Aaron David Miller on CNN, wisely advising against a reoccupation of Gaza, but offering this [adjective to be supplied later] statement:
I'd note that Miller is from an old Zionist family. I know that he has been a largely-fair influence in the unending peace process, once saying that the Camp David team under Clinton acted as "Israel's lawyer," but I have at times questioned the vantage point from which he sees the world. In his recent paper on Gandhi and nonviolence in the occupied territories, Norman Finkelstein said that we must get past the question, Are you now or have you ever been a Zionist? Norman, I think this is an utterly legitimate question. To get past it, must we not first ask it? Don't Americans who want a balanced policy in the Middle East have a right to know whether someone is an Arabist, a Zionist, an anti-Zionist etc?
OH MY GOD:
"we have elections" in that context is perfectly good English. It's like "take your Mercedes Benz, now there's a car." I'm not threatening to take your car, when I say that.
You really have a problem Phil.
The tendency of American Zionists referring to Israel as "we" or "us" (even when the Zionist speaking has never been within a thousand miles of Israel) has been in evidence for decades (I recall first noticing it from the mouth of a member of the Hillel students' club when I was in college, c. 1983), but in this particular case it could be excused as a not-uncommon informal American idiom. There are many non-Zionists who might have said "we have elections" in this case.
I agree with you, though, re Finkelstein's desire to move "past" the Zionist question. Yes, we should know what people's biases are in order to correctly weigh their words. And you are right that we cannot get "past" the question without first answering it.
A commentator speaking about a subject can say "we have elections," and mean: when we consider this subject, we need to keep in mind that there is an election coming up. Surely you don't think he's confused over who has the election.
As to Finkelstein, I don't understand what is meant by getting beyond asking are you now or have you ever been a Zionist. The reports of his recent talks about Gandhi don't seem to include this quote.
It was a very loopy interpretation Phil.
It was a very loopy interpretation Phil.
Only if you expect an interpretation and not a continuation of Phil's interior/exterior dialogue with Aaron David Miller and Norman Finkelstein.
Remember his earlier post in connection the two? Remember the Finkelstein interview? Norman's harsh critique? My overall impression is you are a perfunctory reader of your friend's writings.
that was "connecting the two". I should have left it.
Should be in connection with the two.
Remember the Woody Allen skit where he accused someone of asking him "how about JEW?" instead of "you"? Well that's Phil–in the converse. He probably blames Jews for his wife's sinus infection because it sounds to him like "zionist election."
What is the similarity between Woody Allen and R Crumb?
Anyone see the aggregate it?
Woody Allen: "I don't consider myself a nebbish, but everyone else does."