The UN needs to send a direct message to Bashar Assad: A regime which resorts to war crimes will have to answer for them.
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Ahmadinejad's Iran is the new best friend of Israeli settlers
As the Israeli public hunkers and frets in dread and denial of what might happen if Iran were left to develop nuclear weapons - and in dread and denial of what might happen if it were prevented from doing so - the settlement movement scores triumph after triumph.
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The UN must find a Goldstone for Syria
The only Israel boycott that's actually working
After all, when the war with Iran is over, and the only things left here are cockroaches and Migron, this government will still have the only thing it's ever really needed: Someone else to blame.
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Hollywood's Jews need to see Israel's 'Footnote,' Oscar or no
American Jews, in general, should go to see this film about wrongheaded comfort zones, in order to break out of one of their own: the mistaken sense of kinship with the Jewish state and the Jews who live there.
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Rabbi Martin Luther King (1929 - )
For American Jews, those in Israel as well, Dr. King, our most profoundly influential sage in the last century, remains alive in what's left of our better selves. Dr. King saw better than the rest of us. May we, here, in this sick and troubled place, come to see more like he did.
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Netanyahu: The man who cannot lose - or can he?
With glimmers of resurgence in Israel's political center, Netanyahu, who might rather run as Gingrich, may have to run as Mitt Romney: a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a fiddler with policy, no one's enthusiastic choice, a non-stick if still-vulnerable target for all.
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Thank God for Ron Paul
The candidacy of the gynecologist from Galveston has much to teach Israel's premier Republican, Benjamin Netanyahu, about extremism. If Netanyahu takes the trouble to learn.
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If you could see Israel naked
We need to begin to again see Israel as it truly is. Naked and vulnerable. Real. Ailing. Still worth saving.
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Israel, 2012: Teaching the horse to starve
An old Yiddish quip teaches an important lesson: If a country is run like a joke long enough, there's no telling who will have the last laugh.
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Newt Gingrich may be able to occupy Palestine, but Israel can't
Mr. Speaker, if for the sake of Jesus and the Resurrection, you want the territories to stay occupied forever, you and your Christian Zionist allies will have to do some homework before Inauguration Day.
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When Jews in Berkeley vote to cut support for Israel
A decision by the Berkeley Jewish Student Union to bar J Street's student organization lends momentum to a wider tendency - the exclusion of more Jews from the shrinking tent called the American Jewish community.
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At last, ‘Occupation Zionists’ and Israel-loathing U.S. Jews can agree
The American Jewish community needs to be more of a family and less of a lobby. More a family and less a place of censure and censorship. More a family and less a war zone of barricaded feuding clans.
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Over Netanyahu's New Israel, the B.S. light is on
How are people who support Israel supposed to understand the Black Flag legislation which has expropriated the business of the Knesset?
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Iran wins
To bring an end to the existence of a Jewish state, to erase Israel from the map, this is the sum total of what Iran must do now: Nothing.
171 comments
What does 'Death to Israel' mean to you?
If progressives cannot see Israelis as people, if they - we - cannot summon up the same compassion and concern for unarmed combatants on both sides of a battle front, it's time they checked their ideology for holes.
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The new U.S. Zionist: Israel-bashing, made kosher
The deal to release Gilad Shalit has changed the way American Zionists relate to the Israeli government - and the freedom with which they criticize its policies.
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Bravo for these people, these Israelis
Israel has freed 13,509 prisoners in order to win the release of a total of 16 soldiers. An average of well over 800 for each one. But this is the price.
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A message for Jews, in a charred mosque at Yom Kippur
If we are truly to have a new year, it must begin with an act of healing. On Yom Kippur, we are compelled to see, sometimes for the first time, how and where and how badly we have been wounded, and especially, how and where and how badly we have wounded others.
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Will the U.S. Congress kill the two-state solution?
By effectively freezing $200 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority, Congress members are surpassing the efforts of hard-line Israeli politicians.
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Palestine, the UN, and lies at Rosh Hashanah
This year, in Jerusalem, show us what a New Year actually looks like. Avinu Malkeinu, hoshiyeinu. Rescue us from ourselves.
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Ten reasons Palestine is right to bring its case to the UN
There's a certain implied danger in the idea of playing darts in the dark. Particularly when there are numerous players in a crowded room, and not one has a well-defined target.
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In Israel, the future can come down to just one night
The burdens of everyday life have for so long persuaded people that they could do nothing about them. No more. It either ends here, or Israel does. Saturday night. Be there.
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Terror, racism, and the idea that Israelis are people too
When opposition to Israeli policies crosses the line into hatred and dark stereotyping of Israelis as a whole, it turns into racism.
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Not Jewish enough for Glenn Beck – nor Israeli enough
Undeterred by being dropped from Fox, or by the fallout from having compared the victims of July’s Norway massacre to Hitler Youth, the media personality has assumed a prophet's intonation in urging his followers to stand with him in Jerusalem on August 24.
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In a reborn Israel, a glimpse of a New Israeli
The explosion of protests has sparked different modes of thinking, behavior and a reconsideration of what it is to be an Israeli.
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Netanyahu's trump card against Israeli protests: Peace
As protests over social welfare sweep Israel, the PM has to go the one way no one is looking: Move immediately – and sincerely - for peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
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Using Winehouse to slam Israel, Norway dead to club Muslims
There's cowardice in an opinion piece that uses the dead to sell hatred to the living. The dead deserve better. So do the living.
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The middle-class anarchists of the tent city revolution
No one knows what to make of the tent protest - which is exactly where its strength lies; its power is in its oddly sharpened innocence, its excess of intuition and inspiration and its lack of polish.
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The Israeli right fears for the dream
It is axiomatic in Israel that only the right can bring down the right. Where the Netanyahu government and the gutted left are concerned, the axiom may now be more applicable than ever. And sooner than one might have thought.
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Israel's boycott law: The quiet sound of going fascist
This is the one. This is where the slope turns nowhere but down. When the Knesset passed the boycott law, it changed the history of the state of Israel.
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Israel’s message: Hate thy pro-Palestinian activist
Where Israel is concerned, a democracy that cannot bring itself to allow non-violent protest has already turned on itself.
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This time, Israel can pass the test of the Gaza flotilla
It's not the test that Israel thinks it is. It's a test to see if the country can act in its own rational interest, and let the flotilla simply go.
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Bob Dylan, it turns out, does live in Israel
Bob Dylan, who played his first concert in twenty years in Israel on Monday, is an unlikely admor for Israelis, perhaps not your first choice as a grand teacher and master, but he has influenced Israel for the better more than any other American Jew.
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Israelis and Palestinians have equal right to a home
This is what I say: Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs have every right to a home. And no one is entitled to decide that your sense of home is valid or not.
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Jewish leftists need to have the Talk
Why bother bringing up the right of return now? Why should Jewish leftists go out of their way to discuss ROR in depth with one another, with other Jews, other leftists, and, if possible, with Palestinians as well?
63 comments
Vexed over Obama, Israel, '67 lines, peace? Just ask Zuckerberg
PM Benjamin Netanyahu will not take part in any peace process that he cannot kill by himself.
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For Palestinians, every day is Nakba Day
We owe Palestinians what we demand of them: recognition of our right to an independent state, and compromise for the sake of a shared future.
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Israel at 63: What part of Shut Up do you not understand?
When, I wonder this Independence Day, did Israelis lose their nerve? These people, who used to be all nerve. When did they opt to be led by sheep?
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Proud to be an American
Faced with evil, Americans often take too long in understanding how to react; in the end, however, they get it right.
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This Passover, we need the Wicked Child more than ever
Some of us wince as we read the passage on the Rashah, some of us mumble, some of us skip it altogether - But what the Rashah is asking is the one question that makes all the difference: What does all this, any of this, have to do with me?
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A letter to progressive U.S. Jews: These are your people
We have lost perspective in this endless war. In a kind of affirmative action, some progressive American Jews support, identify with and help Palestinian victims of the conflict, while shunning, or worse, blaming the Israeli victims.
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Passover, 4th Cup: To coming home, and those who cannot
We raise this cup to a Jerusalem truly rebuilt, a Jerusalem truly shared, a Jerusalem of gates opened, of hearts mended, of exile ended.
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The next Israel-Arab war, Goldstone will be there
Knowingly or not, every member of the IDF will be carrying excerpts of the Goldstone Report into combat, into the next war we fight, and the next, and into every battle, raid, and incursion in between.
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The new self-hating Jew
This is the message of the new self-hating Jew: There is no place for the likes of J Street, Jews who oppose the occupation, or Jews who believe that non-Orthodox Judaism is valid and important.
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A funeral for the State of Israel
In this unbearable week, the Fogel family has been all but forgotten in the welter of uses that have been made of them, polemic, political, personal.
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Might Obama gamble on a new Netanyahu peace plan?
Is there any reason to believe that the Obama administration will gamble precious political and diplomatic capital on a new Israeli initiative?
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'Welcome to Israel. We even deport children'
Instead of taking the mature, courageous step of, at long last, establishing an official Israel policy on refugees and asylum seekers, the cabinet is allowing 400 kids to be used by Eli Yishai as a scapegoat.
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What if Israeli forces treated West Bank settlers like Arabs?
A black day for the settlement movement, as journalist asks settler official, if settlers are even losing Netanyahu as a supporter.
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In Israel, the revolution has already begun
This new revolution aims not only at the end of occupation, but at the beginning of a new Israel. Not for settlers, this time, but for Israelis.
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Want to pass a McCarthyite law in Israel? Arch-foes Arab League and J Street could help
With a week to go before the showdown over NGO probes, the coalition has hemorrhaged votes: Nine coalition MKs have announced their opposition to the bill, dropping Netanyahu's 65-strong majority to a 56-vote minority.
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Egypt, Israel, and the sudden return of Land for Peace
When the revolution began in Egypt, many in Israel expected it to fail. What is more telling, though, is that so many in Israel quietly wanted it to.
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Ehud MuBarak must go. Now.
At a time of regional cataclysm, our former Labor chief and current defense minister has declared war on his own army, leading to a state of affairs that would shame the maddest, the most unbridled and wicked of British anti-militarism satirists.
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As an Israeli, I want the Egyptians to win
Israel's sense of entitlement is a curse, and we are all either under its spell or under its shadow; only the inconceivable that turns into the inevitable can bring change to this place.
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Boycotting Israel, boycotting Macy Gray, and a third option
As I ride the hurtling down-elevator, while my Zionist life flashes before my eyes, I'd like to take a moment and seek a fresh take on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions effort.
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Think Israel's a lost cause? Ten reasons to think again
Something's started to happen here, and for the first time in a long time, something good, the decency that still somehow informs people here, has a chance of taking wing.
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When the Messiah comes, Israel will deport him
When the Messiah comes, the Right will crucify him. Im Tirzu will roll out ads and billboards showing him with a tail to go along with his horns.
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Israel's government is turning into a settlement
Keen to avoid elections at literally all costs, Netanyahu's actions in recent weeks mean that his government now meets 5 essential criteria of a settlement.
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How did Obama go so wrong with Israel-Palestine peace?
Now that the White House and State Department have returned to the worn-thin drawing board, we should invoke Sun Tzu's ancient The Art of War to examine how things went awry, and how much point there is in trying to set it right.
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We all owe Israel's racist rabbis a vote of thanks
Rabbis who signed a ruling against leasing to Arabs have put an end to the notion of rabbinic authority and have freed us to be Jews on our own terms.
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Auschwitz borders are here
We know down deep that the loss of a Jewish majority is how the Jewish state ends. And in our heart of hearts, we already know how this plays out.
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Thanksgiving, Tikkun Olam, and U.S. Jews breaking the Israel barrier
It's in the direct interest of pro-settlement forces in the U.S. Jewish community to have an Israeli government which alienates as many young, energetic, moderate U.S. Jews as possible.
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Flirting with arrest at Jerusalem's newest settlement
If it's built lavishly like a settlement, and it causes diplomatic damage like a settlement, and it tarnishes Israel's image like a settlement...
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Bibi, Tom Friedman, and U.S. Jews divesting from Israel
Many people who support Israel but oppose its policies feel slammed by the 'It's All Good! [and Palestinians Are All Bad] Faction' if they criticize Israel, even when it's warranted.
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Lieberman is Kahane. And even the right senses it
Lieberman will stop at nothing. He will use the rostrum of the UN General Assembly to undermine his own PM, mount a campaign speech for domestic consumption, and lend credence to those who condemn Israelis for unwillingness to make peace.
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Top 10 worst errors Israel is about to make
Making major mistakes: what they are, why they matter, where they stand, and what you can do about it.
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A Special Place in Hell / Leftists who love Israel: A self-help guide
Where it comes to Israel, be as honest about what you love, as you are about what turns your stomach, chars your conscience, makes you want to throw shoes at the news.
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A Special Place in Hell / Confessions of an Israeli anti-settler bigot
The bargain's over. The settlers are not my enemy, but the settlements are. I want my country back.
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A Special Place in Hell / Breaking Israel to fix it – rightists rethink holding the West Bank
So profound is the fear that Netanyahu may commit to a sea change on the West Bank, and succeed in mobilizing the support of a consensus of Israeli and U.S. Jews, it has now spread to some of the most vocal and - until now - most unflagging of the prime minister's past admirers.
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A Special Place in Hell / Yom Kippur – I plead guilty
On this day when we boycott that which medicates and blunts, cleanse us of the disappointments and the failures of this year.
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A Special Place in Hell / Real men don't talk Mideast peace
Much too much of it has nothing to do with ideology, God's promises or promises to God. For Jews and for Palestinians, much too much of it has to do with the need to prove oneself a man.
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A Special Place in Hell / Celebrate Jewish New Year with a De-Occupation Seder
It says much about our times, that Rabbi Ovadia chose just this period and a Rosh Hashana tradition to unlock and unload on the Palestinians.
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A Special Place in Hell / The United States of Crazy in Israel-Palestine
Why not let Hamas and the Haredim run the Holy Land?
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A Special Place in Hell / Rethinking Israel boycotts, the ADL and a N.Y. mosque
I want to thank the Olympia Food Co-op Israel boycott. Something extremely valuable is happening there.
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MESS Report / Romania crash raises questions about IAF's ageing helicopter fleet
Decisions to replace helicopters, like the CH-53 that crashed in Romania on Monday, are complex, involve heavy costs and take a long time.
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American Jews without Israel, Israel without U.S. Jews
It is the worst week of the worst month of the entire Jewish calendar, and my friend is dead.
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A Special Place in Hell / Israelis need a Gandhi of their own
There is nothing more threatening to the occupation than the specter of Palestinian non-violence.
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A Special Place in Hell / As Bibi faces Obama, settlers try radical shifts in tactics
With the settlement movement caught between an unsympathetic White House and an Israeli public that is much more apathetic than supportive, how long can they depend on the Palestinians to keep them where they are?
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A Special Place in Hell / How to win with Hamas
Never has Israel had an enemy so perfectly attuned to the Jewish state's weaknesses, so impervious to its strengths. For more than 20 years - ever since Israel inadvertently midwifed the founding of Hamas at the outset of the first intifada - the organization has leveraged Israel's every tactic into tangible, stepwise political gain.
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A Special Place in Hell / Tea Party Jews: Betraying U.S. and Israel at the same time
Every wonder what a future America might look like if the Tea Party took over? Try today's Israel.
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A Special Place in Hell / Wanted: Two mad martyrs, to make a Mideast peace
The peace process takes no prisoners. No one makes peace and lives.
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A Special Place in Hell / What I wanted for Father's Day, and what I got
A glimpse of a future in which the bedrock denominators of humanity, our hopes for loved ones, apply regardless of blood, faith and history.
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A Special Place in Hell / The Second Gaza War: Israel lost at sea
We are no longer defending Israel. We are now defending the siege, which is itself becoming Israel's Vietnam.
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A Special Place in Hell / My generation ruined Israel. Yours could save it
Mine is, after all, the generation that gave Israel the settlements.
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A Special Place in Hell / Rebranding Israel as a state headed for fascism
No one knows fascism better than Israelis.
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A Special Place in Hell / If the secret police ran a Jewish state
If the secret police ran the Jewish state, any and every move could be explained in two words and never more than two. Security reasons.
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A Special Place in Hell / A prayer for the Gazan armed only with a flag
In a place where war now claims many more civilian victims than military, it's about time that the unarmed decided to fight back.
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Declare Independence. Free Israel. End the Occupation.
I used to wonder if my generation would survive the Occupation. Now I wonder if Israel will.
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A prayer for the people of Haiti
And for the Reverend Pat Robertson. Lord who speaks in earthquakes, speak now in miracles.
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Passover Seder, Cup 4: Obama, this year in Jerusalem
We built this city, and after us, the Christians built this city, and after them, the Muslims.
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Israel's Titanic moment: Does Obama want Bibi's head?
With Hamas at the gates of J'lem, the U.S. has begun to treat the Netanyahu gov't as if it were Hamas.
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A warning to Mr. Biden: We negotiate like we drive
Everything you need to know about Israelis, you'll see from your motorcade window.
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I envy the people who hate Israel
We should have expected the Dubai hit. Israel's drive to delegitimize itself was going too slowly.
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Pro-Mideast in America: Getting past 'Pro-Israel' and 'Pro-Palestine'
The Jews for whom compromise is spelled Auschwitz, the Palestinians for whom it is is spelled collaboration.
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Israel needs Goldstone
Dreading the truth, besieged by Gaza, in a thousand ways, Israel has brought the war home.
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Fear of peace will be the death of Israel
The right wants to wall off Israel as the world's last remaining legally mandated Jewish ghetto.
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Bashing Israel for saving Haitians
It is nothing short of racism to maintain, in Haiti and in general, that Israelis can do no right.
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Ritual terrorism: Hating Obama as a new form of religion
Kahane-lovers plan to burn effigies of Obama to mark the holiday of Lag B'Omer.
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Berkeley's Israel boycott: The occupation's new friend
From the standpoint of the causes of peace and justice for Palestinians, the Berkeley bill is worse than useless.
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How to tell when a Mideast Expert is lying
Lying in the Middle East is not the same as lying other places. In the Mideast, lying is a way of life.
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