MIDDLE EAST
TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT
A column by Nicholas Kristof in Monday’s New York Times hit me where it hurts. Kristof reported that “in wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.” Could…
Read MoreTAKING AN AXE TO JEWISH VALUES
If we Jews are “the chosen people,” I doubt it was God’s purpose that an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon smash a statue of Jesus with an axe. That horrific act happened in the beginning of the week. A “stunned and saddened” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately stated that action would be taken. A day…
Read MoreARTEMIS II AND IRAN
A cartoon in last Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle says much about the war on Iran. Wiley Miller’s “Non Sequitur” appeared two days after Artemis II lifted off to circle the moon. Two astronauts ride in a moon buggy. One holds a rifle. A gun rack holds three more. The dialog balloon: “Let’s call it quits,…
Read MoreBASEBALL, PASSOVER, AND IRAN
Baseball, Passover and the war with Iran have a connection. The national pastime represents an ordered world. Games end in a recognized win or loss. The standings clearly position each team. Simple. Passover: not so simple. God freed the Israelites from Egypt. But the waters—during and after Pharaoh drowned in the Sea of Reeds—muddied quickly.…
Read MoreHUGE-BOAR AND THE NARROWS—A FABLE
Once upon a time, HUGE-BOAR, the brawniest beast in the forest, called out a very aggressive, if less powerful, rival. “Idiot-Ram is a danger to the whole forest!!!” Without telling anyone, HUGE-BOAR—known for his huge hump, the hugest—crossed the forest. With a deer friend, Big Buck, he attacked I-Ram’s territory. HUGE-BOAR deployed his enormous tusks…
Read MoreEXODUS ON WHITE HOUSE CORRUPTION
The book of Exodus says something important about corruption contaminating the Oval Office. Americans should pay heed. Exodus’ final portion, Pekudei, presents an example of power modified by integrity. The Israelites had brought precious gifts for the Tabernacle and the priests’ vestments. Pekudei begins, “These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, that were drawn up…
Read MoreBOOTS ON THE GROUND IN AMERICA?
I started this post about the Iran war on Wednesday. Yesterday, a comment by Donald Trump confirmed my worst fears about imperiled American democracy. As to the war, I’m not disturbed by the deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and other top officials. They can rot in Hell. Since 1979, the Iranian theocracy has…
Read MoreBIAS VS. BALANCE IN MIDDLE-EAST REPORTING
Just as the Israel-Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran conflict seems perpetually muddled despite ceasefires, so does reporting on the region. Does mainstream journalism adhere to the objectivity it holds dear? On last Saturday’s PBS Weekend News, Leila Molana-Allen presented a televised report from Lebanon on Israeli air strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs. This, despite Israel reaching a…
Read MoreTHE NEXT GAZA CONUNDRUM
Last Monday at Israel’s Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem, President Trump hailed “the historic dawn of a new Middle East.” From his lips to God’s ears. The return of the last 20 living hostages from Hamas captivity offered a joyous moment. The ceasefire is more than welcome. Actual peace? A conundrum. Trump’s 20-point plan offers a…
Read MoreBUNKER BUSTING QUESTIONS
Right after Air Force B-2s dropped “bunker busters” on Fordo and Natanz last Saturday, President Trump announced that those facilities had been “obliterated.” Did he jump the gun? A preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency report—I emphasize “preliminary”— stated that Iran’s nuclear program had been set back by only two to three months. In a few days, more optimistic…
Read MoreAMERICA AND IRAN PLAY CHICKEN
When making decisions, government leaders must evaluate their nation’s pain threshold and their own political risks. Cue Donald Trump and Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump gave Khamenei 60 days to agree to processing uranium only for civilian use—and outside Iran. Khamenei refused. The deadline passed. Given the stalemate and American inaction, Israeli prime minister Benjamin…
Read MoreEGYPT’S PHARAOH AND AMERICA’S
The Torah and the Israel-Gaza war offer lessons about denying reality and risking terrible consequences. In Exodus, God strikes Egypt with ten plagues, concluding with the slaying of the firstborn. Pharaoh had continually refused to let Israel go. At first, he hardening his own heart. Then God hardened it. The biblical scholar Richard Elliot Friedman…
Read MoreANOTHER MIDEAST MUDDLE
With Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and the 53-year-old Assad family rule overthrown, an old adage arises in the Middle East: Be careful what you wish for. But wish we must, then take care following up. The Middle East has been a highly unstable region not just in recent decades but throughout history. For centuries, competing caliphs…
Read MoreAFTER SINWAR, WHAT?
IDF troops killed Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ architect of October 7, prompting me to ask, where do we go from here? I wish the shop had repaired my crystal ball, but a text broke the bad news. No more peeks into the future for me. That’s typical for someone at age 80, who learns that the…
Read MoreTHE STEEL THREAD
An economist at Tel Aviv University and an ancient king reveal much about the outcome of the war Israel is waging against Iran’s proxies, and so Iran itself. On Monday, Tom Friedman in The New York Times (“What I’m Thinking About on the First Anniversary of the War”) cited the economist Dan Ben-David of Tel…
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