by oldschooltwentysix
This was a comment, but I decided to post it here instead, with respect to the discourse I often experience with people who define themselves as progressives. Most are not Jewish, and they are incredibly unaware of what affects Jews, or how it relates to them.
Generally, they are far removed from the fray, educated, often living in echo chambers of the like-minded, and too in a frenzy to lay the blame for the wrongs of the world on Republicans, who they ridicule and dismiss despite their ideas, as if they have no relevance in the conversation, despite that they comprise almost half the population. Many progressives love to hate corporations and imperialism, too, even as they reap the rewards. For example, I always smile when I hear Morgan Freeman pitching for Bank of America.
I digress. This site is concerned with Israel and Jews. What confuses me is that
progressives, sometimes Jewish progressives, say they are well aware of Jew hatred. Are they as aware as they proclaim? What do they propose
to do about it? How should one address Jew hatred in general? Not just
from the Arabs, who have spread it across the Muslim world, but the
Europeans with their sordid history.
Like Israel's right to
self-defense, progressives seem to take Jew hatred for granted, they have it
factored into their theoretical analyses. In other words, as an object for lip service. Do they offer real solutions directed at the actors? Or are they quick to criticize in most harsh terms people (often those who were persecuted first hand or apostates) with the gumption to
point out both the growth of Jew hatred worldwide (which is not
hating all Muslims), or that too many progressives are silent or even
complicit. The fact is that too many do look away, or are ignorant, or fail
to see that silence and indifference matter.
Not trying the
Mufti at Nuremberg was a huge mistake, by not putting the same stamp on
Islamic Jew hatred as was placed on the Nazis. Both are genocidal. Given
this character of the belief, I do not see how anyhow with knowledge
could claim to be a liberal and supporter of the UDHR (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - editor's note) does not accept this truth as the
point of departure upon which actors and actions are based.
The Day of the Dhimmi is Done - Michael Lumish, PhD, proprietor. (mike.lumish@gmail.com)
Good piece, School. In my opinion, by no means should one be required to address these issues if they feel their efforts are better spent elsewhere. I would hope most of those people would agree the cataloguing of same is surely a useful endeavor, however, if only to combat ignorance if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be okay with most progressives when, say, SPLC compiles examples and lists of racist organizations. Quite rightly. Yet for some of them to then turn around and object when, as you mention, some choose to focus on, and highlight, ongoing incitement against Jews? Well, that strikes me as at least a tad hypocritical, just for starters.
Many also seem to believe they have superior knowledge on the issue, and therefore need not be informed of what occurs, when their knowledge is more accurately inferior.
DeleteThese are the folks that are susceptible to stuff like Pallywood and the like, or to claims that to expose the Jew hatred of Muslims is more a wrong against Muslims than the Jews that are victimized.
And to touch on that from a bit of a different angle, even if one is fully and well-aware of the phenomenon, or has even experienced it themselves, that does not eliminate the unfortunate fact of so many other people being unaware of the problem.
DeleteClearly, ignorance is the enemy, not those who fight it.
DeleteWhat I want to know is what is substantively "right-wing" about standing up to the violent prejudice within a majority population that outnumbers us 60 or 70 to 1 in that part of the world?
DeleteWas the Civil Rights Movement in the United States a "right-wing" movement because Black people were willing to stand up against the racism of the white majority population? No? Than how is it that if Jewish people stand up for our own freedom on land where we originally come from this is somehow dishonorable and politically "right-wing" and thus to be considered loathsome?
It is humanitarian racism.
Jewish progressives have no respect for the Arab-Muslim world which they reduce to the status of little, brown victims.
The empire of Islam is humongous. It contains 1.5 billion people and huge swaths of land throughout North Africa and a huge portion of Asia.
These are not people who need to be condescended to and that is precisely the way that they are treated by the mainstream western progressive-left. They treat them like ill-tempered children who are not responsible for their own behavior.
It is grotesque.
And what's even worse than that is that they inevitably send the signal to the rest of the world that Arabs have every right to beat up on Jews, as they've done for the last 14 centuries, because we deserve it for being mean to them.
It's, frankly, unbelievable and no honest reading of the history of the Jews under Arab imperial rule could possibly support such an inversion of morality.
Jewish progressives are also ignorant of the European progressives that relish in anti-Zionism and cultural relativism for almost everyone except Jews, yet are so morally dense that they cannot see they practice and enable Jew hatred.
DeleteThe answer, of course, is nothing. Then again, I don't necessarily think such an endeavor is 'left-wing,' either. It just is what it is. Let's call it speaking the truth.
DeleteI could not care less what it's labeled as, personally. If 'progressives' want to cede this ground to those they label 'right-wing,' and those they view as their opponents, then please be my guest. It's a silly game I'm no longer interested in playing. I let my actions speak louder than their words, and I know exactly who and what I am. Much like this issue, I could not care less what I'm labeled as, personally, either.
Whatever you call me, just don't call me collect long-distance. ;)
"and cultural relativism for almost everyone except Jews"
DeleteThat would be that whole 'alone amongst all people, only Jews are expected to be perfect Christians' thing again, would't it?
"Abu Khaizaran: "Since the day we were released from prison, we have been given [only] half a salary... We killed Jews. I personally killed Jews. I killed settlers and I injured soldiers. My house was destroyed. I have 11 bullets in my body. I served 22 years in Israeli prisons."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ruJE4V7zkQ
Poor hard done by Jew killers. There outta be a law.
An even harsher term (not invented by me): "Uncle Jake."
ReplyDeleteGreat article, oldschooltwentysix.
ReplyDeleteAnd you wrote:
"Clearly, ignorance is the enemy, not those who fight it."
Exactly so. Well said.
----
JayinPhiladelphia wrote:
"The answer, of course, is nothing."
The answer is to tell the facts of the history and current reality of the situation that Israel is in. The answer is to do so vigorously. The reason that contemporary so-called "liberals" who are against Israel are against Israel is because they believe lies that vilify Israel, and because, as part of that, and as the most important part of that, they believe lies that the U.S. government (and particularly what they view as being the "Right-Wing" U.S. "establishment") supports Israel. Therefore, it is particularly important to tell contemporary so-called "liberals" who are against Israel the facts of the U.S. ("Right-Wing") government's (the State Department's, the CIA's, U.S. executive administrations', etc.) (and also the U.S. ("Right-Wing") corporate establishment's) covert racist war on Israel.
Facts of the U.S. ("Right-Wing") government's (the State Department's, the CIA's, U.S. executive administrations', etc.), and the U.S. ("Right-Wing") corporate establishment's, covert racist war on Israel:
[1]
[2]
[3]*
[4]*
Note: * Information in reference to references 3 and 4
And, by the way, the U.S. "establishment" (the State Department, the CIA, etc.) (and the U.S. corporate "establishment") is now also so-called "Left-Wing". That is: The U.S. "establishment" has been mainly so-called "Right-Wing", but is now also largely so-called "Left-Wing".
I would agree with your belief, too, Daniel. To further clarify my comment below a bit, I mean that as regards only the lies and whatnot told about me, personally. I've become accustomed to those from certain quarters, and they only mildly amuse me now for the most part.
DeleteThe lies they tell about Israel and Jews, however, certainly have the potential to be dangerous, and should be fought vigorously. There is no doubt about that.
"I would agree with your belief, too, Daniel. To further clarify my comment below a bit, I mean that as regards only the lies and whatnot told about me, personally. I've become accustomed to those from certain quarters, and they only mildly amuse me now for the most part."
DeleteOh, okay. I apologize for misinterpreting what you wrote and mischaracterizing what you wrote. What I interpreted as what you meant in what you wrote was actually what I interpreted to be what only maybe you meant. I felt that you may have meant something other that what I was interpreting it as maybe meaning. I just wanted to take it as an opportunity to express my understanding of what needs to be done. And I felt badly for writing in a way that I felt was cold and harsh to you. I appreciate your contributions here very much, Jay. I didn't mean to be cold or harsh to you. I apologize for writing about you in, or toward you in, the cold way that I wrote about you.
And furthermore, or moreover, I apologize for mischaracterizing what you wrote.
"The lies they tell about Israel and Jews, however, certainly have the potential to be dangerous, and should be fought vigorously. There is no doubt about that."
Yes.
No worries, Dan! I did not take any offense as such to your comment, anyway...
Delete"No worries, Dan! I did not take any offense as such to your comment, anyway..."
DeleteThanks, Jay.
Correction:
Delete"...and are what have caused many contemporary supposed "liberals" to, as a result of that, be allowing Western governments to be allowing the ideologically genocidally anti-Jewish, ideologically apocalyptic, Islamic supremacist regime in Iran to be developing nuclear weapons..."
I apologize for writing so many comments, but: again (to reiterate and make clear the main points of what I wrote -- which I think may have been buried by all of the rest that I wrote):
DeleteTell -- particularly to American contemporary "liberals" who are currently against Israel:
- The facts of the history and current reality of the situation that Israel is in
- And, in particular: facts of the U.S. ("Right-Wing") government's (the State Department's, the CIA's, U.S. executive administrations', etc.), and the U.S. ("Right-Wing") corporate establishment's, covert racist war on Israel: [1] [2] [3]* [4]*
Join with authentically liberal-minded Arab people.
Tell the facts of the history and current reality of the situation that Israel is in to authentically liberal-minded Arab people (and particularly to authentically liberal-minded Arab people who are ignorant of the facts of the history and current reality the situation that Israel is in and who believe lies that vilify Israel and who therefore are currently against Israel).
----
Anti-Semitism 2.0, by Mudar Zahran
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1979/anti-semitism-20
Palestinians: What The UN Brought, by Khaled Abu Toameh, December 5, 2012
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3482/palestinians-un
On Campus: The Pro-Palestinians' Real Agenda, by Khaled Abu Toameh
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/424/on-campus-the-pro-palestinians-real-agenda
What Does "Pro-Palestinian" Really Mean?, by Khaled Abu Toameh
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/921/what-does-pro-palestinian-really-mean
----
Note: * Information in reference to references 3 and 4
And, again, by the way, the U.S. "establishment" (the State Department, the CIA, etc.) (and the U.S. corporate "establishment") is now also so-called "Left-Wing". That is: The U.S. "establishment" has been mainly so-called "Right-Wing", but is now also largely so-called "Left-Wing".
Something that strikes me this morning, to clarify this statement a bit -
ReplyDelete"I could not care less what it's labeled as, personally. If 'progressives' want to cede this ground to those they label 'right-wing,' and those they view as their opponents, then please be my guest. It's a silly game I'm no longer interested in playing. I let my actions speak louder than their words, and I know exactly who and what I am. Much like this issue, I could not care less what I'm labeled as, personally, either."
With a couple exceptions, I've always generally been the most 'left-wing,' however you want to define that, person of anyone I know in my daily, personal life. Friends, family, coworkers. Not 'extremely' so, by any means, but certainly clearly so. And it's not like I'm surrounded by hundreds of William F. Buckleys and Daniel Greenfields, either (I mean, I live in Philadelphia and I'm from New Jersey for freaks' sake!), but most people I personally know tend to range from center-left to center-right, I guess you'd say. Probably a little more than half lean (or are) Democrats, while the rest lean (or are) Republicans. With the likely exception of guns, they'd generally all consider me to be considerably to their left on most if not all domestic issues.
They would generally be very amused to discover that there are, now over the past couple of years, a handful of random, anonymous people on the internet who consider me 'right-wing.'
That's why I say this is a silly game which ultimately means nothing. It's just words, and virtually all of those who launch this 'charge' (not that there's anything whatsoever 'wrong' with being a conservative outside of a few internet venues, of course) use it as a means of dismissal. And that same percentage of people, I'm sure, are those who live in the bubbles and echo chambers oldschool describes in the body of the piece above. Believe me, I lived in Portland, Oregon for five years, so I certainly know that type! ;)
Also, Mike -
ReplyDelete"What I want to know is what is substantively "right-wing" about standing up to the violent prejudice within a majority population that outnumbers us 60 or 70 to 1 in that part of the world?"
That may not be 'right-wing,' in its essence, but you and I certainly are, because we don't type enough mean words about Republicans and / or conservatives on the internet anymore.
Clearly to some, who live in their own self-segregated bubbles and echo chambers and who are intolerant of all views and things ("this stupid, right-wing traffic light needs to change now, damnit!") outside of an extremely narrow ideological spectrum, this is the ultimate measure of where one stands on the political spectrum.
;)