December 27, 2012

In-depth

Are the Palestinians Ready to Share a State With Jordan?

Mahmoud Abbas is weighing a different approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which could end the stagnation, writes Daoud Kuttab in the Atlantic. 

The idea of Jordan having a greater role in Palestine is attractive for various parties. With the Israelis claiming that the Palestinians might repeat the Gaza rocket problem if they withdraw from the West Bank, the idea of a Jordanian security role in the West Bank can defuse such Israeli concerns. A role for Jordan in Palestine would be publicly acceptable in Israel, where the Hashemite enjoy consistent respect among everyday Israelis. Americans would also find such an idea easier to deal with if talks ever return. And even among Palestinians who are unhappy with the PLO and its failures to end the Israeli occupation, any process that can end Israeli presence in Palestinian territories is welcome — even if that is replaced, temporarily, by an Arab party, whether it is Jordan or any other member of the Arab league.

The Myth of American Meritocracy

This fantastic article on Ivy League admission quotas by Ron Unz at the American Conservative is from last month, and we just read it. There are many reasons for reading it, and concern for Jewish life in America is at the top of the list. Fair warning: it is very long and will take along time to read – but it's worth every minute. 

…the population of American Jews has been approximately constant in numbers, and aging along with the rest of the white population, leading to a sharp decline in the national proportion of college- age Jews, falling from 2.6 percent in 1972 and 2.2 per- cent in 1992 to just 1.8 percent in 2012. Nevertheless, total Jewish enrollment at elite universities has held constant or actually increased, indicating a large rise in relative Jewish admissions. In fact, if we aggregate the reported enrollment figures, we discover that 4 percent of all college-age American Jews are currently enrolled in the Ivy League, compared to just 1 percent of Asians and about 0.1 percent of whites of Christian background.

 

Daily Digest

• Times of Israel: Ya'alon hints US preparing attack option in Syria
• Haaretz: Iran: Nuclear agency can inspect Parchin if threats of Israeli attacks defused
• Jerusalem Post: Far-rightists confront Zoabi in court, clash with security
• Ynet: Prosecution set to file harsher charges against Lieberman
• New York Times: Don’t Let Pro-Israel Extremists Sink Chuck Hagel
• Washington Post: Top Syrian military figure defects to opposition
• Wall Street Journal: Egypt's Constitutional Disorder

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