← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Centinel
Thread ID: 3896 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2002-12-07
2002-12-07 19:44 | User Profile
From Ha'aretz, available online at: [url=http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=238300&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y]http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/Sh...sID=0&listSrc=Y[/url]
Right-ward - and inward
By Yair Sheleg December 7, 2002
Breakfast with three rabbis, representatives of three major streams in American Judaism, confirms the rumor that the American-Jewish community is taking a rightward turn - not in Israeli terms, but in internal American terms - toward supporting the Republicans. Ze'ev Shandalov, a clean-shaven modern Orthodox rabbi, is not surprised: He has been on the right even before the events of the past two years. But the views of his two colleagues, Conservative Rabbi Peter Knobel and Reform Rabbi Michael Siegal, are unexpected.
Three months ago, in his Rosh Hashanah sermon at his synagogue, Rabbi Knobel said to this congregation for the first time: "We have to think about changing our attitude toward the Republicans and the evangelical Christians, because they have turned out to be most devoted to Israel in its difficult hour."
Siegal is even more surprising. The Reform movement is known for its clear identification with liberal circles and the Democratic Party. But now Siegal is complaining that although he remains "faithful to the democratic-liberal spirit, it's turning me into an `old dinosaur.' Many of the members of my congregation, and even my children, have already moved to the right."
The conversation with them, about three weeks ago during a tour by a number of Israeli journalists to several Jewish communities in the United States (at the invitation of the United Jewish Communities, an umbrella organization which represents and serves 156 Jewish federations and 400 independent North American Jewish communities), reflects a process that is occurring in American Jewry, especially among those who are connected to organized Jewish activity. During the past two years, more and more people have been talking about how the supreme criterion for internal American political identification is the level of support for Israel, and according to this measure, the sense is that the Republicans are leading. For the same reason, there has been a new openness toward the Christian evangelist right, which in the past was considered anathema by the Jewish-liberal establishment.
A clear example of this is the reversal experienced by Abraham Foxman, the veteran national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League. Foxman, who in the past led battles against the Christian coalition on internal American issues having to do with the complete separation of church and state (of which the Jewish establishment is an ardent supporter) - for example, on the issues of abortion and government funding to private religious schools (through vouchers) - in the past two years has begun to develop close relations with some of the heads of these organizations, among them Ralph Reed, formerly a bitter enemy.
However, he has not hesitated to confront another Christian preacher, Pat Robertson (a recently acquired friend of Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert), who argued that the Jews are blind to the threat to them from Islam, which is "worse than the Nazis." Foxman, who wants to prove that his organization fights not only anti-Semitism but all racist incitement, saw this as a sweeping generalization. Robertson, on his part, apologized and retracted it.
As compared to Robertson's generalizations, there are those whose excessive cautiousness about generalizations leads them into total absurdities. In a conversation with a number of leading journalists - not necessarily Jewish - in Chicago, the foreign news editor of The Chicago Times (considered one of the best newspapers in the United States), an arrogant young Irishman named Coin McMahon, did not hesitate to assert that "serious journalists don't call people terrorists,'" as every such person has ideas in the name of which he acts, and does not carry out terror just for the sake of terror. "Therefore," he added, "they should be calledindividuals who carry out acts of terror' and not `terrorists.'"
In a similar spirit, he also explained why one should not speak about "terror organizations": "Hamas, for example, carries out acts of charity alongside acts of terror, and therefore its activities can't be summed up by the words `terrorist organization.'" The precise definition, according to McMahon, should therefore be "an organization that carries out acts of terrorism."
It is hard to say whether this self-righteous discourse stems from real sensitivity to language, or perhaps from McMahon's attempt to cover up the terrorist actions of his countrymen, the Irish.
In any case, it turns out that some of his own colleagues did not seem to agree with these linguistic prohibitions. In truth, the awkward language he demands is not in accordance with natural instincts and common sense. He himself had a slip of the tongue, and was once caught using the faulty expression "terrorist."
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2002-12-07 19:50 | User Profile
Excellent post. That is exactly what happened: they dragged the GOP to the left. And in the insane chase to get their vote, the GOP agreed.
LIke I told my friend about blacks: we could get 100% of their votes if we promised them free jobs, free college tuition, free $300K homes and transferred all white wealth to them. But would we like that?
-Jay
2002-12-17 16:56 | User Profile
The politically sophisticated Jewish claques will move to the right, as a matter of self-protection and convenience. Already the neoconservatives are a Jewish cabal and are regarded as speaking for conservatilves in general. They are the 'voice of conservatism". Any money or effort spent by the Jews will be for their own benefit. The immigration bomb hasn't worked totally as expected or desired, but, no matter, some money and politcal savvy will work as always. It never fails.
2002-12-17 17:51 | User Profile
The Republican Party has become a whore for Israel. In fact, it has been for quite a while. I should've realized this when I saw the ever-increasing influence of Evangelical Protestants in the GOP. Their hardcore support for Israel has been embarrassingly overdone, while their morally conservative positions (e.g., abortion, et al.) have been downplayed. Bush has no problem giving Israel double the billions of dollars requested, yet has not done one thing about banning partial-birth abortion (not a terribly hard sell among the moral conservative issues).
Contrary to alot of contrary opinion, both Gulf Wars (90 & 03) had nothing to with oil and everything to do with protecting the INTERESTS Israel. The Gulf War and Gulf War II price tag -- $200 billion to $1.5 trillion-- should be calculated as aid to Israel (on top of the $150 billion already given as welfare).
I have never gotten around to dropping my Republican registration, but the events of the last week and Bush's Israel war against Iraq has given me the requisite motivation to drive down and do so.
2002-12-17 20:36 | User Profile
Yes, the GOP has been yanked leftward like a dog on a choke-chain, but I see no evidence whatsoever of a general jewish move to the right.
Sure, you can relabel socialism "neoconservatism" but it's still the same smelly turd it always was, in spite of dousing it with Lysol. Words that conservatives like to hear are being mouthed, but nothing's being done to implement those ideas, (David Horowitz, anyone?), the border's wide open in spite of all the yammering about increased security and Jorge's already making amnesty noises again. If that's moving right, I'd hate to see what leftward looks like.