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George Mason & James Madison: Creating Palestine
by J. Peter Pham and Michael I. Krauss
 As does Prime Minister Olmert, we hope there will one day be a prosperous Palestine living side by side in peace and security with Israel. And like President Bush, we hope that Palestinian entity is democratic. However, the responsibility for achieving those lofty goals rests squarely with the Palestinian people and government. The responsibility, moral and legal, of Israel's leaders is to protect the real-life individuals - Jewish, Muslim, and Christian - who are citizens of Israel. Israel has no duty to ensure the "viability" of an entity that is, at best, notional. Michael I. Krauss is professor of law at George Mason University School of Law. J. Peter Pham is director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University. (TCS Daily)
Monmouth: In Divided Mideast, Friendship Can Grow
by Saliba Sarsar
 This month marked the 39th anniversary of the Six-Day War. Its national and international ramifications aside, the war's impact on my life was felt deeply, first having to survive it and then meeting face to face with "the other" from across the border. When I finally met Israel and Brigitte Hadany, something surpassing the border happened. In difference, we became very familiar. Perhaps it was our curiosity to know each other or each other's world. Perhaps it was falling in love with a representation of the "enemy" and wanting to overcome enmity. The Hadanys and I constructed meaning and made order of the world around us. The writer is a professor of political science. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Theory, Reality at Tel Aviv University
by Robert Jancu
 This week, scanning the list of the 30 Tel Aviv University professors whose letter excoriated the school for allowing Shaul Mofaz, Israel’s former minister of defense, to speak, I recognized the names of professors who had organized an appearance of Faisel Husseini in 1991. Husseini was a founding member of the PLO. I was shocked when I saw the name Yisrael Gershoni, the same professor who convinced me that the right to free speech on campus even for one's opponents was a supreme value, and should not just be acknowledged but actually defended by placing one's own body in harm's way. (Ynet News)
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Harvard: Enter the Lobby
by John R. Macartney
 When they published their working paper “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” in March, the authors anticipated criticism. But even Kennedy School of Government Academic Dean Stephen M. Walt and University of Chicago professor John J. Mearsheimer could not have predicted the transatlantic storm that their paper unleashed. “Although there are a few places where we might word our arguments differently, the criticisms published to date have not cast serious doubt on the central findings of our paper,” Walt writes. But the volume of criticism to date suggests that many of their colleagues—both at Harvard and beyond—vehemently disagree. (The Crimson)
New York University: Israel's Destiny
by Alon Ben-Meir
 Israel, in the final analysis, is the political expression of the ancient right of all Jews to return to their homeland. That Palestinians occupied much of the same land did not abrogate the right of either people to it. Both Palestinians and Jews can reside in their homeland, but history and reality have determined neither can have it all. The writer is professor of international relations at New York University. (Washington Times)
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