By Vic Rosenthal
One of the few Arab-initiated peace proposals for Israel and the Palestinians is the so-called Saudi initiative of 2002. Supposedly the idea was suggested by a journalist, Thomas Friedman. I too am a journalist, so I will make my proposal in the hope that an Arab monarch will adopt it.
By Vic Rosenthal
Israel is backing off on the plan to create (or expand) a settlement in the Jordan valley. Although a good argument can be made that Israel has the right to do this, the whole affair displays the incompetence of the government.
What did they think would be the reaction of the US and Europe? Of course it will be, “you can’t do this”. And what has the government’s reaction consistently been to US pressure: “yes, boss”.
So, since bowing to such pressure is another erosion of sovereignity, Israel should either not expand the settlement or not give in once the expansion has been announced.
A novice chessplayer soon learns to look ahead several moves. Olmert’s government can’t seem to look ahead by one.
Technorati Tags: Israel, settlements, Olmert
Liberal Judaism and Zionism
By Vic Rosenthal
Many of my liberal Jewish friends have tried to disconnect their Jewish spirituality, ethics, ritual, and peoplehood from Eretz Yisrael. Although there are, of course, Orthodox anti-Zionists who think that only the mashiach can return the Jews to their homeland, the position is quite different: the liberal Jew believes that the Jewish state is simply irrelevant to Jewish life in the Diaspora. Some of them can even support the replacement of Israel by a Palestinian state. This essay is intended for them.
Antisemitism in the Arab world
By Vic Rosenthal
I wrote this a few months ago, but the recent Holocaust denial conference in Iran has made it current. I suppose it’s an attempt to answer the question “why can’t we get along with them?”
By Vic Rosenthal
If there’s any remaining doubt that Jimmy Carter’s book is a propaganda bomb and not just a sign of approaching senility, his letter to America’s Jewish citizens, written after a meeting with several Arizona rabbis, has removed it.
