The Forward prints a frontpage article about the UN and Israel that characterizes support for Israel as the “national liberation movement of the Jewish people” (penned by Eve Epstein, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary).
I’m confused by this. I’m a Jew, but I’m a citizen of this nation, the U.S. I don’t feel like I need to be liberated, I’m plenty free where I am. I think the Palestinians require liberation.
This type of confusion is common in pro-Israel policy circles. At a time when Israel’s interests and the U.S.’s are not congruent (we should be opposing Israel’s illegal occupation vigorously to win points in the Arab world), rhetoric like this creates a real question in my mind, and I’m sure in others, of dual loyalty. It is precisely the confusion that the American Council for Judaism warned about more than 60 years ago when it supported Jewish immigration to a democratic multicultural country in Palestine, but opposed the creation of a Jewish state.
Related posts:
- Another Achievement of the AJC: ‘The New Republic’ Joins Me on Dual Loyalty Issue
- John Judis Scooped Joe Klein on ‘Dual Loyalty,’ But You Can’t Find His Piece on TNR Site
- ‘Forward’ piece touches on dual loyalty as motivator for Iraq war
- Why I Talk About Dual Loyalty
- Fleshler Exonerates Neocons of Dual Loyalty. Why He’s Wrong…
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I always enjoy being the first one to weigh in here before the Mengele/ Nasrallah brigades crack up. Anybody who actually reads the article would see that its a Kofo Annan/ UN puff piece, typical of the forward. It was a litany of bones that have been thrown to Israel and the Jewish people. The UN is a noble expereiment that has gone awry and should be closed down, but that's anothe article. But again the over riding question is this. Phil Weiss is violently opposed to the existence of the worlds only Jewish state on a strip of land smaller than New Jersey. He doesn't have a Jewish wife nor does he have Jewish children. He rejects the religion, doesn't believe or participate in any of the beliefs and rituals and delights in rejecting it all in the favor of some sort of universalism. So, why does he give s shit what the Forward says. Why does he care. Phil, we don't want you, we don't need you, your absolved of all the sins that we evil Jews have committed. Don't sweat it anymore. But don't call yourself a Jew, your an apostate or better yet an apikoros.
I sort of understand the dual loyalty of many Jews. My ancestors came from England between 1630 and 1860 and I feel bad about the potential loss of English culture through immigration; much less how would I feel if England were threatened with nuclear annihilation?
Well, actually, I do feel concern that London will be annihilated only slightly less than my concern over a similar fate for New York. That could be justified by the great cultural heritage of London, I suppose; but I would not be as concerned by Rome, much less Tel Aviv.
So I understand the concerns over dual loyalty and of the urgency with which Jews approach Israel's security.
But that doesn't mean that I like it. I very much resent risking New York and Washington so that settlers can fulfill their religious dreams in "Judea and Samaria". And I would hope that Jews here in the US would come around and understand the great imbalance between these two desiderata; just for starters think of the Jewish culture and humanity in New York, and force a settlement.
Bill, you keep asking over and over why a non-observant assimated Jew like Phil Weiss keeps writing about Jews and Israel. "Why does he care?"
He cares, Bill, for the same reason all of us care. A small group of Israel-first American Jews is trying to ensure that this country continues to follow a Middle East policy that benefits Israel at the expense of America.
Unlike you, Bill, Phil does not have dual loyalty issues. In his eyes (if I can presume to speak on his behalf), America comes first and Israel is a distant second, as it does for most American Jews. If you're not happy living around the kind of Jews who put America first, I suggest you call El Al the second you read this post and by this time tomorrow you can be living in in Tel Aviv, happy beyond belief because no matter where you look, all you see are people like yourself, Jews who put Israel first.
Bill, you keep asking over and over why a non-observant assimated Jew like Phil Weiss keeps writing about Jews and Israel. "Why does he care?"
He cares, Bill, for the same reason all of us care. A small group of Israel-first American Jews is trying to ensure that this country continues to follow a Middle East policy that benefits Israel at the expense of America.
Unlike you, Bill, Phil does not have dual loyalty issues. In his eyes (if I can presume to speak on his behalf), America comes first and Israel is a distant second, as it does for most American Jews. If you're not happy living around the kind of Jews who put America first, I suggest you call El Al the second you read this post and by this time tomorrow you can be living in in Tel Aviv, happy beyond belief because no matter where you look, all you see are people like yourself, Jews who put Israel first.
There is nothing wrong with a valid concern for members of your own tribe however you define it. However, sometimes it seems that even the terminology of "dual loyalty" is not appropriate as some seem to be working directly against the interests of their fellow nationals.
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