Ethan Bronner celebrates Tel Aviv

"Tel Aviv is, in fact, the most politically liberal city in Israel and offers a sharp contrast to the spirit of religious conservatism that informs Jerusalem. It votes to the left and looks to Europe. Many inhabitants yearn for nothing more than to live the life of a hot Mediterranean city, to be, say, the Barcelona of the Middle East and forget the conflict a dozen miles away." Oh, so we need to praise Tel Aviv because its residents vote for Labor wars and invasions as opposed to Likud wars and invasions, although--to be fair--the Israeli public favors wars and invasions no matter whether they are perpetrated by Labor or Likud. And most importantly, the city basically swamped and overwhelmed BY FORCE the city of Jaffa. And the residents of the city are part of the invading population that displaced the native population and then fought in Israeli wars and benefited from the race-ethnic privileges of the usurping entity. And notice that Bronner refers to Nakbah displacement as "a reference to Palestinians who fled in the 1948 war." Even racist and rightwing Israeli historians, like Benny Morris, don't use this language of Bronner. They concede that at least a part of them were forcibly and violently kicked out. But Bronner wants you to forget all that because Tel Aviv has Tapas bars. And please: lest you get too proud of this colonial settlement, Lebanon has "The King of Potatoes" restaurant in Hamra and it has cities, like the AbuKhalil's birthplace, Tyre, that can celebrate their 5000 year anniversary. But it is amazing how much American Zionists struggle to find occasions to celebrate Israel and to concoct achievements for it. Tomorrow, Ethan Bronner will celebrate the use of blenders in Israel. (thanks Olivia)

PS And here is a report by Max Blumenthal on Tel Aviv.