Ariel Sharon

My dad's real smart, even if he doesn't agree with me on my Middle East politics, and a couple weeks ago he said something that stuck. He was saying that Jimmy Carter's book is a sign of rising anti-Semitism (something I disagree with), a sign we're entering a new phase for Jewish power in the U.S. That the result of Carter's book and Walt-Mearsheimer and other developments that I cheer and my dad fears is that Jews will have less power. I said, "So are you talking about pogroms?" My father made a little face. He's very poetical and ironical. "No. Without fireworks."

Not to belabor the obvious, but my father was saying that these big sociological questions are going to be brokered and renegotiated beneath the surface, quietly, and Jews and gentiles will adjust to a new reality. Smart guy, my dad.

I bring all this up because I just watched Obama in Springfield. You can prepare all you want for a big moment, but then the moment happens, and we're all changed. I'm excited. And I have to think one of the consequences of Obama's globally democratic dream is that, without it being explicit, without his having a fight with big Jewish backers—without fireworks—U.S. policy in the Middle East is going to shift.

I'm an optimist. But I think what's happening right now in the Jewish community is part of it. Jews are being forced to confront the contradictions in Zionism (as playwright David Zellnik says, describing his play, "Ariel Sharon Stands at the Temple Mount and Dreams of Theodor Herzl"). Despite the AJC's best efforts, all Jews are Wrestling With Zion (to quote the title of Alisa Solomon and Tony Kushner's great anthology on the subject that the AJC attacked). This is the water we're all swimming in now, questions about Zionism; and I'm betting that without fireworks, the next generation of Jews is going to think differently about this, the ground is changing under them.

I'll cite one little fact that I think makes my point. In a Zionist history I was reading the other day, I read that the purchases of land in Palestine by Jewish agencies in the early part of the last century had covenants on them. The covenants said, This land can only be sold to Jews. (When I remember the citation, I'll stick it in.) Those covenants still exist, I'm sure. You can try and justify that type of discrimination in a million ways, but there it is. Real estate covenants barring sales to blacks and Jews are what my generation helped destroy in this country 30 years ago. Obama was borne up on that idealism, and his campaign is about bringing that idealism to America's actions in the world. He's half-everything, right? The ideology of Zionism is simply out of step with that spirit, and if Obama succeeds, Zionism will lose its hold on Jewish-American intellectual life. Without fireworks.

A book about Jewishness by the playwright David Mamet, you might expect it to be personal, even conf  read more »

Rudy Giuliani is ramping up his web presence - ostensibly for the benefit of the raft of Republican candidates he's supporting in this year's congressional elections.

From a recent "Dear Friend" email calling attention to the launch of his new site:

I am pleased to tell you that my new web site, SolutionsAmerica.com, was launched at a successful fundraising event in New York City last Tuesday night.

With the 2006 elections coming up, I urge you to sign-up on the web site to stay informed about my efforts to support strong Republican candidates in competitive races around the country.

The candidates he's helped will no doubt be gratified that their political benefactor has yet another tool at his disposal.  read more »

But if Giuliani were thinking about running for something himself - say, in 2008 - the photo gallery provides a pretty neat encapsulation of his sales pitch: loyal Reagan Republican (with Ronald and Nancy), friend of Israel (with Ariel Sharon), moderate ally of not-so-moderate conservatives (with Santorum), international statesman (with Gorbachev), 9/11 hero and, not insignificantly, loving husband.

A couple weeks back a guy named David Zellnik emailed me, asking me to come see a reading of his play: "Ariel Sharon Stands at the Temple Mount and Dreams of Theodor Herzl." What a title! So crazily, breathtakingly ambitious—I knew I had to go.

I was blown away. Last Thursday, the Epic Theatre Center staged a reading and "talkback" at the Beckett Theater on 42d Street, and I confess I was crying at its savage conclusion. Zellnik's play seems to me important as an artistic signal of change—the criticism of Israel that is mounting among young progressive Jews.

But first: what the hell is it?  read more »

Ariel Sharon pauses at the gate of life and death.  read more »

Write your own Thomas Friedman column!1.  read more »

At this moment, the revived Middle East peace process is already colliding with what are politely ca  read more »

In Jewish political life, there are little Jews and big Jews.  read more »

On a recent afternoon, the telephone rang in Oriana Fallaci's Manhattan townhouse.  read more »

For a speech that inspired great internal debate among his aides, George W.  read more »

Every day seems to bring forth another newspaper ad expressing solidarity with Israel.  read more »

As these words are written, Ariel Sharon is literally destroying the Palestinian Authority and appea  read more »

Disappointed, yes; surprised, no. Grieving, yes; angry, yes. Defeated, no.  read more »