People are demonstrating all over the world to protest what is happening in Israel. Click here for the list of all the protests on Saturday, March 25 & Sunday, March 26.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN ME ON SUNDAY, MARCH 26 AT THE SAN FRANCISCO PROTEST, PLEASE MEET ME IN FRONT OF THE ASIAN ART MUSEUM, 200 LARKIN ST. AT 1:50pm.
VERY BRIEFLY, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN ISRAEL: The criminal prime minister and right-wing forces are working in concert to destroy the country's democracy. The centerpiece of this destruction is overhauling the Israeli Supreme Court so that it is no longer politically independent. Israelis have been gathering in huge protests that are growing and growing. Now they are calling on the world for support.
Of course you can make all kinds of criticisms of Israel and point out how flawed its democracy is NOW. Certainly the same thing can be said about the U.S.
SOMETIMES THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE CAN DO IS STOP SOMETHING TERRIBLE FROM HAPPENING.
There will be protests in San Francisco and New York and Amsterdam and Barcelona and Cambridge and many more places.
The crucial votes in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, will be taken early next week, so.... THIS WEEKEND IS THE TIME.
If you are a feminist, come to protest against the threat to women's equality from the ultra-religious. If you support a two-state solution to the issue of the Palestinians, come to protest to keep that possibility alive.
Click here for the list of all the protests on Saturday, March 25 & Sunday, March 26
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN ISRAEL, IN MORE DETAIL, AS EXPLAINED BY MY ISRAELI FRIEND:
Israel’s Judicial Overhaul Saga
Chapter 1. The Perfect Storm
The 25th Knesset (Israeli parliament) elections in November 2022, a fifth election within 3 years, resulted in a perfect storm for the BB – Israel’s returning Crime Minister - to escape jail. The left bloc lost 6 or 7 seats due to splintering into small parties that did not pass the threshold to enter. The right and far right voters were fully engaged while the left bloc voters were cynical, disenchanted, and suffered from elections fatigue. With lost seats and unequal participation the right bloc ended up with 64 seats out of 120. The BB was at the head of the biggest party – his new Likud, and was appointed by the President to form a government. He ganged up with the messianic settlers from the far right, and with the ultra-religious, to form a ruling coalition. Only weeks later, the plan for “a judicial overhaul” was revealed. Note: Israel does not have three independent branches of government because the legislature and executive branches are combined (people vote only for the legislature and the government is derived from it). Only the judicial branch is independent, and it provides the only check-and-balance system in the State. Moreover, Israel does not have a constitution; efforts to write one were systematically thwarted by religious forces. Thus, no law is set in stone, but some Basic Laws are harder to change.
Chapter 2. A Three-Prong Attack
The current government is in the middle of a three-prong attack on the essence and the citizens of Israel. First, the BB wants to choose his own judges - those who will not send him to jail for corruption. Therefore he assembled a demolition Crew to “overhaul” the Court. Mr. Levin (the minister of justice) and his mates will happily oblige, give the government total power to select justices, and legislate to dismantle all the power of the Supreme Court. Second, Levin et al are happy to destroy the Court because of their own agenda, which the Court has continuously curtailed: they want to kill the two-state solution forever and to annex the entire west bank. Levin has been working on his plan for decades and now he finally has the power to implement it, so he is not stopping to listen, look, talk, or change course. Third, BB’s coalition also depends on the Haredim (ultra religious) and other prophets for their votes, and their agenda is to turn Israel into a theocracy where all citizens are forced to live under 10th-century Jewish law and where women and non-Jews are not people.
If this attack succeeds and the proposed legislation passes, the BB will be safe on his dictator’s chair with absolute power, the Palestinians will “be dealt with” by hateful criminals, and Israeli’s freedom and human rights will be lost.
Chapter 3. First a Valium-Laced Salami, then the Cascade
There are 126 suggested laws out there and the Crew is advancing them in a well-choreographed sequence, mixing disastrous with trivial with just-annoying; they are creating a smokescreen, trying to sneak the critical moves in a devious way, and hope no one will notice. Once they control the Court, they will reveal more “changes” and legislate to control free speech, civil rights, elections, and Israeli history itself. But we do notice.
Here is a small selection from the first batch: A. “dictatorship laws”, e.g., composition of the justices appointment committee will give control to the coalition; Court’s ability to strike illegal laws will be curtailed; etc. B. “corruption laws” e.g., nivtzarut (PM cannot be incapacitated for crimes, only for health issues); matanot (elected officials can receive gifts from anyone for legal/health expenses); “Der’i2” (convicted criminals can now serve as ministers); and many more. C. “crawling religiosation laws”, e.g., hok ha’chametz (no levened bread into hospitals during Pesach [now “softened” to allow hospital managers to decide]); permanent and legal exemption of Haredim youth from military service; nationalization of municipal taxes to support poor Haredim cities; and more.
A parallel attack has already begun, conducted by new government ministers appointed by the BB as his payment for their votes, and they have their own agendas. A convicted arsonist is now telling the police to trample demonstrators with horses, arrest them, and spray them with stench guns. A minister wants his minions to control the National Library at the Hebrew University, where the history of the State of Israel is safely archived; their agenda is to re-write history. I have given only two examples; this list is getting longer every day.
The protest movement is getting wider, bigger, and much more creative every day; Israel is now awake and the BB and his gangs will fail.
Click here for the list of all the protests on Saturday, March 25& Sunday, March 26.
LET'S SUPPORT ISRAELI DEMOCRACY! I HOPE, IF MY OWN COUNTRY IS EVER IN SUCH A CRISIS, THE WORLD WOULD PROTEST TO SUPPORT US!
MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE HOLIDAY, PESACH (aka PASSOVER) IS APPROACHING. EVERY YEAR, WE SAY IN THE SEDER: No one can be free until everyone is free! LET'S NOT TAKE A GIANT STEP BACKWARDS!
Click here for the list of all the protests on Saturday, March 25 & Sunday, March 26.
ALL FOR NOW, BLOGGELLINIS. I HOPE TO SEE SOME OF YOU ON SUNDAY. TERRY | 
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