Even at its worst back in the day, the Wall Street Journal editorial page didn’t go in for Christian evangelical malarkey. Can you believe they’re running this kind of religious talk as a basis for foreign policy? From a man who calls himself a strategy and policy analyst, no less? My lord, but some American Jews are religious crazies, and they ought to keep this stuff in religious spaces– for the good of the rest of us.
A review of Peter Beinart’s book by Daniel Freedman:
Israel isn’t just an ordinary state; it’s the continuation of a story beginning in history’s most famous book, the Bible. And one of Judaism’s greatest legacies is the belief that tomorrow can be better—even as existential threats and true crises loom.
Mr. Freedman, the director of strategy and policy analysis at The Soufan Group, a strategic-intelligence consultancy, is the co-author of “The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al Qaeda.”
RE: “Israel isn’t just an ordinary state; it’s the continuation of a story beginning in history’s most famous book, the Bible.” ~ Daniel Freedman in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal
SEE: Were Jews ever really slaves in Egypt, or is Passover a myth? ~ By Josh Mintz, Haaretz 3/26/12
ENTIRE COMMENTARY – http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/were-jews-ever-really-slaves-in-egypt-or-is-passover-a-myth-1.420844
P.S. “Sticks and stones may break our bones, but facts will never sway us.” ~ Neocon Creed (This creed also works for Team B, Republicans, Fox News, Fundies, and now even The Wall Street Journal.)
Daniel Freedman puts “settlements” in quotes, as if to imply that they are not actually settlements (even though the settlers themselves refer to them as settlements). He claims to have no idea what the term “tribal privilege” means.
I have yet to encounter a neocon (and that is what Freedman plainly is) who didn’t strike me as being quite stupid, but at the same time gifted with a remarkable ability to pull the wool over his or her eyes — they are capable of rationalizing absolutely anything in pursuit of their tribal self-interest and privilege. And one wonders if their religious indoctrination might have played a key role in forming these mental habits.
Regarding “higher standards” — members of modern Western democracies expect Israel to respect and honor modern Western democratic values and practices — it’s really quite simple. If you want to be a member of the modern Western democratic community behave appropriately. Modern Western democracies are not ethnic, religious or ethno-religious nationalist states that discriminate against ethnic and religious outsiders on the basis of holy books.
By the way, check out the comments: many of the attacks on Beinart are boiling over with extreme hatred and bigotry of the kind which have already turned much of the world against Israel.
On the belief system of many religious Zionists (from the comments):
BEGIN QUOTE
The “crisis” is not with the State of Israel but the “credentials” of the author.
Whatever kind of Judaism he practices it is obvious he has not read the first Bible commentary by Rashi one of the greatest Jewish scholars. The Bible begins with the creation of the world and states that God chose the land of Israel for the Jews. That also included the West Bank.
The highest spiritual level of the world was when Judaism was at the pinnacle of success at the time of Orthodox Jews like King David and Solomon. Gentiles lived in peace and offered sacrifices at The Temple of Solomon while in paying homage to God.
As secular government fades away and the Orthodox, ultra-Orthodox, and Haredim become a majority Israel will become a “light unto the nations” when even the Palestinians and the Arab world will praise God.
END QUOTE
this would be funny if it wasn’t so weird.
http://soufangroup.com/
http://www.soufangroup.com/EBIII/
more from mr freedman
I don’t want to go off on a tangent here, but Daniel Freedman is a contributor to Ali Soufan’s book “The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda”:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Banners-Inside-Against-al-Qaeda/dp/0393079422/
Ali Soufan has issued a major challenge to the official story on 9/11:
“Former FBI agent says truth of 9/11 remains hidden”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14892377
BEGIN QUOTE
A former FBI agent has told the BBC that he is being prevented from telling the truth about the events of 9/11 and what has happened since.
Ali Soufan alleges that crucial intelligence was not passed on from the CIA before the attacks in 2001.
He has written a book detailing some of his claims and has been speaking to the BBC’s Security Correspondent Gordon Corera in his first on camera interview on the subject.
END QUOTE
Soufan’s charges nicely jibe with those made by Richard Clarke. Add his book to a long list of books by 9/11 skeptics.
It was curious to discover Daniel Freedman entangled with these controversies.