Photo: Flickr / Taekwonweirdo

Nobel Prize winner and esteemed columnist for the New York Times, Paul Krugman, in his blog:

Something I’ve been meaning to do — and still don’t have the time to do properly — is say something about Peter Beinart’s brave book The Crisis of Zionism.

The truth is that like many liberal American Jews — and most American Jews are still liberal — I basically avoid thinking about where Israel is going. It seems obvious from here that the narrow-minded policies of the current government are basically a gradual, long-run form of national suicide — and that’s bad for Jews everywhere, not to mention the world. But I have other battles to fight, and to say anything to that effect is to bring yourself under intense attack from organized groups that try to make any criticism of Israeli policies tantamount to anti-Semitism.

But it’s only right to say something on behalf of Beinart, who has predictably run into that buzzsaw. As I said, a brave man, and he deserves better.

I’m just waiting for the establishment thought police to come out and condemn this. Krugman is one of the most prominent liberals in America, and he rarely comments on things like this — big words from someone who gets (and deserves) so much respect. It’s a boost for Beinart, too, who continues to be subject to a witch-hunt in the media.