In A Peace to End All Peace, David Fromkin’s history of the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the making of the modern Middle East, we follow British statesmen and military leaders as they make one foolish miscalculation after another. They persistently misread the Middle East, made major decisions based on false intelligence and crackpot […]
Media
Groups tell Obama: “Persuade” Israel to lift the Gaza closure
Americans for Peace Now and J Street joined five other groups in a letter that urges Obama to “use America’s unique relationship with Israel to persuade it to lift the closure of its border crossing with Gaza now.” Bravo, folks! Excerpts: Israel’s closure policies, rather than weakening Hamas as Israel had hoped, have helped Hamas […]
Ehud Barak finally uses the A-word
Ehud Barak has now joined an illustrious throng of Israelis who are coming to terms with the fact that unless there are dramatic changes in the status quo, Israel will become an apartheid state. When I read about that, I wondered how many demonstrators would have stalked him had he done a book tour and […]
The Israeli response to Goldstone: “Trust us, we know what we’re doing”
The first half of the official Israeli response to the Goldstone report is a detailed explanation of why the world should trust the second half of the Israeli response to the Goldstone report. It offers a summary of Israel’s system for reviewing alleged military misconduct, and refutes the charge that the military is not capable […]
Arab relief efforts in Haiti
The remarkable Israeli relief efforts in Haiti have attracted predictable, offensive comments that treat the whole initiative as a p.r. stunt. Equally offensive are the triumphant voices that catalogue Israeli deeds and then say, ‘Where are the Arabs in Haiti? You don’t see the Arabs helping.” Well, James Zogby begs to differ and has a […]
Questions about the “p-word” (pressure)
I’ve been on a blogging hiatus, in part because of work commitments, in part because I have nothing original to say, in part because of utter despair about The Situation. When poking my head out and reading the musings of friends and fellow travellers, I sensed the gloves slowly being taken off when it comes […]
Settlers won’t let Palestinians “forget” the past
Conventional wisdom has it that the Palestinians should learn to accept the consequences of the catastrophe that befell them in 1947-1948. They should swallow their bitterness and find a way to move on and stop trying to reclaim property lost 60 years ago, just as other defeated peoples have moved on after war has ravaged […]
Once again, Netanyahu deliberately provokes the White House
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recently announced plan of tenders for nearly 700 new apartments in East Jerusalem was not just a gesture to his restless right wing. It was yet another deliberate attempt to embarrass the White House, say Americans For Peace Now’s Lara Friedman and Ir Amin’s Danny Seideman in a provocative, must-read analysis. They […]
Obama administration takes J Street’s side in the culture war
Officials from two different parts of the Obama administration have now sent strong public signals to the Israelis that J Street needs to be treated respectfully. Will Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s bosses get the message? Or will they keep insisting that he snub and insult J Street and, by extension, the vast numbers of American […]
Michael Oren hurts Israel by snubbing J Street
Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S, is the Jewish state’s highest ranking envoy to the American government and, by extension, to the American people. One of his principal responsibilities is to ensure that, when push comes to shove, Americans –including American Jews– will support U.S. efforts to protect Israel’s core security interests. That is […]