Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

In my recent Comment is Free column, Shut Out of the Homeland, I implicitly criticized some Jewish progressives for supporting Israel’s decision to deport Norman Finkelstein last week because of his criticisms of Israeli policy. I didn’t name names because these individuals stated their views in a semi-public e mail exchange and I didn’t [...]

Anyone who knows Shmuel Rosner’s writing for Haaretz knows he’s a cheerleader for the AIPAC crowd. If you look at his Israel Factor rating system of presidential candidates according to their alleged “pro-Israel” agendas, you’ll find the most hawkish candidates in both parties get the highest ratings. Obama gets the lowest rating despite [...]

For months, I’ve been following the plans for a possible new progressive alternative to AIPAC being formed within the American Jewish community. I was tremendously excited when George Soros was named as a possible supporter and funder. When he backed out (foolishly in my opinion), I thought the idea was likely dead. [...]

Just in case Kadima’s leading lights–Olmert, Dichter, Livni and Mofaz–ever tire of their hysterical anti-Hamas grandstanding in the runup to the Israeli elections, they would profit by reading this piece of reasoned analysis by Prof. Asher Susser at the Israel Policy Forum website. Susser is Distinguished Professor of History at Tel Aviv University and [...]

I’m glad to know that my online colleague, M.J. Rosenberg, Director of Policy Analysis for Israel Policy Forum, has joined the debate over the controversial Palestinian film, Paradise Now which is a hot contender for Best Foreign Language Oscar. Like me, Rosenberg is made very uncomfortable by the hysterical campaign being waged by Israelis [...]

Ehud Olmert, Israelivice prime minister

The Israel Policy Forum is one of the best of the Jewish groups working towards a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I consider myself a longstanding friend of IPF. I’ve attended several events here in Seattle & contributed modestly to the cause. I’ve written often about IPF [...]