-
-
- Kerry faults Israelis for complacency — peace isn’t ‘on the … 0
- Cornell SJP publishes ‘Notes on Palestine/Israel’ as an antidote to … 0
- Exile and the Prophetic: Notes from a ‘marginal Jew’ 0
- CBS stands by Bob Simon, blowing off CAMERA’s charges of … 1
- Video: Medea Benjamin interrupts Obama speech on US drone … 19
- Glenn Greenwald on the Woolwich attack and blowback from the … 23
- Church of Scotland accepts controversial report on Israel/Palestine 7
- Half of Israel’s eligible youth don’t enlist– and ranks of … 7
-
- Two friends meet for 5 minutes in Jerusalem 1699
- Palestinian-American Raed Zidan plants flag on top of Everest, dedicates … 1360
- Christians denounce Israel’s manhandling of worshipers at Holy Sepulcher on … 952
- Barbara Boxer’s visa bill for Israel comes under concerted attack 809
- In photos: Gaza marches and rallies mark 65 years of … 442
- Washington Post’s racism map omits Israel 438
- Israeli report on al-Dura case is vengeful and ‘surreal,’ says … 399
- International Criminal Court opens preliminary investigation into attack on Mavi … 355
-
- Kennedy’s insistence on right of return prompted Ben-Gurion to rewrite … 101
- International Criminal Court opens preliminary investigation into attack on Mavi … 96
- Abulhawa declines to ‘balance out’ several Israelis in ‘Al Jazeera’ … 94
- Barbara Boxer’s visa bill for Israel comes under concerted attack 93
- Washington Post’s racism map omits Israel 73
- Uncompromising hope inspired by Ghassan Kanafani 63
- Dershowitz should stop lying about Tutu’s record 56
- Biden says Jewish ‘influence’ behind American cultural politics is ‘immense… … 54
-
- Kerry faults Israelis for complacency — peace isn’t ‘on the tip of everybody’s tongue’ http://t.co/EmF6Q8qzNQ, 9 mins ago
- .@CornellSJP publishes ‘Notes on Palestine/Israel’ as an antidote to ‘dialogue’ http://t.co/9tFql1nJlD, 30 mins ago
- CBS responds 2 CAMERA's endless letters about Bob Simon's 60 Min report on Israel w/ a 4-line pro-forma get-lost note http://t.co/x99oFk8qLj, 42 mins ago
- Exile and the Prophetic: Notes from a ‘marginal Jew’ http://t.co/2QDw1azvzX, 43 mins ago
- CBS stands by Bob Simon, blowing off CAMERA’s charges of anti-Semitism http://t.co/x99oFk8qLj, 45 mins ago
-
Recent Comments
click link to see last 100 comments- CBS stands by Bob Simon, blowing off CAMERA’s charges of anti-Semitism (1)
- Annie Robbins: the image of the treatment of ‘Christians of the Holy Land’ is completely coveted by...
- Biden says Jewish ‘influence’ behind American cultural politics is ‘immense… immense’ (54)
- marc b.: Half Jews? Half Jews? My goodness, Biorabbi, do you mean… right on, don. these are the real self-haters....
- Chelsea Clinton’s multifaith initiative (15)
- marc b.: The sins of the father (and/or mother) are theirs and not their children’s. that was a flip comment by me,...
- Israel cracks down on American travel to West Bank by requiring tourists to obtain military permit (43)
- Citizen: @ German Lefty RE: “Well, Israel does have Germany as a role model. It’s just not the current...
- Abulhawa declines to ‘balance out’ several Israelis in ‘Al Jazeera’ forum on Nakba (94)
- Kennedy’s insistence on right of return prompted Ben-Gurion to rewrite history: They fled ‘of their own free will’ (101)
- Kerry goes for the Hail Mary, but Obama is punting (38)
- talknic: Kerry in perspective. http://wp.me/pDB7k-19a
- Video: Medea Benjamin interrupts Obama speech on US drone policy (19)
- German Lefty: That was awesome…..wondering if MSM will play this. Here’s Chris Hayes:...
- CBS stands by Bob Simon, blowing off CAMERA’s charges of anti-Semitism (1)
Our Writers
- Philip Weiss
- Today in Palestine
- Adam Horowitz
- Alex Kane
- Matthew Taylor
- David Samel
- Max Blumenthal
- Pamela Olson
Blogroll
The War of Ideas in the Middle East
In Indonesia the United States installed a brutal dictatorship that lasted for decades, in Saudi Arabia we arm and train the House Of Saud's secret police which keeps the population of that country completely terrorized; my personal view is that it's not a religious thing per se, it just so happens muslims populate many of the most resource rich areas of the world; so it's really a war against the people of those countries, who happen to be muslim, and have in many instances united under religious banners; but the real war is against them "owning" their countries, against self determination.
I know me and marc were both half kidding, but all jokes aside, you could make an argument for Sandy Koufax being really high on the all time list of "influential" American Jews, jewish ball players had to have had an effect on attitudes - and koufax was an all timer, legit handsome AND sat out on yom kippur, and was by all accounts a real mensch, every left handed kid wanted to be Koufax; not to sound like Walter Sobjcak from The Big Lebowski, but I gotta go Koufax...
Hey, what about me?
- Red Auerbach (from beyond)
Nothing like righteous indignation from students from a school that houses the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and Int'l affairs....but at least they're a step up from their Ivy league brethren from Harvard that only chirped anonymously......
Broncos -
Yeah, I hear a lot of that sht here in Boston. Dustin Pedroia is "gritty" and "scrappy" while a guy like Manny is "gifted", a "physical specimen" - it's like that across the board. I always say if Troy Brown was white (WR for the patriots when they won the SB's, played both ways, awesome person) they'd have a monument to him downtown.
Or in other words, he'd get the Jason Varitek treatment.
On any nice day pretty much anywhere in the country, people get together to play sports, pickup basketball, soccer etc etc. spontaneous and free association of like minded people; I play downtown on the Fens, most nice days there's fifty players out there - the only people who come up to talk about organizing in anyway are the jesus freaks. like i said, a crying shame. Tell a SJP to hold a three on three tournament, that would definitely help get the message out!
" Unlike other NFL players, he appears to be quite smart as well."
Athletes (football players especially) are probably the one remaining group of people you can bash without any social sanction. Bio is wrong of course:
link to measuringbehaviors.com
As someone "on the left" I notice a lot of this condescension towards sports and athletes, and it's a crying shame. Athletes are a huge underserved organizing community with massive potential to change things.
Shingo -- IF.....IF! That is my point, if you accept the myths of ancient history and continuity into the present and combine that with the 20th century, yeah, why not a state? I don't buy the ancient myths, so I don't agree, but I also stopped using the language of the myths - to include "diaspora".
First off, this idea some commenters have, that "diaspora" in the jewish instance does not hold a universally understood unique meaning is absolutely absurd, it hasn't come to mean anything new, it has and always will refer to the stories of the bible. Hostage's mental gymnastic's below once again fail to take reality into account; go ask anyone anywhere what they think is meant by "diaspora jews" and they will tell you: a long time ago, the jews were kicked out of the holy land etc etc........It's understood there's a single point (region) of origin.
I guess my real message to the folks here is: (1) Let's be careful with our language (especially in published articles ^^) (2) To Samel and Hostage, most dumb Americans like me, first hear the word "diaspora" hearing about the exile, for years I thought it was "The Diaspora," I thought it was a specific term for the jewish exile. Pretty sure I'm in the majority. And really, my objection was two fold - the use of the word diaspora and also the emphasis once again on the jewish diaspora to solve the problems in I/P - it was used to heighten jewish voices and also play on jewish tribalism "hey, you're not alone in the world, you're part of a group, take some responsibility for those you've never met"
"First, while the origin of the word diaspora means people dispersed from a homeland, the phrase Jewish diaspora is NOW(emphasis mine) more commonly used just to describe Jews living outside of Israel throughout the world."
----------------------------------------------------
I expect much better from Samel.
"Second, if the Jews of today really are descendants of people driven out of the Holy Land 2-3000 years ago, they would constitute a diaspora in the original sense of the word, but not a people who would have a legitimate right of return to supplant those who have been living there the past millennium or so."
-------------------------------------------------
Says Who? If we accept the story of the exile, the jews were forcibly moved from their homeland, their religious institutions ands sites destroyed etc etc, and if we accept the exile story and the zionist continuation of it, those jews who were exiled remained a solidified people all the way through the Holocaust, and then they went to Israel.
A small sliver of land in Palestine seems long overdue for these folks, I'd say, provided we accept all the F'ing nonsense about diaspora's and so on.
My reasons for objecting to at will jewish immigration to palestine stems from my knowing most of these cats have ZERO connection to the land, it's not because the staute of limitations ran out.
"diaspora" implies a single point of origin. in fact "diaspora" implies a moral legitimacy to the "repatriation" of palestine by jews. certainly any "diaspora" deserves to return to their home, yes? How can one object to the law of return but use language like "diaspora"?
Weird.
“We have asked you one hundred times to show us one example, one practical, one real service, act,etc., Israel provides to benefit US Imperialism to support your claim that Israel is only supported because of US Imperialism—-and none of you have–you can’t–there aren’t any.”
----------------------------
Name one secular democracy in the middle east - better yet, name one secular arab nationalist figure today.
You can't, there aren't any. Gone since '67.
There was a time where the idea of a federation of sorts between the arab countries, with capitals in cairo, baghdad and damascus, real pan arabism, was being discussed, after king faruk got ousted. The plan was to use Iraqi oil to fund a project of modernity: education, health and housing.
This obviously never happened.
YOUR ARGUMENT IS FALLACIOUS ANNIE
"A simple principle binds the American experience of the last 10 years: Neocon intervention facilitates sectarian division as a means to an end."
Try 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years...... That was my point. Most of the "Realists" that get fellated here daily could have been called "neocons" while they were in power.
You shouldn't be given permission to write on these issues.
I'm out.
I can't believe MW struck the comments of Keith, Ellen myself and others. Absolutely can not believe MW struck already posted comments that dealt directly with the similarities of US's role in the syrian catastrophe and the US's role in the destruction of other multi ethnic states.
The MW code: lay everything at the feet of zionists and neocons, anything else is unwanted, simply because it does not emphasize the role of Jews. This place sucks now. Salaam Alaikum
I'd say the use of "diaspora" is worse than someone using "bibi"
This is actually a wonderfully illustrative comment:
"I must say that China’s treatment of Tibet (among other things) would seem to render hypocritical any action it took against Israel on behalf of Palestinians."
I'll guess that forsometeneikona is american - and as an american, one is duty bound to mention the chinese gov't in tibet as an example of their cruelty etc - and much of it is true. What's interesting is, the "I" in BRIC. India's crimes in Kashmir are probably greater and yet because they are a staunch american ally, they dont even exist. couldn't even be thought of to mention.
Oh yeah Hostage, South Africa's the best - it's not like their killing striking workers by the hundreds or anything......
" Viva Palestina"
- Genghis Khan
And the MW echo chamber rejoices.
Let's get serious. This isn't about palestinians, its about control and power. They're meeting in Durban to make their plans to oust the West - good for them I say - and I/P is that issue that only the "most serious" have a stance on, they use I/P to "announce their presence with authority." Its pure politics nothing else
Or maybe Erdogan thinks the Western Camp is his best bet.
Looks like the vaunted Turkish Israel Lobby strikes again, how did they ever get Erdogan on the phone?
sum es est, sumus estis sunt! i still find myself humming that from time to time.....
OK Avi, but it's just a swapping out of pretexts (weapons of mass destruction vs he's on his way to benghazi to kill his own people)
What's the difference? To me, there really isn't any, other than the fact that the Iraq war was a full on invasion, much larger,longer etc.
The difference to Phil, and probably many others here, is that there is an israel angle to the iraq war, but not as clear of one in libya, or in yemen, somalia and until recently even in Syria. So you don't hear about those here, at least until Israel got involved directly. They're un-wars.
Isn't it kind of weird that Phil still bashes all these guys about Iraq when he himself supported O's war in Libya, which was probably even more blatantly illegal etc?
Barry: And after centuries of exile and persecution, unparalleled in the history of man."
Any brown man or woman on the planet: Unparalleled? Shee-it.
"Apartheid is totally gnarly, it's a gnarly institution"
- Barry Obama
link to youtube.com
She's very busy covering the "Hubris" book, which is basically a how to guide about "selling" a war in a way "liberals" can support.
Romney didn't win? WTF? haha.
no, you're right seafoid. in my defense, i really didn't think O would get that turn out, i just couldn't believe that many people would go back to vote for him, i thought romney would win in the aggregate...wrong? yes. naive? eh. Phil on the other hand.... :)
Remember that time when Phil Weiss thought Barry's War Tour was gonna be Barry's Defiant Peace Tour? Yeah, that was awesome.
HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!! eljay FTW!
I'm no "realist" Frankie as I don't agree with the underlying values of "realists," namely that the US is right to be the dominate power in the world. I hardly share a world view with guys like Larry Wilkerson and Zbig, even though I may share some of their criticisms of the last decade or so.
As for American youth trending toward "libertarianism," I would agree, although I would say they're trending more towards classical, enlightenment "libertarianism" rather than the vulgar, perverse, American version. Much more of a communal libertarianism I would say.
You're out of your tree, Weiss. I don't knock you for it, it's good to be hopeful.
Sardelapasti - my question is, what will happen to these solidarity activists and so on if there is violence? Will there be wide support for students for justice in palestine if they take the position that this potential violence is warranted and morally justified? what happens to all the people who put qualifiers and brackets on what the palestinian response to israeli aggression can be? what happens if israel attacks lebanon and hezbollah responds? are they "going to be there?" I think these questions answer themselves.
Most Israeli's are happy to have the world hate them, in fact it's a large part of the national story; so yeah, I agree with the author Branion cites, they don't care about being hated, they've been told since birth they're hated, and that they more they're hated the better they're doing. It's a big reason why I don't comment as often anymore here, or go to a lot of solidarity events etc anymore - its pointless, the only way this ends is in violence and all the "yes we can" feel good nonsense isn't going to make a bit of difference.
oh of course, the racism and such i left aside, cuz it was so obvious
The passage about her return trip to Israel is key to everything. It's something I've witnessed a hundred times over: most young israeli's aren't jewish. not in any sense that people in the states would be familiar with. it's shocking to see, quite frankly.
I remember asking a friend of a friend named Elad ( i wasn't well versed on names and what they could tell me at the time) where he was from, where he came from - he was a very handsome, dark skinned dude, I thought he was Arab or Persian, he say's "I'm Israeli dumbass, what you think I'm some Arab?" My friends, jews mostly, looked at me and laughed, "his names Elad, idiot!" I was defiant: but he's tall and fit, tan and handsome, and he's good at basketball!" This was years ago, and in the years since, I've witnessed similar many times; I've always gotten this sense that deep down Israeli's want to tell world jewry to screw, and I can totally understand where they're coming from. Those other guys were sooooo proud of Elad, they lived vicariously through him, and I feel that's how the dynamic is in general; eventually the Elad's of the world are going to want to stand apart, they already do, but they'll want it to be official. Anyway, I'm glad Im not the only person who's noticed that
Yeah I get all of that Hostage; the list of peoples crushed, governments overthrown, societies broken by the US is endless. We've facilitated genocide the world over and directly carried it out here and in indo china.
I think part of the reason why the US's treatment of indigenous peoples fails to shock is because we see it going on all the time, I mean, is a reservation that mush worse than living in West Baltimore? I'm not trying to be a dck or diminish anyones suffering but we happen to live in an unbelievably brutal society, people can barely keep their heads above water, and this is how life is for "us;" and so for those of "us" whose families had nothing to do with the crimes of genocide and slavery, I'm not buying the guilt trip.
I'm all for paying huge amounts of money to indigenous peoples and doing whatever we can, all for it - tell me what I can do. But I've had enough of feeling bad for sht I can't control, unlike most jewish israeli's most americans want to live in a melting pot, me included. That to me is a positive natural impulse, I guess Simon would disagree
I like what Benny did there: "who think that all Israeli's should be EJECTED..."
Nice throw in. Anyway, this whole thing about jewish israeli's being sent to other countries is ridiculous, no one in their right mind thinks thats going to happen or wants that to happen.
So a first generation immigrant to the US from say, Africa, is in the same moral place as a douchebag from Yonkers who moves to Israel? Come on bro. That's insane and quite frankly, total bullshit in the context here at MW. No way the vast majority of Americans should feel guilty about being here and so on - in Israel, not so much.
Also, I've had it up to here with the Columbia educated identity warriors with their blogs and sht. Dude has got about fifteen headshot photos on google images, that tells me something. And in the end, all of this does is make people think they themselves are full of sht for caring about Palestine while being American. I aint buying what this cat is sellin!
It's shockingly true marc- no study necessary
Josh Blumberg will probably never understand why people don't like him.
Well, somewhere along the line "liberal" came to mean "defender of the government", so it's no surprise "liberals" find themselves in a tough position over this.
And it's also not surprising that many "liberals" bash away at Paul and other "American Libertarians" - the organizing spirit died away long ago. To organize Paul supporters would mean organizing working people, it would mean going to VFW's and American Legions, it would mean the fractured and disparate identity groups on the left would have to organize along class solidarity lines, so it's no wonder why the institutional "liberals" bash Paul. I think they realize that the "left" would have a greater influence among "american libertarians" and what you would end up with is pretty much an Anarchist party, an anti-war, pro worker party - that's way more threatening to establishment liberals then some right winger..
We're so colossally F'd here in the US it's almost funny. If Kucinich did that the right would be calling him a p*ssy and the democrats would be distancing themselves from him - rand paul does it, he's a hero. I think I know why this is - when left anti war folks and left activists in general protest war etc, they talk of the destruction of other peoples lives, when the right wing is anti war they are talking in the language of Your Life, your self interest, and this obviously resonates with people. Paul all but said, "hey, it's not like I give a shit about pakistanis or yemeni's, Im thinking of you, Jethro"
Unfortunately, its a great lesson for the left.
Agreed
Ive been saying it since 2009 - someone on the right is going to run to left of the "liberals" on civil liberties, war and foreign policy in general: and they're gonna be hugely successful.
payback, in what form?
:)
Phil, let's not be one of those "he didnt mention my issue" cats, OK?
The dude did an unbelievable service to the country yesterday - the whole country, let's not go sectarian. As a democrat, or a democratic voter, you should be much more concerned by Dick Durbins antics or the near total lack of solidarity on this issue from the democrats. Where was Bernie "Mr D.O.D." Sanders"? that guy is so full of shit, if he had an enema you could bury him in a matchbox. He's worried about seniors so he says, but he's awash in defense contracts in his state, so he's a ghost for probably the most pressing issue of our political time. I'd call the democrats cowards, but Annie would get pissed.......
MRW - as Yellowman makes clear: When dey smell da Sensemilla dey ahsk me for sum
I'm saying they've proved themselves to be quite lawless, the O administration, why not let the guy out - all the pols pledge fealty to Israel, so how big a deal can it be? Just let the whole case be public. It's pretty clear there won't be "Israel Reform" among the big institutions, people are going to have to do it themselves, so better to be informed. I think this is a case where americans would be completely outraged if he were let go free, and would at least be kindling, and could even provide a spark for americans to reject the status quo. I'm perfectly happy for this guy to go free, there would be whistleblowers, leaked documents etc etc..... i have to think something good would come of it.
This is one of those stories that tough to comment on - cuz even though im repulsed by this guy, i realize it's a nationalist repulsion i feel, and im no nationalist. That said, Barry should free the guy, right after they make the court/intel records public. "Im letting this guy walk, and here's what he's walking from...."
Joe Biden: After years of being "taught" and "mentored" by some of you here, I have come to realize that deep inside me lies a voracious anti-semite, that can be loosed at any time and without warning, and so I'd like to apologize, on behalf of myself and the other 99.9% of the worlds population that suffers from the same condition.
(Biden then pulls out revolver from under lectern and shoots himself, at which point the AIPAC crowd rises to its feet in furious applause and with prideful, teary eyes; marveling at what lengths Joe Biden was willing to go to to eradicate antisemitism)
End Credits.
Im diggin this Busboys and Poets owner!
I'd just like to add, I've always thought the "tip line" is a real window into someones soul - maybe cuz i waited/bartended, but anyone who does this sort of thing is flat out a bad person. and for the record 15% aint a good tip either!
Let's just hope she doesn't lose her job.
"Dan are you being deliberately daft? Where are the women drafting the surveillance state laws, or the laws that sentence so many to such long prison terms? Maybe your mom spent too much time looking over your shoulder, monitoring your activities?"
Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Hillary Clinton are probably the surveillance states biggest proponents and backers - the record is there. This idea that women by their womanhood are opposed to such things is absurd. You can say that the "masculine" state has coopted the worst of the maternal instincts for its purposes, but even then you admit the existence of those instincts. We can either look at women as subjects of history or it's objects, it's the same argument I make against Zionists.
HAHA! Hey Im just saying, we talk all the time about how violent and aggressive men are inherently, I happen to think women have their own inherent impulses towards irrationalisms and violence, even if its carried out by men. I dunno maybe its my Northampton Ma upbringing that ruined me...
Quercus,
I think I understood the message in the article - the reason I called it a rant is because it fails to ask itself two basic questions: would feminism or feminists be ANY different if they were more "representative" and (2) is it "feminism" when it becomes a movement designed to undo imperialism and exploitation across borders, regions, class status etc? In other words, why are we calling socialism feminism and why are we giving feminism and women in general the credit for universal human impulses towards egalitarianism etc? Cuz I think thats a bunch of crap. The fact of the matter is, there's plenty of brown and black "western feminists" who are the type of A-hole the writer describes, so you have to think what's in them is in her; as long as you care about identity and give to identities these unique, mythical qualities, you're gonna miss the point. Feminism should have been ditched a long long time ago, it should have been a vehicle for political awareness etc and then left aside, with continued organizing and so on done purely on class and solidarity grounds - but this did not happen, because women, on their own, created a hierarchical structure that completely mimicked the "masculine" structure they said they so detested. Me personally, I happen to think women helped build the masculine structure in the first place, as Dave Chappelle so elegantly put it, "if a man could have sex in a card board box, he wouldn't buy a house." But we'll leave that aside for now.
All this talk of masculinity and violence makes me wonder, what is more violent than the maternal instinct? Those men are their mothers sons, no?
Seems to me, if anything, it's the "protect at all costs" mentality that does the most harm, any mother could have come up with Dick Cheney's 1% doctrine. So maybe the "warfare state" is a masculine construction, as I write I can see where that's true - but the surveillance state, the prison state? I lay those mostly at the feet of women in general, mothers in particular. This is one of those comments - and I find myself making a lot of them like this - where I wish MW had a Google Hangout type thing, saying these types of things is easier than typing them.....
Umm, ok. Good rant I suppose....
just dress up like a total A-hole, they'll be sure to let you in
Iran isn't in South Asia? Hmm
HA! Not gonna post my comment? Really?
Well, the US can't get Israel into NATO, so I suppose this designation would be the next best thing. It should probably be mentioned that Israel and Turkey have resumed arms deals, Turkey's about to get some high tech US/Israeli in flight surveillance gear and other sht. And the word is, it was Israel that had to be pressured by the US into agreeing - the Turks had bought AWACS years ago and were waiting on the avionics from Israel, and the Israeli's had said F you after the row over the flotilla.
I mention this because, to my knowledge, there is no Turkish Israel Lobby - for the Turks its a pure black and white situation. For them, Israel does have a utilitarian value. So, one has to wonder if there isn't some Imperial Calculus here in the US that also values having "a" Israel around? This will be hugely unpopular in Turkey, and most Americans I think would chafe at the idea of a tiny country being a "major strategic ally" but the question is, is it true? I still think, in many ways, when you look at the dollar amount of high tech and weapons deals that Israel facilitates, it is. Israel was really smart when they built their high tech military industrial complex - they took the route of producing instruments that went into other manufactures, from the US and elsewhere, which in practice gave them near veto power over arms deals - if Israel didnt want to give avionics to Turkey, well then Turkey wasnt going to get what it bought from the US. Genius. What Israel does is jack up the prices for arms being sold even to NATO allies, US clients etc - and it gives the US another lever to pull if necessary.
I'll be rooting for this cat, he'll expedite the end of the zionist project in palestine
Gorgeous George is the man and was right to do what he did.
As a son of Northampton, Massachusetts, I can say that Friedans comments about the suburbs being a concentration camp, are in fact, indicative of the mindset of most modern "Smithies" - a detestable lot, I hate to say. Somehow I think Slater would find it in himself to defer to Friedan....
Well said Keith
You've never called yourself a liberal zionist, but yet you use "we" in your latest Chuck Schumer article when discussing the treatment of jews in the soviet union. To the extent that you don't believe in the necessity of a jewish state, you're not a zionist - but you're definitely a zionist in spirit, you over and over make clear your belief in a racial definition of jewishness. So, to me, your dog don't hunt.
Yossi Gurvitz would call you a Zionist, and so would Akiva Orr (who was barely mentioned here while alive) in fact, non identity politicking jews seem to be the MOST unwelcomed people around here.... Where was Orr, where is Shir Hever? Where are any jews who disagree with the "Phil Weiss Project To Re-hab Zionists"?
As one of my favorite characters from the Wire, Norman, said: "He had one of those "road to damascus moments"
That better?
Ha! Nice work. So you don't like my use of the word "coward" - OK, fine.
But look at who I call cowards. Tell me you disagree with me. You might not like my delivery, but I don't think you can say I'm wrong.
In my archive I use coward to describe: members of the MSM who do know better but refuse to cover this and many other issues in a way consistent with the truth, chickenhawk neo-cons and other associated war cheerleaders who have never signed up themselves ( something i find uniquely disgusting); anonymous lobby fetishists, and yes, guys like "Will" who, with a "trembling voice, as if the 200-year-old ceiling would cave in the second he opened his mouth" gives some extremely mild criticism about Israel, to a reporter, at dinner, without his last name attached.
I'm having a really hard time believing a kid who would tremble in fear as he delivered his criticism didn't ask the guy to retract his last name - that's just me though.
This isn't about me, Annie. You can stop making it personal. It's about taking a look around and asking, "are we even discussing reality, or are we taking any mention of pov's that agree with our position and amplifying them?"
The tag line is still "the war of ideas in the middle east". Syria is on fire, and the war is about to extend to Lebanon. There's more killing in Iraq now than there was before we left. Turkey has re-newed arms trade with Israel, just as many of us predicted, as both countries, along with the West, take aim at Syria and their own internal "problems" - the Palestinians for Israel, the Kurds for Turkey. Libya continues to be a nightmare, Mali and the rest of Africa are now firmly in the sights of NATO, Obama just put boots on the ground in Niger, another drone base. Pakistan is on the breaking point, Iranians can't get basic goods, Egyptians are fighting another tyrant and the Kings or Emirs of Saudia Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and Yemen are all buying large amounts of weaponry from the US, including drones as they fight the counter revolution. In other words, Barry's done a remarkable job of "getting the band back together" even as he pivots to Asia.
So while I support Will's in his views, and hope he continues on with them, I wonder why they're important. The game, as it were, is almost up - the bad guys are on the five yard line. All they need now is a big enough spark.....
I should qualify - I call anonymous commenters with extreme "Lobby Fetishes" cowards
"future democratic LEADERS infuriated at israel"
I know you're new to journalism, annie - but this headline is absurd when it's thrust relies on ANONYMOUS QUOTES. It's not hard to understand. I know most here would take a kind word about Palestine or a condemnation of Israel from Pol Pot as significant, but I'm just not impressed.
As for Will - I really don't care whether he allowed or disallowed, he obviously didn't give his full name when he spoke - that much is obvious.
And yes, I've called commenters here cowards before several times for posting anonymously, it's their right to do so, but I don't like it, especially here in the MW echo chamber, you think people would have the stones to own up to what they say. Whatever else is true about me, I do.
Yes Annie, it would have made a world of difference to me. We are, after all, talking about leadership. What kind of real leader wouldn't either announce himself in full or allow the author of an article that quotes him to use his full name?
Why not his last name? What is this, alcoholics anonymous? I've had enough of anonymous quotes on this and many other subjects.
- Daniel Crowther
What's Will's last name? Coward. A Devout Harvard Democrat Indeed.
Haven't we seen enough of "Ivy league lefties" to know they're by definition, full of shit? "Will" will be a consultant for SDK Knickerbocker in a couple of years, and he'll be laughing at his "righteous indignation" phase.
And pardon me for noticing that the real objections here are cosmetic - don't embarrass "us" ("us" meaning the rulers, or potential future rulers of the U.S.). Hardly a moral argument. I also love this equation, stated as if it's Law of Science: Harvard Student + Political Interest + "left" leanings = Future Democratic Leader. Haha. Shame shame on ALL of us for buying into this nonsense.....like my man Noam says:
"The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don't know how to be submissive, and so on -- because they're dysfunctional to the institutions.”
Thinking of a way of saying "who cares?" without drawing the attention of the surveillance state.
Norm let us know that (1) arabs hate each other, democracy and civilization... oh and jews and israel, can't forget that.
He then went on to say "arabs" deserve their lot in life (implied of course is that all arabs live shtty lives - nice) and that it's better to find fault with one's self in this case, instead of blaming Israel and Jews in general, which I don't think anyone was doing.
Somehow this makes it through the MW filter... what is the value of this statement? None that I can see.
Interesting that Stormin Norman make this comment in light of the Prisoner X revelations, and years after Rabin was murdered... by a jew. What this about not being able" to live in peace with each other?"
Pure unadulterated racist bile, not a good look for MW
"main media is not doing its basic job of maintaining an informed citizenry when it comes to anything remotely connected to Israel."
And a host of other issues, some much more important to Americans.
I think more people would be interested in the "defense" of Hagel if he didn't come off as such a coward in front of the armed services committee.
I still think "Israel" is really just code for "macho foreign policy."
That one question, "do you support Israel?" is pretty loaded - if you do, you support colonialism, exploitation, might over right and totally irrational belief systems like Zionism, American Exceptionalism etc etc. Unfortunately, this is a well represented group within our politics, but in my opinion, it goes past just Israel.
Any awarder or awardee of this medal is an asshole.
When I say they're your favorite people I meant that you continually give them the moral benefit of the doubt - you make a lot of excuses for the American Establishment which is more or less that hyper "educated" east coast elite I mentioned, right down to blaming our disastrous foreign policy on "The Lobby" instead of taking them at their word when they say the US has the right to dominate the globe
Phil is critical of white, wealthy, well educated east coast elites?
Nonsense. They're his favorite people. You can say he's critical of Jews, but Phil's real group is the one I first mentioned. That said, the ID stuff is secondary to the way he spoke to that woman, and I should have recognized that immediately - I do now.
I think Keith and marc b. are right. I jumped Phil originally, but my man deserves credit for piping up.
Phil - "some" of "your people" were involved in those "liberation" movements, but others (in fact, sometimes majorities) were on the opposite side. "organized jewry" has often sided with some horrible forces throughout history (big fans of italian fascism and early german fascism as well) so enough with the blanket "my people" statements, it's past obnoxious. Other than that, good for you - now it's time to take on Mama Weiss and your Rabbi(can you have a Rabbi if you aren't observant?). I'll buy the shovel that digs up your SodaStream so you can chuck it out!
" I don't divide the world into jews and gentiles, I divide the world into the oppressed and the oppressors. Thats my method. If you don't like it..... Fuck Off!"
- Akiva Orr. A Giant Amongst Men.
Autocrats of the world, Unite!
Grrrrrrrrreat essay, Phil!
Yeah, cuz I'm so sympathetic to bankers and such. I'm just saying, the whole "who is a more loyal nationalist" isn't the framing I'd like... but that's just me....
Alright, but let's not go all Nationalist, ya know?
What about Gould's letter to the schools Hillel?
""You have asked that I state unequivocally the college's position on the BDS movement, and I have no hesitation in doing so. As president of Brooklyn College, I can assure you that our college does not endorse the BDS movement nor support its call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel, nor do I personally."
A covering of the bases? This seems pretty F'd in my opinion, imagine if a school pres said she spoke for the whole school on an issue like abortion, saying they're against it.....Hmm.
Ha! If by "deterrence" you mean "embarrassing yourself in front of the world with your ill trained soldiers and shitty equipment."
1200 hezbollah fighters held back a full blown IDF invasion. The IDF is a joke, and everyone - including them- knows it. The reason they had to go over the top with the bombardment is because there was no fear of the Israeli ground units, in fact, it was the Israeli's who proved to be fearful.....
Boo mooser Boo!!
Anakin Skywalker got "seduced by the dark side" too, ya know? and he was no dainty flower....
The card of all cards!
Remember when feminism's slogan was " women will change (for the better) the world of men"? How's that going? Weird how all these ism's end up this way, eh?
You start out trying to "liberate" (at least that's what you say) a group of people, a few at the top get hitched to the existing power structure, and then that group ends up defending and enabling said power structure. To be sure, every once in a while the folks at the top need to re-up their membership and throw some of their group members into the fire for the cause. We're all in this together, after all.
I personally think it's unsafe for women to be in infantry rifle platoons (whose only job is to seek out and kill the enemy) but to me the story as it regards women in combat is: The DoD obviously doesn't see close quarters ground combat as vital going forward. To me, there's a direct relationship between drones and this decision.
I probably have a somewhat different take than Phil and others on the Hagel hearings, which I watched in full.
I think "Israel" is really just code for "Imperial Desires"; the rest of the American political discourse is about "spreading freedom and democracy" etc etc, its flowerly, it's based in Enlightenment discourse and so on. BUT the US is an Empire, and an Empire needs a rhetorical outlet for it's Imperial Desires - all the irrational, greed and hate filled wants of the Imperial Court, but in the American discourse, at least the establishment discourse, it's uncouth to refer to the US Empire, to US interests as imperial interests, having nothing to do with freedom and democracy, and I think this is where "Israel" comes in. A defense of Israel is a simple matter of Might and for the Imperial Court, Israel is a testament to their strength and power: they are able to prop up and maintain a western settler outpost right in the collective face of people who would want that outpost gone. Israel is the US's big F you to the rest of the world. It's so brazen you almost have to respect it. And so, Hagel's pledge of allegiance to Israel, is in my opinion his pledge of allegiance to Imperial Court, it's the Establishments last filter: Are you willing to follow a mindless bunch of idiots in their quest to dominate and control? "Well, I've always been a friend of "Israel." " wink wink
Seems like ol Jonesy took me seriously - I would have thought the reference to the movie "dumb and dumber" would have been a dead give away as to my sarcasm, but let me make it clear: This whole thing about who's chosen, who's not, what it means, the responsibilities, privileges etc is really, really DUMB. And it makes anyone involved in these discussions a little dumber, I mean, does anyone seriously believe this "choosing" took place? And I don't care if its ingrained in people etc etc, it's nonsense. Full Stop.
You can't out-chosen the chosen. Similarly, you can't triple stamp a double stamp.
Jews excluding non jews from .......Sports?!?! HAHAHA. WOW. File this under "Would NEVER happen on a schoolyard."
what can i say marc, i like his movies - derivative? sure. but always entertaining.
I'll say this, I was never prouder of my fellow Americans - at least my fellow western massachusetts Americans- when I was in the theater for Django unchained and the preview for Zero Dark Thirty came on and the mostly white-bread crowd booed! I thought I was gonna be the lone A-hole to boo, and was more than pleasantly surprised when I wasn't. 'Mericuh!
No way Martin, I got the market cornered on Hagel skepticism!! Ha!
"which is that most Americans support the US-Israel relationship, as shown by every public poll taken on that question over the last 25 years."
Ha! First off, let's not pretend there isn't a tremendous amount of pressure involved in these questions, secondly, that "support" is rhetorical only. Same thing with americans who say they are "conservative" ( almost 40%) but then want more money spent on education, less on the military and so on.
People "support" Israel in those polls to the extent they don't want to be seen as "anti-semitic"
Maybe it's because I'm a "hard leftist" but I can't help but thinking that this "fight over Chuck Hagel" is an intentional distraction from, oh I don't know, the massive expansion into Asia and Africa by the US via drones, special forces and violent dissident groups. Seems to me, once again, this "Israelification" of the conversation is really convenient. I mean, how much press has Wyden's letter to Barry gotten - the one where he asks O what the F his "disposition matrix" is all about? We're now supporting the French as they invade Mali - no press. We won't even mention the total blackout on what's happening in Iraq - here and elsewhere- since the US left; nope, we're talking about Israel, "the american jewish establishment" and so on. Like I said, convenient.
Avi For The Win. Cheer my brother!
My reply at 12:43 was written before Annie's last two posts. I apologize for being gruff - Annie, we indeed agree on most. I don't want to come off as bashing Remnick - it's a great piece.
Yo Robbins -
Yeah, I know who Baruch Goldstein is. Do you know how to write intelligibly? I'm not here to take quizzes from the MW staff.
It's pretty easy to understand: Remnick let's Zionism and Israel off easy with comparisons to a loosely assembled political group in the US - there are plenty of more appropriate examples he could use, examples where these "crazies" have state power, like they do in Israel and in much of the Middle East. Do you understand? Have I made myself clear? Are you as insulted by these types of questions as I am?
I've had at least two other people agree with my original - I'm hardly out on a limb here.
I don't think the religious nationalist are pushing or have ever pushed the Likud to the right - that's why I disagree with Remnick. The Likud has been "center right" to the extent they had to be (on the surface), but the underlying ideology is the same as Bennet's. The strain represented by Bennet and Co. has been there the entire time and can't by definition be "reactionary" because they represent the vanguard of a expansionist ideology, they now see their opportunity and they are taking it, to think this wasn't the plan the entire time is foolish, another reason why I - and others - disagree with Remnick.
Annie,
Yes, I read the article.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the comparisons to the Tea Party are extremely unfair..... to the Tea Party. Whatever we think of them, the Tea Party - at least the true believers, not their corporate overlords- are a reaction to a form of economic colonialism here in the states, they're protesting their condition ( in a very strange way, I admit). And while there does seem to be big racist contingent in the TP, they're aren't even in the same ball park as these whack-a-doos, in regards to their racism and especially the israeli's violence. The thought of Phil trying to convert liberal zionists so they don't become Tea-Hadists is really strange and, indeed, telling. People who have condoned extraordinary violence for decades will change their tune so as not to become compared to white trash from the flyover states. HA! Just might work.
Back to Bennet and Co. - the real reason the TP comparison doesn't work is that Bennet and Co. aren't "reactionary," they're "anticipatory"; they're ideology isn't anything new, their views go back to founders of zionism - and yes, McBride, their views are represented in some rabbinical judaism- so rather than equate them with a political party in the states, it's better to go back to the last major iteration of this vile strain within Israel: Meir Kahane and Kach. Tea-hadists? Nah. Kahanists? No doubt. So be honest with your friends Phil, they aren't supporting the Tea Party, they're supporting the Taliban.
For real.
Thanks fellas, this was a well needed post.
I'd also like to add that the title to this article, once opened, in my chrome browser is "muslim parenting" - a real nice touch. unreal.
Yup. You knew the Shenfields were gonna love this one:
"This is our common heritage as Peoples of the Book, we are just at different stages in overcoming it."
---------------------------
"You" got mohels killing kids with disease via mouth to penis contact, bro - what stage is that? You can make the point of a common fcked-upedness without the self congratulatory BS.
When you think of the circumcision related material and how fast it was shut down on mj Rosenberg's say so its totally shocking to read this apology for brutalization