Jews are deserting the Left.
Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles | 10.11.2002 03:38
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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
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Comments
Hide the following 7 comments
What rubbish
10.11.2002 09:17
protestor
freedom fighters?
10.11.2002 11:45
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
justin
e-mail:
justinhifh@yahoo.com
Homepage:
http://www.hellisforheroes.net
bull-crap
10.11.2002 13:39
x
Homepage:
http://www.counterpunch.org/jalam1026.html
Thought Crimes
10.11.2002 13:42
The Thinker
Divide & Rule - The Same Old Lie
10.11.2002 14:54
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
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