Mondoweiss

Was I Glib About Ahmadinejad?

Yesterday I said that Ahmadinejad hasn't called for the end of Judaism, he has called for the end of the state of Israel--in something of the way that George Bush called for the end of the secular Arab dictatorship in Iraq. Jerry Slater takes exception:

Bush called for the end of the Saddam Hussein regime, (not voted into office by the people of Iraq), certainly not for the end of Iraq as a state. Moreover, given the history of the Jews, when someone calls for the end of Israel as a state, there is no choice but to see that as the end of the Jewish people who are part of that state.

I accept that I was a little glib about that; though I would point out that the U.S. has now decimated an Arab society in the name of regime change. Another reader, Anne Silver, pointed me to Virginia Tilley's article saying that Ahmadinejad wasn't threatening Jews, he is against the "Zionist regime" of Israel. Do I have a bottom line? Jews are legitimately fearful of existential rhetoric. Everyone needs to get past this stuff.

I Was Wrong About Columbia's 'Lionpac''s Offer for Nakba Dialogue

The other day I did a post saying that Arab students at Columbia were right to turn down the offer from the mini-Israel lobby at the school, called Lionpac, to have a private meeting about Nakba week and other public events involving Palestine. Lionpac wishes to try and end the rancor on campus over these issues. Columbia has been riven by these questions for many years now, and Jacob Shapiro of Lionpac was basically saying, Let's stop having divisive fights. While in another statement, Lionpac implied that the Nakba in fact took place. Thereby not going in for the usual denial.  

It was stupid and insensitive of me to say that there shouldn't be dialogue. Of course there should be dialogue; I think the Arab students ought to accept Lionpac's terms with the hospitality that is so often ascribed to Arabs. Big deal, it's a private meeting. As Richard Witty pointed out, lots of people seek private meetings for lots of reasons. Maybe good can come of this.

My irritation reflected a sense that the Zionist kids want to bottle this stuff up in private. But they can't; the issues are bigger than that. Also something that Zach Wales, a former grad student, told me last year: "I can’t stand dialogue... It ends up being an atonement session for people who support Israel, but feel the moral burden." A good point. So what. Arabs and Zionsts should meet. We used to use the words "raise consciousness." Maybe such a meeting would do that. I need to raise mine too.

Nadine Gordimer Under Pressure to Boycott Israeli Writers' Festival

Nadine Gordimer--South African, Jewish, Nobelist--is under pressure to boycott a writers' conference in Israel that she had signed up to appear at next month. (Thus spake Haaretz, no it's not in the American press.) Looks like she'll boycott.

On Thursday, Ambassador Gillerman bragged about all the artists and writers Israel sends out into the world. He spoke of a book fair that Israel had lately sponsored, in Europe as I remember. Israel was also a sponsor of the Telluride Film Festival, which I attended last summer. This is an important part of Israel's outreach. Sponsoring the arts gives Israel a good name in elite circles, deflecting pressure from the very community you would expect to lead opposition to apartheid conditions in the West Bank.

Two British Jews urging Gordimer to stay home talk about the Nakba. Good for them, Nakba consciousness on the rise. They write, "The whole of Palestinian civil society has called for a cultural boycott of Israel." Gordimer opposed apartheid in South Africa. Sure hope she doesn't go.

Something Else I Was Wrong About

I said ten days ago that Hillary Clinton was a "dead woman walking." I still think she's going to lose. But obviously my political prognostication was piss-poor. It's not the first time I've been wrong. I'm starting a new category, My Mistakes. Hope it doesn't grow...