Moshe Kantor: situation of Jews in Europe ‘at its worst since end of WWII’

In an effort to understand Jewish politics in other parts of the world, as well as to strenghten my French language skills, I've been tapping into the European Jewish press lately.  Here is a recent report that makes me very grateful to live in the U.S.  This is not merely a Jewish story--the more one learns, the more it becomes clear that the Jew is the canary in the mine shaft.

"Moshe Kantor: situation of Jews in Europe ‘at its worst since end of WWII’" Yossi Lempkowicz, European Jewish Press [English version]. June 29, 2010.

___

Throwing cold water on Thomas Friedman's glowing reports from Fayyad HQ

"A little rain on the Palestinian parade," Nathan Brown. Foreign Policy. July 1, 2010.

Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, and fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, argues that reports of the scale and success of Fayyad's "state-building program" are greatly overstated.

I, for one, would be happy if Thomas Friedman, Hussein Ibish, and other Fayyad promoters were right in their assessment of the Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister.  For the PA to make headway in establishing rule of law and other basic functions of governance would represent a rare "postive-sum" gain in the region.  It may even be rhetorically prudent to play up Fayyad's success, at least in some quarters. Surely, it would be better for everyone involved if those who claim to support the Palestinians were to put their energies into the kind of work Fayyad is said to be doing, instead of the counterproductive and hateful anti-Israel mobilization that seems to dominate their agenda. 

However, there are also dangers in putting too much stock in Fayyad's efforts. In particular, as Brown suggests, hyping Fayyadism can make one discount the importance of the diplomatic plane, and generally to reduce the political to the economic. 


___

Debunking Kristof's one-sided depiction of West Bank

Posting at Elder of Ziyon, Zach Novetsky ably debunks Nicholas Kristof's angry diatribe against Israel in yesterday's New York Times.  Would that such an eminent writer as Nicholas Kristof bothered to conduct even half the research before writing his fancy column as Zach Novetsky has put into his response... 

In sum, as Zach puts it, NK

spoke to an advocacy group and happily parroted what they told him to say. This is not even close to anything approaching journalism.

___

Profile of former Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Abraham Center for Middle East Peace

Allison Hoffman at Tablet (a must-read publication in my book) profiles Wexler's work as the new President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.  The Center's work includes public opnion in Israel and meetings with the spectrum of important players in the Arab-Israeli peace process, such as it is, from Israel to the West Bank to Jordan to Turkey to Bahrain.  Wexler and Abraham hosted the schmooze between Mahmoud Abbas and a host of American Jewish leaders when the PA President visited Washington, D.C., early last month.

On the Abraham Center's site, I recommend the helpfully-illustrated page on possible land-swap scenarios. The border issue is one of the Center's specialties.

       "The Bridge," Allison Hoffman. Tablet Magazine. July 1, 2010.


___

Obama and the Middle East: A round-up of assessments to date at Tablet Magazine

This is a great compendium of analyses of the Obama administration's policies to date vis a vis the Middle East.  Tablet columnist Lee Smith has lent his weekly column space to range of savvy observers in this two-part series, including well-known figures like Martin Kramer and Robert Malley, as well as other colleagues and friends with keen perspectives to share. 

Part I: Elliott Abrams, Robert Malley, Dore Gold, Andrew Exum (June 30, 2010)
Part II: Rahmin Amadi, Lokman Slim, Martin Kramer, Jacob Weisberg (July 1, 2010)

Excerpt from Lokman Slim, Lebanese publisher, filmmaker, and activist:

Despite great sacrifices and numerous blunders made by the United States under his predecessor, Obama must face squarely the reality that from Lebanon to Iraq to Afghanistan a return to the status quo ante is neither possible nor desirable.  Obama too eagerly lowered the flag of democracy in order to raise the flag of engagement.  And while the former may have become viewed as a euphemism for military intervention, the latter has quickly become a euphemism for giving up.  At the level of policy and diplomacy, this confusion must be erased--especially vis-a-vis those who continue to struggle for change.

___

Efraim Inbar at Bitterlemons.org

"AN ISRAELI VIEW: Gazans deserve a better future," Efraim Inbar. Bitterlemons.org June 28, 2010 Edition 14.

Inbar explains why those who claim to be defending the Palestinians' interests are wrong to pressure Israel to end its blockade of Gaza.  On that point, I think he is right. However, I'm not convinced by his claim that the Netanyahu administration's recent adjustments to the blockade substantively diminish Israel's security. I get the sense that these movements they are symbolic more than anything--a sign between Israel, on the one hand, and the U.S. and Israel's few allies in Europe, on the other. Israel has been tinkering with the specifics of the blockade on a regular basis in order to strike a balance between limiting potentially harmful materials from entering Gaza and letting purely civilian goods through. If, in exchange, Israel can get them to resist the demagogic calls for a UN investigation, and/or to show some more spine with regard to Iran and Erdogan, then I am all for it.  That Israel's friends and quasi-friends are willing and able to step up...well, I will believe that when I see it.

The entrenchment of Hamas rule in Gaza amplifies the schism in Palestinian society and strengthens Hamas' influence in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. It is also a slap in the face of President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the PA, who demanded the blockade's continuation. Hamas' achievement here further undermines whatever ability--albeit a very limited ability--the Palestinian national movement had to move toward compromise with the Jewish state."

The easing of the blockade reflects the success of a Hamas propaganda campaign to depict the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian disaster. While Gaza is not prospering, the standard of living there is generally higher than in Egypt--a little noticed fact. The ability of this Goebbels-type propaganda to entrench a tremendous lie in the consciousness of the international community testifies to the continued vulnerability of naive westerners to sophisticated psychological warfare and to the complicity of much of the western press in this enterprise. 

The step taken by the Israeli government also significantly helps Hamas strengthen its grip on Gazans, as Hamas controls the distribution of any goods entering its territory. Moreover, even if Hamas allows for a general improvement in the daily lives of all Gazans, this reduces the incentive for regime change, which should be part of the western goal to give Gazans a better future. Strengthening this radical theological regime in the eastern Mediterranean, which is linked to revolutionary Iran, defies western rational thinking.

The entrenchment of Hamas rule in Gaza amplifies the schism in Palestinian society and strengthens Hamas' influence in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. It is also a slap in the face of President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the PA, who demanded the blockade's continuation. Hamas' achievement here further undermines whatever ability--albeit a very limited ability--the Palestinian national movement had to move toward compromise with the Jewish state.

___

Of course Free Gaza is not a humanitarian group (Elder of Ziyon)

From the series, "it's just political"

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (via Elder of Zyon)
June 27, 2010.

"Barry Rubin, and some other blogs, have been talking about the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center's finding documents on the flotilla ships that indicate that Free Gaza's aims were not humanitarian, but political, and that they seemed to be instructing their members not to explicitly show that they are de facto supporters of Hamas in order to avoid apparent ties to terror."


___