Calendar
January 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 -
Recent Posts
- James McKendree Wall October 24, 2022
- WW Film of the Week: The Best of Enemies June 19, 2020
- Churches’ Role In Forming the Movie Ratings System, Plus Violence Within Our Land May 28, 2020
- Revising Gertrude Bell’s Final Journey May 23, 2020
- “Lift Every Voice” May 17, 2020
- “The Straight Story”: A Film For Now May 2, 2020
Categories
Blogs I Follow
Archives
Category Archives: Middle East
Liberal PEPs Trash Helen Thomas While Ignoring Flotilla Deaths
by James M. Wall A Lebanese-American journalist, a few months shy of her 90th birthday, nearing the end of a distinguished journalism career, makes a few irrational comments during a Jewish Heritage Week event at the White House. She was … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Middle East
8 Comments
Zionism’s “Cold Logic and Deep Passion” Blocks Obama
by James M. Wall The politics of Hope smashed into the Iron Wall that Israel continues to build to enclose Zionism in its own security blanket. What happened when the Politics of Hope hit the Iron Wall of security? Settler … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East, Middle East Politics
15 Comments
54 House Members Risk Their Careers to Support Gaza
by James M. Wall Fifty-four members of the US House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Obama urging him “to use diplomatic pressure to resolve the blockade affecting Gaza.” Initially drafted by Democrats Keith Ellison, Minnesota, and Jim … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East, Politics and Elections
10 Comments
Mitchell Faces the “Intractable”: Time to Call In Henry Siegman
by James M. Wall President Obama sent George Mitchell on another mission to the Middle East this past weekend. After meeting with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Mitchell found that nothing has changed. One full year on the job, and … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East
14 Comments
Talking With McGovern in a Time of Palin and Israel’s Settlements
by James M. Wall I was fed up with the ugliness of American political dialogue. I knew it was time to call George McGovern. I found him on St. Thomas Island, where he was attending the funeral of an old … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East, Politics and Elections
11 Comments
US Churches Must Stop Following Israel Down the Trauma Trail
by James M. Wall Avraham Burg , former Israeli Chairman of the Jewish Agency and former Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, has written a book with the provacative title, The Holocaust is Over; We must Rise from Its Ashes. In a … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East, Religious Faith
15 Comments
Obama Regrets, Bibi Fights, Fayyad Has a Program
Bibi Netanyahu seems to totally ignore these discussions. They don’t fit his vision of reality. Instead, he tells the American president Israel will enlarge its settlements as long as it wants to. And, oh yes, he will agree only to a brief hiatus in construction.
Bibi wants to change the language of the discussion. The Jerusalem Post reported Monday morning that “freeze” is to be dropped by Israeli ministers and media:
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed his aides and Likud ministers over the weekend to stop referring to Israel’s commitments in a deal with US President Barack Obama as a “settlement freeze.”
Instead of a freeze (hakpa’ah in Hebrew), it will be referred to as a suspension (hash’ayah), a waiting period (hamtana), or even a cutback (tzimtzum) of Jewish construction in the West Bank.
In English, the word freeze that Netanyahu used just two weeks ago in Europe will be replaced by the sanitized word “moratorium.”
While Bibi fiddles with language, his country’s is under an economic threat. Continue reading
Posted in Middle East
6 Comments
Bibi Told Mossad, “Kill Khalid”; Now Khalid is Key to Israel’s Future
by James M. Wall Twelve years after he survived Bibi Netanhayu’s attempt to assassinate him, Khalid Mishal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, holds meetings with Jimmy Carter, and gives interviews to the Wall Street Journal. Khalid … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East, Middle East Politics
6 Comments
Bush Blessed Israel’s Assault on Gaza But the Aftermath Belongs to Obama
by James M. Wall Raise your hand if you still believe Israel’s claim that its 23-day assault on Gaza was a necessary retaliation against Hamas for breaking a cease fire. Ok, put your hand down and listen up. Consider the … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Middle East, Middle East Politics
4 Comments
After 31 Years Jack Shaheen Still Helps Us See “Reel Bad Arabs”
By James M. Wall My first encounter with Jack G. Shaheen came in the summer of 1978. He was a professor of communications at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. I was the editor of the Christian Century magazine in Chicago, Illinois. … Continue reading
Posted in -Movies and politics, Middle East, Middle East Politics, Movies
4 Comments