Judah Benjamin
On Friday Pat Lang’s national security site published an essay that a lot of folks are passing around. I don’t know who wrote it–the byline was the pseudonym J.P. Benjamin (at left)–but the familiarity with a lot of inside baseball suggests someone in the know.
The chronology could not really be clearer. In the immediate aftermath of the Knesset passage of the bill restricting funding for human rights organizations within Israel, followed by Secretary of State Clinton’s criticism that was extended to condemnation of the treatment of women in Israel, and the unprecedented official protest against the Israeli policy lodged by the US ambassador, there has been a strong and harsh backlash, obviously whipped up, assailing organizations and people in the US that have been critical of the Occupation, the Netanyahu government’s destruction of the peace process, and the right-wing within Israel. From the Ben Smith article in Politico on December 8 on the Center for American Progress and Media Matters for publishing critical material of current Israeli policy and its ideologues (“vitriol”), to Jennifer Rubin (who has openly called for the mass murder of Palestinians and has been protected by Washington Post editors and its publisher), to Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic (a former Israeli prison guard who has proclaimed himself the oracle on all matters pertaining to Israel and that criticism of him is ipso facto rejection of the Jewish State and ipso facto objectively anti-Semitic, encompassing perhaps his service in the Bush administration choir on links of Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein, etc.), et al (the usual suspects), there is a broad and systematic effort to limit discussion and debate about Israel and the Middle East that reflects the campaign inside Israel, including on the following subjects: the collapsed peace process and who is responsible; the complexities of the Arab Spring; the diplomatic rather than ultimate military path towards Iran; the emergence of Turkey and its chastising of Israeli policy on Gaza, especially after the killings on the Mavi Marmara; the influence of Likud through AIPAC and other organizations on the US political process, the US media and the US Congress; the rise of the new right around Islamophobia; the influence and role of Israel on US detainee policy and the militarization of domestic policing policy; the assault on Secretary of State Clinton for her remarks on the threats to democracy within Israel, as well as the nearly complete silence in the US from the Democratic Party, liberal intellectuals and pundits, defending her and the administration, as well as freedom for human rights groups within Israel; and the effort to discredit anyone operating outside the limits set by those that insist on the narrow spectrum of discussion, far different from within Israel itself.
Please read the articles below: Clinton criticism sparks Israeli anger, etc.
The articles can be found at the post.
Just why Clinton was criticized and Ambassadors Gutman and Freeman pilloried is quite simple, let them get away with it, then anybody[can grow a spine]and get away with it. Just picture a crime boss shaking down shops and businesses, what does he do when one person refuses to pay,unless that person is taught a lesson[you have a nice place here would not like anything to happen to it, know what I mean guvnor]and one that is seen by everyone, the whole edifice could come crashing down, Congress got the message.
Philip – You’re a professional journalist, and you soundly conclude here regarding alias Judah Benjamin is “All I know is that he or she can write”?
What we have here is a person capable of putting together 2 run-on sentences totalling 400 words. That’s not writing.
Certainly, one would have to be blind to not witness the writing on the wall regarding the fissures between Israel and America (“blind” — that’s an idiom, that’s what writers use!) . But to cast a wide net suggesting a full conspiracy to silence criticism of Israel is ludicrous. To charge Jennifer Rubin with calling for mass murder, or to suggest that Jeffrey Goldberg is so narcissistic that he equates criticism of himself with anti-Semitism, is just the start of nonsense in the rant you reposted.
There is a huge potential for the vastly liberal American Jewish to more openly lose faith with the direction Israel has been going in. But not by this drivel.
Jon Garfunkel
New York, NY
Having a conflict is a goldmine for the Pals. They been living on handouts for over 60 years.
They dont want to end the conflict, because they would have to take responsiblity of their people.
2nd, we find out last month, that Saeb Erekat confirmed Olmert had offered a final peace settlement that would include territorial concession equivalent to the entire West Bank and the division of Jerusalem.
The Palestinians also control 100% of Gaza.
Erekat also admitted the Jews only live on 1.1% of the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/erekat-olmert-offered-palestinians-territorial-equivalent-of-west-bank-1.393484
So it proves what lies Philip Weiss has said over the years that Israel never offered the Pals a state.
The problem is Palestinian Rejectionism.
So why did the Palestinians not respond to Olmert’s offer?
All you have to do is go to Palmediawatch and see the Palestinians genocidal plans against Israel.
http://www.palwatch.org
Why dont Weiss see how the Palestinians glorify terrorists who massacre Israeli civilians, names streets after these terrorists and talk how Israel will be eliminated.
I guess talking about that dont fit Philip’s radical agenda against Israel.
Then Weiss says, the complexities of the Arab Spring;
There are no complexities. Its jihadists taking over all these Arab spring countries and in Syria, you have a goverment thats killing thousands of its own people, which doesn’t seem to bother Philip.