Too Many Things to Write About, None of Them Good

Where to begin, where to begin?

Newsflash no. 1 - On today's Channel 2 Morning Show, the hosts interviewed an ultra Orthodox rabbi who talked about the reasons why Jewish men should be allowed to be married to more than one wife, simultaneously, and that it does not even go against Jewish law (halacha). [see the following link for details -  http://yourjewishnews.com/8481.aspx ] According to the rabbi, one of the main reasons given for this endorsement, which has been circulating in ultra Orthodox circles for a few years is, of course, that this is a super solution to the 'demographic problem'. Ya'ani, since the Arabs have a higher birthrate than the Jews, and since according to Islamic law, a man can marry up to 4 wives, thus increasing the number of children, let's fight their wombs with our wombs

Newsflash no. 2 - Former President Katsav, who was found guilty of rape and sexual assault, and sentenced to real jail time, is now being further investigated since there is good reason to believe that he instructed his private investigators to harrass witnesses in his trial (for this second piece of good news and governance, see the link from this afternoon's Ha'aretz
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/katsav-s-private-investigators-suspected-of-harassing-witnesses-in-his-rape-trial-1.372661 ). A rapist, a manipulator, a harrasser, an obstructer of justice. Go Pres!

Newsflash no. 3 - Today Israel almost voted on a new law that would make it illegal for citizens of our democracy to partake in a cultural, academic, material boycott of the settlements in the Occupied Territories. That is correct: citizens (like me - gulp) could be fined and/or sent to jail for publicly condoning the Occupation. In response to the proposed law, Knesset's legal adviser noted early this afternoon that perhaps the Boycott law would not be such a good idea for a democratic country since it harms freedom of speech [for details see this article from Haaretz that came out earlier this morning -
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-set-to-vote-on-controversial-law-outlawing-boycotts-1.372555]

Well okay - perhaps a light at the end of the tunnel with newsflash no. 3... unless, of course, the proposers of the law decide to push it forward next week...

So today's news leaves us with the following current state of affairs in Israel:
Jewish men should be able to marry more than one wife to keep the Palestinians at a disadvantage and our former President was so noble that he didn't only rape and sexually assault women who were working for him but also tried to divert justice by harrassing witnesses and we (the few of us left on the left, or those of us who may not abide the Occupation of another people) may be fined and/or go to jail for publicly announcing that we think the oppression of another people is wrong and take a stand against all Israeli activities over the Green Line.

What a nice day for forward thinking, democracy and justice!

But all may rest assured - it is now official. The 'fly-ins', who wanted to protest the Occupation and the siege on Gaza, have been returned to from whence they came. We can now all breathe deep sighs of relief that we are, once again, secure in our very democratic and egalitarian country that believes fully in women's rights, non-violence, and the right to hold an opinion different than the governments.

I will be sleeping very soundly tonight.
For sure.