Letters to the Editor
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Whose best interests are we talking about here?
It disturbs me to see as prolific and intelligent a writer as Ms. Goldberg soft-pedal, to a certain extent, some of the points she brings up about Walt and Mearsheimer's paper. When she says that she finds it "odd" that they dont back up a claim against Israel's morality, for example. Or when she is "amazed" that they dont mention Fatah, Black September, Munich, etc. And that their "haphazardness" is..."weird".
Ms. Goldberg, is it so hard for you to accept the fact that intelligence (genius, even) and Anti-Semitism are not mutually exclusive constructs? And that Anti-Semitism can come from many different guises, many different colors and stripes, from so many different arena's? Now, am I saying that this paper (which I'll admit I haven't read) is Anti-Semitic, and further, that these two academics are Anti-Semites? Well, guess what: It sure as hell looks like that's a real possibility.
As far as whose interests are best served by a more even-handed approach from the US in it's dealings with Israel, let me me come out and state something that I've yet to really see fleshed out in print. It is in ISRAEL'S best interest, ladies and gentlemen, to have the US begin to lessen it's ties/re-think it's aid packages/etc to Israel. As a Jew, I find it incredibly sad to continue to realize just how much a puppet of the USA Israel has been, and continues to be. Yeah, I know all my lefty friends and relatives would tell me to wake up and smell the reality of the situation; that doesn't make it any easier, when you have a connection and a sense of love for your heritage and history.
In a perfect world, Israel and Palestine would live side by side, as the cousins that we are, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, and with little or no financial reliance on the USA or the West. But as is so blatantly obvious, we live in a far from perfect world.
And finally, as a parting shot of sorts, for those who would blanch and cry foul over my suggestion that perhaps Walt and Mearsheimer might actually be Anti-Semites: You, and them, and Juan Cole for that matter, can kiss my Jewish ass.