Comments on: The soft life in America has sucked the brains out of American Jews UPDATED

By: Danny Lemieux

Danny Lemieux — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:24:07 +0000

Sadie wrote There are so many Jews who fled Eastern Europe in the last century, many more who came here, who had survived the Holocaust. I think these generations felt so indebted to America for their freedoms and passed a good deal of enthusiasm to subsequent generations.
To sum-up BrianE’s most excellent discourse on the East European migrations, remember of the immigrants to the U.S. in the late-19th, early-20th Centuries were Bolsheviks, totally convinced that the very capitalism that welcomed them and made it possible for them to thrive needed to be destroyed. It wasn’t just Jews: northern Wisconsin and Minnesota have large communities of Finns who were dedicated communists from before the day they arrived. Gus Hall, the long-time leader of the Communist Part USA came from such a community.
People like that should never have been let into our country, for it is from them that the rot today has spread.

By: SADIE

SADIE — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:30:53 +0000

Saving liberal Zionism – what an odd pairing of words. It defies definition.

Benjamin Kerstein flushes it out here..

http://newledger.com/2010/05/liberalism-and-zionism/

By: BrianE

BrianE — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:22:06 +0000

Is this Israel’s Kent State?

By: BrianE

BrianE — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:14:28 +0000

“The core thesis of the essay is that liberal Jews, particularly younger ones, are less supportive of Israel because of the American Jewish “establishment’s” (ie: AIPAC, Conf. of President, etc.) commitment to defend Israel “no matter what.”” – IPA Blog response to the Beinart essay

From the Beinart essay:
“Morally, American Zionism is in a downward spiral. If the leaders of groups like AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations do not change course, they will wake up one day to find a younger, Orthodox-dominated, Zionist leadership whose naked hostility to Arabs and Palestinians scares even them, and a mass of secular American Jews who range from apathetic to appalled. Saving liberal Zionism in the United States—so that American Jews can help save liberal Zionism in Israel—is the great American Jewish challenge of our age. And it starts where Luntz’s students wanted it to start: by talking frankly about Israel’s current government, by no longer averting our eyes.”

I detect hostility. It must confound American Jews, the majority of whom along with their Israeli brothers are secular humanists, that Jew is synonymous to many with both a people and a religion. Has this prompted Jews to be all the more secular in reaction?

According to Irving Kristol in a Commentary article from 1991:

“The impact of secular humanism on European Jews was far more striking than among Christians. It was the secular-humanist Left, after all, that agitated for (and won) Jewish emancipation and Jewish civic equality. Moreover, emancipation unleashed within the Jewish community latent messianic passions that pointed to a new era of fraternal “universalism” of belief for mankind. What is now called “prophetic Judaism” gradually edged out “rabbinic Judaism”—the distinction itself being a derivative of the secular-humanist impulse. By the time the mass of Jews, mostly Central and East European, came to the United States, they were already secular-humanist in their politics, i.e., somewhere Left of Center—if not in other respects. And, in time, as American Christianity and American culture also absorbed this secular-humanist impulse, Jews were encouraged to become more secular-humanist in other respects as well. They located themselves on the cutting edge of American acculturation to secular humanism as an integral part of their own Americanization.”

“That Jews should be liberal-to-Left in American politics is not surprising: they always have been so, and were ready to be so from the moment they set foot on these shores. What scholars and analysts take to be more interesting is that they remain so, even as they have prospered and achieved socioeconomic levels that, according to the socioeconomic determinism of contemporary sociology, should have made them more conservative. Aside from the fact that such determinism is always intellectually flawed to begin with, this overlooks the far more interesting phenomenon that American Jews have not only refused to become more conservative but have actually become more liberal-Left in their thinking about nonpolitical issues—what we today call “social” issues.”
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-future-of-american-jewry-7861?page=all

Now fast forward 20 years and it is hardly surprising that Jews should flock to the first black president. What is still to be determined is whether the non-stop assault on zionism has created the “perfect storm” where American Jews abandon Israel (tainted by what they perceive as apocalyptic Evangelicalism) to prove their secular bone fides.

Only as Kristol sees it, American society is moving past Judeo-Christian versus humanist traditions to a revival of pagan barbarism. He doesn’t see that working out well for Jews.

One must not loose sight that Jewish liberals are, after all, liberals and are subject to the same idyllic myopia that plagues their comrades. No doubt they believe that once Israel has made the necessary concessions to placate the downtrodden Palestineans, peace will be achieved “in our time”.

Until American Jews are willing to take Hamas at their word, the propaganda campaign to weaken American support will continue to have its effect.

And here are the words of Hamas:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory).
“The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. “
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”

By: suek

suek — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:09:52 +0000

More on the flotilla matter:

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2010/05/idf-flotilla-refused-security.html

By: suek

suek — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:00:43 +0000

This was an interesting article – as Gates of Vienna usually is…

http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2010/05/muslim-poster-boy-for-spanish-military.html
And this one – if you have some time. It’s interesting from a couple of standpoints – history, of course, but also from the standpoint of the duplicity of the muslims. Through all of their history, they have proved that their sense of honor is self-directed – that is, if it benefits them, then what they have promised means nothing. That plus their brutality.
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2010/05/last-empire.html

By: Caped Crusader

Caped Crusader — Mon, 31 May 2010 14:25:50 +0000

As a Christian who supports Israel, the mystery of the ages to me is why do the Jews seek their own destruction?
Is this somehow inbred in the culture?
To be so smart and at the same time so damn stupid concerning self survival.
Defies, to me, any logical explanation.
Jews who recognize the danger are unable to explain it also.

By: SADIE

SADIE — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:43:33 +0000

I’m surprised they didn’t have puppies and babies on board the flotilla.

They haven’t checked the cargo yet.
Nice poem, but I am sure it was tutti-fruitti ;

By: Mike Devx

Mike Devx — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:20:43 +0000

There once was this big leftist flotilla
Munching Ben and Jerry’s Choco-Fudge-Nut-in-Vanilla
They made a left turn
Then another left turn
And found themselves in the Bay of Manila

By: Mike Devx

Mike Devx — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:15:43 +0000

I’m surprised they didn’t have puppies and babies on board the flotilla.

I heard that Cindy Sheehan and Sean Penn wanted to join the flotilla. After some seconds of deliberation, those in charge of public relations and propaganda for the flotilla turned Ms. Sheehan and Mr. Penn down. Because George Bush is no longer president and their media celebrity value has therefore dropped below zero.

Those in the flotilla in charge of public relations and propaganda *did* think about asking the opinions of leaders not involved in public relations and propaganda… but they couldn’t find any.

Comments on: The soft life in America has sucked the brains out of American Jews *UPDATED*

By: Danny Lemieux

By: SADIE

By: BrianE

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By: suek

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By: Caped Crusader

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By: Mike Devx

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Comments on: The soft life in America has sucked the brains out of American Jews UPDATED