There’s been an important, wonderful development on the Israel/Palestine front that typically has gotten no attention: Hillel societies at American universities have helped sponsor the tour of the Israeli army veterans’ group, Breaking the Silence. I find this association as…
Last night at NYU, Tony Judt gave a speech about the changing role of intellectuals in democracies in which he brought up the Israel/Palestine question and observed that the American discourse is now opening up to criticisms of Israel. Eight…
Jimmy Carter’s interviewers have repeatedly challenged him about Hamas: Why should Israel talk to Hamas when Hamas doesn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist? Carter answers by describing the democratic elections that brought Hamas to power. He ought to cite the…
Steven Erlanger wrote a great piece for the Times last week about a study by Peace Now showing the staggering percentage of stolen Arab land being built upon by Israelis (facts on the ground!). The story ran off the front…
Public broadcasting stars Terry Gross and Judy Woodruff have both now paddled Jimmy Carter for the “provocative” title of his book, Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid. In each case the gentlemanly grandfatherly prez bore up beautifully under the treatment, stuck to…
Matt Dorf of Rabinowitz/Dorf communications informs me I got the #s wrong on how many young Jews go to Israel free every year. Your piece on Ali Abunimah’s talk includes a mention of our client birthright israel: “Indeed, he said,…
Toshikuni Doi is a 50-ish Japanese journalist now visiting the U.S. after spending years in the Occupied Territories with a camcorder. The other day at Columbia he had his first American audience, for a documentary about a family in a…
I caught Ali Abunimah, the Palestinian/American activist and author of a new book calling for a single Arab and Jewish state in Palestine, at Columbia the other night. Abunimah made a few interesting points: 1. Having been to Northern Ireland,…
The idea that there are two narratives about Israel/Palestine in this country, and never the twain shall meet, was reinforced last week by the Times’ two-parter on the special relationship of Israel and the U.S., titled “Anatomy of an Alliance.”…