RSSMore Pro-Israel Than the Israelis
The news that Israeli officials are alarmed that the Israel lobby in the U.S. is going overboard in its response to the Hamas victory should come as no surprise. Ever since I first arrived here, I’ve been struck by the extent to which the public organizations of the U.S. Jewish community are way, way to the right of the political median in Israel. The Israelis aren’t stupid; they know they’re going to have to reach a mutual accommodation with Hamas, although they’d like to weaken and humiliate the Palestinian movement, as is the Israeli style, in order to force it to accept Israel’s terms. That’s why, for example, Israel is holding monies due to the Palestinian Authority that constitute the lifeblood of the Gaza and West Bank economy – this is not charity they’re holding back, it’s the rightful property of the Palestinian Authority (in the form of taxes and duties collected on goods imported to the Palestinian territories, which have to pass through Israeli ports of entry). But the America Israel Political Action Committee is backing legislation to cut so much funding to the Palestinians that even the Israelis are worried: For example, under the proposed cuts, funding would end for a West Bank project that functions as an early-warning detection station for signs of Avian Flu. And if Avian Flu arrives in the West Bank, it’s unlikely to respect Israel’s “Security Barrier,” or even the 1967 borders.
The report reminded me of a piece I sent on my email blog back in 2002, in relation to the response of Jews in the U.S. to the Israeli operation in Jenin:
“American Jews are ready to go in with the tanks, and that’s one of the factors that has allowed the Israelis to go in with the tanks,” writes Amy Wilentz in New York magazine. Interesting survey of New York Jewish opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict finds that it is often more militantly rightwing than Jewish opinion in Israel – many here have somehow convinced themselves that Israel is in danger of being destroyed and that a second holocaust threatens. But even for many Israelis, that’s simply nutty…
But the ever-elegant Palestinian literary critic Edward Said has some answers to Wilentz’s questions about why so many Jews in America often take a position on the Palestinians even more fanatical than any in Israel: “It is the result of an extraordinary self-isolation in fantasy and myth that comes from education and unreflective nationalism of a kind unique in the world.” He notes that Israeli and some Western commentators are fond of attacking Palestinian and Arab education for promoting dangerous racist myths that nourish the most extreme forms of fundamentalism. “Little has been said, however, of the results of what American Jews have been taught about the conflict in Palestine: that it was given to Jews by God, that it was empty, that it was liberated from Britain, that the natives ran away because their leaders told them to, that in effect the Palestinians don’t exist except recently as terrorists, that all Arabs are anti-Semitic and want to kill Jews.” He sees the problem as being that Zionist education in the U.S. has essentially denied the existence and experience of the Palestinians, which leaves many American Jews simply unable to grasp the nature of the conflict. He notes the irony that in his discussions with Israelis over the events of 1948, for example, the basic facts were not in dispute, whereas he found even many liberal Americans in denial.
My own sense has always been that if you showed many of the more intense Israel partisans in the U.S. the average Haaretz op-ed on Israeli-Palestinian relations but disguised the source, many of them would brand it “anti-Semitic.”
The Latest
A Skeptical Read
All the Hysteria That's Fit to Print?
Benny Morris's manic rant is further evidence that the New York Times op-ed page, like the New York Post's, is willing to believe anything its told about 'Mad Mullahs'Guest Columns
Why John Bolton is Right on Iran
Armageddon Man is unhappy with his President Guest Column: Dr. Gary Sick As usual, John Bolton is absolutely right. His policy prescriptions may be reckless to the point of foolishness ("When in doubt, bomb!"), but his understanding of what is happening in Washington policy (as outlined in hi...Glancing Headers
Waxing Brazilian on Euro 2008
The lesson for South Africa is clear. Our talent pool is so piss-poor that Brazilian coaches won't help -- we need to learn from the Europeans and import Brazilian players!Featured Analysis
U.S. Calls a Straw Poll in Iraq: It May Not Like the Result
By seeking a permanent security deal with Iraq, Bush has forced Iraqi politicians to show their hands. And none wants a long-term U.S. presenceCould Die Laughing
Whatever Became of that Nice Mr. Blair...
The problem with a global conversation between Muslims and Christians refereed by Tony Blair? Two words: Tony Blair.The Whole World's Africa
Stop South Africa's Pogroms!
Violence against immigrants in South Africa may be a product of poverty, but my friend Ray Hartley argues, the only answer is to make them full and equal citizens99c Blogging
Hamas as 'Willie Horton'
By insisting that he never advocated talking to Hamas, Obama digs himself a hole -- anyone who seeks peace in the Middle East will have to talk to HamasHear! Hear!
Bush's 'Peace' Effort Imperils Peace
Daniel Levy explains why the farcical negotiations between Olmert and Abbas actually undermine the prospects for Mideast peaceShameless Cronyism
Sound Advice for the Next President
To grasp the challenge facing U.S. foreign policy, read Helena Cobban's new book Engage!A Wondering Jew
Israel is 60, Zionism is Dead, What Now?
Israel at 60 is an intractable historical fact. It has one of the world's strongest armies, without peer in the Middle East, and its 200 or so nuclear warheads give it the last word in any military showdown with any of its neighbors. Palestinian militants may be able to make life in certain parts...The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansCuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...Annals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...New York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton PrimaryRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
10 Responses to “More Pro-Israel Than the Israelis”
Good point about Ha’aretz. US newspapers wouldn’t touch Gideon Levy with a 10 foot pole.
But there’s something else: most American jews are way to the left of AIPAC.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember reading that a greater proportion of American Jews opposed the Iraq war in ‘03 than the average US population.
Did you read this piece by Mearsheimer and Walt in the LRB?
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/print/mear01_.html
Not every day that a Harvard Kennedy School paper reads like a Chomsky piece
I haven’t read that piece, but yes, you’re absolutely right about the attitudes, according to sampling, of the American Jewish population. That’s why I was careful to emphasize that it was the public organizations that claim to speak for them that have these hardline positions, because there seems to be a disconnect there. Then again, it may also be the case that the majority of American Jews choose to participate in public life through secular and inclusive bodies rather than through more narrowly ethnic institutions, which leaves those more inclined towards more nationalist positions.
This is the same thing that happened with the IRA. All the money came from the States, while those in Ireland proper would have readily abandoned “those crazy lads up there” and turned away in disgust at their actions.
Remoteness breeds fanaticism.
Yeah, and also a kind of “survivors guilt” that makes them even more rabidly nationalist than those who have to live in the real situation
I concur with the observations that proportionally more American Jews opposed the Iraq invasion than did Americans in general, and that many American Jews find the atttitudes and staements of AIPAC, Abraham Foxman, et al distasteful at best. But when you have such an entity as Eliot Abrams (who reportedly had a Likud party poster on his office wall during an earlier phase of his US govt career) handling the Middle East brief for the White House, and Christian Zionists aplenty rooting on AIPAC, none of this can be surprising. In teaching my own courses and trying to promote a more balanced assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, I find that my most outspokenly critical students have been the born-again Christians who see in Likud’s rise and Sharon’s tactics the hand of God at work. At this point, we can only hope that Mearsheimer and Walt can at least hold their ground, but it’s distressing to see how quickly the higher-ups at Harvard and Chicago seem to have gone into CYA mode.
I ain’t jew, I ain’t gentile, just an independent observer interested in justice…but I gotta say, jews today remind me of the worse of south africa’s white racist apartheid regime. I got no sympathy for Israel, and I think american-jews who put Israel first before the US really are traitors.
Good reading. Its too bad that those American militant Jews exist and are running our foreign policies. Its too bad that those Jews got us into this war with Iraq, that is dragging our once great nation down. For that, they have earned my enmity until the day I die. There is nothing that anyone can do to undo the wrong that has been done to America by these men. That is the tragedy of the whole thing.
I cannot begin to address what they have done to the Palestinians.
The jews racists? Are you serious, muslims are the most ractist people on earth. They have been bashing the Christians and Jews for years. But yet you don’t see us take to the streets rioting like you see them do over some stupid cartoons. They are hyper sensitive and from I can see it does not take much to get them upset. You look at them the wrong way and they start rioting. You dont see Jews and Christians holding up signs talking about taking over the world like you do muslims. You don’t hear of Christians and Jews beheading people. Perhaps you need to watch the news more often. They create trouble all over the world, and further more they are a real threat to peace, and humanity.
The jews racists? Are you serious, muslims are the most ractist people on earth. They have been bashing the Christians and Jews for years. But yet you don’t see us take to the streets rioting like you see them do over some stupid cartoons. They are hyper sensitive and from I can see it does not take much to get them upset. You look at them the wrong way and they start rioting. You dont see Jews and Christians holding up signs talking about taking over the world like you do muslims. You don’t hear of Christians and Jews beheading people. Perhaps you need to watch the news more often. They create trouble all over the world, and further more they are a real threat to peace, and humanity.
FURTHER MORE I AM A SUPPORTER OF ISRAEL AND HER PEOPLE…..GO ISRAEL…..GO ISRAEL…..GO ISRAEL
Leave a Reply