Open Letter To Brandeis University President

In the matter of Ayaan Hirsi Ali Frederick Lawrence President Brandeis University Dear President Lawrence: I know that many critics have expressed outrage that you rescinded your invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a courageous women’s rights crusader and critic of Islam, to receive an honorary degree at Brandeis University’s graduation this spring. I won’t badger …

U.S. Can’t Bribe Israelis, Palestinians To Make Peace

“First as tragedy, second as farce.” It’s Karl Marx’s line about history repeating itself but, per the Jonathan Pollard trial balloon of recent days, the line could just as easily apply to America’s foreign policy. We need not debate the merits of Pollard’s release, for which supporters and detractors each can mount a compelling case, …

Barack Obama’s Got A Rosy Take On Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas

The U.S. focus on Ukraine has shifted attention away from this week’s remarkable set of exchanges, direct and indirect, between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that speaks additional volumes about Obama’s take on prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. That Obama has an unbalanced perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hardly a …

New York Times Defaults To Insanity On Syria

“What’s Next for Syria?” the New York Times headlined its latest editorial on the subject this week. Its answer reflects the mushy-headed thinking that all too often emanates these days from America’s “paper of record.” “With the apparent collapse of the United Nations-mediated peace talks on Syria,” the Times opined, “the United States and its …

John Kerry’s Comments On Israel-Palestine Encapsulate U.S. Foreign Policy

Rare is the moment when an unscripted comment from a Secretary of State symbolizes all that’s wrong with America’s foreign policy, but it appeared the other day in the context of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Asked at the Munich Security Conference about prospects for peace, John Kerry expressed hope and discussed the implications of failure, focusing …

UNESCO Falls Further Into Swamp Of Moral Bankruptcy

UNESCO’s decision to cancel this week’s Paris exhibition about Jewish ties to Israel highlights – in case anyone needed a reminder – the moral bankruptcy that pervades all too much of the United Nations and its affiliate organizations. UNESCO (officially the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) was created out of a United Nations …