Israel lobby « Previous Entries

Parsi: Israel would benefit from U.S. accommodation with Iran

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Here is a bit of sanity and reason from Trita Parsi. It has been excerpted here and there, but the only way to do it justice is to cut and paste the entire piece from Foreign Policy.
As I’ve noted before, there are perhaps 50 people in the world who have a sufficiently detailed […]

Newsflash: AIPAC (probably) isn’t pushing for an attack on Iran

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

I have read even more drivel than usual about AIPAC in the blogosphere these days, and thought I would explain a few things to those who have never attended an AIPAC Policy Conference.
First of all, AIPAC does not appear to be trying to prod the U.S. to bomb Iran. If it is, I have not […]

Obama, AIPAC and why we need a Middle East peace lobby

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Barack Obama had 7,000+ American Jews and non-Jewish friends of Israel eating out of his hand at the AIPAC Policy Conference yesterday morning. There was no political reason for him to disappoint Palestinians, the Arab world and the pro-Israel left by stating his commitment to an “undivided” Jerusalem. I have the highest hopes for […]

Don’t just sit there and complain about American policy. Help J Street

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

At long last, the urgently-needed “J Street” project has been officially launched. It has generated a great deal of media attention, much of it positive, but the most important story by far was in yesterday’s Washington Post:
Some of the country’s most prominent Jewish liberals are forming a political action committee and lobbying group aimed at […]

Aaron David Miller: The pro-Israel community has won, so stop “geshraying” already

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Aaron David Miller has a stirring piece in the LA Times that deserves to be quoted in full.
A note on my headline:”geshray” is Yiddish for “wail.” Other than that, believe it or not (is everyone sitting down? Get ready…), I have nothing to add! Nothing more needs to be said, as far as I’m […]

Announcing the “Fleshies”: awards for the best responses to anti-Semitism on the Web

Friday, March 7th, 2008

It is hard to convey the amount of bile and reductionist, blame-the-Jews-for-every-sin rhetoric that has taken over much of the blogosphere. Phil Weiss’s blog generally attracts some of the most articulate Jew-bashers, so I tune into the comments from time to time in order to gauge the level of hatred.
I just noticed some great […]

AB Yehoshua wants U.S. pressure and denounces the Israel lobby: Anything new here?

Monday, January 21st, 2008

Richard Silverstein’s Tikun Olam notes that Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua called for removing the U.S. ambassador to Israel and attacked America’s Israel lobby. But he missed a few nuances. I might be the only one in the universe who cares about these nuances, as they touch upon some of the work I’ve tried to […]

Suddenly, the two-state chorus grows louder, more diverse

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

Something seems to be brewing out there, something new. I’ve been doing Middle East peace work, on and off, since the mid-1980s. I have never heard so many people from so many different corners of America defying right-wingers (and ultra-left-wingers) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and saying the same things at the same time.
What do a […]

Heartwarming holiday surprise: Philip Weiss praises liberal Zionists and Israel Policy Forum

Saturday, December 8th, 2007

In a post that recounts an Israel Policy Forum dinner that I also attended (hat tip to Richard Witty), Philip Weiss describes his joy at discovering what has been available for years, waiting for him to encounter it: a community of American Jews who care about Israel, who consider themselves part of the Israel […]

Are pro-Israel doves part of the “lobby?”

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

Apologies for the recent lack of blogging activity. Too many work and family obligations, not enough hours in the day.
Last week, there was a dyspeptic attack on Americans for Peace Now by my friend Philip Weiss on his blog, MondoWeiss. (Check it out at http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2007/11/foreign-affairs.html). It deserves a belated response.
In taking on a […]

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