deeply discriminatory.’ Meanwhile, Israeli ministers celebrated the law’s passage with champagne on the Knesset floor.

What could possibly go wrong? Everything. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, announced on 3/9 that the 300,000 residents of all Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem will now be eligible to apply for personal firearm licenses. Ben-Gvir urged residents to obtain firearms, and claimed that “a weapon in the hands of responsible citizens,” is important in responding to “terrorism and crime incidents.”