israeli-palestine conflict

I’m not apologizing for my correct assertion that parroting the propaganda of a literal terrorist organization dedicated, in its own charter, to the eradication of Jews is antisemitic. But I would like to parse these claims as thoughtfully as I can, because the situation is… Show more

The doctrine of deterrence has taken a beating. Few doubt that Israel can strike back at Gaza in a very powerful way, and yet that wasn’t enough to stop the attacks. I am still trying to digest this one.

So it’s useful to ask what absolute power would reveal about Israel and Hamas. In other words, what would each side do if it had nukes and its enemies didn’t? Based on Hamas’s history, and its charter, which calls for the total obliteration of Israel, we can be confident they’d nuke Tel Aviv. And yet, if Israel had nukes, they wouldn’t nuke... See more

Yemen, my poor country, has decided to bomb Israel. My poor country is more concerned with killing Jews than feeding its starving population. This is the problem with the Arab world. Blind unforgiving hatred. Wrong choices. And psychopathic... See more

Either side can easily be portrayed as the underdog, because victimhood is limited only by imagination. So we must consider the question not in terms of who is most oppressed, but who is most reasonable? Who is most willing to compromise, and whose goals will, overall, benefit Israelis and Palestinians most?

Unlike with South African apartheid, Israel gives its Arab citizens all the rights available to its Jews, and it even has Arabs sitting in the Knesset. Further, Israel allows Palestinians into Israel to work, though, since millions of Arabs want to see Israel obliterated, Israel must carefully vet those it welcomes. And given the flow of weapons... See more