Worrying about exactly how many Israelis were killed on October 7, or exactly how many Palestinians have been killed since, is a bit like debating whether the Holocaust killed six million, seven, or only five. Let’s just say that ’39… Read More ›
Palestinians
NATURAL KINDS
Every more than once in a while I get to teach a course in whatever I happen to be thinking about. And so I get to con those students foolish enough to take the course into helping me think about… Read More ›
ELEVEN DAYS IN MAY
More people died on American highways the week before 9/11 than in those two towers. But how much has been spent on guardrails compared to so-called homeland security? Does this show that Americans care less about their loved ones being… Read More ›
JEWS, THE SHOAH, AND IDENTITY POLITICS (July 18, 2017)
There’s not a whole lot that’s special about us Jews. Yes, we do celebrate Easter by drinking the blood of a Christian baby, preferably one still wet from the baptismal fount. But other than that we’re pretty much like everyone… Read More ›
THE BDS MOVEMENT AND THE SHUNNER’S DILEMMA
Since I’m old enough to remember the Peloponnesian Wars, I can certainly remember that it wasn’t Canadians refusing to buy South African wine that brought an end to Apartheid. It was that Apartheid was no longer sustainable on its own… Read More ›
ON LIKENING GAZA TO THE WARSAW GHETTO
Academics sometimes use words in ways that may not correspond to how they’re used among the hoi polloi. For example, I’d have thought that to discriminate means to ascertain a difference and act accordingly. But among the unwashed it means… Read More ›
ISRAEL’S NEW NATION STATE LAW
Eighty-three years after the National Socialist government of Germany passed the Nuremberg Race Laws in 1935, the Zionist government of Israel has decided to follow suit. It wasn’t inevitable, but perhaps predictable. Eighty-three years is a long time to hope… Read More ›