Robin Messing

Dear Drs. West and Zogby,

Thank you for your magnificent job in trying to convince your fellow platform writers to embrace a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, your arguments did not persuade your fellow committee members and the national security of both Israel and the U.S. are endangered by their failure to heed your advice.  While your questions were powerful and accurate, there were a number of points that you did not raise that should be considered when deciding whether to acknowledge that Palestinians live under occupation. I therefore provide the following analysis in the hopes that it will help you convince your fellow platform committee members to modify the current draft recommendations on Israel and Palestine and to take a more balanced approach.  

Donald Trump's Achilles' heel is this: He is not worth nearly as much as he claims to be. I've been thinking about this for a while. It explains why he is such a charity cheapskate.

Do you remember when Donald Trump said he was so rich he can't be bought?

This was a great point of pride for Trump when he announced in June 2015 that he was running for President.

I don't need anybody's money. It's nice. I don't need anybody's money.

I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyists. I'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich. 

An Israeli solder shot and killed Abed Fatah al Sharif, a Palestinian "terrorist" last week in Hebron.  (The soldier's name has been kept secret under a gag order within Israel, but he has been identified in the Western media as Elor Azarya) That a soldier shot a "terrorist" in the West Bank is hardly news.  But this shooting was different.  It was caught on high definition video, and the "terrorist" was helpless  at the time he was shot.  See for yourself.

Those who read this blog probably know I'm not a big fan of Israel or its propaganda (hasbara).  I despise the settlements and the apartheid regime in the West Bank.  I dislike that Palestinians are treated like second class citizens even within the Green Line.  And I loathe how Israel and its supporters tried to sucker us into an unnecessary war with Iran by doing everything they could to sabotage the nuclear deal. 

A few days ago I wrote an article about an anti-free speech resolution pending before the University of California Board of Regents that would conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.  Unfortunately, the resolution passed.  Fortunately, it was watered down somewhat before it was passed.  I encourage you to read this article by Robert Mackey at the Intercept.

I am writing you to ask you to reject the resolution that states that “anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.”  As Jewish Voice for Peace points out, one can be against Zionist without being anti-Semitic.  Conflating the two is wrong and  will lead to an unacceptable infringement of free speech.

It’s hard not to love Neil deGrasse Tyson. I challenge you to listen to Star Talk Radio and not be impressed by his humor, his warmth, his humanity, his concern for society and the environment, and his ability to explain science.  That’s why I was shocked when I saw his tweet implying that those who oppose Trump are only doing so because they fear his followers.

People who are anti-Trump are actually anti-Trump supporters — they oppose free citizens voting for the @realDonaldTrump.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 13, 2016

Republicans are invoking the  Strom Thurmond rule  as an excuse to deny President Obama his right to appoint a Supreme Court Justice. They aren't even going through the pretense of waiting until Obama nominates a new Justice before saying they intend to shoot him down.  

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is getting serious about running for president as a third party candidate.  In January, three of his associates said that he might run to stop Donald Trump or Ted Cruz from becoming president. That is a noble ambition, but it would be a disaster if Bloomberg went through with it.