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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Emergency Services, March 25 Gold Hill man suspected of window-smashing spree in Grants Pass Oxygen masks of all sizes help smoke-choked pets Backyard bee ban begone, planners say St. Mary's student helps others with diabetes Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services, March 25 Emergency Services, March 24 Phoenix High officer looks back on varied career Emergency services, March 23 Crisis intervention: Medford police take training in response to surge in mental health calls Politics and Elections Arthur I. Cyr: Iran – a crisis without end Arthur I. Cyr: South Korea represents long-term triumph – for them and for US Special election: Jackson County voters OK marijuana tax Ex-Merkley aide chosen as Oregon secretary of state Ashland: Budget increase, swimming pool funding discussion on council agenda Education Dianne Williamson: College admissions mania ill-advised Oregon legislators may end fifth-year high school programs Phoenix High officer looks back on varied career Oregon school officials blasting new education budget Eight vie for Medford School Board positions Environment Corps hopes to clear Lost Creek Lake of debris Beetles taking toll on Ashland pines Mt. Ashland Ski Area to host party March 28 Controversial asphalt plant in Talent wins county planning approval Mt. Ashland hopes coming storm will reopen ski area State News Dave Frohnmayer remembered at Eugene memorial Oregon school officials blasting new education budget Bend company's aim: Connect investors to Africa Brown proposes $1 billion in California drought spending Are they decorations or desecration? Nation - World Obituaries James "Elwood" Dye Dean R. Welch Peggy Medeiros Richard "Dick" Cooper Sherrill Elaine Wells Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Bank of America is predicting a massive Tesla collapse Sports Latest Stories Crater comes up short in tourney opener Wait is over Former North runner Jordan triumphs Westbrook leads Thunder past Lakers Guthrie returns to kick off fundraising Varsity 541 College Sports Former North runner Jordan triumphs Howland introduced as Mississippi State coach ASU fires Sendek after nine seasons Against UCLA, Zags get a shot at revenge Ducks' Young eager to play at the next level Pro Sports Wait is over Westbrook leads Thunder past Lakers Guthrie returns to kick off fundraising Browns shun ‘Hard Knocks’ program Circuit wasn't an accomplice in Keselowski win Community Sports Business Latest Stories Ashland's Standing Stone brew pub joins green beer coalition Seasonally adjusted jobless rate dips to 7 percent for first time since May 2008 Broth maker leaves San Diego for Medford Cars We Remember: 1967 Rambler Rebel, 1960 Rambler American Super, and some early engine design flaws Silvio Calabi: Nissan has a winner with its new Murano Real Estate News East McAndrews Road sees a resurgence in commercial projects Business briefs: March 7 New construction prices jump 18.2 percent in Jackson County People In Business People in Business: Feb. 28 Transportation Rogue Disposal plans natural gas fueling site Alaska, United Express boost Medford airport to record February CEO Rieder leaving Erickson March 31 Lodging gains bode well for travel industries Agriculture Broth maker leaves San Diego for Medford Harry & David announces new president Opinion Latest Our View: Public records rules should apply to lawmakers, too Letters to the Editor, March 25 Kathleen Parker: Wacko birds nesting in U.S. Senate Rick Holmes: What addicts say about getting high and getting better Landgren cartoon: Arsenic wine Editorials Our View: Public records rules should apply to lawmakers, too Our View: Oregon schools will have to make do with a little more money Our View: Medford police tried to avoid confrontation Other Views: Dave Frohnmayer was a man of honor Our View: Textbook authors' reasoning hard to fathom Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, March 25 Letters to the Editor, March 24 Letters to the Editor, March 23 Letters to the Editor, March 22 Letters to the Editor, March 21 Columns Kathleen Parker: Wacko birds nesting in U.S. Senate Michael Gerson: How to block a bad nuclear deal with Iran Kathleen Parker: Dear Starbucks: Let's not talk George Will: Social inequality's deepening roots Guest Opinion: Raise your voice against child abuse Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Raise your voice against child abuse Guest Opinion: Central Point Cemetery needs work and city action Guest Opinion: Return to clearcutting is wrong approach for counties Guest Opinion: Plan a Hawthorne playground for all children Guest Opinion: There is nothing uniform about the Uniform Crime Report Lifestyle Latest stories Dear Monty: The best real estate agent referrals Dave Ramsey: Pay kids for getting good grades? Lost in Suburbia: Above and beyond the call of nature Parsing the meaning behind wine medals and scores St. Mary's student helps others with diabetes Food Parsing the meaning behind wine medals and scores Season Stepp: Waffle iron isn’t just for breakfast anymore Food for Thought: Watermelon is the perfect smoothie ingredient Kitchen Call: Cobblers, crisps and crumbles Community blog: Stoke meat-smoking passion with these tips Home and Garden Dear Monty: The best real estate agent referrals Paul Rogers: Ground unworkable, despite spring’s arrival Home Help: How green is your house? Plant a few dahlias, Dahling Hello, honey: Invite bees for a lush garden Health St. Mary's student helps others with diabetes Community blog: Sleep Tight: Making Your Bed, Body and Mind Ready for Rest Health Watch: 5 tips for seasonal allergy relief A better bedtime Studying stress Hiking Biking Faith Religion briefs Religion News: Presbyterian Church gives approval on same-sex marriage Religion briefs: Friday, March 13 More religion events in the Rogue Valley Religion Briefs Milestones and Achievements Haga-Parks Exercise helps special-needs kids adjust to airport procedures Engagement: Workman-Wright Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Alan Berman Trio plays the Imperial Ballroom in Medford Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night' opens at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Brothers Reed win a slot in the Rising Stars finals Pimps of Joytime play Historic Ashland Armory Here's five top entertainment picks for the coming week Theater Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night' opens at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Camelot's 'Sunset Boulevard' ambitious, not as dark Andrew Lloyd Webber's lush musical 'Sunset Boulevard' opens at Camelot Theatre in Talent Review: Thanks for the Memories pulls off challenging 'Anastasia' Review: 'Same Time' after all these years Music Pimps of Joytime play Historic Ashland Armory Live Music in Local Clubs Alt-rock band Key of Three is a contender this weekend at Rising Stars Improv rock and folk band hosts a dance party at the Ashland Community Center Kites & Crows, Ryan Marchand and Mercy Duo face-off this weekend at Rising Stars music competition in Jacksonville Community Events Rogue Valley artist Linda Evans' pastel paintings capture landscapes of Southern Oregon Ashland Independent Film Festival announces this year's lineup OSF Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Jesse Lawson and Joe Moxley host 'Barkeeper' Dining Parsing the meaning behind wine medals and scores Restaurant Inspections: Sunday, March 22 Jasmine Thai Cuisine Restaurant Inspections Agave offers gourmet tacos, tamales, ensaladas and more Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obits Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines/Special Sections Business Services NEWS NOW Gold Hill man suspected of window-smashing spree in Grants Pass ... Our View: Public records rules should apply to lawmakers, too ... Corps hopes to clear Lost Creek Lake of debris ... Gold Hill man suspected of window-smashing spree in Grants Pass ... Our View: Public records rules should apply to lawmakers, too ... Corps hopes to clear Lost Creek Lake of debris ... ANOTHER VIEW Dana Milbank: Can Israel remain a democracy? MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 22, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Mar. 22, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Eleven years ago, I carried my infant daughter into a synagogue basement and plunged her tiny body, head to toe, underwater. She emerged sputtering and coughing, then wailing, and the procedure, immersion in a Jewish ritual bath called mikvah, felt barbaric. But it was for an important reason: Her mother isn't Jewish, and by Jewish custom — and Israeli law — the faith is passed on by matrilineal descent, so I converted my daughter. Making sure she is Jewish in the eyes of the Jewish state gives me peace of mind. If the Gestapo ever comes again, she and her descendants will have a place to go. Such a threat seems unimaginable now. There probably never has been a better time or place to be a Jew than in 21st-century America. Yet there remains a deep sense of anxiety — some might say paranoia — hard-wired into Jews by centuries of persecution. Israel, the Jewish state, is the antidote to this fear. The Law of Return, enacted by David Ben-Gurion's government in 1950, guarantees Israeli citizenship to all Jews who move to Israel. This was meant to guarantee that Israel would remain Jewish (Palestinians, controversially, are not granted this right). But it also meant that, after the Holocaust, and thousands of years of wandering, there was finally a place to which all Jews could go, and defend ourselves, if nowhere else was safe. This is why Benjamin Netanyahu's actions on the eve of last week's Israeli elections were so monstrous. In a successful bid to take votes from far-right parties, the prime minister vowed that there would be no Palestinian state as long as he's in charge. Netanyahu backed off that position after the election, assuring American outlets NBC, NPR and Fox News on Thursday that he still backs a two-state solution, in theory. His backtracking seemed nominal and insincere but even that gesture is reassuring, for abandoning the idea of a Palestinian state will destroy the Jewish state just as surely, if not as swiftly, as an Iranian nuclear bomb. This is not a matter of ideology but of arithmetic. Without a Palestinian state, Israel can be either a Jewish state or a democracy, but not both. If it annexes the Palestinian territories and remains democratic, it will be roughly evenly split between Jews and Arabs; if it annexes the territories and suppresses the rights of Arabs, it ceases to be democratic. There are roughly 4.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and an additional 1.4 million living inside Israel. That puts them in rough parity with Jews, who number just over 6 million. Higher Palestinian population growth and fertility rates indicate Jews will be a minority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean in a few years. Some right-wing outfits contest these numbers and try to make the dubious case that Israel can annex the Palestinian territories and still survive as a democratic Jewish state. Those were the type of voters Netanyahu was fishing for when he said he would not allow a Palestinian state — and when he warned on Election Day that "Arab voters are coming out in droves." But in the end there can be no democratic Jewish state unless there is also a Palestinian state. My friend Jeffrey Goldberg, in a powerful new article in The Atlantic on the tenuous future of Europe's Jews, recalled an event he attended in the fall with American Jewish leaders at Vice President Biden's residence. Biden, Goldberg recalled, told the story of a long-ago visit with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who told him that Israel's "secret weapon" was that the Jews "have no place else to go." "Folks," Goldberg quoted Biden as saying to the American Jews, "there is no place else to go, and you understand that in your bones. You understand in your bones that no matter how hospitable, no matter how consequential, no matter how engaged, no matter how deeply involved you are in the United States ... there's only one guarantee. There is really only one absolute guarantee, and that's the state of Israel." Goldberg thought Biden had "antiquated notions about Jewish anxiety." And it's true that Jews are safe and happy in the United States today — but that could change. This is why I plunged my baby in the mikvah. And this is why I was appalled by Netanyahu's disavowal of a two-state solution. Without two states, there won't be even one Jewish state if — God forbid — my daughter or her progeny someday have no place else to go. Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 22, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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