Culture, Israel, Politics

The Assault is On – Right Wing Under Fire

 Foxman under fire in Haaretz by an editor at Moment magazine:

Foxman has particularly distinguished himself by indulging in spineless acts of rhetorical ambiguity, declaring that “this is not an issue where we take a position one way or the other. This is an issue that needs to be resolved by the parties, not by us. We are neither historians nor arbiters.” This from a man who rightfully claims that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial amounts to an attempt to destroy Jewish identity! This from the leader of an organization that has rightfully called on the world not to avert its eyes from the genocide underway in Sudan’s Darfur region! (One wonders what Foxman would do if Khartoum were on friendly terms with Jerusalem.) 

A shout out to Jewcy.com for leading the charge on that one, full battery listed here. Meanwhile, AIPAC is taking hits at Huffington Post:

All the good that they had done for Israel in their early days has now been offset by the power they have established in the D.C. community. As with any powerful lobby, there is a tendency for such groups to bully their way through the Congress to achieve its goal. And AIPAC is no worse or better than the NRA and other such self-interest groups. While AIPAC is primarily a Jewish organization, I am aware that most liberal Jews hate what they are doing and the tactics that they are using. Since over 70% of American Jews are liberal, I believe that AIPAC is not representing the views of most of the Jewish community.

I want to point out that progressive or unaffiliated or alternative opinion Jews have as much responsibility for the right-wing stranglehold over “mainstream” Jewish life as right-wing fatheads themselves — for ceding the space to them. Hopefully, as I’ve watched the number of AIPAC sorties increase in the Jewish press over the past three years (ten years ago, I’m told, this was just unheard of in Jewish press), this cessation is giving way to more and more progressive voices breaking into communal space. The birth of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom and JVP attest to one side of the equation of a particular Israel debate where the dissatisfied are picking up clubs, whereas the pickup of once-controversial firebrands by the institutional voices signals an acknowledgment from inside that the calculus of communal opinion is changing. (We hope.)
Jewschool was given the option to fade away upon the retirement of our founding editor, but all of us felt that our voice — particularly a religiously-progressive, politically-progressive, socially-progressive voice — is vastly important to the vibrancy of the Jewish community, to the boat rockin’ that needs be done for it’s sake. More so than any so-called attack on the right wing, which is just a metaphor that I’m using here, but an attack on the hesitations we alternative thinkers have on engaging with mainstream institutions, with playing with the big boys, and balancing the impact of right-wing fatheads like Foxman can have upon the future of Jewish life.
The assault is on. Shabbat shalom.

10 thoughts on “The Assault is On – Right Wing Under Fire

  1. I wouldn’t say this has anything to do with Right/Left politics. This has far more to do with Israeli interests taking precedence over, well… basic moral decency. Abe Foxman is not what I’d consider a Right-winger. He’s been one of the biggest critics of the Evangelical community, for example. I would say that rather, he is a Zionist first, and a human being second.

  2. AIPAC=Shonda fer da Goyim.
    I’ve seen AIPAC do some cool things, like take urban City Council members to Israel for a look around… But even that seemed manipulated by a relentless need for them to say “I told you so,” when the travelers seemed to want to see more before making an informed decision.
    It might not be so bad if they weren’t so arrogant. I”m a moderate, but AIPAC embarrasses me. The scancals? The scare tactics? Its become a gang of Bush lovers. Not that there’s anything wrong with loving bush…

  3. I’m so happy that Jewschool exists to present that underrepresented viewpoint, the Jewish left. Only Jewschool has the guts to speak out against Israeli aggression and Jewish chauvinism, joined only by a very few other publications and groups: the NY Times, the LA Times, the New Republic, Pacifica, CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, the George Soros money, the Haim Saban money, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Episcopaleon Church, the middle eastern departments of Columbia, Cal, UCI, …………..

  4. Hey, wait. What’s up w/ attacking Foxman as a “Zionist” (which isn’t an attack and he’s not a Zionist — otherwise he would be in Israel.).
    AIPAC and the ADL do not represent Israel. They do not represent me as an Israeli citizen nor do they represent the Israeli government.
    The US JEWISH COMMUNITY — whether ZOA or Brit Tzedek — DOES NOT DOES NOT DOES NOT REPRESENT ISRAEL.
    New York isn’t exactly a city in Israel. You want to “represent” Israel, MAKE ALIYA

  5. “particularly a religiously-progressive, politically-progressive, socially-progressive voice ”
    Whats with this overusage of the word “progressive” ?
    Is that supposed to imply that your above others and are really so cool ?
    Its about as cool as giving the peace sign in 1976…a little boring.
    as far as some of you left-wingers so happy about the “Zionist-movement” getting into trouble…well, you have some hunky dory company amongst you in the blogesphere who enjoy the thought of more Jews going into the ovens. I’ll remind you to please try looking at Memri.org and watch what the other side is teaching their children about Jews. Its no different then Hitlers youth program. I quit being a liberal a while back because no matter how many contributions the Jews have given the world they still have a sick hatred towards you..not all..but many. The proudest day for me was realizing that 22 years after the Holocaust, a Mirage fighter plane with a Star of David was defending the existence of those from my forefathers instead of walking into gas chambers like sheep to slaughter.
    G-d Bless

  6. to Incorrect:
    ooooh…so many critical of Israel. I’m so impressed. If they told me to jump off the GW Bridge, than I should listen to their words of wisdom. I can remember how all those wonderful news medias were quick to condemn Israel for attacking Iraqs Nuclear facility back in 1981. History corrected that little error. You can go on reading publications and news medias with agendas all you like but I’ll wait for you to commit suicide first before I jump with you..or maybe not
    and to CC in Germany…..Zeig HEIL

  7. I echo the point that the outcry against the ADL’s obtuseness is not really a left-right issue, it’s more of an everybody-against-Foxman issue. Jeff Jacoby- nobody’s idea of a progressive columnist- came out swinging on this issue, naming it as one of truth and conscience. In my own congregation, which is truly pluralistic (meaning, we have Republicans, including locally prominent ones, and Democrats and independents all davenning together) when I raised this issue last Shabbat, not a single person defended the ADL’s choice of realpolitik over truth-telling.
    This is not to say that progressive Jewish voices aren’t gaining in prominence, just to say that the ADL-Armenian community kerfuffle may not be the best example of it.

  8. Please keep the substance-free HuffPost “critique” of AIPAC
    away from the Jewcy-led coverage on the ADL’s botching of the Armenian genocide issue. Its like dumping saw dust over prime rib.

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