Q: Sorry to wake you. We have an emergency A: It’s OK. I’m here to serve the community. Q: It’s about Stevey, my son. A: So sorry. He’s sick? Q: No, he’s started to read Ha’aretz on-line. A: Oh, no! A: He’s started to surf the Web and find out what’s really going on. And […]
Author: Dan Fleshler
Philip Weiss picks the wrong enemies
In a recent post, Philip Weiss denounces Americans for Peace Now and J Street for “equivocating” about the assault on Gaza. He believes they have not been emphatic enough in their opposition to Israel’s behavior because they have not come down hard enough against Palestinian civilian casualties. His conclusion: “It is very difficult, nigh impossible, […]
Tearstreaked notes from the news cycle: Gaza assault timing “couldn’t be better”
Happy New Year, information warrriors. I spent half an hour trying to write an angry riff on what follows, as I am still appalled by Israeli behavior. Then my mind wandered. I pictured a junior IDF information officer, staring at a memo sent in advance of the possible ground operation, asking him to answer the […]
More challenges for the Gaza assault’s spin machine
Yesterday, I reported on the frenetic efforts of Israel’s p.r. volunteers to defend what most of the world views as an over-reaction to Hamas’ provocations. Now there are even more troubles ahead, because the would-be spinmeisters are getting different messages about the goals of “Operation Cast Lead.” I bet you a hundred dollars that, right […]
The Israeli spin machine is sputtering
The carnage in the Gaza Strip has shaken me out of my blogger’s hibernation. The best response, thus far, comes from Gideon Levy in Haaretz: Once again, Israel’s violent responses…exceed all proportion and cross every red line of humaneness, morality, international law and wisdom…Israel did not exhaust the diplomatic processes before embarking yesterday on another […]
Peace Now: While Hebron was heating up, settlers created new facts in Jerusalem
The best, most original summary of important developments in Israel, the territories and the rest of the region is the “Middle East Peace Report,” which is created every few weeks by Noam Shalef of Americans for Peace Now. The latest issue isn’t posted on the APN website yet but you should be able to find […]
Guest Column: What Awaits Obama in the Middle East
Here is an interesting piece by Tom Mitchell, an occasional contributor to Realistic Dove. His analysis of the electoral mess in Israel, in particular, is persuasive. But I find it surprising that he believes Obama should “should look at preparing Israel for negotiations on the Palestinian track by nudging Israel into instituting a much-needed and […]
Why Niebuhr, Obama’s favorite thinker, was a Zionist
After years of shamelessly pretending to know what Reinhold Niebuhr wrote and thought when his name came up in conversation, I have taken the trouble to start reading him for the first time. There are two reasons. One is that our President-elect has indicated that Niebuhr has had a profound effect on his thinking. Andrew […]
Kafka, Rabbi Hillel and the Beit Furik checkpoint
“It’s clear that there is no life without freedom of movement. And when there’s no life, there is nothing to be lost. Despair and lack of hope can lead more and more Palestinians into terror — thus there will be no security for us either.” So said Hannah Barag, one of the leaders of Machsom […]
A plug for “Peace in the Middle East”
A relatively new blogger has arrived in the neighborhood of left-leaning Jews with a connection to Israel who shun unthinking tribalism and strive to explore nuances, complications, and ambiguities. He is Charles Lenchner, and his blog is ambitiously titled “Peace in the Middle East.” Charles has been out there in the peace activist trenches for […]