Jewish theologian Marc H. Ellis died this week at the age of 71. His work on the battle between Empire and the prophetic within contemporary Jewish life is more relevant today than ever.
A week culminating with the massacre of 274 Palestinians in Gaza provided further evidence – though none is needed — that anti-Palestinian bias is simply a rule of American politics, and today maybe the leading rule.
Joe Biden wants it both ways. He wants Democrats to stop criticizing genocide but he also wants the Israel lobby’s support. Thus, he has a ceasefire plan in one hand, and an invitation to Netanyahu, a war criminal, to speak to Congress in the other.
Nine of Biden’s top 25 donors are staunch supporters of Israel. While a clutch of billionaires is working behind the scenes to “help win the war” of public opinion for Israel, the Washington Post reports.
Smearing the protesters of the Gaza genocide: Dana Bash on CNN says it’s OK to criticize Netanyahu, but not the Jewish state, then says these protests “hearken back to the 1930s” and Jews across the U.S. feel unsafe. While her colleague Jake Tapper says that Jewish students are unsafe at Columbia and Tulane; and on the PBS News Hour, David Brooks says that the Columbia University protests against Israel “are hate-filled and bigoted.”
The Jewish community must open its eyes to the grotesque armored thing that is modern Israel, and denounce its actions if only in order to save ourselves. And yes it’s true: Palestinians who denounce Israel are pleasing their grandparents and parents; and we are not. But that’s a lame excuse for a thoughtful person in America.
Israel’s indifference to international law is destabilizing the Middle East, even establishment voices say. The head of the Center for American Progress, a Democratic Party thinktank, says Israel is not a democracy and peace will only be possible if Palestinians have equal rights.
Years before the murder of American aid worker Jacob Flickinger in Gaza brought worldwide outrage this week, and calls to cut off aid to Israel, pro-Palestinian activists condemned Israel’s murder of American Rachel Corrie. Now activists should welcome all those who decry Israeli human rights abuses.
The Biden administration “quietly” approved a new transfer of more massive bombs to Israel even as the establishment continues to turn against Israel.
Jeffrey Goldberg used to brag of his Israeli military service but this week was forced to withdraw from a speaking event after students asked how a former IDF prison guard could speak on democracy. Zionism has lost its hallowed perch in U.S. society.