An amazing set of circumstances allowed the phenomenon of the “yellow vest” protest to spread from the boulevards of Paris to the streets of Tel Aviv. In Paris, the Champs-Élysées was shut down, while in Tel Aviv activists blocked a…
Category: Analysis
Khashoggi’s murder will bury the Crown Prince
The carnage in the Pittsburgh synagogue overshadowed the international scandal aroused by the murder of the well-known journalist and Saudi government critic, Jamal Khashoggi. Although there appears to be no connection between an anti-Semitic slaughter and the murder, President Trump…
In the shadow of Israel’s nation-state law: The Left ducks
The first to take to the streets against the rising tide of anti-democratic legislation was the LGBT community on July 22, 2018. They protested the government’s surrogacy law that discriminates against gay men, raising the banner of equality and drawing…
Tamar Zandberg of Meretz: The end of ideology
At the time of writing (early March 2018), it is not clear whether Knesset elections are in the making, or whether Netanyahu will get a “pass” that promises him quiet until November 2019. This highly politicized drama dwarfs another drama…
The roots of the Syrian uprising
The roots of the “Arab spring” can be found in the year 2000, a year of historic events that mark the end of an era. Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in June 2000 was without doubt a significant milestone. Twenty-five years…
Obama claims the Arab uprisings for himself
In an exciting and revolutionary speech, US President Barack Obama laid out his Middle East doctrine, claiming the new reality created by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia must be grasped. I did not only support those uprisings, he seemed…
A-Salaam Aleykom
Translation: Howard Klevansky The war of civilisations which has horrified the world since the events of September 11th 2001 ended in a wave of Barack Hussein Obama’s magic wand with the opening of his speech at the University of Cairo…
Pakistan Is Not Alone
THE MURDER of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 has put Pakistan in the spotlight. Here is a nuclear power, located in an area rife with ethnic and national conflicts, bordering India, China, Afghanistan and Iran. While dictator-president Pervez Musharraf does…
Post Zionist Israel: The Rules Have Changed
Adapted from a paper discussed at the annual seminar of the Organization for Democratic Action, October 2007 DURING the past thirty years, but especially in the last decade, Israel has undergone major economic change. Ownership of the economy has shifted…
Lebanon II: The Wider Picture
Excerpts from a political report submitted to the Organization for Democratic Action, September 2006 Introduction The ramifications of Israel’s second Lebanon War should be gauged against the background of the dramatic events that the region has undergone in the last…