Tonight I was driving home from a friend’s in Dutchess County, near Bruce Kovner’s vast country estate, when a black cat ran across Route 82 right in front of me. I hit the brakes, missed the cat. Still, I wondered…
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Monthly Archives: July 2008
Yivo Owes Walt and Mearsheimer an Apology. Or a Stage
Last fall at the behest of black-shirted Marty Peretz, who promised a “frightening” evening, Yivo, the Yiddish Institute in New York, held a panel on the book The Israel Lobby, called Walt and Mearsheimer: A Critical Response. For nearly two…
The Klein Effect: Huffpo Accuses Mainstream Jewish Groups of Feting the Bloody Neocons
Joe Klein is getting an army. Here is Daniel Levy of the Century Foundation and J Street, writing in Huffpo, to say it’s time for a soul-searching over the Jewish community’s giving of haven to Feith and the other neocons:…
‘One Must Be a Jew to Tell the Goyim How To Talk About Israel’–WSJ Editor
We can’t reform U.S. policy in the Middle East without reforming Jewish identity–because Jews are simply too important in American society, that’s why. And reforming Jewish identity means challenging 1, Jewish parochialism–Is it good for the Jews?–and 2, Jewish exceptionalism–“We…
Let the Dog Wag the Tail
I turned to J Street this morning to see where they are on Netanyahu’s push for an election in Israel. No comment. AIPAC also is concerned with Iran. Isn’t there a strong American interest in heading off Netanyahu and Shaul…
Give It Up for Joe Klein
I think I’m missing the point. Joe Klein is on fire, as they say. Here he is letting it rip again on the neocons and apologizing for supporting the Iraq war. Here are Josh Marshall and Jed Lewison standing up…
What Percentage of American Society Isn’t Experiencing the Hard Times Now?
This weekend I took a truckload of my mother’s junk to the Falmouth town dump. Inside the gate is a Quonset hut with a sign saying “Pick of the Litter.” You can leave stuff that has a second life there….
How Did Doug Feith Become a Ridiculous Figure?
Great scandal produces great characters. Lucianne Goldberg… Matt Drudge… Gordon Liddy… Ollie North… In spite of his best efforts to rehabilitate himself in print, Douglas Feith is emerging as the neocon fool, par excellence. In the interview I just blogged…
Klein and Goldberg Establish Code for Critiquing Neocons’ Religious Agenda: 1, Be Jewish…
Jeffrey Goldberg has a great interview with Joe Klein on his blog, remarkable for a few things. First you see Klein unbound. He’s really smart. He stands by his criticism of Jewish neocons as having dual loyalties and then sounds…
Obama Uses Holocaust Template for Darfur. It Doesn’t Fit
The third in a series on How to Think About Darfur, by James North: Barack Obama’s big speech in Berlin was generally short on specifics, but he mentioned Darfur twice. He called the conflict “genocide” and later said, “never again.”…
Avnery Says Obama Is Now Hip on East Jerusalem
Uri Avnery comments on the bulldozer attacks in Jerusalem: From the utterances of the commentators this week, one can gather that they cannot even imagine the anger that accumulates in the mind of a young Arab in Jerusalem throughout the…
Saif Ammous on 10-Year-Old Boy Killed Protesting ‘Separation Wall’
The Palestinian press reports that a 10-year-old Arab boy was killed by the Israeli Army in Ni’lin, where villagers have been protesting the construction of the “separation wall” on Arab lands. Saif Ammous comments: “Another week, another barbaric Israeli response…
Is Bible-Thumping Lieberman Giving His Dem Backers Buyers’ Remorse, Aiding Obama?
Joe Lieberman praised Rev. John Hagee and read scripture to his Christian Zionist flock, comparing Hagee to biblical heroes, Miriam and Moses. He also referred to J Street’s use of Lieberman as a poster boy for the Israel lobby. “There…
Washington Post Says Netanyahu Got 3/4 of His Campaign Donations From U.S. Right Wingers
Last night at dinner my sister asked me Why if everyone and his brother is for the two-state solution is there not a real push for a two-state solution? The easy answer is that the Israel lobby in the U.S.,…
At a Privileged Resort, an Arab Intellectual Urges Americans to ‘Be Themselves’ in the Mid East: Be Fair
One of the reasons I’m visiting my parents in Cape Cod is that there was a lecture last night by an Arab, Rami Khouri, in a series about the middle east at the Church of the Messiah, an Episcopal church….
Why This Election Is the Armageddon of the Neocons and the 2-State Solution
Today I was driving to my parents’ place on Cape Cod and realized what an idiot I’ve been about what’s happening right now. It’s a really important moment, right down to Barack Obama putting a note into the Western Wall….
Obama’s Doublespeak on Settlements Opened Door to Israel’s Latest Landgrab
Israelis seem to be preparing for an Obama presidency that tries to cut a Clinton-like deal early on, with Dennis Ross supervising. So better make more facts on the ground now! David Horovitz, the editor of the Jerusalem Post, whom…
You Can’t Be Too Rich, Too Thin, Or Too Close to the Lobby
MJ Rosenberg, in a piece on TPM: “There is no political downside to simply going with the lobby on the Middle East. It’s like what Jackie Kennedy said: you can’t be too rich or too thin. In American politics, you…
Jews Are Too Powerful to Be So Shrill and Defensive–Nathan Glazer (in 1963!)
One of the surprises of Middle East debate here is how censorious the Jewish community can be. The ADL’s efforts to keep Tony Judt from talking, the shutting down of the Spertus Museum’s exhibit on Israel/Palestine geography last month, the…
Dan Fleshler and I Differ Over Identity Politics
I’ve been agitating about J Street, the alternative lobby to AIPAC. Dan Fleshler has posted a response to me at Realistic Dove. Here it is, then I respond to him: The Israeli-Arab problem is America’s problem. Solving it can and…
Obama’s Amazing Impact: A Day After He Leaves Israel, They Announce More Settlements
So the greatest progressive candidate in American presidential politics in 40 years visits Israel and the occupation, and what happens the next day? Israel announces more colonies, “settlements.” Why do they do so? Because they are arrogant, because they know…
Fight Over Arabic and Hebrew Instruction Makes Me Pine for… Fairness
Last week I commented on the Washington Post’s decision to publish an attack on Arabic instruction, by neocon neophyte Joel Pollak, who sits at the knee of the Dersh. Two others have attacked the piece more effectively than I did–Matthew…
Slater: Israel Chose Land, Not Peace
Today’s Times has an Obama-needs-to-give-Israel-tough-love-to-get-a-two-state solution column by Nicholas Kristof. New historian Jerome Slater sent me his take on the column. I’m going to follow that with my take. Slater: At first glance, Nicholas Kristof’s column in today’s New York…
O’Hanlon of Brookings Sorts Out the Wrong Neocons From the Right Ones
Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution was a big promoter of the Iraq War (Glenn Greenwald has machicolated him definitively). And today he was on NPR talking about ideology. Reporter Scott Horsley, noting that McCain calls himself an idealist realist,…
‘Mr. Olmert– Tear Down This Wall!’
Obama’s speech in Berlin was the worst one I’ve ever seen him give. Bland, lifeless, with barely a memorable moment. I guess we’re going to see a lot more speeches like this till the Inauguration. Apparently Obama has to do…