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The More Things Change…

It’s about a week old, but Ynet reports,

A plurality of Europeans believes Jews are not loyal to their country and that they have too much power in business and finance, a new poll released by the Anti-Defamation League [shows].

Europe, antisemitic? Heh. You don’t say. You needed to waste money on a poll to figure that out?
But this information is made somewhat relevant in light of a another poll to be unveiled by Frank Luntz at The Israel Project’s upcoming seminar in D.C. later this month.

In extensive research conducted for the report, Luntz found that students in America’s most elite graduate programs are misinformed about the Arab-Israeli conflict, hold negative attitudes toward Jews and even justify suicide bombings.
[…] “America 2020” is based on face-to-face group interviews with almost 150 randomly selected students under age 30 attending the top graduate schools in America—including the top business school, the top law school, the top school of government and the top school of journalism. For the report Luntz talked to students in five mind-shaping centers in America: Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles. From Harvard, MIT, and Columbia to Georgetown, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins to UCLA, the University of Chicago and Northwestern, the students in the study are already opinion-influencers. Tomorrow they will be opinion leaders, and by 2020 they will be the decision-makers.
“Never in the modern history of the Jewish State has there been more outspoken public opposition on elite college campuses to the basic principles and tenets of Israel,” Luntz wrote in the report. “To be brutally frank, if current attitudes are not reversed, America’s core commitment to—and alliance with—Israel may not survive.”

It doesn’t seem like America’s core commitment to Israel is surviving as it stands. As The Middle writes on Jewlicious, things are gettin’ mad icy over Israel’s improper business practices, not to mention, the Bush administration hasn’t exactly been Israel’s best friend with regards to its policy decisions (“Jesus Landing Pad” notwithstanding).
In his report, Luntz, a frequent pollster for the Republican party and Bush administration, brings frantic attention to the following statement from a Harvard Law student: “I think that what Israel’s doing to the Palestinians is effectively what was done to the Jews in Europe during World War II. I understand they’re living in a regime of terror, but frankly, if I were a Palestinian, I don’t know that I wouldn’t strap on a bomb and go and kill myself.”
Er, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s said the same thing, hasn’t he? That if he were Palestinian, he’d be a terrorist? The same article notes former IDF Intelligence Chief Shlomo Gazit also, “compared the kippot of religious soldiers to the swastikas worn by Nazi soldiers.” So this girl holds the same position as the former Israeli Prime Minister and Intelligence Chief of Staff? Pardon me, but what’s all the freak-out about?
Here’s an idea. Among the conference’s other speakers is Bill Kristol, crown prince of Neoconservative punditry, and editor of Fox NewsCorp’s “esteemed” publication The Weekly Standard. An understanding of Kristol’s ideology, Neoconservativism, may just offer a little insight:

So, where exactly do they derive their ideology? We know Strauss gave birth to this brood, but where did he get his ideas? Well, the Sermon on the Mount reference was no joke. Ditto the Mount Olympus thing. Strauss and acolytes like Alan Bloom and Albert Wohlstetter, ex- of the patient zero of conservative think tanks, the RAND Corporation divined their world view from The Ancients, as they like to call them–The Persians, Greeks and Romans on through to renaissance thinkers, but mostly the Greeks.
The neos’ infatuation with this Nico-Manichaeanism–I guess what you’d call a hybrid of Machiavelli’s power ideas blended with those of Manes of Persia, and then the Greeks–a bright line view of the world as Good or Evil, Light or Dark–is clearly apparent in their domestic and foreign policy beliefs and execution, if, as I said, you know what you’re looking for. It’s explained better than I ever could here:
Manichaeanism holds that principles of Light and God contend with Darkness and Matter for hegemony over the cosmos. Human beings in bondage to Darkness and Matter can free themselves to unite with Light and God through severe ascetic practices and adherence to the teachings of the Manichaean elect, who shall one day be united with the Light. Manichaeanism thrived in the ancient world as a missionary religion. Augustine of Hippo was attracted to the Manichaeans in his youth before becoming a Christian.
Yeah, that Augustine, the big guy: Saint Augustine. Before he sobered up. And yes, “The Manichaean Elect.” That would be first, the Strauss-Kristol-Wohlstetter Axis, then the Cheneys, Perles, Wolfowitzes, and the whole AEI crew. A witches brew of creeds, colors, spotty track records and cranky authoritarianism, here to save us from ourselves and our flabby thinking.

Ah yes. They’re here to rescue us, making comparisons of the estate-tax to the Holocaust as they drop bombs on brown people; all the while Europe, as Foxman’s poll suggests, the liberal masses, and traditional antisemites pronounce the war is for Israel’s sake, inflaming antisemitic sentiment. (Seen what David Duke’s up to lately? First person on the left look familiar, Bill Kristol? Thanks for all your help!) Who could blame ’em with these fools running their mouths off?
The whole Neocon strategy is to use the lexicon of “good” and “evil” in order to play upon people’s emotions and sweep them into action. It doesn’t use rationalle, it uses fear-mongering. And the fear they’re playing up, and the tension they’re directly exacerbating whether intentfully or unwittingly, is antisemitism. Being that Jews are a powerbase, financially and politically, this looks more like an attempt to indoctrinate Jews into supporting the Neocon agenda than in trying to build real support for Israel (which should come on merit, not on agenda and ‘interest’). These folks coopt real concerns about antisemitism to tarnish opposing political groups, associating those groups’ dissenting views with antisemitism.
But while antisemitism is undoubtedly a concern to be addressed, so is Israel’s actions in the Occupied Territories and in its trade practices, selling weaponry to nations with attrocious human rights records (a subject TM doesn’t even breach while justifying Israel’s relationship with China*). Disbelieving in the rhetorical stance of the Right on this subject does not, however, make one an antisemite, nor does having well-educated “future leaders” disbelieving make for a “chilling” trend. It means people aren’t willing to give Israel a free pass, and frankly, as history should teach us, no occupying power ever should be given one.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a black and white issue, it’s an incredibly nuanced one, and the platitudes of “good” and “evil” are entirely insufficient when wading through such murky territory. This makes the Neocon position an incredibly dangerous one, and one, I believe, we’re best off steering clear of.
After all, what’s so bad about being weaned off of America’s teat, anyway? It’s but a rivulet managed by the House of Saud and fed by defense contractors and Jeebus freaks. That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, but enough of this “client state” idiocy already. Zionism is supposed to be a movement for the Jewish people’s self-determination. I don’t see how that’s embodied in having the U.S. dictate Israel’s policy by Israel’s being economically dependent upon it. It’s not like they’re supporting the Jewish Left’s agenda, or the Jewish Right’s. They’re just pushing their own.
It’s a little too Herodian for my taste.
(*TM—Better we should be linked to an ascending world power like China than America? Oftentimes I’ve heard the reason that Palestinians don’t “fit the category” of a ger is because they sacrifice their children. And the Chinese don’t? The only values the two nations have in common is occupation and repression of dissent.)

11 thoughts on “The More Things Change…

  1. G-d creates darkness and forms light, not the manichaeans, nor those reprobates on the right recklessly shadowing a manichaean rhetorical stance. There *are* dark pockets and sparks in the world mobius and i like the way you do some light and heavy lifting!
    Nice work!
    I can only add that China practices it’s cruelty to children officially. The official ends can not, of course, justify the means. Whereas the Palastinian *people* encourage their own children *already born* to kill themselves. Not to the end of an establishment of peace between an Israel and Palestine, but to the end of Israel or (that not acheived) to the destruction of peace process.

  2. The whole Neocon strategy is to use the lexicon of “good” and “evil” in order to play upon people’s emotions and sweep them into action. It doesn’t use rationalle, it uses fear-mongering.
    Apartheid … ethnic cleansing … genocide … this is a generalized problem. The game is to think of the worst word you can find, then apply it to who you see as the “bad guys”.

  3. Every nation maybe apart from maybe Iceland and Costa Rica that don’t have militaries choose to sacrifice their children [whether they actually go to war and it happens is not the point they have already made the abstract decision that its ok to sacrifice your children by having a militray]. So the only difference between any of these nations [or not quite nation like Palestine although they have an Olympic team so that qualifies them in my eyes] is in the way they choose to do the sacrificing.

  4. “Disbelieving in the rhetorical stance of the Right on this subject does not, however, make one an antisemite…”
    True enough. But claiming that
    “The only values the two nations [Israel and China] have in common is occupation and repression of dissent”
    does. A new low. Even a vehement opponent of Israel’s occupation should be able to acknowledge the vast difference between what Israel does and what China has been doing in Tibet. Same for “repression” – I agree that there are cases of unjustified repression in Israel, but to compare these to the qualitative and quantitative level of repression that goes on in the People’s Republic is astonishing.
    What would possess someone to make such comparisons?
    And for anyone interested in understanding neoconservatism, rather than take as gospel the childish and hysterical linked article, reading current or back issues of Commentary or the Public Interest, or books by Irving Kristol, would be advisable.

  5. Uh, do you read well? This is what I wrote:
    “Should Israel not develop an alliance with the growing China? Isn’t it prudent to have another world player as a benefactor? Is there any doubt that in the next 20-30 years China will become another superpower? If so, shouldn’t Israel court this growing superpower?”
    Where did I say that it’s better that we should be linked to China than the US?
    As to your other related comments, why should Israel be any different than virtually every single country on this globe that trades with China? Have you looked at the US recently? You think that Israeli arms sales are more dangerous than Intel, Applied Materials or Boeing having a relationship with the Chinese where they open plants with Chinese “partners” and are obligated to trade know-how in order to open those plants?
    Another point I want to address is this business of changing perceptions among students who are future leaders. I oppose the occupation on many levels, and hope that it ends, although I do not wish to go back to ’67 lines and don’t believe Israel has an obligation to do so.
    However, the occupation did not happen in a vacuum and has not persisted in a vacuum. In fact, you will recall that it took 128 murdered Israelis in one month (March, 2002) before the Israelis re-entered Areas A under Oslo which had been under PA control.
    These are things that are not mentioned by the pro-Palestinian forces out there who, along with the Left and sites likes Jewschool, are providing the basis of education and opposition to Israel that have come to define mainstream thought among these young students. The fact is that people don’t have the time to deal with nuances and details. They look at the broad picture, and the broad picture regarding Israel is being painted primarily by forces that want to see its demise. I know you don’t see yourself as asking for Israel’s demise, Mobius, but the ultimate result of these non-stop attacks on Israel, its legitimacy, the legitimacy of its wars and victories, and the virulent attacks against its policies as if they occur in a vacuum, are having the effect of undermining the state’s very legitimacy.
    Sad but true.

  6. Even a vehement opponent of Israel’s occupation should be able to acknowledge the vast difference between what Israel does and what China has been doing in Tibet. Same for “repression” – I agree that there are cases of unjustified repression in Israel, but to compare these to the qualitative and quantitative level of repression that goes on in the People’s Republic is astonishing.
    political repression is NEVER acceptable, regardless of whether it’s across the board, as in china, or selectively applied, as in israel. and yeah, the nature of the occupation isn’t the same, but it’s still displacing an indigenous populaiton. as china “chinaizes” tibet, israel judaizes palstinian territory, a la east jerusalem.
    As to your other related comments, why should Israel be any different than virtually every single country on this globe that trades with China?
    THE MEMORY OF THE APOCALYPTIC EPOCH OF THE HOLOCAUST SHOULD BECOME PART OF THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS FOR ALL TIME. BEYOND SORROW, SUFFERING, AND DEATH, THE TRAGIC ANNIHILATION OF EUROPEAN JEWRY MUST INSPIRE HUMANKIND TO COMMIT ITSELF AGAINST ALL MANIFESTATIONS OF GENOCIDE AND RACIAL HATRED. MAY A NEW LOVE FOR HUMANITY BE BORN OUT OF THE HORRORS WE HAVE KNOWN. IT IS THE SACRED DUTY OF THE GENERATION OF BERGEN-BELSEN TO DOCUMENT THE HOLOCAUST TO ITS FULLEST DEPTH, TO EDUCATE THE WORLD, AND TO PASS ON THE LEGACY OF REMEMBRANCE TO FUTURE GENERATIONS. WE PRAY AND HOPE THAT THE BERGEN-BELSEN MEMORIAL MUSEUM, DEDICATED BOTH TO THE HOLOCAUST AND THE REBIRTH OF THE SURVIVORS, WILL TAKE ROOT FROM THE TERRIBLE DESTRUCTION WHICH WE HAVE WITNESSED AND FULFILL OUR VISION AND ASPIRATIONS FOR A WORLD BLESSED WITH PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING.
    –The Survivors of Bergen Belsen
    Scroll of Remembrance placed in a Time Capsule buried at Bergen-Belsen
    composed by Sam Bloch and Jean Rosensaft
    that’s why.
    Have you looked at the US recently? You think that Israeli arms sales are more dangerous than Intel, Applied Materials or Boeing having a relationship with the Chinese where they open plants with Chinese “partners” and are obligated to trade know-how in order to open those plants?
    no, i don’t think they’re more dangerous. i think they’re all dangerous and not okay. do you think i reserve my anger for israel on this issue, like i’m singling israel out? i’ve been arrested forming human chains outside the doors of weapons contractors offices in new york city. i’ve also participated in a half-dozen demonstrations outside the chinese embassy and the united nations protesting china’s human rights abuses.
    However, the occupation did not happen in a vacuum and has not persisted in a vacuum. In fact, you will recall that it took 128 murdered Israelis in one month (March, 2002) before the Israelis re-entered Areas A under Oslo which had been under PA control.
    the intifada didn’t happen in a vaccum either. 30 years of repression, fomented by the process of normalization under oslo which created the checkpoint system … do you think they started rioting for the fuck of it?
    These are things that are not mentioned by the pro-Palestinian forces out there who, along with the Left and sites likes Jewschool, are providing the basis of education and opposition to Israel that have come to define mainstream thought among these young students.
    my opposition is to the policies of the israeli government towards palestinian people. it is not towards the existence of the state of israel. and if you saw me in a room with left-wingers who are talking about israel, you would see that and know it.
    i’m sorry that you’re made uncomfortable by the things that i post about israel. they make me uncomfortable too. that’s why i call attention to them. because i love israel, i’d like to see it survive, and i believe that’s incumbent upon addressing and rectifying these issues.
    that non-jews, or future leaders, see that israel is fucked up is not because “us leftwing bastards” give them the fodder to believe so. it’s because israel is fucked up. should it be swept under the rug? should israel be given a free pass? should we ignore the issues present in israel society or hide them from the outside world?
    The fact is that people don’t have the time to deal with nuances and details. They look at the broad picture, and the broad picture regarding Israel is being painted primarily by forces that want to see its demise.
    that’s a very broad, general statement. “people who worried about israel’s treatment of palestinians hate israel and want to see it destroyed.”
    I know you don’t see yourself as asking for Israel’s demise, Mobius, but the ultimate result of these non-stop attacks on Israel, its legitimacy, the legitimacy of its wars and victories, and the virulent attacks against its policies as if they occur in a vacuum, are having the effect of undermining the state’s very legitimacy.
    Sad but true.

    not true. that’s zionist reactionaryism.
    when george bush steals the 2000 election, does it call into question the legitimacy of the united states? when he drops bombs on iraq under false pretenses, does it call into question the legitimacy of the united states? does torturing and humiliating inmates at abu gharib call into question the legitimacy of the united states? when we talk about the history of america, and say, giving smallpox infested blankets to american indians, does that call into question the legitimacy of the united states?
    when china invades and occupies tibet, taiwan, and hong kong, does that call into question the legitimacy of china? when they force women to kill their children, does that call into question the legitimacy of china? when they jail dissident or shoot them in the streets, does that call into question the legitimacy of china?
    when arabs and hindus behead people or stone them or burn them alive, does that call into question the legitimacy of their nations?
    NO.
    but you’re telling me, when people question israel’s actions it questions the legitimacy of israel?
    why? because we’re jews and the world hates us?
    give me a break. it’s zionist reactionaryism.

  7. Mobius says “political repression is NEVER acceptable, regardless of whether it’s across the board, as in china, or selectively applied, as in israel. and yeah, the nature of the occupation isn’t the same, but it’s still displacing an indigenous populaiton. as china “chinaizes” tibet, israel judaizes palstinian territory, a la east jerusalem. ”
    There’s a whole lot to untangle in those sentences. I could focus on the vast differences in “repression” in Israel as opposed to China (one of them allows virtually no dissent at all, and murders, tortures and imprisons them, all at the hands of unelected apparatchiks…). I could focus on the differences in occupation (one of the occupations involved an unprovoked invasion of an entire country, to which the invaders had no prior claim whatsoever, followed by the mass murders of at least a million people…). I could mention that governments, being a collection of imperfect people, will always, even in the best of examples, misbehave occasionally, so that a blanket condemnation can only serve to lump all governments together (as no government has ever been, or is, good enough to escape such condemnation), and this in turn can only serve to criticize too harshly the better governments while failing to criticize adequately the worst. But all this would be better communicated to someone who actually pays attention to the nuances, rather than someone who uses the word “nuance” as a weapon against his opponents.
    Rather, I’d like to point out the irony of your justifying your comparisons as you do while complaining that people make idiotic comparisons to the Holocaust. (Maybe we can help out that jackass Norquist after all – “unjust policies are NEVER acceptable, regardless of whether they unjustly tax the wealthy or they cause the slaughter of millions for no good reason”. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?)
    Then there’s your complaint against the “Manichaean” Straussians or neocons. Seems to me lumping together relatively mild wrong behavior with outright malevolence fits all too well with the strategy of using “the lexicon of “good” and “evil” in order to play upon people’s emotions and sweep them into action”.

  8. We’re all salesmen, of a sort. But some of us have better products to sell than others do, and some of us are more honest in our sales techniques than others.
    I suppose if you have no justification for your remarks, an apology to the neocons, Strauss, the Straussians, the State of Israel and its people, and Jews in general will be forthcoming.
    Oh, and as a connoisseur of grotesque Holocaust comparisons, I’m shocked — shocked! that no one on Jewschool has mentioned a recent beaut from no less than a U.S. Senator. Since we’ve previously been treated to lambastings of lobbyists, activists and employees (not all of them unjustified) for similar offenses, I thought surely the remarks of a U.S. Senator would be of interest. Wait, what party is Durbin from? Oh, I see, never mind.

  9. a) haven’t heard about durbin’s remarks
    b) no, strauss and his ilk are still cold-hearted fascist bastards and their behavior is far from mild, it’s just masked beneath a veneer of propaganda that makes it seem acceptable
    c) “touche salesman” is a line from an episode of family guy
    d) i don’t entirely agree with you, i just thought that was pretty slick, even if i still think you’re wrong, but being that i’m flying back to israel tomorrow night, i don’t have time to get into it

  10. a) OK, but you have to admit that whatever your sources of information are, they’re very quick to jump when the third cousin of the janitor of some small-time Republican activist makes an ass of himself.
    b) It may be that you’ve read a great deal of Strauss, or at least his major works, but I doubt it. I think your view of Strauss is pretty much exclusively from third-hand sources which lack any real understanding of the man or his ideas. (I’ve only read one book-quickly- and a couple of essays, as well as several reviews, so I’m not an expert. I can say, though, that Strauss was a wide-ranging and complex thinker, and can’t be so easily dismissed.)
    c) Er, my bad. Um, I was waiting for the DVD??
    d) Slick or not, you still have to address the content. Have a safe trip. It’ll wait.
    Oddly enough, in your aversion to Israel seeking any support or alliance with China (which I share), and thus, at least in this instance, rejecting the “Realist” view, you strongly resemble…a neoconservative.

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