FTA: "I conclude, then, that the very idea of a Jewish state is undemocratic, a violation of the self-determination rights of its non-Jewish citizens, and therefore morally problematic."

Levine distorts all logic and ignores all history in his conclusion. No doubt he feels safe and secure with his enlightened opinion, living as a Jew in NYC, where the Jewish population is likely greater than in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. I´d like to throw him into a Cairo or Tehran mosque and see if he still feels this way.

When you see the words.......college professor.....you know!!

Israel is a democracy, isn´t it? There are guarantees of religious freedom that would not exist in an Islamic state.

They have earned the right to be there and that is all that matters.

This column could easily be mistaken for a parody of other-worldly, navel-gazing hyper-intellectual academic theorizing. It is the product of someone for whom the boundary between reality and fantasy has become perilously blurred - of someone who has lived in and enjoyed the hothouse comforts of the halls and libraries of Academe so long that words have abolished reality. It is obvious to anyone looking at this incredible exercise in sophistry that the professor began with his conclusion and worked backward to his reasoning, logic and justification. It is not, I am confident, obvious to him nor to people -there must be others, though hopefully not many- who think like him.

This man does not seem to understand that there are people who want to kill him and who are, if they get the chance, are fully prepared to make the attempt. It doesn´t matter where he lives. Israel is not the problem. Even Jews are not the problem, though they are prime targets. The problem lies with the infidels, i.e. everyone everywhere in the world who is not a Muslim. Abandoning Israel will not make anyone safer and will not cause those who want to kill the infidels to change their plans.

A mind is indeed a terrible thing to waste. This professor of philosophy has, alas, managed to do more than to waste his mind. He has managed to cloud judgment by words without wisdom.

As a boy growing up in NYC, I was ´required´ by my father to read - and be able to discuss - the ´key´ stories of the week run by the NY Times, as a condition of getting an allowance.

Unfortunately, this translated out into the ability as an adult - to be able to sift thru news stories like most people breath - quickly and constantly...

The NY Times *repeatedly* displays it´s ´dismay´ with all things Israel - while by and large ignoring the (almost) daily outrages of the other ´key player´ in this mess - Islam. Everywhere Islam exists - so does constant violence. It is perhaps the sole remaining demonstrator of constant religiously motivated violence on the planet, towards all manner of peoples.

The NY Times displays a consistent lack of objectivity - and consistently tries to stir the pot.

Of all the ´newspapers´ I´ve consumed in my life, it´s rather sad that the one that ´broke me in´ is the one that broke faith with journalism in favor of little more than advertising it´s own moral lack of objectivity.

I absolutely think any Jew---or others-questioning the right of the Jewish state to exist is anti Semitic. These same people would NEVER question the right of the Palestinians to exist---on Jewish land at that!

Ugh. I feel like like just walked in on a cerebral narcissist masturbating.

Pure nihilism

#6, sounds like your father and mine were cut from the same bolt of cloth! Only difference is that we had to be prepared to discuss a topic in the news every nite at dinner, and it better not re something trivial or something we were familiar with...

Knew my fellow LDotters would tear this guy apart, but still can´t help being amazed this is running in NYC and not being roundly vilified...

When the Third Reich was in full bloom, I suspect Levine and the Schumers´, Boxers´, Wasserman-Schultzs´ and Feinsteins´ of the world would be Nazi sympathizers in the mold of George Soros.

There seems to be decent percentage of Jews (esp. American) that would willingly leap headlong into the ovens.

If you didn´t quite know what it meant to be a self-hating or self-loathing Jew, read this.

I would love to deport this guy to Saudia Arabia or pick your favorite Arab country.

Zzzzzzzzz....

Wake me when he makes a point.

"I conclude, then, that the very idea of a Jewish state is undemocratic, a violation of the self-determination rights of its non-Jewish citizens, and therefore morally problematic."

The non-Jewish citizens of Israel are full citizens with the same rights as Jewish citizens. And this guy is a Summer´s Eve bag.

Ironic, but the best friends Israel has - are Christians. This "think piece" from the Marxist-Secular tribe illustrates the point.

What a bloated, pointless article. Stream-of-conscious ramblings. I kept thinking that he was going to bring up the Armenians, the Kurds, etc. as he kept talking about "deserving a homeland."

Prof. Levine would probably also have supported the Russian Revolution and Marx and Lenin. We know how that turned out for Russian Jews, right?

IMHO, the opposition to the State of Israel stems not from an anti-Jewish mindset but from an anti-Christian one. The Western World is largely the expression of a "Christianized" civilization and derives its freedom and prosperity from this source alone. Israel is an outpost, a colony if you will, of Western (and thus Christian) civilization in a non-western, barbaric and tribal part of the world. America and Israel are alike hated by the enemies of Christ for this reason. The problem is that both America and Israel are in a grossly apsotate condition with respect to the Law of God and Gospel of Jesus Christ, and are therefore under His judgment. That judgment is manifest by, among other things, God stirring up His enemies against His apostate people. Mr. Levine is one such enemy.

He twists himself into a pretzel, trying to make an indefensible point. Liberalism Uber Alles!

If it´s in the NYTimes I already know what it says, and the writer is a moron, and if he goes on at length, he´s a double moron. Blind to events, pretending morality in a vacuum, self-righteous and sanctimonious and trying to backstab his own family and friends. The particular words he uses don´t matter, those are the contents.

Self-hating,. self-loathing . . . a part of the Jewish mindset I just don´t understand and never will!