Monthly Archives: September 2014

Little White Church Vernacular Architecture (Manlius Center, New York)

Posted on September 23, 2014 by zjb

Scouring the internet finds zero information about Manlius Point, New York. East of Syracuse and north of the towns of Fayetteville and Manlius, the diminutive Manlius Point was a way station on the Erie Canal. There’s not much left, except … Continue reading →

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Conversation Hasbara (Israel on Campus)

Posted on September 22, 2014 by zjb

This bit from the Times of Israel, which you can read here, gives an indication about the future of the discourse about Israel on campus to be served up by Hillel International and the Jewish Agency. There’s a related blog linked … Continue reading →

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Clinton Square (Syracuse)

Posted on September 21, 2014 by zjb

Big banks and a Soldier and Sailors Monument stamp public, civic space in downtown Syracuse. Massive and monumental in style, the banks were built in the last decade or two of the 19th century, straddling the Erie Canal as it … Continue reading →

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Erie Canal Walk

Posted on September 20, 2014 by zjb

Once a great engine, hauling goods from New York to Buffalo through Syracuse and back, the Erie Canal has been repurposed as a site for recreation, a green lung running through the Rust Belt.

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What’s A Liberal To Do? Don’t Sign This Petition Against BDS

Posted on September 19, 2014 by zjb

Not a lot, I recognize the names of a handful of Jewish Studies colleagues under this petition against BDS, i.e. against boycotting Israeli universities; not many, some of them are friends. The petition is based on the principles of academic freedom and a … Continue reading →

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After BDS — Jewish Studies Caucus

Posted on September 18, 2014 by zjb

Members of small groups or marginalized groups used to caucus when it was considered that there were concerns specific to the group that were not going to get aired outside the group. In Talmud group, the only ones who showed … Continue reading →

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What Polls: Liberal Zionist Hasbara By Frank Luntz

Posted on September 17, 2014 by zjb

I won’t tell you how I found this presentation, but here are the poll driven Hasbara talking-points developed by Frank Luntz: luntz-presentation-9-201. While I don’t have the energy to go through each single slide, the general impression is that the more typical knee-jerk, … Continue reading →

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A Kind of Community — Jews, Arabs, Palestine, Israel

Posted on September 17, 2014 by zjb

Community is a group with people you despise, defined by a common center of concern and care. Between the leftwing Israel-always-wrong crowd to the genocide wing of the Jewish right, the beautiful souls and the ugly Jews. But no matter … Continue reading →

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(After) The Status Quo In Israel and Palestine?

Posted on September 16, 2014 by zjb

As Larry Derfner writes here at +972, Israel seems to be settling back into the old status quo prior to what everyone is now calling the “war” in Gaza. It’s a depressing picture, to be sure, the idea that the … Continue reading →

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Jewish Studies-Israel Studies Questions about Middle East Scholars & Librarians Now Boycotting Israel

Posted on September 15, 2014 by zjb

In contrast to the more careful institutional approach by the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), 560 individual scholars and librarians, including leading scholars who study the Middle East have signed on to boycott “Israeli academic institutions.” The list of signatories … Continue reading →

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