Ruth Wisse

Mike L.

{Cross-posted at Geoffff's Joint, Bar and Grill.}



Ruth Wisse is a professor of Yiddish and Comparative Literature at Harvard University and the author of Jews and Power which I would very much recommend.  Over at Divestthis!, Jon Haber's most recent piece centers around Wisse's work, although in ways very different from my own.  However since I, too, have some familiarity with her writings I thought that I would publish the video above and post it to the right sidebar for awhile.  Her talk is about an hour long and worth every moment of it.

In her discussion of contemporary anti-Semitism she makes any number of excellent points, but I would like to briefly discuss two of them.

The first is her criticism of Jewish unwillingness to acknowledge and confront genocidal anti-Semitism and the second concerns criticism of the Jewish State.

Per the first, looking at the history of Jewish attempts at assimilation and history of Jewish persecution she notes, as does Barry Rubin, that Jews have generally sought to prove themselves worthy of admittance into the larger culture rather than through the demand for rights.  Because of this Jews have traditionally been reluctant to go on the offensive toward those who may be attacking them, whether in their own culture or other cultures.  What this means, and meant, is that there was rarely a price to be paid for political anti-Semitism.  In fact, because there was no price to pay for anti-Semitism, it meant that political groups could bridge divisions among themselves through genocidal Jew hatred and lose nothing due to that hatred.

This is what we saw in Germany during the early part of the last century and it is what we are seeing today in the Arab-Muslim worlds which are absolutely rife with the most virulent sorts of race hatred toward Jews.  However because western Jews tend to be interested in things like Tikkun Olam and issues of social justice, for reasons having to do with the history of Jewish persecution, we tend bend over backwards to accommodate and understand our very harshest critics and are often much more interested in seeking justice for others rather than justice for ourselves.

This she argues is a terrific mistake because, per the title of one of her other books, if we are not for ourselves who will be for us?  She thereby castigates the Jewish progressive tendency to almost entirely overlook Arab-Muslim genocidal racism toward us and the tendency to attack our fellow Jews who seek to point it out and to fight back.  Although she doesn't discuss Pamela Geller, per se, anyone who is the least bit familiar with the truly vicious attacks against Geller by some Jews of the left understands that Wisse makes a terrific point.  Progressive-left Jews honestly believe that to point out genocidal racism toward us from many Arabs and Muslims represents a form of racism against Arabs and Muslims.

But this is one reason why genocidal anti-Semitism persists, because we can't bring ourselves to really defend ourselves against it and, thus, there is no price to be paid for it.  I find it counterproductive and stupid, but there is no doubt that it is the case.  This does not mean that we should not pursue social justice for others, but that our enemy is not Pam Geller.  Again, when I post a video of some fascist mullah in Iran screaming for Jewish blood, on the progressive-left it makes me the racist.  This is beyond stupidity.  It's practically suicidal because the truth of the matter is that the Arab-Muslim world uses murderous Nazi-like anti-Semitism as a way to bridge the tensions between the various divisions in their societies.

They do it, but we need not go along with it.  This is what Wisse is recommending and she is absolutely right.  We must stand up for ourselves and those of us who would spit hatred at someone like Geller are doing the Jewish people a terrible disservice.  It's one thing to disagree with Geller, but it's another thing entirely to demean the woman and call her a "racist."

Another point that Wisse makes in the video above is concerned with criticism of Israel by those who claim to be friends of Israel.  She points out that it is often said that there is nothing wrong with criticizing any country and who would disagree?  All governments are subject to criticism and Israel is no different than any other country in that regard.

However, she uses a metaphor to underline a somewhat different point of view.  Imagine, she says, that you are not doing a very good job of keeping your front yard clean and a neighbor complains about it.  Well, that may very well be a perfectly reasonable criticism, right?  Why should this be a problem?  Fair is fair and if you need to clean up your yard a little than you need to clean up your yard a little.

Now imagine that all your other neighbors' yards are in far, far worse condition and, in fact, these people not only do not want you living among them, but are constantly throwing rocks and garbage through your windows and vocally threatening the lives of your children.  What would you think of that one neighbor's complaint then?  Would you not suspect that this neighbor is simply joining with the others in laying the ground for the persecution of you and your children.

This is why there is so much vitriol towards people like Peter Beinart and organizations like J-Street within the larger Jewish community.  At a time when the Muslim Brotherhood has taken power in Egypt, with a little help from Barack Obama, and Iran is driving toward nuclear weaponry and the Middle East is absolutely seething with hatred toward us, Beinart blames Israel for the hatred leveled against it.  Beinart is like the neighbor criticizing your yard-work while the rest of the neighborhood wants to see you dead.

This doesn't mean that someone like Beinart has no right to complain or shouldn't complain, but it does mean that he should voice his complaints with compassion and understanding rather than haughty contempt.

You guys should give Wisse a close listen.