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- Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians … 0
- UN Committee: Israeli system ‘tantamount to apartheid’ 0
- Slater on Beinart 0
- And we live on… 0
- US official — we went to Israel first 3
- Israel lobby’s favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status … 23
- Israel takes 30 dunams of land near Salfit ‘for security … 4
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- BDS victory: South Africa strips Ahava’s ‘made in Israel’ label 713
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- Neverending Nakba: Israel breaks lull, attacks Gazan farmers 413
- ‘This is not fair play’: Mahmoud Sarsak’s family demands his … 389
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- Neocons in Washington Post: Military strike on Iran would ‘calm … 323
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- The Messiah’s Donkey: Settlers fire on Palestinian villagers as the … 235
- Aharon Appelfeld’s rage at the German language (and Arendt’s need … 156
- US to differentiate between ‘personally displaced’ Palestinian refugees and their … 129
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- Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism 110
- Feeling the hate in Long Island 97
- Israeli judge to issue verdict in Rachel Corrie case 94
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Recent Comments
click link to see last 100 comments- Did Israeli Eurovision contestant watch too much Juliano Mer Khamis? (54)
- Annie Robbins: GL, urban dictionary has PEP, just no explanation of progressive except for palestine....
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- US official — we went to Israel first (3)
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The War of Ideas in the Middle East
When it comes to Palestine, U.S. politicians follow in the mold of George Wallace. Actually, there isn't much evidence they care about human rights anywhere.
What is ridiculous about this accusation is that the I/P issue is of secondary relevance to the Wall Street protests. These demonstrations are mainly concerned with economic issues and it is in that context that they should be discussed. By the way, when is Crystal concerned about racism in general and not just anti-semitism?
Crystal must be running out of topics to write about.
Woody,
Yes, I had in mind Owens and you are correct that he never made a statement. According to Wikipedia, just the fact that a black person defeated several German athletes at an event in Berlin had political significance. I think what this illustrates is that there can be a political message without an actual verbal statement.
There is a history of mixing sports and politics. Probably Muhammad Ali is the best example of this. There was a black American sprinter who made a statement against the Nazis at the Olympics in the 1930's.
Besbes sets an example for people everywhere to make a personal sacrifice for justice. The real crime is Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
If Americans want to lecture the Palestinians about following Ghandi they should first set an example themselves. America is one of the most jingoistic countries in the world.
I think in the Middle East religious identity has traditionally substituted for national identity; the different sectarian communities have historically been able to coexist. In modern times xenophobia seems to be developing.
I wonder where they plan to show this. If this is going to be shown in Israel why is it in English?
A fair number of Lebanese are anti-Palestinian. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, they were actually welcomed by some Lebanese.
I have not followed this story but the attention to anti-gay actions in the Middle East seems to me a form of orientalism. It is a way for the U.S. to feel culturally superior to the Middle East. This was the issue used to attack Ahmadinejad when he spoke at Columbia.
East Germany actually constructed minefields on its border with West Germany to deter dissidents from leaving. Of course this is not Israel's border. Anyway, there may be a legal argument against it, although I am not holding my breath for the U.S. or Europe to protest. It seems to me placing mines against non-violent protesters in occupied areas should be illegal.
In this case, though, Israel's defenders like to refer to antisemitism and the holocaust, which is analogous to "working in the mine". This is actually fairly typical of right-wing movements.
There was a Star Trek episode about a society of privledged cloud-dwellers and downtrodden mine workers. I think that would have made a better comparison to the I/P conflict.
Gen. Boykin made some pretty crazy remarks while he worked for the Bush administration such as "my God is better than their (Islam's) God". He is definitely a Dr. Strangelove type and unfortunately not the only one. I wonder how concentrated these people are in the military.
There is a man who has been trying to fight religious fundamentalism in the military but I forget his name.
The first two chapters of Ward Churchill's "A Little Matter of Genocide" discusses efforts to make the Nazi holocaust exceptional and to downplay other genocides.
What gets me about such discourse is that there are many terrible things happening NOW. Instead of arguing that the holocaust is more important then other genocides what are these people doing about the crimes that are taking place today? There is something very selfish about this discourse.
I wonder if Marty Peretz and Jeffry Wiesenfeld know each other.
"Is this thinking part of Judaism or some interpretation of it, or did it begin with zionism?…..where exactly did this begin?"
Israel Shahak's "Jewish History, Jewish Religion" explores this issue.
"...there’s still a huge amount of ignorance"
About this and everything else. I think the problem is larger then the I/P issue, which is why it is so difficult to address.
O.K., the poll asked a variety of questions. Nevertheless, my question is still valid: Was the poll slanted?
I saw a quote which suggested to me that the poll was equating "support for Palestinians" with "support for the PA". This makes me suspect the poll was designed to obtain favorable responses toward Israel and negative ones toward the Palestinians.
Rubin wants to control what we think.
Yes, I agree.
I wasn't very clear in my comment. I was responding to this sentence:
What distinguished Zionism from colonialism was the Jewish Question.
I am simply suggesting that the Jewish Question be considered one example of the more general problem of racism. The writer may not have been implying anything beyond this.
Is there a Jewish problem or a racism problem? Europeans do discriminate against other groups. It seems to me it is better to talk about a racism problem.
I think what has happened to the Jewish community is that they have become a priveleged group. I believe privilieged people tend to be discriminatory and worship power.
"I want to ask the Germans..."
The Zionists don't exactly have clean hands either. In the U.S., Zionist groups successfully lobbied against a plan by the Roosevelt administration to provide refuge to people fleeing the Nazis. Yitzak Shamir wrote a letter to the Nazis proposing an alliance.
Anyway, my advice to Haber is to worry less about the sins of the Nazis and more about her own sins.
Do Israeli demands on the U.S. escalate whenever we have an election?
"...the only occupier in history that’s completely convinced of its own present ongoing victimhood."
I am not sure about this; don't right wing/fascist movements tend to be obsessed with their victimization? Remember our own right wing's complaint about the "war on Christmas"?
Maybe there is an inflation going on. In a few years it will be rocket launchers
Israel is a colonial state; as in other such states, guns and the military are extolled. They are a source of privilege. I suspect the gun-toting Israelis are not that different from colonists in other states. The holocaust is a convenient excuse for aggression. Other groups, such as the gypsys, were targeted by the Nazis. Are they obsessed with carrying guns?
I once saw a documentary, "Red in the Face", about American white supremacist groups, and they considered themselves victims. For that matter, the Nazis had a victim narrative.
There is an interesting book on the subject of victimization, "The Politics of Victimization", by Marc Ellis.
Incidentally, Rabbi Meir Kahane had the slogan, "Every Jew a 22".
The Israelis and NYT are like a broken record.
This is off topic but if you have the stomach to listen to more NYT Zionist madness you might want to listen to this:
link to eschatonblog.com
Back in the 1990's there was a journalist named Lamis Andoni who wrote several articles about Harvard's Zionist bias.
I think the two scandals behind 9/11 are the Israeli spy ring, which convinces me Israel was aware of the plot, and the investors who also seemed to have foreknowledge of 9/11 and were able to profit from it. Who knows who else might have known about the plot ahead of time.
Is Ahmadinejad being misquoted again?
I guess I can see this as a "blame the victim" argument. I am so sick of the U.S. government it doesn't bother me.
I think Ahmadinejad's 9/11 views are goofy but why are they offensive?
Here is an article discussing ethnic cleansing in the bible:
link to ameu.org
The late Israel Shahak wrote an article in Middle East International describing the racists views of Israeli leaders such as Netanyahu. They admired South African apartheid and so on.
This may be what you are looking for:
link to peretzdossier.blogspot.com
Excellent work.
During the Iran-Contra hearings one of the controversial statements from Oliver North was that he owed his allegiance to Reagan rather then the constitution or the government.
The kind of hypocrisy in these interviews seems to be all over the place these days.
This is discussed in "Al Gore: A Users Manual". Is it any surprise that once Gore left politics he was able to come out against the war?
What is worse then this award is that this guy taught at Harvard for 45 years.
Do you have to be among "concerned members of the Social Studies Community and others at Harvard" to sign this letter?
This is standard rhetoric for supremacist movements. The Klu Klux Klan likes to rail against "weak whites" and "race traitors".
There is a lot of irony in the Harvard statement. First of all, Peretz was just arguing that Muslims should be denied free speech, while Harvard is using the free speech principle to justify honoring Peretz.
Secondly, Peretz has essentially devoted his life to controlling speech. Because of his wealth and not his abilities, he was able to take control of the formerly progressive New Republic and turn it into an organ of Zionist propaganda. He determined who was hired and fired there and presumably censored what was written. Is that free speech?
Thirdly, while Harvard can defend Peretz free speech rights, does that mean they must honor him?
Finally, it is easy for Harvard to write
As an institution of research and teaching, we are dedicated to the proposition that all people, regardless of color or creed, deserve equal opportunities, equal respect, and equal protection under the law.
but what has Harvard done in concrete terms to fight discrimination? David Duke has claimed his proposals are in the interests of blacks but that doesn't make it true.
I wonder how many antisemites Harvard has honored to defend their free speech rights?
I am not sure. I think Jordanians are 20-50% of the population
Most people living in Jordan are of Palestinian extraction. There are also many Iraqi exiles there. These people are probably not very happy with the king. The native Jordanians are probably more supportive of him.
I hope those men don't get arrested.
Big Brother will get mad at you if you keep committing these thoughtcrimes and salvaging trash from the memory hole. Remember, we are at war now with Eastasia, not Oceana.
Don't be lured by the reality-base community.
I wonder what the 30 year figure is based on? Why not 50 years or 5 years or 1 year? Obama has said he wants a settlement in 1 year.
>> After thirty years of settlements, the Zionists will have driven out all the Palestinians.
Maybe by then all of Israel's Jewish population will have moved to the West Bank and the Palestinians can settle what is now Israel.
By now the NYT has probably been self-selecting its readers to be Zionists.
Alfred Lilienthal wrote about how the NYT became an extension of the Israeli embassy in "The Zionist Connection". In the 1950's, this paper refused to run an ad for Yitzak Shamir because of his terrorist background. This led to a massive subscriber boycott which nearly bankrupted the paper. The NYT folded, changed its staff, and has slavishly promoted Israel since then.
"how many Subcommittee hearings had investigated zionism and its influence on US “homeland security” and/or the GWOT."
This is ancient history at this point but Sen. Fulbright did have such hearings. Grant Smith has written quite a bit about U.S. investigations of Zionist influence. His articles can be read here:
link to irmep.org
Naeim Giladi wrote an essay in 1998 about his experiences as an Iraqi Jew who went to Israel and the evolution of his opposition to Zionism. I have copied the link below, as well as the intro to his essay.
link to ameu.org
The Jews of Iraq
by: Naeim Giladi
April - May 1998
The Link - Volume 31, Issue 2
Page 1
I write this article for the same reason I wrote my book: to tell the American people, and especially American Jews, that Jews from Islamic lands did not emigrate willingly to Israel; that, to force them to leave, Jews killed Jews; and that, to buy time to confiscate ever more Arab lands, Jews on numerous occasions rejected genuine peace initiatives from their Arab neighbors.
I write about what the first prime minister of Israel called “cruel Zionism.”
I write about it because I was part of it.
Shmuel,
I share your skepticism to some extent. My impression here in the U.S. of Europeans is that they are middle class bourgeoisie types who lack the ability to empathize much with people living under tyrannies. I do think there is a positive aspect to Cameron's election, because he has been speaking about the need to normalize relations with the U.S. and not slavishly follow U.S. policies as a kind of satellite. This may not lead to much change on the I/P front, however.
Shmuel,
You may be right with your pessimism. However, I don't think this is an all or nothing proposition. The situation right now is fluid and changing and other countries could follow the examples of Sweden and Norway. I believe the governments of Merkel and Sarkozy are in political trouble and they could be replaced by more independent-minded politicians as has happened in Denmark and Britain. I think more pressure will build up on Israel even if a European peace process never materializes.
"Furthermore, the actions and positions of European (including Scandinavian) trade unions should not be confused with the actual foreign policies of European governments."
At the same time, I think historically, social movements come first and then the politicians and "leaders" are dragged into doing something.
I think two European countries have taken steps to support the BDS movement. More flotillas to Gaza could increase the urgency for action.
I don't live in Europe so I don't know much about what is happening there. I agree with you that their record is not inspiring. Why does Germany want the U.S. to attack Iran?
Jeffrey Blankfort has suggested a possible motive for these talks is to head off a separate effort by the Europeans.
I don't want to come across as very critical of FDL; there have certainly been good articles written there by Kathleen, Philip, and others.
I think the U.S. left is finally wising up about I/P. In the past, more often then not, you would hear a giant SHHHHHHHHH! noise from the left whenever criticism of Israel is made.
"here you are commenting on your perceptions of what we do or do not discuss"
I do look at FDL from time to time and my impression is that mostly domestic issues are discussed. Am I wrong?
"and should or should not discuss."
I can comment on prejudice, can't I? I think that is one way to look at this whole question; if progressive principles are not applied in a uniform fashion then prejudice is present. In the past the left has been extremely prejudiced against the Palestinians. One example I particularly remember is here
link to ameu.org
but I could mention others. The situation today is not nearly this bad but I think there is still some bias present.
I don't want to paint FDL in dark colors but I think it is reasonable to constructively raise these questions.
On the other hand, in FDL's defense, writing on political topics is a time consuming task. The writers can probably only specialize in a few topics. This is what I was thinking about when I commented on a domestic focus (if it exists).
The fact that you have not responded to my question about your position on zionism suggests to me that you have not studied this issue in much detail.
"My last on all of this"
I guess I have the last word.
Philip,
This is a good way for FDL to support the Palestinians. The BDS movement has grown quite a bit. What about zionism? Does FDL have anything to say about this ideology? My impression is most writers at FDL don't know much about this issue and are focused on domestic issues.
Phil,
I don't normally read FDL but I agree with you; unqualified support for Grayson and Weiner is a problem. Do you know if FDL has taken a position on the BDS campaign?
"I ... left their blogs"
FDL seems mostly concerned with domestic politics. I never read it much either because it didn't discuss the issues I was interested in.
piotr,
You can also wonder how self-described "small government" people can support our massive miltary system. They basicly use whatever half-baked argument is convenient at the time. Johnathan Schwarz at Tiny Revolution or Glenn Greenwald are fond of exposing their serial contradictions. How dumb is Pam Geller, for example, for claiming Barak Obama's father is Malcom X? And death panels or terror babies??? These people have been trained not to reason. I think this situation has developed because there are no immediate negative consequences for this stupidity. A corallary of this is that our government is pursueing equally rediculous policies. Here is another crazy example:
link to physics.about.com
This reminds me of a passage in the memior of Victor Weisskopf where he wrote in passing about the drunken howling of gangs of Nazi students on his college campus at night.
Saleema,
I would be more worried about the U.S. economy imploding when the dollar ceases to be the world's reserve currency. Economist Paul Craig Roberts discusses this problem here:
link to counterpunch.org
I read a collection of essays by Nehru once where he made the point that colonialism will promote the most regressive tendencies in the occupied population. He illustrated this point with examples from Britain's occupation of India.
This makes sense. I read somewhere that the center was not a mosque which must have just meant it was more then a mosque.
Is the facility in question a mosque or an Islamic community center? I thought it was a community center.
Actually, The New Republic did this to a photo of Saddam Hussein on the cover of their magazine in 1990.
Notice that this ad tries to personalize the issue into one's opinion of Ahmadinejad just as the Iraq issue was personized into Saddam Hussein. This is a standard propaganda ploy.
A similar topic which also receives little U.S. attention is the plight of Americans detained and tortured by Israel. An article discussing this is here:
link to ameu.org
I wonder if this is propaganda intended to shore up Jewish support for the IDF or Israel.