I find it amazing that people who are otherwise progressive or liberal turn into militant, right wing hawks when it comes to Israel. If youre a right wing republican and you agree with what Israel is doing now, fine; youre an asshole, but at least youre a consistent asshole. Its this blind, gung-ho acceptance of violent, oppressive, reactionary policies by people who otherwise seem like decent, compassionate, peace loving people that I cant comprehend. If I want to read thoughtful criticism of Israeli policy from a left wing perspective, all I have to do is read Haaretz (in the past couple of days, articles like this: haaretz/opinion/.premium-1.606042 and this haaretz/weekend/twilight-zone/.premium-1.605746 by the brave and radical Gideon Levy who is called a traitor and an arab lover in comments by right wing fanatics with the same vehemence and unabashed racism we would associate with a Southern KKK member referring to a nigger lover.) Then I read comments like this, again from progressive leftist Jews in Israel, and I am heartened: There are plenty of us IDF combat veterans who do not support the ongoing right-wing Israeli policies. If ever we are to achieve peace, we must first show we are willing to end the occupation. To disconnect the current circumstance in Gaza from the ongoing occupation is disingenuous at best. We must end the occupation not for the Palestinians (though to do it for Palestinians is surely noble), but for our own humanity. To free Israel we must free Palestine. To maintain our own humanity we must remember that the other is just like us. When we forget that, we are no different than the antisemitic forces Jews love to excoriate (and rightfully so). We need those voices coming from the United States as well, from people who would call it like it is in any other circumstance. I have one (dare I say very) Jewish friend who says he dares not speak his true opinion about whats going on in Israel because he gets called an anti-semite. Come on guys...when you start blaming the victims for their own violent deaths and calling each other anti-semitic for not towing the party line, you know something is wrong...right? Am I crazy in thinking this is all upside down? PS: Please dont give me this, what about Syria line...yes, whats going on in Syria is also awful...even more awful, and even more seemingly unsolvable, but that really has no bearing on this dialogue about a nation that we (especially in Los Angeles, where I I grew up, in a primarily Jewish community, with mostly Jewish friends, many of whom with close ties to Israel,) are much closer to.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:15:01 +0000
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