Liberal American Jews and Israel: a split personality disorder
(Palestine Note) -- By Noam Sheizaf --
...All known data indicate that the vast majority of US Jews supports the democratic party, and many consider themselves liberals (Barack Obama captured 78 percent of the Jewish vote). Yet except for a group of well known activists, you can hardly hear these people criticize Israel, which is not exactly a picture-perfect liberal democracy.
I am not talking here about the old Jewish establishment or about AIPAC. AIPAC are professional politicians. Their status is based on their connections with the Israeli governments, and their ability to promote Israeli interests in Washington. Breaking up with Israel - even just criticizing Israeli politics - will not just hurt their status, it will simply leave them unemployed. Expecting AIPAC or other Jewish leaders with good ties in Jerusalem to declare that, for example, Israel should lift the siege on Gaza, is like asking an insurance lobbyist to speak in the name of the public option.
Naturally, I don't expect anything from Jewish neo-cons either. These people like Netanyahu, they supported George Bush, and they will go on speaking about culture wars and Islamo-facists versus Judeo-Christians even on the day Mahmud Haniya converts to Zionism. You can agree or disagree with them, but at least their views are consistent.
With the Liberals it's quite a different story. It's obvious they care deeply about Israel. Some of them are very passionate about politics and extremely well-informed about what's going on here, but from time to time, I get the feeling they hold back some of their views.
I don't think many liberals, if they really are liberals, can accept the siege on Gaza. Even if they think that Hamas is to blame for the current state of affairs, surly they don't support collective punishment against 1.5 million people, do they? What would they say if the US was to seal the areas in Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan where the insurgents are hiding, not letting even basic supply in or out, preventing civilians from growing food or working, and practically leaving the entire population on the brink of starvation? I presume many Americans will oppose such policies.
But let's leave geo-politics aside, and talk about the current wave of anti-Arab legislation in Israel. There are things happening here on a daily basis which would make most American Jews go out of their minds if they occurred to African-Americans in Alabama or to native Americans in Oklahoma, rather than to Arabs in the Galilee. Take for example the temporary order preventing Arab citizens who marry non-Israelis to live with their partners and children here, or the new legislation which will make it legal for Jewish neighborhoods and settlements to refuse to accept Arabs. Is this something Americans - not just liberals - would tolerate? I'm not even talking here about the de-facto discrimination of Arabs, but about a legal effort to introduce ethnic segregation in Israel. Isn't that the same issue Jews fought against throughout our entire history? Weren't American Jews an important part of the civil right movement? What's the difference between Blacks in Birmingham and Arabs in Katzir?...MORE...LINK
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