[Peace-discuss] AJC Poll Results

[Morton K.Brussel]

Thanks David for your pertinent remarks.

To summarize, since Bush and the neocon cabel have been defenders/ 
allies/friends/co-conspirators… of Israel, most liberal Jews are not  
likely to oppose their imperial  adventures. The linkage to the  
neocons stems also from the cold war, when the emigration of Jews to  
israel was considered traitorous by Soviet authorities; this profited  
the neocons and won them standing with liberal Jews.

But we must not neglect the distinctions/divisions in the liberal/ 
progressive cohort,. Many Jews are harshly critical of israeli  
policies, and now even of the existence of Israel. Organizations such  
Jewish Voice for Peace and End the Occupation seek justice for  
Palestinians, and major anti-war groups critical of Israel have major  
Jewish participation.  The poll indicates, unfortunately, that their  
significant voices fail to overcome the blind allegiance Jews feel to  
Israel.

--Mort

On Dec 19, 2007, at 9:08 AM, David Green wrote:

> This articulates why I don't take heart in the recent poll results  
> by the American Jewish Committee. While I don't agree with Petras  
> on the power of the Israel Lobby that he has ranted about in other  
> pieces, I do agree with his and Weiss's analysis. I think we see  
> clear evidence of this in our local Jewish community, for which  
> passivity (amidst official support for the war) was consent during  
> the run-up to the Iraq war. It's an open secret that behind this  
> was the tepid association of the antiwar movement with the  
> Palestinian cause. At the local level, it was simply inconceivable  
> that any significant number (or any, for that matter) affiliated  
> Jews would stand with AWARE on North Prospect, no less publicly  
> express opposition to the invasion. I think that if an invasion of  
> Iran were on the table, we would see the same thing all over again.  
> Liberal Jewish support for Israel helps to enforce the neocon  
> agenda. This will be demonstrated in their support for Hillary  
> Clinton, as it was with Lieberman.
>
> Philip Weiss
> How Anti-Iraq-War Jews Licensed Neoconservatism
> Mondoweiss
> December 17, 2007
>
> Ever since the rise of the neocons, my liberal Democratic mother  
> and I have had the same argument. I say, "They're Jews, and they're  
> representing Jewish political aims." She says, "No they're not.  
> They're a bunch of rightwing nuts. You keep talking about the  
> Jewish support for the Iraq war; every Jew I know was against it."
>
> I've never had a very articulate answer for my mother. Till I read  
> James Petras's wonderful piece on an AJC poll that makes her point-- 
> most American Jews opposed the Iraq war and oppose an attack on  
> Iran...
>
> One reason for the gap between the ?progressive? polling results  
> and the actual pro-war behavior of the major American Jewish  
> Organizations is found in several of the opinions not cited by  
> progressive analysts but emphasized by the 52 leaders of the major  
> communal organizations (Daily Alert, December 13, 2007). Over  
> eighty percent (82%) of American Jews agree that ?the goal of the  
> Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the  
> destruction of Israel?. Only 12% of Jews disagree. And 55% to 37%  
> do not believe Israel and its Arab neighbors will settle their  
> differences and live in peace. On the key issue of a compromise on  
> the key issue of Jerusalem, by 58% to 36% American Jews reject an  
> Israeli compromise to insure a framework for permanent peace.
>
> Given the high salience of being pro-Israel for the majority of  
> American Jews and the fact that the source of their identity stems  
> more from their loyalty to Israel than to the Talmud or religious  
> myths and rituals, then it is clear that both the ?progressive,  
> majority of Jews and the reactionary minority who head up all the  
> major American Jewish organizations have a fundamental point of  
> agreement and convergence: Support and identity with Israel and its  
> anti-Arab prejudices, its expansion and the dispossession of  
> Palestine. [my emphasis] This overriding convergence allows the  
> reactionary Presidents of the Major Jewish Organizations in America  
> to speak for the Jewish community with virtually no opposition from  
> the progressive majority either within or without their  
> organizations. By raising the Israeli flag, repeating clichés about  
> the ?existential threat? to Israel at each and every convenient  
> moment, the majority of Jews have bowed their heads and acquiesced  
> or, worst, subordinated their other ?progressive? opinions to  
> actively backing the leaders ?identity? with Israel. Their  
> franchise on being the recognized Jewish spokespeople intimidates  
> and/or forces progressive Jews to publicly abide to the line that ? 
> Israel (sic) knows what is best for Israel? and by extension for  
> all American Jews who identify with Israel.
>
> Petras has just about nailed it. The crazy rightwingers are  
> actually speaking in the name of progressive Jews. These  
> rightwingers aren't fringies. They are supported. They dominate the  
> leadership of Jewish organizations and as I have noted here before,  
> gained support for the Iraq war from an overwhelming majority of  
> anti-Vietnam- war Jewish Democratic congressmen. The Jane Harman  
> type. Which is to say that neoconservatism has been licensed by the  
> larger Jewish community, because secretly or unconsciously that  
> community feels that these guys are standing up for Israel. The  
> neocons are the tough brother-in-law.
>
> When will we disown him? I keep waiting for the Jewish  
> soulsearching over what neocon Jewish ideas about Arabs have done  
> to the Middle East, Jewish identity, and America. But progressive  
> Jews won't lead that soulsearching until they acknowledge their own  
> agency in the mess. Until they accept that Jerusalem doesn't belong  
> to the Jews. 58% to 36% against dividing Jerusalem! My god. No  
> wonder Camp David fell apart over that issue...
>
> Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo!  
> Search.
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