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