Bernard Avishai

Israel Palestine flags (wikimedia)

Bernard Avishai on the “right of return” and other rights

Professor and author Bernard Avishai published an article in Harper’s Magazine that sparked a +972 debate on Zionism. Here, in a post that originally appeared on his blog, he responds to some of the charges against his positions that have since been sounded in the blogosphere. By Bernard Avishai At bottom, the question my Harper’s piece…

By +972 Magazine December 4, 2011

+972 readers weigh in on Zionism debate

A critique of an article by a noted liberal Zionist leads to an interesting debate about Zionism. In the polarized world of debate about Israel/Palestine, certain terms have acquired such strong connotations that an honest and factual discussion of important issues is almost at a standstill. From the family dinner table to college campus throughout…

By Joseph Dana November 28, 2011

A sad commentary on the state of liberal Zionist discourse

Recent work by authors Bernard Avishai and Gershom Gorenberg reflect the inability of liberal Zionist champions to engage in an honest debate about the core issues of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The noted liberal Zionist writer, Bernard Avishai, has a longish piece on the Palestinian Right of Return (RoR) in this month’s edition of Harper’s Magazine…

By Joseph Dana November 27, 2011

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BDS t-shirt (photo: Flickr / :::mediActivista:::)

Rebecca Vilkomerson thinks that BDS is both legitimate and effective

Earlier this week, an Israeli security company named Hashmira has announced it will stop supplying equipment to the West Bank. Hashmira is owned by Danish giant G4S, which was under considerable pressure due to its projects in Israel. This was another success for the boycott campaign, which seems to gain momentum, especially when it targets…

By Noam Sheizaf March 17, 2011

Israeli liberals are not the right audience for anti-occupation activists

Bernard Avishai thinks that BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanction) is mostly ineffective, and so do I. But our reasoning is not only different – it actually relies on completely opposite premises about the role of liberal and cosmopolitan elites in Israeli society. This is the first in a series of posts about those elites. Bernard…

By Roi Maor March 16, 2011

Graffiti "Wall=Landgrab," Abu Dis, September 2005 (Photo: Bright Tal (Political)/Flickr)

At J-Street, new terms describe Israeli reality

It's time to start calling things by their real name, and finding the language to describe Israel as it is today - and how we'd like it to be in the future.

By Dahlia Scheindlin March 2, 2011

Please, no more peace plans

The Israeli leadership wants to hold on to the status-quo, the Palestinian leadership is split, and the US discovers the limits of its power. Under these circumstances, the problem is not the lack of solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the absence of political forces that could implement them. A response to Bernard Avishai Some…

By Noam Sheizaf February 13, 2011

The flames of the Carmel fire seen on the backround of the town of Nesher (photo: grebulon/flickr)

Carmel scapegoats III: the meaning of responsibility

The settlers and the ultra-orthodox are not the cause for Israel’s collapsing public services. The professional middle class, which considers itself a “silent majority” of “responsible citizens” but is quite the opposite, should take a hard look in the mirror. This is the third and final installment in a series of posts, examining arguments, which…

By Roi Maor December 17, 2010

Carmel fire scapegoats, part II: the settlements

The settlements are a moral and practical disaster, but they are the symptom rather than the cause of Israel’s ills. This is the second in a series of three posts, examining arguments, which have resurfaced following the Carmel fire, that assign the blame for Israel’s problems to the ultra-orthodox or the settlements. To read the…

By Roi Maor December 9, 2010