’self-hatred’ smear suggests Zionism has a glass jaw

by Philip Weiss on July 9, 2009 · 104 comments

Joseph Dana has an interesting take on the report in Haaretz that Netanyahu has described Barack Obama's top advisers, Jews Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, as self-hating Jews:

There is a feeling among certain intellectuals and statesman in Israel that left leaning American Jews do not have the right to be critical of the policies of the State of Israel. In recent conversations with some prominent academics, I have heard how the New York Review of Books is one of the worst arenas in which these ‘Jews’ discuss the politics of “our state”. In these circles of ardent Zionists, left wing Jews are often considered ‘political enemies’. The fact that the State of Israel acts in the name of the ‘Jewish people’ has no bearing on their right to talk freely about Israeli politics.
The recent passing of the renowned Israeli author and journalist Amos Elon is an interesting case. Elon was a respected critic in Israel until he decided to sell his house in Jerusalem and move to Tuscany about ten years ago. The news of his death took a relatively long time to show up in the Israeli media which surprised me as he was the leading Haaretz correspondent for nearly forty years. In my opinion, his life and work were swept to the side because of his decision to leave Israel. I suppose his decision to join the Diaspora made the date of his death much earlier than it was in Israel.
I am not talking about emigrants from Israel, of which there are a huge number every year and very little coverage in the media. Rather, I am talking about Zionist insecurity that manifests in the form of assaults on anyone who is critical of Israel regardless of religion. Zionism has never understood itself as a strong movement or project. Out of weakness come irrational attacks on anyone and anything. Bibi’s comments are not reflective of his own insanity rather the weight of our collective insecurity. Zionism has a significant fear of abandonment complex that only grows with time.

Related posts:

  1. ‘An ethno-religious real estate pact with a partisan God justifying any actions against real or imagined enemies’ (Judt on Zionism)
  2. ‘Overcoming Zionism’ Leads to Overcoming First Amendment
  3. Sternhell: ‘Colonial Zionism’ Has Brought ‘Apartheid’
  4. Good for Marty Peretz (Also, I Had a Glass of Wine at Lunch)
  5. Republican Jews Seek to Smear Obama by Saying He Cares About Palestinian ‘Suffering’

{ 104 comments }

1 MRW July 11, 2009 at 2:50 pm

Bullshit. Do your homework. January 30, 2009 ”Secret database shows Israeli government to be active partner in settlement landgrab“ Ha'aretz has busted open a huge story today: "Secret Israeli database reveals full extent of illegal settlement." The story outlines a database created by the Israeli defense establishment to gather: “credible and accessible information at the ready to contend with legal actions brought by Palestinian residents, human rights organizations and leftist movements challenging the legality of construction in the settlements and the use of private lands to establish or expand them.” The article adds, "the painstakingly amassed data was labeled political dynamite." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti... West Bank Settlements Often Use Private Palestinian Land, Study Says By Scott Wilson Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, November 22, 2006; Page A17 JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 — An Israeli advocacy group has found that 39 percent of the land used by Jewish settlements in the West Bank is private Palestinian property, which the organization contends is a violation of international and Israeli law guaranteeing property rights in the occupied territories. In a report released here Tuesday, the Settlement Watch project of Peace Now also disclosed that much of the land that Israeli officials have said would remain part of the Jewish state under any final peace agreement is private Palestinian property. That includes some of the large settlement blocs inside the barrier that Israel is building to separate Israelis from the Palestinian population in the West Bank. The report states that 86 percent of Maale Adumim on Jerusalem's eastern edge sits on private Palestinian land. A little more than 35 percent of the settlement of Ariel, which cuts deep into the northern West Bank, is also on private property. [...] The report defines private property in the West Bank as land registered by Palestinians before 1968, when Israel stopped the process. . . .The report notes that 1.3 percent of the settlement areas is "Jewish land." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti...

2 MRW July 11, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Richard, read my post above and look at the links. You dont know what you are talking about.

3 MRW July 11, 2009 at 2:54 pm

According to 2006 Israeli report which I cite above , the report notes that 1.3 percent of the settlement areas is "Jewish land."

4 MRW July 11, 2009 at 4:56 pm

Here are all the links that prove to the blowhards above who claim it's just a teensey-weensey bit of land that the Palestinians own in the settlements or O.T., or like Richard who suggests title is somehow a gentleman's agreement or consent. Copy them for future. Israeli map concedes Palestinians own land – International Herald Tribune By Steven Erlanger – New York Times Published: Saturday, October 21, 2006 http://tr.im/rTFU Israeli Map Says West Bank Posts Sit on Arab Land By STEVEN ERLANGER – New York Times Published: November 21, 2006 http://tr.im/rTFU Settlements 'violate Israeli law' – BBC More than a third of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are built on privately owned Palestinian land, an Israeli campaign group has reported. http://tr.im/rTFU Israeli Report (PDF): Israeli Settlement Building on Private Palestinian Property http://tr.im/rTFU West Bank Settlements Often Use Private Palestinian Land, Study Says By Scott Wilson Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 22, 2006; Page A17 http://tr.im/rTFU Secret database shows Israeli government to be active partner in settlement landgrab Phil Weiss. January 30, 2009 http://tr.im/rTFU

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