Thanks for yr reply & clarifying yr intent in what you wrote about our session. Frankly, in such a sensitive issue as Israel-Palestine assuming that a reader will make the distinction between criticizing Israel as a state and criticizing Israeli policy is problematic. I am attacked virtually every day by someone claiming I hate Israel, I want Israel destroyed, etc. Thus this is not a semantic discussion for me or a question of assuming someone understands a distinction. When you are attacked constantly and yr views misrepresented these things are not luxuries, but necessities.

You are more than welcome to our session. And I invite you to actually sit and talk to us if you choose to write about the session.

Sorry about not including Jerry Haber. That was an honest mistake and I’ll try to add a correction. Otherwise, I’m not sure what caused your lengthy rant against what was a three-sentence paragraph about your panel.

The article I wrote was about J Street and the attacks it has been getting from groups/individuals on the right about some of the speakers at their conference. The reason I mentioned your panel is because it could be another area of controversy that such J Street critics could attack–because some of the panelists frequently take positions far to the left of J Street, and in some cases don’t even believe there should be a Jewish state–but that in fact, J Street had no official connection with your event other than providing a room. With all the information and wild charges flying around about J Street and its conference–in some cases false or distorted–it seemed important to point out that fact about your session.

You confirm my statement that bloggers on your panel question Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. And all of the bloggers on your panel have been critical of Israel–your only argument with that is that it should have said “Israeli policy.” I think you’re splitting hairs there–I think most readers know I’m referring to Israeli policy (especially because the idea of being critical of Israel for being a Jewish state is a separate thought in the sentence.)

I’m not sure how that constitutes an “attack” on your panel or where I ever tried to tell you what you could or couldn’t discuss at it. I said it was happening, described the panelists, and noted that J Street was not an official sponsor of it. I actually think your panel sounds interesting–I regularly check out your blog and Phil’s blog, and occasionally read Jerry’s, too–although with 11 speakers that probably doesn’t leave enough time for any one to get into anything in enough detail. Maybe I’ll try to stop by.