The Nation: American Jews Rethink Israel

[ProgressiveMuslim]

By Adam Horowitz & Philip Weiss

This year has seen a dramatic shift in American Jews' attitudes toward Israel. In January many liberal Jews were shocked by the Gaza war, in which Israel used overwhelming force against a mostly defenseless civilian population unable to flee. Then came the rise to power of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, whose explicitly anti-Arab platform was at odds with an American Jewish electorate that had just voted 4 to 1 for a minority president. Throw in angry Israelis writing about the "rot in the Diaspora," and it's little wonder young American Jews feel increasingly indifferent about a country that has been at the center of Jewish identity for four decades.

These stirrings on the American Jewish street will come to a head in late October in Washington with the first national conference of J Street, the reformation Israel lobby. J Street has been around less than two years, but it is summoning liberal--and some not so liberal--Jews from all over the country to "rock the status quo," code for AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee).

Sure sounds like a velvet revolution in the Jewish community, huh? Not so fast. The changes in attitudes are taking place at the grassroots; by and large, Jewish leaders are standing fast. And as for policymakers, the opening has been slight. There seems little likelihood the conference will bring us any closer to that holy grail of the reformers: the ability of a US president, not to mention Congress, to put real pressure on Israel.

First the good news. There's no question the Gaza conflict has helped break down the traditional Jewish resistance to criticizing Israel. Gaza was "the worst public relations disaster in Israel's history," says M.J. Rosenberg, a longtime Washington analyst who reports for Media Matters Action Network. For the first time in a generation, leading American Jews broke with the Jewish state over its conduct. New York Times columnist Roger Cohen said he was "shamed" by Israel's actions, while Michelle Goldberg wrote in the Guardian that Israel's killing of hundreds of civilians as reprisal for rocket attacks was "brutal" and probably "futile."

Even devoted friends of Israel Leon Wieseltier and Michael Walzer expressed misgivings about the disproportionate use of force, and if Reform Jewish leaders could not bring themselves to criticize the war, the US left was energized by the horror. Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink, threw herself into the cause of Gazan freedom after years of ignoring Israel-Palestine, in part out of deference to her family's feelings. In The Nation Naomi Klein came out for boycott, divestment and sanctions; later, visiting Ramallah, she apologized to the Palestinians for her "cowardice" in not coming to that position earlier.

These were prominent Jews. But they echoed disturbance and fury among Jews all around the country over Israel's behavior. Rabbi Brant Rosen of Evanston, Illinois, describes the process poetically. For years he'd had an "equivocating voice" in his head that rationalized Israel's actions. "During the first and second intifadas and the war in Lebanon, I would say, 'It's complicated,'" he says. "Of course, Darfur is complicated, but that doesn't stop the Jewish community from speaking out. There's nothing complicated about oppression. When I read the reports on Gaza, I didn't have the equivocating voice anymore."

In the midst of the war, Rosen participated in a panel at a Reconstructionist synagogue in Evanston organized by the liberal group Brit Tzedek v'Shalom and read a piece from a local Palestinian describing her family's experience in Gaza. "It was a gut-wrenching testimonial. It caused a stir in the congregation. Some people were very angry at me; others were uncomfortable but wanted to engage more deeply," Rosen says. The rabbi has gone on to initiate an effort called Ta'anit Tzedek, or the Jewish Fast for Gaza. Each month over seventy rabbis across the country along with interfaith leaders and concerned individuals partake in a daylong fast in order "to end the Jewish community's silence over Israel's collective punishment in Gaza."

read on...
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091102/horowitz_weiss

[bemildred]

1. Good piece.

I think one must admit at this point that Bibi has failed to sweep the Goldstone report under the carpet. Whatever we are doing now, we are not ignoring it.

[Mike Nelson]

2. We are going to lose Israel

in another century or so... with the current policy. the Arab population in the area run by Israel will simply take over by numbers. How is Israel going to deny them housing, jobs, VOTES?

[proteus_lives]

3. Same old song, Just a new verse.

Israel is an evil oppressor. '67 borders, Israel's security needs be damned. Palestinians are blameless, innocent victims. Hamas attacks aren't even mentioned except that the Israeli response is "disproportionate." The same old Israel can't defend itself because they have different weapons and tactics meme. As always, that's bullshit.

It's bias one-sided garage. I hope that Israel withdraws the settlements soon because the Horowitzs of the world will have to scramble for new reasons to hate Israel.

College students and celebrities? They treat Palestinians like endangered Pandas. They don't actually give a shit about them. There will always be a section of the Left that hates Israel. And insists that Israel must give up everything. They better not be holding their breath because it's never going to happen.

[shaayecanaan]

4. A winner is you....

I hope that Israel withdraws the settlements soon because the Horowitzs of the world will have to scramble for new reasons to hate Israel.

Well done, a gold star for you my son and you get to go home early today.

Its very simple - if you want to deny critics of Israel the moral cover of the settlement enterprise, the simple and only solution is to have Israel withdraw from the territories.

The same penny has dropped for a whole bunch of people who have formed a collective organisation known as "J-Street".

[proteus_lives]

5. Oh, I believe that Israel should remove the settlements....

and withdraw from most of the WB.

I'd like to see the anti-Israel crowd try and subsist on minimizing Hamas attacks.

The sad thing is that some groups will continue to demonize Israel no matter what it does.

[pelsar]

7. sorry to disappoint..

the pseudo morality of the "left" when it comes to the Palestenians (see Palestinians camp in lebanon...see hamas occupation.., see egypt closure on gazas border)...doesn't equal israelis receiving kassams and mortars on its main cities......

gold stars in this case, not only don't save lives, but lead to the next war;....of course like the kid in 3rd grade, it sure feels good for the moment.....
_____

and as gaza has shown.....the problem is way beyond the settlements....before the gaza pullout i can recall all the things israel was supposed to do, to "break the deadlock, show good faith, make the first dramatic step....

it was done, it was called the withdrawl from gaza.......and sadly enough when that failed to produce a Palestinians society that "returned the gesture" that didn't include trying to kill israeli....the excuses started coming: "feel good morality" doesn't equal israeli lives or accepting years of terrorism with daily missiles"...see gaza for the example.

and if there is a withdrawl from the westbank, before they have a viable strong society...and the various groups of govt (as per our example of gaza) use the withdrawl to attack israel, there will more of the same excuses.

and j street doeen't have a forum.....seems the organization isn't so 'grass roots" as it would like to pretend to be.....

[ProgressiveMuslim]

8. "a strong viable society"... hm... why does your gov't work so hard to render that

impossible?

[pelsar]

9. its not our problem....

its called responsibility for your own people and actions.........its a Palestinian problem to solve and give them at the same time the understanding the concept: that no matter what the problems they face, its is always their responsibility to solve them by themselves...

"blaming others" does not make a viable country.

if your waiting for help, assistance, or anything good from the israeli govt, you are never going to get your state-israels interest is a quiet westbank/gaza preferable with econ ties, the govt style/occupation is far less important.


The concept is easy: accept the fact that you are alone, and that everyone else has an agenda that is not always in your self interest, take stock of what does and doesnt work, and go for it....
(how you get there is another story, but the israeli govt, the saudia arabian govt, the left, the UN agencies (that you will render obsolete), will not be enthralled with an independent Palestinian movement that "takes control"-as in initifada I (remember how unprepared the IDF/Fatah were and how they changed the game?)

Maybe its the american in me..or the history of zionist movement.....and you may hate those two societies, but i believe those are your templates, and i wish you luck, because i think its yours/ours only chance......

[ProgressiveMuslim]

10. Nor is it, as we've come to learn, in your interest. Yet the silly "peace process" dance continues.

[shira]

21. so when the Palestinian economy was better than any other Arab economy in the region prior ...

...to Intifada 2, that was purely coincidental and Israel had nothing to do with bringing that about?

[Ken Burch]

11. Give it a rest....the Gaza withdrawal was meaningless

It was never anything the Israeli government had the right to expect the Palestinians to see as a meaningful concession. The Israeli presence in Gaza was pitifully small to start with. Israel wasn't giving up anything important in leaving Gaza. That withdrawal did not discredit land for peace and it doesn't vindicate Israeli intransigence now OR increased settlement construction in the West Bank.

Enough with the Likudnik memes already.

[azurnoir]

6. Its quite true and it's about damned time

the shameful part is that it took OCL to finally bring this about

[grassfed]

12. American Jews Rethink Israel - THE NATION

American Jews Rethink Israel

by ADAM HOROWITZ & PHILIP WEISS
November 2, 2009 edition of The Nation.

This year has seen a dramatic shift in American Jews' attitudes toward Israel. In January many liberal Jews were shocked by the Gaza war, in which Israel used overwhelming force against a mostly defenseless civilian population unable to flee. Then came the rise to power of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, whose explicitly anti-Arab platform was at odds with an American Jewish electorate that had just voted 4 to 1 for a minority president. Throw in angry Israelis writing about the "rot in the Diaspora," and it's little wonder young American Jews feel increasingly indifferent about a country that has been at the center of Jewish identity for four decades.

These stirrings on the American Jewish street will come to a head in late October in Washington with the first national conference of J Street http://www.jstreet.org , the reformation Israel lobby. J Street has been around less than two years, but it is summoning liberal--and some not so liberal--Jews from all over the country to "rock the status quo," code for AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee).

Sure sounds like a velvet revolution in the Jewish community, huh? Not so fast. The changes in attitudes are taking place at the grassroots; by and large, Jewish leaders are standing fast. And as for policymakers, the opening has been slight. There seems little likelihood the conference will bring us any closer to that holy grail of the reformers: the ability of a US president, not to mention Congress, to put real pressure on Israel.

First the good news. There's no question the Gaza conflict has helped break down the traditional Jewish resistance to criticizing Israel. Gaza was "the worst public relations disaster in Israel's history," says M.J. Rosenberg, a longtime Washington analyst who reports for Media Matters Action Network. For the first time in a generation, leading American Jews broke with the Jewish state over its conduct. New York Times columnist Roger Cohen said he was "shamed" by Israel's actions, while Michelle Goldberg wrote in the Guardian that Israel's killing of hundreds of civilians as reprisal for rocket attacks was "brutal" and probably "futile."

much more http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091102/horowitz_weiss

[Kurska]

13. No polls, Personal observations, I've seen this article before.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116308/Americans-Support-Israel-Unchanged-Gaza-Conflict.aspx

That is of all Americans

More recent poll of only jews

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1117995.html

The Headline isn't specificly what I'm talking about.

"Despite the general liberal stance of U.S. Jews, 58 percent of those polled said that they believed that within the framework of a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians, Israel should not compromise on the status of Jerusalem as a united city under Israeli jurisdiction. 75 percent also said that they agreed with the statement "The goal of the Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction of Israel." Only 19 percent said that they disagree with the above statement."

American Jew's stances on issues like jerusalem and Arab Intentions are actually a litttle harder then the most recent polling I could find for the Israeli public

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3457830,00.html

Yedioth Ahronoth and Dahaf Institute survey reveals 52% of Israeli Jews willing to change Jerusalem's status as part of a permanent peace agreement with Palestinians, but 61% believe Israel should remain city's sovereign

[non sociopath skin]

14. Heartening

The Skin

[oberliner]

15. American Jews are not monolithic

Never have been, never will be.

Secondly, polling data does not support the claims made by the authors of this piece.

A recent J Street poll indicated that the vast majority of American Jews (about 75%) supported Israel's action in Gaza and that a significant majority (about 58%) of American Jews view Netanyahu favorably.

I would note that 50 percent of those surveyed identify themselves as liberal or progressive, 28 percent identify themselves as moderate, and 23 percent as conservative.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. Funny how that is NOT what I hear on the street.

Did AIPAC fund that poll?

And any poll that asks what 'the Arabs' want is bogus, because the Arabs are no more monolithic than 'the Jews' are. When a poll says 'the Arabs' want to see Israel destroyed, it's a phony poll.

[Kurska]

17. Wait what? Where did anyone post a poll, polling what arab's want?

1. That poll was funded by J street, which is a diffrent lobby all together from AIPAC
2. The poll isn't asking what Arab wants, it is asking what Jews think Arabs want.

[oberliner]

18. I deliberately chose a J Street Poll

And the poll is specifically about American Jewish public opinion.

[azurnoir]

19. link to the poll

the poll was taken between 2/28/09 and 3/8/09 the results are as Oberliner says however this was some months ago and I would love to results of a more recent poll

the poll itself has to down loaded and can be opened as an OpenOffice or Microsoft office doc

http://www.jstreet.org/page/media-advisory-new-survey-american-jewish-community

[azurnoir]

20. The poll was taken 7 months ago

and I would love to see more recent results

see post #19

[Vegasaurus]

22. Nonsense

American Jews overwhelmingly support both Israel and its actions to preserve its citizens' security.

The American congress supports Israel.

All this effort to pretend that Jews are turning on Israel is nothing more than nonsense.

Anyone who thinks this hasn't visited a temple recently, listened to a sermon, or seen a temple youth group, preparing for a trip to Israel.

The love for Israel is alive and well among the majority of American Jews.

[shira]

23. and here's proof of such nonsense

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/01/29/1002637/adl-poll-american-jews-overwhelmingly-back-gaza-operation

[azurnoir]

25. a poll from last January LOL

seems there is a blight of anything recent when it comes to American Jewish opinion

[oberliner]

26. 2009 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion (August 30 – September 17, 2009)

A few excerpts:

How would you characterize relations between Israel and the United States today? Are they very positive, somewhat positive, somewhat negative, or very negative?

Total Positive: 81 Total Negative: 16

Do you approve or disapprove of the Netanyahu government’s handling of Israel-US relations?

Approve: 59 Disapprove: 23 Not Sure: 17

Should the Palestinians be required or not be required to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in a final peace agreement?

Required: 94 Not Required: 5

Do you think that anti-Semitism around the world is currently a very serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all?

Very Serious: 56 Somewhat: 43

In politics as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent?

Rep: 16 Dem: 53 Ind: 30

How close do you feel to Israel?

Very Close: 28 Fairly Close: 41 Fairly Distant: 22 Very Distant: 8

http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.5472819/k.D6D7/2009_Annual_Survey_of_American_Jewish_Opinion.htm

[azurnoir]

27. Thank you I had wondered about that first question

especially

[Violet_Crumble]

24. The polls don't show 'overwhelming' support...

The one I read had 50something percent support. And criticising Israel when it does something wrong isn't 'turning on Israel', and even if there was an overwhelming majority supporting OCL, all that indicates is there's a lot of very nasty and ugly people who have zero respect for innocent civilians...

I don't care who *hearts* another country, but when it turns into something where that country is defended no matter what it does wrong, then it gets really pathetic...