TMV’s Dorian DeWind flagged Tony Judt’s op-ed in today’s New York Times as a must-read. I agree with Dorian; I just read it (independently of Dorian’s recommendation; I just happened to see it at Memeorandum), and it’s a tonic for the polarized discussion that is the usual fare on this subject.

A Guide through Israel’s No-One Land by Michael Winship “Where is the balance between wisdom and force?” I’ve thought of that question several times over the last few days, as accusations and counteraccusations fly over Israel’s May 31 fatal commando operation against the flotilla of humanitarian aid ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza. Nine civilians were killed,...

For those who feel that: 1. Israel is being/should be delegitimized 2. Israel is/is not a democracy 3. Israel is/is not to blame 4. The Palestinians are/are not to blame 5. The Israel lobby is/is not to blame 6. Criticism of Israel is/is not linked to anti-Semitism, “Israel Without Clichés,” by Tony Judt in today’s New York Times is a must-read. Tony Judt is the director of the...

After Helen Thomas quickly submitted her resignation rather than fight against the fallout from her taped remarks that appeared to many to be anti-Semitic, it would have been reasonable to expect the story would quickly disappear. After all, nasty remarks were hardly surprising from a woman who has made a career out of nasty remarks, and it she was well past her expiration date anyway. Helen Thomas had, in...

An interesting narrative has been emerging from the Arab world since the tragic Israeli boarding of a flotilla of vessels seeking to break the blockade of Gaza: By taking the lead in challenging Israel, Turkey has embarrassed Arab rulers by exposing them as impotent lackeys of the United States. After yesterday’s article from the Palestinians headlined, Blockade of Gaza Shows Arabs are a ‘Dead...

I’ve watched the msm and blogosphere erupt over something one of my favorite US citizen crones, Helen Thomas, said, (Barbara Bush being one of my other most favorite plain-speaking, humor filled but serious champs). Over the decades, I’ve also heard other media workers express extremely biased condemnations, unsupportable opinions and polarizing and ugly ideas, including what tortures and deaths...

I have no words.  I should have seen this coming.

Now that the good burghers of the free press have disinvited, disavowed, and disemployed Helen Thomas from the world of respectable reporting, I expect that she will quickly vanish from the front pages and home pages of the media, both print and interweb. By tomorrow evening, the media chatter will be all about the primary results, and Helen Thomas will be history.

Judging from this article from Afghanistan’s Outlook Afghanistan newspaper, the Peace Jirga held last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by President Hamid Karzai did little it improve his government’s credibility among average Afghans, or persuade the militants to reenter what in Afghanistan qualifies as the ‘mainstream.’ Reporting in part on the wave of bombings surrounding the event...

Thousands of left-wing Israelis marching against the Israeli government, were greeted by enraged right-wing Israelis who apparently did not feel it was appropriate for any Israelis to publicly oppose their country’s policies toward Palestinians.

Yesterday, I blogged about the Israeli response to the reports that the original tape it released of communications between the Israelis and the aid ships just before the Israelis boarded the Mavi Marmara in an assault that killed nine activists had been doctored to give the impression that one of the activists had told the Israelis to “go back to Auschwitz.” In fact, no such statement was ever made...

Continuing with our global reaction to last week’s attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza, and reflecting the never-ending and understandable Palestinian frustration, this article by columnist Fouad Abu Hajla of Alhayat Aljadeeda of the Palestinian Territories expresses embarrassment that rather than Arabs, it took Turks, Greeks and other Europeans to stand up for the besieged...

In my recent post, “Israel: Does it Have to Be ‘Love it or Hate it’?” I attempted to explain that “I sincerely and strongly believe that one can support the Israeli people, the Jewish people and, yes, the nation of Israel without cheering on and applauding each and every action or policy undertaken by the Israeli government.” I don’t know how successful I—a staunch Israel supporter and of Jewish...

While the likes of Ari Fleischer and Michele Bachmann are screaming for Helen Thomas to be fired because she answered a reporter who asked for her opinion on the Israeli-aid flotilla horror show by saying that Israel “should get the hell out of Palestine” and then added, when the reporter asked her where Jews should go, that they should go back to Germany and Poland (by which she obviously meant...

I completely agree with Joe in his feeling that Helen Thomas — apology notwithstanding — lost all credibility when she told a reporter that Jews in Israel should go back to Germany and Poland “and America, and everywhere else.” It’s not just the way her assertion echoed the ignorant demand that black and brown people, and Latinos, and Koreans, etc., etc., “go back where they...

When the great nation of Israel takes some action—generally of a military nature—with which many people disagree, those who criticize such actions or the Israeli government are oftentimes accused of being anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, or worse. In the wake of recent Israeli military actions against the “Gaza flotilla,” those accusations have once again been rampant. It reminds me of the “not supporting...

Wherever there is moral ugliness, Liz Cheney will show up sooner or later. I’m just surprised, in the matter of Israel’s assault on the flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to blockaded Gazans, it took her until now to voice her outrage — at Barack Obama’s use of the word “tragic” to describe the human lives that were ended on the flotilla ship:

Is Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva making a mistake cozying up to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the expense of Brazil’s relations with the United States? In this latest of a series of articles we’ve translated about the wisdom of Lula’s ambitious profile on the global stage, Sergio Malbergier of Brazil’s Folha newspaper warns President Lula that he could be taking his...

The people of Turkey are particularly incensed by Israel’s raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, since many of the activists on those vessels were Turkish – as were most of the dead. Turks are also looking to the United States do something to stop Israel from committing what they and many others regard as war crimes. In one of two articles we’ve posted from Turkey today, columnist Huseyin Gulerce...

This article and accompanying video at Al Jazeera’s English language edition is a must-read and a must-see.

Global outrage over the raid on a civilian flotilla headed toward Gaza being directed at Israel – and by extension the United States – is perhaps even more coordinated and visceral that the outcry over Israel’s 2007 operation against Hezbullah in Lebanon. This editorial from Mexico’s La Jornada reflects the general global mood, outlines the additional difficulty the attack on the Freedom...

Taghreed Al-Khadary is a Gazan-born journalist who lives and works in Washington, D.C. Salon has an interview with her, written by Natasha Lennard. It needs to be read in full, but here are some excerpts:

SPOILER ALERT: if you have not seen the last episode of Lost, do not read further. It’s been just over a week since the two and a half hour series finale of Lost aired, but the blogosphere continues to dissect every nuance of the show’s final big reveal. I’ll readily admit I’ve been a Lost fan from the beginning – although “fan” would be a gross understatement. I’ve been positively possessed....

That would be Jennifer Rubin in Commentary:

Olle Johansson, Sweden