The Obama administration has sent numerous signals that it intends to be more engaged in the Arab-Israeli peace process towards a two-state solution. Yet at the same time, the newly elected Israeli government that has signaled that pursuing a two-state solution is not a high priority. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are, once again, caught in the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Palestine’
A Clarification: Sympathy doesn’t equal support
Posted in Current Events, Ideas, Uncategorized, tagged Arab-Israeli conflict, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Israeli people, Palestine, Palestinian people on January 13, 2009 | 2 Comments »
It has come to my attention that I should have been more clear and repeatedly stated that I felt that Israel has a right to defend itself. I thought that I had done so clearly enough and that I had acknowledged the invisible (emotional and psychological) damage done to Israeli citizens who live in the [...]
Peace seems ever more a distant hope
Posted in Current Events, Uncategorized, tagged Arab-Israeli conflict, Gaza, Israel, just war, Palestine, proportionality on January 12, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Amy commented on an earlier post, and I was particularly distressed by her easy dismissal of proportionality.
The concept of proportionality is closely related to that of just war. Just war theory has a long history in Western thought, going back to Roman times with Cicero and expanded by Christian theologians in the centuries since. Secularists [...]
Thoughts on the Mumbai attacks
Posted in Current Events, Uncategorized, tagged Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Kashmir, Middle East, Mogol Empire, Mumbai attacks, Pakistan, Palestine on November 30, 2008 | 4 Comments »
If you’ve read my “About” page, you’ll know that I don’t think “they hate us for our freedoms.” Rather, I think they hate our foreign policy decisions over the years. So, if that’s the case, why India? And why did the attackers seek out Jews and British and American citizens?
Early reports identify the attackers as [...]
