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| The truth is as Peter Beinart, a liberal Zionist admits, the BDS campaign on American campuses is driven by Jewish students sickened by what is done in their name |
Ever since Jeremy Corbyn was seen as in with a chance of winning the leadership of the Labour Party there has been a concerted attempt by the neo-liberal wing of the Labour Party, together with the Guardian, Daily Mail and the Zionist movement to paint Jeremy Corbyn either as an anti-Semite or soft on anti-Semitism.
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| The EDL attack Birmingham PSC’s stall – Israeli flag in one hand and giving a Hitler salute with the other! The real anti-Semites have always been supportive of Zionism |
In today’s Guardian there is the usual dishonest, cliched and frankly boring article by Jonathan Freedland on ‘anti-Semitism’ on the left of the Labour Party and amongst Corbyn’s supporters. What is lacks in originality it makes up for in its virulence. See
As part of what is a systematic campaign the Jewish Chronicle this week devotes pages 1-3 on ‘anti-Semitism’ in the Labour Party and has a guest contribution by the junk academic from Goldsmith’s College David Hirsh. Its is nothing if not original, titled Jew hate and today’s Left. I won’t copy it but the link’s here if you want to bore yourself with Hirsh’s tedium.
However I have just picked up on an unusually excellent article in Israel’s Ha’aretz by a liberal Zionist Peter Beinart, who makes a habit of saying what his fellow Zionists prefer not to hear. I’ve copied it below because of Ha’aretz’s pay wall but it bears close scrutiny because it admits what the Zionist’s claque of propagandists dare not admit, which is that the BDS campaign in the United States isn’t being driven by ‘anti-Semites’. It isn’t even being driven by Palestinian or Arabs. It’s motor is Jewish students who have fallen out of love with a racist and murderous ‘Jewish’ state.
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| The traditional anti-Semitic imagery which the Jewish Chronicle tries to associate with Boycotting Israel |
Contrary to anti-Semites like Gilad Atzmon, for whom being Jewish is to be a Zionist, see his ‘NOT IN MY NAME’ – An analysis of Jewish righteousness it is Jewish students who are the motor of the BDS campaign in the USA and to a lesser extent in Britain too.
It’s not
anti-Semitism that makes pro-Israel Jewish students at Vassar feel
uncomfortable, it’s anti-Zionism, sometimes championed by fellow Jews.
anti-Semitism that makes pro-Israel Jewish students at Vassar feel
uncomfortable, it’s anti-Zionism, sometimes championed by fellow Jews.
Peter Beinart Mar 08, 2016 1:54 PM
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| Marchers cheer as they pass along a barricade separating them from anti-BDS movement protestors during the Celebrate Israel Parade in New York, June 1, 2014. Credit AP |
Vassar, according to one conservative
website, is among the ten most anti-Semitic colleges in America. Last month, an
op-ed in the Wall Street Journal declared that, “Anti-Israel sentiment mixed
with age-old anti-Semitism has reached a fever pitch” there. So it was with
some anxiety that I travelled last week to the 155-year old former women’s college
at the invitation of the local chapter of J Street U.
website, is among the ten most anti-Semitic colleges in America. Last month, an
op-ed in the Wall Street Journal declared that, “Anti-Israel sentiment mixed
with age-old anti-Semitism has reached a fever pitch” there. So it was with
some anxiety that I travelled last week to the 155-year old former women’s college
at the invitation of the local chapter of J Street U.
I went looking for anti-Semitism. What I
found was more interesting.
found was more interesting.
I asked roughly a dozen Jewish students
whether they thought anti-Semitism was prevalent on campus. They all said no,
but admitted that they sometimes feel uncomfortable. When I asked what made
them uncomfortable, they cited the intensely anti-Zionist climate. (At Vassar,
J Street represents the right edge of the Israel debate).
whether they thought anti-Semitism was prevalent on campus. They all said no,
but admitted that they sometimes feel uncomfortable. When I asked what made
them uncomfortable, they cited the intensely anti-Zionist climate. (At Vassar,
J Street represents the right edge of the Israel debate).
Last December, for instance, the Vassar
Student Council delayed approving a J Street U request for funds to attend the
HaaretzQ conference in New York because some anti-Israel activists argued that
even the left-leaning Haaretz, being a Zionist newspaper, supports a racist
ideology. This February, a Rutgers Professor named Jasbir Puar gave a speech on
campus in which she repeated absurd and incendiary claims that in late 2015
Israel had kept the bodies of dead Palestinians so they could be “mined for
organs for scientific research.”
Student Council delayed approving a J Street U request for funds to attend the
HaaretzQ conference in New York because some anti-Israel activists argued that
even the left-leaning Haaretz, being a Zionist newspaper, supports a racist
ideology. This February, a Rutgers Professor named Jasbir Puar gave a speech on
campus in which she repeated absurd and incendiary claims that in late 2015
Israel had kept the bodies of dead Palestinians so they could be “mined for
organs for scientific research.”
For establishment Jewish organizations,
this kind of anti-Zionism is prima facie evidence of bigotry. As former
Anti-Defamation League head Abe Foxman declared in 2014, “Anti-Zionism 99
percent of the time is a euphemism for anti-Semitism.”
this kind of anti-Zionism is prima facie evidence of bigotry. As former
Anti-Defamation League head Abe Foxman declared in 2014, “Anti-Zionism 99
percent of the time is a euphemism for anti-Semitism.”
But the J Street U students I interviewed
disagreed. Many admitted that they found the anti-Zionist atmosphere on campus
disquieting, which wasn’t surprising given that many either had Israeli
parents, had attended Jewish day school or had participated in Zionist youth
movements. But they were reluctant to equate Vassar’s anti-Zionism with
anti-Semitism. One big reason: Many of the loudest anti-Zionists at Vassar are
other Jews.
disagreed. Many admitted that they found the anti-Zionist atmosphere on campus
disquieting, which wasn’t surprising given that many either had Israeli
parents, had attended Jewish day school or had participated in Zionist youth
movements. But they were reluctant to equate Vassar’s anti-Zionism with
anti-Semitism. One big reason: Many of the loudest anti-Zionists at Vassar are
other Jews.
At Vassar, the movement to boycott Israel
is not led by Palestinian or even Arab or Muslim students. It is led by a group
of left-wing activists, several of whom are Jewish. One of the most prominent
BDS student activists sits on the board of Vassar’s Jewish Student Union.
is not led by Palestinian or even Arab or Muslim students. It is led by a group
of left-wing activists, several of whom are Jewish. One of the most prominent
BDS student activists sits on the board of Vassar’s Jewish Student Union.
This isn’t unique to Vassar. Yousef
Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation,
told me that in recent years he has seen striking growth in the number of
Jewish students involved in the BDS movement.
Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation,
told me that in recent years he has seen striking growth in the number of
Jewish students involved in the BDS movement.
According to its media coordinator, Naomi
Dann, Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports BDS, has established 14 new campus
chapters in the last two years. Jews don’t dominate the BDS movement on
America’s campuses but they have become an indispensable part of it. Which
helps explain why the Jewish students I talked to at Vassar described the
campus struggle over Zionism less as an anti-Semitic assault than an
intra-Jewish civil war.
Dann, Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports BDS, has established 14 new campus
chapters in the last two years. Jews don’t dominate the BDS movement on
America’s campuses but they have become an indispensable part of it. Which
helps explain why the Jewish students I talked to at Vassar described the
campus struggle over Zionism less as an anti-Semitic assault than an
intra-Jewish civil war.
The intra-Jewish debate over Israel at
Vassar looks very different than the debate among older American Jews. Older
American Jews are divided too, sometimes bitterly. But what divides them is the
propriety of publicly criticizing Israel, not Zionism itself. Older American
Jews largely take Zionism for granted, as did their parents, because they
believe the lesson of the Holocaust is that the world needs a Jewish state of
refuge in case parts of the Diaspora ever become unsafe again.
Vassar looks very different than the debate among older American Jews. Older
American Jews are divided too, sometimes bitterly. But what divides them is the
propriety of publicly criticizing Israel, not Zionism itself. Older American
Jews largely take Zionism for granted, as did their parents, because they
believe the lesson of the Holocaust is that the world needs a Jewish state of
refuge in case parts of the Diaspora ever become unsafe again.
American Jewish millennials, however, have
never seen any large-scale migration by Jews fleeing anti-Semitic persecution.
Even the Soviet and Ethiopian exoduses of the 1980s occurred before they were
born. They have grown up taking for granted that the vast majority of Diaspora
Jews live in liberal democracies where they enjoy equality under the law. And
they themselves have generally experienced little anti-Semitism. So when they
grow alienated from Israel’s policies, they are more willing to challenge the
very notion of a state created along religious and ethnic lines. A 2007 study
by the Bronfman philanthropies found that American Jews under the age of 35
were 27 points less likely than American Jews over the age of 65 to declare
themselves “comfortable with the idea of a Jewish State.”
never seen any large-scale migration by Jews fleeing anti-Semitic persecution.
Even the Soviet and Ethiopian exoduses of the 1980s occurred before they were
born. They have grown up taking for granted that the vast majority of Diaspora
Jews live in liberal democracies where they enjoy equality under the law. And
they themselves have generally experienced little anti-Semitism. So when they
grow alienated from Israel’s policies, they are more willing to challenge the
very notion of a state created along religious and ethnic lines. A 2007 study
by the Bronfman philanthropies found that American Jews under the age of 35
were 27 points less likely than American Jews over the age of 65 to declare
themselves “comfortable with the idea of a Jewish State.”
To be sure, there are still plenty of young
American Jews who agree with AIPAC, especially in the Orthodox community. But
since Orthodox Jews tend to cluster in a few campuses, that leaves plenty of
secular, liberal arts colleges like Vassar where the intra-Jewish debate isn’t
about the legitimacy of criticizing Israel. It’s about the legitimacy of a
Jewish state.
American Jews who agree with AIPAC, especially in the Orthodox community. But
since Orthodox Jews tend to cluster in a few campuses, that leaves plenty of
secular, liberal arts colleges like Vassar where the intra-Jewish debate isn’t
about the legitimacy of criticizing Israel. It’s about the legitimacy of a
Jewish state.
To the degree that establishment Jewish
leaders acknowledge this rising Jewish anti-Zionism, they chalk it up to
self-hatred. But when you talk to Jewish students in the BDS movement, as I
have at campuses across the country, you quickly discover that being Jewish is
precious to them. What they consider precious, however, is their conception of
Jewish ethical ideals, ideals that they conflate with their left-wing politics.
What they generally lack is the tribal allegiance that might make them
compromise those ideals in the name of Jewish solidarity. The liberal Zionists at
a place like Vassar are torn between Jewishness as universal morality and
Jewishness as communal loyalty. The anti-Zionists see the latter as something
to disdain.
leaders acknowledge this rising Jewish anti-Zionism, they chalk it up to
self-hatred. But when you talk to Jewish students in the BDS movement, as I
have at campuses across the country, you quickly discover that being Jewish is
precious to them. What they consider precious, however, is their conception of
Jewish ethical ideals, ideals that they conflate with their left-wing politics.
What they generally lack is the tribal allegiance that might make them
compromise those ideals in the name of Jewish solidarity. The liberal Zionists at
a place like Vassar are torn between Jewishness as universal morality and
Jewishness as communal loyalty. The anti-Zionists see the latter as something
to disdain.
The millions of dollars currently being
spent to fight BDS will prove useless against these kids. They will prove
useless because the Israeli government and the American Jewish establishment
see anti-Zionism as merely a political challenge. But what the rising
generation of Jewish anti-Zionists really pose is an intellectual challenge, an
intellectual challenge that American Jews haven’t faced since the days when
Jewish intellectuals like Hannah Arendt, Judah Magnes and Henrietta Szold
championed a bi-national state.
spent to fight BDS will prove useless against these kids. They will prove
useless because the Israeli government and the American Jewish establishment
see anti-Zionism as merely a political challenge. But what the rising
generation of Jewish anti-Zionists really pose is an intellectual challenge, an
intellectual challenge that American Jews haven’t faced since the days when
Jewish intellectuals like Hannah Arendt, Judah Magnes and Henrietta Szold
championed a bi-national state.
There are answers to this challenge. They
can be found in books like Chaim Gans’ A Just Zionism and Alexander Yakobson
and Amnon Rubinstein’s Israel and the Family of Nations. But formulating the
answers requires taking anti-Zionist arguments seriously. And that’s difficult
for an American Jewish establishment that, while financially and politically
strong, is intellectually weak.
can be found in books like Chaim Gans’ A Just Zionism and Alexander Yakobson
and Amnon Rubinstein’s Israel and the Family of Nations. But formulating the
answers requires taking anti-Zionist arguments seriously. And that’s difficult
for an American Jewish establishment that, while financially and politically
strong, is intellectually weak.
The American Jewish establishment does not
want to rebut anti-Zionist arguments. It would rather call them anti-Semitic
and thus shut the entire discussion down. But, as I saw at Vassar, the debate
is coming, not only within the United States at large, but within American
Jewry. It’s going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. Yet the longer
American Jewish leaders evade it, the more likely they’ll ultimately lose.
want to rebut anti-Zionist arguments. It would rather call them anti-Semitic
and thus shut the entire discussion down. But, as I saw at Vassar, the debate
is coming, not only within the United States at large, but within American
Jewry. It’s going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. Yet the longer
American Jewish leaders evade it, the more likely they’ll ultimately lose.
Peter Beinart
Posted in Blog
