Comments on: The American Establishment realizes Israel is wrong but is afraid to say so

By: Rowan Berkeley

Rowan Berkeley — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

You attribute far too much power to your zionist lite friends, Phil.

By the way "St.- Sgt. Dvir Emanuelof, 22, from Givat Ze'ev, one of two IDF soldiers critically wounded in a mortar shell attack near Jabalya in the Gaza Strip, died of his wounds on Sunday."

actually they both died yesterday, but, you know, the military censors...

By: Richard Witty

Richard Witty — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

You are in error on the depth of difference in Jewish opinion.

ALL credible Jewish Zionist commentators (liberal and conservative) regard Hamas as largely contributing to if not causing the current status.

ALL credible Jewish Zionist commentators strongly prefer non-violent means to accomplish desired ends, and ALL identify varying degrees of risk associated with BOTH non-violent and violent means.

They weigh those risks differently, within a moderate scale.

The scale of resistance however, and the few non-credible Zionist thinkers variably SUPPORT violence as a preferred means.

Your litmus testing is of emotion, NOT of substance. I guess that has some substance, but because it is primarily negative, critical rather than variably appreciative and coherent, it ultimately FAILS to accomplish much.

Dan's emotional sensibilities are prospectively effective BECAUSE they have a strategy of political reform, and more importantly a strategy of social reconciliation underlying them.

They are MORE COMPREHENSIVE than the solely "critical analysis".

By: S Kneedler

S Kneedler — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Compare HuffPo's recent abominations with "Counterpunch," which published the essay by the always brilliant Lowenstein:

http://www.counterpunch.org/sandronsky01022009.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery01022009.html

****
HuffPo is betraying liberals by offering junk like this:
Stop This Vicious Slaughter! England Must Stop Waging War On The Nazis!
link to huffingtonpost.com
/>
****
But, just checked again: HuffPo just added a link to the brilliant Greg Mitchell:
'NYT,' Most Others in U.S. Media, Silent as Israel Invades

By: Rowan Berkeley

Rowan Berkeley — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

There are no 'credible jewish commentators', Richard, whether zionist or other. Except maybe Blankfort and Pappe.

By: Ricarda Wittone

Ricarda Wittone — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Will you please look for an alternative term for you constantly repeated: litmus testing. It gets tiresome after a while.

By: watcher

watcher — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Wittyism: ALL credible Jewish Zionist commentators strongly prefer non-violent means to accomplish desired ends, and ALL identify varying degrees of risk associated with BOTH non-violent and violent means.

Witty's reading minds again. He looks in his crystal ball and--finds
credibility flourishing. Meanwhile, on all the TV news stations, which is where most Americans get their news hits when not looking for a job or praying to hold on to one they have, the spiel is the same: Israel must do what it must do to protect itself; nobody has a right
to call Israel to account. Full stop.

By: David B.

David B. — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Thanks for the explanation of silence at the NYT! I've been wondering what the hell is going on over there.

BTW, your blog is my best new find. Many thanks!

By: Dealio

Dealio — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

I'm thankful that Obama has an excuse to remain silent. As Philip (or was it MJ? Sorry!) pointed out, it puts supporters on the hotseat to keep justifying.

In the face of silence from the other side, they have to fill it up with their own justifications, which seem increasingly stretched and at odds with the facts on the ground.

I hope Obama's first comments on the matter are: "I'm looking forward to speaking with Israel and getting an understanding of what the end game is here. At this point, their aims aren't completely clear to me, so I look forward to having Israel explain them to me."

Again it puts the onus back on them. Why should we have to provide cover for them? Why don't they tell the world what their up to and what it will achieve? I have basically zero hope that Obama would actually follow this course, but oh well.

By: David Green

David Green — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Let's stop the pretense that the U.S. govt. does not support Israeli atrocities, is somehow out of the loop and helpless. There is no difference between a green and yellow light when it comes to barreling through. The U.S. isn't/never was/never will be and honest broker. The USG supports Israel. It likes demonstration wars, wars against the threat of a good example, wars against peace. The Lobby doesn't dictate this, the neolib/neocon permanent govt. does. Obama can do anything he wants, and the Lobby knows it will endure a backlash if they go after His Holiness. His Holiness chooses to throw in his lot with might makes right. He's now the permanent government.