A J Mast for The New York Times
Alvin H. Rosenfeld is the author of an essay critical
of liberal Jews that has generated heated debate.
Posted on 01/31/2007 3:35:39 AM PST by Pharmboy
A J Mast for The New York Times
Alvin H. Rosenfeld is the author of an essay critical
of liberal Jews that has generated heated debate.
The American Jewish Committee, an ardent defender of Israel, is known for speaking out against anti-Semitism, but this conservative advocacy group has recently stirred up a bitter and emotional debate with a new target: liberal Jews.
An essay the committee features on its Web site, ajc.org, titled “ ‘Progressive’ Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism,” says a number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent anti-Semitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist.
In an introduction to the essay, David A. Harris, the executive director of the committee, writes, “Perhaps the most surprising — and distressing — feature of this new trend is the very public participation of some Jews in the verbal onslaught against Zionism and the Jewish State.” Those who oppose Israel’s basic right to exist, he continues, “whether Jew or gentile, must be confronted.”
snip...
The essay, written by Alvin H. Rosenfeld, an English professor and the director of the Institute for Jewish Culture and the Arts at Indiana University in Bloomington, castigates a number of people by name, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, the historian Tony Judt, the poet Adrienne Rich and the Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, in addition to a number of academics.
Mr. Judt, whose views on Israel and the American Jewish lobby have frequently drawn fire, is chastised for what Mr. Rosenfeld calls “a series of increasingly bitter articles” that have “called Israel everything from arrogant, aggressive, anachronistic, and infantile to dysfunctional, immoral, and a primary cause of present-day anti-Semitism.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Well I should not post before coffee and without my reading glasses.
Very well said. Thanks for your most thoughtful post.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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Yep--they sure did. I did a double take on that myself. I picked it up from their home page, though, so they highlighted it in general reading online, but Arts section it sure was.
Liberals are liberals before they are Jews. Denise Prager speaks eloquently about this subject on his radio show. I think Liberals are Liberals before they are Americans too.
Good morning! Interesting post. The question has been asked, upon what basis does one call liberal/secular Jews Jews? Racial? When the Neturei Karta oppose the State of Israel and sit down to 'dialogue' with 'the enemy', at least they can't be accused of not being Jewish.
BTTT where it should be.
I think that "proud" Jewish liberals do a great deal of damage, but so do the people targeted in this article, so 'sall good.
bookmark
People who call themselves Jews but who know nothing about Judaism itself. People who equate liberalism with Judaism.
I think Liberals are Liberals before they are Americans too.
I tend to agree with that statement. And that's sad.
Well, it's JINOs --- very secular people who happen to be of Jewish origin.
It's a product of having an innate religious calling (i.e., being chosen --- whether one likes it or not --- think Jonah), and simultaneously hating that calling because it is restrictive, in that one does what God wants, not what your "easier" side wants.
Or so I opine. My wife tells me I am crazy and need to keep my mouth shut.
fatty
liberal is as liberal does..
It shouldn't. It's very important to understand that Hitler's government and governing philosophy was socialism. Hitler was no more "right wing" than Karl Marx, Josef Stalin, or Hillary Clinton. They're all socialists. So-called "liberals", whether they be Jew or Gentile, are actually socialists, and are in the same camp as the perpetrators of ALL of the 20th Century's great genocides.
Bingo!
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