Ameinu is showing clips from a video documentary that got a lot of attention in Israel in 2005 and deserves to get even more attention now. For two years, Haim Yavin, the venerable Israeli anchor for the government-run Channel 1 TV, roamed the territories with a simple video camera, talked to Jewish settlers, soldiers, Palestinians, […]
Author: Dan Fleshler
What are Iran’s motives?: A guest column
Tom Mitchell sent me the following, cogent analysis of Iran’s nuclear weapons program –assuming it exists. I would very much like to believe that what he writes is true. The money quote: “For understandable historical reasons, Israelis take any threats made against them literally. They should keep in mind that Mao spoke with the same […]
Ackerman, Pence Deny Calling for Iran Blockade
The plot thickens. Politico’s John Bresnahan reports that: Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.) have issued a letter today stating that a non-binding resolution they offered on Iran does not call for a military action against that country… …While the resolution (I repeat, non-binding) also includes a specific denial that it authorizes use […]
Parsi: Israel would benefit from U.S. accommodation with Iran
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 understanding […]
Yes, a blockade of Iran is an act of war
I take it back. Sorry, MJ. I blew that last one. What has possessed me to search for moderation like a thirsty man in a desert? First of all, the original title of the previous post referred to a “boycott,” not a “blockade.” The latter, when enforced, is an act of war. The title has […]
Is a blockade of Iran an “act of war?”
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, […]
Newsflash: AIPAC (probably) isn’t pushing for an attack on Iran
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 […]
Obama, AIPAC and why we need a Middle East peace lobby
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 this […]
From Rabbi Don Quixote: Why the new Middle East peace lobby has a chance
The 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 million. […]
An obscene bill would make Arabic a “secondary” language in Israel
Last 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 […]