When we moved to Israel in 1983, my first job was at Israel’s largest (at the time) software consultancy. One of my colleagues was a modern Orthodox (“dati”) man. I was far less to the “left” then, and since this man actually lived in a Tel Aviv suburb, not the settlements, I assumed he was [...]
Chris Hedges is a writer and thinker whom I greatly admire. In the past I have written about his book War is Force that Gives us Meaning. Recently I came across an article he wrote at Truthdig, Democracy in America Is a Useful Fiction, which is both insightful and depressing. About a year ago I [...]
Continue reading about The Barbarians are Not Yet at the Gate…
Zvi Barel discusses Israeli Obama bashers in Ha’aretz Obama did not invent a new American policy. The United States has long held that the settlements are illegal; the same is true for the status of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The Americans are sticking to the same road map drawn up seven years ago, [...]
The Sunday Times of London has this to say: Administration officials say privately that Obama has given himself two years for a diplomatic breakthough on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, despite the opposition of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to America’s minimum demand for a freeze on all settlement building in [...]
There are many who believe (or are worried) that Obama will follow the path of some of his predecessors and talk in public about stopping the settlements (and by implication the settlers) but do nothing about it in private. Aluf Benn argues that Obama is serious and has Congressional support on this issue: United States [...]
In Ha’aretz the other day they had this article which had me laughing out loud: “Obama’s people brief their Israeli counterparts in advance much less about security and Middle East policy activities than the Bush administration used to,” the officials said. In addition, when they do brief Israeli officials, they don’t consult with them or [...]
Continue reading about Jerusalem is Worried – Obama isn’t a Frier!
In the subtitle to her book about the Eichman trial, Hannah Arendt coined this phrase. Essentially she meant to point out that true evil is not necessarily commited by psychopaths or “sick” people. Rather, quite ordinary human beings can commit monstrous acts when they put their faith in the values and norms of the state [...]
With the world economy continuing its nosedive and what with torture memos and pirates, Israel doesn’t seem to be in the news much these days. But it couldn’t last too long. CQ broke this story yesterday, and it even hit the New York Times today! What makes this story particularly interesting is the revelation that [...]
This sentence became the rallying cry for George Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his support for the war crimes of Arik Sharon and his successors. Except the United States is far more authoritarian than many of its citizens and certainly its politicians care to admit. A shining exception is Senator Jim Webb: Let’s [...]
There has been a good deal of chatter regarding Mr. Freeman withdrawing his candidacy for the post of chairman of the National Intelligence Council, including the man’s own comments blasting the “Israel Lobby.” He was attacked by both the “right” and the “left” to the point where he could not serve effectively. The best commentary [...]