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Gaza and the Shame of American Jewish Liberals

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Tags: democratic-party, j street, operation cast lead

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51 Responses to “Gaza and the Shame of American Jewish Liberals”

amir says:

January 3, 2009 at 2:45 AM

“Israel has killed 400 civilians in Gaza”
I assume this is a Freudian slip on your part and you don’t really believe this. But it sure exposes you for your biases.

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amir says:

January 3, 2009 at 2:49 AM

“crude handmade rockets ”
these are not crude hand made rockets reaching Beer-Sheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. And not the ones hitting Sderot either. In fact the “hand made rocket” nonsense is a myth.

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Richard Silverstein says:

January 3, 2009 at 3:16 AM

@amir: No, it exposes that I was responding to a large number of comments & allowed this slip to occur in the midst of writing quickly & editing hastily. But hey, thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt. The death toll is now at 425, at least 25% of which were civilians.

You ought to check out the definition of “Freudian slip.” It has nothing to do even with what you assume my error to mean unless you believe my error had something to do with sex.

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Richard Silverstein says:

January 3, 2009 at 3:18 AM

@amir: Oh, so the crude shacks which the IAF is hitting and where the militants create these homemade rockets are, in reality, gleaming polished state of the art laboratories.

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amir says:

January 3, 2009 at 4:07 AM

From the wikipedia entry on Freudian slips: “A Freudian slip is not limited to a slip of the tongue, or to sexual desires. It can extend to our word perception where we might read a word incorrectly because of our fixations. These slips are semi-conscious, which is to say that these thoughts are consciously repressed and then unconsciously released.”
In your case it should say “write a word” rather than “read a word.”

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Daga says:

January 3, 2009 at 6:54 AM

Well said Rickhard.

Balanced and reflected, but I miss your comment on the alarming silence in congress and MSM. According to Rasmussens survey are the american public split in support of the “offensive” (Not the term I would use).
This silence adds insult to injury for the people in Gaza, and speaks volumes of how dysfunctional the democratic institutions in US are re. Israel and international law.

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Day #8 « Intern in Israel says:

January 3, 2009 at 7:04 AM

[...] Former Hamas Youth and a Call to Action My Father’s “Story” Edward Said on Gaza Gaza and the Shame of American Jewish Liberals The Israeli Media and Advocacy War on [...]

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itwasntme says:

January 3, 2009 at 7:47 AM

Well, the “middle east” is finally getting noticed this morning on CNN, and marches in protest are being covered. Maybe now there will be some response from the “American street” which might have some influence. But those of us who are appalled by Israel’s actions have got to call congress to find any ear that might listen. Thank you Richard for giving me this outlet to express my outrage at the way this is being handled by the so-called Bush government. Bush has, like Pontius Pilat, washed his hands and walked away.

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amir says:

January 3, 2009 at 8:21 AM

“crude shacks” what are you talking about?
In 2008 Hamas smuggled 80 tons of explosives into Gaza. In 2007 40 tons at least. These grads are imported. (interestingly they didn’t bring medicine through the tunnels). The Hamas has 15,000 fighters. This is not a “mom and pop” establishment. IMHO, Israel has taken out only the tip of the iceberg with its aerial attack so far.

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Alex Stein says:

January 3, 2009 at 10:00 AM

Richard – Freudian slip is an entirely accurate term to use. I don’t know where you get the idea that it only refers to sex; a Freudian slip refers to any numb
In this case, this is a perfect description: it’s about thoughts consciously repressed and then unconsciously released – in this case your wish that the IDF had killed 400 civilians, so that it can confirm your pre-established views. In this sense, you’re not that different from a German radio guest who said the IDF had killed 400,000 people, and wasn’t corrected.

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Daga says:

January 3, 2009 at 10:23 AM

@Alex

No. The term “Freudian slip” or parapraxis is used when the subject use a wrong word (slip-of-the tongue) and thereby unmask subconscious feelings. Factual errors in not slip of the tongue…try biased.

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Alex Stein says:

January 3, 2009 at 10:28 AM

Saying civilians instead of mostly-combatants seems to me to be the wrong word.

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David says:

January 3, 2009 at 11:29 AM

Just to confirm Richard’s point that American public opinion may not be as one-sided as the media’s coverage, go to the Obama transition team site (Change.gov) and look at the questions submitted under “Foreign Relations.” They are almost unanimously against the Israeli attack, and in many cases very angry about it.

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Carlos Z. says:

January 3, 2009 at 11:35 AM

I AM SHAMEFULL RIGHT NOW TO BE A JEW.

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Daga says:

January 3, 2009 at 11:56 AM

@Alex

No

Removing sex fra freudianism is like removing god from religion or greed from capitalism. All you have left is an oxymoronic Vacuum.
:-)

But if you should venture at commenting Richard’s article, and refrain from the usual “ad hominem” attack used by zionist right-wingnuts”.
Operation “Cast Lead” will probably increase Kadima’s support b4 the election if not the same mistakes as in Lebanon are made, but do you really believe that it will increase Israel’s security ? I think not. I’m quite sure it will have an adverse effect, which only will bring more suffering and hostility on both sides.

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Alex Stein says:

January 3, 2009 at 12:17 PM

Daga – you may well be right; unfortunately I’m not sure there is any other option. The situation may well be hopeless.
A

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WikiFreud says:

January 3, 2009 at 12:44 PM

A Freudian slip, or parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is believed to be caused by the subconscious mind.

Some errors, such as a man accidentally calling his wife by the name of another woman, seem to represent relatively clear cases of Freudian slips. In other cases, the error might appear to be trivial or bizarre, but may show some deeper meaning on analysis. As a common pun goes, “A Freudian slip is like saying one thing, but meaning your mother.” A Freudian slip is not limited to a slip of the tongue, or to sexual desires. It can extend to our word perception where we might read a word incorrectly because of our fixations. These slips are semi-conscious, which is to say that these thoughts are consciously repressed and then unconsciously released. This is unlike true Freudian repression, which is the unconscious act of making something conscious.

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Daga says:

January 3, 2009 at 4:41 PM

@Alex
You have every right to be a skeptic, but hopeless? Let me quote Vaclav Havel:

” I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure that everything ends badly. I just carry hope in my heart.
Hope is the feeling that life and work have a meaning. You either have it or you don’t, regardless of the state of the world that surrounds you.
Life without hope is an empty, boring, and useless life. I cannot imagine that I could strive for something if I did not carry hope in me.
I am thankful to God for this gift. It is as big as life itself.

What you have is a “Teufelkreis” , a circulus vitiosus:

Psychological –>Triggering or
and/or physical worsening of
stress persistent conflict
\ /
\ /
Anger
Fear
After running around in this circle for 60 years- don’t you think it’s time to change behavioral pattern? To try a different approach ?
To solve problems in a conflict you must talk to your most ardent enemy, he’s the one you need to move. Talking to your supporters or friends are of little or no use, unless you are so insecure that you need an
ego-boost or self-gratification by political masturbation.

Israel must realize that an agreement obtained by political, economical or military pressure is of little value unless the overwhelming majority of Palestinians feel they can live with the terms. Furthermore: The agreement must be between the lawful elected PA. P.t. Hamas and Israel. If Israel wants to play the blame game Dennis Ross is their version of “Honest Broker” and Abbas the selected adversary (read partner.)

You can force the Arabs to accept the terms of a peace treaty. You have to power to do so. All it takes is to inflict so much suffering and pain that they cave in and ask for mercy. However, such armistice is not in Israel’s interest. Unless the Palestinians feel it’s a just peace the paper is of no value…and remember, they breed martyrs like rabbits.
So my dear Alex, what it boils down to is this: Can Israel deal with her own fundamentalists and give the Palestinian people enough land and hope for the future ?

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Marco Roth says:

January 3, 2009 at 5:24 PM

Yoffie and the Religious Action Center of Reform are only brave on issues where they don’t matter: Darfur, etc. They are like the government of South Africa, very progressive everywhere but not on Zimbabwe.
The RAC are liberals on the cheap. Very cheap.

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Heller says:

January 3, 2009 at 5:28 PM

@Richard
“A Freudian slip is not limited to a slip of the tongue, or to sexual desires. It can extend to our word perception where we might read a word incorrectly because of our fixations.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freudian_slip

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Shamwow says:

January 3, 2009 at 6:58 PM

I am so ashamed of Israel. I wish it would just disappear

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Norman Weinstein says:

January 3, 2009 at 9:10 PM

So here we go again. As if aerial SHOCK AND AWE (smart bombs notwithstanding) were not enough, Israeli ground forces have now invaded Gaza. What an interesting way to continue to reverse that democratic election of January 2006 – in sharp contrast to ours of 2000 – when Hamas, yes, Hamas, handily defeated Fatah. But then came the following day when both Israel and its patron, that self-anointed defender of democracy, the USA, denigrated, disapproved and disallowed the election. The operative mantra, of course, was, and is, “They’re terrorists”, and so we and our staunch little ally could easily – and stupidly, whatever provocations – ignore the voice of a people and seek to silence it, with no doubt God’s total approval, since God obviously wants and expects Israel to ignore some 2,000 years and make the Bible, or certain modern interpretations of it, a current fait accompli.

Back in the years of our sainted icon, Ronald Reagan, his word mongers did a grand job corrupting the word “liberal” (to mean stuff like “feather-brained pinko”) and substituting for “reactionary” the term “conservative”, now applied to such far-right stalwarts as Tom DeLay, Dick Cheney, various neocons, and many others of such disgusting ilk. And since 9/11, even before really, terrorist has become a handy term, a catch-all convenience, enabling us to defy logic, history, decency itself. Whether it’s Bush or Condi or various official Israelis and numerous American sheep baaing Israel-right-or-wrong, we hear the same over and over again – “They are terrorists, they are terrorists, they are, they are, they are.” Interesting designation for the representatives of a bunch of ghettoized, starved, occupied, encircled, imprisoned, dehumanized, unarmed people confronting a powerful, heavily armed nation deciding what is right and what is wrong for them, what their very existences shall be. Within the Warsaw ghetto, were those Jews bearing pathetic arms against odds beyond the impossible also terrorists? They did have a few pistols and things, after all, and Hamas has some fairly primitive rockets, along with rocks. Gaza may indeed not be the Warsaw Ghetto, but there sure as hell can be some telling comparison. And in this case, the functioning terrorist, a state terrorist at that, is Israel. Decent and truly moral people, Jews foremost among them, must wake up to what’s happening, examine the facts, the real facts, of modern Israeli history, eschew those manufactured convenient mythologies surrounding that history, and realize that official Israel, as defined by the Likud and other right-wing entities, the settler movement, various fanatic “keepers of the flame”, has become an immoral rogue nation defiant of international law in its determination to be geographically Biblical again, nothing less, whatever the cost to others.

Obviously Israel has become a nation that must be forced to come to its senses for its own ultimate salvation. Its controlling leadership, certainly since 1967, has never really possessed the intelligence, the sensitivity, the courage, and the will to do anything other than to create Frankenstein monsters deliberately in order to have the ever-handy excuse to grab more land, settle said land in defiance of international law, and commit various forms of ethnic cleansing. Perhaps the Jabotinsky Zionists have all along been the dominant thrust in the history of modern Israel, and there was never a truly honest desire to fashion a state less than that as defined by fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible. And there is only one nation that can move Israel, short of violent force, to act on its own behalf in the creation of a truly viable Palestinian state, and that is of course the United States that might examine most critically the 3 billion dollars it hands over each year to Israel. Of course it would take generations to diffuse the hatred that Israel has managed to generate in the very soul of the people it should have been working to cultivate as peaceful neighbors if it had had the wisdom, courage, and decency to do so. To realize a Palestinian state now might well be impossible, but if it could be achieved it will most likely have to be done through coercion, and then how many generations after that for the hatred to subside is anyone’s guess. But a beginning must somehow be made if we are to see an end to this arrogance, slaughter, terror, and unending war.

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Jeff Foster says:

January 3, 2009 at 11:16 PM

This is such a sad and complex situation. I do not believe that giving up Gaza and the West Bank with open borders will ever satisfy Israel’s enemies, and I believe anyone naive who believes it will. I like the idealism Richard and others hold. I wish they could be right.

In my opinion the problem begins at home. Each home. The Palestinian home; the Israeli home. Until each family chooses forgiveness over revenge, this conflict will continue to propagate.

What really suffers here is the truth. There is no trust of either side of the ideological divide. Each side stretches or buries the truth. Richard’s Freudian slip is an unintended example. Rabbi Yoffie’s flaws is another.

If, as Richard implies, Hamas is justified in “home-made” rocket attacks, and Israel should respond with talk. Why does Hamas get a pass with the same requirement. No more rockets: send phone calls, letters, go in person. Negotiate for a solution that you will keep and mean it. I believe the majority of Israelis and American Jews prefer peace, but there really is no reason to trust that “giving back” lands will really do any good.

Yes, if Hamas is the democratically designated Palestinian leaders, then they should act like it and negotiate. They have an opening now.

Sadly, I fear that the reality is they will not, or if they do, they will not keep their side of the agreement either.

So, I return to families. The fabric of the Palestinian society is no stronger than the families within it. The same with the Israelis. A critical mass of forgiving people is required. Could an international body hold peace together long enough to let memories fade? Could violence be stayed that long? I hope and pray it can happen.

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Alex Stein says:

January 4, 2009 at 12:19 AM

Daga – I’m afraid I’m not as confident as you that Hamas are interested in peace.

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Richard Silverstein says:

January 4, 2009 at 1:09 AM

@Heller: I don’t consider Wikipedia the definitive resource for explanations of Freudian theory or even common usage on technical subjects like this one.

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Richard Silverstein says:

January 4, 2009 at 1:15 AM

@amir: Israel calls the buildings they destroy “workshops.” They deliberately do not call them labs or factories because they are jerry-rigged, improvised operations.

interestingly they didn’t bring medicine through the tunnels

And how would you know? Where does yr information come from?

On the contrary, EVERYTHING that Gazans need including medicine comes through the tunnels. If it didn’t come through them there wouldn’t be any except for the bare trickle that Israel allows in.

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Richard Silverstein says:

January 4, 2009 at 1:21 AM

@amir: Since when has Wikipedia become the authoritative source on defining technical terms like “Freudian slip.” At any rate, I told you the mistake derived from writing quickly, late at night, and on less than optimal sleep. That has nothing to do with anything that is “consciously repressed” or other such drivel.

As Freud himself used to say: “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

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Heller says:

January 4, 2009 at 3:52 AM

@Richard
That is the use that I have heard for decades-it doesn’t necessarily have to do with sex-it can mean when someone has something on their mind and they bring it up in another context. People often cite it like this-this is a common usage.

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Rabbi Arthur Waskow says:

January 4, 2009 at 4:17 AM

It gets harder, Shabbat by Shabbat, to say without weeping the words “Shabbat shalom” – a sabbath of peace — when the present government of Israel has used last week’s Shabbat and yesterday’s to massively increase the level of its violence as a response to the violence of Hamas.

The ground invasion of Gaza that began yesterday/ Shabbat is likely to kill many many Palestinans and Israelis. “Shabbat shalom” could instead have meant seeking such elements of “shalom” as ending the blockade of Gaza and ending the assassination of Hamas leaders in exchange for an end to rocket attacks on Israel. –– As 10,000 Israelis, marching yesterday in Tel Aviv, were urging.

On The Shalom Center’s website (lead story at http://www.shalomctr.org ) is our analysis of alternatives to the present death machine, including our approach to building the politico-religious base in America to make those alternatives real.

And at the same time, we need to resist recurrent efforts by some Jews to define what is kosher for other Jews to say and do –– even when they are urgently trying to protect Israel from attack.

In ancient Israel, the word “shibboleth” became a communal password. Since some versions of Hebrew included the “sh” sound whereas others used “s” and some of their speakers could not pronounce the “sh,” that word became a way to demonstrate you were a kosher Israelite (specifically, a Gileadite rather than an Ephraimite). If you could not pronounce it but said “ssiboleth” instead, you got killed. (See Judges 12:5-6.)

The “shibboleth” of today is the sentence, “Israel has the right to defend itself from attacks.” Say it, just like that, and you are a kosher Jew. Add complexities or qualifiers, like “Defend how?” in any form, and you are unkosher.

The most important and most disappointing use of this shibboleth is by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, head of the Union of Reform Judaism. Within the URJ are many views about the Sderot-Gaza Crisis. The situation is complex enough that this is hardly surprising. It would be nice for URJ’s head to make clear that this is so, though of course he is entitled as well to his own opinion. Though I disagree with Rabbi Yoffie’s views about the war, they are certainly worthy of discussion.

But I think that this past week, in a column for the Forward, Rabbi Yoffie transgressed menschlich discussion by attacking J Street. It is the newish lobby group that has committed itself to the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” task of supporting with money and with information Congressional candidates who can love Israel and love peace as well. J Street has, inevitably, been called the alternative to AIPAC, but its key staffers — Jeremy Ben-Ami and Isaac Luria – have firmly insisted on defining what they are for, not what they are against.

So what was their sssinful violation of the shibboleth?

Instantly upon the massive Israeli bombing of Gaza, J Street called for a cease-fire — an immediate end to the bombings, to rocket attacks by Hamas against Israel, and to the Israeli blockade of food, fuel, and medicines from entering Gaza.

Perhaps Rabbi Yoffie might have ignored this, but J Street did something much worse – it actually amassed 14,000 signatures for its one-line call for a cease-fire.

Now Rabbi Yoffie says wars “sicken” him, even the wars he supports. So what was wrong with J Street’s effort to end this war, including ending Hamas rockets against Israelis?

Ahh, they violated the shibboleth. Rabbi Yoffie attacks J Street for saying: “Neither Israelis nor Palestinians have a monopoly on right or wrong. While there is nothing ‘right’ in raining rockets on Israeli families or dispatching suicide bombers, there is nothing ‘right’ in punishing a million and a half already-suffering Gazans for the actions of the extremists among them.”

Rabbi Yoffie explains that “These words are deeply distressing because they are morally deficient, profoundly out of touch with Jewish sentiment and also appallingly naive.”

Ahhh. To pronounce “shibboleth” right and be a kosher Jew, you must not say that Israel is not doing right, even if you are crystal clear that Israel’s enemies are not doing right.

What should we do if we think J Street is basically correct in what should happen, morally right-on and politically knowledgeable rather than “naïve,” and if we believe that being “in touch with Jewish sentiment” at any given moment in the polltakers’ notes is no measure of Jewish wisdom?

I urge our readers and members to click to the J Street website and make a contribution of $36 or more. (This number is in Hebrew numerology the symbolic affirmation of two lives – in this case, Israelis and Palestinians.)

At that URL, you will find a space called “In honor of.” I suggest that if your sense of humor leans that way, you fill it in with “In Honor of Rabbi Eric Yoffie.”

The URL is this:
https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2747/t/4026/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2338

(Be sure that what goes in your browser includes the whole thing, all the way to “2338.”)

Now I know that the informal “rulebook” for non-profit advocacy organizations is never to ask your own members to give to another organization.

But I also know that the menschlich obligation of those who stand for peace is to stand TOGETHER when one of us is under attack. Instead of berating Jewish peace organizations for not working together more, the worthy response is – whaddayaknow, working together!

So at this moment, since Rabbi Yoffie has not for right now done The Shalom Center the honor of denouncing us and has done J Street that honor, we wholeheartedly encourage you, our members and readers — kosher Jews, unkosher Jews, and everybody else — to make the contribution we’ve suggested.

Meanwhile, let me report that The Shalom Center is in the process of exploring a public multireligious statement on US policy toward the Middle East. Bringing together Jewish, Muslim, and Christian opinion at such a moment is not easy, but I think we will be able to do it very soon. We will be back in touch with you about it.

And also let me alert you that we have under way two related efforts to reawaken the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King and his friend and co-worker Rabbi Abrahasm Joshua Heschel as a pointer toward an America of hope and change, as Barack Obama becomes president.

Let me send you blessings for both “shalom” and “salaam” —– for I can pronounce both “sh” and “ss.” I hope that makes me a kosher Jew, an unkosher Jew, and something more than either. Together –– ALL of us together —- let us serve the God of peace and justice and healing and compassion.

– Arthur
-~———-~—-~—-~—-~——~—-~——~–~—

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WikiFreud says:

January 4, 2009 at 7:48 AM

Jeff Foster has the most intelligent comments on here.

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