The primary purpose of the Palestinian unity agreement this week was internal Palestinian unity. But Palestinian security also depends on the lifting of the economic blockade they have been under since the election of the Hamas government. In the short term, this agreement is not going to change the stances of the main actors in that blockade, the US and Israel. In fact, it may well harden their stances. Israel…
The preliminary deal struck in Mecca this week for a Palestinian unity government was greeted with a good deal of fanfare and a lot of questions. First and foremost among those questions was whether the deal would be “acceptable” to Israel and the United States and be adequate to lift the economic blockade those two countries have imposed on the Palestinians since Hamas’ election last year. As was the case…
A supporter of Jewish Voice for Peace sent me this article by Patrick Buchanan and asked for my response to it. Here is a slightly edited version of that response. I am always loathe to agree with Pat Buchanan, and fortunately, while he gets a few things right, his analysis here is sufficiently shallow and simplistic that I don’t have to. There’s a great deal of quite understandable hysteria in…
Read Part 1 Read Part 2 I begrudge no one, regardless of their views, the right to speak up and passionately defend what they believe is right. In no matter is this more important than in the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the US role in it. But Dershowitz’s “contribution” to the debate is destructive to all involved. This is not a court case where the arena is…
Read Part 1 Read Part 3 There’s an odd schizophrenia in Dershowitz’s broadside on Carter at Gather.com. On the one hand, he is absolutely brutal in attacking Carter, calling him some horrible things and making some very serious implications. On the other, he fondly reminisces about supporting Carter for president and mentions more than once Carter’s admirable work in so many human rights and social aid and justice arenas. But…