Not to mention a terrible understanding of history and poor analysis calling the formation of Israel as a mistake in his piece titled Hunker down with History.

The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake. It is an honest mistake, a well-intentioned mistake, a mistake for which no one is culpable, but the idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort we are seeing now.

Please. Jews have been living in the area of what is now the country of Israel for over two thousand years Richard. In fact the nation of Israel has been around for a very long time. Often occupied, often ruled by different religious factions (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) for example but a nation none the less.

The nation of Palestine on the other hand, now that is something new.

History lesson aside. Here is Cohen’s first offers this bit of wisdom.

There is no point in condemning Hezbollah. Zealots are not amenable to reason. And there’s not much point, either, in condemning Hamas.

Yes there is a point and an obligation to call evil for what it is Richard. You see when you stop calling a spade a spade people tend to forget and get confused, they might even be persuaded to moral equivalence.

Mr. Cohen then offers this little nugget:

There is, though, a point in cautioning Israel to exercise restraint.

No there isn’t except for those who have fallen prey to the moral equivalence mentioned above.

Cohen does have one point we can at least partially agree on:

Whatever happens, Israel must not use its military might to win back what it has already chosen to lose: the buffer zone in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip itself.

I don’t think Israel wants either of these God forsaken lands but I agree it is in their best interest not to re-occupy either of these territories again. Better to leave them to their enemies and wage open war until they are once and for all defeated and if they at least fail to see the error of their racist views, submit to the idea of having Jews for neighbors.

Cohen’s closing advice to the Israelis is to “hunker down” and take it. Just let the rockets fly and land indiscriminately in their cities for however long Hezbollah, Hamas, or anyone else wants to send them.

Another gifted British historian, Tony Judt, wraps up his recent book “Postwar” with an epilogue on how the sine qua non of the modern civilized state is recognition of the Holocaust. Much of the Islamic world, notably Iran under its Holocaust-denying president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stands outside that circle, refusing to make even a little space for the Jews of Europe and, later, those from the Islamic world. They see Israel not as a mistake but as a crime. Until they change their view, the longest war of the 20th century will persist deep into the 21st. It is best for Israel to hunker down.

Is he serious?

Unlike Cohen Michael Oren author of The Six Days War: June 1967 and The Making Of The Modern Middle East.  

The answer lies in delivering an unequivocal blow to Syrian ground forces deployed near the Lebanese border. By eliminating 500 Syrian tanks–tanks that Syrian President Bashar Al Assad needs to preserve his regime–Israel could signal its refusal to return to the status quo in Lebanon

HT/ Decision08

It seems I am not the only one taking exception to Cohen’s column.

Kesher Talk has a history lesson for Mr. Cohen.

First big whopper which torpedoes Cohen’s credibility, because it is an easy fact to check: half of Israel’s jewish population is Arab Jews, not European Jews. How come there are Arab Jews? Because they were there before the Muslims came, or before the Arabs became Muslim.

If you would like a basic understanding of Jewish history in the Middle East (something Mr. Cohen apparently lacks) please read the whole thing.

Meryl Yourish has Jewish history 201 for Mr. Cohen when he is ready.

Allah at Hot Air has some good advice for Israel.

People do not fight and die for what they believe to be a mistake. What Cohen wants Israel to internalize is the very message that Hassan Nasrallah wants them to internalize: Their nation is a mistake and they have no right to live in the land of Abraham. Their state should curl up and die.

So if anyone’s listening, my advice to Israel: Ignore the press and do what you must do.

emphasis mine.

ShrinkWrapped takes issue with George Will’s column as well as Mr. Cohen’s.

Richard Cohen and George Will are not stupid men.  Yet, because they seemed to have missed something obvious, they have found their way to some fairly foolish conclusions. 

AbbaGav can’t resist responding to Mr. Cohen.

I probably should just give him a quick moral answer and leave it at that. But moral answers don’t change the immoral mind — and believe me, we’re looking at an immoral mind here.

So instead, I’ll just suggest a practical reason why this is not just evil immoral, but stupid as well. Mr. Cohen lives in a country that is also being blamed for producing warfare and terrorism. If Mr. Cohen’s goal is to establish precedent for aggrieved Islamists to whine their opponents into submission before bombing them into oblivion, he’s off to a good start.

Right Wing News says Richard Cohen’s article would be funny if he wasn’t serious.  

However, there is one problem: it’s always extremely difficult to do good satire about liberals because they’ve gotten so outrageously silly, pacifistic, and consumed by moral equivalence that it can be hard to come up with realistic sounding things that some lefties wouldn’t do if they had a chance. 

read the whole thing. The comparison is scary.

Atlas Shrugs has a round up and a great Cox and Forkum cartoon.

Life of Rubin is upset with Larry King.

Blue Crab Boulevard puts it bluntly.

Hunkering down is never a strategy for winning a war. It is a way to die.

 Israel at Level Ground would like you to write the WaPo’s ombudsmen.  

No doubt Mr. Co-hen, and his editors would like to hear from you. You can also contact them here.Please do give him my warmest regards in your closely-reasoned, brief, and cool-headed discussion of what’s what.

Oh yes, almost forgot: The Post’s Ombudsman, Deborah Howell, is the readers’ representative within the newspaper. E-mail her at ombudsman@washpost.com or call 202-334-7582.

I am sure Mr. Cohen hasn’t heard the last about his ill advised article.

Captain Ed, points out the soft racism of low expectations in Cohen’s article. Muslims just aren’t cut out for getting along with Jews. How dare we hold them to the same standards of civilization and decency after all they are only Muslims right Mr. Cohen?

Cohen gives the benighted version of history preferred by Arabs and then advises Israel that they have little right to defend their existence. After all, Cohen argues, how can one allow someone to defend a mistake? Cohen doesn’t bother to mention the “mistake” of Islamist terrorism — well, he does, but casts it off in a patronizing defense of the “they can’t help themselves’ variety. Israel should not react to their attacks because it will never change the minds of Hezbollah and Hamas

  I simply can’t keep up with all of the blowback headed Mr. Cohen’s way. Check Memeorandum for the dog pile.