Daniel Lubetzky

It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own. -Herbert Clark HOOVER 31st President of the United States (1874-1964) This, indeed, is one of the paramount challenges faced by democratic systems.  Democracy cannot [...]

With regards to the Hezbollah-Lebanon-Doha debacle, and the article by Barry Rubin that I blogged about here, I received some interesting comments from Ami Isseroff, who runs MideastWeb and who I consider one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking analysts on the Middle East: There is no use comparing everything bad that happens to Munich. [...]

A major challenge to letting democracy and freedom take root in the Middle East is that the region’s politics are submerged in an overwhelming culture of resistance.  For decades, Arab rulers have fed the Arab street with anti-American, anti-Western and anti-Israel epithets to such pathological degree that now every movement is defined through this prism.  [...]

The New York Times periodically rotates bureau chiefs and reporters across cities and regions.  When tracking the Jerusalem bureau, it is interesting (and sad perhaps) to notice a trend where many of them arrive with a positive outlook and are moved elsewhere after they start adopting an increasingly dour (if not pathologically cynical) perspective with [...]

The Economist wrote an interesting piece on what they think are the motivations of Olmert and Assad to negotiate. Mr Olmert’s critics in Israel suspect that he is pursuing the Syria track merely to divert attention from how badly talks on a peace deal with the Palestinian president, Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas, have been going, and [...]

Some comments from a conversation I had today – over the phone – with a few colleagues in Gaza: People curse the day they elected Hamas into power.  If elections were held today, they would be routed out. It’s taking me an hour to connect on the internet.  I am sure they are monitoring everything [...]

A Palestinian truck packed with 4 tons of explosives rammed into the Israel-Gaza border crossing and caused an explosion that was heard 12 miles deep into Gaza and out to Israel.  By miracle or defensive design, the bomber was the only immediate casualty as the crossing includes a long tunnel that acts as a buffer [...]

Barry Rubin writes a scary article about the implications of the Doha Accords, and the capitulation on Lebanon’s future made on May 21st to Hezbollah, and by extension to Iran and Syria.  The capitulation came not only from the Sunni Arab world but also from France, which  Rubin notes, similarly ceded Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany.  [...]

M.J. Rosenberg wrote an excellent column on whether it is dangerous or wise for Israel to even negotiate with Syria for a possible peace agreement. MJ Rosenberg – IPF 5/23/08 The Dangers of Diplomacy: There Aren’t Any Dore Gold, a former official in several Likud governments, is appalled at reports that the Israeli government has [...]

A lot of people are worried that 2008 will pass without an agreement among Israelis and Palestinians to define a Palestinian State – and presumably and hopefully start implementing such vision.  I, too, get worried about this, every day.  But listening to Tzipi Livni is quite reassuring.  She genuinely speaks with the OneVoice language and [...]