ZioNation Progressive Zionism-Israel Web Log

Israel's bad image: Blaming the victim

All of us know what a beating Israel has taken in the press. Newsweek's Michael Hirsh has taken note of Israel's bad image, but instead of naming the real culprit, he uses it as the occasion for another round of (relatively mild) Israel bashing. The entire problem, according to Hirsh, is Israel's inept public relations skills.

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Ami Isseroff on 01.07.10 @ 08:47 PM CST [link] [8 Comments]

Thursday, December 17th

J Street's 'pro-Israel' effort on behalf of the Hamas

Suppose that you were alive and an adult in 1944 and got a letter that read something like this:

Dear xxx,
Germany is in crisis, and without addressing the urgent humanitarian needs there, the prospects for long-term peace and real security for Europe and the Jews will grow dimmer. We must act.

Despite repeated allied bombings, V1 and V2 rockets ontinue to land in southern England and residents still do not yet have true security.

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Ami Isseroff on 12.17.09 @ 03:16 PM CST [link] [7 Comments]

Sunday, December 6th

Newest Jewish Invention: Zionism without Zion

We Jews are no doubt a very clever people. Just ask any Jew and he or she will tell you about our Nobel prize winners, about Maimonides, about Baruch d'Espinoza, about Albert Einstein and many others. Any Anti-Semite will also tell you how clever and shrewd we Jews are. So it is not surprising that one of the tribe has come up with an earthshaking proposal that will make the Middle East safe for peace. He is not just any Jew. He is a journalist for Ha'aretz, which considers itself the cleverest and most sophisticated of all Israeli newspapers, and he is not just any journalist. He is the internationally renowned Yossi Melman. Everyone knows how clever and knowledgeable he is.
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Ami Isseroff on 12.06.09 @ 01:14 PM CST [link] [5 Comments]

Sunday, November 29th

The mythical peace that is just out of reach

The conventional wisdom in much of the world holds that there is an Israeli-Arab peace settlement that is just out of reach - so near yet so far, frustrated only by tactical accidents. We all know what the peace settlement must look like, says the myth. If only Israel wasn't so stubborn about building in Jerusalem or (under Ehud Olmert) not negotiating at all about Jerusalem, there could be peace in a week. But somehow peace, like the lost tribes of Israel in the medieval Jewish myth, remains beyond reach, on the other side of the Sambatyon river in a land that Christian mythology identified with the Kingdom of Prester John. The river throws up rocks of settlements and fire of "misunderstandings" and nobody can pass.
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Ami Isseroff on 11.29.09 @ 03:32 PM CST [link] [2 Comments]

Sunday, November 15th

Israel must learn from its diplomatic successes

Few may realize it, but Israel, and in particular Benjamin Netanyahu, scored a diplomatic success this week. Maybe not a home run, but at least a double. French FM Bernard Kouchner greeted Netanyahu's visit with dark mutterings claiming that Israel does not seem to want peace. We have become used to French diplomats making bizarre remarks about our "shitty little country," and praising Iran as a force for stability in the Middle East. Nonetheless, Kouchner's visit portended a frosty reception. But Netanyahu stole the show by offering to meet with Syrian President Hafez Assad in order to make peace. This elicited the predictable Syrian reaction, and earned Bibi the following priceless headline, in Al Jazeera, no less, Syria rejects Israel talks. That headline may have been worth the whole trip. Israel proposes peace talks, an Arab country refuses.

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Ami Isseroff on 11.15.09 @ 02:28 AM CST [link] [3 Comments]

Thursday, October 29th

Rabin - 14 Years later

Today Israel marks the 14th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the quintessential Zionist. Rabin was a tireless servant of his people as a soldier and diplomat. He was one of the greatest Jewish military leaders in our 3,000 year history, defender and liberator of Jerusalem, as well as an international hero of peace. He was, regrettably, one of the last of a generation of leaders who displayed unbending rectitude and personal integrity. He resigned his post as Prime Minister over a $3,000 bank account and lived modestly.
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Ami Isseroff on 10.29.09 @ 10:39 PM CST [link] [3 Comments]

Wednesday, October 28th

Amnesty's Palestinian water shortage hoax

The problem of divvying up the scarce water resources of the land between the river and the sea, home of Israel and the Palestinians, has been the subject of serious study, agreements, and propaganda. It is complicated by the fact that aquifers in the West Bank have always served the coastal areas that are part of Israel, by drought, by increasing water needs, burgeoning population. Above all, it is complicated by political squabbles that prevent rational allocation and development of water resources.

Amnesty International added to the propaganda pile recently with a sensational report claiming that Israel is stealing Palestinian water and rationing Palestinians to a trickle of water. Among other things, the report showed pools at Israeli settlements.
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Ami Isseroff on 10.28.09 @ 08:30 PM CST [link] [1 Comment]

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