Posted on 05/07/2010 4:05:54 PM PDT by SJackson
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. Criticizing Israel has long been the equivalent of touching a third rail in many Jewish families and friendships, relegating disagreements to a conversational demilitarized zone where only the innocent and foolhardy go.
You cannot really engage in that conversation, said Phillip Moore, a teacher in this Detroit suburb who has embraced strong opinions on many topics in his life on politics, education, even religion but avoids the subject of Israel at gatherings of his Jewish relatives.
You raise a question about the security forces or the settlements and you are suddenly being compared to a Holocaust denier, said Mr. Moore, 62. Its just not a rational discussion, so I keep quiet.
But the recent tension between the Obama administration and the Israeli government over the stalled Middle East peace process has put the questions underlying those long-avoided family discussions directly in the public spotlight. They have raised serious questions about whether the traditional leadership of the American Jewish world is fully supported by the mass of American Jews.
The issues arose last month when American officials openly rebuked Israel over the announcement of new housing plans in east Jerusalem, and are likely to grow as indirect talks between Israelis and Palestinians, mediated by the Obama administration, resume this week. President Obama, working to ease those tensions, met on Tuesday with the Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, who had criticized the administration in an advertisement last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If youd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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To be read in conjunction with The Times Goes Jew-Spotting in Michigan---NYTimes Looks for Jews
, which describes the effort the NYT went to to find inactive members in a 400 member Synagogue from a denomination which doesn't believe in G-d to write this article.
Yet, they keep voting for the ones that will stab them in the back time after time.
For the life of me, I will NEVER understand anti-Semitic/anti-Israel American Jews!!! What’s up with that?!? >:-(
They’re certainly not antisemitic, nor anti-Israel. They have a different worldview, widely held by non Jews as well. You negotiate with your enemies. Talk to them, things will work out, we’re all reasonable people after all. IMO this is the wrong course for Israel and America, but when we phrase these things in the context of anti-Israel or anti-American, we lose any chance on having our views prevail. They’re simply advocating the wrong policy.
Farmington Hills Temple Ping!
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