The latest Jewish Currents traces the history of the blackmail "self-hating Jew" to describe Jews who have not drunk the Israel koolaid. It quotes Noam Chomsky on the subject:
Chomsky attributes the promiscuous use of the accusation of Jewish
self-hatred to a piece by the late Israeli foreign minister and United Nations
ambassador Abba Eban, who wrote in Congress Bi-Weekly in 1973, âOne of
the chief tasks of any dialogue with the Gentile world is to prove that the
distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is not a distinction at all.â
âThat is a convenient stand,â Chomsky remarked to me. âIt cuts off a mere 100
percent of critical comment!âAlthough Chomsky comes from a religious background, he refused to address his
own religious beliefs: âIâve always regarded my personal life as a personal
matter.â But he added that while he is not as observant as his grandfather, âwho
barely left the shtetl,â he does have deep connections to his Jewishness
and considers the accusation that he is self-hating to be comical.
