Letters to the Editor
omooex
Published Letters: 977 Editor's Choice: 5
-
Cestmoi
[Read the article: Bill Kristol, great man of sacrifice, on the duties of Passover]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think, like the supporters of the Iraq war, you underestimate the impact of maintaining the kind of occupation Israel does. I wouldn't say that most Israelis hold the same view--they are deeply aware of the social fissures, economic, trade and diplomatic problems caused by the conflict. If anything Israel has completely deformed its own society in its quest to subsume Palestine. Massive immigration has caused an Israeli identity crisis unprecedented in the rest of the world. I would offer a parallel to your assesment that once Israel is gone, Hamas will realize that their inability to run things was their own fault. Without Palestinians to fear and hate, you will see just how quickly Israeli society will come apart.
-
LWM
[Read the article: Bill Kristol, great man of sacrifice, on the duties of Passover]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is the danger of tit for tat discourse and quick google searches to back up spur of the moment points. I looked at the site, you linked to concerning the number of Jews in Arab countries. Mostly because I know the only reason Israel has any Arab Jews at all, is because nearly all Arab countries exiled them following the establishment of Israel. The site itself notes that Jews in Iran have an awful time. And the fact that there are 11,000 Jews in the Iranian population of 69 million does nothing to prove your point (or any point, for that matter). If anything, it will just reinforce negative views of that country's political discourse that are in many senses full justified. The combined population of all those countries was something like 11,400--Lebanon had only 100 Jews. There are realities that are uncomfortable about the Arab-Israeli issue, we don't have to misrepresent them. In fact, we should be addressing them. That doesn't mean that Israel is justified in its oppression of Palestinians or in its anti-Arab foreign policy.
-
LWM
[Read the article: Bill Kristol, great man of sacrifice, on the duties of Passover]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And you have the habit of taking one sentence of mine out of context and critiquing it. Yes, Jews live in Iran. There are seven thousand muslims for every one Jew in Iran, and the very website that you cite, claims that they live under horrible conditions and have little real voice in their affairs.
Lastly, speak for yourself, I've had plenty of great discussions with people on this site. And lastly, I do have plenty to learn, everyone here does, that's why we're all here. We learn from each other's experience and perspective. I know that many have learned from mine and vice versa.
Finally, my point was that you have a bad habit of scrambling for citations on the fly that support your point without reading them carefully enough--usually you cite from wikkipedia, so I suppose that this is at least a small step in the right direction.
-
DCLaw
[Read the article: Bill Kristol, great man of sacrifice, on the duties of Passover]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Congrats on the new blog, haven't read yet, but I like your stuff here, so I will put it in my rotation...
-
LWM
[Read the article: Bill Kristol, great man of sacrifice, on the duties of Passover]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am always surprised, LWM, how seemingly dense you can be, despite your constant boasts about your great intelligence. I am an Arab, and a Palestinian. I certainly don't want anyone claiming that Iran is somehow more enlightened than it seems to be when it comes to Judaism. Not on behalf of Palestinians, at least. Iran's revolution was hijacked by a bunch of religeous thugs; its government is illegitimate, and it is as much a threat to Palestinians as Israel is. Further, other governments in the Middle East have cynically used Palestinians for their own ends in marginalizing people in their own countries and heading off democratic reforms. The fact that there are less than a hundred Jews in most of the surrounding Arab countries (except Iran, which was not a muslim nation when Israel declared itself a state) is a constant source of shame to me and other Palestinians. The fact that our so called allies expelled thousands of Jews in the aftermath of 1948, does everything to make it seem as if Arabs can't tolerate Judaism and has made the Palestinian cause a much harder sell.
If you are trying to convince me that you are incapable of understanding nuance, mission accomplished LWM. As for Holly, thanks for the damning with faint praise, but please don't. I don't believe I've ever had a reason to comment on your posts, so please mind your own peas.
-
I don't know what's wrong with me./...
[Read the article: Media's refusal to address the NYT's "military analyst" story continues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I actually turned on Matthews yesterday expecting an extensive round table about the NYT article. Instead, yet another in depth discussion about Obama's chances with the regular guy in Pennsylvania. I suppose I should have expected it, but still...I really did think that at least some media would cover this...
-
hquain
[Read the article: Media's refusal to address the NYT's "military analyst" story continues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That's an interesting point. One assumes that the sheer gravitas generated by the literal weight of the article itself would make the theme compelling. But it is true, in my opinion, that when a paper wants to highlight an issue, it does run a week long (or whatever) expose in smaller chunks. Then add that it was a Sunday, and the inclination of Sunday readers to bypass the news pages for the hefty arts, entertainment and magazine, etc...well, it doesn't seem like anyone but the real 'heads' would have gotten through the whole thing....
-
Mizerock
[Read the article: Media's refusal to address the NYT's "military analyst" story continues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You said:
"Isn't that how journalism works? You ask the experts their opinions on the topics of the day. How do you find these experts? You ask others in the field - i.e., people at the Pentagon - to whom you should talk."
This is a pretty specious statement. A good story about military issues would have some Pentagon, or ex-Pentagon sources. But a good story would also have just as many outside sources to offer counterweight to the statements. There is no shortage of viable organizations that study the military and its policies--they are found in well-respected universities, advocacy organizations and think tanks of all stripes. They also employ ex-Pentagon officials who no longer have ties with the Pentagon.