Bret Stephens v. Ari Shavit
Bret Stephens and Ari Shavit debate the current situation in
Israel and the future of Zionism at Hadassah's 97th National Convention
in Las Vegas with Prof. Gil Troy as moderator. This one is a bit long.
Let's go to the videotape.
I'm still watching this one and may have more comments later, so be sure to check back later.
The actual debate starts around the 45:00 mark.
Labels: anti-Semitism, Ari Shavit, Bret Stephens, Europe, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, isolationist, Leftist anti-Semitism, Operation Protective Edge, US-Israel relationship
Harvard students told Arafat's grave to be moved to Jerusalem
In an earlier post, I reported on a pilgrimage by Harvard University students to Yasser Arafat's grave, which was financed by the Boston Combined Jewish Philanthropies. A couple of the students have posted blogs about the trip, which make clear some of the things the students 'learned' in Ramallah. Here's the
first one (both blogs came from
Truth Revolt).
The Israel-Palestine conflict is urgent for my green-sweatered friend in
Ramallah whose house had been destroyed twice. Ambassador Dore Gold and
Col. (res) Dr. Eran Lerman spoke to us about security at the Jerusalem
Center for Public Affairs. One map after another filled the screen in
front of us as our speakers turned geographic boundaries into calculated
threats, like the range of rockets, or the time needed to mobilize
troops from A to B. For them, Israel’s fight is urgent. The man who
spoke to us at Yasser Arafat’s grave emphasized the grave’s temporary
location, to be moved to Jerusalem when (not if) Palestine
reclaims the city. The conflict, for him, is urgent.
Here's the
second blog.
The amazing organizers of this trek are all Israelis. Five of them are
Jewish and one of the is Arab Israeli. Was it easy for them to see the
grave of Arafat, who is responsible of the death of so many Israeli
civilians, their beloved ones specifically? But does that dispute the
fact that the same person is also the founder of the PLO, hero of so
many Palestinians symbolizing their fight for independence?
It is not at all easy to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
That is exactly why we listened to speeches at Harvard by Ari Shavit,
the author of the book ‘The Triumph and Tragedy of My Promised Land’ and
Ami Ayalon, the former head of the Shin Bet, Israeli National Security
Agency, who was appointed to the position right after the assassination
of the Prime Minister Ytzhak Rabin. Then, during our tour in Israel, we
were lucky enough to hear from Jodi Rudoren, the editor in chief of New
York Times Jerusalem, Danny Siedemann, an attorney very much involved
with the negotiations process, Dore Gold, foreign policy advisor to the
Prime Minister Netanyahu, Nadav Tamir, senior policy advisor to the
President of Israel Simon Peres, Eran Lerman, Deputy National Security
Advisor for Foreign Policy and International Affairs, Dr. Rachel
Korazim, a Holocaust educator, a Rabbi from Jewish settlements in West
Bank and an Israel Defense Force officer along with those two
Palestinian leaders.
Actually, out of the named speakers, there are a lot more people of the Left than of the Right. I've added some links that explain why.
Was there an agenda here? Did the pilgrimage to Arafat's mausoleum fit in with that agenda? I leave that to the reader to decide.
Labels: Ami Ayalon, Ari Shavit, Dore Gold, Harvard University, Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish philanthropy, Jodi Rudoren, liberal Jews, Nadav Tamir, Palestinian incitement, Palestinians, Yasser Arafat
Haaretz op-ed writer blasts Obama
One of Haaretz's few sane writers, Ari Shavit has
blasted President Obama for his policy on Iran. It's behind a paywall, but I managed to get the key portion, which is not what Haaretz shows you on their web page.
. . . the man sitting in the Oval Office is ignoring the possibility that his inaction will make the Middle East go nuclear and undermine the world order. He doesn't care that he might be responsible for losing the United States' superpower status and turning the 21st century into a century of nuclear chaos.
The dispassionate man from Chicago is proving every day what rare stuff he's made of. The president sees how the Iranians mock him - and does nothing. He sees radical Islam approaching the nuclear brink - and does not budge. With amazing courage Barack Obama watches the tsunami rolling toward America's shores - and smiles. . . .
He is staging a deceptive show of a deal with the Iranians, which will seem to dull the . . . threat. He is trying to make a fool of Jerusalem as Tehran is making a fool of him. The president is pushing Israel into a corner, but is hoping that Israel will accept its fate submissively. He is counting on Benjamin Netanyahu not to surprise him and ruin his election season. Never has the United States had such a gambler for a president. . . .
The international community and international public opinion are preoccupied with King Netanyahu these days - will he or won't he attack? But instead of focusing on a statesman who isn't supposed to save the world from Iran's nuclear program, it would be better to focus on the leader whose historic role is just that. In the past 40 months Barack Obama has been betraying his office. Will he wake up in the next four months, come to his senses and change his ways?
Quite an indictment given that appeared in Haaretz.
Do you think anyone in Washington is listening?
Labels: Ari Shavit, Barack Hussein Obama, Haaretz, Iranian nuclear threat
Ari Shavit swings and misses
In discussing comments by former Mossad director Meir Dagan (pictured) at Tel Aviv University last week, Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit comes up with
this:
My gut feeling is that Dagan was absolutely right about the Palestinian issue. What we see today is not only Israeli diplomatic paralysis. What we see is Israeli diplomatic failure. In the bunker in Jerusalem they still don't understand this. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has roundly beaten Netanyahu. Abbas has corralled Israel's prime minister to the abyss. At first he took terror out of the Israel-Palestinian equation and thus garnered sweeping international support. Then he maneuvered Israel toward the settlement front, where it has no chance. Finally, he moved the battle from negotiations to the United Nations.
Thus, in three brilliant moves, Abbas forced a diplomatic checkmate on Netanyahu. He took advantage of Israel's lack of initiative to push it to the wall.
Oops.
Labels: Ari Shavit, Meir Dagan
