War & Peace
Get Ready for Durban IIIOn September 22, one month from today, world bodies will gather at the UN General Assembly in New York on the 10th anniversary of the UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.
What’s Behind Israel’s Middle-Class Revolt?Wednesday, August 17, 2011 by Ran Baratz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Amid the flood of press comments about the "middle-class" protests that have been roiling the Israeli scene over the past weeks, a particularly cheerful note was struck by the American political philosopher Michael Walzer.
The Challenge of EilatFriday, August 12, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a country where the sky is mostly blue, the southernmost city of Eilat has nonetheless laid claim—with justification—to being Israel's sun capital. Reliably good weather does not, however, solve all problems.
The New SinaiWednesday, August 10, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Sinai Peninsula is known for its aura of stillness. But amid the timeless mountains and endless dunes, the great crossroad between Africa and Asia is more active today, and potentially more explosive, than at any time in history.
The Palestinian Mandela?Tuesday, August 9, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
To his Israeli backers, Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is the "Palestinian [Nelson] Mandela." That image—of a principled, graying freedom fighter with the courage to move his people toward reconciliation—is promoted by political and cultural figures on the Israeli Left.
Hizballah in AmericaThursday, August 4, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Hizballah is a Shiite Muslim movement, Iranian-created and -funded, which strongarms Lebanon through threats and violence, assaults Israel with rockets obtained through Syria in contravention of UN resolutions, and is funded through massive criminal enterprises. And it has arrived in the Americas.
Radio IsraelMonday, August 1, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Radio in Israel is as ubiquitous as hummus, falafel, and politics. During their morning and evening commutes, motorists as well as bus passengers (captive to the listening tastes of their drivers) are likely to be hearing either one of seven Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) affiliated stations or one of two Army Radio outlets.
No Room in Zion?Thursday, July 28, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Tent camps are appearing across Israel in protest over the high cost of housing. The high cost of everything in Israel (recall the cottage cheese boycott earlier this year) has led to widespread economic and social dissatisfaction, with otherwise serious commentators making overheated analogies to Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring.
Minorities in the IDFWednesday, July 27, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Recently, while driving by the Israeli settlement of Nokdim (where Avigdor Lieberman lives), I picked up a hitchhiking soldier. We started chatting, and I asked the soldier his name. "Mustafa," he said. "You're a Muslim?" I asked. "Yes," he answered, "from Haifa."
The State of the Arab StateTuesday, July 26, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
From the Mashriq to the Maghreb, one end of the Arab world to the other, people are contemplating where the six-month-long upheavals that began with the Arab Spring are fated to deliver them. Those with longer memories may recall an earlier experiment at reshaping the political contours of Arab governance.
Editors' Picks
Paranoid or Realist? Jeffrey Goldberg, Bloomberg. Benzion Netanyahu gave his son, Israel's prime minister, a dark view of the Middle East—and, therefore, the ability to negotiate a realistic peace.
What About Gantz? David Horovitz, Times of Israel. In assessing the Iranian nuclear threat, we should listen to the current head of Israel's military rather than out-of-the-loop retired generals.
Refugees and Resolutions Lyn Julius, Haaretz. Israel is afraid to champion restitution for Jews expelled from Arab countries because of the assumed link to the Palestinian refugee issue.
In Defense of Jewish Nationalism Robert Wolfe, New English Review. The Jewish national movement is now composed of religious nationalists, secular nationalists, and Jewish loyalists. What it lacks is a conception of Jewish nationalism that can appeal to non-Jews.
1948: Palestine Betrayed Efraim Karsh, Elliot Jager, Jewish Ideas Daily. Zionist Jews were not interlopers in Palestine. The creation of the Jewish state was not an "original sin" foisted upon the Arab world. The tragic flight of the Palestinian refugees was overwhelmingly not the fault of the Zionists. To the contrary, at every momentous junction the Zionists opted for compromise and peace, the Arabs for intransigence and belligerency. This, in summary, is how most people once understood the Arab-Israel conflict. Today, however, as Israel marks its Independence Day, an entire generation has come to maturity believing a diametrically opposite "narrative" . . .
War Diary Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. "Arab Legion reported to be trying to smoke out the Haganah who had entered underground channels . . ." Excerpts from a British clergyman's 1948 journal.
Abba Eban The Mike Wallace Interview. Arnold Toynbee, says Eban, "takes the massacre of millions of our men, women and children" and "compares it to the plight of Arab refugees alive, on their kindred soil, suffering certain anguish, but of course possessed of the supreme gift of life. This equation . . . is, I think, a distortion of any historic perspective." (Video; 1958)
The End of the Land-for-Peace Era Moshe Arens, Haaretz. Livni's defeat indicates that Israel may be headed back to a political system based on two major parties—both with a focus on socioeconomic issues and a sadder-but-wiser skepticism about territorial concessions.
A Vast Right-Wing Jewish Conspiracy? Rafael Medoff, Jerusalem Post. Hearing a prominent Jewish historian claim that criticism of FDR's inaction during the Holocaust is the handiwork of disgruntled Likudniks, a leftist blogger took it upon himself to prove her wrong.
Fantasy Diplomacy Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, Phillip Smyth, Haaretz. In the wake of the Arab Spring, many Israelis are hoping for a regional alliance between Israel and repressed minorities in Arab countries. But a hope it will remain.