Josh Reubner

In pledging to trim ineffective spending, US President Obama declared that “there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects. All across America, families are making hard choices, and it’s time their government did the same.” By asking earlier this month for $2.775 billion in military aid to Israel in his FY2010 budget request, it would seem that on this important policy issue President Obama’s commitment is more rhetorical than substantive. Josh Reubner comments.

Today, two movements for the promotion of human rights in Sudan and Palestine seek to emulate the successful role played by boycotts, divestment and sanctions in achieving democracy and equality in South Africa. The two movements, however, have received radically different receptions on Capitol Hill. This double standard testifies to official Washington’s selectivity when it comes to promoting human rights around the globe and its tendency to overlook the faults of its allies while using human rights as a pretext to punish its adversaries. Josh Reubner comments.

Although I am a Jewish American, born and raised in the United States, I am also a citizen of Israel by virtue of my father’s birth in that country. Israel’s laws automatically confer citizenship on the children of citizens regardless of their place of birth. Like all other Jewish citizens of Israel, I am required to serve in the Israeli army. On Thursday I set fire to my Israeli military deferral papers across the street from the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. This act of civil disobedience took place during a protest organized by a Jewish American peace organization against the atrocities that Israel is committing in the occupied Gaza Strip. Josh Ruebner explains why.