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The Jewish Divide Over Israel: Accusers and Defenders

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There's already an excellent review of this fine book on this site (by Shalom Freedman). But I'd still like to add a few words of my own.

There are more than a few Jews who attack Israel. Are they "self-hating Jews?" Are they traitors? Well, some folks who oppose Israel, Jewish or not, are clearly under no obligation to defend it. If they side with those who would destroy it, they are not traitors, just enemies of Israel. In many cases, I would not bother to regard them as Jews. It is true that some of them are clearly embarrassed by the existence of Israel, but even that does not get me to think of them as Jews unless they show some genuine support for the human rights of Jews. Of course, what I think about this doesn't make much difference. The Jews are the ones who need to decide who they think are Jews, and they are the ones who need to decide what to think of the fact that many anti-Zionists boast about those who advertise themselves as Jews who oppose Israel.

Some actual patriots sincerely recommend surrender to one's enemies, on the grounds that fighting will likely result in obliteration while surrender gives a much greater chance for survival. In World War Two, Jews who tried this generally got killed, and for this reason, this idea has merited less respect since then. But if Jews sincerely recommended this strategy, I'd still think of them as Jews (I think I'd regard them as Jewish even if they made the absurd and immoral recommendation to, um, get rid of all Jews, on the grounds that this would end actual oppression of Jews once and for all...by the way, some of the Jews mentioned in this book come pretty close to advising this).

How do we tell if one is going over the line and betraying one's people rather than simply being moral? Well, an editor of this book, Edward Alexander has a simple test. Do you demand the same rights for you and your group that you demand for others? If you refuse to do that, you flunk his test and are being counterproductive by giving too much support for your enemies.

Still, according to the editors in the introduction to this book, "'cowardice' is the word that springs to mind most often as the suitable epithet for Israel's Jewish enemies." I agree. These Jewish accusers of Israel are generally taking some easy and immoral shots against truth, justice, human rights, and peace. They're rarely paying much of a price for this. And it is annoying to hear some of them praised for their courage.

After the introduction, there are seventeen superb articles. And they expose some of the hostility towards Israel by some of the anti-Israeli, um, cowards. But that's not the aspect of this book that I find most interesting. I'm not all that interested in tribal wars. But I am interested in truth, justice, and human rights. That's why my focus in reading this book was to witness the extent to which many of the opponents of Israel are amazingly dishonest and arbitrary. For example, Michael Neumann is quoted as saying that if an "effective strategy" means "the destruction of the state of Israel" he doesn't care. And that "to regard the shedding of Jewish blood as a world-shattering calamity...is racism, pure and simple, the valuing of one race's blood over all others." That's an eye-opener. I think those Germans who were put on trial after World War Two would have loved that argument, as it would have given moral justification for the genocide they perpetrated. Later, we see Neumann make the absurd argument that the purpose of Zionism is not to provide a refuge for Jews but simply to wage a race war in order to embark on "genocide" against the Levantine Arabs!

Of course, Neumann's claims are preposterous. But even so, I feel that even his lies do not necessarily support his conclusions. Suppose it really would be better for your enemies if you and your family were to be murdered, robbed, and slandered. Would it be best for you to allow this to happen, and to refuse to fight for your lives, property, and honor? It would depend on the circumstances, but the answer might well be no.

Edward Alexander makes quite a few good points. For example, he suggests that a good response by West Bank settlers to David Grossman would be "my dear fellow, we will imagine ourselves as Arabs if you will imagine yourself as a Jew."

Other articles discuss in detail some counterproductive writings by George Steiner, Tony Judt, Noam Chomsky, Israel Shahak, Tanya Reinhart, Norman G. Finkelstein, Peter Novick, Daniel Boyarin, Marc Ellis, Judith Butler, Martin Jay, Jerome Segal, Thomas Friedman, Seymour Hersh, and Benny Morris. It says on the back flap of this book that these articles "seek to understand and throw back the assault on Israel led by" these folks and that the writers "demonstrate that the foundation of the state of Israel, far from being the primal sin alleged by its accusers, was one of the few redeeming events in a century of blood and shame." I agree. And I very highly recommend this book.

This book is a collection of essays in which the phenomenom of Jewish self- hatred most particularly in the form of hatred of the Jewish state is analyzed and to a degree explained. It deals with many of the most well- known haters, including Chomsky, Tanya Reinhart, Norman Finkelstein, Israel Shahak, Daniel Boyarin , Jacqueline Rose, Joel Beinin, Michael Neumann(Canada), and others.

In the opening essay Alvin Rosenfeld considers how important a part 'shame' plays in these intellectuals life, how many of them feel the need to 'apologize' for imaginary crimes of the state of Israel. The book goes on to chronicle some of the most amazing and remarkable actions of hypocrisy, and moral idiocy of the modern era. Imagine the kind of prevarications which a Jew must go through to defend as many of these haters do, Palestinian Arab suicide bombers who deliberately kill women and children, just because they are Jewish.

This book exposes a great deal of biased and inaccurate thought about Israel and its history. However it also signals a very worrisome phenomenom and trend which must be contended with as openly and vociferously as possible, especially on the university campus where many of these 'Jewish Anti- Semites' have prestige and power.

This book is recommended highly to all those who care about Israel and the Jewish people.

It also provides a great deal of information which I believe would be excellent material for psychologists interesting in understanding the form of self- hatred , which focuses not upon oneself as individual but upon the collective, religious , national, ethnic to which one ostensibly belongs.