Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

Palestinian intransigence – the long and the short of it

Barry Rubin – the long of it The attractiveness of unilateralism is understandable. Why make a deal with Israel that might require recognizing it as a Jewish state, taking a bit less territory on the West Bank or having to … Continue reading

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Poll dancing

Ben Smith repeats an egregious lie based on a single poll question. (via memeorandum) The survey, by Jim Gerstein, asked Israelis (both Jewish and Muslim) whether a series of terms describe President Obama well, and 39% of respondents said the … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 1 Comment

3 questions on the freeze

A few weeks ago when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced a freeze on construction in Judea and Samaria, there were a couple of points in his favor. According to Evelyn Gordon it helped Netanyahu shore up his political support. … Continue reading

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Silence is Goldstone

Judge Goldstone has been emphatic that his report on the Gaza war criticized both sides. The report by Goldstone, a South African jurist, lambasted both sides in the December-January war, which killed up to 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but … Continue reading

Posted in Hamas, Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged | 1 Comment

The ongoing refuge of the refugees

As I noted a few weeks ago and Elder of Ziyon did yesterday, Palestinian refugees have no legal status in Lebanon – or in any Arab country. So when Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinians, went to Lebanon the … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | 3 Comments

America’s pro-Israel consensus

Barry Rubin observes that American support for Israel is headed in a positive direction. Now for those who have an opinion the ratio of those who favor Israel over the Palestinians is now Wait a minute, though. Pew says regarding … Continue reading

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Trading places at Aushwitz

BBC profiles an Englishman who had been a POW during WWII, Denis Avey. Avey had been held in the POW camp adjoining Aushwitz and twice switched clothes – his uniform for an inmate’s rags – and places with a Jewish … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | 2 Comments

Demjanjuk the doubtful?

At the end of a Bloomberg News report about the Demjanjuk trial in German, there’s a paragraph that reads: His death sentence and conviction were overturned by Israel’s Supreme Court in 1993, saying there was reasonable doubt that he served … Continue reading

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Pee-EU

The EU is sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong. (Not that that’s anything new.) Howard Schneider of the Washington Post reports in Israel decries proposed E.U. stance on East Jerusalem: Israel on Tuesday criticized a proposed statement by the … Continue reading

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Closing the barn door after Goldstone escaped

President Obama decided to get involved in the UN Human Rights Council – an organization that was shunned by President Bush – in order to transform it. Barry Rubin reminded us in the wake of the release of the Goldstone … Continue reading

Posted in Israeli Double Standard Time, United Nations | Tagged | 1 Comment

Just fears

I don’t agree with a number of his premises, but Carlos Strenger makes two important points in Israel’s Just Fears of a Palestinian State. What would Israel’s situation be after withdrawing from the West Bank to the 1967 borders? All … Continue reading

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If “softer tone” means “more brazen” I agree

In a mis-titled news story, Hezbollah strikes softer tone in second manifesto: analysts, AFP reports: …Salem points out that the second manifesto, while softer in tone, nonetheless defends the party’s right to bear arms. “It refers to the weapons as … Continue reading

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The UN regrets

Isabel Kershner reports at the New York Times that Jewish Nationalists Clash With Palestinians: Jewish nationalists and Palestinians clashed in an East Jerusalem neighborhood on Tuesday after the Israelis took over a house by court order in a predominantly Arab … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, United Nations | Tagged | 3 Comments

Solipsistic foreign policy

Twenty six years ago, Charles Krauthammer wrote an essay for Time Magazine Deep down were all alike, right? Wrong. In it he explained a psychological concept: Solipsism is the belief that the whole world is me, and as Mathematician Martin … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

The deflated New York Times hopes for Obama

It’s not just the Arab/Muslim world that’s disappointed with President Obama, the New York Times is too. The Times has come to the belated acknowledgment – the Washington Post noticed this back in July – that the administration hasn’t been … Continue reading

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