Monthly Archives: May 2011

The life and times of a freedom fighter

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

The Jerusalem Post Magazine, June 3, 2011 After the eulogies at Sunday’s funeral for Arthur Goldreich, a legend of the anti-apartheid movement, the glorious national anthem of his native South Africa – Nkosi Sikeleli Afrika (God Bless Africa) – played … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 35 Comments

Patriotism and the Left – the debate continues

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

Richard, I agree completely and identify completely with your refusal to prove your patriotism to people who accuse of you of hating Israel. It’s degrading, and I won’t do it in any setting, not in one-on-one arguments with right-wingers and not in writing. So that’s not what I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 12 Comments

Patriotism? Nuts to That

Posted on May 30, 2011 by

I felt ambivalent about Larry’s post about Israeli patriotism for a number of reasons, but the main one is that patriotism, as that wise saying goes, “is the last refuge of scoundrels.” Patriotism tells us very little about a country … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Judaism, Richard Silverstein, Zionism | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Patriotism and the Israeli Left

Posted on May 30, 2011 by

I have a right-wing, ex-Israeli relative who loves to bait my liberal outrage, and I imagine him saying, ”You weren’t proud of Netanyahu’s speech at Congress? You didn’t feel proud as an Israeli that your prime minister was speaking up for your country and … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 1 Comment

Occupation: ‘Not the End. Not Even the Beginning of the End. But Perhaps the End of the Beginning.’

Posted on May 29, 2011 by

I might go a little farther than Churchill’s famous quotation above and say that perhaps we are near the beginning of the end of the Occupation.  All this despite the fact that we face some of the worst conditions for … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Palestine, Richard Silverstein | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Israel’s great white hope

Posted on May 28, 2011 by

Israel’s leading opposition party, Kadima (Forward), and its great white hope, Tzipi Livni, showed once again that they are the true leaders of the peace camp. Today Egypt fully opened its border with Gaza, allowing people to pass both ways … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Larry Derfner, Palestine, Richard Silverstein | 6 Comments

The new, nice Israeli

Posted on May 27, 2011 by

The Jerusalem Post Magazine, May 27, 2011 We were having dinner on Yom Ha’atzma’ut at some friends’ apartment in Modi’in, and to give the table talk a little holiday significance, I asked my mother-in-law what she thought of Israelis. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 26 Comments

Obama’s albatross

Posted on May 25, 2011 by

(“Rattling the Cage,” The Jerusalem Post, May 25, 2011)            With that Salute to Judea and Samaria he just staged in Washington, our wise and fearless leader just screwed American policy in the Middle East, turned Israel into an albatross around … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 38 Comments

See you in September, Bibi

Posted on May 24, 2011 by

After Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, I think he’s strengthened the Palestinians’ drive for statehood. Offering nothing, blaming everything on the other side while casting himself and his side as utterly blameless – what else was he going to say? – Bibi … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 16 Comments

Thanks a little, Mr. President

Posted on May 22, 2011 by

I’m glad, and frankly surprised, that Obama stuck to his guns at the AIPAC speech today. Instead of steering away from his support for the ’67 borders with land swaps – which Netanyahu loudly and repeatedly misrepresented as support for the ’67 borders, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 16 Comments