syvanen writes:

Israel is strong. There is no doubt that they can militarily overcome any threat from the surrounding Arab world

Don't you wish that things were this simple? How about everyone butts out and lets the Israelis and their enemies to duke it out -- until one side achieves a decisive victory, the other side capitulates and signs a document of surrender? After all, that's how military conflicts used to end...

Sadly, things are more complex today, especially in the Middle East. To remind you, in the 1973 Yom Kippur war Israel was ordered by the U.S. to stop advancing its forces when the IDF was just 60 miles away from Cairo and 25 miles from Damascus. Why? Because the Soviets threatened to interfere militarily on behalf of Egypt, and OPEC declared an oil embargo.

Of course, in stopping Israel's military and forcing a ceasefire the U.S. protected its interest -- at the expense of Israel's. That's what we always do; nothing's changed.

Posted at May 28, 2008 1:41 AM in response to Is Israel's Prime Minister Going Out on a High Note?

VLaszlo writes:

I do not see why a democratic country would ban the entry of a political critic.

We don't know if Finkelstein's politics was the reason for denial of entry -- it's his claim, unconfirmed by Israeli authorities. He chose not to contest this decision, and so we may never know.

I believe Israel saw fit to allow entry to the vile Meir Kahane

Kahane was not a tourist: he emigrated to Israel and gained citizenship through The Law of Return. Had Finkelstein pursued such an option and qualified under the law, I'm sure he too could have become an Israeli citizen. Btw, Kahane had to play be the rules: as soon as he crossed the line, his political activities were banned.

However about the academic world you might not be knowledgeable.

Actually, I am -- although admittedly not in Polit. Sci. A Ph.D. degree from a good school should have enabled Finkelstein to immediately pursue a tenure-track position. Even if we allow for a post-doc. and few openings in Polit. Sci., Finkelstein went through four (!) different schools before landing at DePaul. Charitably, that's uncommon.

As for him being denied tenure at DePaul, look: Finkelstein who is far from stupid knowingly chose a highly controvercial area of reaserch. IOW, he's a risk-taker, akin to a biologist specializing in intelligent design theory or a climate scientist working to disprove global warming.

While one may admire Finkelstein's courage, the nature of risk is that some bets are losers. As a smart guy, he certainly could have done some mainstream stuff to gain tenure; then he'd be free to branch out into the fringe.

Frankly, what I particularly dislike about Finkelstein is his whining! He makes the choices (deny certain aspects of the Holocaust or don't contest the Border Police at Tel Aviv airport), takes the risks, then blames others when things don't work out in his favor.

Posted at May 28, 2008 1:13 AM in response to Rightist Jews Defend Hagee as Another Wallenberg & Israel Deports Norm Finkelstein (Good Riddance)

This will appear out of place because the "Reply" link on Hussein O'Bamarama's comments is disabled.

Hussein O'Bamarama writes:

Every time an Israeli make sense, someone assassinates him.

Ok, this must be the explanation for the 2001 assassination of Rehavam Zeevi (nicknamed "Gandhi"), Israel's Minister of Tourism by the PFLP. It's nice of you to remember him.

Posted at May 27, 2008 9:32 PM in response to Is Israel's Prime Minister Going Out on a High Note?

syvanen:

The hypocrisy is in treating the "will of the people" (admittedly, based on opinion polls) differently. While we demand that the U.S. President assent to our will, we seem to applaud a foreign head of a democratic state for ignoring the will of his constituents -- in the name of peace, i.e. peace trumps democracy.

This won't work, because the Israelis are far from being a bunch of ignorant natives who know not what's good for them. In fact, since Israel has a draft and everyone, men and women, enlists for a mandatory service in IDF, including years of reserve service, the Israelis fully realize, and bear the consequences of their decisions.

Moreover, even if Olmert was pure as the driven snow, he has no mandate to pursue policies that go beyond the Israeli consensus, considering that in 2006 elections Kadima, his political party, got barely 15 percent of Israel's registered voters.

Posted at May 27, 2008 9:07 PM in response to Is Israel's Prime Minister Going Out on a High Note?

I guess it's pointless to reiterate in this forum the obvious hypocrisy of the American Peaceniks like Mr. Levy:

On one hand, Preznit G.W. Bush is (justly!) vilified for his refusal to commit to an exit strategy from Iraq, even though close to 70 percent of Americans now believe that the war in Iraq was a strategic blunder and wish for a speedy troop withdrawal.

On the other hand, Mr. Olmert, allegedly the most dishonest Prime Minister in Israel's history, gets high praise for his leadership for engaging in talks with the terror-sponsoring regime of Bashar Assad, even though almost 70 percent of the Israelis are firmly opposed to returning the Golan Heights to Syria.

Why the difference? Aahh, it's the "religion of Peace Now" -- the elusive nirvana that allows to put a "kosher" stamp on crooks like Olmert and justifies countless sacrifices, first and foremost of which is the sacrifice of the truth.

Posted at May 27, 2008 7:09 PM in response to Is Israel's Prime Minister Going Out on a High Note?

Is Israeli democracy so fragile that it needs to deport a critic like Mr. Finkelstein?

Finkelstein was not deported: he was denied entry -- see my post below. There's a big difference.

Posted at May 27, 2008 4:25 PM in response to Rightist Jews Defend Hagee as Another Wallenberg & Israel Deports Norm Finkelstein (Good Riddance)

VLaszlo writes:

I see NO justification for deporting Mr. Finkelstein.

Finkelstein was not deported -- this is Rosenberg's mis-translation. Finkelstein was denied entry -- see Rosenberg's link to the original Haaretz story. There's a big difference.

The U.S. denies entry daily, to thousands of individuals, on a variety of grounds and sometimes for no reason at all. I know for a fact that the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv routinely turns down tourist visa requests from a variety of Israeli citizens, Jews as well as Arabs.

No one knows on what grounds Finkelstein was denied entry: he chose not to contest/appeal the decision, so the authorities are not obligated to disclose their reasons. Personally, I think it was a publicity stunt.

As to Finkelstein's "academic bona-fides", the man held faculty positions with five different academic institutions in the U.S. and was not granted tenure by any of them. Honestly, I think he ought to try his luck at colleges or universities that have the word "Islamic" as part of their name.

Posted at May 27, 2008 4:16 PM in response to Rightist Jews Defend Hagee as Another Wallenberg & Israel Deports Norm Finkelstein (Good Riddance)

lapiltz writes:

I have been to Israel, the camps, etc.

So, were these real trips, or LSD-induced 'trips'? I mean,
what gave you the impression that Palestine was 'raped' and the Palestinians 'were stuffed in concentration cantons'? Was it the never-required forced labor? The non-existent crematoria? The fact that every Palestinian in the territories has the right to file a lawsuit against the IDF in an Israeli court, as well as to petition directly to Israel's Supreme Court? (And they do, and win some of their cases.)

Compare that with the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan that your tax dollars and mine pay for. Indeed, the Iraqis and Afghanis have no legal reprieve against the U.S. military. This morning this little pearl came through the wire; it demonstrates how we cover up our own atrocities. Inquiry findings were sealed -- of course. The story itself was buried on the bottom of page 19.

I think a fully Americanized, emancipated, assimilated, Holocaust-complex-free Jew like yourself has plenty of Tikkun Olam to do at home. Maybe then you'll earn the right to lecture the Israelis on their misdeeds. (And when you do lecture the Israelis, please keep your rhetoric free of the Nazi-era phraseology, or no one will take you seriously.)

Posted at May 24, 2008 7:20 PM in response to Please, Sen. Obama, Stop Talking About Israel

normankelley:

Thanks for an interesting, well-intentioned post. Here are a few points to consider. You wrote:

ML King was a big supporter of Israel and Jews; his death may have been one of the reasons that the "special relationship" between blacks and Jews soured; he wasn't there to advocate a sense of unity and justice.

When a relationship hinges solely on strong leaders or personalities, but does not extend to the regular folk, then it won't endure. Here is how this translates to Israel and the ME.

I take great pains to explain to my fellow Americans that Israel is our only reliable ally in the ME -- because the people of Israel, not just its leaders, feel great kinship and admiration for America and Americans, regardless of which Party is in power. For the most part, the feeling is mutual, hence the friendship is durable.

That's not the case with our other allies in the region, whose population hates our guts, and NOT primarily because of our support for Israel -- a common fallacy promoted by some, for obvious reasons.

Moreover, I tell people the peace treaties that Israel signed with Egypt and Jordan are, for now, worthless pieces of paper -- because they rely only on the good will of these two countries' current leaders, while the general populations still express enormous animus/hatred towards Israel (again, NOT only because of the Palestinians.)

As these leaders age and exit the stage, there is no guarantee their successors will adhere to these treaties. Paradoxically, the danger is greater if/when these countries democratize, cf. Hamas.

I don't think that some of the actions and positions of Jews and Israelis are in their own best interest. ... Jews, American and Israelis, will have to get beyond the Holacaust [sic]

Fine, you may think that, and I may join in with you on a case by case basis. However, it's dangerous to assume that you know what's in the best interest of the Jews or Israelis. I have Black friends, but I'd be very wrong to claim that I know what it's like actually being Black, because I don't -- and I never will. It's equally wrong to advise the Jews to "get beyond the Holocaust." The trauma is too deep, it happened only 65 years ago, some of the survivors and witnesses are still with us, and there are clear signs -- in Africa and elsewhere, that humanity has not learned the lesson.

Finally, you write:

I think that Obama ought to talk to them like adults ... he ought to lay down the law.

IMHO, that's a bad idea: if we wish to avoid being labeled an imperial power, we must avoid telling other countries what to do. (I'll grant exceptions to this rule WRT "crazy" countries like Iran or North Korea.) This is especially true of democratic allies like Israel, whose 'will of the people' must be respected even when it differs from ours. This is a moral thing to do, since it's the Israelis who'll enjoy/suffer the consequences of their decisions and actions.

OTOH, if a U.S. President forces the Israelis to act in accordance with our national interests rather than their own, then the responsibility for the consequences shall be ours, in which case we might as well declare Israel the 51st state and run its affairs directly from Washington, D.C.

Posted at May 24, 2008 6:07 PM in response to Please, Sen. Obama, Stop Talking About Israel

tnathan writes:

I remember a few months ago M.J. wanted Obama to talk about Israel. Now he wants Obama to stop talking about Israel.

Come on, tnathan: if I didn't know you better, I could conclude that you're accusing Rosenberg of being 'consistently inconsistent' (or ... 'sequentially inconsequential'? 'continuously incontinent'? Lord, I'm getting confuesd here...)

In any case, let me assure you that M.J. is nothing of the sort: it's just a temporary mood swing -- his time of the month, ya know..., or maybe a very mild case of estrogen poisoning? ;-)

Posted at May 24, 2008 4:39 PM in response to Please, Sen. Obama, Stop Talking About Israel