Jews are deserting the Left.
Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles | 10.11.2002 03:38
![](/img/extlink.gif)
Increasing Political Isolation for Jews, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, November 8, 2002
"If all those statistics are true about Jews still being one of the most liberal voting blocs in the nation, why are they increasingly estranged from the American left? Easy: The left, ranging from the anti-globalism fringes to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to some segments of the mainstream liberal community, has adopted policies and perspectives that even many progressive Jews regard as offensive and dangerous. Good causes have been rendered marginal by activists looking for easy-to-grasp heroes and villains; political correctness has turned Israel from a noble experiment into the ultimate example of vicious colonialism. And a political culture that can’t say no
to extremists has turned the concept of civil rights on its head. It’s no longer unusual to see activists peddling the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" at anti-war and anti-globalism rallies — and for organizers, for all their talk of human rights, to remain silent in
the face of this overt anti-Semitism. That’s producing a kind of political disenfranchisement for Jewish voters who remain strongly liberal, but increasingly lack partners with whom to pursue those political interests. ... It’s not just the CBC. When anti-globalism, anti-International Monetary Fund forces come to Washington to demonstrate, a wide range of left-wing groups rally under a banner that also includes nutty
anarchists and aggressive pro-Palestinian forces. Collectively, they depict Israel as the last colonial power and the ultimate example of institutional human rights abuses, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein
as misunderstood freedom fighters, Zionism as inherently racist. ... The result: Jews who remain liberal, which means a majority are becoming
politically isolated."
Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
Homepage:
http://www.jewishtribalreview.org
Comments
Display the following 7 comments