Empathy

My Response to Tom Rogan's "How President Obama Can Achieve a Nuclear Deal with Iran"

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The Guardian’s recent article, “How President Obama can achieve a nuclear deal with Iran,” speaks about why a nuclear deal with Iran is urgently needed, and what Iran must give up. This Guardian piece is a little weak on what the United States and the Western powers must offer as part of the deal. When read by itself, it repeats the “tough-minded” and largely blind to emotional nuance approach that has made the West’s dealings with Iran so fruitless:

Judaism

Jews, Israel and Democracy

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The Anti-Defamation League, has branded various groups as “anti-Israel,” condemning activist groups such as the Jewish Voice For Peace to social ostracism and marginalization, and potentially creating an invitation to violence against them.

General News

White House Publicly Breaking with Israel on … Palestine

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Much has been written in the past week on Israel’s fiery condemnation of nuclear talks in Geneva between Iran and several world powers, including the United States. Notably, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s vociferous opposition to talks championed by John Kerry. Many have focused upon the moment when Netanyahu claimed that Iran was getting “the deal of the century” from America, to which Kerry publicly and testily countered that “the time to oppose [a deal with Iran] is when you see what it is, not to oppose the effort to find out what is possible.” However, while this rift over Iran between Israel and the Obama administration caught headlines, a significant, and possibly historic, break between Israel and the U.S. over Middle East peace was occurring as well. On Thursday, in a rare joint interview on both Israeli and Palestinian television, Kerry made clear in ways this administration has never done just how frustrated Washington is with Israel’s settlement expansion and overall investment in peace:
How, if you say you’re working for peace and you want peace, and a Palestine that is a whole Palestine that belongs to the people who live there, how can you say we’re planning to build in a place that will eventually be Palestine?

General News

The Debt We Owe to Veterans on Armistice Day

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On Veteran’s Day, we take a moment to remember what veterans suffer. We recognize post traumatic stress and moral injury, when vets carry guilt regarding the things they saw and sometimes did in war. We see the suicide rates among military personnel, and we do not turn away from those veterans who come home from war with physical injuries that will require care for as long as they live. We remind ourselves of those who are living on food stamps and those who are underemployed or unemployed. We think about all that veterans have to offer society, a set of habits and skills that make them excellent friends, neighbors, employees and employers.

Christianity

Weekly Sermon- Learner's Mind: Make The Inside Out

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Stephen Phelps asserts that personal transformations are a crucial precursor to American political transformation. In order to fix the current system that quickly labels and ostracizes a person deemed “criminal”, we must practice forgiveness, understanding, and empathy.

General News

Q & A with Tom Pickering

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Tom Pickering, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Israel, Russia and four other nations discusses the current challenges facing the United States in the Mideast, including efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Politics & Society

For the First Time, Prosecutor Being Jailed for Withholding Evidence in Conviction of Innocent Man

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Allow me to begin with a personal anecdote: I’m not a religious man. However, I do teach Jewish texts to middle school students, and this week we happened to critically analyze the 10 Commandments. These students, who understand that significant portions of America’s legal code are influenced by Judeo-Christian ethical principles, were particularly enamored by one of the commandments:

Don’t bear false witness (in a court of law) against your neighbor. לֹא תַעֲנֶה בְרֵעֲךָ עֵד שָׁקֶר

Why, they asked, is this so important? How does this have the stature of, say, don’t murder or don’t steal?

General News

Netanyahu Is The Un-Herzl

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It has never been as clear as it is today that Americans who support a secure State of Israel have an obligation to oppose the Netanyahu government. That is not as daring as it sounds. Opposing Prime Minister Netanyahu only requires backing the efforts of our own government to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian agreement and a nuclear deal with Iran. In the past few days Netanyahu has gone to war with the Obama administration on both fronts. Secretary of State John Kerry never had much of a chance to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.