An interesting analysis by Simon Tisdall of the Guardian, discussing Obama’s options:
If in four years’ time, military confrontation with Iran has been avoided, the Iraq withdrawal has been managed honourably and without internal collapse and some kind of half-credible peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbours is in train, Obama’s people will probably call [...]
Zadie Smith is a terrific writer. Reading her novels can be exhausting. Her creative mind is hyper-active, running in a thousand directions at once. She always manages to pull it altogether in the end, but sometimes, as a reader, I just can’t keep up. Which is why I prefer her essays. The short format forces [...]
The headline of this piece in Ha’aretz, depicting a TV satire on Lieberman, reads: “Israeli TV show depicts Lieberman as Darth Vader-esque dictator.” In my view, the clip depicts Lieberman as more Hitler-esque than akin to Darth Vader, despite the Star Wars music. The author of another article in Ha’aretz also seems to feel Israel [...]
Uri Avnery is always a great inspiration and has appeared many times on this blog. His latest piece is a must read:
The words of the new president are ringing in the air: “Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please.” The key words were “humility and restraint”.
Not too long ago I was discussing with my daughter in Israel the abysmal choices she faces in the upcoming election there. In the end, she said, it didn’t really matter who won the election. “We’re waiting for Obama.” Exactly.
Uri Avnery on Barack Obama and the implications of his election for the Israel/Palestine conflict.
As a footnote to my previous post, exit polls shows Barack Obama won 77% of the Jewish vote – he even did better than Kerry. So much for those who believe American Jews are in the pocket of the Israeli right.
Israel has come up far less than usual during this election campaign. In fact, over the past year or so Israel has been in the news far less than it used to be. I imagine because the US has so many problems of its own, the Israel/Palestine boxing match just seems less and less relevant. [...]
A few months back, I wasn’t sure I was going to vote for Obama. He is way too conservative for my taste, particularly in foreign policy. His appointment of Biden reinforced that feeling. Since I currently live in New York, I feel it is a safe state for Obama. So I have the “luxury” of [...]