“Duh!” is the second line of this title.
This interesting piece was posted by Cecilie Surasky of Muzzlewatch, a subsidiary of Jewish Voice for Peace, intended to counteract propaganda to hide the hard Zionist effort to attain the Greater Israel dream. That dream of course is a nightmare for the Palestinians, because it nullifies their right to a sovereign nation of their own. The details of their ethnic cleansing from Palestine in 1948 and their subsequent military occupation from 1967, when they began to relinquish by force, the remaining 22% of their country, is an ongoing human rights tragedy.
Cecilie Surasky found this commentary by Glenn Greenwald on Salon about the American Jewish Committee’s newest poll on American Jewish attitudes (page no longer available or found on the AJC site) towards the Middle East, domestic politics and more. Greenwald says the poll demonstrates that:
(1) right-wing neocons (the Bill Kristol/Commentary/ AIPAC/Marty Peretz faction) who relentlessly claim to speak for Israel and for Jews generally hold views that are shared only by a small minority of American Jews;(2) viewpoints that are routinely demonized as reflective of animus towards Israel or even anti-Semitism are ones that are held by large majorities of American Jews; and
(3) most American Jews oppose U.S. military action in the Middle East — including both in Iraq and against Iran.
Most American Jews, it appears, worry about the same things other Americans worry about:
Contrary to the bottomless obssession which most neocon pundits and office-holders have with All Matters Israel, the principal political concerns of most American Jews have nothing to do with the Middle East. Thus, they identify “economy/jobs” (22) and “health care” (19) — not Terrorism — as “the most important problem facing the U.S. today.”
As Cecile Suransky also noted:
And still, 69% of the Jews interviewed (exactly one half of the sample is affiliated with a synagogue) agreed with the statement: “Caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew.” And why shouldn’t we? And what does that really mean? Caring about Israel can mean any number of things, donating money to Rabbis for Human Rights, helping rebuild homes with the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, wanting the country to cease its destructive and self-destructive actions.
Of course, most Jewish Americans are liberal. But this hard statement, counteracting suggestions that Americans or anyone who criticizes Israel for their treatment/occupation/colonialism of the Palestinians is anti-Semitic, should think again:
…reckless exploitation of “anti-Israel” and anti-Semitism accusations (from the pen of Bill Kristol) as instruments in their political rhetoric and their corresponding, deceitful equation of their own views with being “pro-Israel” (the same Bill Kristol)– often casts the appearance that they are some sort of spokespeople for the “pro-Israel” agenda or the Jewish viewpoint.
Salon also reported on “A new coalition of religious hard-liners with ties to President Bush seeks to scuttle any plans for dividing Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Seeing the right wing for what it is, there seems to be a wider appreciation and wider audience for the reality in Israel-Palestine, at least on blogs like Salon, and perhaps, Booman Tribune and My Left Wing.
