Jazzman brings to our attention two notes by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center: Israel is destroying homes in Anata, "the 'Anathoth' that was the prophet Jeremiah's home town" ("Demolishing Homes in Jeremiah's Old Home Town," December 1, 2004); and Falluja, reduced to ruins by Washington, is "Pumbeditha, one of the great centers of Jewish learning 1800 years ago in 'Babylonia,' one of the centers where Talmud Bavli and Rabbinic Judaism were shaped" ("Falluja Is the Birthplace of the Talmud," December 1, 2004). Jazzman notes that what is being obliterated through such Israeli and American acts is not only Palestinian and Iraqi people and their homes but also Jewish history.
Jewish critics of the Israeli and American power elite are not unlike Jeremiah. They are, like Jeremiah, often mocked and reproached by everyone, but they keep speaking out for justice with the fortitude of the ancient prophet, because, if they don't speak out, there is in their hearts as it were a burning fire shut up in their bones, which they cannot hold in (Jeremiah 20:7-9).
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The modern state of Israel is based on the lie of zionism and a denial of the largely E. European heritage of Israel's Jews. It most certainly is in denial of that heritage, so why should it be interested in historical and archaelogical accuracy for the ME?
From Jazzman's blog Anti-Zionist Notes, I learned that there is "an israeli organization dedicated to changing the discourse in israel to be more inclusive of palestinian memory, with the aim of transforming israeli culture and politics" ("remembering palestine," November 27, 2004, http://jazzy48.blogspot.com/2004/11/remembering-palestine.html). It's called Zochrot, which according to Jazzman means "(we/you/they) remember." Zochrot's website is at http://www.nakbainhebrew.org/index.php?id=49&search_word=english.
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