With the Obama Administration apparently prepared to ramp up the pressure on Israel to arrive at a settlement with the Palestinians, including the possibility of the Administration presenting its own peace plan as a more or less done deal, I hope someone in the Administration pauses to ask the question “what if the Palestinians don’t […]
Archive | Israel
A Strange Thing About the Controversy Over Jerusalem
President Obama is insisting that Israel cease building housing in East Jerusalem, purportedly to help lure the Palestinians into peace talks. (I say purportedly, because the way Obama has gone about it, creating a huge crisis in relations with Israel over building in Jewish neighborhoods that no one thinks are going to be returned to […]
“Nazi Scandal Engulfs Human Rights Watch”
That’s the title of an excellent piece today in the Times of London. Despite the lurid title, the piece is actually a tough-but-fair overview of the various controversies surrounding HRW’s coverage of the Middle East. A taste: Some conflict zones get much more coverage than others. For instance, HRW has published five heavily publicised reports […]
LA Times Op-Ed Contributors on Targeted Killing and the Presumed Mossad Hit
Over at the Los Angeles Times opinion page today, Sunday, February 21, 2010, Marjorie Miller has lined up various folks to opine on targeted killing and the presumed Mossad hit in Dubai against the founder of Hamas’ military wing. The offerings are very short – a hundred or so words each – but I had […]
Why is it Cool to Claim You’ve Been Called an Anti-Semite?
Three years ago, I wrote: on the one hand, we have friends of Israel who are too quick to label others anti-Semitic, though I believe that this phenomenon is declining, as it has received increasing scrutiny and criticism. On the other hand, we have critics of Israel who try to portray anyone who defends Israel […]
Sullivan v. Wieseltier
The New York Times reports on the Andrew Sullivan vs. Leon Wieseltier controversy. The report is not quite right; it says that Wieseltier accused Sullivan of anti-Semitism, when Wieseltier actually accused Sullivan of recklessly engaging in venomous rhetoric that gives aid and comfort to anti-Semites and stokes anti-Semitism. This may be cold comfort to Sullivan […]
Goldstone Report Co-Author is a Nutter?
I wrote back in September, re the Goldstone Report on Israel’s actions in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead: My inclination is to dismiss out of hand any report that emerges from the U.N. Human Rights Council, which includes such human rights stalwarts as China, Cuba, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. I’m even more inclined to do […]
Bronner and the N.Y. Times
There’s a bizarre controversy brewing over the fact that New York Times Middle East reporter Ethan Bronner’s son has decided to volunteer for the Israeli military. Anti-Israel activists are arguing that this means that Bronner will be tempted to bias his reporting in favor of Israel and the IDF, rendering his reporting non-objective, or at […]
Formerly Socialist Israeli Kibbutzim Discover the Virtues of Private Property
Israel’s collectivist kibbutzim were once one of the world’s most highly touted experiments in socialism. But, as the Financial Times reports [HT: Tyler Cowen], they have increasing switched over to private property rights: Set amid rolling hills in central Israel, Kibbutz Nachshon is a cluster of simple houses shaded by pine trees and surrounded by […]
Mitchell’s Loan Guarantee Threat
I suspect that U.S. envoy George Mitchell’s threat that the U.S. may withhold loan guarantees from Israel if Israel fails to adhere to U.S. policy re the West Bank would have more “bite” if Israel’s fiscal house wasn’t currently in much better order than the U.S.’s.
Typical Human Rights Watch Dishonesty
HRW’s website has published this piece on the Geneva Conventions and Israel by director Ken Roth. There are many things wrong with it, but I’ll focus on one piece of blatant dishonesty. Here’s Roth: Instead, there is strong evidence that Israel wanted Gazan civilians to pay the price for Hamas’s abuses, and that the decision […]
Israel’s legal rights to Judea and Samaria
Summary of thesis by Canadian lawyer Jacques Gauthier is here. Thoughtful pro/con comments are solicited. Comments should address legal arguments only. Trolls will be suppressed.
Prof. Howe Responds
Last week, I criticized a review by Prof. Stephen Howe of Shlomo Sand’s book, The Invention of the Jewish People. Given the somewhat personal nature of the criticism, I invited Prof. Howe to respond, which he does below: Thanks for your courtesy in letting me know about your posting on Volokh, which I read with […]
More One-Sided “Reporting” from the NYT
Here’s the way the New York Times describes an ongoing controversy over whether the Berkeley Daily Planet is obsessively anti-Israel and perhaps anti-Semitic: For the last six years, The Berkeley Daily Planet has published a freewheeling assortment of submissions from readers, who offer sharp-elbowed views on everything from raucous college parties (generally bad) to the […]
Unintentionally Ironic Book Review of the Week
Professor Stephen Howe of Bristol University reviewed Shlomo Sand’s The Invention of the Jewish People in the Independent. The review itself says nothing of particular interest, and any discussion of the origins of the demographic origins of modern Jews people that doesn’t reference the genetic evidence is doomed to be worthless. But here’s the unintentionally […]