Israel
« Previous Entries Next Entries »
Is a blockade of Iran an “act of war?”
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
MJ Rosenberg, just alerted me to his latest post in TPM Cafe. The headline:”169 House Members (77 Dems) Push For WAR NOW with Iran.”
Alarming. But is it alarmist?
MJ, an American hero (I mean that!), is concerned about House Resolution 362 and S. Res. 580. I described the House bill in my previous post, as […]
Newsflash: AIPAC (probably) isn’t pushing for an attack on Iran
Thursday, June 12th, 2008I 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, 2008Barack 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 […]
From Rabbi Don Quixote: Why the new Middle East peace lobby has a chance
Monday, May 26th, 2008The scoffers are coming out of the woodwork. After all the hoopla over the new J Street project, in separate conversations, two friends have expressed skepticism about the Jewish peace camp’s ability to offer more than token resistance to AIPAC’s lobbying juggernaut.
AIPAC has 100,000 members and its operating budget is somewhere between $40-50 […]
An obscene bill would make Arabic a “secondary” language in Israel
Monday, May 19th, 2008Last Friday, I spent the morning at a planning session with the most courageous, inspiring and sensible Israelis I have ever met: the leaders of Givat Haviva, which has been fighting the battle for coexistence and equality between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel for decades.
At a time when the social and economic gaps […]
Will the next generation figure out how to deal with the “Right of Return?”
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008Last Monday evening, I decided not to give up hope for peace in the Middle East. Every honest person involved in this issue needs to consciously make that decision from time to time, even when there is almost no rational basis for hope. The Italian communist, Antonio Gramsci, famously wrote of “pessimism of the spirit; […]
Guest review of Aaron David Miller’s book
Friday, May 2nd, 2008First, another apology for not posting more than once a week. It’s likely that this will be the pattern until I finish my book about the Israel lobby. It is not adaptable to other media, but that doesn’t stop me from hoping Angelina Jolie will play my wife Lisa in the movie. Anthony Hopkins […]
Carter was, and is, “Good for the Jews”
Friday, April 25th, 2008Before his controversial book used the “A-word” (apartheid), I never understood the reflexive, visceral hostility harbored for Jimmy Carter in the mainstream American Jewish community. He made a good many political mistakes early in his admnistration, using code words like “Palestinian homeland” and almost casually intimating that the U.S. and Israel should deal with the […]
Don’t just sit there and complain about American policy. Help J Street
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008At 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 […]
Lessons for Israel from antebellum America: Guest column #3
Monday, April 14th, 2008What follows is the third in a series comparing Israel past and present with other nations that had internal conflicts. It is by Realistic Dove Resident Scholar Tom Mitchell (I don’t actually know where he lives and we’ve never met in person, but I am sure he will be honored by the designation). For […]
« Previous Entries Next Entries »