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 […]
Israel
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 […]
The Jewish exodus from Arab lands: Why Zionists and anti-Zionists are both wrong
First, an apology: One reason why I’ve taken to blogging so sporadically, and why Realistic Dove has experienced a rapidly diminishing number of page views, is that I am tired of arguing. I am tired of trying to prove that anyone is wrong or anyone is right. The premise of this blog is that there […]
Cluster bombs, morality and anti-Israel rhetoric: two views
When discussing Israel, one of the most difficult challenges that confronts passionate moderates like me is criticism that holds the Jewish state to a different moral standard than the one that is used to judge other nation states. By and large, I am suspicious of people who are obsessed with singling out Israel and the […]
Rallying against Ahmadinejad will accomplish…what, exactly?
There has been a loud, justified uproar over the fact that Sarah Palin was invited to speak at a rally of Jewish groups at the UN this Monday, an event prompted by the appearance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the General Assembly. The invitation to Palin has been rescinded, but, as the Jewish Week […]
“No thanks. We’d rather sit in the dark.”
There are enemies of everything Israeli who are like the storied Jewish mamas who prefer to suffer in darkness because suffering is more comfortable, suffering –and anger about the past—is what they are used to. That’s the simile that comes to mind as, gasp, good news rears its unexpected head in the West Bank and […]
A Jewish state vs. a “Judahist” state
During my latest, lengthy respite from blogging (and, as much as possible, from thinking very hard), Y. Ben-David suggested that a “truly traditionist Jewish/Israeli” culture would be less threatening to “the Arabs.” Similarly, here and elsewhere, (if I understood him correctly), he has suggested that religious Jewish settlers are more likely to get along better […]
Next post will be after Labor Day…
..or perhaps before. I refuse to post anything unless I think it adds something useful and original to the conversation about the Middle East and/or American Jews. That means I am probably not suited to this medium. At one point last year, this blog was picking up a good many visitors. But when posts appear […]