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Essay Linking Liberal Jews and Anti-Semitism Sparks a Furor
NY Times ^ | January 31, 2007 | PATRICIA COHEN

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Israel
KEYWORDS: aclu; commies; israel; jews; jewsfora2ndholocaust; judaism; kooks; liberals; rats; reformedjews; reformjudaism
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To: SolidWood

Well I should not post before coffee and without my reading glasses.


21 posted on 01/31/2007 5:13:30 AM PST by stockpirate (John Kerry & FBI files ==> http://www.freerepublic.com/~stockpirate/)
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To: shrinkermd

Very well said. Thanks for your most thoughtful post.


22 posted on 01/31/2007 5:30:46 AM PST by Pharmboy ([She turned me into a] Newt! in '08)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

23 posted on 01/31/2007 5:35:42 AM PST by SJackson (Let a thousand flowers bloom and let all our rifles be aimed at the occupation, Abu Mazen 1/11/07)
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To: Pharmboy
They put this in the "Arts" section??
24 posted on 01/31/2007 5:48:40 AM PST by Loud Mime ("She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon." - Groucho Marx)
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To: Loud Mime

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.


25 posted on 01/31/2007 5:51:13 AM PST by Pharmboy ([She turned me into a] Newt! in '08)
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To: shrinkermd
I don't like what I see when you combine this thread with this one.
26 posted on 01/31/2007 5:52:26 AM PST by Loud Mime ("She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon." - Groucho Marx)
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To: airborne

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.


27 posted on 01/31/2007 6:03:28 AM PST by TheGreenRepublican
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To: kellynch

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.


28 posted on 01/31/2007 6:26:59 AM PST by Thywillnotmine (take the wings of the morning)
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To: Pharmboy

BTTT where it should be.


29 posted on 01/31/2007 7:06:01 AM PST by Donna Lee Nardo (DEATH TO ISLAMIC TERRORISTS AND ANIMAL AND CHILD ABUSERS.)
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To: Pharmboy
On seeing the headline I assumed the article was about liberal Jews like Abe Foxman.

I think that "proud" Jewish liberals do a great deal of damage, but so do the people targeted in this article, so 'sall good.

30 posted on 01/31/2007 7:08:44 AM PST by Zionist Conspirator (Ashirah leHaShem ki-ga'oh ga'ah, sus verokhvo ramah vayam!)
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To: Pharmboy

bookmark


31 posted on 01/31/2007 7:10:29 AM PST by atlaw
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To: nanster

People who call themselves Jews but who know nothing about Judaism itself. People who equate liberalism with Judaism.


32 posted on 01/31/2007 7:22:15 AM PST by kellynch ("Our only freedom is the freedom to discipline ourselves." -- Bernard Baruch)
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To: TheGreenRepublican
Welcome to FreeRepublic.

I think Liberals are Liberals before they are Americans too.

I tend to agree with that statement. And that's sad.

33 posted on 01/31/2007 7:27:40 AM PST by airborne (Elect an Airborne Ranger,Vietnam Veteran for President ! Duncan Hunter 2008!!)
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To: mgist

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.


34 posted on 01/31/2007 7:51:51 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
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To: Pharmboy
The truth hurts....

fatty

35 posted on 01/31/2007 8:53:07 AM PST by Nachum
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To: Pharmboy
I have many Jewish friends and they all say the Mega Rich Jews in Hollywood has made life even harder for them.
36 posted on 01/31/2007 8:55:02 AM PST by OKIEDOC (Kalifornia now a certified socialist state reporting to Mexico City for further instructions)
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To: Pharmboy

liberal is as liberal does..


37 posted on 01/31/2007 9:27:50 AM PST by sheik yerbouty ( Make America and the world a jihad free zone!)
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To: stockpirate
Liberal Jews embrace the same philosophy as the NAZI's in Germany, "Socialialism". I realize this post may get deleted.

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.

38 posted on 01/31/2007 9:33:59 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: SauronOfMordor
Simpler answer: there are many who are Jews in name only, who while ethnically Jewish, actually worship Socialism.

Bingo!

39 posted on 01/31/2007 9:34:33 AM PST by redgirlinabluestate
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To: hlmencken3
Religionists will always find an excuse to hate Jews for some religious reason.

What do you mean? I understand there is a difference between religion and Christianity.
40 posted on 01/31/2007 9:46:08 AM PST by Delphinium
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