I placed a short op-ed in the Daily News today. The headline is not surprisingly misleading, and the News is not 
exactly a highly professional outlet. But it has a pretty good readership, and, in New York, it gets more of a cross-section than the Times and the Post. Check it out.
Susan Rice
As a Jew, This Makes Me Angry
An edited version of this article originally appeared at LobeLog.
A protester from Code Pink outside the National Leadership Assembly for Israel.
On Monday, I attended the National Leadership Assembly for Israel. The gathering was more than a little disquieting.
The names in attendance were big ones. National Security Adviser Susan Rice, House Speaker John Boehner, Former Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, current Chairman Ed Royce, Senator Ben Cardin, Ambassador Dennis Stephens of Canada, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer as well as leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (COPJ), AIPAC, the Jewish Council on Public Affairs and others all spoke. One of the most troubling aspects of it was that they mostly all had the same thing to say.
Some speakers went farther than others. Paul De Vries, the evangelical preacher and president of the New York Divinity School, called Hamas “evil” and said that ISIS was Hamas’ “twin.” While most statements were not that stark, every speaker placed full blame for all the casualties in Gaza on Hamas. Israel was defended completely uncritically, with not a hint from anyone that maybe, just maybe, the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian children might mean that Israel is not quite taking enough care to avoid harming civilians. Continue reading
Israel Lobby Galvanises Support for Gaza War
My report for IPS News on the National Leadership Assembly for Israel, which I attended on Monday. A standing room only gathering of pro-Israel activists coming together to voice their unconditional and uncritical support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Israel Excuse
This week at Souciant, I look at the Chuck Hagel fiasco. The unabashed GOP plan to obstruct the entire US government in order to prevent Obama from doing, well, much of anything reaches new heights this week. The “Party of NO” is holding up Hagel’s confirmation, which even they say is still going to happen, for ephemeral reasons (the request for more information on Benghazi which was already furnished to even John McCain’s stated satisfaction), petty political ones and larger political aims. And what’s the role of the Israel Lobby in all of this? Not what some think it is. Check it out.
Hearts and Minds With Palestine
In this week’s piece for Souciant, a rundown of some of the effects of the surprisingly impactful Palestinian victory at the UN General Assembly.