Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

1. A surprisingly well-thought out post in The New York Times critical of the so-called"pro-Israeli" narrative in the United States, which is actually hurting both US and Israeli interests in the long run.

So, by my lights, being “pro-Israel” in the sense embraced by Bauer, Boot and Foxman — backing Israel’s current policies, including its settlement policies — is actually anti-Israel. It’s also anti-America (in the sense of ‘bad for American security’), because Biden and Petraeus are right: America’s perceived support of — or at least acquiescence in — Israel’s more inflammatory policies endangers American troops abroad. In the long run, it will also endanger American civilians at home, funneling more terrorism in their direction.

2. In this link is a detailed map of Israel's continued theft of land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank from the increasingly nonviable Palestinian state.

3. A great post over at Foreign Policy's new Middle East Channel which is challenging the media's recent use of the expression that "everyone knows" settlement a, b, x will be part of Israel in the future, therefore there is no need to stop their construction. Friedman tears this argument apart, showing that it is really just discursive manipulation by the Israeli government.

Throughout the past week the world has heard Israeli government officials and their allies in the US --particularly among the pro-settler crowd -- defending construction in East Jerusalem settlements on the grounds that "everybody knows" these areas will always be part of Israel.

But today the "everybody knows" meme has been cynically appropriated by Netanyahu and his supporters. "Everybody knows these areas in East Jerusalem will always be Israel," they say, "so when the Palestinians (and the Americans) make a fuss about new construction plans, it is just for political purposes, not because there is any real issue."

Those peddling this rubbish are guilty of transparent manipulation. Those buying it are guilty of having short memories and an excess of credulity.