Mike L.
I do.
This blog is small, but the questions that we address are vital. They are vital not only to the Jewish people, but to the American people, the west more generally, and to people in the Middle East, Muslim, Christian, and Jew.
There are two questions foremost in my mind at the moment, the Levy ruling and Obama administration support for the Muslim Brotherhood. On the former, I have yet to draw a conclusion. Apparently the Israeli court system has decided that Jews building homes for themselves in Judea is, in fact, not illegal.
Shocking, I know.
It's also true that 40 prominent "Jewish leaders" have sent a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu objecting to the wisdom of such a ruling. In my mind, the court is out, but I am turning things over in my head and would very much like to hear opinion.
What I am more concerned about is Obama's embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood and the failure of American Jewry, particularly liberal American Jewry, to object. This is a huge mistake. How is it that American Jews have learned so little from World War II? I was born in the 1960s, but even I know that when a large group of people start screaming for Jewish blood that they should be taken seriously. The Muslim Brotherhood has been screaming for Jewish blood for 85 years and now, with the help of the Obama administration, they are in control of Egypt.
Make of this what you will, but it cries out for discussion.
{And echo chambers suck.}
Just quickly, I would agree with the report's finding on settlements, but also think continuing any further on that front is a bad idea. Declare secure final borders and get out. Of course, I'm not an Israeli so all I can do is watch and hope whatever they do, they get it right in the end.
ReplyDeleteOn the second, some of it is baffling, to say the least. I'm still thinking.
My main concern these days, for the record, is neatly summed up by Adam Levick's CiF Watch piece from yesterday, which is of course applicable to parts of the Left, my own political home, far beyond just The Guardian, unfortunately.
And the fact that a site which even Meteor Blades at Daily Kos (finally, after years of prodding) correctly declared to be a hate site, has now been given a significant 'mainstream' platform to amplify their vile propaganda and their message of hate. Wtf is going on these days?
Levick is a friend to this site and CiF Watch is essential reading.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the Levy report. The settlements are not illegal, but I do not believe in international law, period, for two reasons. The first is that international law is largely unenforceable and the second reason is that international law is also highly politicized. It has very little to do with justice and much to do with countries jockying for position. Thus it cannot be respected.
As for the Obama embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood, all I know for sure is that it represents an embrace of an enemy not only of the Jewish state, but of the Jewish people. We can discuss just why they are doing it, but for whatever reason that they are doing it, they are in fact doing it.
As for Salon meanstreaming Mondoweiss and your question about wtf is going on these days, I think that every administration ushers in a somewhat new zeitgeist and it can happen very quickly.
You remember how much the country seemed to change after GWB came into office? It wasn't just a matter of 9/11, but of a national mood encouraged by the administration. The same thing is happening now under Obama and a part of that national mood is a turning away of support for Israel on the progressive left.
I wouldn't want to overstate it because the country, as a whole, is still very supportive of Israel, but that support is definitely eroding on the left and this is due, partly, to Obama administration's tendency to beat the Israeli dog in public.
The March, 2010, Biden trip to Israel was the real turning point. It was then that Hillary said that the Ramat Shlomo building plans represented an "insult" to the United States, despite the fact that Ramat Shlomo is in northern Jerusalem and, thus, was not considered part of the 10 month settlement freeze.
The Levy report? Well, what's really new? It's a set of opinions that have been around in tandem with the exact opposite for years. Coming out now it's just another sky is falling device for all the Chicken Littles out there who are convinced the EVIL right wing is about to destroy Israel any fucking second now. They won't.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a legal opinion, it is probably right given all I've read and considered but it is not likely to get much mileage in today's political scene. Bibi isn't likely to implement any of it having to kiss the ass of its opponents internationally to get support against Iran. Iran is far too important right now.
So, it becomes an interesting anomaly with no bite but a presence lurking in the background to scare the beejeejus out of whoever needs to be scared at any particular moment.
I think Doodad is probably right.
DeleteBibi isn't likely to implement any of it having to kiss the ass of its opponents internationally to get support against Iran.
And I wouldn't really want him to implement it, whatever that means, exactly. I certainly do not think that it should be used as a reason to annex all of Judea and Samaria.
I remain committed to the two-state solution. The real difference between myself and most liberal Jews is that I acknowledge what we might call "the Oslo Delusion," i.e., the delusion that if only Israel does this, that, or the other thing, then the Palestinians will accept a state for themselves in peace next to the Jewish one.
They won't. They have proven beyond any reasonable doubt that a negotiated conclusion of hostilities is not possible for the simple reason that this is not what the Palestinians want.
This being the case, Israel needs to act unilaterally and declare its final borders, leaving enough left over for the Palestinian criminal-terror state.