It’s fitting that Omri Ceren is just a dissertation away from having a doctorate in communication. The author of Mere Rhetoric—a blog popular with Republican Jews that deals mainly with American foreign policy, Israel and anti-Semitism in the Muslim world—Ceren is a many of many words.
Throughout the campaign Ceren blogged with concern about the prospect of Barack Obama winning, and as Obama earned a seemingly insurmountable lead during the final weeks of October, Ceren became a bit more of a prophet of doom then usual. The day before the election he churned out an epic post titled “70 Percent Of American Jews Ready To Say “We Didn’t Know” When Obama Detonates US-Israel Alliance (Plus: They Most Definitely Know).”
In the end, Obama actually received 78 percent of the Jewish vote. It turned out Ceren had undershot.
Though he comes from a very different place on the political spectrum than Philip Weiss, Ceren bases his feelings about Obama’s plans from Israel on the same premises. For Ceren they cause fear, for Weiss excitement. Coincidentally, I disagree with both of them and think Obama won’t be all carrot and no stick with rogue nations and will stay the course, for lack of a better expression, on U.S.-Israel relations.
Over the weekend I e-mailed Ceren a handful of questions about Obama, the president-elect’s fans in unfriendly Muslim countries and the path to peace. His responses are after the jump; like I said, he’s never at a loss for words:
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