A popular and outspoken columnist, Glick’s speeches have been the highlights of previous conferences, both in New York and most recently in Jerusalem.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFJerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick(photo credit: Courtesy)
Less than two months before the annual Jerusalem Post Conference takes place in New York, a search is on to find a worthy opponent to face off against the Post’s formidable senior contributing editor Caroline Glick.A popular and outspoken columnist, Glick’s speeches have been the highlights of previous conferences, both in New York and most recently in Jerusalem.In addition to addressing the June 7 conference at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, Glick is slated to debate a respected figure from the American liberal arena.J Street director Jeremy Ben- Ami had been scheduled to step up to the plate against Glick, but his director of communications informed the Post he had “a long-standing family engagement” he could not cancel.Will his replacement be The Atlantic contributor and White House insider Jeffrey Goldberg, NYU professor and left-wing political pundit Peter Beinart, CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer or veteran New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman? Who will have the gumption to stand up and present cogent policy statements to counteract Glick’s well-formed opinions on the subject of the Iranian nuclear deal, the two-state solution and the relationship between the US and Israel? Whoever it is, they had better be well-prepared.At the Post’s December conference in Jerusalem, Glick made headlines by launching a scathing attack on Danish Ambassador Jesper Vahr, after he stated that Europe should apply double standards to Israel “because you are one of us.”Danish ambassador, JPost"s Caroline Glick exchange verbal blows over EU attitude toward IsraelIn response, Glick said Vahr had made a “statement of contempt for our intelligence.”“I consider Europe’s keen interest in the Middle East, specifically Israel, to be an obsession,” she said. “It is an obsession that Jews have seen from Europeans from the time of Jesus.”After receiving applause from the audience at the David Citadel Hotel, Glick continued: “No, I do not want to be proud that you are looking at us in a different standard from our neighbors because you are not looking at our neighbors as human beings. What you are saying is that they are objects.The only actor in this entire region are the people they are trying to annihilate. The only people who are supposed to be judged for our actions, and always poorly, are the people who are doing everything possible – more than Europe, more than the US, more than anyone – in order to protect the lives of the Palestinians,” she said.The upcoming debate in New York promises to be an exciting and newsworthy event. All that’s missing is a strong voice on the other side to step into the proverbial lion’s den.Commenting on the prospective debate, Glick said: “I am a firm believer that the best way to develop successful policies is by challenging ideas. Openly debating important issues is a vital means for determining the veracity of ideas, guiding assumptions and policies. Without such debate, policymaking becomes little more than a game of chance. I always welcome the opportunity to have my ideas challenged because my goal isn’t to show that I’m right, but to ensure that Israel adopts policies that secure its future. And of course, a good debate is also great fun.”
