Displaying posts tagged with

“brief”

Sep
8
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 20 comments

AJN 3 – John Searle: A Very Bizarre Suggestion

John Searle’s commentary on the community survey (AJN 15) is a study in how to say as little as possible in 800 words. One brief section, however, demands attention.
Along with the expected motherhood statements that pepper his piece, Searle also indulges in frantic dissimulation.
To give the appearance of responsive governance, Searle concedes that certain areas [...]

Aug
12
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 18 comments

Tread Carefully, Dear Leaders: John Pilger Has Won The Sydney Peace Prize

Tread carefully, dear leaders.
Remember that you are unelected representatives of Australian Jewry.
Remember that according to an AJN poll, 95% of respondents felt you are not representative of us or our interests.
Remember that your lack of mandate does not diminish the damage you can cause us.
Remember the Hanan Ashrawi Peace Prize affair. It gave birth to [...]

Jun
25
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 16 comments

Loewenstein: Why Bother?

Antony Loewenstein has provided fodder for this blog on a number of occasions. Some of our readers have asked whether writing about Loewenstein serves any function, or indeed, whether such posts provide him with oxygen or legitimacy.
Let me state for the record: I have no personal beef with Mr Loewenstein. I met him once, quite [...]

Jun
19
2009
Life By Alex Fein | Comments turned off

Shabbat Shalom Redux

A very brief, but still heartfelt Shabbat Shalom to all our readers.
As always, The Sensible Jew will break for the Sabbath, but feel free to peruse and comment on the day of rest if that is what relaxes you. We cannot guarantee such activities’ Halachic bona fides, however.
We will return on Sunday and look forward [...]

Jun
15
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 49 comments

Talking Tachles 2: In Defence of the Right to Responsive Representation and Transparency

In the first post in this series, we asked a number of questions regarding representation, legitimacy and transparency. Some of the responses  touched on themes such as apathy and whether there is indeed any “right” to representation at all.
Firstly, a  straw man has been created in the suggestion that we are somehow disciples of Joseph [...]

Jun
3
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 19 comments

The Sensible Jew Salutes Antony Loewenstein.

Sometimes, we all need a bit of light relief. The Sensible Jew therefore  salutes Antony Loewenstein for providing us with a very silly blog piece about Israel.
Mr. Loewenstein begins with a horrifying description of some bad amateur theatrics in which Israeli leaders at a Birthright programme play the part of Palestinians and then try to [...]

May
27
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 22 comments

Reader Response 7: Responding to our Non/Anti-Zionist Readers

The Sensible Jew has received two comments from two separate readers over the last 24 hours. These readers have in common a non- or anti-Zionist perspective. We think it is important that we address some of their questions/statements.
Reader, Gustavm, writes “You need to address “the elephant in the room” which you seem to want to [...]

May
26
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 5 comments

A Brief Comment on Numbers

Before today, the greatest number of visitors to this site was (the very Jewish) 613, on May 22. That particular spike occurred on the day on which we posted about Colin Rubenstein vs David Langsam, and the AJN’s coverage of the protests at the 8 minute play.
Today (May 26) we have had 761 unique visitors. [...]

May
21
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 7 comments

Reader Response 4: Coups, Town Halls, and the Reluctance to Comment

It would seem prudent to gather some momentum, and to get a feel for the common ground shared by all Jewish moderates before storming Beit Weizman.

While the last sentence is somewhat tongue in cheek, it does allude to an idea that emerged at The Sensible Jew: what do people think of an open meeting, to which all Melbourne Jews are welcome, in which we could ask the leaders of the ZFA, ECAJ, AIJAC, and other bodies some questions regarding their recent media performance, and their claims to legitimate representation?

Would such a meeting do any good? Is it at all worthwhile? Are our institutions so rotten that attempting to graft democratic elements onto them would be futile? If so, by what mechanisms could an alternative leadership be established?

May
20
2009
Opinion By Alex Fein | 6 comments

Reader Response 3: Media and Anti-Semitism

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series reader response

Firstly, the observation has been made on more than one occasion that there are genuine anti-Semites (some of whom are Jewish) active in the media. The Sensible Jew believes that this point is moot. Apart from the impossibility of determining exactly which journalists and editors are indeed anti-Semitic, we must acknowledge that certain people with various ideological agendas will always abuse their positions in the media. Such people cannot be “rooted out.”

← Older Posts