[Peace-discuss] American Jews Call for Immediate Ceasefire, End of Gaza Blockade

[Robert Naiman]

It's certainly the case that majority opinion for a progressive
position doesn't by itself make anything happen, as we can see over
and over to our great dismay, not only regarding American Jews.

Even the political scientists, with their interest group models,
concede that militant minorities can have a disproportionate impact on
policy, without even taking into account the unequal distribution of
power.

Nonetheless, it is important to point out where the majority opinion
diverges from the unjust policy, because the claim of support by the
constituency is an important source of legitimacy for the unjust
policy.

In addition - I agree, more and more American Jews are turning away
from the unjust policies of the US-Israel axis, both passively and (on
a much smaller scale) actively. With each new war, more American Jews
"throw in the towel" on their support. I've been struck, for example,
by the discussion on Daily Kos - not, historically, a forum
sympathetic to the Palestinians - there's definitely been a shift,
with more criticism of Israel, and in particular, more Jewish
criticism of Israel. More effective and spirited organizing could
accelerate this process, so fewer people would have to die to achieve
the same result...

On Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 9:24 AM, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Well, OK, perhaps it should. But Jewish opposition to the invasion of Iraq doesn't translate into any active opposition to Israel's behavior. Even if 2/3 were opposed, it would be interesting to know how many lifted a finger, especially in relation to the Jewish milieu, whose leaders were outspoken in favor. And it doesn't mean much in terms of Israel or the general war in soutwest Asia that 75% of Jews voted for Obama, because there's little evidence that the majority would support a firm and principled movement towards peace in I/P, or that they expect Obama to. Having said that, I take heart from Finkelstein's perspective that Jews are overwhelmingly liberal and that they are beginning to distance themselves from Israel, because they can see that Israel's state policies are anti-liberal in the best sense of liberal. Referring to Carl's recent post, I suspect that Jews for Obama are disproportionately represented among the co-opted.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com>
> To: David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: Peace Discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 12:26:07 AM
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] American Jews Call for Immediate Ceasefire, End of Gaza Blockade
>
> Perhaps it "shouldn't" matter, in some abstract sense, but it does
> matter, a great deal, whether one likes it or not.
>
> On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 9:29 PM, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Bob,
>>
>> You say that 2/3 of American Jews opposed the invasion of Iraq. I've had it in my head all these years that 2/3 supported it, that same as in the general population. What Finkelstein has stressed is that Jewish institutional leadership was 100% behind it. Perhaps there's a way to look this up, if it matters.
>>
>> In any event, promoting Jewish opposition to American-Israeli crimes shouldn't undermine a pointed challenge to Jewish institutional leadership, including locally, in the context of the larger antiwar movement. It shouldn't matter one whit if Jews have a minyan in opposition to these mass murders. As has already been noted on this list, both JStreet and Brit Tzedek are playing politics more than principles.  Basically, they're Zionism lite. They're trying to mute a more principled critique of Jewish institutions and American  support for Israel with what amounts to insider political posturing. I think it's called triangulation.
>>
>> Jewish Voice for Peace, which incorporated Not in My Name (Chicago), takes a principled approach, and is actually connected to the antiwar movement. JStreet and Brit Tzedek are clearly not, insofar as I can tell.
>>
>> I think that the peace movement needs to avoid identity politics. We all get to oppose anyone on the basis of their behavior. The institutional support for American-Israeli atrocities extends from religious to secular to academic in this community, especially with an "Israel Studies" program as part of the Program for Jewish Culture and Society that in the most blatantly racist fashion is assumed to be referring exclusively to Jewish Israelis.
>>
>> The N-G, in almost a caricature of pro-Israel bias, carries a large front page picture of the funeral of the one Israeli who has died in these events. They also have a picture of a wounded Palestinian boy, but not one of the hundreds dead.
>>
>> In any event, as things develop, the antiwar movement needs to make it clear that Israel, our own government, and Jewish institutional leadership are promoting crimes against humanity. There should be  a huge fuss at the local level, implicating all aspects of support for Israel. Let's not worry about predictable charges of anti-semitism. We have a newspaper that at least prints all letters, and we should exploit that. One minor consequence might be that some Jews wake up to what "Jewish culture and society" really is about at the present time, academic self-absorption aside.
>>
>> David
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com>
>> To: Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 6:03:36 PM
>> Subject: [Peace-discuss] American Jews Call for Immediate Ceasefire, End of Gaza Blockade
>>
>> Here I summarize what some of the different groups are saying.
>>
>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/american-jews-call-for-im_b_154353.html
>>
>> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/30/184135/96/699/678667
>>
>> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/38577
>>
>> --
>> Robert Naiman
>> Just Foreign Policy
>> www.justforeignpolicy.org
>> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>>
>> Promote Concrete Steps to Engage Iran
>> http://www.change.org/ideas/view/take_concrete_steps_to_engage_iran
>> (follow the link, click the blue box at left to vote for this idea to
>> be presented to President Obama)
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>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>
> Promote Concrete Steps to Engage Iran
> http://www.change.org/ideas/view/take_concrete_steps_to_engage_iran
> (follow the link, click the blue box at left to vote for this idea to
> be presented to President Obama)
>
>
>
>
>



-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

Promote Concrete Steps to Engage Iran
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/take_concrete_steps_to_engage_iran
(follow the link, click the blue box at left to vote for this idea to
be presented to President Obama)