Posted on 04/02/2003 10:53:34 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
COLUMN TUESDAY, APRIL 01, 2003
Does Antiwar Mean Anti-Israel?
The Bully Pulpit By JEREMY WEINBERG
Those who know me or read my column regularly can tell you that the only thing I am more unabashed about than my progressive political views is my heritage. I am a Jew and I'm very proud of that. Throughout time, my people have embraced some of the values that I hold most dearly: scholarship, perseverance, compassion and social consciousness.
Historically, Jews have more often been thought of as people of the book rather than the sword. Following expulsion from their homeland thousands of years ago, many Jews went to Europe and settled on the lands of noblemen. This afforded post-Diaspora Jews some protection from their enemies, giving them time to exercise the priority they valued more highly than fighting: study. Yet this docility, along with nearly everything else in Jewish life, changed following the Holocaust.
Concern for the protection and autonomy of Jews begat Zionism, a movement that sought the establishment of a Jewish state and relatedly, a new "get-tough" attitude for the Jewish people. Zionist leaders had enough of being pushed around and felt that the only way to end the victimization of their people was for them to stand up for themselves.
This toughness was an asset to Israel in its early years, when unfriendly neighbors waged war on her and sought her destruction. Israel's ability to take on a fight and win garnered her legitimacy and respect in the world community.
That fortitude persists in today's Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is a hard-liner who refuses to negotiate with Palestinians as long as they attack Israel. Sharon has sought to line up with U.S. President George W. Bush's "War on Terror," claiming that force is needed to stifle the actions of groups who seek to use murder as a means to achieve political objectives. He has responded to suicide attacks from militant Palestinian groups like Hamas with stern, decisive military retribution.
I've grown up with discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since I was in grade school. The situation seems as ridiculous to me now as it did then. Some lunatic straps dynamite to his chest and blows up a bunch of people in the name of Palestinian liberation. Israel responds with military action of its own in an effort to weaken the terrorist network that spawned the original attack. In response, another crazy person blows himself up on a bus. The cycle seems to repeat itself indefinitely.
Perhaps it is my experience seeing this cycle of violence and destruction that has lead me to believe that war is rarely a practical solution to diplomatic problems. I had hoped that America's hawks would have looked to the case of Israel as an indication that problems are perpetuated rather than ended by bloodshed. But alas, this has not been the case.
Those who follow The Bully Pulpit will know of my vocal opposition to sending troops into Iraq. In the past two semesters, I have frequently discussed the antiwar movement and reflected on it as it developed. While I have generally found myself agreeing with it, I have often felt isolated within the antiwar camp over the issue of Israel.
A frequently heard argument related to this war has gone something like this, "Why Iraq? Why not North Korea or Syria or Iran?"
What disturbs me is the fact that added to those frequently asked questions has been "why not Israel?"
At a town meeting with Congressman Maurice Hinchey last Friday, the mostly liberal audience gave a sizable round of applause when one man asked what the United States was going to do with what he described as "the worst terrorist state in the Middle East, Israel."
The amount of anti-Israel sentiment I have seen within the antiwar movement has shocked me. I share the disagreement that these people have with the way Israel and the United States have gone about diplomacy. Yet I am disturbed when the antiwar people begin to bash Sharon and Israel.
I see antiwar protests that chastise President Bush as a way for Americans to voice their belief that this country should follow a different course than the one it is taking. Yet the discussion of Israel I have heard has rarely been about influencing it to tread a different path. They have not so much come out against Israeli policy as they have come out against Israel.
The U.S. is so strong and well rooted that negative public opinion towards it can easily be shouldered. However, as a young state that has experienced a history of hostility against it, Israel is far more sensitive to these types of criticisms. Anti-Israel sentiment could make people question whether or not "keeping Israel around" is a good idea. I personally fear that Zion's perceived legitimacy, and by extension the desirability of her continued existence, is still up for question in many people's minds. In my mind, there is no question. The Israeli state is necessary as a place where Jews know they can go if anti-semitism springs up anywhere in the world.
Perhaps that is the paranoid, Holocaust mentality in me -- the one that gets me chastised by Jews and Gentiles alike. "Get over it," they implore. "Things are fine. We live in a freer time and in a freer place. Quit emphasizing your differences. You just make things worse that way."
But I'm still scared. Hating this war, I must turn away from the ideological right. But it seems to me that the left is fighting against the Jewish home state that I value so dearly.
I feel like I'm fighting moral battles on two fronts. And that's a tough thing to do, especially since all I want is peace.
Jeremy A. Weinberg is a senior in the College of Human Ecology. He can be contacted at jw236@cornell.edu. He is sorry to be participating in the media's recent wave of self-obsession. The Bully Pulpit appears Tuesdays.
Copyright © 2003 by The Cornell Daily Sun, Inc. All rights reserved.
[mean snicker]
Allow me to re-phrase:
Some non-uniformed terrorist straps dynamite to his chest and blows up a bunch of women and children eating pizza in a restaurant. Israel responds with uniformed soldiers who kill the planners of these terrorist attacks, while minimizing civilian casualties as much as possible -- which is admittedly difficult since the non-uniformed terrorists like to hide behind women and children.
There. Ummm, I didn't change it much -- do we still have moral equivalence here? Anyone? Bueller?
You chose your path and your friends, and you chose to undermine the security of your nation, so don't expect a lot of tears from us when your friends turn against you.
Mr. Weinberg is obviously a complete moron.
A different path? The path that Peres keeps insisting everyone should follow? The path that leads into the sea? That path????
Another Michael Lerner clone gets b!tchslapped but still can't snap out of his delusions.
He's smart enough to be aware of and shocked by the anti-Semitism. Next, he has to put 2+2 together and realize that the "peace" movement isn't really about peace.
Absolutely. And the U.S. should have negotiated with Hitler after he declared war on us and let Europe, Britain and the Middle East to him. Of course, there would have been very few Jews left by the time Hitler got through, but we could have avoided bloodshed - at least by Americans. < /sarcasm>
The only gripe this idiot has is that his fellow anti-war friends are turning anti-semitic, otherwise he'd be perfectly happy perpetuating the nonsense with them.
Would someone kindly explain to me what 'human ecology' is? There was no such major when I went to college.
Yeah, but Isreal is stronger than those poor Arab dudes who only have wealth of most of the world's oil to make them up....
And you might want to put some ice on that......
Remember, it was the commies who fought the Nazis (well, except when they signed a treaty and cut up Poland), that is why you must do what the commies and their heirs, the dems, order!
You must reelect Chuckie Schmickie and Hillie (the Palestinian lover) because you are a Jew and Jews do what the dems tell you to do. Same, if you are a black! You don't have to think for yourselves, nor do you have to figure out what is best for you. You do what you've done since FDR, you do what the dems tell you to do and elect them!
This is so easy to understand for alsmost every black and Jew. Why is it so hard for the 5%?
Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?
Welcome to the real world of being a Jew, bubbie. That the Right is the true home of American Jews and that the Left is now led by the world's top anti-Semites seems poetic justice, hmmm?
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