Philip Weiss reacted to my HuffPo piece (see previous post) on the neocons with a little essay entitled Fleshler Exonerates the Neocons of Dual Loyalties. Why He’s Wrong. Take a look at it. Take a look at the comments. There are a number of people, including Richard Witty, who disagree with Phil and make some […]
American Jews
What do Columbia U’s Lee Bollinger and the ADL have in common?
On the ADL web site, there is a section called “No Nuclear Iran.†The slogan is ‘Get informed. Get active.†One page is entitled “AHMADINEJAD: IN HIS OWN WORDS.†It provides some of his most “virulent statements†about the Holocaust, Israel, etc. etc. And they are pretty horrific, disgusting statements, indeed. Like other Jewish groups, […]
Mearsheimer, Walt and what didn’t really happen at Camp David
There is a sentence towards the end of Walt and Mearsheimer’s new book that undercuts some of what they have tried to accomplish with their critique of the “Israel Lobby.†Having rejected the binational, single-state solution as well as Israel’s permanent occupation, they assert: “The United States will have to put significant pressure on Israel […]
Mearsheimer, Walt and the so-called “silent” Jewish doves
I have read the Mearsheimer and Walt book. They have answered some–although not all– of my prayers, which were spelled out in my post on August 12th. The book is much more careful, more nuanced, more detailed and more convincing than their original paper, which was published in the Spring of 2006. I wanted very […]
Prayers for Mearsheimer and Walt
The chattering/blogging class eagerly awaits the publication of the new, full-length book on the “Israel lobby†by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt in September. A taste of what may be in the offing was provided last week by a report that their Sept. 27th presentation at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs was cancelled. As […]
What does Wallace Stevens have to do with Zionism?
I am quite certain that the following post will be the first discussion of the Jewish National Fund and Zionism to invoke the poet Wallace Stevens. People who appreciate Stevens tend to be amateur philosophers and a bit nerdy (yeah, I appreciate him), but if neither of those apply to you, please have patience and […]
New Senate resolution: will “one-staters” sit on their hands?
There is a good chance that there is no hope. It may well be impossible to unravel the Gordian knot of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But there will certainly be no hope unless the U.S. gets more actively engaged and takes a more balanced approach. That is a no-brainer, isn’t it? Americans for Peace Now, Churches […]
My speech on candor, Israel, and the rhetoric of the far left
By now, readers of this blog know that I was part of a panel discussion on “How To Talk Candidly About Israel” at the Steven Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, June 21st, 2007. I was on a panel with Anne Roiphe and the Philip Weiss. The moderator was JJ Goldberg. I have posted […]
Jerusalem dispatch: A sliver of hope for the Arab League peace plan?
People on the Americans for Peace Now Board are in Israel. Ori Nir, their spokesperson, is sending interesting dispatches, some of which appear on their web site: www.peacenow.org. Below is a dispatch that gets into some of the nuances of the policies being considered in Israel in light of the recent disaster in the Gaza […]
So where were American Jews as Gaza collapsed?
In light of recent events, it is heartbreaking to recall both the hope that was generated when Abbas initially took over the Palestinian Authority and the role of the U.S. government –abetted by AIPAC– in dashing that hope.