“… the US is perfectly capable of acting monstrously without the help of any outside forces, as evidenced by its conduct throughout the rest of the world”

And did so, long before Israel came along.

She hardly looks duped.

“which is certainly different from the Western media ethic,” – yes, ha, ha, ha, very funny Jodi. Now tell us about the ethic of journalists embedding with the US military and the oh so high quality journalism it produces.

jude, you crack me up.

“I believe people want to marry Jews because we’re successful (and we are overall the wealthiest group in the U.S. by religion). People want to get ahead, people want to get in with the in crowd. ”

That is so absurd. Not to mention a gross generalization about Jews (“we’re successful”? – gag me with a spoon). Did the groom forget he was supposed to marry a Jew so he could get ahead? Maybe the groom came from a class that gets educated and socializes with children of vice-presidents. Maybe not all Jews run in those circles. Maybe you have some bizarre complex about the success of Jews. I don’t know, but the whole article was weird. Why don’t you stick with I/P.

I am reluctant to express any disagreement with the amazing Neta Golan, if for not other reason (like her incredible political work) she is an Israeli insider and I am not. The basis of Jewish Israelis’ fear of Arabs that she describes as being rooted in the knowledge that the Palestinians have a just complaint against them, and the land they have taken, as colonizers, seems totally right. The race riot in south T. A., however, seems like a very familiar case of one economically vulnerable community (of any race) taking their fears out on another (often immigrant but not necessarily). One can find examples of this all over the world, not least in the U.S. It is true, perhaps, that the expressed virulence and “Death to Africans” type threats heard in south T.A. are somehow magnified and “gotten away with” because of the underlying racist nature of the state, and “death to Arabs” is already a familiar/acceptable theme. However, it just strikes me that the root of this hate is a little different – economic that is.

Bravo to Sahar Vardi and the pink-shirted kid who got away!

I don’t get your and Mooser’s beef. How do you know George Smith was brought up in any religion? What do you know about how his sons were brought up or how they were indoctrinated, nor if it was only because his spouse desired it? How do you know the religious tenets in Mr. Smith’s house do not match (as implied by Mooser above) his own? I gather from the post that Mr. Smith has spoken out any number of times against the injustice against Palestinians and against Zionist B-S. One could equally assume (and be on firmer ground) that the value of speaking out against injustice is a view he shares with his spouse, and “indoctrinated” his sons with. Maybe his view is that raising one’s sons Jewish is not at odds with that value. So what’s your beef?

“Israel did not want this flytilla to have the same repercussions as the Gaza flotilla had and its authorities have been steadfast in ensuring that a deadly charade would not recur.”

The same repercussions? A deadly charade? No, the deaths were real, and Israel caused them. Israel is causing all the “repercussions” – not the least, by not allowing travelers to the West Bank, showing how claiming to be a “democracy” is truly a charade.

Thanks, Dickerson. From whatever discipline, you always find the right gem.