Better lives for our children’s grandchildren · by some friends

Posting 6. on the Jewish-Israeli Lobby, posted by George Salzman

Oaxaca, Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Friends, The paper

The Israel Lobby
by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
in The London Review of Books, Vol. 28 No. 6, 23 March 2006
at http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html

 raised a storm of controversy. Since posting some excerpts from it on my blog 23 Mar, at http://pwgd.org/gs/category/the-jewish-israeli-lobby/ (Posting 2. on The Jewish-Israeli Lobby), I’ve been flooded with correspondence. One of the most startling aspects, to me, was opened by a note from ever-perceptive Manuel Garcia, whose website is http://www.idiom.com/~garcia. Manuel wrote:

 
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Petras on Chomsky on Lobby]
From: Manuel Garcia <>
Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2006 23:43:15 -0700
To: George Salzman <>

Dear George,

      Perhaps you know this author: J.A. Miller <> . . . Ms. Miller wrote me after reading my latest “Godless” article on CounterPunch (28 March 2006). About herself and her writing Ms. Miller states “my main focus is the continual pass given to Zionism by western progressives, the reasons for this anomaly, as well as having a bit of fun with it at the same time. Progressives do have a tendency to be a bit humorless and over-earnest.” On her qualifications: “she is somewhat qualified to comment on the Palestinian issue having lived, studied and traveled in the Middle East for many years and, moreover, having learned to speak fluent Arabic, which qualification makes me an Arab (if one goes by the old Arab nationalist definition).”

      In her blog, Ms Miller discusses John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, Jeff Blankfort, Noam Chomsky, and divestment (from Israel). George, from this point on in this discussion, I’m a spectator.

Manuel Garcia, Jr.

      I responded,

Dear Manuel,

After telling me about J.A. Miller (her writing is a revelation to me), you concluded, “George, from this point on in this discussion, I’m a spectator.” If I were the coach, I’d say, “No way, get off the bench and back in the batting lineup.” I read each of her three incredibly interesting pieces that you mentioned:

November 6/7, 2004 issue of Counterpunch
The Balfour Decision Reconsidered:
The Cults of the Jealous God
www.counterpunch.org/miller11062004.html

Spring 2006 issue of State of Nature
Madness and Monotheism:
Palestine as Psych Ward for the West
www.stateofnature.org/madnessAndMonotheism.html

Friday, March 24, 2006 entry in her Secular Avatar blog
Omerta violated by the realists!:
Divestment fear and loathing at both ends of Mass Ave
www.secularavatar.blogspot.com/,

and now, Wed, April 5, 2006 3:41am in her Secular Avatar blog
This just in: Huck Finn pro-Palestinian Terrorist!:
Religion Trumps Real Estate Laws!
www.secularavatar.blogspot.com/

      This last little “joke” ends with the cryptic remark:
“–Dialogue from Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer Abroad, NY, 1984.
Published a full three years before Herzl’s First Zionist Congress in Basle.”

      Thank God she read your great 28 Mar 2006 article in Counterpunch,

God’s Torturers: From Torquemada to Opus Dei
Torture Works
www.counterpunch.com/garcia03282006.html

and then wrote you. Otherwise I’d not have known about her stuff. And she writes with great good humour, like Joe Bageant, whose 19 Dec 2005 piece takes off as follows:

What the ‘Left Behind’ Series Really Means
A Whore That Sitteth on Many Waters

“Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and a yawning chasm opened in the earth, stretching far and wide enough to swallow all of them. They tumbled in, howling and screeching, but their wailing was soon quashed and all was silent when the earth closed itself again.”
    — From Glorious Appearing by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

“The best thing about the Left Behind books is the way the non-Christians get their guts pulled out by God.”
    — 15-year old fundamentalist fan of the Left Behind series

At www.joebageant.com/joe/2005/12/what_the_left_b.html, it’s not written for the brie-and-chablis crowd. Ya don’t gotta know where Mass Ave is ta read Joe <> ‘n git wot he means.

      So hang in Manuel, we need you.
Warmly, and with best wishes,
George
P.S. I’m going to send this out to my entire e-mail distribution list tonight (around 1,400 addresses) when the Univ of Mass-Boston let’s me do it — during the low activity time — because many people ought to know about, and read Miller, Bageant, and Garcia. And, if you want to comment, or post an article related to the Mearsheimer-Walt controversy on my blog, just go to pwgd.org/gs/category/the-jewish-israeli-lobby/ and do so. I’d prefer you do that rather than write comments to me, unless of course you want to write personal comments.

---

If your want me to add or remove your name from my
e-mail distribution list, please let me know

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 6th, 2006 at 3:09 pm and is filed under The Jewish-Israeli Lobby. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.