Medvedev’s Palestine-Jordan Trip Promoted Religion And Independence
by James M. Wall
When Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev arrived in Jericho, Palestine, last week, he was received by an honor guard and by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Medvedev came to Palestine to reaffirm his country’s support for a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Soviet Union endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state in 1988. Medvedev’s reaffirmation of that endorsement adds Russia to a list of more than 120 nations which have called for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Recent Latin American countries joining the list are Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Spain is expected to be next.
Medvedev’s Palestinian hosts in Jericho were quick to point out that this was the first time such a high-profile international figure had gone to Palestine without also going to Israel. (To continue reading, click here.)
Obama Needs His Own White House “Viziers With Moral Imaginations”
by James M. Wall
When President Obama spoke in Tucson Wednesday night, he called on Americans to
. . . expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.
Commenting on the speech that remembered the victims of the Tucson murders, Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times that the President’s words
spoke to our desire for reconciliation. . . .But the truth is that we are a deeply divided nation and are likely to remain one for a long time. By all means, let’s listen to each other more carefully; but what we’ll discover, I fear, is how far apart we are.
Krugman pointed to the nation’s differences on how best to order its economy. He makes a cogent and valid point. It is a point that applies as well to another “great divide”, one that confronts the President as he and his advisors address the serious and volatile standoff between Israel and Palestine.
The Peace Talks ended when Israel refused to agree to a 90 day halt of settlement construction. The two opposing sides have gone their own way. Israel continued to expand its grip on Palestinian land and people; the Palestinians looked for, and found, new friends in Europe and Latin America. At last count, 110 United Nations members have recognized Palestine as a state. (To continue reading click here.)
Two Timeless And Relevant Films: “Nashville” and “The Apostle”
by James M. Wall
In Tony Judt’s final book, The Memory Chalet, he wrote as a historian looking back on his own life. Judt, who finished his final work a few months before his death, defined the task of the historian this way:
of all the cliches about “History,” the one that most appealed to me was the assertion that we are but philosophers teaching with examples.
If we take “examples” to be stories, parables, myths, art forms, or legends, the way is open to all of us to be philosophers who teach. As a confirmed cinephile, I am emboldened to take Judt’s lead and offer the occasional movie to convey what for me is important for others to consider.
Nashville is a film that became relevant this past week because of the mass killings in Arizona.
This 1975 film by Robert Altman has retained its position on the shelf of the memory because it is a cinematic work of art that evokes an American period of tumult when political conflict exploded into violence. (To continue reading, click here.)
“A Family in Gaza”: Two Years Later
by James M. Wall
A Family in Gaza is a short film made and distributed by Jen Marlowe. It tells the true story of what happened to one family in Gaza, two years ago.
Given its theme, it is a remarkably low-keyed film, narrated calmly by Wafaa and Kamal, the parents of the Awajah family of the title. Their young son was among the 1400 Gazans who were killed during Israel’s 23-day assault on Gaza which began December 27, 2008.
I shared the video with friends and family. Here is one response:
It is a beautiful video, a mythology-shattering piece both compelling and painful. Watching it brought to mind a hasbara tactic that infuriates me, the mythology surrounding incitement, specifically, the assertion by Israel that Palestinian educators and parents teach their children to hate and that is what drives Palestinian violence. To continue reading, click here.
The Long Struggle for Peace, Which Began with Carter, Starts Over in 2011
by James M. Wall
On May 17, 1977, four months after Jimmy Carter was sworn in as US president, Israeli voters elected a right wing government for the first time in modern political history.
Menachen Begin, a former Israeli underground “terrorist” leader, became prime minister.
It was clear to President Carter that Begin had no interest in what the rest of the world referred to as a fair and just “peace” in the region. Carter quickly discovered that Begin was not going to be a “partner for peace”.
Begin did not want peace; he wanted absolute control over the West Bank and Gaza. Every Israeli leader since 1977 has played Begin’s game of deceit and duplicity. It started overtly with Begin. His predecessors had the same goal. They were less overt, however, than Begin and his successors.
In his effort to halt Israel’s expansionistic greed, Carter fought Israel’s allies in the US, AIPAC and the US Congress. Carter’s opponents in the Georgia legislature had not prepared him for this depth of conflict, but it helped. Some of his Georgia opponents were self-righteous racists. (To continue reading, click here.)
Behind a 30-Foot Prison Wall, “Merry Christmas” Becomes a Media Lie
by James M. Wall
If you relied on your local newspaper to tell you how things went in Bethlehem this Christmas season, don’t believe what you read.
Newspapers across America relied heavily on an Associated Press story to inform their readers that “Bethlehem Celebrates its Merriest Christmas in Years”.
It did not. Ask the people who live and work there.
The same optimistic headline ran over the same upbeat AP story, in US newspapers from Lafourche Parish, Louisiana to both major dailies in Washington, DC.
By virtue of its tight control over the AP bureau in Jerusalem, the Israeli government took advantage of a lazy, parsimonious American media and an equally lazy and complacent American public to guarantee yet another distorted portrait of life in the land Jesus made holy. (To continue reading, click here.)
The “Little Town of Bethlehem” Still Waits for Its Stolen Democracy
By James M. Wall
A new Palestinian parliament was elected in the Occupied Territories on January 25, 2006. One month from this Christmas, Palestinians should have been celebrating the fifth anniversary of that democratic, internationally-monitored, election.
There will be no celebration in January, 2011. Instead, Bethlehem, the West Bank, and Gaza still wait for the democracy that was stolen from them.
Palestinians remain trapped in a military occupation the Israeli government forced the world to accept because the “wrong” party won.
For one brief shining moment, before the 2006 results were rewritten to fit the Zionist narrative, democracy lived in the land where Christ was born. (To continue, click here.)
Humiliating Israeli Rejection Leads to Further US Diplomatic Isolation
by James M. Wall
Leave it to linguist Noam Chomsky to provide a precise description of President Obama’s latest diplomatic failure.
Washington’s pathetic capitulation to Israel while pleading for a meaningless three-month freeze on settlement expansion—excluding Arab East Jerusalem—should go down as one of the most humiliating moments in U.S. diplomatic history.
Few observers were fooled by the “stop the settlements” offer, least of all Noam Chomsky, who can smell a linguistic rat faster than most of us.
Chomsky has been a teacher of linguists since 1955 as the Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT. He is also a consistent critic of American imperialism.
In his analysis of the Obama offer, Chomsky does not limit Zionist influence on US politics to the Israel Lobby. He looks for the money trail.
That gift of $3 billion for fighter jets is “another taxpayer grant to the U.S. arms industry, which gains doubly from programs to expand the militarization of the Middle East.” (To continue reading, click here.)
Could Israel Be Using Wikileaks to Prepare US for Air Strike Against Iran?
by James M. Wall
This nation is moving toward a repeat of the US rush to invade Iraq in 2003. Mass media coverage of the Wikileaks story is performing the same function the media played in the 2003 US invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.
President George W. Bush was a willing instrument in the military invasion of Iraq. Controlling a major Arab state, Bush assumed, was in the best interest of the US. Jeff Gates argues in Sabbah Now that Wikileaks is being used to make the same case as part of Israel’s game theory warfare:
The impact of the WikiLeaks release of diplomatic cables fits the behavior profile of those well versed in game theory warfare.
When Israeli mathematician Robert J. Aumann received the 2005 Nobel Prize in economic science for his work on game theory, he conceded, “the entire school of thought that we have developed here in Israel” has turned “Israel into the leading authority in this field.”
The candor of this Israeli-American offered a rare insight into an enclave long known for waging war from the shadows. Israel’s most notable success to date was “fixing” the intelligence that induced the U.S. to invade Iraq in pursuit of a geopolitical agenda long sought by Tel Aviv. (To continue reading, click here.)
Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve
by James M. Wall
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, then a candidate for US president, was flying on April 4, 1968, from New York City to Indianapolis, Indiana. During the flight he learned of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In spite of warnings that it would not be safe, Kennedy insisted on speaking at his previously scheduled campaign event in Indianapolis. The impromptu eulogy he delivered before a predominantly African American crowd of 2500, may be found at the end of this posting.
Observant readers have already realized that the title of this particular posting comes from a familiar biblical passage, Joshua 24:15:
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
This passage emerged from a very specific historical moment in Joshua’s life. But its intent is universal. Choices by each of us must be made. We are called to determine the course of our lives based on our choices of the gods we serve.
Robert Kennedy faced a confused and potentially angry crowd that night in Indianapolis. Another politician might have played to that potential anger. He made a different choice, choosing hope over fear/anger/hate. (To continue reading, click here.)
US Offers Bibi 20 F-35 Fighters, The Jordan Valley and a Free UN Pass
by James M. Wall
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting with his seven-member inner cabinet. They are discussing the offer Hillary Clinton made as an incentive to Israel to “freeze” settlement construction for 90 days.
If you are not a Palestinian or an American tax payer, what’s not to like in this proposed deal?
Israel agrees to reinstate a 90-day freeze on West Bank settlement construction, not including East Jerusalem. This means that a freeze that was never in effect will now be reinstated.
In return for reinstating, for 90 days,a freeze that was never frozen, Israel is handed a gift which even the New York Times‘ Tom Friedman, Israel’s Greatest Friend in American media, called a “bribe”.
Friedman is correct. For reinstating a freeze that was never frozen, the U.S. agrees not to keep bugging Israel about any future freezes beyond the 90 day agreement. (To continue reading, click here.)
Will Obama Join Lear in the Storm and Rage Against Israeli Insolence?
by James M. Wall
A misreading of the author’s intention in two lines in the fourth stanza of The Star Spangled Banner, provides a clue to the American mindset that supports empire building.
Then conquer we must, when our cause, it is just.
And this be our motto, “In God is our trust”.
Francis Scott Key included an important caveat in that couplet when he wrote, “when our cause it is just”. He did not write, “for our cause it is just”.
Wise leaders know the importance of the “justice” caveat when faced with the temptation to conquer others.
Unwise leaders misread Francis Scott Key. Instead, they create bogus causes to attack others. Three bogus causes that unwise leaders use to justify the urge to “conquer we must” are security of the homeland, fear, and xenophobia. To read the rest of the story, click here.
Fox News, Fear Peddlers and Falsehoods Reshape Congress
by James M. Wall
Politicians, pollsters, media and pundits would have us believe ”the economy and taxes” were the burning issues in our late, unlamented midterm elections.
Don’t believe it. A 30 second campaign ad (shown below) was used by a winning Republican candidate to peddle fear. It ran on behalf of one of 60 new House members who returned Republican control to the House of Representatives.
The ad was false. It arrived on the airwaves with the media backing of numerous Fox News pundits and newscasters.
Fox News is the right wing Republican-oriented television network run by Rupert Murdoch, shown above with his old friend and ally, Israeli leader Shimon Peres.
The “economy-taxes” mantra sounds reasonable enough. And there is no doubt that the uncertainty over the nation’s economic future is the source of considerable public anxiety. However, that future called for serious campaign discussions, which most politicians avoided, reaching instead for deception and fear-mongering. (To continue reading, click here.)
Zionism’s ZOA Pushes to Make All Campus Criticism of Israel Illegal
by James M. Wall
What effect will Tuesday’s midterm elections have on US-Israel relations?
Let us count the ways, starting with the impact of the 1964 Civil Rights Act on American college and university campuses.
A new and much more conservative Congress will bring us changes we don’t want to believe in. A recent news release from the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) offers a clue on what we can expect.
Morton Klein, ZOA’s director (pictured above), was downright giddy over what he terms a major victory in his six year fight to expand the US Civil Rights anti-bullying provision.
What prompted Klein’s giddiness was a statement issued last week by US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who announced that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act now includes new guidelines that will bring increased protection for disabled and LGBT students from bullying and discrimination. (To continue reading, click here.)
Israeli Propaganda Blames UNRWA for “Refugee Problem”
by James M. Wall
The headline on a Miami Herald column began, “Time to Start Planning….”.
A Florida newspaper with that headline? Surely, this story will be about finding a place to retire.
Not so fast. “Time to Start Planning . . .” had something else in mind. It was time to plan for RESETTLEMENT.
That sounded rather ominous. Had Sarah Palin’s Death Panels become Resettlement Camps for Florida Old Folks living with the alligators deep in an Everglades swamp?
Turns out this column by Kenneth Bandler, Communications Director for the American Jewish Committee, is not about Florida retirement homes. It is part of AJC’s mandate to support Israel with its own version of reality. (To continue reading, click here.)
I Must Write As Long As Israeli Settlers Burn Palestinian Schools
by James M. Wall
A regular reader wrote recently and asked why I write so often about Palestine and Israel.
It was a good question and after some time for reflection I have an answer for him, inspired by a 1971 Johnny Cash song, “The Man in Black”.
Cash had been asked why he always wore black. He explains that he did so because he identifies with the poor and the hungry, the prisoners, the lonely and the old, and those who are dying in a war in a distant land, at that time, the Vietnam War.
A few years later, after “The Man In Black” became a best-selling album, Cash said:
“With the Vietnam War as painful in my mind as it was in most other Americans’, I wore it ‘in mournin’ for the lives that could have been.’ … Apart from the Vietnam War being over, I don’t see much reason to change my position … The old are still neglected, the poor are still poor, the young are still dying before their time, and we’re not making many moves to make things right. There’s still plenty of darkness to carry off.”
The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and our American wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, are today providing “plenty of darkness”. Together, these wars are today’s Vietnam. (To continue reading, click here.)
Rahm and the General Are Gone; Time to Put Freeman Back to Work
by James M. Wall
We have two weeks to endure until November 2, that blessed day when these depressing mid term elections finally give the nation a new congress.
Once those elections are over, President Obama has at least two more years in which he must work around the Congress and address himself to restoring moral fiber to his handling of the atrocious conduct of the Netanyahu-Lieberman government of Israel.
I suggest he start by restoring Charles Freeman to a position of influence in his administration.
Freeman’s removal in March, 2009, was an early signal that Obama was more interested in appeasing the Zionist forces in the Congress, in Israel, and within his own White House team, than he was in taking bold steps toward ending the slaughter of innocents that continues under the guise of the latest Peace Talks charade.
More than a year and a half after his sudden departure from the White House, courtesy of AIPAC, Freeman is still speaking his mind. On October 15, of this year, he spoke at Tufts University. He opened his speech:
As an American, I look at the results of U.S. policies in the Middle East and they remind me of the T-shirt someone once gave me. It said: “Sinatra is dead. Elvis is dead. And me, I don’t feel so good.” (To continue reading, click here.)
US “Incentive Package” for Bibi Demeans and Insults Palestinians
by James M. Wall
President Obama is so desperate to keep Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu glued to the peace talks negotiation table for two additional months, that he appears to have authorized an “incentive package” to Israel that is demeaning, dehumanizing, and insulting to Palestinians.
The “package” deal is said to be contained in a letter from Obama that has been delivered to Bibi Netanyahu. A report of the letter has been “leaked” by a David Makosky, a close associate of Obama advisor Dennis Ross.
The New York Times reports that “the package of incentives for Israel was devised largely by Dennis B. Ross.” (Ross is pictured above with Prime Minister Netanyahu.)
Mark Landler wrote in the Times that the US is offering Israel:
military hardware, support for a long-term Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley, help with enforcing a ban on the smuggling of weapons through a Palestinian state, a promise to veto Security Council resolutions critical of Israel during the talks and a pledge to forge a regional security agreement for the Middle East. (To continue reading, click here.)
Carter’s “White House Diary” Should Resonate With Obama
by James M. Wall
Jimmy Carter kept a diary during his White House years.
His original diary notes and dictated daily personal observations were later typed by his personal secretary (Susan Clough) and filed in large binders.
In February, 1981, as the former president and Rosalynn began their post-White House life back home in Plains, Georgia, they were surprised to find that the large binders had become twenty-one large volumes.
The original copy of these twenty-one volumes remains in Plains, where the Carters have continued to live since leaving the White House. Another copy is “sequestered” in the Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.
Carter began his book-writing career with a pre-presidential campaign book, Why Not the Best?, published in 1975. In September, 2010, a week before his 86th birthday, Carter went on a book tour to introduce his 24th published volume, White House Diary
Carter got the idea of keeping the diary from an offhand comment by Richard Nixon. He opens his book this way:
Rosalynn and I first met Nixon when we attended the National Governors’ Conference in 1971. The president walked up to us at a White House reception, turned to Rosalynn, and asked, “Young lady, do you keep a diary?”
Rosalynn replied, “No sir.” Nixon then said, “You’ll be sorry!” Since this was our first conversation with a president, it made a lasting impact.” (To continue reading, click here.)
Obama’s Plea for Peace Fails as Israel Continues to Build
by James M. Wall
Middle East peace talks were doomed to fail the moment President Obama finished speaking to the United Nations General Assembly.
The President’s plea for peace was undercut by a speech that reveals what Professor Lawrence Davidson describes as Obama’s “ahistorical” grasp of the reality of a brutal occupation.
As Obama spoke, it was clear that there would be no change in his bias for Israel. His usual pretense of balance was firmly in place, the painful balance the Main Stream Media and liberal politicians are conditioned to express. (Conservative politicians could care less about “balance”.)
The President’s speech was yet another of his Middle Eastern “on the one hand and on the other hand” renditions, one sour note after the other. (To continue reading, click here.)
Hypocritical American-Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks Drag On
by James M. Wall
The only good thing to emerge in this week’s peace and justice news is President Obama’s choice of Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren as his special advisor on consumer affairs.
In a refreshing back of the hand slap to the banking lobbies, Obama asked Warren to organize and run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency Congress created to keep banks from gouging consumers and wrecking our economic system.
In a post on her own blog, Warren pointedly stated she would start work “right now”, her way of saying she and the president agreed that it was both smart politics and good governance to avoid a long, drawn-out Senate confirmation process.
This is good news because the bankers’ favorite senator, retiring Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, of Connecticut, said the bankers didn’t want her. He should know. Besides, anyone the big banks don’t like has to be on the side of the consumer.
As far as good news goes, however, that’s about it for now. On the bad news front, it took a call from Secretary of Defense Bob Gates to put the fear of God into a shirt tail preacher from Florida, who was ready to carry out a Koran-burning stunt.
Jim Wallis of Sojourner‘s fame, writes in the Washington Post, (“Jim Wallis on the story behind Pastor Terry Jones’s change of heart“), that the pastor was influenced by Wallis and a few of his evangelical colleagues to stand down from the burning. That could be, though on balance, I suspect the Secretary got the pastor’s patriotic attention faster than did his religious colleagues. (To continue reading, click here.)
Newt Gingrich and His Crusade to Save America from Destruction
by James M. Wall
Forget about Pastor Jones and his hate-filled threat to burn the Koran. With the eager assistance of what passes these days for mass media, Jones has had his moment in the glare of worldwide publicity.
He called off his dangerously provocative bonfire with his own triumphant Mission Accomplished declaration:
“We feel when we started this out that one of our reasons was to show, to expose that there is an element in Islam that is very dangerous and very radical,” Jones said. “I believe that we have definitely accomplished that mission.”
That declaration came, of course, after Jones received a call from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Imagine the scene: “Pastor Jones, burn a single Koran and American soldiers will die. You will be blamed. How will your patriotic followers like to hear from the Secretary of Defense that you have caused an American death in Afghanistan?”
What we must worry about now are not people like Jones, but with that so-called respectable crowd of politicians who have seized the attention of the American public with their own more sophisticated brand of hate and fear.
Start worrying with a film produced by Newt Gingrich and Citizens United. (To continue reading and to see the movie’s trailer, click here.)
Bibi Controls the Summit; Can He Control Israeli Women Smugglers?
by James M. Wall
The latest round of peace talks between Israeli and Palestine leaders begins Wednesday night with a White House dinner. President Obama will be the host, but Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will be in control.
In addition to Obama and Netanyahu, also at the dinner and the peace summit that follows will be Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Jordan’s King Abdullah III. three important Arab allies in the US Middle East empire.
In preparation for the summit meeting, which will not include Hamas, the White House arranged an off the record conference call during which White House Middle East advisor Dennis Ross (pictured below) assured American Jewish leaders, “the White House will pressure the Israelis and Palestinians to sign off on a peace agreement within a year.”
Furthermore, Ross said, Obama is prepared to “wade shoulders deep into the conflict” — starting with this week’s summit and followed by a visit to the Middle East sometime in the next year. And that’s not all: (To continue reading, click here.)
“The Tillman Story”: Deception, War, One Family and Truth
by James M. Wall
Amir Bar-Lev’s documentary film, The Tillman Story, has just opened in limited release in Los Angeles and New York City.
Within a few weeks, this film will be available nation wide. My advice to anyone concerned about the manner in which our Iraq and Afghanistan wars are being fought under false pretenses, and with the use of distorted facts, see The Tillman Story.
The Iraq war began with the Big Lie that Saddam Hussein was on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons. That lie was exposed. Other lies and deceptions have followed. Some have been exposed; others continue to exist as an official Truth.
Why do we let this happen?
Victory in a series of wars and the need to sell the public on achieving those victories, function under a set of what military historian and army veteran Andrew Bacevich describes in his book, Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War, as the consensus by which political and military leaders maintain our nation’s never ending state of war.
The Main Stream Media is an eager ally in selling the official version of war generated by the “Washington Rules” of permanent war. The MSM does this by giving the public what it wants, specifically, war heroes and a low-keyed treatment of casualties, ours or theirs. (To continue reading posting and update, click here.)
Right Wing Blogger Provoked Attack on Islamic Center
by James M. Wall
The conservative anger that arose in the land last summer with the false furor over the “Kill Grandma” panels, has returned in a new form.
After smoldering for many months, this years’s conservative wild fire roared into full flame after the White House iftar dinner where President Obama spoke of the right of Muslims to build an Islamic community center in New York City, two city blocks away from the site where the World Trade Center buildings were destroyed on 911.
The political right rushed forward to throw gasoline on the wild fire, shouting “sacred space” as their ancestors might have shouted, “death to the infidels.”
Sacred space became a modern day battle cry. Leading the way was a previously unknown right wing blogger named Pamela Geller.
But what area does “sacredness” cover in the right wing political process of sacralization? Does it cover the New York Dolls’ Gentleman’s Club, which is also located two blocks away from Ground Zero? (To continue reading, click here.)
A Good-to-Go “Sermon” Is Now Available to Combat Hate Talk
by James M. Wall
If I were pastor of a local church, by now I would have installed a video player and a means to project a video in a darkened sanctuary.
Then I would be ready to share unexpected gifts of grace with my congregation, like the good-to-go “sermon” which arrived this weekend in video and print form.
President Barack Obama spoke to invited guests on August 13, during the annual White House Iftar (“breaking the fast”) evening meal. Family and community Iftar evening meals, like the one Obama hosted at the White House, are held throughout Ramadan.
In many communities, especially since 911, selected Iftar meals are celebrated as ecumenical events, to which guests from many religious communities are invited.
Local and state politicians have been known to attend, especially in those communities where there are substantial Muslim voting populations. My Republican congressional incumbent usually attends my local Iftar meal.
To refer to President Obama’s remarks as a “sermon” is appropriate because his remarks address a moral issue that has come to the nation’s attention during recent political and media attacks on the New York City Islamic community center. It does so in the name of all religious faiths. In my book, that is a “sermon”
(To continue reading and to see and hear the video, click here.)
Tony Judt Dies at Age 62
by James M. Wall
Ten months ago, October 21, 2009, I posted an essay on this blog, reprinted below, on Professor Tony Judt.On Friday (August 6), Tony Judt died. The Los Angeles Times wrote:
Tony Judt, a leading historian of postwar Europe and outspoken political essayist who also wrote movingly about his struggle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, has died. He was 62.
Judt, who was a history professor at New York University, died Friday at his home in Manhattan of complications from the disease, the university announced.
In 2005, his career reached its zenith with the publication of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, a hefty book that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Writing in the New Yorker, intellectual historian Louis Menand called Judt’s scope “virtually superhuman.”
In paying tribute to Judt’s reknown grasp of European history, the Los Angeles Times did not discuss Judt’s later writings about Israel. The New York Times, which joined the Los Angeles Times in its high praise of Judt’s career, did write about Judt’s writings on Israel, but not until late in its obituary when it referred to the “controversy” in which Judt was involved. (To continue reading, click here.)
Karsh Dissembles; Truman Escapes; A Village Disappears
by James M. Wall
This is a story about a New York Times columnist who dissembled, a movie about a man named Truman who escapes from a made-up reality, and Israeli Arab villagers who stood by helplessly as the Israeli army destroyed their village.
The New York Times’ column (August 2) strains credulity. Some of my best liberal friends were taken in by the earnest, helpful tone of the column written by Efraim Karsh.
Unless you are well versed in the history and politics of the Middle East, circa 1948 to the present, you too, might read Karsh’s column as a serious effort to be helpful to the Palestinian people.Blogger and retired professor Jerome Slater was not beguiled by Karsh. He writes:
*Karsh concludes that it’s a good thing for the Palestinians that the Arabs have now “apparently become so apathetic about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” their previous “self-serving interventionism has denied Palestinians the right to determine their own fate”
Efraim Karsh is an Israeli-born professor of Middle East and Mediterranean studies at King’s College London and the author, most recently, of Palestine Betrayed, a book praised by a certain segment of the American media/academic community. (To continue reading, click here.)
America (And Israel) Move Down the “Path to Permanent War”
by James M. Wall
Andrew J. Bacevich’s latest book, Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War, arrives in stores this week. In what should serve as an introduction to his book, Bacevich‘s recent essay on TomDispatch.com is entitled: “The End of (Military) History?: The United States, Israel and the Failure of the Western Way of War”.
A career army officer who is now a professor of international relations at Boston University, Bacevich has, since 2005, produced four books that cover both US foreign policy and the role the military plays in that policy.
On May 13, 2007, Bacevich’s son, Andrew J. Bacevich, Jr., was killed in action in Iraq by an improvised explosive device south of Samarra in Salah ad Din Governate. Bacevich’s essay, and his new book, are warnings to Americans and to Israelis that their governments are moving down the “path to permanent war”. (To continue reading, click here.)
Freeman to Goldstone to Sherrod: An Obama 18 Month Nightmare
by James M. Wall
If you figure ‘Shirley” as a nickname for a first baseman, “Freeman to Goldstone to Sherrod” could be a modern day version of the celebrated double play Chicago Cubs’ combination of ” Tinkers to Evers to Chance”.
It could even be a prestigious law firm on LaSalle Street in Obama’s hometown of Chicago. It is neither.
It is, rather, a series of events that has produced an 18-month nightmare for Barack Obama.
“Freeman to Goldstone to Sherrod”, is a Washington disaster, an accumulation of three major presidential stumbles, each of which could easily have been avoided. What they have in common is poor staff work and a president overly sensitive to political calculations.
The main stream media (MSM) played a major role in helping to enable these stumbles. It did so by going for the quick and shallow headline and analysis that now permeates the 24-7 news cycle.
Two of these major stumbles involve Israel, which means the MSM did nothing to probe beneath the prevailing conventional wisdom that would have cut through pro-Israel bias and asked harder questions as to what really was happening in these two stumbles. (To continue reading, click here.)
Who Won the PCUSA Assembly? The Answer May Surprise You
by James M. Wall
Who “won” the Minneapolis Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly? To answer that question, we first need to ask, who did not win?The religious arm of the Israel Lobby did not win, in spite of what you may have read in Newsweek, in the Los Angeles Times and in theAmerican Jewish media.
When a “What’s Good for Israel” spin is set in rapid motion, you know you are witnessing the work of an operation that left Minneapolis surprised and disappointed at the outcome.
Something had to be done, and quickly, before the public–and the folks back in Tel Aviv–heard that the Protestant/Israeli Iron Wall has been breached. Something, indeed, had to be done, and that something was to launch a ”save the Jewish-Christian dialogue” media blitz.
The blitz included a second Newsweek appearance this month in a column by Katharine R. Henderson, president of Auburn Theological Seminary.With respected Protestant leaders like Henderson as allies, the state of Israel tried to do exactly what the US private healthcare industry did when it kept a public option out of President Obama’s health care bill: Control the process in its favor. (To continue reading, click here.)
This is No Longer Your Daddy’s Presbyterian Church (USA)
by James M. Wall
When commissioners to the 219th Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly left Minneapolis, they departed from a GA that achieved amazing, surprising, and unexpected results.
Reports on the Assembly in the secular media were formulaic, shaped by the American Jewish-Christian dialogue paradigm, which has been carefully built and sustained over many decades by the Israeli Hasbara (hebrew for “propaganda” or, more politely, “explanation”.)
The New York Times reported on the GA actions with a short summary that was one-third about the GA actions, and two-thirds about Jewish response to those actions.
Nothing, of course, about any Muslim reactions, of which more later.The Los Angeles Times had its usual “middle ground” lead, written by Mitchell Landsberg.
Notice that his focus is not on the Presbyterians, but on the fact that the report included criticism of Israel.In sports writing culture, this is known as reporting from the perspective of the home team. (To continue reading, click here).
Post Columnist Milbank Calls Obama-Bibi Meeting a “Surrender”
by James M. Wall
Barack Obama swept into the White House, thanks, in part, to his political and oratorical skills.
He should have learned during his campaign for the US Senate that what he says about race relations at a Southern Illinois county fair will be reported in the African American wards in Chicago.
So what happened to those skills when he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the White House this week?One day after what he described as an “excellent” White House meeting with Netanyahu, President Obama turned his back on the rest of the world, and focused tightly on confronting “the anxiety some Israelis feel toward him.”
The President was determined to reassure the Israeli public. But did he pause, even for a moment, to consider how his answers would sound to that part of the Israeli public that desperately wants him to stand up to Bibi?Did he think how demeaning his answers were to Americans who want their president to be their president, and not pander to the prime minister of a foreign nation? (To continue reading, click here.)
219th Presbyterian Assembly Faces Its Moment of Truth
by James M. Wall
Five Updates Below, Latest, Saturday morning:
Presbyterian General Assembly delegates are in Minneapolis this week for their national gathering–held every two years–discussing, praying, arguing, and finally voting, on a wide variety of issues that will determine how the heirs of John Calvin will face the future.
This 219th General Assembly runs from July 3 through July 10.In a nice bit of timing, John Calvin’s 500th birthday is celebrated on the final day of this year’s Assembly.
At some point during this week, the delegates (commissioners) will vote to approve or disapprove–parts or all–a report from their own Middle East Study Committee (MESC), a report two years in the making. written by a cross-section of church members, officials and clergy.
The MESC vote will be a moment of truth for the 219th Presbyterian General Assembly. Decisions made in Minneapolis will tell the world where the Presbyterian Church, USA, stands on Israel’s military occupation of 4 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.
The question before the PCUSA delegates will be simple:Do we place our moral stamp of approval on the status quo, and call for more dialogue with our American Jewish friends, or do we say to the world that the status quo is immoral, unsustainable and a blatant rejection of the finest traditions of the Jewish faith. (To continue reading, click here.)
Israeli “Agents” Infiltrate Presbyterian General Assembly
by James M. Wall
Four professors–two from Vanderbilt, one from Auburn Theological Seminary, and one from Syracuse University–have burst on the national scene as strong opponents of a Middle East Study Commission resolution which will be presented to the Presbyterian Church, USA, General Assembly in Minneapolis, MN, July 5-10.
Between them, the four professors have produced two articles against the resolution, one in the Christian Century magazine, the other inNewsweek.
None of these academics are elected commissioners. Presumably they represent the highest tradition of scholarship that one expects to find in the Reformed denomination spawned by John Calvin, who, by the way, will reach the age of 501 on the closing day of this year’s General Assembly.
It is possible that one or more of the anti-resolution quartet members has devoted time to academic study of the history, politics and ethics involved in this issue, or conducted on-the-ground research investigation in the area.
There is, however, no evidence of neither practical nor scholarly wisdom regarding the current political situation in either article. (To continue reading click here.)
Israel Creates Facts to Shape Flotilla Campaign Media Coverage
by James M. Wall
Israel’s government continues to believe it can win the Flotilla Campaign by shaping news coverage of its next attack on non violent humanitarian ships.
Two flotillas are ready to sail from Lebanon and Iran, which, if they succeed in leaving their ports, will be the second and third steps in the non-violent campaign now being waged against Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.
Two weeks after killing nine passengers on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, the cabinet of Bibi Netanyahu has voted to repeat the Mavi Marmara disaster.
The International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) writes:
The Israeli government instructed the army and the navy to intercept, and if necessary, to use force against the two Lebanese ships that would be heading to Gaza to deliver humanitarian supplies.
That cabinet decision was aimed at the flotilla based in Lebanon.The Iranian flotilla will be handled through manipulation of the American media, which takes all of its signals from Israeli sources. (To continue reading, click here.)
Will Presbyterians Be Duped by Anti-BDS Hasbara Warriors?
by James M. Wall
Before delegates to the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church meet in Minneapolis, July 3-10, they must ask themselves:Will we be duped by Israel’s Anti-BDS Hasbara Warriors or do we listen to our Presbyterian Commissioners who have studied, prayed about, and witnessed the gross injustice of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian people?
A posting that appeared on this blog in February, 2010, examines the Hebrew term, Hasbara, as it is used by Yuli Edelstein, the Israeli government official who directs the Israeli Public Diplomacy Forces (IMPD).
Edelstein explains that the IMPD calls its outreach to the non-Israeli public, Tzva Hasbara LeYisrael, which he says is a play on the Hebrew name of the IDF (Israel Defense Force) and the concept of “hasbara” or public information.
Israel is in the difficult position of explaining to the outside world that it must continue its military occupation of the Palestinian people because it is the only way it can assure the secure existence of the modern state of Israel .To continue reading, click here.
Obama Backs Israeli “Kangaroo Court” Search For Justice at Sea
by James M. Wall
President Obama has endorsed Israel’s decision to investigate its own navy’s May 31 attack on the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara.
The Associated Press reports “The White House has backed Israel’s internal investigation, calling it ‘an important step forward.’”
Obama does not believe the attack, which killed nine volunteers on a Turkish-organized Gaza aid flotilla, calls for an outside investigation.
While the President waits for results from Israel’s “kangaroo court”–a show trial of clashing cymbals signifying nothing–the people of Gaza fall deeper into a state of abject poverty.
Make no mistake, when Israel raided the Turkish-sponsored aid flotilla, it was not looking for weapons. It was conducting its own strategy of economic warfare.
The McClatchy Newspapers have obtained an Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a security measure but as “economic warfare” against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli government has long said the aim of the blockade is to stem the flow of weapons to militants in Gaza. Israel repeated that claim after it attacked the aid flotilla. (To continue reading, and to learn more about Kangaroo courts, click here.)
Liberal PEPs Trash Helen Thomas While Ignoring Flotilla Deaths
by James M. Wall
A Lebanese-American journalist, a few months shy of her 90th birthday, nearing the end of a distinguished journalism career, makes a few irrational comments during a Jewish Heritage Week event at the White House.
She was responding to a question from a young man who stuck a microphone in her face.The short interview was posted on the website of a rabbi, whose son was the cameraman.
Thomas failed to follow the Number One You Tube Rule: Never give a flippant response to any questions from a stranger.
Meanwhile, Israeli Naval commandos storm a Turkish relief boat traveling with supplies to Gaza. In the attack, the commandos kill a 19-year-old unarmed Turkish-American man, one of nine passengers who died in the attack.
Which story provokes the greater outrage among American liberals? Which one is almost totally ignored? You have to ask? (To continue, click here.)
Four Views on Israel’s Assault: Friedman, Avenry, Atwood, Kerry
by James M. Wall
New York Times columnist Tom Friedman began his Sunday column (June 6) with a vintage Friedman response to the murderous Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara.
The assault that lead to the deaths of nine men on the Mavi Marmara was, for Friedman, a “sideshow” to the real “ball game”, the creation of a “two state” solution.
Friedman’s column demands a closer examination. Beyond Freeman, there are other voices to which attention must be paid: Israeli peace veteran Uri Avenry, Canadian author Margaret Atwood, and Senator John Kerry (D-MA).Friedman’s reaction to the attacks on the Gaza-bound Flotilla opens with a return to his days as a young foreign correspondent.
When I covered the 1982 Lebanon war, I learned something surprising about wars: they attract all kinds of spectators, meddlers, do-gooders and do-badders.They use the conflict and the attention it generates to play out their own identity issues, passions and biases. (To continue reading, click here.)
NYT Flotilla Spin Mentions, Then Omits Name of US Citizen Dogan
By James M. Wall
In its Thursday afternoon internet coverage of Israel’s murderous attack on the Gaza-bound Flotilla, the New York Times spins its story with praise for Israel’s openness to change.
In the story, written by Isabel Kershner, the news is buried that one of the nine passengers killed in the assault was an American citizen.The story opens with a headline praising Israel for seeking a solution to Gaza’s suffering:
“Israel Seeks ‘New Ways’ to Supply Gaza, Official Says”
Here is the Israeli spin as rendered by the US newspaper of “record”:
JERUSALEM — After insisting all week that its blockade of Gaza was essential to its security, the Israeli government is now “exploring new ways” of supplying the coastal enclave, an official said Thursday.
In the face of unrelenting international outrage over a deadly raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza this week, the official said that Israel was determined that every ship heading to the enclave be inspected to prevent the smuggling of rockets and other weapons.
But at the same time, the government wants to facilitate the entry of civilian goods, said the official, who described the latest thinking within the government on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly.(To continue reading this posting, with two updates, click here.)
Will Bibi’s Return to Favor Help Obama in the Mid-Term Elections?
War Destroys Jabra Home on Baghdad’s Princesses’ Street
by James M. Wall
The Nakba has claimed another victim.
This time it was not the death of one of the millions of Palestinians driven from their homes by the 1948 creation of the modern state of Israel.
In this case, the loss was a private home on Princesses’ Street in Baghdad, Iraq, an ending that might have passed unnoticed under a pile of rubble, in spite of that home’s importance in the cultural history of both Palestine and Iraq.
The house was destroyed on April 4 by a suicide bomber.The home once belonged to Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, a Christian Palestinian born in Bethlehem.
Its destruction received no attention in the American or the world media until May 22, when a story appeared in the New York Times, written by Pulitzer Prize winning, 41 year old writer, Anthony Shadid.
Shadid. a Lebanese American journalist, has covered the region for the Times since he left the Washington Post, where he earned his Pulitzer for stories written during the 2003 American invasion of Iraq.Shaddad describes Jabra as an artist who, during his lifetime, offered his home as a bridge between cultures:
Jabra Ibrahim Jabra was a renowned Arab novelist, poet, painter, critic and translator who built [his home] along the date palms and mulberry trees of Princesses’ Street nearly a half-century ago. (To continue reading, click here.)
All Goes Well When Rahm and Ross Meet the Rabbis; Or Does It?
by James M. Wall
The White House hosted two recent meetings with a carefully selected group of 15 American rabbis, Orthodox, Reformed and Conservative.
Note carefully, the 15 rabbis are religious leaders. The first meeting in the White House was on April 20. The second meeting was held May 13. Both sessions were designed to allow carefully chosen White House officials to explain President Obama’s feelings about Israel.
From reports that have surfaced in Jewish media circles, the meetings were a success. The JTA sent out the story, just as the White House expected it to do. The JTA originally stood for Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an appropriate name for 1917, when the agency was formed. Ron Kampeas reported the story for the very modern JTA:
Jack Moline, a Conservative rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim in Alexandria, Va., initiated the meetings after a talk he had with his friend Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, about the Obama administration’s perceived deficit of friendliness toward Israel. (To continue reading, click here.)
If you are proud of Barack Obama, why are you afraid to release your copy of the fundraiser he attended that you had a hand in putting together for Mona and Rashid Khalidi on August 1st 2003 ?
Obama’s election and its excitement led me to think of earlier “transforming” political events. I am old enough to remember my father’s excitement at the election of Roosevelt in 1932. I remember my generation’s excitement at the election of Kennedy. My children have experienced the same feelings with Obama’s election this week. Each of these moments was a time of hope for change that had generational significance. These were times when the baton was passed to the next generation and older worldview were set aside. Each of these moments was a time of new confidence in national direction and prupose.
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
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Jim
Please add me to Wallwritings.
DarEll T. Weist
Jim,
Thank you for clear, crisp and honest articles. It seems we are missing them from most American newspapers.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
DS
Please subscribe me via your email alerts so I can follow the posts. Great articles!
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Excellent blog. Great work.
Working for justice, trying to establish peace. Our Beloved Jesus, son of Mary, has said: Peace makers shall be called children of God . I think you have earned that title. May God grant us peace, and may the enemies of peace be vanquished.
Please add me to your posts. Your views so often express my feelings based on 7 years living on the West Bank and subsequent visits.