Beinart gives Krugman permission to come out

I underestimated Peter Beinart’s piece (and role) from the start. Well, it’s huge. Now, his latest thoughts on the ADL’s Islamophobia enable Paul Krugman to say that he has a problem with the politics of Israel/Palestine in the U.S., and how the pro-Israel agenda got hijacked by the Likudniks. The language is imprecise or I’d quote it. Again I say that Krugman is a lilylivered narrator on a subject that he should have broached long ago, but this is Beinart’s achievement, to talk to the Jewish liberal middle, to allow them to speak out, those people who deep down probably love Israel, and I infer that Krugman is in that company. Will it make a difference? Everything makes a difference. Beinart is some kind of gamechanger. He is participating most crucially in the Jewish-American divorce from Zionism, which will become the rage before too long, mark my word. It may be a couple of years, but it is taking place: Jews are discovering the Nakba and the Palestinian dispossession. Max Blumenthal and Julian Schnabel and Tony Judt and Jerry Slater and this website are all playing roles, as well as leading gentiles like Walt and Sullivan. But Beinart’s role is a big one. NYU new media guru Jay Rosen also cited Beinart, lately. He is a liberal Zionist, yes, but the contradictions between Zionism and liberalism will become overwhelming, for people who do not regard the west as unsafe for Jews. The awakening is happening. Will it affect Palestinian conditions? Of course. It is not long before young liberal American Jews say, Be a light unto the nations means be a multicultural democracy, and what is so terrifying about refugees who merely want to return to their homes? My grandfather was a refugee, etc.