RSSArchive for June, 2007
A Playground Lesson for Bush
On May 8 of 2001, I published a piece on TIME.com — now only available in cached form — that foresaw some of the consequences of the by-then already obvious aggressive unilateralism of the Bush Administration (i.e. even six months before 9/11). And it was based on a true story that anyone who was at […]
Cracks in the Anti-Hamas Front
It’s all very well getting Egypt, Jordan and Israel together with Mahmoud Abbas to scold Hamas and talk about “strengthening Abbas,” but the problem is that the U.S. and Israel, on the one hand, and the Arabs and Abbas, on the other, want very different outcomes in the Palestinian territories. Olmert and Bush stress that […]
Cracks in the Anti-Hamas Facade
In a fashion typical of its strategic and tactical ineptitude, the Bush Administration has responded to Hamas’s ouster of Fatah security forces from Gaza by madly rushing to cobble together an anti-Hamas alliance through a series of high profile gestures — the high-point of which was Monday’s Sharm el-Sheikh summit between the leaders of Israel, […]
The Long March of General Tso
Don’t Try This At Home: (No Chinese chef would dare!)
Chicken chop suey is an American creation
I’ll freely admit to being a sucker, at least occasionally, for the sweet and starchy Hunan/Canton/Sichuan fare — cooked by people who were not chefs in their home country — that we know as “Chinese” on these shores. But now […]
The 8 Fallacies of Bush’s Abbastan Plan
“Hello, Condoleezza Rice,” the Hamas gunman joked, speaking into the President Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen)’s phone from the Palestinian Authority president’s chair in his abandoned Gaza office. “You have to deal with me now, there is no Abu Mazen anymore.”
Never a truer word spoken in jest, and all that…
But the Bush administration doesn’t get […]
Bono’s Vanity: Showcasing Africa, or its Glamorous Patrons?
Can anyone explain Queen Rania’s presence?
It with great pleasure that I introduce guest columnist Sean Jacobs, a fellow Capetonian who these days divides his time between Brooklyn and Ann Arbor, where he is an assistant professor of Communication Studies and African Studies at the University of Michigan. He describes himself as “a frustrated […]
Gaza: Another Mess Made in U.S.
Coming, as he does, from Fox News, Tony Snow is obviously a deeply cynical fellow, but this takes some beating: Asked to comment Wednesday on the bloodbath in Gaza, he answered: “Ultimately, the Palestinians are going to have to sort out their politics and figure out which pathway they want to pursue — the pathway […]
Equality, Not Zionism, Will Save Israel
On the same day that we learn that Norman Finkelstein has been denied tenure at De Paul University largely because of an aggressive campaign by Israel supporters to silence the (to them) menacing figure of a Jew, son of a Holocaust survivor, as combatively anti-Zionist as Finkelstein is, it is with great pleasure that […]
Putin Calls Bush’s Bluff
Throughout this mawkish missile-defense saga, President Bush has been talking to the Russians as if they were born yesterday. “Don’t worry, Vladimir, the Cold War is over,” Bush urged. And then he proceeded to bash Putin over Russia’s backsliding on democracy — as if Russian democracy was an issue when Boris Yeltsin was shelling […]
How the 1967 War Doomed Israel
I.
Avir harim kalul ba’yayin, ve reach oranim…
The opening lines of Naomi Shemer’s legendary Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold) can still bring goosebumps to my flesh, even decades after I deconstructed and relinquished the mythology connoted by the old Basque lullaby she repurposed as an ode to Israel’s conquest of East Jerusalem in June of […]
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A Skeptical Read
Rosner, Haaretz's Itchy Beard
The right-wing nationalist blogger always seemed a little out of step with his paper's editorial line. Now, Carter's visit has provoked him to growl menacingly at the editorsA Wondering Jew
Healing Israel's Birth Scar
With the 60th anniversary of Israel's birth -- and of the Palestinian Nakbah (catastrophe) -- which are, of course the same event, almost upon us, I was reminded this week that April 9 was also the 60th anniversary of an event that has long epitomized the connection between the creation of an et...99c Blogging
All Hat, No Cattle #7682
President Bush loves playing the Bad Cop, but anyone vaguely familiar with the routine knows not to take the Bad Cop seriously.The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansGuest Columns
Iraq and U.S. Faith in Violence
Guest Column: Alastair Crooke warns of a dangerous fantasy that persists in Western capitals in which the West faces an "onslaught" from "radical Islam." The problem is that this intersects all too tragically with a the persistent belief in Washington and elsewhere that by applying its overwhel...Cuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventGlancing Headers
Spare Us More 'Globalization & Football'
The claim that Egypt's Cup of Nations win "proves" that stronger domestic leagues make stronger international sides is not born out by football's bigger picture. In fact, the teams that do best internationally are those with weaker domestic leaguesShameless Cronyism
Is Israel-Iran Enmity Irreversible?
No, it isn't. Two of my favorite commentators, Daniel Levy and Trita Parsi, explain whyHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...The Whole World's Africa
South Africa's Racist Present
Guest Column: Sean Jacobs. What to make of the racist torture incident at a South African campusFeatured Analysis
Obama and the 'Jewish Vote'
The problem with Obama, for the Zionist establishment, is that they can't be sure he hates the Palestinians enough. The deeper problem for the Zionist establishment, of course, is that Jewish Americans are flocking to Obama despite their coded warningsAnnals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...Could Die Laughing
Mearsheimer, Walt and the Erudite Hysteria of David RemnickNew York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for BushRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
