In recent weeks, the Jewish blogosphere has been in a state of collective shpilkas. Even before the flotilla incident, Jews in America and Israel were hotly debating two essays, Danny Gordis’ “The Storm Ahead” in the Jerusalem Post and Peter Beinart’s “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment,” in The New York Review of Books.
Submitted by James Besser on Thu, 06/17/2010 - 07:42
Here's something pretty ugly percolating just beneath the surface of Jewish politics these days.
For years, Armenian Americans have appealed to the Jewish community for help in their efforts to get official U.S. recognition of the World War I era Armenian Genocide by Turkey.
Jews were their natural allies, they thought, because of our own history, but pro-Israel leaders had different ideas.
It seems to me that on the question of whether big pro-Israel groups reflect the views of the broader Jewish community, Beinart is right, but so are some of this critics.
Submitted by Gary Rosenblatt on Thu, 05/27/2010 - 09:36
Peter Beinart, the former New Republic editor whose strong critique of the American Jewish establishment in a New York Review of Books essay continues to reverberate in the community, says he has been pleasantly surprised by the responses he has received from pro-Israel critics
Submitted by James Besser on Thu, 05/27/2010 - 07:37
Want to know just how well the fierce campaign by pro-Israel hawks to delegitimze J Street is working? Then pay close attention to the Senate race in Pennsylvania.
This week J Street, the pro-peace process, pro-Israel (don't bother sending nasty emails, I know your arguments) political action committee and lobby, endorsed Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democrat who unseated Sen. Arlen Specter, most recently a Democrat as well, in last week's primary.
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Dozens of presidents of university student bodies invited the Israeli ambassador to speak in the wake of his controversial appearances on two campuses.
Submitted by James Besser on Mon, 05/17/2010 - 15:29
The more I think about it, the more I see why left-of-center pro-Israel groups like J Street and Americans for Peace Now are bouncing off the walls about last week's ad on Jerusalem by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Submitted by Eric Herschthal on Mon, 05/17/2010 - 14:28
Before heading to bed last night, I logged onto the New York Review of Books Web site. On the front-page was a powerful article by former New Republic editor Peter Beinart that lambasts American Jewish organizations -- AIPAC, the Conference of Presidents, and so on -- for letting their steadfast support for Israel trump the liberal ethos that informs broader American Jewish identity. I was sure this would cause a storm.
Submitted by James Besser on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 09:00
American pro-Israel groups, mostly an echo chamber for the Netanyahu government in Jerusalem, have jumped on the “don't present a U.S. peace plan” refrain like ants jump on picnic scraps. But a longtime Israeli diplomat has different ideas.
