Here are some items which have crossed my desk in the last week which are well worth passing on. Warning: it’s mostly sobering or depressing. Of particular note in that regard is the letter from Joseph Cari in the Financial Times - widely regarded as a sensible, centrist newspaper - which reproduces just about every antisemitic trope going. If Mr. Cari’s name seems familiar, it isn’t because of his weighty contributions to public policy analysis; he is best known for pleading guilty in an $850,000 extortion racket back in 2005 which involved disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

“The sea is also of importance with regard to a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Reports in recent years have generally focused on aerial capability to damage the nuclear facilities, without discussing the advantages inherent in the various options open for taking action from the sea alongside the aerial possibilities. The increasing use of the Red Sea arena is likely designed to signal to Iran that Israel is capable of acting from the sea too.” Yoel Guzansky, The Naval Arena in the Struggle Against Iran, INSS Insight.

“Instead, the protesters, most of them young people, took direct aim at Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, chanting, ‘Khamenei knows his time is up!’ They held up flags from which the ‘Allah’ symbol - added after Iran’s 1979 revolution - had been removed. Most shocking of all, some burned an image of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the revolution.” Robert Worth in the Times on the changing character of protest in Iran.

“It is now hard to see how UCU can continue to play a constructive role in the Government Group on Antisemitism and Higher Education when its latest actions are likely to encourage antisemitism. The Government should review UCU’s membership of this group as it has failed to oppose antisemitism inside its own structures. UCU cannot credibly be a part of the solution to antisemitism while its activities are encouraging the problem.” The CST blog on the ramifications of the University and College Union’s decision to organize a speaking tour for South African antisemite Bongani Masuku.

“The American Jewish lobby retains its power in American foreign policy by perpetuating this myth…A one-state solution would totally diminish this power.” Joseph Cari makes it to the FT’s letters page.