http://blog.dennisfox.net Political and Personal Observations Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:06:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Last weekend I took part for the first time in an annual local event, Brookline Artists' Open Studios. My BAOS blurb said this: "Photography from abstracts to photojournalism, recent Israel/Palestine focus." In addition to the more-typical art-lovers who wandered by, a number of visitors told me they were drawn by ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/04/17/showing-israelpalestine-photos/ I left the hyperbolic "First International Academic Conference on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Pathways to Peace" halfway through its second day. The conference had its positive moments. I met a few interesting people, but only a couple whose political take on things left them as frustrated as I was. For the ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/03/30/frustrating-israelpalestine-conference/ Presented at the "First International Academic Conference on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Pathways to Peace" - New Britain, Connecticut, March 2008. I have previously discussed my hesitations about whether to attend this conference. The next posting describes my post-conference frustrations. This paper is also posted on my website. -------------- Academic Objectivity, Political Neutrality, and Other ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/03/30/objectivity-and-neutrality-barriers-to-israeli-palestinian-reconciliation/ In a piece in Haaretz on factionalization among Israel's religious parties, Avirama Golan touches on the Jewish State/democratic state issue: This rift is reflected in a key issue that has sharpened since the disengagement, but whose roots go back to Gush Emunim: respect for the state. Growing segments of the religious ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/02/06/israeli-religous-right-splintering/ I submitted this to the Brookline TAB in response to Skip Sesling's attack on my column last week about Joel Kovel's talk. The editor declined to publish it. So here it is. ------------------ Skip Sesling’s op-ed last week recycles old personal attacks about my efforts to make sense of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/01/25/let%e2%80%99s-keep-criticism-honest/ I spent my time on the subway to this afternoon's demonstration in opposition to the closure of Gaza reading about the toppling of the wall separating Gaza's Rafah from Egypt's Rafah. This has gotten a lot of coverage since Hamas, apparently, decided to unilaterally devise a way for Gaza's increasingly ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/01/24/todays-boston-demo-to-oppose-gaza-closure/ Today's Brookline TAB has a couple of letters to the editor blasting my op-ed last week about Joel Kovel's planned talk at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. There's also a column by former Brookline Selectman Skip Sesling, which has begun to generate its own comments, all supportive of him so far, ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/01/24/quick-kovel-reaction-update/ Joel Kovel's talk last night at Brookline's Coolidge Corner Theatre mostly filled the 200+ person upper theater. Seeing his name and the title of his book on the marquee - Overcoming Zionism - must have really annoyed many town residents here in the heart of town.The entrance is to the ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/01/23/kovel-at-the-coolidge/ My posting the other day about Joel Kovel's impending talk in Brookline, Massachusetts, generated several emails, all but one from appreciative friends. Two critical readers responded on the website of the Brookline TAB, where my op-ed was posted. Rather than repeat all the TAB comments, you can read them here. The ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/01/19/responses-to-kovel-posting/ Op-Ed in Today's Brookline TAB, titled "Is Brookline Ready to Rethink Israel-Palestine?" ----------- Here in Brookline we love controversy. From Town Meeting to the weekly TAB to school classrooms, we disagree publicly, and usually respectfully enough, about issues large and small -- parking rules and sidewalk snow, high-stakes testing and racial profiling, ... http://blog.dennisfox.net/index.php/archives/2008/01/17/joel-kovel-comes-to-town/