Washington Watch Articles From 2021
How Bush's Handling of 9/11 Made a Mess — at Home and Abroad
While first responders were still sifting through the rubble of the World Trade Center, the George W. Bush administration was laying the groundwork for domestic and foreign policies that put America on a dangerous path, with devastating impact on our country and the world.
Remembering 9/11
I will never forget the flood of emotions that I experienced on September 11, 2001, and the days that followed. If I've learned anything in my seven decades, it's that remembering is important.
Lessons From the Ben & Jerry's Boycott
Some expected that all hell would break loose when Ben & Jerry's, the ice cream company, announced that as of 2022 they would no longer license the sale of their products in occupied Palestinian territories.
The Impact of Afghanistan
During the past week, reporters representing foreign and domestic news outlets have asked me about the Biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Lebanon I Love Is Dying
A century ago, Gibran Khalil Gibran wrote a love poem to Lebanon, "You have your Lebanon, I have my Lebanon."
The Troubling Role of “Dark Money” in Elections
This past week, former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner lost her bid to fill the open congressional seat in Ohio's 11th district. The winner was Shontel Brown, the chair of the Democratic Party in the district's largest county.
A Deeper Look at Anti-Semitism and Anti-Arab Bigotry
While there are differences, to be sure, between anti-Semitism and anti-Arab bigotry, the animus that has driven the hostility directed against both Arabs and Jews springs from the same source.
Anti-Semitism & Anti-Arab Bigotry – Part I
Last week I spoke at a conference on anti-Semitism and anti-Arab racism hosted by the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communications and co-sponsored by the Arab American Institute (AAI) and a few national American Jewish organizations.
Doing Stupid Is Never Smart - II
The devastating wars between Israel and Hamas continue to dominate discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially since both parties appear hell bent on repeating the same fatal miscalculations, producing the same disastrous results.
Doing Stupid Is Never Smart
I remember Albert Einstein's definition of insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I've been thinking about this quote in relation to the recent bizarre behavior of all the parties involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
10 Years Since the Arab Spring
A decade ago, we were in the throes of what observers in the West termed the "Arab Spring." An assessment is now in order.
Netanyahu Is Out But Nothing Has Changed
One month after the end of the last hostilities between Israel and Hamas, events on the ground demonstrate that little has changed.
What Is Netanyahu's Legacy?
Netanyahu's 15 years as prime minister have come to an end, but his legacy lives on. If there were questions about what exactly that legacy might be, the never-shy Bibi was quick to list his accomplishments in a "valedictory speech" before the Knesset.
Immigration Heritage Month: The Two Sides of America’s Story
Speaking at the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre in which White mobs ravaged a prosperous Black neighborhood killing as many as 300 Black Americans, President Joseph Biden observed, "We can't just choose to learn what we want to know and not what we should know. We should know the good, the bad, the everything."
Our Democracy Is at Risk
Speaking at a Memorial Day observance last week, President Joseph Biden noted, rather ominously, "Our democracy is in peril."