Remember, the title of this blog is “Realistic Dove.” According to Reuters, Palestinians appear to be split down the middle about whether the unity government should accept the international community’s demands about recognizing Israel, adhering to prior agreements and renouncing violence. Polls of the Palestinian community are notoriously sensitive to events on the ground. But […]
Israel
My Iranian problem…and ours
When I was a teenager, I learned not to take at face value anything Robert McNamara or Lyndon Johnson said about U.S. military behavior in Vietnam. Later, I didn’t automatically accept what Sharon and Begin said about the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon or what the IDF said about its behavior in Lebanon this past […]
“AIPAC Hijack: With Friends Like These”: Worth Reading
Much has been written about the latest AIPAC Policy Conference. Bits and scraps of details have been revealed about it but, until now, I have not read an enlightening, detailed summary. Here is an impassioned description of what happened by Ameinu’s new Executive Director, Gidon Remba.
The next time someone tells you not to criticize Israel…
Instructive tidbit from today’s Haaretz: Poll: More than half of Israelis support Diaspora Jews’ right to criticize Israel By Amiram Barkat More than half of Israeli Jews support the right of Diaspora Jews to criticize Israel on particular issues, according to a recent survey by the World Union for Progressive Judaism. The survey found that […]
American Jews should support candid talk about Israel
At least as far as I can tell, Hillary Clinton hasn’t directly questioned Obama’s pro-israel bona fides. If he dares to express sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians again, or calls for a more pro-active American approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, let us hope she continues to lays off.
Redefine the American Jewish-Israeli relationship
The organized American Jewish community and Israel are like a tired old married couple that lives together on the basis of old habits, not new realities. They need to make an effort to redefine their relationship so that both can benefit. (Full disclosure: I stole that simile from Jerry Goodman, former director of the National Committee for Labor Israel and […]
Aging Jewish lefties should enter the blogosphere
 From time to time, I’m going to alert my mostly middle-aged friends out there to the universe of progressive Jewish blogs that are worth looking at. The deal here is that I am supposed to reference their posts very often and they are supposed to reference mine, and that is how we all get a wider […]
Should Arab Americans and Jewish Americans join a new lobby?
Yesterday, Aviva called for a survey of American Jews and American Palestinians, indicating that the voices of the majority in both communities are often not heard. Great idea. What follows is an edited excerpt from a book I’m working on, tentatively titled “A Lobby for the Rest of Us.”  It is followed by another question from me. […]
Signs of hope, believe it or not, for co-existence
My inaugural post. Drum roll, please: A story in yesterday’s Maariv by Yonathan Haleli has gotten no attention in the U.S. It is about a poll of Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews. It begins on a predictably disturbing note, with responses indicating fear for the future on both sides. But dig a little deeper, and you will find an urge for co-existence and reconciliation […]