The Boston Review asserts that Eric Alterman's 'We are not One'- which purports to be a historyy of 'America's fight over Israel'-
teases out four important consequences of American Jews centering the Israeli state in Jewish identity.
This is foolish. Israel is founded on Jewish identity and has said so very clearly to every country and every community. American Jews like Indian Hindus and Arab Muslims understand this. There are no consequences to 'centering the Israeli state in Nigerian identity' because Israel simply isn't Nigerian. Those who get involved in any such 'centering' are laughed at. They give up any such stupidity or else must remain content to keep their crazy or ignorant thoughts to themselves.
Though he generalizes about millions of people in doing so, he does identify important trends: first, Israel-centered Judaism has contributed to unconditional U.S. government support for Israeli governments,
Fuck off! There has never been any such 'unconditional support'. Eisenhower made Israel give up its gains in the 1957 War. France- initially because of Algeria- was Israel's partner till '67. They also cooperated in the nuclear field so as to get their own force de frappe deterrent.
After a Palestinian killed Bobby Kennedy and, a little later, the PLO killed the US Ambassador to Sudan, America , quite naturally, strengthened ties with Israel because....urm....how should I put this politely?... A-rabs be kray kray.
1967 did, it is true, lay to rest the older Anti-Semitic trope of the brainy Jew who is shit at fighting. It may also have reinforced Evangelical notions regarding the eschatological need for some Jews to remain in the Holy Land to fulfil the prophesy encoded in the Book of Revelations. Still, the fact remains, that support for Israel grew because Israel was becoming increasingly viable. Reaganite tough love in the Eighties got it to shake off Socialism and to become a burgeoning Knowledge Economy with the Army serving as a tech incubator. That's why Saudi and the Gulf have embraced it and turned their backs on the Palestinians who can't even export much terror any more.
regardless of their policies and conduct toward Palestinians.
Nobody gives a fuck about towel heads. True, after 9/11, there was money on the table to kill random Muslims but not Palestinians per se. Apparently some of them dudes be Christian- like Edward Said. Anyway they were all useless whatever their religion. It warmed the cockles of the heart to think of them pinning their hopes on the BDS movement. But FDI into Israel and academic and other cooperation rose exponentially while some nutters on campuses were shouting themselves hoarse about Netanyahu. Black Lives do matter- a bit- but lies about Palestine don't matter at all.
Second, reactions to Israel have served to set the battle lines in important parts of the Jewish organizational world in the United States.
No. Competition between and within American Jewish organizations has to feature Israel in a very prominent way because Israel is a Jewish state- the only one in the world. Similarly, Indian organizations in the US are concerned with Indian politics as are Pakistani organizations with Pakistani politics and so on.
Third, embracing Israel and its increasingly illiberal and repressive identity has meant neglecting Judaism’s strong social justice tradition.
No. Embracing one particular political party or leader in Israel and gassing on about how all the other political parties are shitty means neglecting Judaism's strong tradition of saying sarky things about the Rabbi's wife or swapping recipes for latkes.
A social justice tradition is neglected if it isn't causing social justice to improve. Talking about it may itself be a form of neglect, if all there is is talk.
Lastly, centering Israel may have failed to give younger Jews a strong sense of Jewish identity
this is even more the case with young Nigerians.
or, more bluntly, a reason to remain committed to identifying as Jewish.
or identifying as young or as 'binary' or as a human being rather than a son of the doomed Planet Krypton.
In reaction to Israel’s illiberal policies,
as opposed to America's genocidal, post 9/11 policies, which have killed 1.3 million Muslims and have uprooted tens of millions more
younger American Jews are becoming alienated from Judaism.
The good news, for Zionism, is that rejection of Israel's liberal policies causes some young American Jews to become ultra-orthodox and encourages them to become 'settlers' in the West Bank. They hope to become a majority and to ban homosexuality. I'm not kidding. Ovrit Strook, currently a Minister, has said Doctors should be allowed to refuse to treat Gay patients for religious reasons! It must be admitted that ladies like Strook are more reassuring to Israel's neighbors who, like the Israelis, have turned their back on Socialism and Feminist Stridency.
The book examines how the American Jewish community might have evolved differently if they had not centered Israel in American Jewish identity.
Which would only have been possible if either there had been no pogroms or else the Arabs had been cohesive and kicked military ass
Judaism
is a religion. Like other religions is purports to care about the poor and the environment and so forth.
has a strong social justice tradition, invoking mandates such as tikkun olam (repairing the world) and gemilut chasidim (acts of loving kindness) to focus on domestic ills that plague U.S. society.
Sadly, poverty is created by very poor people having kids who are bound to be poor. Crime and addiction and horrible attitudes and patterns of behavior too can have a hereditary component. Religions try to improve things by getting people who live lawless lives to convert. Judaism is handicapped in that regard in a multi-racial territory with pre-existing ethnicities.
Though smaller groups do that, such as Bend the Arc, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, and Never Again Action, the Jewish organizational mainstream has a different priority. For example, Alterman notes that in 2022 the Jewish Federations of North America’s Public Priorities statement changed from supporting “gun control, voting rights, and LGBTQ protections” to championing “Jewish communal security and support for Israel.” The focus on Israel has sucked up resources too: Birthright trips to Israel have received hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, while educational and communal approaches associated with tikkun olam “have gone begging in recent decades.”
This is perfectly understandable. Mainstream organizations double down on 'last mile delivery' of stuff which people actually want. Repairing the Cosmos involves pissing money against a wall.
The author of this piece, a Professor of useless shite, does not seem to be aware that America lost the War on Terror and that China is now offering to broker a peace between Israel and Hamas.
One important question Netanyahu isn’t properly considering is whether the growth of American Jewish disaffection with Israel will undermine the strong U.S.-Israeli military and diplomatic alliance.
The decline in American strength will undermine it. That's why Israel is broadening its support base in the region. They are crowing about an Indian billionaire- who has been attacked by Soros- having taken over the development of a military port. The message is clear. Israel, as a knowledge economy, can partner with other countries so as to grow richer and more secure.
The Israeli right doesn’t think so, although Washington could pressure Israel to end the occupation and its suppression of the Palestinian right to self-determination.
No. Washington has lost that ability. There is no point giving money to BDS type shitheads. Their shrillness and stupidity is wholly counter-productive. Soros promoted the son of an Indian anti-Semite. That was not just a waste of money. It was a gift to Modi and Netanyahu.
If the United States denied Israel access to advanced weaponry,
Israel would steal that tech and manufacture the thing more cheaply.
refused to veto United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions condemning Israeli abuses and violations of international law,
then Russia or China or France will step in.
and limited Israeli businesses access to the U.S. economy, Israel would be in a more tenuous position.
No. It would ally with the emerging Eurasian power-block.
Today many American Jews, more distant not only from the Holocaust but also from the 1967 War, recognize Israel’s decades-long swing to the right
Fuck off! The plain fact is that Israeli Socialism was shitty. The economy was totally unviable. That's why its neighbors feared it. Begin's making peace with Sadat allowed Reaganite tough love to push Israel onto a more market oriented trajectory. This has culminated in Gulf Emirates building synagogues and rolling out the red-carpet for Israeli entrepreneurs.
and the ties between Israel’s right and anti-democratic forces
i.e. the Republicans
in the United States. They cannot square a reactionary, hypernationalist occupier with their progressive values.
Very true. They are handing back their real estate to the First Nations and returning to shtetls in Poland or Ukraine or Lithuania.
As a result, they will either seek a different core to their Jewish identity
like Seth Rogen in 'An American Pickle'- right?
or none at all. To the extent that popular support for Israel matters to U.S. foreign policy, a popular turn against Israel spearheaded by the next generation of American Jews could fundamentally change the United States’ relationship with the country.
As could the replacement of the US Constitution by Sharia Law.
What is certain is that Left Liberal Jewish American Professors of shite subjects are living in a fantasy land. They have lost all political relevance. Soros & Co may give them money but they will just piss it away in a manner which benefits Donald Trump.
Enough with the mischegoss already!
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