This letter is irritating in the extreme and only adds to my disappointment. First of all, most outrageous is its lie about Israel, that it separates its citizens on the basis of ethnicity. Tell that to the Arabs sitting in the Knesset, or to the majority non-white mizrahi and sephardic Jews, or the hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian Jew…
This letter is irritating in the extreme and only adds to my disappointment. First of all, most outrageous is its lie about Israel, that it separates its citizens on the basis of ethnicity. Tell that to the Arabs sitting in the Knesset, or to the majority non-white mizrahi and sephardic Jews, or the hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian Jews. Yes, forms of discrimination persist with regard to those groups, who now make up a majority of the land, but all enjoy basic freedoms and civil rights in Israel.
I also am outraged by this letter's charge that those of us criticizing the views of those who participated in this conversation with Glenn are simply acting out of some sense of victimhood, that we are all charging any criticism of Israel as antisemitic, etc. I have made a number of detailed comments about all this, including a detailed account of why I think Glenn should not have signed that Brown statement, and I see absolutely NO effort in this letter to address any of my points or similar points made by others in this string of comments. I absolutely do not see myself as a victim, and I made clear my contempt for any Jew who does play that card. My Zionism does not rest on that in the least. I grew up during and in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, but my parents never allowed me to wallow in any of that for a second. Also, my Zionism absolutely does not foreclose on criticism of Israel, and I have made many criticisms of it myself. I am a firm and consistent believer in free speech and made that clear here also. (Moreover, it is absolutely outrageous to see Bari Weiss again slandered on that point.) I believe most of the others commenting critically here are similar in these respects. This letter, in other words, is false and disrespectful of the exchanges of views here. It does not sit well with me that it is put front and center.
Thank you for saying this. How can you have a discussion regarding the tiny, singular Jewish state without a Jew (even better, a secular Israeli citizen) at the table? It was frustrating to listen to this Glenn Show episode. I found this person’s OPINIONS to be off. When he said they don’t really mean ‘from the river to the sea’ he lost all credibility. Glenn did push back on this comment. I don’t know if Robert Wright is Jewish or not, but his take on the rights of Jews is terrible.
This letter is irritating in the extreme and only adds to my disappointment. First of all, most outrageous is its lie about Israel, that it separates its citizens on the basis of ethnicity. Tell that to the Arabs sitting in the Knesset, or to the majority non-white mizrahi and sephardic Jews, or the hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian Jews. Yes, forms of discrimination persist with regard to those groups, who now make up a majority of the land, but all enjoy basic freedoms and civil rights in Israel.
I also am outraged by this letter's charge that those of us criticizing the views of those who participated in this conversation with Glenn are simply acting out of some sense of victimhood, that we are all charging any criticism of Israel as antisemitic, etc. I have made a number of detailed comments about all this, including a detailed account of why I think Glenn should not have signed that Brown statement, and I see absolutely NO effort in this letter to address any of my points or similar points made by others in this string of comments. I absolutely do not see myself as a victim, and I made clear my contempt for any Jew who does play that card. My Zionism does not rest on that in the least. I grew up during and in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, but my parents never allowed me to wallow in any of that for a second. Also, my Zionism absolutely does not foreclose on criticism of Israel, and I have made many criticisms of it myself. I am a firm and consistent believer in free speech and made that clear here also. (Moreover, it is absolutely outrageous to see Bari Weiss again slandered on that point.) I believe most of the others commenting critically here are similar in these respects. This letter, in other words, is false and disrespectful of the exchanges of views here. It does not sit well with me that it is put front and center.
Thank you for saying this. How can you have a discussion regarding the tiny, singular Jewish state without a Jew (even better, a secular Israeli citizen) at the table? It was frustrating to listen to this Glenn Show episode. I found this person’s OPINIONS to be off. When he said they don’t really mean ‘from the river to the sea’ he lost all credibility. Glenn did push back on this comment. I don’t know if Robert Wright is Jewish or not, but his take on the rights of Jews is terrible.