Hebrew University
The Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Humanities
Fellows
Tel Aviv University
The Lexicon for Political Theory research project at The Minerva Humanities Center
Fellows
Roy Wagner holds a Ph.D. in mathematics (1997) and a Ph.D. in philosophy (2007) from Tel Aviv University. He has publishes papers in mathematics, philosophy, history of mathematics, and critical theory. Wagner teaches in the Computer Science Department at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. In 2009 he published the book S(zp,zp): Post-Structural Readings of Gödel’s Proof. His project in the Lexicon group concerns the micropolitics of resistance from the margins. Relevant concepts include “state”, “resistance”, “definition”, and concepts related to various minorities.
Editorial Note
Deception and Double Standards
Dr. Roy Wagner (TAU, HUJ), has reached a new low in reporting on an incident in the ongoing protest against the separation fence in Bil'in, a Muslim village in the West Bank. Nowhere does Wagner mention the fact that the barrier was erected to protect Israelis within the Green Line from terrorist attacks that killed and wounded thousands. Even more hypocritical is the use of Christmas symbols to attract Christian support around the world. As Wagner tells it, the IDF met the two Santas who joined the protest with volleys of tear gas, a stark contrast between the theme of "peace on earth" that Christmas represents and the alleged brutality of the solders.
Wagner would have been more credible if he used the occasion to extend his concerns to the Christians in West Bank and Gaza. Under increasing assault by militant Islamism and endemic violence, the Christians have shrank to less than 1.7 of the population. Tens of thousands have been forced to flee to the West, abandoning their property and religious roots in the Holy Land. The situation is equally dire in the region where Christian communities dating to the time of Jesus have been almost wiped out or are under assault. Ironically, the much heralded "Arab Spring" made their plight worse, as the newly empowered Islamist parties try to impose Sharia law and chaos and violence threatens their physical existence.
Credibility, however, is not high on Wagner's agenda which, judging by his writings, is solely focused on denouncing Israel. He and other anti-Israel activists, would be well advised to direct some of this energy on analyzing the impact of Islamism and its singular brand of violence that created the separation fence in the first place.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Roy Wagner
To: againstwall againstwall
Sent: Friday, 23 December 2011, 22:04
Subject: [againstwall] Almost Xmas in Bli'in
Two days before Xmas day, almost 20 Israelis, a few internationals and two Santas joined the weekly Palestinian demonstration against the wall and occupation in Bil'in. With bells a ringin', we marched to the wall, and as soon as Santa touched the barbed wire (that protects the other barbed wire that protects the concrete wall that protects the Israeli snipers that protect the settlers watching over from the other side), before we could even chant "hura hura Falasteen", Santa and his entourage had a barrage of gas canisters shot directly at them, just barely failing to repeat the military achievement of killing a protester in Nebi Salah two weeks earlier. Due to a local wedding the shabab decided on a short demo and, with very few exceptions, refrained from throwing stones at the people who steal their lands and try to kill them, but this didn't prevent the army from shooting several more barrages of gas canisters directly at protesters, which, only by sheer chance or Xmas spirit, ended up whistling in their ears rather than crushing their skulls. After some exchange of insults with the settlers hiding behind the soldiers and a brief excursion between the barbed wire and the wall, the protesters returned home early, as planned, with a few iron poles appropriated from the fence as an early Xmas present courtesy of the Occupation.
יומיים לפני חג המולד, 20 ישראלים, כמה בינלאומיות ושני סנטה-ים הצטרפו להפגנה הפלסטינית השבועית נגד הגדר והכיבוש בבילעין. בדינדון פעמונים צעדנו לעבר החומה, וברגע שסנטה נגע בגדר התיל (שמגנה על גדר התיל השניה שמגנה על חומת הבטון שמגנה על הצלפים הישראלים, שמגנים על המתנחלים שצופים מהעבר השני), לפני שהספקנו אפילו לצעוק "חורה חורה פלסטין", סנטה וחבר מרעיו ספגו מטח של רימוני גז שנורו ישירות לעברם, בקושי מחמיצים שחזור של ההישג הצבאי של הרג המפגין בנבי סאלח שבועיים קודם לכן. בגלל חתונה מקומית השבאב החליטו על הפגנה קצרה, ומלבד יוצאים מהכלל בודדים, נמנעו מזריקת אבנים על האנשים שגונבים את אדמותיהם ומנסים להרוג אותם, אבל כל זה לא מנע מהחיילים לירות על מפגינים בכינון ישיר עוד מספר מטחים של רימוני גז, שרק במקרה, או בזכות רוח חג המולד, שרקו באזניהם בלי לרסק את גולגלותיהם. אחרי החלפת כמה עלבונות עם המתנחלים שהתחבאו מאחורי החיילים וסיורים קצרים בין גדרות התיל לחומה, המפגינים חזרו לכפר מוקדם, כמתוכנן, יחד עם כמה מוטות ברזל שהופקעו מהגדר כמתנת חג מולד מוקדמת מהכיבוש.
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Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2005)
Justus Reid Weiner
On the heels of the Gaza disengagement, which was intended to empower the Palestinian Authority to improve the lives of its people, few journalists have reported on the acutely trying times facing the Christians residing in areas "governed" by the Palestinian Authority. In his book, Professor Weiner, Scholar in Residence at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, provides an in-depth look into the nearly uninterrupted persecution of Christians throughout the decade since the Oslo peace process began.
Living amidst a xenophobic Muslim population plagued by endemic violence bordering on anarchy, the Christians have shrunk to less than 1.7 percent of the population in the Palestinian areas. “Tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad, while those who remain do so as a beleaguered and dwindling minority," Weiner said.
"Their plight is, in part, attributable to the adoption of Muslim religious law (Sharia) in the Constitution of the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, the Christians have been abandoned by their religious leaders who, instead of protecting them, have chosen to curry favor with the Palestinian leadership." Professor Weiner's book reveals and analyzes why this persecution - largely ignored by the international community, the media, and even the human rights organizations - has metastasized to the extent that it threatens the very existence of this 2000-year-old community.
Professor Weiner earned his Juris Doctor degree at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law and is a member of the Israel and New York Bar Associations. Weiner previously taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Boston University Law School. Currently he teaches courses on international and comparative law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His scholarship has appeared in leading law journals and intellectual magazines.
The full text of this JCPA Monograph is available for downloading in pdf format (1.4M). Click here.
http://www.jcpa.org/text/Christian-Persecution-Weiner.pdf
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