When Israel Becomes A Source Of Embarrassment
Submitted by Gary Rosenblatt on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 23:24
Responding to a talk on the Israeli-Palestinian situation by the PLO representative to the U.S., Maen Rashid Areikat, in New York the other day, an Israeli professor at NYU commented publicly how ironic it was that the PLO ambassador sounded more reasonable than Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
Areikat smiled broadly and many in the audience, a group of several dozen Jewish leaders and graduate students, nodded approvingly.
Sign of the times?
It seems so. Areikat spoke at a luncheon and program sponsored by the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at NYU Wagner and the Taub Center for Israel Studies at NYU. His remarks were greeted warmly as he called on American Jews to help convince Israel to end the negotiating stalemate, and the occupation of the West Bank, and make peace with the Palestinians.
“Don’t use [the excuse of] security to prolong my suffering,” Areikat said, adding that resentment toward Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, though not at evident during the recent Egyptian revolution, will become more of a factor in the region soon.
There was little pushback from the audience to Areikat’s views, and Steven M. Cohen, the director of the Berman Center who served as host and moderator, praised the talk as “enlightening and inspiring.”
The mood at the event was one of many growing indications to me that the current Israeli government has become a source of embarrassment to many liberal American Jews.
Prime Minister Netanyahu better not wait until late May to come to the U.S. and present a new proposal for advancing the stalled peace talks. With the situation deteriorating on the hasbara front, something must be done a lot sooner than Netanyahu’s scheduled appearance at the annual AIPAC conference, which begins May 22, and it better be more substantive than past efforts.
Most American Jews want to feel proud of the Jewish State, not frustrated or ashamed. It doesn’t help when they read of continued settlement growth, the flotilla debacle, Foreign Minister Lieberman’s hard-line comments about Israeli Arabs and other issues, or that the Knesset conducted inquiries into the funding sources of NGOs, or that the Chief Rabbinate is increasingly rigid on matters of marriage, divorce and conversion.
Never mind the complex challenges Israel faces in a hostile neighborhood, where compromise is seen as weakness. Many Jews just don’t want to read and see stories that portray Israel as the source of Mideast problems, whether or not the analysis is accurate.
Federation fundraisers say that even big givers worry aloud about Israeli policies and the negative impact such policies are having on their children, a generation that does not remember Israeli feats like Entebbe, much less the Six-Day War.
My gut tells me that the status quo is not good for Israel, and more creative ways must be found to convince the world, starting with American Jews, that Jerusalem really wants a two-state solution before the option becomes moot.
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Oy vey... a Shanda for the Goyim. I will quickly get my beach shoes and head toward the Med. If Israelis committing national suicide will save embarrassment for our liberal American Jewish cousins, then by all means let's all head towards the Med. and sing Kumbaya as we enter the water. Israel will and should do what is in her national interest. If American Jews are fair weather friends, let them not show up at the Israeli day parade or the UJA mission. The Israeli reality is that every time there is a compromise of any sort it gets paid for in Israeli blood.
Netanyahu and Barrack have to rationally and coldly decide in light of the recent events in the Middle East, if compromise can even be broached at this time. If American Jews have to squirm a bit...let them squirm. It's a lot easier than attending funerals!
As an Oleh living in Israel, I am a bit confused by the view from the U.S. The world around us (in Israel) is up in the air. We don't know what is going to happen or who is going to make it happen. Shouldn't the Israeli gov. wait and see before we make any rash agreements?
What is a source of embarrassment in the idea that you actually believe that there can be peace with people who teach their children from the day they are born to villify Jews. Also, it is embarrassing to believe that the editor of a prominent Jewish paper would advise his fellow Jews in Israel to practice clinical insanity, i.e., to repeat the behavior of giving land to the Arabs that has led to the rise of Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, and expect a different result.
And if you believe Erekat's "peaceful" intentions I have a bridge for sale to show you.
Mr. Rosenblatt, your analysis has left me in total shock! Have you lost your senses? Based on all the news stories I have read the past year, the PA leadership has completely failed to come to the table to negotiate. In fact, the PA leadership has devolved into spouting radical anti-Israel slogans and tirades for all to read. Do you read the HaAretz, Jpost and other moderate new sites? I am a moderate pro-peace supporter and I am in shock at the very title of your story -- Israel an embarressment? No, the PA is an embarressment for their duplicity and disgusting anti-semetic pronouncements. Israel wants to reach a reasonable settlement and any evidence to the contrary is nonexistant. Has the Jewish Week been bought out by J Street? What accounts for your astonishing change of thought ?
Mr. Rosenblatt,
"There was little pushback from the audience to Areikat’s views," nor, apparently, was there any from you. It seems that you take your own view of Israel and of Avigdor Lieberman and his "hard-line comments" for granted as the one point-of-view that all should and do acknowledge and agree to without further details. While Areikat's words and views weren't elaborated much, they were effusively praised. However, everyone is expected, apparently, to be "frustrated and ashamed" by Avigdor Lieberman and the Israeli government. There apparently is no need of any elaboration about this, in your view; specifics and details wouldn't matter.
I wasn't there. I'm not suggesting Areikat isn't an eloquent speaker and that he didn't present a message (genuine or not, workable or not) of peace to which his American audience was receptive. I'm suggesting that Lieberman, with his frank and less polished rhetoric, is a politician, and one just as genuine in representing his own constituency (not American Jewry)and maintaining his skepticism about Arab intentions toward Israel. Anyone may disagree with his politics, but to be "ashamed" of him and of Israel smacks of a Dixie-Chick-like arrogant disdain that precludes any serious thinking. Perhaps there's a little self-hatred and timidity at work in such an American Jewish reaction to his Russian Israeli assertiveness. I've seen how recklessly Lieberman has come to be called "racist" by some who abstain from applying that same epithet to Hamas and Hezbollah. Tell me, what other Israeli politicians are you and your American Jewish contingents "ashamed" of?
Have you ever fought in a war? Do you ever have any intention of fighting in a war? Or do you prefer to just have Israel fight your wars for you?
Israel just sounds more and more like Natzi Germany everyday. We don't create 'white people' only areas here in the US. Stop taking my tax dollars to support Israel's ethnic cleansing! My understanding is that more Israeli citizens die from peanut allergies than 'terrorists'. Israel is an embarrassment to the USA. And, fyi, more and more US citizens are questioning Israel's racist policies. We used to have an organization here in the US that was similar to Israeli settlers. It was called the KKK.
Its nice to see that anti-Semites who don't know what Nazi Germany was, and don't know what Israel is, get the right to spew their venom freely. God bless America!
I agree with the previous writer Donald on all points.
Mr. Rosenblatt,
I don't share your views of Israel at all. I am very proud of the country for its compassion, it's success, it's tolerance of the stranger in the face of ferocious Arab intolerance, their democracy in a sea of dictatorships, it's excellence in science, math, art, music, etc. I could easily continue with deserving praise for Israel, but I want to mention one other important reason I have disdain for your view. Read the post from Donald Walsh which is both imbecilic and anti-semitic. Your message gives bigots like Walsh cover. Your say you are 'embarrassed' by the behaviors of Israel. Walsh is simply agreeing with you, but taking it a step further. Who's to say he's wrong if Rosenblatt is not wrong?
Gary Rosenblatt I am profoundly embarrassed by you. Has the New York Jewish Week started taking under the table money from Saudi Arabia.
Go live in Israel a few months. You remind of some fo the Jews in America that were quiet during the Nazi Holocaust.
Mr. Rosenblatt you are living in New York City and don't have a care in the world other than to feel embarrassed by the Israelis? Have you heard about the global Islamic Jihad? Do you know the first thing about political Islamic ideology.
I am deeply offended and embarrassed by you pathetic little story about a meeting at NYJew.
Arnold Ziffle "If Israelis committing national suicide"
Uh? By adhering to the laws and UN Charter Israel obliged itself to uphold and under which Israel has every right to protect itself from any armed adversary? Simple does not compute as 'suicide'.
Perhaps you mean suicide of the ridiculous notion of a Greater Israel. A notion out put out of reach by Israel being "proclaimed as an independent republic within frontiers approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution of November 29, 1947" http://wp.me/pDB7k-KL
No one is asking Israel to give up any Israeli territory.
Exactly what land did Israel "give to the Arabs that has led to the rise of Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza?"
Neither Hizbullah nor Hamas arose because Israel gave land to Arabs. Hizbullah and Hamas arose in direct response to Israeli military occupation in south Lebanon (1982-2000) and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (1967-present), respectively. Hamas was even unwisely nurtured early on by some officials in the Israeli government to provide a counterweight to the secular PLO and create a division in Palestinian society. (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10456.htm) It worked, but the blowback isn't pretty. You are entitled to your own opinions, but making up your own "facts" only ensures that any path to peace will be more difficult to find than it might otherwise be.
Did you hear that the Palestinian's activity for Int'l women's day was to name an event after a female suicide bomber? What didn't appear in the NYT? These are our "partners" for peace.
Yes i served in a war with the U.S. Military and yes i spent 1yrs in Israel after leaving the U.S. military.I saw how close the boundaries are between Israel and YeSha. I realized how important it was for Israel to stay there and how foolish it was to give up Gaza and not finish the war in Lebanon where now Hezbollah has built up a tremendous rocket and missile force under the eyes of some multi national force that Livni negotiated.If Israel would have decisively beat Hezbollah it would have greatly diminished their power [politically] as well as military.Also it would have been a great setback for Iran
Zvi,
By repeating the behavior of giving land to Arabs, you're not referring to land that was illegally occupied/stolen by Israel in the first place, are you? Yes, I mean that land in which Israel has established an apartheid state governed by the IDF who appear to operate like the Gestapo (secret police of Nazi Germany).
Boo hoo Arnold, this is ridiculous! Ten times as much Palestinian blood has been spilled by the racist, Apatheid policies is israel as Israeli blood.
The UN? You're kidding, right? True, Israel was established within certain borders by the UN and was willing to live within those borders. Although, those borders were not realistic. Israel accepted the UN mandate. Then, Israel was attacked by Egypt, Jordan, Syria and let's not forget Iraq and the Grand Mufti who raised an army to, "Push the Jews into the Sea". The UN did not lift a finger to protect the new state. However, once Israel started to win the war and push back the invaders, they immediately ceded to the Arab demands for a cease fire.
The UN that allowed their "Peace Keeping" troops to withdraw at the behest of Nassir in 1967, causing the 6 Day War and oh yeah also ignoring the closing the Straits of Tiran to Israeli navigation (a causis belli ...legal term for act of war) and then did nothing as once again three Arab armies shouted loudly "Itbach El-Yehud" (that means Slaughter the Jews). Then, when Israel started to win against all odds, low and behold the UN came alive and told Israel to stop the aggression.
Should I go on. From before 1967 to Munich to Maalot to Hezbullah, the UN has NEVER protected Israel or condemned any other party.
So, Suicide is a very appropriate term to use. After the slaughters all over the world, from Cambodia to Congo to Rawanda, do you actually believe in the power of the UN to enforce a traffic law.
I love the term "Greater Israel" that is used by people that have never seen facts on the ground. It sounds so vast. Visit Jerusalem and see how intertwined the city is and how you can envision a border being drawn. Or, I'll take you to Kfar Saba (within the Green Line) from where you can have a great view of Kalkilya, a place from which numerous bloody terrorist raids and sniper attacks occurred prior to 1967.
The bottom line is, until Israel feels secure and not American Jews on Long Island, there will be no deal. So, if you don't see the big deal go to Israel and attend the funeral of someone killed in a terrorist attack or a soldier on the battlefield.
Until then, excuse me if I think Israel should care more about security then a body of anti-semites or anti-semitic enablers that have learned to warp what was a really nice idea into a tool of evil.
Anonymous,
Your version of Israel's history has about as much truth as Goebell's blaming Jews for everything. It is no wonder that you have the ignorance, audacity and anti-Semitism to compare Israel and the IDF to Gestapo. You probably also refer to tea-party people as racists, ala the NPR bigots. Hopefully the world will wake up one day and rid itself of the disease of anti-Semitism and its enablers.
Oh Dear. You do know that THERE ARE NO INTERNATIONAL 1967 BORDERLINES do you? go read a book, or better yet, the ceasefire agreements. FYI the UN charter declares the entire region west of the Jordan river for the state of Israel, Home of the Jewish people. No "palestnians" were mentioned (probably because that prior to 1964, the Arabs in Israel insisted they were Syrians ...)
Must read -
"Moment of truth for leftists -
Op-ed: Following attack, leftists must decide whether they're 'useful idiots' or anti-Semites" by Assaf Wohl
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4041263,00.html
@Annonymous "Has the New York Jewish Week started taking under the table money from Saudi Arabia.?" No, but it is taking money from the far left radical, George Soros. Soros funds "Jewish Funds for Justice" of which the Jewish Week is an affiliate.
Rosenblatt is correct, but it's troubling that at the end even he puts the focus on 'convincing.' It's actions that count - actions like the expansion of settlements, kicking families out of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, or imprisoning the leaders of nonviolent resistance from Bil'in and Budrus.
As an Israeli living in America who served in the army, I'm moving from feeling ashamed about Israel to thinking about a post-Israel world. The failure to secure peace is a failure to ensure Israel's long term survival.
As is typical of the American Jews who believe Israel can do no right. When the Arabs control the holy land will you be happy? Since when is it Israels obligation to always be the giving and never receiving. The biggest avocates for the Arab world are our fellow Jews who never quite seem to understand how negative depiction of Israel effects the rest of the world. If it were up to people like Mr Rosentblatt we would have a multinational state in the middle east devoid of Jewish content. I only hope that his viewpoint is not shared by Jews of America and around the world. G-d help us.
Rosenblatt is right in saying that things need to change, lest we run the risk of losing support for a viable and vibrant Israel from American Jews. A generation of Jews is now coming into adulthood having grown up very comfortably, without any fear or concern for their Jewish identity in America, and without the guttural need for the haven that Israel provides. Their connection to Israel, such as it exists now, is largely spiritual and values-based, and if those values aren't upheld, or if the reasons for their spirituality are lost, the connection will be severed.
Far from needing more hasbara, what Israel needs to do is take a good, non-political look at its actions and shift course towards a real peace agreement via a two-state solution. That is the only way for American Jewish embarrassment to recede - not by explaining away faulty policies, but by enacting real change to correct a bad situation.
So many of the comments on this thread are baffling to me, for in my mind at least, Mr. Rosenblatt is simply putting his finger on something that has been abundantly clear to so many Jews in both the U.S. and Israel for a long time: namely, that Israel's international reputation matters for its *own* long-term interests, and unfortunately this reputation is flagging every day.
The matter isn't so much that of us American Jews being "embarrassed"; rather, it's the sinking feeling we have that as long as the current Israeli government and its friends keep their heads buried in the sand and listen only to the logic of unilateral brute force, Israel will be shooting itself in the foot. Why do we Jews who purport so much to love open dialogue and book learning shun all the news and knowledge (much produced by some of the most lettered members of our community) that departs from the logic of force and "security"? Let alone basic facts on the ground, such as that settlement construction precludes any chance for peace.
Mr. Rosenblatt's letter might fall short of offering a sound solution -- as Charles wrote above, it's the concrete actions that matter -- but at least it's a solid step towards realizing that there are other forces and logics out there that factor into Israel's long-term interests and, yes, its security. Israel ignores these at its own peril; the American Jews don't have much of anything to do with it in the end.
I generally have right of center views about Israeli security, but I am growing more and more concerned about the bunker mentality that I see developing on the right. Is there any questioning of Israeli GOVERNMENT policy that we on the right might take to heart and seriously consider, without calling the writer stupid, anti-semitic, self-hating, deluded, etc. Do we really believe that the current GOVERNMENT of Israel is representing Israel's interests as effectively as can possibly be done? Maybe the best thing for Israel is for Netanyahu to hold his ground in the face of international pressure, but is Israel being well-served by a head of its diplomatic core that consistently undermines its Prime Minister, antagonizes other countries' diplomats, and makes it easier for other countries to cast Israel as the obstructionist? I think Gary was clear that there are supporters of Israel who are embarrassed by the Israeli GOVERNMENT. Aren't those on the right in the United States, people who consider themselves ardent patriots, entitled to be embarrassed by Barack Obama and the US Government? In Israel, there are MANY people critical of, and embarrassed by, the current GOVERNMENT. These are people who love Israel, have cast their lot with its future, and who spend their lives thinking about what course is best for Israel. I may not agree with their conclusions, but I respect who they are, what they have accomplished, and what they think. Their criticism and feeling of embarrassment gives me pause, because it makes me think that I might be missing something. And perhaps more importantly, there are people who feel embarrassed by the current GOVERNMENT of Israel, and who are vocally critical of it, who are essential allies of Israel. Losing their support is costly. Whether it is more costly whatever it would take to regain their support, I don't know. But I damn well need to consider it.
Mr. Rosenblatt,
you are a major embarrassment to your people. The horrific murder of the Fogel family is but one proof of thousands to your blindness and lack of understanding.
If you have not yet read David Suissa's article which mentions you, here is the link:
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/david/suisa_peace_challenge.php3
I hope this will wise you up a little.
It is mystifying how a Jew like you can be so misguided.
Yuval Zaliouk
www.truthprovider.com
Stumbled on this article by accident, but considering the subject I thought it best to add a few words.
It would be very nice if all of American Jews could be proud of Israel, but given the wide range of opinions in both Israel and the diaspora, that is hardly a possibility. Israel is a democracy and the people living there choose their representatives. In the last election the Likud and Israel Beteinu were relatively more successful and they formed the government. If that embarasses people like Rosenblatt or the unnamed Israeli proffessor, so be it. To me, the elitism and left wing snobbery of people who prefer being water carriers for a serial liar like Erekat causes elecits only scorn.
As for Israel being isolated, given the fact that so many liberal Jews are the cause of that isolation , it seems a bit odd that you should complain of your own success. Rather than throw mud on Israel, you should consider coming to Israel to live so you could take part in the elections and try to influence things from inside. Of course the down side of that is that you would suffer the consequences when some idiot politician would follow your advice.
Just an observation:
All the Orthodox Jews i speak to complain that Israel's policies are and have been too leftist- that Oslo was a disaster and all forms of appeasement and a Palestinian State would only leads to more Jewish bloodshed.
All the non-Orthodox (liberal) Jews i speak complain the exact opposite- that the Israeli government should rush to return settlements and the West Bank and try to settle the matter as soon as possible.
Why the difference? Because the religious Jews understand the religious Arabs better than the secular the Jews do. The religious Jews understand that for an Arab- they would rather continue to fight- kill Jews and be killed- than to give up one inch of all of Palestine. While religious Jews can understand such a mentality the secular Jews can't.
Meanwhile Israel is being led by secular Jews who with Oslo have made a Palestinian State inevitable. Once there is a Palestinian State it is just a matter of time until the religious Palestinians will try to work with other Arab states to destroy the Israel with its new and vulnerable borders.
Contrary to your simplistic claim, the policy which has de facto created a multinational Israel is the occupation of the Palestinian territories. Unlike you, I REALLY want a Jewish State in Israel, therefore I deplore the continued expansion of settlement in the midst of an overwhelmingly Palestinian population.
I agree with Adam - as Mr. Rosenblatt's analysis must have been that of those of J Street, PLO members or self-hating Jews of which, unfortunately there are many. Many Israelis that I know do not feel this way. Many know it would be suicide if there was an Arafater state in Israel's midsts. Doesn't Mr. Rosenblatt and others remember 1993? Oslo. What happened after that? How many homicide bomb belters were there? What happened in August 2005? Everything Israel does for peace the otherside wants to destroy. How about the Christians under the PA? Why are they being persecuted and doing an Exodus requesting Israel to take them in? Like a contributor for the Forward who speaks that Hebron should always have been for the Arabs but has no clue that it was the Arabs that had butchered Jews and others there since the 1920s - I will never ever understand the self-haters like the Rosenblatts and those "Rabbis" who would align themselves with terrorists. I know the history of the Holocaust and who were the partners of the Nazis too well to think that these creatures really want peace. There are 27 countries being controlled by the Arab Masters -- let the Arafaters/Hamassvillans live with them. By the way -- how is a "Palestinian" treated in Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi? Worse than a rabid dog. And they do not complain. Interesting no?
I don't understand why it is so hard for some to make a distinction between criticism of the Israeli government, and anti-Zionism or anti-Semitism. In theory, the Israeli State is supposed to uphold Jewish principles and ethics. Only the extremely naive or blind believe that Israel's government is perfect, and deserves unquestioning support.
I am a 51 year old American Jew.
I have dear friends who are survivors of the holocaust. Many of them Reform Jews.
Hitler considered them Jewish. He sought to exterminate them, as he did other Jews. He had them imprisoned, as he did other Jews. He had them tortured, as he did other Jews. He had their loved ones murdered, as he did other Jews.
Do those in Israel who deny Reform Jews are truly Jewish dare to say that the number of Jews murdered in the holocaust is not six million?
For me, Israel is not the embarrassment; no, that spotlight shines on a small group who has declared itself superior to all other Jews in the world and who seeks to exercise political and religious control at the expense anyone who does not practice their religion in the same ways this group does. Extremism in any form is destructive and self serving. As this group garners more power, the dominoes continue to fall, and the road that might actually lead to some hope of peace in the Middle East remains far off in the distance...barely visible.
There is no compromise and no negotiation for them. Jews who practice their faith differently are shunned by them for not being the kind of Jew considered truly Jewish - by THEIR standards.
Some of them claim Israel won't survive without them in power, seeking to create fear in the hearts of those who go to great effort to support Israel.
The bottom line for me is those who have been persecuted should know better than to claim superiority over anyone else. Period.
A thief judges by his own circumstances ...
We ALL judge by our own circumstances.
Hopefully, we also allow the circumstances of others to have impact on our hearts and minds, as well.
I think perhaps Israel will destroy itself if it continues down the road it's on. It's sad to see it turn itself into a pariah state - the entire world is embarrassed by its racism and violence. There is no excuse for it. If someone dares to bring it up, insults are thrown in their face or various reasons are found why they shouldn't have an opinion.
170 million people died in holocausts in the 20th century only a small percentage of these people were Jews. It's time for the Israelis to recognize that they are a drop in the bucket of the problems of the bigger world. Racism, apartheid policies, stealing the water the Palestinians have are only creating more problems for the Jews of Israel...they are not just a public relations disaster for themselves in the bigger world, they are an insidious moral decay and destruction eating away at anything decent that was left of the Israeli ideal. It's sickening to watch. We all used to admire Israel. Now, neither American Jews, nor non Jews feel much but shame and horror.
That's a very sweeping statement. You are attempting to speak for an entire populace of American Jews and non Jews. Wow. You use the word 'all' very freely.
Your opinion is valuable as YOUR opinion; but please don't speak for me.
As an American jew and son of a sabra who is proud of his heritage, I agree very much that Israel has become an embrassment, ideed, more than an embarassment, I am embarrased when I see Israel perpetuate a policy that is not only immoral with respect to the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Palestinians, but, as a col-eyed realist who wants Israel to exist in peace and honor, unsustainable and foolish. AS an American who is quite cognizant that it is American money and consistent support that substantially enables Israeli policy and military strength, I am embarrassed and very saddened by Israeili settlements and ongoing expropriation of Arab lands and the indfinate continuation and perpetuation of an occupation that robs a people of hope for a reasonably secure and propserous life.
As Jews, especially Jews who know better than most peoples the effects of unjustice, segragation, oppression and discrimination, we must be better. I am not a "self-hating jew." Indeed, I celebrate my heritage. My jewish heritage informs my humanity and my deep and sincere abhorrance of so much that is done in the name of "security" and the narrow focus of those fundamentalists who assert a biblical birthright in lands wrongfully seized and still held by force and the consequent right to indefinitely occupy and brutalize a people and deny them the basic rights that all should share.
Well-stated, poignant and correct.
You should get over your "the whole world is against Israel" mindset because it doesn't do you any good. Israel must be a light upon the nations and it's current policies make it the opposite. You're opinions are outdated and are not in tune with the current situation in the world and in the Middle East. If you think a friend that urges you to do what is in your best interest and disagrees with your policies makes you a "fair weather friend" than your definition of friendship must be quite skewed. The lack of any diplomatic agreement with the Palestinians is what causes more bloodshed than anything else and it's time that people like you shold start to understand that.
It is really funny to see the amount of courageous Anonymous who submit their comments, insult and run away...
And it's equally funny to read that if you do not support unconditionally the current Israeli government policy (I am not saying Israel, intentionally it's two different things) you are on the verge of being excommunicated. Fortunately you don't get burned theses days.
As a little reminder, democracy is at the core foundation of Israel. Those in power have another view on the matter, especially gate keepers like Lieberman who is illiterate on that matter. Remember where he comes from, Moldavia, not a paragon of democracy.
Following the conventional wisdom of the current right activist, if I do not agree I am against Israel, this is explained by the fact I am jewish self hater and so on. Cut the crap. This kind of argument is generally held by authoritarians, as an easy way to dismiss any kind of contradictory views.
I am Jewish, proud of it and support Israel. This does not mean I have to say amen to everything, especially to the religious right who are slight out of their mind. And this I really mean it.
That said, when Jewish elites from the US start to feel embarrassed and it becomes a real burden, testosterone addicts should start to worry and put more brain in their thiniking, because it is not only fund raising that could be dried up, but also political support in the long run.
The editor rightly shines a light on what anyone who is not in denial recognizes as fact. I view this incredibly complex situation through the lens of a PR professional and a Jew who loves Israel. I physically cringe every time I read comments about "apartheid Israel" and other language which I used to dismiss as standard anti-Semitic hate rhetoric. I know better now.
Jewish values prohibit behaving like thugs and bullies. Settlers are permitted to behave like thugs and worse, while government looks the other way. As long as Israeli Arabs and Palestinians are deliberately excluded from access to the "grid" that delivers water, electricity and sewage services to the settlers right across the street, and now that laws are on the books legitimizing Israel's longtime policies which deny Israeli Arabs any right to own or rent land (as well as gays and people with disabilities) if the local community "council" deems them inappropriate neighbors, I have trouble calling it a true democracy. Have you all forgotten about the race laws in Germany?
Regardless of whatever history the "other" may have of mistreating the Jewish people, we cannot go on forever using that as a rationale for accepting these discriminatory policies, implicitly condoned from the top down. Yes, I hold Israel to a high standard because a basic tenet of Judaism is gmilat chesed. Nowhere is it stipulated that this should be limited to Jews; it is meant to apply to how we treat all of humanity.
How can you attack the editor for noting how some Jews compartmentalize the same discriminatory practices that were used against their people as okay when used against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians? Sorry to be so simplistic but remember "two wrongs don't make a right?" That kind of thinking, and the bullying of Israeli leadership who cannot move past a constant "fight or flight" mentality will get us nowhere. Finally, as parents teach a misbehaving child that it is not the child but her actions that are bad, we are allowed to love Israel without accepting policies that are not in keeping with the basic values of Judaism.
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