My dear friend and colleague, Jerusalem guru Danny Seidemann, has published a brilliant response to the bizarre Elie Wiesel-authored/signed ads about Jerusalem that recently ran in a number of major paper.  His response should be required reading for anyone who claims to actually care about Jerusalem -- a city that Danny and I - and so many others - love and are fighting to save.

Redeeming Jerusalem by truth, not hollow slogans
By Daniel Seidemann Monday, April 26, 2010

In recent full page ads in the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, renowned author and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel argued that Jerusalem is "above politics." But the portrait of the city Wiesel painted is so factually inaccurate and so morally specious as to leave no room for doubt: Wiesel's false innocence and moral posturing over Jerusalem is an example of politics par excellence, with Wiesel willingly becoming a tool of Israel's extreme right in its desperate efforts to block Obama's peace efforts.

A review of the facts is in order

Today World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder published an open letter taking President Obama to task over his Middle East policy.    Which is his prerogative - everyone is entitled to their opinion.  But Lauder goes a step too far when he claims to speak not only for himself but for Jews everywhere.  Lauder - as a Republican American Jew - is by definition part of a small minority of American Jews (the vast majority of American Jews are Democrats and voted for Obama), and part of an even smaller number of Jews the world over (who are not invested in American partisan politics).  

Lauder all but accuses Obama of being anti-Israel - of acting in ways that have caused the "deterioration of diplomatic relations" between Israel and the US.  But that's not all.  Lauder, still speaking on behalf of Jews everywhere, demands answers.  

What chutzpah!

With all the talk lately about concerns that there is some kind of well-organized, well-funded campaign afoot to delegitimize Israel, you'd think that even if Israeli officials are not particularly worried about the health of Israeli democracy and Israel's respect for the rule of law, someone in Israeli officialdom would be conscious of the political optics of Israeli decisions.  But apparently not.

The latest example is the decision (also see here) to amend a 1969 military order pertaining to "infiltrators" who might come into the West Bank.  The original order was aimed at people entering the territory from countries with which Israel was in a state of war, and who might therefore threaten Israel's security.  Now, Israeli officials have taken the extraordinary step of "updating" the order so that it can be applied to a potentially huge number of Palestinians and virtually all internationals living or working in the West Bank - in effect applying to them the same order that was originally intended to apply to Lebanese and Syrian commando forces that might try to infiltrate the West Bank to do evil unto Israel.