My apologies for the gap in posting. Now in Doha, Arab League Summit happening here. No Saudia Arabia and no Egypt, so I’m not sure what it’s supposed to accomplish. Will hope to publish some first-hand accounts of how the Arab “street” is reacting, as well as the larger Muslim world. A few Jews here as well, so if I can set-up a safe space, I intend to get as many voices as I can. May come as my first series of podcasts.
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Olmert says he is the boss of American Foreign Policy
- Juan Cole
- Condi says it’s a lie. There are clearly some minor problems with Olmert’s story. Even if it is untrue in its entirety, it says a lot that Omert feels comfortable making the claim. Who is Olmert speaking to? Is showing his power to Israelis? Is he trying to alienate Americans? Is he trying to alienate Americans from Arabs? None of these options really speak to America’s best interests.
- Tony Karon says Israel has lost. (h/t Laila)
- Rashid Khalidi in the NYT on a history of the conflict. (h/t Aziz)
- Marc Lynch on why Al-Qaeda loves Israel right now.
- Ted Swedenburg on the music of/for Gaza. Don’t forget Slingshot Hip-Hop.
- Iran is stopping attacks on Israeli targets.
- Todd Gitlin on dealing with Hamas.
- Juan Cole: Are street protests worth anything? or how to organize. I do think street protests to serve a purpose, especially in the US, to show a counter-narrative to the mainstream media. See the photo I took below from a protest at the UN. These are Orthodox Jews, not Salafis. (more)
. - A Palestinian on what other options might have open to Israel.
- MJ Rosenberg destroys a popular meme on justifying the attacks. The meme is clearly carefully coordinated, so it’s nice to see the take down.
- Juan Cole provides lots of video.
- Laila highlights an American military commanders thoughts on the IDF’s actions in Gaza.
- Laila talks about children and God.
- Laila links to a piece by Avi Shlaim. Three Lies About Gaza.
- MJ Rosenberg says Obama’s Middle East policies will be different than Bush’s. He says it better than I have been trying to do.
- Ted Swedenburg on celebrities coming out against the invasion.
- What Gaza means on N. American campuses.
- Israel’s Bombardment of Gaza is not Self-Defense It is a War Crime.
- Arab Parties Banned in Israel.
- Brian
- Richard is Israel now like Iran?
- Crooked Timber on a case study of banning parties, that includes Israel prior to the crisis.
- MJ Rosenberg on the death of 250 children. I believe the number has gotten significantly bigger since the schools have been targeted.
- Waltz with Bashir
- Photos of Occupied Gaza
- I Accuse! An Open Letter to Congress
- White phosphorous in Gaza
- Do American Jews support the invasion?
- Haroon on how to help. I am glad someone like him is trying to do something positive.
- Bill Moyers on Gaza
- Rachel gives her thoughts. It is good to her voice. Grounded in spirituality without ignoring the world.
- Richard smacks Jeffrey Goldberg around.
- American Jews condemn Gaza attacks.
- American Jews call to wipe out Palestinians. Encourage war crimes.
- re: 30 and 31, there is no one Jewish voice on this. Why should there be? Why would people then expect one Arab or one Muslim voice?
- Jim Sleeper says Israel is waking up anti-Semitism.
- Aziz on Gaza.
- Apocalypse.
- Laila points to Marianne Williamson on finding a miracle in the mess.
- Aziz on AlJazeera and web 2.0. I’ll be meeting with a few people from this team and will try to supplement his thoughts.
- Tariq Ramadan shares his thoughts. Again, I am concerned that this is a “Muslim” concern and not a human concern.
- Gleen Greenwald wonders why the NYT publishes Tom Friedman’s call to war crimes. (h/t John)
- Gary Stern points to a recent piece of mine at RD. He thinks that my point is that criticizing Israel is considered anti-Semitic. My actual point is that why am I called upon to decry the loss of life of all people except Muslims and/or Arabs. Either it should be understood that as Muslim I consider all human life sacred, or that there is a value placed on different lives and I should start choosing who has a “real” life and who doesn’t.