Monthly Archives: July 2014

Postscript to Marc Ellis: End of Jewish Ethical History

Posted on July 31, 2014 by zjb

Maybe this much needs explaining about my recent repost of the Marc Ellis “Amira Hass and the End of Jewish Ethical History.” The part that I agree with has to do with the claim regarding the end of Jewish ethics … Continue reading →

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The End Of Jewish Ethical History (Marc Ellis & Amira Haas)

Posted on July 31, 2014 by zjb

I almost always find myself disagreeing with Marc Ellis about Israel and Palestine, but when I do find myself in agreement with him it seems to happen in a deep way. Here’s a piece he wrote here for Mondoweiss. For … Continue reading →

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A Letter to A Liberal Friend (Not in His Name –Nitzan Lebovic)

Posted on July 30, 2014 by zjb

Friend and colleague Nitzan Lebovic responded sharply and to the point about my (Not) In My Name blog post from the other day. He sent two long posts to me at the Jewish Philosophy Facebook page, and has agreed to … Continue reading →

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(Anti-Zionism) Affect (Anti-Semitism)

Posted on July 29, 2014 by zjb

About to step into it one step deeper, I want to address what I think is a fundamental ambiguity at play about Israel and Judaism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Semitism that makes its discourse and politics almost impossible to control or contain. On … Continue reading →

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(Not) In My Name (Israel)

Posted on July 28, 2014 by zjb

A meme going around Jewish left circles has the speaker declare that the State of Israel and/or the war in Gaza and/or the State of Israel and Zionism are “not in my name.” It’s an interesting phrase, one that goes … Continue reading →

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Asymmetry (Power Aesthetics) (Gaza 2014)

Posted on July 27, 2014 by zjb

What troubles a lot of people politically and morally about the unrolling events in Gaza and Israel has to do with the basic asymmetry. The social and governmental and military hardware, the physical destruction, and the human misery are completely … Continue reading →

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Jews & Muslims Refuse to be Enemies (Yakir Englander)

Posted on July 25, 2014 by zjb

I’m tired of posting about war, fighting, killing, death, and the hateful polemics and arrogant apologetics about them. In that spirit, I’m sharing a piece by Yakir Englander that appeared in ISLAMiCommentary out of Duke University. Yakir writes about a group … Continue reading →

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2 Self-Righteous Israeli Men (Gaza 2014)

Posted on July 24, 2014 by zjb

I thought this looked funny. As if arguing only with each other, two well-known columnists for Haaretz represent the the center-left and left-left old guard Ashkenazi elite. One man is just as self-righteous, just as macho and aggressive as the … Continue reading →

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Everyone Has the Right (Gaza 2014)

Posted on July 24, 2014 by zjb

Everyone talks about rights. Who’s right? Who has the right to do what? Without a lot of reasoning for now, here’s how I’m figuring it. Pretty much, each party to the conflict between Hamas and Israel is acting more or less … Continue reading →

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(Note to My Friends) Politics & Power (Gaza 2014)

Posted on July 23, 2014 by zjb

Apologies to my friends. Even though I should know better, years of reading Nietzsche as a young person and then Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation” in graduate school have made me cynical and bitter about all moral claims in relation … Continue reading →

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