[Ynet] Success of Jews and Israel poses life-threatening challenge to worldview of leftist intellectuals
Most Jews are baffled by the reaction of leftist commentators to events in the Middle East. There is relatively little outcry when Syrians butcher Syrians, no outcry when Iraqis murder Iraqis, whereas any Paleostinian finger grazed by an Israeli bullet invites immediate outbursts of wholehearted indignation. The cognitive dissonance of leftist elites has reached such proportions, that many Jews have decided that perhaps anti-Semitism plays a role in generalized hostility towards Israel.
Claiming that criticism of Israel is a manifestation of anti-Semitic feelings is a risky business. After all, many Israel-bashers are deeply enamored of Jewish thinkers like Marx, Trotsky and Walter Benjamin and count as allies Jewish figures like Noam Chomsky ...intellectual and political theorist of a socialist persuasion. He is noted for being so far out in left field he can't see the shortstop on every issue he pushes... and Ilan Pappe. Thus, can we still classify their attitude as anti-Semitic? Or does one do a disservice to the Jewish people by labeling leftist foes of Israel the same way one would genocidal Nazis?
In order to address this issue one must recall that Nazi anti-Semitism was far more than an aesthetic aversion towards stereotypical Jewish facial features. Nazism loathed the values which the Torah and the Jewish tradition embodied, namely -- justice, compassion and love for the destitute and the stranger. It is no coincidence that those driven by the belief that the weak should serve the strong, saw in the Jewish ethos an intellectual and ethical threat of the highest order. Thus, one could say that the racial anti-Semitism of the Nazis was merely a pretext for a far more deeply-embedded spiritual and ethical anti-Semitism.
In our day and age the threat posed by rightwing anti-Semitism has been supplanted by the spiritual anti-Semitism of the left. In fact, the social success of Jewish minorities in the Western world, together with the astonishing economic and scientific achievements of the State of Israel is unbearable for leftists. The reason for this is simple: This reality shatters the cultural romanticism and social worldview of the left. If second- and third-generation North Africans of Jewish descent successfully integrate in European society while their Moslem peers populate urban ghettoes, it becomes hard to claim that racism, welfare-spending cuts and capitalist alienation are to blame for some of the most pressing social problems of the Western world.
Showcase selective strengths
Likewise if Israel as a democratic free-market economy vaunts impressive human development figures while its neighbors are mired in poverty and strife, it becomes hard to persuade people that Western political and economic institutions are to blame for the region's problems. It is thus evident that Jews and Israel pose a life-threatening challenge to the worldview of leftist intellectuals. This threat can only be countered by highlighting with disproportionate diligence every abuse and injustice committed by Jewish Israelis, since doing so is critical to the intellectual credibility of the left.
In order to reduce leftist antipathy to Israel it does not help to flaunt the Jewish state's economic and technological achievements. Doing so only exacerbates leftists' conviction that Israel is the spoilt child of the West. Instead, Israel should showcase selective strengths such as the few kibbutzim where communal property has flourished and highlight happy Arab-Jewish gay couples living in Tel Aviv.
In addition, in order to reassure intellectuals that Israel is another excellent example of how free-markets threaten the well-being of society, Israel should publicize domestic problems like pollution, poverty, alcoholism and drug-use. This approach is more likely to win over leftist hearts than boasting about achievements in the fields of high-tech and business.
Unless Jews realize that leftist anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment is a phenomenon with far deeper roots than the presence of checkpoints near Ramallah or Hebron, they will misdiagnose the disease and the therapy needed to treat it.
Economic prowess and having more human rights than her heighbors isn't enough?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
10/06/2013 6:58 Comments ||
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#3
Israel should showcase selective strengths such as the few kibbutzim where communal property has flourished and highlight happy Arab-Jewish gay couples living in Tel Aviv.
#6
Instead, Israel should showcase selective strengths such as the few kibbutzim where communal property has flourished and highlight happy Arab-Jewish gay couples living in Tel Aviv.
You sure that they just didn't forget the "sarc" tags?
Back in 2006, I wrote about the artlessness of Hillary Clinton, who could have turned a story around to her advantage, and seemed masterful and above the fray at the same time. Hillary was artless.
Today were watching another display of political artlessness going down at the World War II Memorial, where 90-year old veterans of that war are being wheeled to that monument (and apparently the Lincoln memorial) by personal attendees some of whom, no doubt, are trained in CPR and the Obama government, who handled yesterday stupidly, is heading into a face off with them, by erecting spite fences around a completely open-air memorial*.
In denying the group of aged veterans permission to enter the memorial, Obama, like Hillary in 2006, missed an opportunity to turn the whole story around, and brilliantly: Instead of denying the veterans who are very old, unlikely to be making a second trip and who have damn well earned the right to see their memorial Obama should have personally greeted them there, respectfully toured the memorial with them, listened to a few stories and then made some remarks about how everything the veterans have fought for is now under attack and being threatened by politicking, and extremism and we must always fight for all Americans, rhetoric, rhetoric blah, blah, and the president should have posed for pictures with the vets and promised that any vet could always come to their memorials, whether the government is shut down or not, because we owe them that much.
The press would have eaten it up, and Obama particularly if he had been able to discipline himself (questionable) to speaking respectfully of the opposition, and not calling them his enemies, or terrorists would have absolutely defused this story, and made himself look masterful in the process. Instead of creating a bad-optics story out of stubbornness and spite, hed have completely owned the story, to his advantage.
Yes, I know, such a statement would properly have to go to congress, so funding for the parks could be re-instated, but Obama has no problem issuing Executive Fiats to laws outside of what is strictly required hes done it many times with the Affordable Care Act so I am sure he would be given a pass for letting the veterans through.
So, yes, Obama is artless. I believe Bill Clinton, or Ronald Reagan, facing a similar situation, would have taken control of it in the most positive way possible, and theyve have won the day.
But they were better at this presidenting thing, than Obama. If they hated the people who didnt vote for them, they never let it show. It was never so obvious. But were in a different world, now.
*Correct me if Im wrong, but I think the World War II memorial is privately funded and staffed by volunteers. Ill confirm that and get back on it.
#2
Obama should have personally greeted them there,
The danger with that is at best being heckled by a bunch of old guys and worse, being mobbed by them. These are guys that actually did something. Hard to imagine them idolizing an empty-suit community organizer.
#5
Steve S is right: Champ would have been boo'd and scorned. The One can't handle that.
The Anchoress is right on the principle and wrong on the details.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/06/2013 9:46 Comments ||
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#6
Second Steve White.
Hanging out at Iwo Jima, greeting the corpse men? I'm not military, but made it a point to learn about the Armed Services. If I see someone in uniform, I can tell which service, rank, usually the unit, and some ribbons.
These guys took on fanatics with the bayonet, or the long lance, or the neibleworfer. This guy showed his ass to the military long ago, and is doing it again when just weeks ago he was offering to send this generation's greatest into a land war in Syria. Pro or con, how can a person lead the new warriors while dismissing the auld breed? No, this guy is a pusher.
#7
Those old veterans are leaving the scene in large numbers daily & soon they won't matter to the Free Lunch Party, the largest & most influential in American politics at the moment & for the foreseeable future. When the Free Lunches are discontinued, we will be in a world of trouble.
#10
the gullible are now getting sticker shock on Obamacare. Nothing hits like a financial hit, bitches! Hope and Less Change!
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2013 15:18 Comments ||
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#11
He is on course with his plans. This whole event is working perfectly. He would be artless if one were to suppose he had America's best interests at heart. He wants to bring America down to Chicagoland/banana republic politics. With that in mind he is performing admirably. Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot would be proud...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/06/2013 16:46 Comments ||
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#12
Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot would be proud...
Maybe they will soon share something else in common with The Won....
[Dawn] A TRICKLE of information has started to flow about the all-party sanctioned and military-backed talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP).
Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab minister and one of the beacons of the governing PML-N, told the media that talks with the Death Eaters have started. But it would have been much better had he also specified which talks he was referring to.
This would have been significant because Rana Sanaullah is the man widely believed to have been the go-between in more than five years of delicate negotiations with the TTP and its affiliates that have contributed to keeping Punjab safe.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
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[Dawn] PARITY. Now there's a word we haven't heard for some time. And yet it was a regular feature in Foreign Office statements not that long ago.
Its disappearance from our diplomatic lexicon is a sign of the growing realisation of our relative decline when compared with our giant neighbour. Until the 1980s, we demanded parity with India in our international dealings, but as our rival's economy -- and hence its influence -- increased, we began a slide that grows steeper by the day.
India always had an edge over Pakistain where soft power was concerned. It was seen as a culturally rich and colourful destination for foreigners, while Pakistain was viewed as a barren and joyless place dominated by the military and the mullahs. Our foul treatment of women and minorities did little to improve our image.
Rather the contrary, in fact. What an odd thing to say.
[Dawn] IF the last PPP-led government at the centre richly deserved the ridicule heaped upon it for not lifting the curbs it imposed on YouTube, the current set-up in Sindh has elicited an equally strong response to its proposal to ban internet chat and telephony apps including Skype, WhatsApp, Tango and Viber. If the reasoning behind the continuing blockade on YouTube is incomprehensible -- that it is not possible to filter out all objectionable material -- the logic given for blocking off Voice Over Internet Protocol applications -- ie instant messaging tools are used by criminals who cannot be traced -- is just as difficult to fathom. After Thursday's decision was taken at a meeting in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said the blockade would make security operations more effective.
There is no doubt that Karachi's law and order situation requires urgent intervention, but is this the best way to tackle the situation? While criminals may indeed be using VoIP apps, their number is dwarfed by that of ordinary, honest citizens who use them for all sorts of legitimate purposes -- from keeping in touch with family and friends to conducting online interviews and conferences in lieu of their physical presence at a location. The Sindh government has asked that a ban be imposed for three months. If the authorities feel this move is vital to the success of security operations, they must make a strong case before the public for whom such restricted access amounts to a curtailment of civil liberties. There is a ray of hope though; the ban cannot be imposed unilaterally by the provincial government, and the request to do so has to be sent to the federal authorities. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that while such a request would be debated he was personally against a proposal that smacked of the previous government's intermittent shutdowns of mobile network services for similar reasons. This is a more sensible approach. Pakistain needs to find ways of countering criminals other than by declaring war on modern communications systems.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2013 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[WashingtonPost] Losing a hard-fought battle confers no dishonor, but losing a badly chosen battle is embarrassing.
And then theres ridiculous.
Into the last category goes the decision to close the nations monuments to make sure that the government shutdown strikes the hearts of all The American People, whose constant invocation by pandering politicians fills one with self-loathing. (Who wants to be an American People, given the quality of our spokesfolksen?)
#1
What about winning a badly chosen battle? Because that's what I see - no degree of idiocy seems to affect their ability to impose their will. If anything, the fact that they keep getting away with more and more outrageous things emboldens them: it may not be long before they conclude they can dissolve the Constitution and establish a new 'Republic.'
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Dawn] A TRICKLE of information has started to flow about the all-party sanctioned and military-backed talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP).
[Dawn] PARITY. Now there's a word we haven't heard for some time. And yet it was a regular feature in Foreign Office statements not that long ago.
[Dawn] IF the last PPP-led government at the centre richly deserved the ridicule heaped upon it for not lifting the curbs it imposed on YouTube, the current set-up in Sindh has elicited an equally strong response to its proposal to ban internet chat and telephony apps including Skype, WhatsApp, Tango and Viber. If the reasoning behind the continuing blockade on YouTube is incomprehensible -- that it is not possible to filter out all objectionable material -- the logic given for blocking off Voice Over Internet Protocol applications -- ie instant messaging tools are used by criminals who cannot be traced -- is just as difficult to fathom. After Thursday's decision was taken at a meeting in 
