Jews are deserting the Left.

Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles | 10.11.2002 03:38

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=9576
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

Hide the following 7 comments

What rubbish

10.11.2002 09:17

I've been to about half-a-dozen demonstrations this year alone, and I have NEVER seen ANYONE peddling the Protocols of Zion. But what a good idea, then people can read the plot for World Domination that is unfolding before our eyes and decide for themselves if it's a forgery or fact. However, there is always a contingent of Jews against Zionism, non-aggressively supporting Palestinians and opposing war and tyranny.

protestor

freedom fighters?

10.11.2002 11:45

I have never heard a single person defend Saddam Hussein, let alone call him a freedom fighter (I mean in the last years - obviously all was different when he was waging war on Iran...). Saddam Hussein has persecuted anyone who might get in his way, wether they were communists, islamists or kurdish groups -- nobody in their right mind would call hima freedom fighter. There is a general consensus that this world might become a better place if he goes (although most people don't think that it's acceptable to inflict further destruction on his people to achieve this).
As for Arafat ... didn't he receive the Nobel Prize for Peace, together with Rabin? The Nobel committee aren't exactly nutty anarchists!
This article shows how many in the Jewish community are unfortunately driven by paranoia, to an extent where fear severely distorts their perception of events and people -- it seems that anyone who thinks it's a bad idea to e.g. bulldoze the homes of Palestinian families is seen as an anti-Semite now.

pir

some distinctions please

10.11.2002 12:20

There is one inherent problem on both sides of this growing debate and that is neither seem to recognise the important distinction between Israeli political issues, including those associated with Zionism, and issues relating to Jewish people. Its no more absurd than blaming the Muslim faith for the rampant human rights abuses that continue on a daily basis in countries like Saudia Arabia and Syria. Ignoring the first commenter's view (which is not only incomprehensible but absurdly racist), I agree with the second commenter that ciriticising Israeli government policy does not amount to anti-semitism on any level. I also confer that I have never witnessed any glorification of Saddam Hussein in any anti-war demonstrations or left wing media. However there is a point to be made that the Left could do more to highlight the human rights abuses that occur across the Middle East in order to depict a more balanced picture and to prevent alienating large groups of people who sympathise with things like the anti-war campaign but are put off by the unbalanced view that is being expressed by its leaders. Take the anti-war demonstration in London last month for instance. The string of speakers at Hyde Park simply echoed each other in their brief meanderings that amounted to a reversed "good against evil" rant solely depicting Bush and Blair as the woeful aggressors. This is playing the establishment at its own game and sets things up nicely for the mainstream news media to ridicule and dismiss such a critically important voice. There must be a more responsible forum. There is no good against evil. its evil against evil and until we recognise that we will do little to further any cause for human rights or peace.

justin
mail e-mail: justinhifh@yahoo.com
Homepage: http://www.hellisforheroes.net

bull-crap

10.11.2002 13:39

Political correctness my ass - this fckin article is just so full off stupid buzzwords and slander, go somewhere else!!Last time I looked Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstien were still critics of the Israeli colonial project. Zionist took inspiration from the Apartheid of South Africa!

http://www.counterpunch.org/jalam1026.html

x
Homepage: http://www.counterpunch.org/jalam1026.html

Thought Crimes

10.11.2002 13:42

Belief that the Protocols are a genuine document is not racism but an opinion, or prerogative. The only thing racist is the reference to non-Jews in this publication, as cattle. Whether it was written by Zionists or not, is irrelevant, when the plan exposed therein has practically manifest itself in full, and the language used to describe Goyim is vile and abhorrent, whoever wrote it. If the hatred expressed in the Protocols was directed at Jews, IT would be considered antisemitic in the extreme, but as it refers to Gentiles, it’s not and must be a fake? Whether you accept it’s validity or don't, it is a hideous piece of work with a heinous agenda.

The Thinker

Divide & Rule - The Same Old Lie

10.11.2002 14:54

This article subtly pushes the lie that to be anti-Israel is to be anti-Semitic. Israel in its current incarnation is an abomination and many Orthodox Jews realise this.

Alas their voices are drowned out by the wankers - nothing new for a religion there.

Hermes Thrice Blessed

Jewish Community Proud Part of Left

10.11.2002 18:42

This CIA drivel article apparently coming from an official religious Jewish community publication, that is to say, the voice of the Zionists, has, as usual, nothing to do with reality. As other commentators have stated in detail, it is all lies.

The Jewish community is not just those who are officially counted as Jewish in the United States, namely those who believe in the Jewish religion and show up at temples, all of which are promoters of Israel. The Jewish community in the majority in the Uinted States are those of us who are atheists of Jewish descent. We identify as Jewish so long as our enemies keep reminding us of it, and our enemies are not only the traditional anti-Semites, but also their collaboraters, the Zionists, whose collaboration with anti-Semites goes back to the European colonialists of the early 20th Century, the Nazis and now imperial USA. We also identify as Jewish because that the reason our ancestors came to the USA, usually 3 or 4 generations ago, is because of anti-Semitism in Europe. Thus, to explain our presence in the USA is to acknowledge our Jewish heritage.

The secular Jewish community is an integral part of the socialist, environmental, tenant-organizing, labor-organizing and all other progressive communities in the United States. As the percentage of the white population declines, so too does the percentage of the Jewish community in progressive politics. That change is occurring as there is almost no white immigration to the US anymore, but the change is very slow, and thus we can all rest assured the Jewish community will be part of the progressive political community for a long time to come.

Socialist