Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

No innocent bystanders

A half year ago, Archbishop Desmond Tutu expressed a common sentiment in the Middle East. The Nobel Prize laureate spoke to Haaretz in Jerusalem as the organization The Elders concluded its tour of Israel and the West Bank. He said … Continue reading

Posted in Holocaust, Israel | Tagged | 2 Comments

‘a liter of sweat is equal to a drop of blood’

I originally saw this story in Viewpoint, the magazine of the National Council of Young Israel. It originally appeared at the IDF website (along with profiles of two other “handicapped” soldiers) with the title, There is no such thing as … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 4 Comments

He’s just not that into you … Israel

At the same time that the Obama administration decided to make a city planning decision into an international incident, the Palestinian Authority was preparing to honor a vicious murdereress. Palestinian Media Watch has been exposing the Palestinian Authority’s ongoing policy … Continue reading

Posted in American Scene, Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, The One | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Obama, Jews, Israel

A few weeks ago Daled Amos observed that Israel could well be an issue in the upcoming midterm elections. Citing a Politico article he wrote: Support for Israel, and its implications for US foreign policy, is already emerging as an … Continue reading

Posted in American Scene, Israel, The One | Tagged | 1 Comment

Imposing

Two weeks ago David Ignatius wrote: In retrospect, it seems clear that the step-by-step approach was a mistake: Constructive ambiguity, in this case, proved destructive. It allowed the Israeli right wing to perpetuate the idea that it could have it … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, Israel, The One | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

You can’t be Syria-us

Barry Rubin mines the Pesach Haggadah to illustrate how Syria has been working against American interests in the Middle East: Back to Ford and Syria. Yet even if Syria is not building apartments in east Jerusalem, it might still be … Continue reading

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The twisted logic of the peace process

The other day, the Wall Street Journal ran an article How the next Middle East War could start, by Ronen Bergman. Unfortunately the article is mostly behind the Journal’s pay wall. A quick summary of the article is that all … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, palestinian politics | Tagged | Comments Off on The twisted logic of the peace process

The wrong Vulcan

Spock (to Stonn): “After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.” From the Star Trek episode “Amok Time“ A number of … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, palestinian politics, The One | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Netanyahu’s response

The New York Times reports about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response to American demands. Mr. Netanyahu has brought up several possible gestures, including restrictions on Israeli troop activities in the West Bank, the freeing of Palestinian prisoners, some latitude for reconstruction … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, The One | Tagged | 4 Comments

Biden’s knee-slapper

Stand up comedian: Vice President Biden (h/t The Muqata last week): “I just got back from five days in the Middle East,” Biden said. “I love to travel, but it’s great to be back to a place where a boom … Continue reading

Posted in Bidenisms, Israel | Tagged | 8 Comments

“Ideological and vindictive”

via memeorandum Jackson Diehl, not someone I consider to be pro-Israel, nonetheless acknowledges what the administration is doing: U.S. pressure on Netanyahu will be needed if the peace process ever reaches the point where the genuinely contentious issues, like Palestinian … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, The One | Tagged | Comments Off on “Ideological and vindictive”

Sometimes anti-Israel is anti-Israel

Robert Wright sets up many straw men and knocks them down in Against pro-Israel. He cynically lists “symptoms” of being anti-Israel. Symptom no. 1: Believing that Israel shouldn’t build more settlements in East Jerusalem. President Obama holds this belief, and … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged | 2 Comments

Hillary’s peculiar speech

Yesterday, Secretary of State Clinton addressed the AIPAC conference. A number of points she made were questionable. In her speech to AIPAC, she said: The inexorable mathematics of demography are hastening the hour at which Israelis may have to choose … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 1 Comment

The “Galaxy Quest” president

Why did the administration escalate a political mistake into a diplomatic crisis? According to Secretary of State Clinton it helped move talks forward. A less kind way of putting it, would be that she boasted of putting PM Netanyahu in … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, The One | Tagged , | 1 Comment

What hasn’t and has been learned

To the Washington Post’s David Ignatius, the crisis between Israel and the United States was a necessary fight, that put Israel in its place. Jerusalem is the hardest issue of all in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation, and for that reason, would-be … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | 1 Comment