Author:Ralph Seliger
I'm currently editor of this website. I was the final editor of "Israel Horizons" in its incarnation as a print magazine from 2003 until 2011 and I edited the Meretz USA (now Partners for Progressive Israel) Blog from its inception in 2006 until 2015. I've been an active supporter of the Zionist peace camp since 1982. Among other print and online platforms which I've written for: The Forward, Tikkun, The Daily Beast, In These Times, Jewish Week, New Jersey Jewish News, Jewish Currents, Huffington Post, Dissent.
Thanks for this thoughtful article Mr. Seliger. Although I don’t agree with Yossi Klein Halevi’s conservative leanings, I wish all right-wingers were like him. Usually, people on the left disparage him for insistng too much on the (traditional) Israeli narrative that makes little room for the Palestinian perspective. That said, he is a pluralist who respects the Palestinian narrative but he remains adamant that Israelis have a stronger moral case.
As for the NGOs he disparages, I think he goes too far. However, I’m really dissapointed to see that B’tselem refuses to say whehter Israel has the right to exist or not. They can’t ignore UN Security Council resolutions, especially since Hagai El-Ad chose this body [the Security Council] to call for sanctions on Israel because of its refusal to comply with international law.
You can’t defend international law and refuse to take a clear stand with regard to Israel’s right to exist. If Chomsky and Finkelstein can recognize Israel’s right to exist, El-Ad should be able to do so as well!
Shabbat Shalom,
Bernard Bohbot