The appointment by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Danny Danon as Israel’s new ambassador to the United Nations has prompted widespread consternation. It is part of a discernible pattern of recent appointments by Netanyahu that reflect a growing refusal to engage in any kind of recognisable international diplomacy. Confrontation is preferred.
51 Christian leaders representing dozens of denominations and Christian organizations sent a letter to Congress today, urging lawmakers to vote in favor of the Vienna agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program. The letter, signed by leaders from all the major streams of Christianity in the United States— Roman Catholic, evangelical, mainline Protestant and Orthodox, warns lawmakers that “rejection of this deal would be a rejection of the historic progress our diplomats have made to make this world a safer place.”
Marc Ellis suggests Bernie Sanders visit Tzedek Chicago for High Holiday services this year where Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and Max Blumenthal will be helping bring in the Jewish New Year.
Why not outsource our foreign policy to the Knesset? Chris Matthews challenged a Republican opponent to the Iran deal, and when Jonathan Capehart said Chuck Schumer opposed the deal after study, Matthews said Schumer opposed it because he’s “going to defend the interests of Israel”
‘Vanity Fair’ says it may be time for French Jews to leave Paris because of a supposed attack on a synagogue a year ago. The event in fact involved a “rampage” by the Jewish Defense League in response to pro-Palestinian demonstrators during the attack on Gaza.
Approximately 4,500 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition began bombing 150 days ago, according to the UN. An average of 30 people have been killed in Yemen every single day since the beginning of the war on March 26, which pits a US-backed coalition of Middle Eastern nations and forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi against Iran-backed Houthi rebels and fighters loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party and the Liberals are in a frantic race to see who can appeal to pro-Israel voters ahead of the upcoming Canadian federal elections. All three major parties are currently on record as denouncing BDS, condemning Israeli Apartheid week on university campuses and attempting to stifle debate on this issue.
The rightwing Israel lobby used to be able to get 76 Senate signatures on a napkin overnight. Now it’s losing its power. Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Indiana Sen Joe Donnelly both are bucking it.
James North writes: “I recently returned to Zimbabwe for the first time in three decades. My visit reminded me that even the best intentioned liberation movements can turn bad, an insight that might be relevant to Israel/Palestine today. In fact, witnessing Zimbabwe’s decline has made me an even more determined supporter of BDS as the best — possibly the only — way to promote lasting justice in Israel/Palestine.”
John Hockenberry of the Takeaway on NPR is a secret sharer. He knows about the Goldstone Report on Israel’s killings of civilians and says the efforts to kill the Iran Deal are in Israel’s interest not the U.S.’s. He broke out last week in an interview with Sen. Menendez. Hip hip hooray