How the British Board of Jewish Deputies and its allies are smearing a decent critic of Israel as an anti-Semite - and the success they're having. The view in Israel of British Jewry is that they're cowed by traditional British anti-Semitism and running scared from the "Muslim takeover" of the country. They're not as chutzpahdik as the American Jews, supposedly. But I think Israel is selling the British Jews short, or at least their leaders. For the last month, the country's Jewish machers have been smearing a member of Parliament as an anti-Semite with the sort of cynicism and relentlessness that could…

This week's publication of a U.S.-funded study cleared the Palestinians of charges that their schoolbooks 'demonize' Israel. This was not, however, the first hoop they've been made to jump through, and it won't be the last. The Israeli and U.S. Jewish establishment reaction to the terrible news that the Palestinians don't demonize Jews in their textbooks reminded me of the long-forgotten uproar over the Palestinian Covenant.  Same bullshit. The stout-hearted nationalist Jews in the U.S. and Israel were saying in unison, "How can we ever trust the Palestinians to make peace when their covenant talks about ''liberating all of Palestine'?"…

Three anecdotes from Peter Beinart's Crisis of Zionism reveal a lot on what can and what can't be said in Washington today "The Crisis of Zionism," Peter Beinart's new book on the Jewish establishment's transformation into a propaganda and lobbying arm for the occupation and the settlements, has a few fresh examples of Washington's double talk regarding the nature of Israel's control over the West Bank. It's something you often hear in private: Every diplomat who has visited Palestinian towns and villages and met with locals knows how bad things are, but it's impossible to discuss these issues in public…

If you think Israeli leaders are hawkish on Iran, listen to what some of these American Jewish leaders had to say at their get-together in Jerusalem. The number one team of machers (big-time operators) in organized American Jewry - the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations - were in Israel this past week, and just for a hate fix, I went to a panel discussion on Iran - not to listen to the Israeli panelists, but to the machers. There were about 100 of them in Jerusalem's Inbal hotel, and as expected, the ones who spoke up were much, much more gung-ho than the Israelis onstage. The best question came from from Rabbi Basil Herring, executive vice…

American Jewish liberals who use it do so in bad faith, and what they mean by the term is not what Americans hear Even though the term "Israel-Firster," taken literally, is a fair, accurate description of any number of American Jews - those whose main concern in American politics is its effect on Israel - it shouldn't be used. There are a couple of reasons why. For one, when American liberals, almost always Jews themselves, use it to slam American Jewish Likud types, they're using the term in bad faith. They're not honestly bothered by Americans whose chief political interest is the welfare of another country; neither Ireland-Firsters, nor Mexico-Firsters, nor Southern-Sudan-Firsters, nor Palestine-Firsters upset them, and neither do Israel-Firsters. They're…

In his attempt to deconstruct Mark Perry's Foreign Policy piece, Rafael Frankel overlooks the fact that quality writing on covert government action often relies on unnamed sources, and, through reductive means, glosses over the undeniable influence of the Israel lobby on U.S. policy.  By Mitchell Plitnick In his criticism of Mark Perry's Foreign Policy article, False Flag¸ ex-journalist Rafael Frankel demonstrates how disturbing Perry's article was for many. But Frankel's criticism of the piece fails to demonstrate any more than that. Frankel's main problem with Perry's piece is that it was based on information Perry gathered from anonymous sources. According…

The emotional victory may not be a game-changer, but to consider it merely symbolic is missing deep potential consequences of full acceptance into a UN club. This post has been updated, 31 October, 8:40pm The Palestinian Authority won a major victory on Monday by being accepted to UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The acceptance is a critical moment, not so much because it will really affect the lives of most Palestinians, but for what it says about the unfolding international attitudes and policy, and for Palestine and Israel. Here are a few possible implications. 1. UNESCO…