Archive for the 'Israel' Category
Bibi Vs. Rahm
Posted on July 9, 2009 by andrew- Filed Under Israel | Leave a Comment
Ha’aretz, in a story making the rounds, informs us that the Israeli prime minister either actively wants to piss off his country’s most valuable allies or is too dumb to keep something this inflammatory from leaking to the press:
To appreciate the depth of his paranoia, it is enough to hear how [Netanyahu] refers to Rahm [...]
When It Rains It Pours And When It’s Sunny, It’s… Really Sunny?
Posted on January 21, 2009 by andrew- Filed Under Israel, Middle East | Leave a Comment
The entire world is looking better today. First Israel removed its troops from Gaza, and now I see that the Israeli Supreme Court has reversed the country’s misguided attempt to ban Arab parties from its upcoming elections.
(The latter decision has absolutely nothing to do with President Obama, of course. I’m just happy to be reading [...]
A Massive Mistake By Israel
Posted on January 12, 2009 by andrew- Filed Under Israel | 1 Comment
Yglesias points to a Haaretz report that is deeply disturbing, to put it mildly. The brief version: The Israeli government is banning Arab political parties from running in the country’s upcoming elections.
Israel has always had some tensions between its desire to be a Jewish state at its core and its desire to be a modern [...]
The Gaza Invasion
Posted on January 3, 2009 by andrew- Filed Under Gaza, Israel, January 2009 Gaza Conflict, Middle East | Leave a Comment
A ground invasion. Why? What purpose could this possibly serve?
This is merely informed speculation, obviously, but my sense is that American Jewish opinion is shifting against Israel’s actions in a way that has seldom happened in modern history. We simply don’t see the justification for what the Jewish state is currently doing to Palestinian civilians. [...]
Thanks, Marty, That’s Really Helpful
Posted on December 29, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Israel, Marty Peretz, Middle East, The New Republic | Leave a Comment
I don’t really know what to say about the current conflict in Gaza. My natural sympathies go to Israel, but the reports we’re getting, including images and casualty numbers, as well as the analysis from more knowledgeable observers, lead me to suspect that the Israelis are making a huge moral and tactical mistake. This probably [...]
On The Israel Question
Posted on October 8, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under 2008 presidential election, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Tom Brokaw, foreign policy, presidential debates | 1 Comment
This really bugged me last night, so I have to mention it. A veteran in the audience asked McCain and Obama whether they would be willing to commit troops to defend Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, even without international approval.
To put it bluntly, the question makes no sense.
If Iran attacks Israel with [...]
Israelis For Obama
Posted on October 6, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama, Israel, Jewish voters | Leave a Comment
The latest video making the rounds, courtesy of Jamie:
Maybe this will help to win over some of the Jewish voters still uncomfortable voting for Obama, or maybe it won’t. I’m honestly not sure. I do think it’s a very nice video, though.
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Joe Lieberman Doesn’t Speak For Us
Posted on July 16, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Israel, J Street, Jewish voters, polls | Leave a Comment
Spencer Ackerman writes about a new poll of American Jews conducted by the new(ish) liberal-leaning pro-Israel lobbying organization J Street. The results are hardly surprising to me, but should be a useful reminder to all the clowns who consistently mischaracterize Jewish voters as only caring about- and voting based upon- how much a given candidate [...]
Disaster For Everyone
Posted on May 21, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Israel, religion | Leave a Comment
There are so many things about this story that are wrong on so many levels that I hardly know where to begin. Why did anyone think burning bibles would ever be a good idea? Why would a deputy mayor be placed in charge of this bible burning operation? Why did the Ethiopian Jews need assistance [...]
Israel Must Stop Appeasing Evil Islamofascists
Posted on May 21, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under 2008 presidential election, Israel, John McCain, Syria, diplomacy | Leave a Comment
You’d think Israel would’ve learned something from the lessons of Nazi Germany and 9/11. Instead they’re running around Neville Chamberlaining it up with Syria. Way to give up Czechoslovakia, guys!
When John McCain is president, he can finally sit down with Israel and tell them, “Stop the bullshit.”
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Politics Well Across The Water’s Edge
Posted on May 15, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under 2008 presidential election, George W Bush, Israel | 1 Comment
Our president, in addition to his many other deficiencies, has absolutely no class whatsoever.
In comments apparently directed at the likely Democratic nominee, President Bush jumped full force into the presidential contest today, telling the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem that any U.S. foreign policy allowing negotiations with terrorists should be unequivocally discounted as detrimental to stability [...]
Another Thought On Obama, The Jewish Vote, And Dumb Right-Wing Strategies
Posted on May 13, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama, Israel, Jewish voters, wingnuts | 2 Comments
I just read a few more blog posts discussing the Barack Obama/Jeffrey “Not the Goldberg of Liberal Fascism Fame” Goldberg interview and the ongoing attempts by certain right-wing smear artists to paint Obama as a closet Israel-loathing anti-Semite. Here’s what occurred to me:
Let these assholes continue to waste their time on this.
Seriously, who cares? I [...]
Worst Fact Checker Ever
Posted on May 13, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama, Israel, John Boehner, the media | Leave a Comment
An interview of Barack Obama by Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic:
JG: Do you think that Israel is a drag on America’s reputation overseas?
BO: No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides [...]
Hitchens Studies The Mishnah
Posted on May 12, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Christopher Hitchens, Israel, Judaism, religion | Leave a Comment
Christopher Hitchens’ take on Israel’s 60th anniversary was almost invariably going to be something I found disagreeable, so I didn’t really plan on spending any time discussing it in a blog post. However, I can’t possibly ignore his introductory paragraph:
It’s somehow absurd and trivial to use the word Israel and the expression 60th birthday in [...]
Ka-Boom
Posted on April 11, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Israel, immigration, wingnuts | Leave a Comment
Excuse me, my head just exploded.
The post at the Corner makes the seemingly sincere argument that one reason we should fear Latino immigration is the alleged unlikelihood that Latino Catholics will be as supportive of Israel in the long-term as is America’s current Christian population. Go back and read that sentence again; it might take [...]
