Cecilie Surasky has just pointed me to some draw-dropping material in Rachel Neuwirth’s website, Mideast Solutions. After you read it, you’ll wonder why she stopped at calling Chaim Seidler Feller, UCLA Hillel rabbi, a ‘kapo.’ The woman claims that Israeil and American Jews who advocate peace with the Arabs are a “fifth column” which forfeits its right to call itself Jewish and should be tried at a Nuremberg-like tribunal for crimes against the Jewish people. I’m not makin’ this stuff up:
The security of Israel is…endangered by the presence of what can only be called a Jewish “fifth column”. These are renegade individuals, who exploit their Jewish ancestry, who work obsessively and maliciously to undermine the security of the Jewish people in general, and the State of Israel in particular.
Although a small minority, they have infiltrated the centers of power. They hold positions of influence in: labor unions, academia, the courts, the media, political office, and even the military. They also include self-styled ‘activists’ who elbow their way to prominence and claim to speak for the masses. They consistently denigrate and subvert legitimate Jewish rights in favor of advancing antagonistic Arab interests, often by way of deception, malicious falsehoods and double standards. They readily misinterpret Judaism for ideological purposes and even demonize those Jews who are religiously observant. They often hold ideological allegiance to the militant international left, which raises the question of their having dual loyalties.
Claiming to be promoting peace they push lopsided and unworkable schemes such as the Oslo Accords, the Geneva Accords and now the Roadmap, all of which undermine Jewish rights, endanger the Jewish character of the country and endanger Israel’s physical security.
It is this radical Jewish left whose activities increased Israel’s vulnerability to Arab terrorism resulting in many additional Israeli and Arab casualties. It is the radical Jewish left that contributed to the immense moral and political corruption that pervades the Israeli government and many institutions. The destructive influence of this Jewish “fifth column” has caused hundreds of thousands of patriotic Israelis, who had their fill of this corruption, to emigrate to other countries.
These individuals have long forfeited their claim to be considered legitimately Jewish and to live freely in the Jewish State of Israel.
…These Jewish “fifth columnists” are consciously malevolent and know full well what they are doing. They should each stand trial before a Nuremberg-style tribunal on the charge of perpetrating war crimes against the Jewish people and for crimes against humanity. Those found guilty should be given a near-term date to emigrate voluntarily, forfeiting only their real property, or face physical expulsion minus all their assets. This would be extremely lenient considering that many victims of their treasonous actions have been killed and wounded. Just as they vigorously supported the expulsion of Jews from Gaza, even under brutal conditions, in the name of peace and security, they cannot now object to their own removal, also, in the name of peace and security.
This propaganda is, of course, entirely reminiscent of the ideology that drove Yigal Amir to assassinate Yitzchak Rabin. It is also perfectly consonant with the racialism of Meir Kahane, who railed against Jewish traitors in our midst. This extremist rhetoric is reflected as well in Neuwirth’s pathological harassment and abuse of Jews who support Mideast peace as I noted, with examples, in a recent post.
So why is this important? Because the director of a major Jewish organization has essentially endorsed the type of views espoused by Neuwirth and her ally, Allyson Rowen Taylor. Today, at my earlier post about Seidler Feller’s settlement with Neuwirth, Gary Ratner, AJCongress regional director, continued to defend both Neuwirth and Rowen Taylor despite their deranged attitudes toward some of their fellow Jews. In addition, Ratner keeps up the ideological attack on Seidler Feller, which shows unfortunately that the Jewish right continues to have him in its crosshairs. Here are some selected passages from his comment:
This attack [my earlier post] on her [Neuwirth] is completely unwarranted and wrong. Please note that she won a lawsuit against Rabbi Seidler Feller [ed. she settled a claim against him but did not “win a lawsuit”]…
How can the writer of this article accuse her of anything but being a victim of a “Rabbi” who had to undergo anger management. It is Seider-Feller that should and has fessed up to his hostility to fellow Jews. Whatever Rachel’s views are she is entitled to and if one believes in freedom of expression, I dont understand how one can attack her.
At this point, one has to ask: does the AJCongress believe that Neuwirth is “entitled to her view” that some Jews should be tried for crimes against humanity? Is this the type of ideological profile they approve of in their board members? After all, the website where the above hate exists, MideastSolutions, predated her service on the AJCongress board. He could’ve easily looked this stuff up. I’m simply dumbfounded that Ratner would’ve accepted such a despicable human being for service with his organization.
Ratner defends even more vigorouly Rowen Taylor (links to posts I’ve written about her):
As for Allyson Rowen Taylor, she is a dedicated fighter and advocate for Israel and the Jewish people. Maybe in the heat of an argument she may have said some words she regrets, but that does not take away from all the good she has done. She did not physically attack any person. Also, she has a son who put his life on the line by serving in the IDF and can personally attest from his accounts as to the real reality in Judea and Samaria. How many of those who made comments against her say that they had children serving in the IDF??
I personally have tried to work with Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller asking him to co-sponsor some speakers in spite of our differences, but he did not even have the courtesy of a response. So who is trying to work together on behalf of the Jewish people. Not the Rabbi. His most recent comments about the movie “Obsession” in the New York times on Feb 26th are shocking in their naivete.
I made a detailed rebuttal to Ratner’s meretricious argument in the comment thread so I won’t repeat myself here. Except to say that Rowen Taylor accused a fellow Jew working for the American Friends Service Committee of supporting the “murder of your fellow Jews,” in addition to accusing former Pres. Jimmy Carter of “being in cahoots with Islamofascism.” How can any of this be construed in any way as “doing good?”
Ratner is also slightly schizophrenic in his attitude toward Neuwirth and Rowen Taylor, as I spoke with him by phone twice on this subject. Each time he disparaged both and made clear that he felt he was well-rid of them. Rowen Taylor, he felt was a disaster for his organization. So I’m puzzled why he feels compelled to come to their defense so vigorouly in public.
You are a little treasonous weenie. Go sew your foreskin back on, asshole.
Looks like the Jewish treason police are out in force. Rachel or Allyson are siccing their attack dogs on my humble blog. Notice how this one who otherwise calls himself “Barry Goldberg” insinuates that because I expose the hate of people like them that I no longer have the right to call myself a Jew?
The bellicose hysteria about ‘fifth columnists’ seems endless. Meanwhile, people are starting to flee from the race laws enacted in Israel/Palestine:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6405799.stm
Richard, if you ever get a chance to read what malcolm hoenein said at herzliya you will notice that the right wing jewish americans who blindly defend israel plan on getting very aggressive against anyone who stands up against their position. They have been aggressive against their own before, why would it be any different today.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, addressed the fears head-on last week in an address to Israel’s prestigious Herzliya Conference. Lamenting what he called „the poisoning of America,” Hoenlein painted a dire picture of American public discourse turning increasingly anti-Jewish and anti-Israel in the year ahead.
Hoenlein dated the trend to the 2005 arrest of two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, on charges of passing classified national security information. Hoenlein argued that the Jewish community made a major mistake by not forcefully criticizing the arrests.
Speaking via video, Hoenlein listed several events that had occurred since then: the release of the essay criticizing the „Israel Lobby‰ by two distinguished professors, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer; the publication of former president Jimmy Carter‚s best-selling book, „Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”; the suggestion by former NATO supreme commander and Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark that „New York money people” were pushing America into war, and claims by former U.S. weapons inspector Scott Ritter that Israel is pushing the United States to attack Iran.
>>>„In the beginning of the Iraq war they talked about the neocons‚ as a code word,” Hoenlein said. „Now we see that code words are no longer necessary.” He warned that the United States is nearing a situation similar to that of Britain, where delegitimization of Israel is widespread.
„This is a cancer that starts from the top and works its way down,” he said. „It poisons the opinions among elites which trickle down into society.”
According to Hoenlein, such critics tend not only to delegitimize Israel but also to „intimidate American Jews not to speak out.” He called on American Jews to take action against this phenomenon, saying that Christian Zionists seemed at times more willing than Jews to fight back.
Thanks, Samuel for that comment about Hoenlein. He’s one of the great hysterics in the American Jewish leadership & I like to stay aware of his wilder ideas. I’ve written about him before but can’t find the link to the post I’m thinking of. This gives some of his background & puts into context where some of his extremism may derive from.
Hoenlein also has a bug up his ass about the AIPAC spy trial saying it’s an anti-Semitic vendetta by the FBI against Israel and American Jews. Looney tunes stuff.
I wonder what kind of “action” he wants Jews to take against those of us who criticize Israel? A Nuremberg trial for crimes against the Jewish people perhaps?
What about the possibility of pulling out of Iraq, letting Iran invade and lose resources fighting their own kind,
and then come in and mop up the dregs?