Politics & Society

NY Times Headlines AIPAC's Campaign To Defeat Obama on Iran

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Woke up this morning to see that the lobby’s war against President Obama’s agreement with Iran is the second lede in the New York Times. Read it here. Surprisingly, the Times mentions AIPAC by name which is rare. Note also Democratic senator Ben Cardin (MD) calling out the president for criticizing the lobby’s effort rather than calling out the lobby that he is so tight with for obstructing U.S. policy. Note also that Carl Levin, no surprise for him, is fiercely supporting the agreement and his president.

General News

Don't Let AIPAC Kill Obama's Iran Agreement

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On Sunday, the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany (known as the P5+1) reached full agreement with Iran on the next steps in the process of freezing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the easing of economic sanctions. This is great news. Nonetheless, Democrats in Congress are moving to terminate the agreement by imposing new sanctions on Iran despite our government’s signed promise to lift sanctions. They are joining the Republicans who, as on health care, will sabotage anything the President supports. This is insane.

General News

I'm Now Another Jew Who Has Been Barred from Speaking in a Jewish Building (in America)

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Last week, I wrote about how, due to my writing on the issue of boycotts and Israel, I was asked by a prominent Jewish organization (Hillel) to publish a favorable political statement before being allowed into its building to speak about my book, What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife? Despite my discomfort with such a problematic request, I published it. For I thought, If there are places where talking about reconciliation and understanding might be meaningful and important, this is one of them. The statement I made affirmed my desire, as a progressive Zionist, for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while acknowledging the legitimacy of economic sanctions against Israel as a nonviolent form of opposition. I made this statement, even though its focus has little to do with the focus of my book.

General News

Q & A with Coleen Rowley, F.B.I. Whistleblower: Part One

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Arguably were it not for former F.B.I. agent Coleen Rowley, one of Time Magazine’s 2002 Persons of the Year, the American people would never have known that 9/11 may have been prevented. In a far-ranging interview with Tikkun Daily, the famed whistleblower shares her views on government service and a host of other issues.

Religion

Weekly Sermon- Learner's Mind: Holy Hidden Human

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Let us agree that science has its way of seeing what is so, and freeing the mind. May the human species never abandon that lens or what can be learned looking through it– but science cannot save us; science does not look within.

General News

Top Israeli Online Magazine Names Edward Snowden "Person of the Year"

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One of Israel’s best online publications – +972 Magazine – has for the first time chosen someone unconnected to Israeli/Palestinian issues as its “Person of the Year.” That person is Edward Snowden. The unusual move by this progressive, politically searing outlet in Israel is testament to just how strongly Snowden’s leaks have reverberated across political spectra. And as +972 Magazine revealed, it is also testament to just how critical Snowden’s leaks are when considering the very nature of the Internet itself, and what it may become. I found this selection from its editors to be quite compelling:
As journalists, we are experiencing firsthand how the Internet has altered our profession, putting some of us out of work while creating new opportunities for others, ones that we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago.