Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Should Jews Join the Right?



It may not be accurate, but it is not the least little bit surprising that to criticize the Left one is automatically docketed onto the Right and then simply dismissed as "right-wing" or "conservative." No discussion or argument is, apparently, necessary.

So that, for example, if I point out that Nazi Swastikas entwined in Stars of David at progressive-left "peace rallies" indicates a big problem with the political Left, it is not appropriate to simply dismiss my concerns as "right-wing." The problem here is that anti-Semitic anti-Zionism has infested the progressive movement.

The problem is not me pointing it out and there is nothing "right-wing" or "conservative" or "Republican" about doing so. The progressive movement can never reform itself until it acknowledges the problem. The problem is that the Left... the progressive-left... as a movement has accepted ideological anti-Zionism as part of the larger coalition today.

Today, on the Left, and within the grassroots-netroots of the Democratic party, there are any number of constituencies. There are ethnic constituencies, such as African-Americans and Jewish-Americans. There are also, of course, ideological constituencies. These include feminists and anti-war activists and anti-corporate people and anti-Semitic anti-Zionists and environmentalists and so forth.

The acceptance of anti-Semitic anti-Zionists as among the progressive-left constituency represents nothing less than the Left's betrayal of the Jewish people. The progressive-left as a movement has betrayed the Jews not because it is crawling with anti-Semites... as I continue to insist... but because they do not mind the ideological anti-Semites (BDSrs) among them.

There is hardly a journal on the Left that does not feature progressive anti-Zionism. Daily Kos does. The Huffington Post does. The UK Guardian does. And then we have venues on the progressive-left that absolutely specialize in anti-Semitic anti-Zionism such as Mondoweiss and the Electronic Intifada.

These are progressive-left publications and there is nothing equivalent on the Right.

The political Right has succesfully marginalized their anti-Semites, while the political Left has embraced theirs under the flimsy cover of anti-Zionism.

Face the truth.

Acknowledge the obvious, because you cannot resolve this problem until you are willing to face it and name it. That is the absolute minimum that is required. Acknowledging the obvious is merely the starting point if anyone wants to resolve this problem.

But, until such a time as you guys are willing to face what you apparently do not want to face, you will continually play on the defensive against people within your own political movement who would see the Jews robbed of self-determination and self-defense. Time and effort that could have been put into other progressive causes get used daily, continually, by Jewish liberals to defend the rights of the Jewish people to a home on land where Jews originally came from.

Is this how you want to spend your time as a progressive political activist?

Day in and day out defending yourself and your people against your ostensible allies?

Why is it that the Jews are the only people on the entire planet who believe that they have some moral imperative to support a political movement (the progressive-left) that actively seeks to undermine Jewish well-being?

{Some day someone will actually answer one of my questions and I will have a heart-attack out of pure shock.}

Anyway, I have never advocated for the political Right, but if this keeps up I will probably start doing so.

11 comments:

  1. Karma... You keep insisting no one is discussing things but we have a full blown discussion of the Right v. left on my blog. No one has dismissed you in any way, shape or form so I am not sure as to why you are insisting on that.

    As far as answering your questions... What more can I say that I haven't said already? The Left is generally not anti-Semitic, the far Left is. The Right in America is generally not Anti-Semitic, the far Right is. The Right tolerates it's fringe far more than the Left tolerates it's fringe - look at the differences between Republicans and Democrats.

    As for answering your question:

    Why is it that the Jews are the only people on the entire planet who believe that they have some moral imperative to support a political movement (the progressive-left) that actively seeks to undermine Jewish well-being?

    ... Karma - it is a ridiculous question. It is like "Why did you beat your wife today?"

    Jews don't tolerate the anti-Semitism on the Progressive - Left when the fringe shows it's ugly head. You might notice I got banned and called a "prick" for that simple reason.

    The other thing is that despite 20 cranks on the internet the Progressive left is generally not anti-Semitic. I mean the premise of the question is a Right Wing Talking point. There is no answer because the question itself is wrong.

    You want to ask a question regarding the Progressive Left. You might say: "As a Zionist are you or should you be concerned with the rise of anti-Zionism (and it's attendant anti-Semitism) on the Progressive Left?"

    Now that is a discussion point.

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  2. How many times do I have to agree that the Left is not anti-Semitic?

    How many times?

    How many times must I clarify the argument only to have it, yet again, misrepresented?

    The point, VB, is not that the Left is anti-Semitic, but that they have accepted anti-Zionism as a part of the larger coalition.

    That's the problem.

    Jesus Christ on a Cracker.

    How many times must I clarify this before people will start actually understanding the argument?

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  3. Karma... Relax, this is a discussion.

    Apparently, you have not clarified anything. I am telling you this as a friend - you keep saying you are not a rightist, but you post Righist talking points and from the very worst sources (Gellar, YB etc...), you keep saying you realize the Left is not anti-Semitic and then you keep saying Jews should leave the Left because they have allowed anti-Semites into their midst.

    You are muddying your own waters Karma. How are we to respond? People don't understand your argument (and you know it is not just me) because it is not that coherent to the rest of us.

    And this:

    The point, VB, is not that the Left is anti-Semitic, but that they have accepted anti-Zionism as a part of the larger coalition.

    Huh??? If they accept anti-Semitism then they are anti-Semitic. I mean, what are you saying? Are you claiming that the Progressive left turns a blind eye to anti-Semitism? Is that what you are trying to say?

    Well in some cases, certain elements of the Progressive Left do. However, that is certain elements and NOT all of the Progressive Left. I can make a far more convincing argument that the Right blissfully ignores it's anti-Semitism but does that mean everyone on the right is anti-Semitic?

    I think that the reason, that I and others "misunderstand" you is that you have a tendency to make blanket statements. I think the more specific you are the less chance for misinterpretation there is.

    Just trying to answer your comment.

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  4. Volleyboy,

    Why is it that, with rare exception, the issues are only being discussed on the so-called right?

    Why is it that the so-called leftists will, with rare exception, complain against every evil, except when it is directed at Israel and the USA?

    Sometimes I think the political compass is Orwellian.

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  5. Well oldschool, I disagree with that. Each side has it's issues.

    Some on the "cranky Left" complain only against the U.S. and Israel and guess what... they are a minority in the U.S. when you talk about right or left.

    Most of the Left in the U.S. is concerned with #OccupyWallSt. and breaking the ridiculous Republican blockade on anything good for the U.S. That is really what they care about. And honestly that is my first priority as well.

    On the Right - all I see is whining about how bad the Left is and subsequently completely ignoring their own issues. Generally, the only reason the Right makes a big deal out of this issue is to try to syphon off Jewish voters from President Obama by lying and distorting his record. Well, it is not going to work - the President and the Democratic party are truly Israel's and the Jewish people's friend. As for the cranky left...

    They don't represent a darn thing except themselves and other cranks.

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  6. Volley, the Left accepts anti-Zionism as part of the larger coalition.

    If that were not the case than you would not see anti-Zionism operating within such venues.

    But we DO see anti-Zionism operating as a movement within the Left and the rest of the Left does not much mind their presence.

    Sure, most Jews do not like it, but why should that bother progressives? Or, whether it should or not it certainly doesn't.

    Your movement is corrupted and represents a potential danger to the Jews of the Middle East since some on the Left actually favor the Jihad over the Jewish people.

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  7. Volley,

    We are talking about the segment of the left who advocate in the blogosphere. Not only are many anti-Israel and anti-USA, but they are constantly whining about how bad the right is, and emulate the worst behavior in the process.

    And if you think that the only issues pursued by the right is the left, then I suggest you are not reading widely enough. I further suggest that many on the right actually care about Israel because they see it as a Western democracy and friend of the USA. Image that! It's not all about Obama, but about their values.

    This is why I believe it's a mistake to look at it in black and white fashion, which surely they do at Daily Kos, so much so that good sources never get presented because they are perceived improper from the get go.

    People on the right say that they do not pretend who they are, so they can feel free to discuss issues knowing they will be labeled. As such, they do discuss the issues with much more context and depth than the stuff on the left, which too often descends into politically correct screed, not to mention an authoritarian bent to the dogma.

    When I see my side's behavior, I am not hesistant to point out the disconnect between values and behavior. But I think it's a losing battle and understand that most people support Israel despite what the extremists try to shove down our throats.

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  8. I further direct anyone interested to my post that indirectly touches this matter and portends which way leftist activists are regrettably going.

    http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2353448821649374270#editor/target=post;postID=459393925449504886

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  9. "20 cranks on the internet" C'mon Volleyball!


    "Taken together, the more than thirteen million unique monthly visitors to Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Salon represent the opinions of many of the most politically engaged within the American progressive community. The increasing hostility toward Israel and its Jewish supporters on these blogs becomes even more worrisome in light of polling data on the views of such progressives.

    For instance, an aggregate poll[64] by Gallup on American support for Israel by party affiliation, from 2002 to 2006, demonstrated that liberal Democrats are the least supportive of Israel out of five categories: conservative Republican, moderate/liberal Republican, conservative Democrat, moderate Democrat, and liberal Democrat. When asked whether they support Israel, the Palestinians, or neither/don't know, only among the liberal Democrats did a clear majority of 55 percent either support the Palestinians or respond with "neither/don't know," with only 43 percent supporting Israel. Conservative Republicans were the most pro-Israeli, with 78 percent supporting Israel outright. Indeed, many of the more popular conservative blogs/news sites - such as Drudge Report, Newsmax, Townhall, and Hot Air - tend to be supportive of Israel. They also are largely free of the strain of paleoconservative thought, exemplified by The American Conservative, that has historically been hostile to Jews and Israel.

    There is even evidence to suggest that the outright anti-Semitism featured in this report is consistent with the increasing identification with such views among the American progressive community as a whole. A Stanford University poll[65] in May-June 2009 gauged the extent to which anti-Semitism was increasing as a result of the U.S. economic crisis. Respondents who were self-described Democrats were nearly twice as likely as those who identified themselves as Republicans to agree that Jews, as a group, were primarily responsible for the economic meltdown. The authors called this finding "somewhat surprising given the presumed higher degree of racial tolerance among liberals and the fact that Jews are a central part of the Democratic Party's electoral coalition."

    Seemingly, even for those who deny that hatred of the Jewish state represents a new form of anti-Semitism it would be difficult to defend the manifestations of classic anti-Semitism - staples of dual loyalty, Jewish control, and so - seen in these blogs. Such sentiments hearken back to the racially and religiously based anti-Semitism of centuries past, a historically lethal force that self-styled progressives should ostensibly be in the forefront of resisting. And yet, a blogger with a large national following such as Glenn Greenwald, among others, can bemoan the corrosive effects of "Jewish money" and still be considered a progressive in good standing. This is despite the fact that progressive politics is supposed to entail a commitment to combating bigotry of all kinds and a sensitivity to even subtle negative stereotypes."

    I recommend everyone read the entire article for even more info about how bad things are.

    http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=3&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=624&PID=0&IID=3211&TTL=Anti-Israelism_and_Anti-Semitism_in_Progressive_U.S._Blogs/News_Websites:_Influential_and_Poor

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  10. That was written by Adam Levick, one of the CiF Watch guys.

    In any case, yes, we must not stick our heads in the sand.

    We can clearly see what is going on with the progressive movement. The only question is what the hell to do about it.

    I think that we should call them out and turn our backs. That is my answer.

    However, this doesn't mean that I am unhappy about Volley, or anyone else, serving as a reformer for the movement.

    Nothing would make me happier than to see the progressive-left reject anti-Zionism and the BDS and at least acknowledge that terrorism, or Islamism, are genuine problems that need to be discussed.

    School is right when he says that there are certain things that they will discuss and that progressives will not. One of those things is the problem of the Jihad and the fact that there is a hugely racist, genocidal movement coming out of much of the Arab world.

    You can't even say that on the Left.

    They will shout you down and demean your character rather than allow you to discuss what is, particularly for Jewish people, a very serious issue.

    Deadly serious.

    Just ask Daniel Pearl.

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  11. It's not the prog left? The evidence keeps piling in. Minnesota NOW endorsed Farheen Hakeem for State Senate, a member of the Anti War Committee, an openly eliminationist and anti-Semitic organization.

    http://mnnowblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/minnesota-now-endorses-farheen-hakeem-for-state-senate-in-district-61-special-election/

    This is the AWC:

    http://antiwarcommittee.org/in-solidarity/palestine/

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