Chicago was 10-degrees cooler than Central Florida when my plane touched down at the O’Hare International Airport late Friday night ahead of the Democratic National Convention’s Monday kick-off.
Great reporting. Follow the money: Who benefits from the current US instigated and US enabled carnage in Ukraine and West Asia? Follow-up questions: Is the US run by short-sighted but highly greedy psychopaths? Does it matter who the current President is? Is the DNC convention just a circus to distract low-information voters? Enjoyed reading your summary, would never watch any of the DNC or RNC propaganda.
Interesting. I appreciate your observations. I do quarrel with the word « critique » when you mean « criticism. » The protesters are criticizing. Critique is a sustained inquiry.
Wie a great one! I was happy to see your view of that experience at DNC. And the read was movin along and good. It’s my home. Half my life I’ve been in Germany mostly in Berlin. The years 10 years often south and of those months long in Portugal when I could bolt out of G and avoid the
Needles and masks and deceit.
I was at the DNC sun 1968. v but that would take a long conversation. Thanks a lot . Toying with the idea to return
Cast all doubts or fears to the wind. It only looks on the surface to be nice here in Bavaria. 😅🤓
My piece describes the demonstration that took place on August 19 and places it in the context of unfolding events in Gaza. There is nothing in the piece that is antisemitic. Making such accusations is a clear example of an ad hominem attack (personal attack) and smoke screen fallacy (using emotionally charged language rather than presenting reasoned argument). If there is something in the piece that you object to then you would need to identify and specify that something, and then offer an argument with supporting premises before leaping to such an incendiary charge.
I feel your piece implies a broad condemnation of Israel that feeds into deep lying historic antisemitic prejudices.
The commentary about the tragedy endured by Dr. Jumann Arfa as well as the descriptions of the gorey consequences of the August 10 attack on the Al Tabi'een School in Gaza are purely gratuitous.
I say “gratuitous” because you don’t balance these horrors with the trauma Israelis are suffering.
Until a lasting solution is found that addresses both the aspirations for statehood and self-determination of Palestinians, AND the legitimate Israeli security concerns, Israel will forever
be defending itself from attacks from its neighbors.
The issues are multifaceted and complicated. Any lasting solution will require a nuanced approach that recognizes the confluence of historical, religious, and social factors. Incomplete or over-simplistic, one-sided analyses may nurture some level of intellectual/humanitarian self-
esteem and righteousness, but do NOT help finding some form of lasting peace for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.
The current death toll in Gaza has surpassed 40,000. People of Gaza are enduring a man-made famine. Human rights organizations have documented instances of IDF forces committing planned sexual assaults on male detainees. Elected leaders in Israel and social commentators have publicly endorsed and defended such sexual assaults. In fact a mob sought to release a group of soldiers who were being held accountable, after the state was subjected to external pressures, and defended their actions as acceptable against those suspected of being affiliated with Hamas. The number of families in Gaza that have been essentially wiped off the map grows each day. The numbers of children who have endured amputations or surgeries without anesthesia grows exponentially each day. The way in which Israel has conducted its war and Gaza is utterly unconscionable and morally indefensible. That the United States has materially and diplomatically supported it is equally unconscionable. To identify these fundamental moral wrongs is the furthest thing from anti-semitism. Indeed my ethical inspiration is drawn significantly from the Jewish tradition and social critics like Jewish American thinker Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, and Albert Einstein who advocated for a moral universalism that affirms the dignity of all persons and insist that we do unto others as we would have them do to us. The analysis that I am presenting has nothing to do with anti-jewish hatred. Rather the object of criticism here is injustice, and humanity, cruelty, and a failure to adhere to universal moral principles. The conflation of a criticism of a nation-state such as Israel with anti-Jewish hatred is fallacious. No fation can lay exclusive claim to a particular faith tradition. The values are precepts of that tradition stand on their own and independent of nation states and governments. And thank goodness they do for it is often nation-states that have attempted to co-opt and then weaponize not to mention distort the best of the faith traditions they claim to represent.
Thank you for sharing this invaluable primary source text reflecting the views of important thinkers such as Einstein and Arendt. I intend to discuss some of Einstein's thinking on Israel and the context behind the letter you cite in a future post. It's a service to everyone that you shared this text with us here.
Thanks for letting us know how the demonstration outside the DNC went, Jeffrey. The most important part of the event, imo.
freedom for Palestine
Great reporting. Follow the money: Who benefits from the current US instigated and US enabled carnage in Ukraine and West Asia? Follow-up questions: Is the US run by short-sighted but highly greedy psychopaths? Does it matter who the current President is? Is the DNC convention just a circus to distract low-information voters? Enjoyed reading your summary, would never watch any of the DNC or RNC propaganda.
Interesting. I appreciate your observations. I do quarrel with the word « critique » when you mean « criticism. » The protesters are criticizing. Critique is a sustained inquiry.
Thank you for catching that error. I made a correction.
These mad fanatics are bombing elementary schools and hospitals...they have forfeited any claim to humanity...Freedom for Palestine now, freedom!
Wie a great one! I was happy to see your view of that experience at DNC. And the read was movin along and good. It’s my home. Half my life I’ve been in Germany mostly in Berlin. The years 10 years often south and of those months long in Portugal when I could bolt out of G and avoid the
Needles and masks and deceit.
I was at the DNC sun 1968. v but that would take a long conversation. Thanks a lot . Toying with the idea to return
Cast all doubts or fears to the wind. It only looks on the surface to be nice here in Bavaria. 😅🤓
Jeffrey, I feel you are leaning into influencing the emotions and not addressing the existential crisis on the ground.
Rather than seeking a nuanced understanding and solution, your writing inevitably nurtures—indeed inspires—antisemitism.
Is that simply unfortunate, or deliberate?
My piece describes the demonstration that took place on August 19 and places it in the context of unfolding events in Gaza. There is nothing in the piece that is antisemitic. Making such accusations is a clear example of an ad hominem attack (personal attack) and smoke screen fallacy (using emotionally charged language rather than presenting reasoned argument). If there is something in the piece that you object to then you would need to identify and specify that something, and then offer an argument with supporting premises before leaping to such an incendiary charge.
I feel your piece implies a broad condemnation of Israel that feeds into deep lying historic antisemitic prejudices.
The commentary about the tragedy endured by Dr. Jumann Arfa as well as the descriptions of the gorey consequences of the August 10 attack on the Al Tabi'een School in Gaza are purely gratuitous.
I say “gratuitous” because you don’t balance these horrors with the trauma Israelis are suffering.
Until a lasting solution is found that addresses both the aspirations for statehood and self-determination of Palestinians, AND the legitimate Israeli security concerns, Israel will forever
be defending itself from attacks from its neighbors.
The issues are multifaceted and complicated. Any lasting solution will require a nuanced approach that recognizes the confluence of historical, religious, and social factors. Incomplete or over-simplistic, one-sided analyses may nurture some level of intellectual/humanitarian self-
esteem and righteousness, but do NOT help finding some form of lasting peace for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.
The current death toll in Gaza has surpassed 40,000. People of Gaza are enduring a man-made famine. Human rights organizations have documented instances of IDF forces committing planned sexual assaults on male detainees. Elected leaders in Israel and social commentators have publicly endorsed and defended such sexual assaults. In fact a mob sought to release a group of soldiers who were being held accountable, after the state was subjected to external pressures, and defended their actions as acceptable against those suspected of being affiliated with Hamas. The number of families in Gaza that have been essentially wiped off the map grows each day. The numbers of children who have endured amputations or surgeries without anesthesia grows exponentially each day. The way in which Israel has conducted its war and Gaza is utterly unconscionable and morally indefensible. That the United States has materially and diplomatically supported it is equally unconscionable. To identify these fundamental moral wrongs is the furthest thing from anti-semitism. Indeed my ethical inspiration is drawn significantly from the Jewish tradition and social critics like Jewish American thinker Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, and Albert Einstein who advocated for a moral universalism that affirms the dignity of all persons and insist that we do unto others as we would have them do to us. The analysis that I am presenting has nothing to do with anti-jewish hatred. Rather the object of criticism here is injustice, and humanity, cruelty, and a failure to adhere to universal moral principles. The conflation of a criticism of a nation-state such as Israel with anti-Jewish hatred is fallacious. No fation can lay exclusive claim to a particular faith tradition. The values are precepts of that tradition stand on their own and independent of nation states and governments. And thank goodness they do for it is often nation-states that have attempted to co-opt and then weaponize not to mention distort the best of the faith traditions they claim to represent.
Thank you for sharing this invaluable primary source text reflecting the views of important thinkers such as Einstein and Arendt. I intend to discuss some of Einstein's thinking on Israel and the context behind the letter you cite in a future post. It's a service to everyone that you shared this text with us here.