I love a lot of goyim. That might be the essence of my assimilationist problem. If you love some goyim—any goyim– then the idea of Jewish difference and exceptionalism becomes very hard to maintain intellectually and in your life choices….
I’m reading Kafka these days not just for the incredible pleasure of it but because Kafka lived in a very similar Jewish moment to ours, which he recognized as transitional. Jews were included as never before. They had important jobs…
Yesterday I went on Press TV to discuss the Israel lobby with Elazar Barkan and Dan Fleshler, and after the taping, the three of us hung out in a hallway talking. We all disagreed about what the lobby is. I’d…
Lately I did a post on the question, Why do we single Israel out for indictment in a sea of man’s inhumanity to man? It’s the Dershowitz question, implying that we do so because we’re anti-semitic. Well here is a…
Following Phil’s report on Nadia Matar’s call to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas at Safra Synagogue in Manhattan, J Street has taken up the issue. Today they are reporting on their blog that Rabbi Elie Abadie of Safra Synagogue has renounced Matar’s…
A number of people have asked if I have a recording for the report that Israeli colonist Nadia Matar called for the killing of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas last night during a lecture at the Safra Synagogue on E. 63rd…
A few impressions of being in the company of the settler movement last night in New York: The meeting’s in the basement of a rich stone synagogue. The crowd aren’t rich people, they’re cause people, rough around the edges, a…
Exclusive report from Mondoweiss: In a speech at a New York synagogue Wednesday night, Nadia Matar, a leader of the Israeli settlers’ group “Women in Green,” called for the assassination of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, as…
Marc Sapir is a doctor in Berkeley. He lately sent out this email to friends (and Jeff Blankfort got Sapir’s permission to pass it along, edited). It bears on the fact that the traditional left is “confounded” by the Israel/Palestine…