American politics is in a state where criticizing Israel just isn’t done very often, at least not in mainstream forums.
Brilliant blogger Gleen Greenwald somehow gets on MSNBC while refusing to play by the rules, one being that Israel is to be defended at all costs. Here is a clip of Greenwald on Dylan Ratigan’s show with guest host Eliot Spitzer.
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While the U.S. hesitates to criticize Israel strongly for the recent raid of a Turkish ship, much of the rest of the world is outraged. I’m not here to say that Israel was definitely wrong, but the environment in American mainstream discourse, which discourages strong criticism of Israel for any reason, is dangerous.
For more on the raid, I recommend reading “A Brief History of the Gaza Folly” by The American Prospect.
Update on June 3, 2010: Max Blumenthal has an interesting piece showing how days before the raid, the Israeli government had publicly discussed plans for a possibly violent confrontation.
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Glad to see you up and running again, Howard. Good luck with your criticism of Israel. Someone is sure to label you antisemitic.