[Peace-discuss] Henry Siegman, in NYT, smashes claim Hagel is anti-Semitic

[Robert Naiman]

Henry Siegman represents the side of the New York Jewish Left that is
not sitting this fight out.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/opinion/a-remark-by-hagel.html

I served on one of Aipac’s committees for more than 20 years when I
headed two national American Jewish organizations, the Synagogue
Council of America and the American Jewish Congress.

Since the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s creation in 1951,
when it was headed by Isaiah L. Kenen, the organization was referred
to by everyone in the Jewish community as “the Jewish lobby for
Israel.” And to this day, Jewish establishment organizations
constitute virtually Aipac’s entire organizational membership.

The suggestion by some senators and conservative groups opposed to
former Senator Chuck Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary that his
reference to Aipac as “the Jewish lobby” is “hurtful to Jews,” as
reported in a Jan. 8 news article, is not only untrue but also a
cynical exploitation of the issue of anti-Semitism for the narrowest
political purposes.

That said, “the Jewish lobby” may indeed be the wrong name for Aipac
and its satellites. Senator Hagel’s skepticism of military solutions
to all problems resonates far more authentically prophetic Jewish
values than the reflexive support offered by the Israel lobby to the
most extreme militaristic policies of this Israeli government.

HENRY SIEGMAN
President, U.S.-Middle East Project
New York, Jan. 8, 2013

A version of this letter appeared in print on January 12, 2013, on
page A18 of the New York edition with the headline: A Remark by Hagel.

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