I have gotten many very kind emails asking what is going to happen to Semitism. The blog has been on sabbatical due to some changes in my personal life. I don’t know how often I will post; but I am still committed to the issues I’ve written about here. I will try to put something up now and then, at least; and maybe more often as time goes on.
I wanted to respond to an interesting post on a new blog, Inquiry Above All, whose author commented on my last post. The topic is an important one: how American Jews, a politically progressive group, find ourselves supporting a militaristic state whose actions are often dyssynchronous with our basic values; and how this plays out in the broader context of American politics and foreign policy. The author - who identifies himself as a non-Jew - offers a long meditation - sometimes rambling and ironic, other times touching powerfully on essential issues - but, overall, trying sincerely to come to grips with the progressive position on Israel. Here’s a brief sample:
If you’re plugged into the culture wars, you are by now aware that you are obliged to take a stand on the matter of Israel/Palestine. Both right wing and left wing positions on Israel have been mapped out with some level of detail, and the true loyalists of each directional tribe are receiving increasingly more insistent commands to line up appropriately. The emergent right wing position on Israel is not generally a problem for non-Semitic conservatives… The left wing position on Israel is more agonizing for progressives, however, who grew up watching Woody Allen films and owe Jews pretty much every good idea the Left has ever had…
(Thanks, there! But you guys came up with a few on your own. Really.)
In the last few decades… the creative energy, intellectual acumen and financial resources of liberal Jewish activists were considered indispensable to most bedrock progressive projects. In this political climate, progressive attention to the ways that Israel resembled a colonial power or apartheid state seemed to be not only low priority, but impolitic. Israel/Palestine was pretty much the only issue that most liberal Jewish activists were not so progressive about. Even left wingers who were disgusted by Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians sensibly figured it wasn’t worth rocking the boat with important political allies, especially when faced with the spectre of Nixon and Reagan landslides.
He traces the splintering of the Jewish left, the rise of neoconservatism, and the new alliance of Israel supporters with the religious right. He concludes that, among other things, the Jewish liberal community should begin an internal process to stake out a position distinct from that of the neoconservatives, and hopefully more progressive on Israel. I agree. Below, I offer a few scattered thoughts of my own on how we got to where we are now…
Born in 1963, I was on the cusp between the pre- and post-1967 generations of American Jewry. Growing up, I took it for granted that Jews were leftists and activists, and that this was a part of our religious as well as social heritage. My grandparents were members of the Communist Party. My parents were active in civil rights. My hero was Emma Goldman.
When I signed up to join a Kibbutz in the late 1970’s (I could not go, in the end, because of illness) I had little awareness of the Six Day War, the occupation or the settlements. I had a general sense of Israel as a sort of utopian socialist state. I think that in the early years, before 1967, when we had the luxury of naivete, American Jews saw Labor Zionism as an actualization of progressive ideals; and some attenuated thread of that vision still persists in segments of the community today, against all evidence and reason.
In college, in the early 1980’s, I heard a Palestinian speaker talking about the injustice of the occupation and I refused to believe a word of it. I was so sure of what “Jewish values” were, and that Israel must represent them… I could not see it any other way.
For much of my life, I’ve been committed to living and working in communities of color, and so I’ve become rather sensitive to issues of race and justice. The first chink in the armor was a story in the New York Times about the “settler-only” highways Israel was building to connect the settlements to Jerusalem. It was shocking to me that Israel could - would - create racially restricted roads. I began to read more, about discrimination in health care, in housing… and, little by little, the real picture began to dawn on me.
One of my deep regrets is how oblivious I was, for much of my life, to the Palestinian loss and struggle that accompanied the growth of the Jewish state.
From the 1930’s through the 1960’s, American Jews were not just politically progressive; we were, at least in part, the backbone of the the progressive movement. In that sense, McCarthy was (strategically) right to attack us. We made common cause with African Americans during the Civil Rights movement - and founded some of the earliest organizations, such as the NAACP - because of shared values, but also because of shared interests. We both faced discrimination. Neither group wanted to be singled out as advocating for itself alone; so we banded together around broader principles of equal rights and opportunities for minorities.
The coalition started to fray as anti-semitism faded from the American discourse (racism persisted). Jews gained wealth and left the cities. Suddenly, we had different interests. The 1968 Brownsville Teachers’ Union strike was an example… many of the teachers were Jews, and they struck against a law that would have opened up more teaching jobs to blacks.
Demographic changes, the Brownsville strike and its aftermath, and the 1967 war in which Israel became overtly an occupying power opened a rift between Jews and others in the Progressive movement.
Meanwhile, Zionism - borne, I like to think, on the noble if naive ideals of the American socialist movement - embedded itself very deeply in the American synagogue and its communities. This support has been stoked, even as Israel’s actions become less and less supportable, by a leadership with strong ties to the Jewish state and the world Zionist movement (such as it is… the WZC is currently struggling to remain relevant).
My impression is that progressive American Jews who are also Zionists maintain their support for Israel basically by insulating themselves from the reality; or, rather, allowing themselves to be presented with very selective reality. The Jerusalem Post can be found in the reading rack at most synagogues. Tikkuun… not so much. The knee-jerk rejection of any criticism of Israel among that segment of the community is rapid and vehement.
Nonetheless, Jews remain politically progressive by an overwhelming majority. Something like 85% of Jews regularly vote Democratic. And, even more than that, we play a critical role as donors and volunteers in the Party. But the radical leftism - the Yiddishe Left - of the early and mid twentieth century is no longer a major force in American Judiasm.
This makes Israel a complicated issue for modern progressives. The center-left tends to avoid it. You will notice, for example, that Israeli misdeeds and atrocities go unmentioned on many blogs and forums that are wholeheartedly critical of America’s actions in Iraq, and of Bush administration policies. My sense is that, even where the bloggers are not Jewish themselves, they do not want to wade into that morass, for fear of alienating Jewish or non-Jewish readers.
The issue plays out more overtly in farther-left circles, where the discourses of anti-imperialism and economic and racial justice have more weight than speculation on whether or not the Democrats will win the next election.
Then of course, there’s the Jewish right. This is made up largely of later immigrants, from Russia and other communist countries. They have no roots in American socialism. They tend to be Orthodox, and Religious Zionists. They are more likely to vote Republican. Although they are a minority in American Judiasm, they are also more committed and active within the Jewish community than more secular Jews, and have assumed the leadership of many major Jewish organizations. The result has been that the Jewish organizations take positions that are more radically Zionist than the sentiments of most American Jews.
Both parties, Republican and Democratic, are after the Jewish vote, as well as Jewish money; and the safe way to do this, for the most part, is to fall over each other to support Israel. At least, that’s what the Jewish leadership tells political leaders; who are also well rewarded when they come out in support of Israel on this or that issue.
My own opinion is that progressive American Jews need to critically re-evaluate our support of Israel. We should recognize that Israel is not, and never was, the fulfillment of a socialist, egalitarian ideal. We need to re-embrace some of the values that guided us through the first part of the twentieth century - equality among peoples, giving voice to the poor and oppressed, activism for human rights, collaboration with others who have suffered and faced discrimination - and apply these to the Israel-Palestinian coflict. We should reject ethnic nationalism - a philosophy of which we were famously the victims - and work instead to embed these principles in a democratic, pluralistic society.
It seems to me that this leads us away from Zionism and toward a more balanced approach that respects the human and material rights of both peoples.
From a religious perspective, I believe it is time to leave Religious Zionism behind. The Jerusalem of our prayers is not the one being ethnically cleansed by Israel right now. It is a city of vision at the end of time, where - as our tradition states - all people will gather when the Messiah comes, when the dead rise - after we have put aside our greed for land and things, and learned to live a life of the spirit, dedicated to God, at peace with each other.
That time is not now. Our mission as Jews is to live spiritually and justly, and to show that this is possible, even in a harsh and dangerous world. We trust that God will bring us home when the time comes.
Hi Andrew,
Sorry, I’ve left my nascent blog unchecked for a couple of weeks now. I really appreciate your response and when I can make my own thoughts clearer, truer and less rambling, I’ll consider dropping the anonymity. In the meantime, forgive my pseudonyms.
I think your post on this issue is true to the spirit of your blog, a spirit of prophetic critique of the nation and people you feel closest to and thus the most responsibility for. I have no quarrel with this, but the correllary of that prophetic critique among non-Jews creates a real quandary over where to stand on Israel. If you aren’t Jewish or otherwise intimiately involved in matters relating to Israel-Palestine (e.g. Palestinian, Arab, Muslim), then it’s not clear that seeking justice and peace in Israel should take priority over seeking justice and peace in the Congo, Iraq, the Sudan, etc, where more people are being killed, and the injustice is of a much more extreme magnitude. Israel is a disappointing state from a prophetic Jewish perspective, but from a WASPY American progressive perspective, Israel just doesn’t look rank high on the list of most egregious states in the world. The United States itself (admittedly a close ally of Israel) ranks considerably higher. I think you make a very good case that morally concerned Jews should reconsider everything from uncritical support for Israel to Zionism itself. But do you have any recommendations for non-Jews on where to stand on Middle East matters? Should liberal Christians, for instance, join boycotts against companies that are part of the Israeli occupation, or given that we can’t boycott every human rights-abusing nation, is it reasonable for liberal Christians to direct boycott and divestment efforts to more heinous states in general (like the Sudan), or more heinous states among those-who-should-know-better and those-who-weild-tremendous-power, like the United States?
hi -
came across your blog - wow!!!
i’ll be returning to read more - very interesting.
M
Thank you so much. I haven’t been posting so much recently but I may be getting going again.
I see you have a blog as well (atotallySECULARmohammad )- which looks great. I’ll look forward to checking it out.
Buberstuber… a good question. You are right, for me, the importance of speaking out on Israel and my stand on it derive directly from my faith. I can’t be a Jew and not try to correct what I see as injustices committed by my own people.
I think there is a lot of injustice in the world, and much suffering, and I would not say that a Christian progressive, or a secular non-Jewish American, would necessarily need to make Israel and the Palestinians a central cause.
Each situation is different. What marks this particular conflict is not so much its scale (far more people die of malaria, to pick an example recently in the news, than because of the Israeli occupation). Nor is Israeli the most evil or abusive government on earth - many rank far worse in terms of human rights abuses.
What may be compelling about this conflict to non-Jews are its duration and its centrality in international affairs. The abuse of the Palestinian people is taken as an insult to the entire Arab world, and is used to fuel radical Islamic sentiment across the whole region. The degree to which the Zionist side tries to manipulate the dialogue and suppress disenting opinion also cries out for response.
The events of the past few days illustrate clearly the regional ramifications of Israel’s policies, and some of this is driven or at least facilitated by unbalanced American policies that offer Israel diplomatic protection even when it is acting is a destabilizing and imprudent manner.
You pose a good challenge to the left to sort out its positions on Israel and its relationship to the Jewish community. I don’t think it helps a movement to alienate potential supporters, which the left could do by taking an overly dogmatic position on an issue that is sensitive to many Jewish leftists. There are Jews who may be willing to criticize Israel, but are still viscerally offended by rhetoric that refers to powerful Jews controlling American politics - it comes too close to historical anti-semitic canards.
On the other hand, I don’t think the left should compromise on basic principles like anti-colonialism and the rights of the oppressed.
Perhaps the best approach would be to facilitate dialogue between progressive Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, the New Israel Fund, and the Jewish Fund for Justice and Islamic and secular pro-Palestinian groups; and via that dialogue, work out positions and language that are acceptable to both.
And, of course, don’t be intimidated by cries of anti-semitism from the Jewish right. Involvement of some Jewish groups in coalitions tends to innoculate against that.
Re divestment - I support it. Why Israel? Because that particular situation is susceptible to a boycott as a tool for exerting political pressure, whereas economic activism would not be particularly useful to bring peace in Sudan.
Hi Andrew,
I agree actually. As a matter of expedience, Israel is more likely to be affected by a boycott than the Sudan or the United States. Still, though I’m putting forward a rather paranoid and extreme spin on this on my blog (new pages up now for your entetainment and edification), I think there is good reason to believe that Israel is being played by the U.S. rather than the other way around. U.S. churches, unions, etc. boycotting Israel is a bit like pro-democracy activists in the former Soviet Union boycotting Cuba. In fact (perhaps a reflection of my own person echo chamber) the more I look for evidence to back up the rhetorical provocation that the U.S. is using Israel as an expendable pawn in an increasingly psychotic-looking game, the more I think there is some basis to it. I hope I’m wrong…