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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| The Jewish left: mugged by reality |
| 2006-08-13 |
| by Thane Rosenbaum, Wall Street Journal This is a soul-searching moment for the Jewish left. Actually, for many Jewish liberals, navigating the gloomy politics of the Middle East is like walking with two left feet. I would know. For six years I was the literary editor of Tikkun magazine, a leading voice for progressive Jewish politics that never avoided subjecting Israel to moral scrutiny. I also teach human rights at a Jesuit university, imparting the lessons of reciprocal grievances and the moral necessity to regard all people with dignity and mutual respect. And I am deeply sensitive to Palestinian pain, and mortified when innocent civilians are used as human shields and then cynically martyred as casualties of war. Yet, since 9/11 and the second intifada, in which suicide bombings and beheadings have become the calling cards of Arab diplomacy, and with Hamas and Hezbollah emerging as elected entities that, paradoxically, reject the first principles of liberal democracy, I feel a great deal of moral anguish. Perhaps I have been naive all along. And I am not alone. Many Jews are in my position--the children and grandchildren of labor leaders, socialists, pacifists, humanitarians, antiwar protesters--instinctively leaning left, rejecting war, unwilling to demonize, and insisting that violence only breeds more violence. Most of all we share the profound belief that killing, humiliation and the infliction of unnecessary pain are not Jewish attributes. However, the world as we know it today--post-Holocaust, post-9/11, post-sanity--is not cooperating. Given the realities of the new Middle East, perhaps it is time for a reality check. For this reason, many Jewish liberals are surrendering to the mindset that there are no solutions other than to allow Israel to defend itself--with whatever means necessary. Unfortunately, the inevitability of Israel coincides with the inevitability of anti-Semitism. This is what more politically conservative Jews and hardcore Zionists maintained from the outset. And it was this nightmare that the Jewish left always refused to imagine. . . . Scene: a man riding a horse on the road to Damascus. As he reaches center stage, a lightening bolt knocks him from the saddle . . . . |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #6 The gentleman should read the Old Testament. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-08-13 19:30 |
| #5 Most of all we share the profound belief that killing, humiliation and the infliction of unnecessary pain are not Jewish attributes. So we are taught. But that does not mean that necessary killing and the infliction of necessary pain are also not Jewish attributes. Being Jewish is not intended to be a suicide pact. I'm glad Mr. Rosenbaum has noticed that reality is giving him a bad mugging, but it would helpful if he would complete his epiphany a bit more quickly, and start acting on the logical and necessary conclusions. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-08-13 18:39 |
| #4 There are many many more liberals that first need to wake up to reality and then get mugged by reality. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-08-13 15:35 |
| #3 Oh they are nice people. And it is the nice people who wonder what the hell went wrong, when they are dragged from their cars and are beaten to death by the same groups they patronised. |
| Posted by: Fordesque 2006-08-13 15:12 |
| #2 He certainly praises his incredible wonderfulness enough, doesn't he? He is promoting himself and his like as if they were the nicest people in the world. Great. Since they're so nice, they can apologize for decades of calling conservatives nasty names and imputing vile motives. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2006-08-13 13:42 |
| #1 All this time I thought they were communists who happened to be Jewish. Perhaps they really did care and were acting in good faith. |
| Posted by: Master of Obvious 2006-08-13 13:38 |