whatever else is true, once one listens to this, it’s simply impossible to deny that this highly influential American Congressman, devoted to pushing the U.S. to war with Iran, is driven, at least in substantial part, by his fervent devotion to Israel. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but there is much wrong with trying to force people to pretend it’s not true.
This stuff is obvious. People have denied it forever. Apparently Jeffrey Goldberg and Jonathan Chait have been doing the denial lately; and probably arguing that separate roadways and a pass system don’t make apartheid, too. Eric Alterman has been intellectually honest about it.
I’m perfectly happy to admit my own dual loyalty, as should any honest supporter of the Zionist project. After all, it’s impossible for Israel and the United States to have exactly the same interests all the time, and sometimes Israel’s well-being may have to take precedence.
The day when Jews have a genuine forum on these questions, rather than a Walt and Mearsheimer bash, is fast approaching. The anti-Zionists predicted this problem a long time ago. It’s built into the law of return and the Jewish state, and more than that, the dependence of the Jewish state on influence in the U.S. As Avraham Burg put it, the double structure that Zionism built: the Jewish state, and the "semi-autonomous" community of influence in the U.S. I don’t want to be semi-autonomous.
