Robin Messing

Here are two articles that I highly recommend.  First, James Zogby discusses Israel's true agenda behind Operation Pillar of Defense.  In the second article, Former Knesset member, Rabbi Michael Melchior claims that he has spoke with religious leaders amongst Islamic extremists and they are willing to live with Israel.  I'm not sure what to make of the second article.  Melchior doesn't mention any names and it is impossible to know exactly what these extremists told him.  Were they leading him on and deceiving him into believing that a final and permanent peace is possible when, in fact, they really only intended a hudna,

I attended a rally today at Cornell University to protest Israel's bombardment and threatened invasion of Gaza.  Or rather, I attended two rallies going on at the same time. .

I am glad to see that I'm not the only one who believes Israel should be linking the Iranian nuclear threat to negotiating a solution to the Palestinian peace process.  A small number of senior Israeli security officials now are arguing for linkage as well.  J.J. Goldberg, editor-at-large of the Jewish Daily Forward,  writes that  

Israeli historian Benny Morris wants to see a war with Iran.  He is frothing at the mouth and screaming "Attack! Attack!, Attack! Kill! Kill! Kill!"  Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little.  OK, so maybe it's more than a little.  But he certainly seems to support Israel taking military action against Iran within the next few weeks if Obama doesn't give Israel an iron-clad guarantee that the U.S. will attack Iran by March 1, 2013 if Iran does not abandon its nuclear weapons program.  Read his column NOW before proceeding with my rebuttal.

Michael Goldstein voted for Obama in 2008.  He is featured in this Republican Jewish Coalition ad explaining why he will be voting for Romney in 2012.

In his  July 26, 2012 New York Times OpEd piece, Israeli settler leader Dani Dayan states that Israeli settlement expansion on the West Bank is an "irreversible fact".  Whether the Palestinians (or, if you prefer, West Bank Arabs) like it or not, whether Muslims around the world like it or not, whether we in the West like it or not, Dayan in essence is telling us all to "Deal with it!"  He states that since the Palestinians have refused to negotiate a two state solution:

Larry Derfner, a former columnist for the Jerusalem Post, points out that for the first time, Israel is likely to drag the United States into a war it doesn't want.   This is likely to lead to a backlash against Israel and a rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. if the war with Iran goes badly. Derfner writes:

There have been two important developments since I posted my article outlining a grand bargain with Iran. 1) Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabad, proclaimed that "The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel.". 2) Iran and the IAEA reportedly reached an agreement that would allow the IAEA inspectors to access Iran's nuclear sites. This could be a very big deal--or it could be less than meets the eye. It's just too soon to say.

It is indeed a privilege to be able to address the people of the Great Islamic Republic of Iran tonight. I want to start by commending Ayatollah Khamenei for saying that you "are not seeking nuclear weapons because the Islamic Republic of Iran considers possession of nuclear weapons a sin." Your Supreme Leader went on to say that he "believes that holding such weapons is useless, harmful and dangerous." We appreciate these sentiments but we in America do not believe they go far enough. It is not enough for Iran to avoid developing nuclear weapons.