Scribbling, scribbling, scribbling on the Internet.
Be sure to read this article about the tunnels dug by Hamas to allow terrorists to launch surprise attacks on Israelis and kill or kidnap scores of them. The following excerpt provides a good summary of the story, but do read the whole thing: While Israel, a nuclear power, takes pride in having fielded one of …
Continue reading "For Everyone Who Doubts the Threat Hamas Poses to Israel . . ."
As David Bernstein points out, the United States government is fond of insisting that Israel work extra-special super-duper hard to prevent innocent civilians from dying in Gaza (never mind that by stationing weapons near Palestinian civilians and turning them into human shields, Hamas actually bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians in Gaza). The problem, however, …
Continue reading "Of Israel, the United States and Double Standards"
Those who are closely tracking the Steven Salaita affair know that Corey Robin--who is a "political theorist" at Brooklyn College--has perhaps been Salaita's most ardent defender and champion. This article profiles Robin. Note the following: In the Salaita case, Todd Gitlin faults Mr. Robin for failing to engage with the substance of Mr. Salaita’s tweets, at least …
Continue reading "How to Be Utterly Unreasonable (Corey Robin Edition)"
You've heard this story before, I am sure. A small Middle Eastern country is throwing its weight around and using its outsized powers to influence American foreign policy in the region. While some people shy away from discussing this unsettling--and possibly pernicious--phenomenon, more and more observers are taking note and speaking out, asking why American …
Continue reading "Regarding a Certain Lobby that Represents a Certain Middle Eastern Nation"
Link: This week vandals sprayed the words "Jews" and the Nazi slogan "Sieg Heil" on the office windows of the Lausitzer Rundschau, a newspaper known for its coverage of far-right groups. The week before four swastikas were daubed on other offices of the paper as well as "Jews, kill them" and "We'll get you all". There were similar incidents …
As I have written before, Steven Salaita likely has both a breach of contract claim and a First Amendment claim against the University of Illinois for revoking his job offer. But that doesn't mean that he should have been offered a job in the first place, and one would hope that the University of Illinois--and …
I know that I am late in reporting it, but here is the story; my original post on the matter can be found here, with a follow-up here. Amazingly enough, there are people who bemoan the fact that Shipman has been criticized for claiming that anti-Semitism is on the rise because of Israel's actions in defending …
Father Bruce, could you get a message to the Queen for me?I know you can. For on Monday, The New York Times ran a letter to the editor by you, Father Bruce M. Shipman, Yale’s chaplain to Episcopal students, in response to an Aug. 21 op-ed about rising anti-Semitism. The op-ed, by Tablet contributor Deborah E. …
Don't know who Steven Salaita is? Read this for background. And this, as well.Done? Good. And now, for my own take: Tablet Magazine has been on a roll with its coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas, and how big media news outlets have reported on the war. But in this editorial, I think they are …
I am a lifelong Democrat, a political liberal, a Reform rabbi, and for four decades, until last week, a New York Times subscriber. What drove me away was the paper’s incessant denigration of Israel, a torrent of articles, photographs, and op-ed columns that consistently present the Jewish State in the worst possible light.This phenomenon is …
Pejman Yousefzadeh 