Maybe it's time to think outside the box. Maybe it's about time to stop counting on our leaders, and end this fiasco in a different way
Israel's ever-expanding network of settlements is viewed by many members of the international community as the most significant obstacle to the creation of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state.
The Palestinian Prime Minister told the press that he wanted the American president arriving in Palestine on Airforce One, to an international airport, and not just a small airstrip.
Following the meeting between US Senator Mitchell and Israeli PM Netanyahu, it seems that Israel and the US are getting close to some kind of agreemen...
A U.S. oil embargo on Iran appears risky, both because it would strengthen the hand of conservative clerics in Tehran and could entail a naval blockade, setting off a chain reaction.
Palestinians were furious to discover that now not only Fox News ignores their side -- but now even during commercial breaks are they invisible.
Obama must make it abundantly clear that his focus on the settlements is not arbitrary, but represents a critical point of departure if Israel is to ever to seek peace with the Palestinians.
In the Golden City of Jerusalem, I witnessed humility, humiliation and hope.
Peace with its neighbors, not the sensitivities of a small minority of religious settlers, has to be Israel's ultimate objective.
I wonder if the Secretary of State might wish to have discussions with the Secretary of Director of Immigration and Citizenship about how to treat Nobel Peace Laureates, unless, because of her outspoken criticism of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, the treatment Maguire got was exactly what the Obama administration wants her to have.
The sixth Sa'ada war between central government forces and Houthi rebels in Yemen's north is well underway and expected to drag on, according to the country's ruling party.
For part 2 of my interview with Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God, we discuss consciousness, physics, evolution, atheism, Obama and more.
President Obama, following his meeting with President Mubarak, said yesterday: "There has been movement in the right direction" referring to the repor...
A recent article in the New York Times sums up all that is wrong with the Obama administration's posture toward Israel.
Until the Palestinians eager to bury the Jewish state finally recognize the legitimate national aspirations of 5.7 million Jews, there may not be peace. But there will always be an Israel.
In a move sure to antagonize the Onion for not having come up with it first, former U.S. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee endorsed Israeli control over the occupied West Bank and rejected the "two-state solution."
Mubarak shares the president's goal of moving the Middle East peace process off dead center, and is well positioned now to be Washington's go-to guy in the Arab world, once again.
Yemen has mounted a tight security plan for the holy Moslem month of Ramadan starting this week in a bid to thwart any new terrorist attacks, the Yemen Times reported.
There should be a reconsideration of how and when the US can find common cause with nationalist Islamist groups willing to condemn violence against civilians to promote long term US goals for the region.
I was curious if Rob Malley and Hussein Agha's NYT op-ed title -- "The Two State Solution Won't Solve Anything" -- is what they intended, so I sent Rob Malley a few questions by email.
Three purported miracles, environmental in nature, have happened in Israel recently: a mermaid frolicking in the Haifa Bay; a gas saving retrofit for your car; and new peace pipe.
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Israel is a sovereign country -- it is not America Minor as so many people insist that it should be -- and they are allowed to create their own policies, just as other America does, just as America's other allies do.
Why call out Israel alone for what is perceived as impinging on the free travel of Americans? The last time I checked, most of the Middle East has some rather stunning policies where foreign travelers are concerned, particularly women, and I'm quite certain that the verbiage on our passports is the same.
I have never heard of Arab countries denying American Jews entry because they are from Jewish descent. So, you don't have a problem with a country that squeeze billions of $ from us and discriminate against a group of Americans because of their origin. Your bias analogy has no limits.
Jordan does. They don't want Jews living in their country, even though they receive aid from America too.
(waits for the outrage that will never come)
"I have never heard of Arab countries denying American Jews entry because they are from Jewish descent."
In order to enter Saudi Arabia the visa application requires such information as: nationality , place of brith and relgion.
Jews born in Israel, who are citizens of of U.S. have zero chance of entry into Saudi Arabia.
Americans of ANY nationality who ever visited Israel ( stamp in passport) are automatically denied entry into Syria, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim counties.
citizens of ANY country with a name like Cohen is routinely denied entry into many Muslim countries.
Now you've heard it.
That is a pretty superficial analysis. Israel gets billions in foreign aid from us. And if America wants to be viewed as a moral country, we have every right to demand that Israel act like a moral country. Something it is not doing now. The fact that other countries in the region behave badly doesn't let Israel off the hook.
Because Israel is an American ally. Because as a democracy Israel should treat Jewish Americans the same way that it treats Arab American. Because the U.S. provides bucket loads of money to Israel and has paid for the right to call you out on this. How about showing a bit of gratitude
The US doesn't attach strings to the aid it provides to Israel. Israel is under no special obligation to listen to the US or to be "grateful," as much as it may infuriate you.
The US gets other benefits from its alliance with Israel. Unlike aid to the Palestinians, it doesn't all get flushed down the toilet.
You are correct. They don't need us, our money or our protection. Let them fend for themselves in the real world all by themselves.
We certainly do not need them. We would be far better without them.
As is happening to the Roma now, the Jews of Europe had no homeland nation to advocate for them for nearly 2000 years. Disraeli understood this, and after WWII others also recognized the need for Jews to have a homeland if they were to avoid another Shoah. The Brits had taken the area now called alternately Israel / Palestine, depending on the speaker, from the Turks who had aligned themselves with the Germans in WWI (for a number of historical reasons: read Tuchman, Bible and Sword).
For religious reasons, the Brits were pliable to the entreaties of Disraeli after WWI, and by the end of WWII they lobbied and got a geographic homeland for the Jews. Now Jews have a nation to advocate for them internationally, which affords them a buffer should they be targeted again - which a cursory reading of history shows is likely. The Roma should too. Finding the appropriate place was a long and tortuous path, and its outcome can be debated endlessly. I certainly don't have access to the information or the authority to make a case for a place.
I am concerned about all of the people who live in Israel/Palestine, as I am concerned about the future of the Roma. My real worry about Israel/Palestine is the political and military interference from neighboring nations. My perception is that, absent that complication, a resolution would be easier to achieve.
For the curious, my heritage includes none of the above (to my knowledge).
Tuchman reference. Very impressive. All of her books were fantastic, especially, The Guns of August.
Hillary should make very clear to I.srael if they are harrasing U.S. citizens there will be hell tp pay...I agree Enough is Enough....
I don't know why the US Government is always so afraid of standing up to Israel. There are so many questionable things happening in that country, and it's treatment towards others around them...and yet we do nothing. Then they do this to our citizens, and we do nothing.
This is no longer an equal friendship with Israel, it's them making these discriminatory policies and us being to weak or afraid to say no. I'll never understand why we're so whipped by Israel, but they have us by the balls apparently.
I say cut them off until they start behaving. Like my Mom did when I was bad, put them in "time-out" until they agree to behave.
So you're solution to a lack of an "equal" friendship...is to end the friendship altogether? Right, that makes sense.
When your friends do something you don't like, do you *talk* about it, or do you punch them out and refuse to ever interact with them again?
This is not about friendship, it is, however, about discriminating against American Arabs! You get the point?
Oh, and I had another question. The US provides billions in aid to the Palestinians as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_aid_to_Palestinians
Would you advocate cutting off the Palestinians until *they* shape up as well...or is it only Israel that you want to blackmail with US resources? (That's a serious question, btw, and I want an answer)
Why would anyone want to blame the victim? Israel has universal health care and nuclear bombs. And lots of water from that aquifer they have tapped into. Israel has expanded endlessly while Palestinian land has shrunk and even that is blockaded and can't get essential items
Here is an idea, US law forbids US citizens joining the armed forces of a foreign nation. If the United States were to prosecute persons going to Israel to join the IDF, Israel would quickly get the message.
why not do that?
Because it would involve more nations than Israel. A number of Americans fought in WW II for the Brits through holding dual citizenship. The Flying Tigers fought the Japanese for China, would you suggest the US should have prosecuted those heroes?
I hold dual Israeli-US citizenship and as a part of my Israeli citizenship I was required to serve in the IDF, which I was glad to do. I spent my 19th birthday on the Golan Heights in 1973 fighting to stop the onslaught of Syrian armor as the Syrians attempted to cut Israel in half and destroy us. Do you believe I ought to be prosecuted?
In case you are wondering, I hold US citizenship because my parents were on a trip to the US to visit family while my Mom was pregnant with me. I arrived almost two months early and as soon as I could make the trip my parents took me from Texas to israel. I still hold land in the US and have a very limited law practice in the US, but most of each year is spent in Israel.
Maybe because US citizens should be free to do what they want with their own bodies? Or do we not allow freedom any more?
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