Healing Israel/Palestine

For the First Time as President, Obama Will Visit Israel to Push the Peace Process

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According to reports from Channel 10 in Israel (which have been confirmed by the White House), President Obama will visit Israel for the first time in his presidency on March 20. The visit, to take place the week before Passover, is being billed by the White House as a way to “reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Israel.”
However, according to Israel’s Channel 10, Washington received assurances from the Israeli government that Obama would be able to engage in “large-scale efforts” related to the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians during his visit.

Gender and Sexuality

Women and Combat

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Alongside horrifying pictures from the New York Times showing very young boys being trained to fire assault rifles (“Selling a New Generation on Guns”) comes the news, welcome in some quarters, that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the military to admit women to full combat roles. I believe that this is not the way to equality.

Politics & Society

What difference does it make if torture works?…and a few other questions…

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What difference does it make if torture works? Is that all we need to know about it? Is it possible that we shouldn’t torture people even if it does work? By analogy: We could probably eliminate a good deal of the Taliban – at least for a while–if we carpet bombed regions they control. Once we were clear that it ‘works’ – why not do it? So what if we kill some innocent people. After all – the point is to accomplish what we set out to do. Therefore, if torturing a few people, or many people, gets us the information ‘we’ want, that’s all we need to know, right?

Politics & Society

Big, New Kevin Spacey Film Exposes The Lobby

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It is big. It stars Kevin Spacey who also directed it. Additionally, it is the first film produced by Netflix, which is itself a huge deal, and is available instantly at its site for free streaming.
Here is the amazing part. I don’t think I’m revealing any spoilers because this is only a small part of the plot but, if you are sensitive about such things, stop reading.

Culture

"Progressive" Congressman Jerry Nadler Tries To Shut Down Free Speech at Brooklyn College

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I have long maintained that when it comes to Israel, the distinction between right and left disappears in this country.
Check out this letter from Congressman Jerry Nadler, a West Side Manhattan Democrat, demanding that Brooklyn College not permit a campus group to discuss strategies for boycotting Israel to meet on campus. Nadler is joined by virtually every major “progressive” New York politician. Nadler and his cohorts make the case that they don’t mind the boycott group meeting but object to the political science department sponsoring an event that presents “only one side.” Of course, anyone who attended college knows that academic departments do that all the time because sponsoring a discussion does not mean the department is endorsing it, only that it favors airing of all sides.

Healing Israel/Palestine

Why Hagel Had To Lie

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Like most supporters of Chuck Hagel’s appointment to serve as Secretary of Defense, I was appalled by his performance at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. He was inarticulate, incoherent and bumbling. Nonetheless, I completely sympathize with him.
An honest man, lying about his views doesn’t come naturally to him. Unlike John McCain and his other attackers and many of his supporters, he has a real inability to say what he doesn’t mean. It affected his whole performance. He is not the man we saw on Thursday.

Culture

An Achievement Beyond 'Pinkwashing'

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Unfortunately, the relative advance for gays and lesbians in Israel is a source of contention that bleeds into the Arab-Israeli conflict and the overwrought polemics of pro-Israel defenders and anti-Zionist detractors. Pro-Israel elements will focus upon advances for gays as evidence of Israel’s progressive nature; anti-Israel activists will condemn this as “pinkwashing,” an attempt to divert attention from Israel’s poor human rights record regarding the Palestinians.

ESRA

Austerity or Debt: A False Choice

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By March 1, Congress will have had to face the budget cuts mandated by the failure of the Simpson-Bowles commission to come up with a plan of deficit reduction that would satisfy both Republican and Democratic leaders.

ESRA

What a Spiritual Progressive Agenda Might Look Like

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Neither the New York Times nor Zaretsky even comes close to dealing with what a spiritual progressive agenda would look like if we apply our (TIKKUN) call for “The Caring Society—Caring for Each Other and Caring for the Earth,” much less our call for a New Bottom Line of love, caring, generosity, ethical and ecological sensitivity, and awe and wonder at the grandeur and mystery of the universe, to the current realities of America, global politics, and the environment.