Resources and Articles by Egon Friedler

The El-Aqsa Intifadah:  A Certain Tendency to Choose Disaster
The Palestinians are finally beginning to understand that the use of violence in the El-Aqsa Intifadah has not brought them the results that they had hoped for. And now, other voices are beginning to be heard, voices which tout moderation and political reason, and shatter the solid consensus within the Palestinian Autonomy. The price that the Palestinians have had to pay for their faulty political reasoning has been dear-since the beginnings of the Intifadah, many of their illusions have been destroyed, and no end is in sight. [Full article...]
Peace Process > Terrorism
Peace Process > The Palestinians

Jewish Culture:  Heine:Father of Secular Judaism
A new book which details the life of one of the great poets of German Romanticism, offers a new angle on Heine's conflictual attitude towrds his own Judaism and to Jews in general. This poet, who did not return to Judaism, since he claimed to never have abandoned it,was an involuntary forefather of the Emancipation: he paved the way for secular Judaism. [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions > Poetry
Judaism > Streams of Judaism
People > 1789-1860: Haskala (Emancipation)

The Al Aqsa Intifada:  The Eternal Disaster (An apocryphal letter that might as well be authentic)
The Palestinians have triumphed in the important battle over world public opinion, and have succeeded in hardening Arab attitudes towards Israel. The price, however, may well prove to have been far too high. Following the substantive gains obtained by the PLO when it exchanged terrorism for diplomacy, the return to violence may condemn the Palestinians to a permanent tragedy. [Full article...]
Peace Process > The Palestinians

Points of view:  The Sacrifice of Isaac: The Palestinian Version
For the author of this article, the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence is dictated by hatred of a brand not easily comprehended in the more developed world. If the Palestinians only had their way, then a new Eichman would be most welcome, ending the lives of six million Jews-this time concentrated in the same country. [Full article...]
Peace Process > Terrorism
Peace Process > The Palestinians

Rationalism Fights for its Rightful Place:  Effective Anti-Self Delusion Antidote
In a world that appears to be hovering on the brink of insanity, where technological sophistication and a veritable supermarket of spiritual values bicker over our hearts and minds, Reason, that long discredited value, may offer us a way out of the quagmire. Such is the point of view of Sherwin Wine, standard-bearer for North American secular and humanistic Judaism. His latest book "How to Remain Sane While Everyone Around You Is Going Crazy," hies to this logical line. [Full article...]
Judaism > Streams of Judaism

The Late, Great Professor Leibovitz:  Letting Leibovitz Speak for Himself
Professor Yeshayahu Leibovitz was one of the most controversial figures whom I interviewed in my nearly three decades of journalism. And he literally victimized me; it was as though we were acting the sado-masochistic roles of professor and student in Ionesco’s play "The Lesson".Leibovitz answered me well enough, but he did so in explosive tones. He pontificated rather than lectured; envisioned rather than conversed; and he broke all the polite bounds of academic courtesy. And at the slightest hint of disagreement, his intellectual airs made it clear that I was an imbecile…any other explanation for not parroting his opinion was impossible.But truth be told, this most implacable of all of the critics of the Israeli establishment (including several confrontations with Ben-Gurion), played his role to the hilt. Biochemist and philosopher, born in Riga and educated in Germany, arriving in Israel in 1934, deeply Orthodox and radically left-wing, is considered by many in Israel to have been a true genius. Reader, be warned: he spares no one…….. [Full article...]
Jewish History > 1948-Today: Modern Zionist Age
Zionism > Post-Zionism

Jewish Thought     :  The Creed of a Secular Jew
s it possible to be a proudly committed Jew and not believe in God? According to Uruguayan Jewish journalist Egon Friedler it definitely is. Self-definition of one’s own Judaism and creative awareness of Jewish culture are the key. Special attention is paid to the issue of anti-democratic elements in Jewish society who would destroy the pluralism necessary for over-all Jewish survival. [Full article...]
Judaism > Jewish Identity
Judaism > Streams of Judaism

Propaganda and manipulation:  Between Palestine and South Africa
The mere insinuation that there can be any kind of similarity between the former apartheid regime in South Africa and the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians over the same territory, is absolutely abominable. And the comparison is rendered even more crude when a buffoon such as Arafat is compared with a leader of Nelson Mandela's stature. Perhaps the world media is becoming a bit less susceptible to these chronic liars. [Full article...]
Anti-Semitism