Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

Will Bolton’s fears be realized?

Posted on 10/21/2010 by Soccerdad

Yesterday I noted that John Bolton feared that the Obama administration would (tacitly) support a Palestinian effort to get support for statehood at the United Nations. The Palestinians clearly are looking to the UN for support: The Palestinian leadership, near … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, palestinian politics, The One | Tagged | Comments Off

The “bash Israel” security blanket

Posted on 10/20/2010 by Soccerdad

The first paragraph of Thomas Friedman’s column today, Just Knock it off, makes sense: Some of Israel’s worst critics are fond of saying that Israel behaves like America’s spoiled child. I’ve always found that analogy excessive. Say what you want … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged | 2 Comments

Jacoby: The Undeniable Jewish State

Posted on 10/18/2010 by Soccerdad

Last week CNN reported (via the Daily Alert Blog) Top PA negotiator Nabil Sha’ath, an advisor to Mahmoud Abbas, distanced the PA government from comments by PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo inferring that Palestinians might recognize Israel as a Jewish … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, palestinian politics | Tagged | Comments Off

Working against peace and Israel?

Posted on 10/18/2010 by Soccerdad

Jackson Diehl observes: So why does Abbas stubbornly persist in his self-defeating position? In an interview with Israeli television Sunday night, he offered a remarkably candid explanation: “When Obama came to power, he is the one who announced that settlement … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, The One | Tagged , | Comments Off

Accepting Jewish history; accepting Israel

Posted on 10/15/2010 by Soccerdad

In a departure for the New York Times op-ed page, they included “An end to Israel’s Invisibility” by Ambassador Michael Oren. It’s a case for Israel being recognized as a Jewish state by the Palestinians as a condition for peace. … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | Tagged | Comments Off

Hamas’s “good government” charade is over

Posted on 10/14/2010 by Soccerdad

A few years ago there was a trend in newspapers to write flattering accounts of Hamas and its commitment to good government. It was as if there was a campaign to say that “Hamas is basically good, you can ignore … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel | 10 Comments

The tarnished halo effect

Posted on 10/13/2010 by Soccerdad

The New York Times ran a Reuters report Israel Says Flotilla Detainees Were Treated Well, yesterday. Really nothing surprising about that. What is is surprising is this (via Daily Alert Blog): In a TV interview, Turkish journalist Åžefik Dinç, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, Media Bias | Tagged | 2 Comments

Even the losers write history sometimes

Posted on 10/11/2010 by Soccerdad

I am no historian. But I can’t help the feeling that the New York Times’s account of the recdently declassified transcripts of the Israeli government’s deliberations over the war wasn’t presented in academic fashion, but rather to promote the view … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Juvenile Scorn, Syria | Tagged | 7 Comments

When a reporter’s opinion is news

Posted on 10/10/2010 by Soccerdad

Friday’s effort at smearing Israel in the Washington Post is called For Israeli army, tests of accountability and it is written by long time slanderer Joel Greenberg. First Greenberg writes about the recent video of Israeli soldiers dancing around a … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, Media Bias | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Damn the Israelis, full speed ahead

Posted on 10/08/2010 by Soccerdad

According to the JTA (via Daily Alert Blog) The Israeli prime minister also has a major strategic concern. According to confidants, he fears that as soon as any new 60-day freeze ends, the Americans will put a “take it or … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged | 4 Comments

Hezbollah in passive voice

Posted on 10/07/2010 by Soccerdad

Many of us have noted that since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Hezbollah has rearmed in violation of UN Security Council resolution. I always wondered when the MSM would catch up with the story. Today the New York … Continue reading →

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NYT: peace process failing despite the great work of the administration

Posted on 10/06/2010 by Soccerdad

Contrary to the upbeat assessment of the Washington Post, Mark Landler of the New York Times can’t figure out why the Middle East peace process isn’t going smoothly. In Risks and Advantages in U.S. Effort in Mideast, Landler begins: When … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Tagged | 1 Comment

Absolving Arafat; ten years later

Posted on 10/05/2010 by Soccerdad

In her thoroughly dishonest valedictory as New York Times correspondent from Israel, And yet so far, Deborah Sontag wrote: In the tumble of the all-consuming violence, much has not been revealed or examined. Rather, a potent, simplistic narrative has taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias | Tagged | 3 Comments

Israel denial in the Washington Post

Posted on 10/04/2010 by Soccerdad

I love the opening paragraphs of Glenn Kessler’s Defining ‘Jewish state’: For many, term has different meanings Nine years ago, then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered a speech on the Middle East in which he briefly called on Palestinians … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias | Tagged | 1 Comment

The “disappeared” Gaza story

Posted on 10/04/2010 by Soccerdad

*** Important Update Below *** The Daily Alert Blog recently linked to an article Under the Gun: How the People of Gaza Feel About Hamas. Tried the link to the original article in the National, a paper published in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Iran | Tagged | Comments Off

The immodest hopes of J-Street

Posted on 09/29/2010 by Soccerdad

Essential to maintaining the fiction that it is a mainstream Jewish organization, J-Street was careful to pretend that received support from many sources. We see this in a press release news story that appeared last year in the Washington Post. … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Take us to your leaders

Posted on 09/28/2010 by Soccerdad

In the wonderfully titled Third world debating society elects itself world’s envoy in case of alien contact, Q & O speculated: Can you imagine a worse institution to have represent humanity than the UN? And frankly, if intelligent aliens ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor | Tagged , | 3 Comments

The news that Time forgot … part IX

Posted on 09/22/2010 by Soccerdad

In response to the Time magazine article, Barry Rubin wrote a history of the future explaining what could go wrong with the creation of Palestinian state and why it would be perfectly rational for Israelis to wish to avoid such … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Tagged | Comments Off

Does Bill Clinton read Time magazine?

Posted on 09/22/2010 by Soccerdad

Bill Clinton talking about January 2001 (via CAMERA): So a couple of days before I leave office, Arafat says, calls to tell me what a great man I am. And I just said, “No, I’m not. On this I’m a … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged | 1 Comment

The news that Time forgot … VIII

Posted on 09/21/2010 by Soccerdad

Yesterday I considered the possiblity that the “Why Israelis don’t want to make peace was not the fault of the reporter Karl Vick, but of the editors. Vick’s recent tour of the Shomron suggests that this may be the case. … Continue reading →

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