Richard Greener vs "The Self-Hating Jew Myth"

Richard Greener is back with a new article, even less well put together than his infamous "settlements" piece a couple of weeks ago. This time, he takes on what the headline refers to as "the myth of the self-hating Jew."

I suppose before I begin talking about the article I should start by taking about what exactly the concept of "self-hating Jew" means, as it is not a term that has an obvious meaning. Simply put, the term "self-hating Jew" means a Jew who holds anti-Semitic beliefs. That doesn't mean that the person in question literally hates himself, after all, many so-called "self-hating Jews" don't think of themselves as Jews at all. As for whether or not Jews can hold anti-Semitic beliefs, it is perfectly possible in theory. MJ Rosenberg seems to be a big fan of conspiracy theories, including that Jews (right-wing ones, of course) control the media and that American Jews' real loyalty is to Israel. And the user lbsaltzman has made many comments that fit the definition of anti-Semitism. In both cases, it is unlikely that these people are in fact anti-Semitic or "self-hating Jews," in fact they probably aren't aware that what they are saying is crossing the line into hate speech. But as I have said before, determination is made by what people say, not by what people are. As for whether or not "self-hating Jews" exist, I am not so sure. Prager and Telushkin use the term "non-Jewish Jews." I personally think that there are simply Jews who believe that certain anti-Semitic myths and beliefs are true. How this impacts their views of themselves, I couldn't say.

Of course, this phenomenon doesn't simply exist among Jews. The term "Uncle Tom" to describe black people who choose "white culture" over their own has been around for centuries, and eventually led to the term "black shame." "Chicano vendido" has also appeared for Mexicans. To take an example from pop culture, the character of Uncle Rufus from "The Boondocks" is a good (though fictional) example of a self-hating black man. The fact is that there are a lot of anti-Semitic and racist beliefs and stereotypes out there, and Jews can fall for them the same way non-Jews can. Nobody questions that the phenomena of self-hating people of color is real. Why is it then when it comes to Jews that this suddenly becomes a "myth?" Mr. Greener attempts to explain further, but perhaps unsurprisingly, it doesn't pan out.

In his attempt to "bust the myth" of the self-hating Jew, Mr. Greener does not live up to what his headline claims. In his article, he does not attempt to deduce whether or not "self-hating Jews" actually exist. Oh no. If he had, it might have been a really interesting article. Instead, he simply makes a parallel claim: That Jews use the term "self-hating Jew" to silence all (or most) criticism of Israel and his policies. He even gets his facts wrong from the very first paragraph:

" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to have made just this accusation against two of the highest-ranking members of President Obama's White House staff. The mythical part, of course, is the precept that any Jew -- especially an American Jew -- who does not unconditionally support the government of Israel is ipso facto a "self-hater."

First of all, Mr. Greener heard an unsubstantiated report, the equivalent of a rumor, and decided to go to town with this article anywhere. Second, as one of the commentators in the thread pointed out, it turned out to be Netanyahu's brother who made the comment, not the Prime Minister himself. Mr. Greener has neither changed his article nor his thesis since the comment was posted.

Greener goes on to repeat himself even more forcefully:

"The "self-hating Jew" becomes a powerful and effective symbol. Israel seeks to make it the equivalent of the Scarlet Letter no Jew wants to wear. Its detrimental force has kept many American Jews from expressing their reservations about Israel, particularly its recent policies and actions."

Second, and more interestingly, is Greener's claim that the mythical part is that "any Jew" who doesn't support everything Israel does is labeled a "self-hating Jew." Greener doesn't deny that self-hating Jews might actually exist. Again, the headline is incredibly misleading, and Greener is still wrong. The only people who think that every Jewish critic of Israel's policy is silenced in this way are those who are usually critics of Israel. Those who have a balanced view of the subject, like Bradley Burston, understand that there are those who criticize Israel, those who are self-haters, and those who overuse the term "self-hating Jew." And for the purposes of this argument, let's take the "accusers" to mean people who's opinions actually matter, like the Prime Minister of Israel or Alan Dershowitz. If you search through the internet long enough you'll probably find endless labels of "self-hating Jew," but I don't think that's what Mr. Greener is referring to.

That being said, I am willing to hear Greener's argument. He thinks that the term "self-hating" Jew is used against every critic of Israel's policies. Fine. I personally don't agree, I think it's an extreme exaggeration at best, but let's continue with the article and hear what he has to say.

What he has to say, however, is an anecdote by Phil Ross who says basically the same thing Greener did. He tells a story we have heard a million times before: First Ross liked Israel, then he didn't, and now he's a very strong critic of Israel's policies. Okay, that's fine. The trouble is that he really doesn't talk about self-hating Jews at all. The term is not mentioned even once. Greener holds Ross up as a Jew who criticizes Israel and then finishes his article by saying:

"I know that Phil Ross is a good man, a loyal American, and a good Jew. He's no "self-hater."

What? That's your big argument, Mr. Greener? Of course Mr. Ross isn't a self-hater, he never said anything anti-Semitic either, but how does that prove your original thesis: That all Jews who criticize Israel about anything are slandered with his term? Wasn't that the whole point of your article, was to "debunk the myth?" Was Phil Ross ever accused of being a self-hating Jew? He certainly didn't mention it if that were the case. Did you perhaps forget what your article was supposed to be about halfway through writing it?

So to conclude: We have an article with two stated goals: The headline implies that Greener is going to prove that "self-hating Jews" don't actually exist. Well, he doesn't do that, but that might be a Huffington Post editorial problem. Second, Greener himself makes the statement that, "any Jew...who does not unconditionally support the government of Israel is ipso facto a "self-hater." But he does not even attempt to back up this claim. He just makes the statement and expects us all to believe him unquestioningly. Is this the kind of journalism that we can expect among the bloggers on the Huffington Post?
___________________________
Update: Here are some comments from the article that I thought were worth sharing.

bamainatlanta

You are neglecting to give place the suicide bombing phenomen in its context, which is asymetrical conflict. If the Palestinians were given billions every year by the U.S., and could acheive military equality with the Israelis, there would be no suicide bombers.
Who really thinks that Israel would be willing to offer land for peace if the Palestinians had not had the tactic of violence to use against Israel? I don't like war, and I think suicide bombings are horrible, for both victims, and perpetrators. But Israel has cultivated the kind of hate in the Arabs that has led to suicide bombing. Hatred for Israelis does not occur in a vaccum.

Ivriniel

Please cite your source for your claim that 50% of the Jews in Israel were driven out of Arab an Muslim countries.
I'm not denying that this happened, I'm saying that you're majorly overestimating the proportion they make of the population of Israel.
Also, I would ask you what prompted those countries to expel large parts of the Jewish populations which had lived in those countries for hundreds, if not thousands of years? If it was all about hating Jews and wanting to steal their property they could have done it at any time, like England or Spain. Why did this do it around the midway mark of the 20th century?
It was a response to the creation of the State of Israel. I'm not going to argue that it was the right response, but given that Israel was engaged in activities like removing all Palestinians from a zone along the Lebanese border, it is somewhat understandable.

bamainatlanta

Actually, most Jews who emigrated from Arab nations, did so as a result of a concerted Zionist campaign to scare them into moving into Israel.
The bigotry toward Israel is actually well deserved. The Pals are not hateful because Israelis are Jews, but because they dispossessed and entire people.

BrotherOrchid

I don't go as far as the Satmar Hasidim's call for an end to the state of Israel, within the 1967 Borders Israel is a member in good standing in the world community. . . . . but outside of those 1967 borders Israel is just another rouge nation.

BrotherOrchid

They can't share?
because Israel is an Apartheid nation
They occupy, they Invade, They Bomb, They do not Share.

mollybeejay

Not only are you self hating, you are delusional and a little confusing.

twigy

A little confusing?? His mob has gone the whole 9yards into delirium.
The very idea that est. European Khazar pagans has a link to the ME that supersedes the rights of the indigenous people is sheer fantasy. That they believe they can uproot the Palestinians and replace them with Israelis is knocking on the door of bat@@it crazy. Israel have been trying to superimpose themselves on the Palestinians for 65years and still they haven't learned 7million Israelis can never overrun 2billion Muslims.

mollybeejay

It's funny how you can quote chapter and verse the things that were done to poor lil Israel, however, you blithely ignore all of the atrocities that Israel has heaped upon their so called enemies. Israel is not the victime you would like to paint them to be.

News the HP Doesn't Cover: "Like A Rock"

Yesterday President Obama in a speech called the US-Israel connection, "solid as rock." It has since been picked up by many Israeli and non Israeli news sites. Yet so far it is has not been covered by the Huffington Post, almost 24 hours after first being covered. Neither the "Israel" page nor the "World" page nor a google search reveals the story. Usually, politicians making comments about Israel is given top coverage, as was the case with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Yet not this time. I wonder why?

HPW: Koch on Obama

Former Mayor of NYC Ed Koch posted a great editorial on the Huffington Post, in which he discusses how Americans who support Israel should speak out against Obama's recent attempts to keep Netanyahu at arm's length. It's a great piece, and I highly recommend you read it.

Naturally, the HPers hated it. There were a lot of ad hominem attacks on Koch, and reminders that since Netanyahu allowed construction in East Jerusalem he deserves everything he's getting. But in terms of really bad comments, there weren't too many. I've got the ones that were below.


RinoReagan
I'm down with Jewish folk, but F Israel. I said it. F Israel. Stealing land and killing kids all for your silly superstitions about a messiah returning. My country needs to stop supporting Israel.

Glad2bCdn
Mr. Koch, my grandfather did not endure torture by the Nazi's in a POW camp in an effort to save Europe and all of it's peoples for those rescued people to turn around and become even worse than those that oppressed them. Israel has become a bully state with massive weaponry and an attitude of holier than thou that is right up there with the arrogance of the Bush's and the Stalin's and the Hiltler's when you become what you protest against then what good are you to anyone...s
top defending the indefensible...If my country did what Israel does we'd be wiped off the face of the planet. Ed Koch you should be ashamed.

RandVictims
Those who live in the U.S. screaming Israel first need to get on the first plane to Israel. Zionism is a cancer to free civilizations.

Israel is the only "rogue" country in the Middle East.

Alette

As a Jew, I am so incredibly tired of Israel being portrayed as a Jewish state and a bastion of democracy in the Middle East. In fact, Israel is about as far ethically from the principles of Judaism as one could get. It is militarism posing as Judaism, period. And it is most certainly not a democracy for anyone who isn't Jewish. This idea that Israel represent Jews in any way is fostering more and more anti-semitism around the world because people mistake the nation of Israel for some stand-in of Jewish ethics. It is not. And people like Koch who want to continue to use the tired Holocaust reference as some kind of a defense for truly indefensible behavior are only kidding themselves as well as spitting on the graves of all of our ancestors. If we wanted some kind of pay back for the Holocaust, then we should have set up a nation in Germany. But if we want to build a real nation, then we must learn how to behave with grace, dignity and a sense of creating a better world for all, not just for the 6 million Jews living on a tiny strip of land called Israel.

Blovaitor88

I wonder what the Palistinians will call this period of their history? Oh, right, there won't be anymore Palistinians by the time history is written thanks to Israel's extermination campaign. It's the same old story, the abused becomes the abuser. It is the Israeli psycosis of victimhood.

martin2

I gave my opinion like every other poster. You Israelis always have to attack.

Shomali

WOW!!!! Netanyahu embarrassed the Vice President of the United States while Biden was in Israel. He then announced more settlement building while visiting Washington. Independent observers have described it a "slap in the face" of the United States.


The fact of the matter is the United States has nothing in common with Israel or its current government. Israel is an apartheid entity with no visible leadership anywhere on the horizon that would see change as a path. Their built-in mindset of Jewish superiority is antithetical to anything American. Just imagine any politician in the US boasting about a neighborhood development only for whites.



Through all of these truths, the US is still forced by organizations such as AIPAC to give billions to Israel (a country with one of the highest GDP growth in the world-- thanks to NY big Banks, and free US trade). Any disagreement by any politician would result in rumors against them, drying up of any political finance money and their loss in the immediate next election.

As general Petraeus recently said Israel actions are threatening the US interest and national security. Time for Israel to either shape up or we should cut the cord, in every shape, form and manner.

mgloraine

It's time to impose "crippling sanctions" against Israel for their sponsorship of terrorism, their wars of aggression and conquest, their agenda of Palestinian genocide, and their illegal nuclear programs. Netanyahu should not be allowed into the US ever again, and the American President should not agree to meet with an Israeli head of state until they have recognized the Palestinian state and withdrawn their IDF death-squads from Palestinian territory.

Israel is not our country, and Israel is not our friend or ally. They are a client state, a relic of the Cold War. It's time to put them off the dole of American money and weapons, and make them deal with their neighbors directly. If Israel were to cease to exist as a result, that would benefit the entire world, like pulling a rotten tooth improves the overall health of the body.

jollyelle
The Jewish Population in the United States of America is 2.2% of our entire population. That actually is not enough to dictate and impact foreign policies or elected officials. The bark is loud but the bite is toothless.

It is LONG past time to end the biased explanation of Israeli Foreign Policy--actually, NO discussion has taken place, we have only been told Israelis are victims---although it is the 4th largest MIC in the world.

There should be space and room for debate and discussion between America and Israel.

US interests are not the same as Israel's.

The people of the USA have no idea how many oppressive and racist policies our tax dollars are supporting.

Time for Israel to start playing by the rules and obey International Law, sign the NPT and get inspections for their arsenal of WMD's.

AIPAC stranglehold on our Government needs to end. Obama is smart to ask Israel to play FAIR.
Please take the time to watch this, thanks.

Talab

Mr Koch are you American or Israeli where does your alligence lie . If your heart is in Israel by all means let your body follow your heart but do not tell americans that israel has to be in their heart too
The Israeli government has shown disrespect for congressmen , our vice president and our nation but we behaved in a calm fashion considering this. The days of controled information about what is happening there is over , and we can make up our own minds as to what we think . Either Israel's policys changes or there will be consequences , .... but when you slap a "friend" they just might slap back . Israel slapped their friend and now you say dont you dare slap back? Now this IS change we can believe in

demlake

The problem is, Israel might be upholding these values, but at the same they revel in dropping bombs on innocents, killing thousands.

Not to mention holding an entire people hostage for 50 years, in what for want of a better term are nothing more than ghettos.

And all of it being done on the dime of the American tax-payer.

Ever get the feeling you're being cheated?

waitforme

Obama's main errors vis a vis Israel have been 1) to remain silent, as President-Elect, during Israel's mass slaughter of 1400 Gazans and systematic destruction of its hospitals, community buildings and many hundreds of homes, 2) to remain silent during most of the Obama presidency on the subject of the subjugation and humiliating (speaking of humiliating!) treatment of all Arabs in the West Bank and refusal to allow Gazans to rebuild or to have freedom of movement, freedom of access to basic goods [the story today that Israel allowed a number of truckloads of...shoes! into Gaza is considered remarkable] -- Obama should be standing up with the rest of the chronically-shocked world against this blatant one-sided aggression; including bull-dozing generations-standing Palestinian homes and orchards to make room for Israeli
settlements. 3) Obama has done nothing to impose consequences
on Israel for their illegal, immoral behavior -- our government
sends billions of dollars to Israel each year. Why should we? This
just keeps a bully in place.

No, we should never forget the Holocaust. But this rabid right-wing Israeli government has forgotten. Netanyahu/Lieberman/Livni/etc. Are now identifying with Nazistic approaches, ruthless, care-less, bullying of a group of people they consider beneath them, as the non-human 'other'.

old timer 37

Each day a new, very slanted repetition of the same right wing Jewish talking points is written and published. The first two I read as probably spontaneous and honestly held beliefs. This looks like orchstrated diatribe. It'd be willing to bet that the same things will be repeated in an endless drip drip drip by a string of other people. It's getting to be as bad as listening to the so-called personal opinions of Right Wing Republican Congressmen.

Come on Ed, Benjamin Netenyahu is Israels answer to George Bush, albeit more articulate and better educated. We would have been far better off had the British Prime minister been brutally honest with him prior to the Iraq war than by being Bush's lap dog. Do you honestly expect every American President to be the lap dog of every Israeli Prime Minister..... that's not a sign of friendship, its a betrayal of the office of President to pander to a particular constituency in the US.

When it has not been in the interests of Israels government to support the USA, they haven't hesitated to undermine our status in the Middle East; the East Jerusalem housing project being just the latest example. So be it, that's how politics works; Israel must sort out its leaders and act on its principles. So must the USA.

Which country are you a citizen of?

alysheba 3

Never again should the world allow actions that lead to the attempted extermination of a group of people.

Or does "Never again" not apply if it is Jews doing the atrocities?

Sharecropper

Don't be ridiculous, Koch. We will never get anywhere in the Middle East until we deal with it even handed. Right now Israel demands to things from America: a) money, and lots of it and b) for our soldiers do die as their surrogates in Iraq, Afghanistan, and hopefully,l as they try, Iran.

Nonsensical Comment of the Day

Here you go:

I don't think this comment could use any more words. It won't make any more sense or be any more justified.

Must Read Article

There's an extremely interesting article up on Ynet now. It's a response to Thomas Friedman's article and it's written by an Israeli journalist. The journalist, Avi Trengo, essentially states that if US aid is such a problem for the US, stop giving it. Israel can get along fine without it. He also compares the amount of US aid to Israel to the amount spent by the government during the "bailout" and you can see the Israel aid is practically nothing in comparison. There's also an interesting statement by a Palestinian industrialist:

"The Palestinian industrialist added that "the US and Europe contribute several more billions a year to the UN, UNWRA, ANERA, USAID, and to hundreds of other humanitarian groups that finance Palestine’s private consumption. Tens of thousands of Palestinians create nothing, make a living by producing occupation-related documents, and receive thousands of dollars a year in exchange.

"If Israelis want genuine peace, they must curb the flow of money to the Palestinians," the industrialist said, "peace will only come when we the Palestinians and rest of the Arab world realize we must choose between productive work and the ongoing struggle against the Jews."

Daoud Kuttab Tells Half the Story

Among the Huffington Post blogger stable, I like Daoud Kuttab a lot. He really has his act together, usually has a moderate political persuasion (though he is definitely pro-Palestinian) and isn't afraid to criticize anyone on any side who deserves it. His criticisms of Israel, though, are often not fair or measured, as in this case, when he only told part of a story for the purposes of demonizing Israel (again).

I guess I'll just jump right in. The story is about a "nonviolent protest" (Kuttab's words) which leads to Israel "preventing Christian pilgrims from reaching Bethlehem," which also made up part of the headline. Mr. Kuttab never cites a news article in the entire post, we are instead expected to believe everything he tell us as the truth. In the first paragraph, though, he begins to tell a very selective story:

"In a response to a totally nonviolent protest by Palestinian Christians and Muslims demanding their freedom of movement the Israeli army has effectively banned entry of Christian pilgrims and tourists from visiting the birth place of Christ."

 Okay, first of all, Israel has not banned entry to Bethlehem. It has closed the main checkpoint from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. It is true that as of today the main checkpoint remains closed, but all checkpoints are on limited entry due to Passover. There is no mentioned of "effectively banned entry" to Bethlehem or anywhere else. But more on that later, I want to talk about the protest. Click on the link below to continue.
Mr. Kuttab describes the protest as "totally nonviolent." This is true, but again it doesn't paint a totally accurate picture of what happened. This news report provides more information:

"The march was supposed to have stopped at the checkpoint, but once the group reached the checkpoint gate for vehicles, approximately 100 protesters made their way through the gate. Apparently the security guards were unprepared:  they were far too few to be able to stop the demonstrators who managed to walk through the second gate and on to the road to downtown Jerusalem, still being led by the donkey and the horse. "

So although there was no violence, they effectively stormed the barricade even though they were not permitted to do so. I know that many people will read this and call Israel's response an overreaction. On a certain level, I agree. Mr. Kuttab's description, however, has some problems:

"The private security company hired to man the checkpoint escaped leaving the protesters the ability to pass through the checkpoint without restrictions. No soldiers appeared to stop them, no one declared the area a military zone and so the protesters which included a senior member of the Fatah movement continued their march."

I'm not sure where he got the information about the private security company "escaping" from, it doesn't appear in any of the other news articles that I have read on the subject. If you check out the picture from the above quoted article you'll see there's definitely at least one security guard there, and he doesn't look like he wanted to let the demonstrators through. Check out this other picture from Ma'an News:

That's a protester being grabbed by a security guard while they are making a break through the doors of the checkpoint. Mr. Kuttab's description implies that there was nothing there at all, that the protesters perhaps were unaware that they were going where they weren't permitted. This doesn't seem to stack up with this photograph evidence: They found the checkpoint undermanned and vulnerable so they decided to push their luck and storm it.

Ynetnews provides even more information, that they were storming the checkpoint as an act of protest.

"[Havida] Araf [one of the activists] said the activists refused to stop at the checkpoint as an act of protest. "We did not present our identity cards because it is a discriminatory procedure," she said....One protestor told Ynet that the march was aimed at "showing that in 2010 Israel is still banning people from entering the holy city (Jerusalem) due to the color of their identity cards.""

They were then confronted by Israeli police and military further down the road and dispersed. Some were arrested on the way back to Bethlehem. Let's see how Mr. Kuttab described it:

"By this time the Israeli army seems to have regrouped and began attacking the returning protesters (as well as the donkey and its rider). Eleven protesters...were arrested."

They "began attacking" the protesters. Really? That wasn't mentioned in the other news articles. The description of events in the EAPPI article above included no mention of any "attacking." Now let's take a look at YnetNews.

"The demonstrators stressed, however, that police did not use any violence against them."

 So where exactly did Mr. Kuttab get his information from which to use the word "attacking" to describe Israel's actions against the protesters? He provides no corroborating information to back up his words, he simply made the above quoted statement and moved on to something else. Mr. Kuttab does not say whether or not he was actually present at these events, though somehow I doubt that he was.

But I'm going to play the devil's advocate for a minute and take a look at some of the pictures provided by Ma'an News. You can look for yourself at the link above, and it shows that some of the 11 arrests were not quite as smooth as it sounds. For instance:

It looks like a bit of a chaotic scene, and it seems a bit confrontational. Now, I now that pictures are really quite contextless. They don't prove the events one way or another, I'm sure to some eyes they are just more proof of the Zionist Entity's oppression of peaceful protesters. But army and police officers don't go wrestling for no reason, and why would the protesters lie and claim that the police didn't use violence when they really did? The whole point of the protest was for a publicity stunt, as I mentioned above.

Finally, I'll conclude with tackling the question of: Why were the eleven arrested? Mr. Kuttab tells us that they were arrested because they were simply peacefully protesting and isn't that so awful. Again, the fact that they were peacefully protesting is only half the story. Here's what happened from the other side:

A group of 150 people, including Palestinians (a nation with which Israel is still technically at war) including a senior member of Fatah (a group dedicated to Israel's destruction) stormed a checkpoint and illegally entered Israel. They could have been anyone, they could have been carrying anything, they could have been there for any number of reasons. Even though it was fairly obvious that they were a peaceful protest, Israel has long been accustomed to playing on the safe side. And the protesters knew this, which is probably why they decided to try for a publicity stunt. On the Huffington Post, at least, they succeeded admirably.

Example of a Post: Undermining Netanyahu

I saw a post today that I thought I would share, because I thought both the words and the reactions to it were quite interesting. Before I post it, let me just say that the political message is very moderate and not in the least hateful or abusive. Here's the post:

The post received affirmations from both a pro-Israel and a usually anti-Israel poster, as it should, it is very moderate.

What caught my eye, though, is the phrase, "it's in the USA's best interest to undermine Netanyahu and his party." I'm not going to go on record and declare that Netanyahu is the most flexible politician the Israelis have ever elected, but most of the time we try to influence the things we can and accept the things we can't. This phrase, which is somewhat controversial when you think about it, passed by most of its audience without a flicker. Maybe it's because the USA is the one doing the undermining.

Put it this way: If it were an Israeli telling us that it is in Israel's best interests to undermine Obama (so that there can be peace, of course) how livid do you think the reaction would be? The truth, of course, is that foreign countries play politics in each other's elections all the time. The Arabs wanted Obama to win, Israel wanted McCain to win. Saying that is not particularly controversial, I believe. My problem is with the hypocrisy. The Huffington Posters can criticize Netanyahu as much as they like, and they also call for him to be removed from office or "undermined." More than a few times I have felt like doing the same. But the thought of Israel doing the exact same thing to President Obama would likely send their blood pressures through the roof. What an unfortunate double standard.

Getting Past the Question of "Is Obama Pro Or Anti-Israel?"

With all the latest goings-on over the relationship between the Obama administration and Israel, there has been much discussion about whether or not President Obama is "pro-Israel." We have articles on Ynetnews and the Huffington Post have articles that he is pro-Israel, while other news sites think he might be anti-Israel. In reading these stories, I am reminded of an article by Bradley Burston in which he encouraged his readers to get past "pro-Israel" and "pro-Palestine" thinking and instead just be "pro-Mideast."

I feel like it's time to stop trying to read Obama's mind and simply look at what he is doing. In other words, I don't think one should be focusing on the cognitive aspects of this problem and instead look at the behaviorism. Based on his speeches, President Obama is committed to peace in the Middle East, and he believes that that is what is best for both parties. I think that this is correct, so in that sense President Obama is pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian as well. And that's where my pontificating on his thoughts will end.

Though it's pretty clear that President Obama is motivated by a desire to help both the Israelis and the Palestinians, we should also remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Just because President Obama really believes that one-sided pressuring on Israel is what's best for everyone involved doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do. Furthermore, not listening to the Israelis because he thinks he knows what he is doing may be an understandable direction to take, but it is still not a diplomatic one.

It seems like a lot of writers on the subject are devoting a lot of time and attention to labeling Obama's stance on Israel and the Middle East. As we have learned by now, people and organizations don't fit into neat little boxes. I think we should stop looking at what Obama is and start looking at what Obama does, because in the end that's the only thing that matters. That may sound obvious, but I think that it is worth saying.

HPW: White House Passover Seder

President Obama, his family, and White House staff sat down to a Passover seder last night, as American Jewish families around the country did. This is a remarkable event and really shows the good relationship Jews have with the American government. However, even in this decidedly non-political article, some HPers took the opportunity to advance their political agendas or tell us what they really think about Jews.

MyHeroMao

yes I wonder what the zi0n*st will say about our beloved president now?

lazerbeam

I wonder how many of these Jews will celebrate dinner with christians for Easter..

Chrsitians are always honoring others on their religious holy day, but its never giving to Chrstians we in this country cannot even have a christmas tree with some Jewish group suing...

other then that point, happy passover.....to all Jews of good will...

NoPCZone

Axelrod, Emanuel , Summers, Rubin...
About half his staff is. 
So much for diversity when 3% of the population represents about half of Obama's senior advisors. The tail is wagging the dog.

NoPCZone

I fear nothing except willful ignorance, intolerance and superstition.

Pandering to a ancient sky god faith in this age is absurd. The last time I checked, we don't live in tents, raise cattle, set our women apart when they are menstruating, stone gay people to death, etc. The OT tells us that it's god let a virtuous man 'Job' essentially be tortured because of an ego based bet with Satan.

The seder celebrates the mass murder of the firstborn of an entire nation. That's really something to be thankful for- talk about weapons of mass destruction.

That's some great culture to be celebrating.

JanVerMeulen2010

I am surprised Obama would partake of something like that with people who are racist and consider themselves above others, especially Palestinians.

JanVerMeulen2010

?????????? me a bigot? The bigots are the ones that consider themselves the 'chosen'' and are committing ethnic cleansing and theft as we speak.

Nice try at twisting the truth.

powercosmic

Dear Mr. President,

You know I support you, I donate money, write, praise you.

But please stop giving cover to religion, all religion is BAD.
Jud.aism is especially bad since it is the one that spawned Christianity and Islam, these "Three Evils" must go. I KNOW that YOU KNOW what I am talking about.

Best.

SiberianRat

This is too bad. The Obama-is-an-antisemite meme won't work now. Darn--they'll have to recycle one of their other lies.

skialethia

Obama’s Passover message:

“The celebration of Passover reminds us to fight oppression everywhere, U.S. President Barack Obama said in his annual holiday greeting on Monday, also highlighting the battle against all forms of discrimination. 
In a statement released by the White House and signed by Obama, the U.S. president wrote that the story of Exodus taught that, “wherever we live, there is oppression to be fought and freedom to be won.” 

“In retelling this story from generation to generation, we are reminded of our ongoing responsibility to fight against all forms of suffering and discrimination,” Obama wrote, adding that by doing so “we reaffirm the ties that bind us all.” 
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159938.html

I hope Mr. Netanyahu is listening. Set the Palestinians free of your military oppression, stop stealing their land and lift the blockade on Gaza!

Can Obama’s message be more relevant?

American Football on the Rise in Israel

I just watched a video on the Jerusalem Post homepage about American football in Israel. There's no permanent link, unfortunately, but if you go to the homepage today or tomorrow it'll still probably be there.

Apparently an amateur league of American football teams have started up in Israel over the past three years. There are teams in Eilat, Haifa, Tel Aviv, etc., and two from Jerusalem. There's a playoff every year, culminating in the Israel Bowl, which this year drew over 600 (!!) fans. One of the coaches hopes that American football will take the place of the number 3 most popular sport in Israel, behind soccer and basketball.

Personally, I think this is awesome. Zach and I are big football fans, and more football anywhere is always a good thing. I don't know if the rest of you guys follow American football, but last year the New England Patriots (woot!) went to London to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The reason why they went is to promote more interest in American football in England. Clearly, if there's interest in American football, NFL teams should go there to play! That would be so cool!

One of the best parts of the video was watching the two football teams standing and listening to Hatikvah before the game started. I could get used to that.

Although, hilariously, I don't think the Israelis have quite gotten the idea of the game yet. One of the players being interviewed was asked, "Aren't you worried about getting hurt?" I don't think an American reporter would ask an NFL player that.

Sophia Reaches the Same Conclusion

"Sophia" over at Solomonia has reached the same conclusion as me about pro-Israel voices being called "traitors". While I based my observation on the posters on the Huffington Post, who are admittedly outside the mainstream (we hope), she talks about her personal experiences and "MSM bloggers".

As the Obama administration continues to give off the impression that to be pro-American is to be anti-Israel (an admittedly overly simplistic statement), I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of this kind of rhetoric from Israel's critics. It's ironic, of course, as the only people the Arabs don't like more than the Israelis are Americans, but we've seen that in the leftist mind at least that doesn't matter. If the USA is as antagonistic towards Israel as Syria, the Arabs aren't going to start liking us again. They're just going to be fellow travelers until Israel is destroyed, and then move on. It's important that we battle the accusation of "traitor" wherever it arises, online or in government, as it is a very slippery slope from then on. From the perspective of the Holocaust (and Jewish history in general), it's very disturbing language.

HPW: Rabbi Boteach's Obama's Hospitality

Rabbi Shmuely Boteach has recent written an article about the seder at the Obama White House, and in the process weaved in some of the current US-Israeli politics. It was very critical of Obama, to the point of attacking the President's character. Not something I would approve of in any circumstance, and not surprisingly it provoked a lot of outrage from the Huffington Posters who read it (which were not very many). Some of them crossed the line to make both anti-Semitic and abusive comments, including personal attacks on Rabbi Boteach.

The fully moderated thread has about 112 comments. There weren't very many comments of note, but those that were I thought I should share.

JayMonaco

WOW. Where to even begin here?
We don't owe Israel respect. Come to think of it, we don't owe Israel anything. In fact, now that I am going down this crazy line of thought, when it comes to national interest, Israel COSTS us quite a bit, while we essentially derive zero benefits from the state of Israel. So why on Earth should we care?
If Bibi doesn't wanna be treated like Pharaoh, perhaps the nation of Israel should stop acting like the Egyptians in Exodus. If the shoe fits...
And you know what? Pull your AIPAC support of democrats. Go ahead. Do you really think the American Jewish population is going to start voting for republicans? really? Then let's see.

siamao

Perhaps in keeping with the season, this was Obama's version of The Last Supper.
How apropos. For now The Rabbi to the Stars, who is ashamed of our President's
behavior, takes it upon himself to verbally crucify him. I say shame, shame when
the holy men in any spiritual tradition are like the Pharisees, ostentatious and
without a shred of humility. [I'm not entirely sure what he's saying, but it doesn't seem quite right.]

strick9

Why should we support Israel when their behavior has become like those that persecuted them? This cycle of violence must stop.

Clevelandinwi

Are you related to saraprayline? Your senseless jibberish and anti-American rhetoric makes me wonder. Are you in favor of torture? Are you a 'bushie'? Do you blame others for your own inadiquacies? Of course you do! That's what you do! And guess what? You're terrible at it.

 Clevelandinwi

Excuse me - one more thing. Change your name. It sounds like a disease.

Clevelandinwi

Rabii? Hey! Can you hear me? SHUT UP ! You sound like a total fool. The michaeljacksontapes? Really? Income pretty good? Then - SHUT UP ! I used to think being jewish carried a kind of 'cool' with it, but people like you really ruin it.
[response: "Your posts are the best"]

+ cousinavi

I'm not sure which offends me more, this article or so many of the comments.

Boteach has long since lost any credibility in the realm of political policy by refusing to condemn the outrageous and criminal policies of a state founded by people who intone, "Never again," even as they recreate the very elements of the Warsaw ghetto.

Godot123

"You want to show American Jewry some respect, Mr. President, then stop treating the elected leader of the Jewish state like Pharaoh."
You need to decide where your allegiance lies - to the United States or to Israel. Mr. Netanyahu is the elected leader of Israel not America and HE dropped the courtesy ball when VP Biden was visiting and was confronted with the announcement of expanded settlements. Talk about political discourtesy!
Unfortunately all this serves to do is place Israel in an increasingly negative position in US public opinion. You reap what you sow ... which is unfortunate because Israel deserves better.

Happy Passover!

Just wishing an enjoyable Pesach to any of our readers who celebrates it. We'll still be posting tomorrow, but right now I have to walk out the door to a seder, so that will be all until tomorrow.

Causes of Anti-Semitism: The Jewish God

I've been reading one of the classic works on anti-Semitism, a book by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin titled Why the Jews? For anyone who is at all interested in the subject, I highly recommend. It was written in 1983, so some things have changed since then. Others, however, have not.

One of the important points that the authors like to stress is that anti-Semitism is the result of Jews and the people who hate Jews. This might seem obvious, but very often people blame anti-Semitism on things like economic recessions, lack of education, and things like that. In other words, they try to take "the Jews" out of Jew hatred, and claim that Jews are simply a convenient target. Jean-Paul Sartre certainly thought this was true. And we certainly see it on the Huffington Post every single time there is a thread relating to anti-Semitism. Prager and Telushkin disagree with this thesis, however.

As we know, the classic racists' argument is that if people hate Jews (or black people, etc) then that is because the Jews are so bad they deserve to be hated. As much as this line of thinking is detestable, there is a grain of salt within it. Prager and Telushkin have found that the hatred of Jews stems from the existence of the Jews themselves, and is a response to Jews. In other words, if the Jews disappeared or simply stopped being Jews, they would also stop being hated.

In that sense, Jews are responsible for anti-Semitism in the sense that if they gave up everything that makes them Jews (as we will talk about below) anti-Semitism will stop. An anti-Semite (or a well-meaning individual too) might tell the Jews to give up their Judaism, it just isn't worth it. For the first example, we have the Jewish God. Click the link below to continue.

Religion in general has taken a backseat in the modern era, but through most of history the hatred of Jews stemmed from their God and their concept of divinity. I don't have as much time to put this together as I was hoping, so this next section will be in bullet points. Sorry for the brevity.

-Pagans hated Jews because they worshiped a different god and (more importantly) rejected all the pagan gods as false. Pagans are tolerant of other pagan gods, but not of one true god. This became most prominent among the Romans.
-Christians of the time hated Jews because Jesus brought his message to the Jews and they were the ones who were supposed to be the first converts to Christianity. But they rejected Christ's message, and that means that the whole concept of Jesus' divinity is called into question, and thus the legitimacy of the Christian religion. For the Christian religion to have legitimacy, the Jews must be either removed, killed, or be rendered illegitimate themselves. Today, there is more tolerance.
-Islam had the same problem with Jews that Christianity did. Mohammad told the Jews to follow him, they didn't, so they must be removed for Islam to no longer have its legitimacy questioned.

Today, as I said, religion is less important. And among the Left, secularism and atheism are quite prominent. Therefore, the leftists anti-Semties don't so much have a problem with the Jews worshiping a different god, but that they worship any god at all. Religion of any kind is seen as primitive and superstitious, as many HPers are happy to tell you in any thread that is related to religion, Jewish or not.

We see this most prominently in Israel threads when the HPers sneer at the Israelis for "fighting over a 2,000 year old book," as if the two sides are really motivated by religion. They can't understand why the Jews care about Jerusalem, and so they insult and belittle the Jewish connection to the land. To those who aren't tolerant or don't understand the religion of the Jews (no matter how secular the Israelis really are), it is easy to stereotype them as a whole country of religious fanatics. And indeed, any HP talkbackers have expressed that exact opinion.

HPW: Netanyahu: Obama Not a "Great Disaster"

Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to patch things up now that he's back home. You can see a video of his statement on the HP, I didn't get a chance to watch it, but I think I got the idea. Just a couple bad comments, but worth writing down for your perusal.

MMIIXX

"The relationship between Israel and the U.S. is one between allies and friends, and it's a relationship based on years of tradition," ....Do you spy on your friends ? Do you attack your friends (USS LIberty) ? Is that your "tradition" ? Do you give 30 Billion Dollars to your "allies" over the next ten years when your bankrupt ? 
The answer to all the above it YES ! 
And do you get anything in return ?

Denemator

No cheney checks with him. I mean we are the colony of the chosen ones.

dvoh

Israel is a religous state excluding non jews for more than half a century all based on some very bad fiction. happy passover lets celebrate Yaweh's slaughter of innocent children, thank goodness he Passed over the chosen few

Donns

The down side is, of course, they get to murder our sailers when they want - remember the USS Liberty, they get nearly large amounts of our tax dollars, they spy on us regularly, they run over American teens with Bulldozers. So who wins in this deal?

JanVerMeulen2010

Which country in the world benefitted most from 9-11? Israel is the first country that pops up in my mind.

Please watch despite your first possible thought that this is anti-semitic. here is what Paul Craig Roberts recently said:

Today Americans are ruled by propaganda. Americans have little regard for truth, little access to it, and little ability to recognize it.
Truth is an unwelcome entity. It is disturbing. It is off limits. Those who speak it run the risk of being branded “anti-American,” “anti-semite” or “conspiracy theorist.”

Hank007

Tell you what, Bibi, you can make it up to us by footing the bill for the Iraq war, which we started because Sadam's WMD posed an 'existential threat' to Israel. That would be a nice gesture between friends.

myaa

What the heavens does this guy [Netanyahu] think himself to be? A "US king" maker?
Oh wait .....he already is that, isn't he (courtesy AIPAC)!

PWM

Martin van Creveld in a September 2003 interview in Elsevier: "We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force…. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under." 
Israel is simply blackmailing the US.

[OK....]

martin2

That is true but also in America we have a lot of people who put Israel first not America. Many have actually left our country and gone to Israel to help destroy Palestine.

martin2

Israel does not support terrorism it does terrorism Big Time.

Johnny2Bad

"Israel is a close, dear, and valued friend of the U.S., a great ally. That is an unshakable bond," Axelrod told CNN. 

Israel offers the U.S. no strategic purpose or advantage. Israel has consistently served to only alienate nearly all Arab nations from U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Israel has violated international law for 63 years.
What a pity Mr. Axelrod values Israel over U.S. interests. This used to be called treason.

martin2

Look at a map and see how the original invaders from Europe expanded and stole Palestinian land;

Anti-Semitic Comment of the Day

Read carefully, can you find the anti-Semitism among the anti-Zionism?

Johnny2Bad I'm a Fan of Johnny2Bad 11 fans permalink

This is the only country that was ever created based solely on a book of myths authored over 2,000 years ago by a group pf nomadic Jews. Wow, now that's not prejudicial at all. 

The Passover celebrates the genocide of Egyptian children. That's not prejudicial.

"The Maariv poll showed that more than 46 percent of Israelis still support a peace deal with the Palestinians that includes the return of almost all of the war-won territory in the West Bank."

How generous, especially since international law dictates that Israel is not entitled to ANY real estate they captured during the 6 Day War in 1967. And of course Israelis are certainly not prejudicial even when it comes to constructing illegal housing that is for Jews only.

    Reply     Favorite     Flag as abusive Posted 12:35 PM on 3/29/2010