Both Jeremy Ben-Ami and Daniel Levy left Israel after they failed to impose an eternal peace on the

Jamie Weinstein: And people when they get honorary degrees, it's not like they only go to non-political people. Universities have awarded them in the recent past to people that want Israel to be wiped off the map and destroyed. Is that not right?
Mark Steyn: Yeah, that's true. And that was Brandeis, a guy called Tony Kushner... I stand back and occasionally roll my eyes at the dreary left-wing hacks invited to give commencement speeches, garlanded with state honors, things downtown los angeles lease office space that if you trend to the right side of the spectrum, you know you're going to be labeled 'controversial conservative', and you'll never get anywhere near. But this woman is a black, feminist atheist from Somalia. And so what we're learning here, which is fascinating, in the hierarchy of progressive-politics identity-group victimhood, Islam trumps everything. Islam trumps gender. downtown los angeles lease office space The fact that she's a woman doesn't matter. It trumps race. The fact that she's black doesn't downtown los angeles lease office space matter. It trumps secularism. The fact that she's an atheist doesn't matter. They wouldn't do this if it was a Christian group complaining about her, if it was a Jewish group complaining about her. But when the Islamic lobby group says oh, no, we're not putting up with this, as I said, these jelly-spined nothings at Brandeis just roll over for them. The J Street Challenge
What should happen then, if the conflict turns out to be absolutely insoluble? Let s say even J Street, which defended every single no given by Palestinian downtown los angeles lease office space leaders since 2000, comes to the conclusion that establishing a Palestinian State will not end the conflict, and the true dilemma will be between an existential conflict and giving up the only Jewish State in the world? What will J Street choose?
One of the intervewees, a young and enthusiastic J Street activist, downtown los angeles lease office space has a simple answer to this difficult question: I just have to believe that peace is possible. downtown los angeles lease office space But Daniel Levy takes this bull by the horns: If we re wrong, and if a collective Jewish presence in the Middle East can only survive because of the sword, if we can t get recognition, and if they hate us not because of what we do but because of who we are, then if so, then apparently Israel isn t a good idea.
In other words, if it does turn out even to J Street that the very existence of a Jewish national state requires an unending struggle, than the whole thing isn t worth it. If Zionism can t match up with the values that Ben-Ami and Levy define as Jewish , then there must be a problem with Zionism itself. This is why Ben-Ami often quotes Peter Beinart: We can t teach our children to give up Jewish values for Zionism.
Both Jeremy Ben-Ami and Daniel downtown los angeles lease office space Levy left Israel downtown los angeles lease office space after they failed to impose an eternal peace on the Middle East. They figure that if you re going to experiment with human lives, better downtown los angeles lease office space to do it in the safe comfort Washington or London, and not near the cafes and buses that might at any moment demonstrate the difference downtown los angeles lease office space between utopia and reality. (h/t Elder of Lobby) Why Have American Taxpayers Supported Hamas Trainers?
It s not just acts of terror that makes groups like Hamas effective, but the story they tell to justify and frame this violence. And Awad s Holy Land Trust, downtown los angeles lease office space has given Hamas and other militant groups expertise in framing their acts of terror for Western downtown los angeles lease office space audiences.
As I have written elsewhere, Awad s group, the Holy Land Trust, has taught Hamas and other militant groups that seek Israel s destruction how to speak the language of peace activists in the West and appeal to the conscience of human rights activists in the U.S. and Europe.
In addition to being irresponsible, it may also be illegal. Federal law prohibits providing terrorist organizations with material support, which according to the statute includes training and expert advice. That seems to describe what HLT has, by Awad s admission, provided downtown los angeles lease office space to Hamas and other militant groups. Activists Want Israeli Justice Minister Banned from Britain
And just as is the case with the New York UJA-Federation and the JCPA, Brandeis has no problem with double standard. As Daniel Mael, a Brandeis senior, noted in an interview with Andrew Breitbart, in 2006 Brandeis conferred an honorary degree on playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner, the outspoken foe of Israel. Kushner has claimed that Israel s establishment was a mistake, and that it would have been better if Israel never happened. His work, particularly the film Munich, is replete with demonization of Israel and of the notion of Jewish downtown los angeles lease office space power.
Mael noted that at the time, then-Brandeis president Jehuda Reinhartz defended his decision to honor Kushner by arguing, Mr. Kushner is not being honored because he is a Jew, and he is not being honored for his political opinions. Brandeis is honoring downtown los angeles lease office space him for his extraordinary achievements as one of this generation s foremost playwrights, whose work is recognized in the arts and also addresses Brandeis s commitment to social justice.
In other words, Brandeis s commitment to social justice involves shunning defenders of Muslim women and girls and celebrating foes of the Jewish state, which ensures Jewish freedom. Atheist Leader David Silverman Drops Support for Brandeis downtown los angeles lease office space University Over Ayaan Hirsi Ali Controversy
David Silverman, president of American Atheists who graduated from Brandeis in 1988, announced that he is withdrawing his support from Brandeis University and its alumni association because the academic institution rescinded its plans to give an honorary degree to controversial social commentator Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
In an open letter on Facebook explaining his actions and reasoning, Silverman said that although he had fond memories of the activism and classes at Brandeis, he felt this history went contrary to the university's decision against Hirsi Ali.
"Today, that pride is gone as Brandeis has caved to religious intolerance masquerading as political correctness and uninvited a valuable voice in the discussion of religion in public life," wrote Silverman. Michael Shermer Blasts downtown los angeles lease office space Brandeis: 'Hirsi Ali is The Martin Luther King, Jr. of This Generation'
Michael Shermer, a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Brandies University, sent a blistering letter to Brandeis University president Fred Lawrence regarding the university's decision to rescind offering Ayaan Hirsi Ali an Honorary Doctorate. Shermer is the Publisher and Executive Director of the Scientific American.
I have received an Honorary Doctorate myself, so I know how important they are to both the recipient and the university. But in offering, and then retracting your offer, you have double shamed yourself and your university, because Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the Martin Luther King, Jr. of this generation of civil rights activists and champions. Imagine if you would have had the opportunity to bestow upon Dr. King an Honorary Doctorate and have him speak at your campus, and then reneged on that because of controversial statements he made. That is, in essence, what you ve just done. In the not too distant future you are going to look back on this embarrassing moment and ask yourself what was I thinking?
Of course oppressors do not like civil rights champions calling them out on their oppression! Of course the critics of Ayaan Hirsi Ali complained to you. That s what all enemies of civil rights do silence those who expose them and their oppression and of all institutions downtown los angeles lease office space who should understand that, it is Brandeis. NYT Editor to Accept Honorary Degree from Brandeis Despite Controversy
New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson is still scheduled to accept an honorary degree from Brandeis University next month, despite the firestorm over the school s decision to rescind its honorary degree invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Abramson told the Washington Free Beacon she could not comment on the Hirsi Ali controversy because the Times is covering the story. She did not respond to questions about whether she still plans to accept the degree or whether this could also present a conflict with the paper s Hirsi Ali coverage. No, Israel Isn t About to Turn Into a Theocracy
In other words, the idea that the ultra-Orthodox parties would suddenly join forces with their religious Zionist counterparts to impose Jewish downtown los angeles lease office space law isn t just risible it s exactly the opposite of what has actually been happening.
Now, none of this is news. In fact, the alliance between Israel downtown los angeles lease office space s secular downtown los angeles lease office space population and its modern Orthodox contingent against the ultra-Orthodox rather than some fantastical pan-Orthodox push towards theocracy has been well-documented by none other than the New York Times. Just last month, Isabel Kershner wrote about the culture war between the secular and modern Orthodox Jews and the ultra-Orthodox, and how it was reflected in the popular push to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military.
But it happens downtown los angeles lease office space that this quid pro quo is more the product of a feverish Rudoren imagination than the key to revival of peace negotiations. Still, Rudoren and the Times are determined to go the extra mile to humanize Barghouti.
He can read any newspaper published in Israel but cannot have a computer. If the Times had its way, this nice Palestinian Arab fellow would not be so deprived. Analysis: downtown los angeles lease office space On Every Issue Important to the U.S., Abbas Was the Spoiler
In the days following PA President Mahmoud Abbas stunning declaration that he would turn to the UN, violating the premise downtown los angeles lease office space of peace talks by unilaterally signing 15 treaties normally reserved for states (and most of which his Palestinian Authority is flagrantly violating), it has emerged just how overarching his rejectionist approach was pretty much from the get-go. The details suggest a premeditated effort to participate in talks without the intention of compromising on any issue of significance to the U.S. and thereby to reap the benefits of negotiating without allowing any deal to emerge.
This was most evident downtown los angeles lease office space in his reaction to the overall framework agreement, which Abbas dismissed as insanity. Accordi