Shots In The Dark: W&M in the Times of London

Friday, September 07, 2007

W&M in the Times of London

The Israel Lobby was reviewed a few days ago in the Times of London, and thanks to a poster, I'm just now seeing the review, by Max Hastings.....

Its argument is readily summarised. The authors support Israel’s right to exist. But they are dismayed by America’s unconditional support for its governments’ policies, including vast sums of cash aid for which there is no plausible accounting process. They reject the view articulated as a mantra by all modern American presidents (and 2008 presidential candidates) that Israel and America share common values, and their national interests march hand in hand.

For Europeans, all this adds up to a bleak picture. Only America might be capable of inducing the government of Israel to moderate its behaviour, and it will not try. Washington gives Jerusalem a blank cheque, and all of us in some degree pay a price for Israel’s abuses of it.

This is the first positive review I've seen...

¶ 2:24 PM

Comments:

MJ Rosenberg also has good, balanced things to say on the topic over the Israel Policy Forum; see here.

# posted by Anonymous : September 7, 2007 8:48 PM

Yes, and good in that it doesn't immediately default, as you, Richard, did in your first post, to the "Is the book anti-semitic?" question - a definite discussion-stopper.

# posted by Anonymous : September 7, 2007 10:45 PM

Two unrelated points:

1) There's more grist for Richard's favorite "Why does no one blog at Harvard?" mill. It seems the president of Wesleyan has started a blog at roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu/.

2) This blog was far better when we weren't greeted every other day with "Look, something neat in 02138!" I suppose you gotta pay the bills somehow.

# posted by Anonymous : September 7, 2007 11:18 PM

11:18 PM, I don't get 02138...I'm not a Harvard alumni and am not likely to get a subscription to read a magazine that is primarily about things Harvard, So, since Richard works there, and is willing to share items that may be of interest to others... I happen to enjoy them. Don't be such a grouch! Make the blog better yourself...

lmpaulsen

# posted by Anonymous : September 8, 2007 2:18 AM

I too think the quality of this blog has significantly declined since about last May. It's just not interesting visiting here anymore. Not sure that to attribute this to. The timing seems to coincide with Richard's joining the 02138 team. Or perhaps it's the completion of his book. Or maybe the summer.

Maybe Richard has an indicator of number of visitors to this view and can confirm whether in fact they have gone down.

# posted by Anonymous : September 8, 2007 6:52 AM

6:52: I disagree that the quality of this blog has deteriorated. Unless of course you miss the Harvard president drama and speculation...which consumed the blog prior to May.

and 11:18: Most of the readers I am guessing are Harvard grads or at least interested in Harvard, and c'mon, give RB a break, he is the exec editor of the mag. No foul with plugging it and for those of us whom have no interest in subscribing (sorry!), we don't mind the references.

# posted by Anonymous : September 8, 2007 12:27 PM

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