Thomas Friedman wrote an interesting article on the Cold War between the US and Iran. He writes:
When you have leverage, talk. When you don’t have leverage, get some — by creating economic, diplomatic or military incentives and pressures that the other side finds too tempting or frightening to ignore. That is where the Bush team has been so incompetent vis-à-vis Iran.
When returning a rental car on my last trip to LA, I noticed a car packed to the ream with bags and random stuff. I wondered what it was.
Ben Smith highlights some excerpts from an excellent article by Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic.
Smith explains about Obama:
He’s trying to do something hard, and unusual: Associate himself with a strong pro-Israel line, but also refuse to be associated with the hardest line on everything, calling settlements "unhelpful" and, elsewhere, distancing himself from a reflexive Likud line. This isn’t strange in terms of Israeli politics, say, or scholarship of the region; but it is in American politics.
I saw this at a cash register in a local deli…
I was struck when I saw the initial cut of this film at how the Director, Adam Hootnick, was able to be objective and empathetic about every subject it covered, avoiding caricatured stereotypes, and helping us understand the perspective and motivations of those involved during the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. I highly recommend it for any person who wants a better understanding about the Middle East.
UNSETTLED, a documentary feature film following the lives of a varied group of Israeli twenty-somethings during the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, will open for a limited engagement at NYC’s Pioneer Theater on Friday, May 9th, and LA’s Laemmle Music Hall 3 on Friday, May 16th. The film has won a number of festival awards including Jury Prizes at Slamdance (2007) and Sonoma Valley (2008). MTV’s Kurt Loder calls it "remarkable for the balance of its compassion, and for the range of youthful intelligence it reveals," and Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistani representative to the UK, calls the film "very important for people in the Muslim world." Special dialogue events have been announced in both cities.
In New York, the 8pm May 13th screening will feature a post-film talkback with Director/Producer Adam Hootnick and Najla Said, actress and writer.
In Los Angeles, the May 18th screening will feature a post-film talkback with Professor Reza Aslan, author of No god but God.
To view a trailer and get ticket info, visit http://www.UNSETTLEDmovie.com
Related to an issue I had blogged about 6 weeks ago, Daniel Henninger writes in the WSJ that Obama’s real vulnerability is not his past connection to the Reverend Wright but his simplistic formulas on Iran:
Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, collector of centrifuges, makes
I just got this very cool invitation from Laurel Rapp, who runs our International Education Program…
You’re Invited: Global Town Hall Meeting
(webcast live to your classroom!)
Ever wonder what young Israelis and Palestinians growing up in conflict zones hope for, dream about, and are working to change?
Ever wonder what both groups are doing to end the conflict between their two peoples?
Ever wonder what our role as citizens of the world should and can be?
If you’ve ever wondered and would like to know more, please join Empower Peace and OneVoice on Monday, May 19, for a Global Town Hall Meeting webcast from East Jerusalem linking Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders with students and young people from around the world.
Whatever your opinion on Jimmy Carter and his controversial trip to Syria to meet with President Assad and with Hamas leader Khaled Maashal, reading the report in Carter’s own words should be of value:
Philip Stephens wrote an excellent column in the Financial Times about our craving for simple theories and categorizations to describe the new world order of the day, and the uncomfortable reality that geo-political