Get. Over. The. Holocaust. Now. It's been sixty years, more than enough time to treat Jews like every other human group.

But we have to work hard to make sure that what comes is the end of philosemitism, not the beginning of more antisemitism.

But I trust this diverse group of (for lack of a better term) progressives to not fall into the trap.

My own view is that concentrated interests with sufficient political organisation in the US political system are routinely capable of imposing massive costs on others, both other US citizens and foreigners. The Israel lobby is one such major powerful organised interest, and that is the source of US policy towards Palestinians (colonisation, ethnic cleansing, Richard Witty-type apologias for the same). With such a powerful organised interest in place, the outcomes we get are what we would expect regardless of other aspects of the contemporary 'culture and mood', and there could be a very strong 'culture and mood' in favour of some policy outcome which was entirely contradicted in practice by an powerful single issue constituency.

In other news, for example, the US has recently decided to ban Mexican trucks from operating in the US, regardless of the benefits to the US as a whole, its illegality under NAFTA, and the retaliation Mexico is imposing on other US interests. It's all driven by the power of the trucking lobby. Does anyone want to claim its due to a mood and culture favourable to truckers? Or that this policy will be restrained by the 'mood and culture' that Obama's internationalism has created in Washington?

So in both cases, Jews are useful subversives.

From a cultural perspective, the Left loves the victim narrative, and no one is better at weaving and milking the victim narrative than the Jews. And the Right likes to tap into the whole “Judeo-Christian” mythos to motivate its base, and that narrative is also philosemitic. The “clash of civilizations” is today being framed as “the Judeo-Christian West vs. the Islamofascists.”

So there is far more to this complex problem than just breaking the Israel lobby and Zionism. Both the corrupt Left and the corrupt Right have to be broken along with it, because just like the Zionists, neither is really interested in doing what’s best for America, but rather what’s best for their own narrow-minded interests.

I second that. And yes, it's both the philosemitic atmosphere and the organized lobby.

I think that is the most important part, Phil. I just hope that the young Jewish culture you're referring to isn't predominantly exemplified by the likes of J Street, because J Street appears to be nothing more than AIPAC-lite.

Thanks again for your writing, Phil. I enjoy it most when you "think out loud" like this, and I appreciate your willingness to constantly evaluate and change your thinking and opinions, based on the constant flow of new information, as opposed to hardening into ideology and doctrine which is then defended at all costs.

His new theory to explain Israeli war crimes is that Israel is being "Cheney-ized," i.e. that the neocon ethos started in America and spread to Israel.

The reverse is true. The "philosemetic" culture you identify arose with modern Zionism in Israel, and came to dominate foreign-policy discourse in the U.S. over the last 30 years. Along with it came the mechanisms that characterize the "War on Terror": occupation, ethnic cleansing, and torture. (The forbidden thought that follows is that this was the result of deliberate effort by a quiet group of powerful Jews.)

My first thought upon hearing of the Twin Towers attack was "We're all Palestinians now. Or…wait… We're all Israelis now!" In any case, I felt instantly that the distant war had come home.

–David B.
Seattle, WA

Fixed that for Phil. Its not like Rabin got any love when he criticized AIPAC.

Although, you'll need to correct this, again, for U.S. sentiments that may be sympathetic to Israel but want a more even handed policy. Despite this, we aren't getting it.

(I did get some very amusing replies, tho. My favorite was from "Zoltan Newberry": "Not every Jewish boy can grow up to be a dictor or a lawyer or and Einstein, but for those who's talents extend no further than kick-starting a motorcycle or smoking a joint, there is always anti-Zionism" (I paraphrase, but I've got a copy somewhere) What a dummy that Zoltan is! Motorcycles haven't had kick-starters for years and years!

I have never admired Israel, but I also haven't limited my news sources to US mainstream media.

At the end of the day, a massacre is a massacre, human rights violations are human rights violations and war crimes are war crimes.

There is nothing to admire.

"philo-semiticLikud.

Fixed that for Phil."

No need to fix that. You're wrong and Phil is right. Simply because few people know what "Likud" is. Our society has not witnessed Likuds being killed in Germany, Likuds being oppressed in Russia and East Europe, and there are no protocols of the elders of Likud.
And after that, our society didn't cheer because Likuds climbed the social ladder and therefore proved that our society is empathic to minorities.

It's Jews in every case, not Likuds.

Which means that, as Phil said, there is a sympathy for Jews, which then translates to support for Jewish policy, of which Likus is the dominant strain in Israel.

This is only possible because society wants to support Jews and therefore doesn't question their rich religious patriarchs indoctrinating everyone and their mother with Zionist propaganda.