Leonard Cohen's NOT Warm Welcome in Ireland

Thanks to my "Pro Pal-Pal" for the reminder:)

Nothing to shout "Hallelujah" about I'm afraid. I know so many people who have waited ages to hear Cohen perform here. His music is well loved in Ireland, but he made a bit of a mistake deciding on the Tel Aviv concert. So, instead of shouts of Hallelujah, he was met with protests instead:

Irish Central is reporting this closer to home:

Legendary artist Leonard Cohen is in for a bit of flak tonight in Belfast as Palestinian Supporters are expected to picket his concert at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

The protests are against the Canadian singer’s decision to hold a concert in Tel Aviv in Israel on September 24. Cohen’s original plan was to hold a concert in Tel Aviv and also hold a concert on the West Bank.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has also expressed its concern over the issue.

“The IPSC calls on Leonard Cohen not to visit Israel. We are calling on Cohen fans to use their influence with the singer not to break the growing boycott campaign against Israeli apartheid,” says the group on its website. The IPSC, which campaigns for justice for Palestinians by raising public awareness about the human rights issues, plans a leafleting campaign tonight with “Don’t Play in Israel,” flyers at the gig.

American Rabbis Protest For Palestine

On a roll here, another good story today. American Rabbis have called for a "Jewish Fast For Gaza" to take place on the 3rd Thursday of each month, from sunrise to sunset. The first is schedule for July 16th. They are condemning what they call "collective punishment" of the population of Gaza. God bless them for doing this:

A group of 13 American rabbis from across the religious spectrum has launched an initiative called ",Ta'anit Tzedek - Jewish Fast for Gaza," and plans on holding a mass water-only fast on the third Thursday of each month, lasting from sunrise to sunset.

The first such fast is scheduled for this Thursday, July 16.

Those behind Ta'anit Tzedek say seeks to end the Jewish community's silence over Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza. The initiative it is not affiliated with any organization or institution, but it counts Reform, Reconstructionist, Orthodox and Conservative rabbis amongst its numbers.

The inspiration for the scheme, led by rabbis Brian Walt, former executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America and Brant Rosen of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Illinois, is taken from the Jewish tradition of holding a communal fast in times of crisis. A fast can be both "an expression of mourning and a call to repentance," the group's Web site says.

Ta'anit Tzedek began with a commitment by a minyan of rabbis to engage in a fast to support relief efforts, call for a lifting of Israel's blockade of Gaza and support all efforts toward a substantive resolution to the humanitarian crisis there.

According to Rabbi Rosen, "we oppose the Israeli blockade of Gaza and realized that it was not fair to deny a person enough food to eat - it's just not basic human decency."

On the Web site, Rabbi Rosen declared, "We condemn Hamas's targeting of Israeli civilians," in reference to Hamas's shooting of rockets and mortars at civilians living in the South, but continued, "it is immoral to punish an entire population for the actions of a few… Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people in Gaza amounts to nothing less than collective punishment." source