The Jerusalem-based watchdog organization NGO Monitor sharply criticized a large German foundation on Wednesday for funding left-leaning online magazine +972 .
Heinrich Böll Stiftung, a German think-tank affiliated with the Green Party, provided 6,000 euros to the magazine, which uses Israel’s international calling code number as its title.
Professor Gerald Steinberg, head of NGO Monitor, told The Jerusalem Post that “Heinrich Böll’s decision to support +972 fulfills no humanitarian purpose and does not foster peace and mutual understanding.”
To say that 972 doesn’t foster peace and understanding shows how out of touch Steinberg is. Anyone who reads 972 regularly (as everyone should), will know that their correspondents are more committed to peace than the average, typically ambivalent Israeli. They’re working, day in, day out, trying to change minds. Yes, in the Diaspora, but also in their communities in Israel.
972 might be “biased” — they’re left-wing and not ashamed. They’re not scared to voice their opinion. They’re putting themselves out there. They’re not trying to be a objective news outlet, they’re trying to supplement traditional news outlets with partisan commentary. But, good on them. That’s what we need. They see the world, see changes that need to be made, and are trying to make them. If a German foundation wants to fund that, good on them! If someone wants to fund NGO Monitor and their crusade against freedom of speech in Israel, I disagree with them, but that’s their prerogative.
When writing my last post, I got thinking about a great scene from the West Wing, where Sam Seaborn schools a few of his fellow Democratic staffers on the rich and taxes:
Here’s the thing Sam doesn’t tell you, which is the point I was trying to make before: the average super-wealthy American (or Australian, for that matter) isn’t actually paying the fair share of himself and 26 others. There are so many loopholes and exceptions built-in by lawmakers over the years, that their effective rate is much lower. Mitt Romney should be paying 30%-odd, but instead pays 15%-odd. That’s just not right.
Jon Stewart asks: ”How in the world, do you, Mitt Romney, justify making more in one day than the median American family makes in a year, while paying the same effective tax rate as the guy who has to scan your shoes at the airport?” Responding to a clip where Romney says “I don’t think you want a candidate who pays more taxes than he owes,” Stewart replies, “No, but you might want one who thinks that’s wrong.” He then goes on to lambast Romney for being part of the lobbying effort to keep the tax rates of his private equity fund at 15%, rather than raising it to 35%, which to me sounds a lot more like a “fair share”.
Brilliantly funny, as always, from Israeli sketch comedy TV show “Eretz Nehederet”. I also love Bradley Burston’s description of the skit as “portraying Birthright Israel participants as sweetly loutish, cluelessly hyper insta-Zionists.”
UPDATE: It seems the video on YouTube as been disabled. You can go instead to this video, and scroll to 39:50. No English subtitles though, sorry. It’s on Vimeo now, so I re-added the video.
According to Egyptian writer Bassem Sabry, not only is it entirely expected that Egyptians would vote for the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties, we shouldn’t be alarmed by it. “It is time for the critics to stop haranguing Egyptians for voting the way they did, realize that their vote was only a logical and expected result of all conditions considered, and instead focus on the core of what the democratic process is all about: how the wider array of Egyptian political parties can learn to positively and constructively better compete for the votes and betterment of the lives of Egyptians.”
Great feature from the Economist on the state of the Israeli hi-tech scene: Israelis innovate because they have to. The land is arid, so they excel at water and agricultural technology. They have little oil, so they furrow their brows to find alternatives. They are surrounded by enemies, so their military technology is superb and creates lucrative spin-offs, especially in communications. The relationships forged during military service foster frenetic networking [...]
Akiva Eldar in Ha’aretz: “A Jewish minority in enlightened countries cannot identify with a country that passes racist laws, persecutes human rights groups and besmirches the press. Some lovers of Israel have found a way to preserve their connection to the country by supporting groups that defend Israeli democracy.” In Australia, as Eldar says, that’s NIF.
Commenting on my previous post, my old friend Gareth pointed me in the direction of this fantastic podcast from American public radio titled “Mr. Daisey and the Apple factory”. As horrible as these sweatshops are, they do ultimately improve things. The podcast quotes Paul Krugman: “It is the indirect and unintended results of the actions of soulless multinationals and rapacious local entrepreneurs. It is not an edifying spectacle, but no matter how base the motives of those involved, the result has been to move hundreds of millions of people from abject poverty to something still awful, but nonetheless significantly better.”
I'm Liam Getreu, a blogger from Melbourne, Australia. I hold a Bachelor of Arts (Middle East Studies) from Deakin University and am a former national chairperson of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS). I also am a current board member of New Israel Fund Australia and a monthly columnist for the Australian Jewish News.
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