Morrissey: A fan of Israel Morrissey, perennial lovelorn crooner and former Smiths frontman, recently announced his plans to play the Heatwave Festival in Tel Aviv July 29th. He broadcast the announcement from Los Angeles where he sported what looks like a Sharpie tattoo of the word Israel written in Hebrew on arm. “God bless Israel, stay nice,” he said and did some kind of half salute and blew a kiss to the camera.

While Israeli Moz fans are understandably excited, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) threw a fit. They feel the famously outspoken activist is betraying his ethics by playing “despite [Israel’s] colonial and apartheid reality.”

You may be forgiven for thinking that the PACBI was just looking for something to complain about on a slow news day, but you’d be wrong. PACBI are such die-hard Moz fans that they scrapbooked some lyrics from “This is Not Your Country” to the press release. The PACBI also paraphrased the original lyrics, “One child shot, but so what?” into “One Palestinian child shot, but so what?”

We suspect PACBI is just annoyed that Morrissey is limiting his Middle East performances to Israel. Back in January, British music rag NME reported that Morrissey was in talks with the government of Iran to play a Tehran concert this year, and follow up with a region tour. The only announcement since, though, has been Moz’s tattooed Tel Aviv love-in. Even the most patient Smiths fanatic is bound to get hot under the collar at missing a chance to see the pompadoured rock star live. If he wants to keep his West Bank fan club, he better schedule a show for Nablus stat. Fair is fair.

Thanks, Moishe, Shlomo, and Shmuel!Over at Haaretz today, I read that El Al has settled its dispute over whether or not to fly on Shabbat.  Which is nice and all... even though I didn't know it was happening.  It's always nice when agreements can be reached.  Here's the gist:

The agreement signals an end to an unofficial boycott of El Al, which has led to losses of about NIS 1 million a day, according to an official at Israel's national carrier.

The agreement stipulates that El Al will appoint a rabbi to rule on instances of a perceived need for flights on the Sabbath. El Al has also committed to adhere to its general policy of not flying on the Sabbath.

It's funny, but I never even considered this issue.  I'm such an American that when I read the headline, my reaction was, "That's CRAZY!  Religious fanatics shouldn't be able to control the world like that.  But then I got to thinking about how important the fringes are, for protecting our array of choices in the comfortable pluralistic middle we inhabit. 

I thought about how, smack-dab in the middle of the bible belt, I was able to request a kosher meal when I was in the hospital delivering my son.  About how I was then able to submit the bill for my mohel, after we had the circumcision at home, to Blue Cross. 

And I realized that those aren't issues I'd boycott or scream over...  because I don't think about them much, and if I had to eat a veggie plate instead, or eat the bill for a few hundred dollars, I'd do it, rather than making a fuss about my religious freedoms. 

But I'm grateful that the fringes care enough to fuss, and I benefit from their efforts, even though they seem a little nutso to me.  And this all makes me wonder about where I really stand...  It makes me think I'm at least as lazy and uncomitted...

as they are fanatical.

So who am I to judge?