Call me a "self-hating Jew." Heck, I'm called that all the time.
But the behavior of those 8000 AIPAC delegates makes me pray that my neighbors aren't watching. Or, at least, that they know that AIPAC represents American Jews the way Pat Robertson represents American Christians.
Who are these people?
Who are these Jews who cheer Eric Cantor more than any other politician right before they go utterly nuts cheering Prime Minister Netanyahu who proceeded to give a speech totally sticking it to the United States.
Who are they?
I don't know who these people are because nobody I know would go near an AIPAC meeting. I'm a fairly traditional Jew (my wife was born in a Displaced Persons camp after WW2) and we get weepy over Mount Rushmore and a good Obama speech not some illegal settlement in the West Bank. Our kids keep tabs of how many of the 50 states they can visit. My father thought western Pennsylvania was his homeland.
AIPAC people are a weird subset among American Jews. 80% of us voted for Obama and probably 90% of us would feel our gorge rising at the mere sight of Cantor or Joe Lieberman. But not AIPAC.
Also, as Jews -- and unlike AIPAC -- we identify with Palestinian suffering and not just Jewish pain. And we understand that right now, and especially since the Gaza war, it has been Palestinians who have done almost all of the suffering and not Jews.
So why are we the way we are? And why is the AIPAC fringe like it is? I'll tell you one thing. It is not primarily because we are better Americans. It is because we are better Jews, even better Zionists. They are...something else.
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I bring it up in response to this article because I have many American Jewish friends and they are generally strong supporters of Israel, and to some extent support or are indifferent to Israeli occupation. I think this is a result of their belief in the version of history I just mentioned.
The true history of the land is very different. The land was already well settled and cultivated by indigenous Arabs comprising over 90% of the pop. in 1900, owning over 90% of the land in '47. European Jews began colonizing the land around 1890, and en mass in the 30s and 40s. In '48, Arabs were then forcefully evicted and others fled fearing violence believing they would shortly return.
This true history needs to be acknowledged, that the creation of a Jewish state was at the expense of an indigenous people, dispossessing them of... everything. It would make all the difference in reconciling the situation.
1. The indigenous Arabs of Palestine were recent immigrants themselves, the vast majority arrived after 1800
2. The indigenous Arabs did not own the land they were working on, it was owned by Ottoman landlords.
3. The indigenous Arabs only lost "everything" after they lost a war THEY STARTED to exterminate the Jewish resident of Palestine.
For 1., please site a viable source.
For 2., many of them did own the land and still hold land deeds today. Please site a viable source. Regardless, these peoples owned their homes, property, businesses, etc., etc. and that was all taken from them.
For 3, not exactly. As the native population, still comprising 65% of the population in '47 and owning the majority of the land, they were presented a partition plan that relegated them to a disproportionately smaller piece and it was no doubt the less desirable peace with regards the coast line. Honestly, imagine them facing this from a group of people that had really only arrived in the last 20 years.
They started a war in protest to being under rule by a Jewish state, not to exterminate every Jew from Palestine (I'm sure a quote can be found from a Palestinian saying that, just a easily as I can point to future PMs who were by every definition "terrorists" and committed ethnic cleansing this same year).
In fairness to your argument, hundreds of thousands of Jews from around the middle east fled their homes for Israel in '48, I imagine evicted and seeking safety much like the Palestinians. This blurs things considerably, but nonetheless two wrongs do not make a right and the true history needs to be recognized.
Mr. Rosenberg is correct that AIPac is indeed the fringe. Groups like JStreet are more in tune with vast majority of jewish opinion.
If Bibi continues to start the conversation with what is off the table, they will never get to the table. Peace only comes when both parties are willing to have open and honest negotiations. It's time for some tough love.
Earlier today I watched an interview on BBC with the mayor of Jerusalem. He refused to stop the building of settlements. If Israelis can't even agree to temporarily halt construction of some buildings so that peace talks might begin we know how important this is to them.
The world is watching. Even if the Israeli government is right (legally) with what they are doing, it won't matter for long. The TV continues to show Palestinians suffering at border checkpoints, starving, living in refugee camps, being harassed by soldiers, and as of recently military attacks.
Let's stop deflecting the issue to Iran and get serious about peace.
We need to stand up to these crazy bullies.
If not, then you are disloyal to your country.
Gen. Petraeus has made it clear that America's unconditional support of Israel has, and continues to endanger American troops. Accordingly, for American Jews to cleave to the AIPAC unconditional support for Israel's actions and policies in direct contradiction of the Petraeus warning, they put Israel's interests ahead of the safety of American soldiers.
If the average American was made aware of this situation, AIPAC's power would be seriously diminished.
Your Judaism has no relevance to life in Israel, and totally ignores the many other Jewish viewpoints which are relevant as they were the product of hands-on experiences of life with “neighbors” who are not so amicable. Since you may very well wish to distance yourself from Israelis and Zionists (that’s fine by me and the feeling is definitely mutual), you really have no moral right to speak on behalf or for Jewish-Americans that are also Zionist, or give comfort to Israel's enemies simply because, as you state … “you are Jewish”.
You seem to be projecting all kinds of stuff.
Did you read his article?
I think you are reading way too much into that. There is ZERO implication in that statement that someone likes america because america is israel's friend.
Mr. Rosenberg, that is a pretty bold statement. I am not sure what I think of the article, I'm going to read it a few more times, but really, that seems a bit arrogant. Maybe it is not intended as such, or maybe it is just a reaction to the aggressive AIPAC statements.
Also, as Jews -- and unlike AIPAC -- we identify with Palestinian suffering and not just Jewish pain. "
You are claiming your point of view is the one shared by "American Jews". You are claiming to speak for all American Jews except the ones of AIPAC. Do you have any evidence your opinions are shared by the majority of American Jews?
=Moreover, the author debunks the false choice--that AIPAC promotes--that a devout American Jew has to choose between the two countries that live in his heart.
=To love America is to love freedom and democracy and human rights. To love Israel is to feel the same way. The over-the-top folks @ AIPAC want to create a double standard: when the Palestinians engage in terrorist acts, it's wrong (of course it is!); when Israeli's do it, it's O.K. Wrong!
=I was pleased to see a full-page newspaper ad the other day for "J-Street," an organization that claims to be "Pro-Peace" and "Pro-Israel." They understand that the goals are mutually supportive;
unlike the AIPAC crowd, and Bibi, who see war, violence and revenge as ends in themselves.
Shalom!
Imagine. Your kids live here but you are mainly concerned about other peoples' kids elsewhere. Tiny per cent.
To the AIPAC zealots, I've often considered saying, "If you love Israel so much, why don't you just move there?"
And then I remember: that would give the Likud government a pretext to build more settlements in places they don't belong.
Quite a Catch-22 they've managed to arrange, no?
- Steve Rosen, AIPAC honcho, quoted in the New Yorker
www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/07/04/050704fa_fact