Electronic Intifada broke the story a week back. Tonight, responding to a question at Vassar College, Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief for the New York Times, confirmed it. Dennis Loh, of Brooklyn for Peace: "Do you have a son in the IDF, yes or no?" Bronner: "My son joined the IDF five weeks ago."
I’ll have more on Bronner’s appearance later tonight. A lot about the IDF, before that disclosure…
According to Ethan Bronner his son enlisted which means he wasn’t drafted. And what kind of support for his enlistment did he get from his father and family?
I was wondering is there a word in Hebrew or Yiddish that describes a person who benefits and lives in one country but pledges allegiance to another? What about one that joins another army?
Just wondering after reading about what is “Moser.”
Yep, and that makes the rest of us Goyim Americans what they call freiers.
Sucker (Yiddish). Pejorative.
“Freier” is Yiddish for sucker and no Israeli … wants to be seen as one. Following the recent breakdown of talks with the Palestinians, the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, proudly told Israeli journalists: “I’m no freier.”
“We are not suckers,” he said, using the Hebrew slang word “freier,” which means sucker, or chump. “Israel cannot give and give and not get anything back in return.”
sucker dupe fool gull pushover fall guy gudgeon mark monkey patsy pigeon sap mug american soldier
The French word is ‘poseur’. That’s the nice term!
Poseur is derogative, but AFAIK it just means a harmless fake person, a pretend.
My husband spoke with Mr. Bronner privately after Q and A. He said something like: “Quite frankly, my son is a bit wayward…didn’t do very well in school, and wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He knew that it might present some problems for me, and offered to quit, and I said that we could take it a day at a time and see how it goes…”
(This is my best recollection of a conversation that I had with my husband, based on his best recollection of the interaction itself).
This would seem to imply that Bronner’s son is not an Israeli citizen, and joined up as a foreign volunteer (Mahal) – otherwise, he would simply have been drafted, and wouldn’t have had the option of “quitting”, unless he left the country, creating serious problems should he ever decide to return. I don’t know what’s worse for Bronner’s conflict of interest – having a son who is an Israeli citizen, drafted into the army, or having a son who is not obligated to serve, but volunteered to do so anyway.
Saleema:
if one feels like an outider in one’s heart towards the goyim majority then why reciprocate towards them ?
Can jews ever really have to reciprocate? Can the gentiles ever make up the deficit?
Is stealing from the system really stealing?
Is “free riding” really free riding but correcting for supposed historical wrongs and leading by example?
Pretty lame material. Join a poetry club, cause you’re breakin’ me heart…
Speaking of ei, Ali Abunimah is coming to University of Houston:
Friday, February 19, 2010
Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm
Location: Atlantic Room – UC Underground
And then again,
Friday, February 19, 2010
Time: 6:45pm – 8:30pm
Location: Hilton Garden Inn
Street: 3201 Sage Rd.
City/Town: Houston, TX
So for all intents and purposes, the New York Times’ correspondent in Jerusalem is an Israeli.
Bronner’s allegiance is patently obvious from his articles, but his influence is very much over-emphasised by Philip, who obviously reads Bronner’s articles, instead of skimming through them like most other NYT readers.
Here’s another NYT article by a real Israeli, Yossi Alpher offering some radically new directions for the American diplomats struggling with the I/P issue, which makes a whole lot of sense:
On Israel-Palestine, No More of the Same
link to nytimes.com
Philip should widen his reading, not only to European news sources, but to other parts of his favourite newspaper.
Meanwhile, I await Philip’s reaction when Bronner’s other son is featured on the Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades website link to qassam.ps
If they’re into hiring obvious partisans, they should at least balance Bronner with the mother or father of a Hamas fighter. (Not gonna hold my breath.)
It is incredible that anyone would join the military, and abhorrent that an American, assuming this young person is American, would join the Israeli military. It is beyond absurd that any young person would be compelled to defend a nation who’s foes have no army, navy or air force to threaten them. It is worse than if Hemingway or Orwell volunteered to fight with Franco. What a terrible indictment of our times; conventional ambition goes through Israeli aggression. It makes one nauseous.
Is dual citizenship ever a cause for concern?
link to viewzone.com
(Read the comments too–lots there, all the way to the last one.)
link to alisonweir.org