David Gelernter asks Why do so many American Jews hate the president who stands by Israel? A question frequently asked around this blog too. Gelernter's description of what is going on in American universities and among the liberal elite is particularly on point and should be noted by all American Jews. Pacifism didn't help in the 1930s and it certainly isn't going to help in today's world where the Islamofascists only understand power and think that talking it out is a sign of weakness. [Emphasis mine]
FOR YEARS I have watched the Palestinians do absurdly self-destructive things, and have never understood them until now. But watching the Bush administration stoutly defend Israel this week against the background of an American Jewish population that vocally (often sneeringly) dislikes him and his administration, and consistently votes by massive majorities for his Democratic opponents, I start to understand the Palestinians just a little.
American Jews are not Palestinians and have not sunk to the level of supporting terrorist murderers. But their behavior is a lesson in self-destructive nihilism that could teach even the Palestinians a thing or two. U.S. Jews remain fervent supporters of an American left that is increasingly unable or unwilling to say why Israel must exist. Of course American Jews, like all Americans, define their interests in terms of many issues and not just one. But there is a reason why so many used to put Israel's safety near the top of their lists: Israel has been caught in a life-or-death struggle since birth; American support is critical to her survival.
True: Jewish support for President Bush moved upward in the 2004 election relative to the 2000 figures. It moved all the way up to 25 percent. During the five presidential elections of the 1970s and '80s, American Jews averaged 35 percent support for the Republican candidate, so 25 percent for Bush in '04 was not exactly a landslide move to the GOP. But even this pint-sized move seems to have petered out earlier this year. Jack Abramoff does not make an attractive spokesman for Jewish Republicans. The fall of Tom DeLay silenced one of the best friends Israel ever had in American politics, and one of the most effective symbols of Republican support for Israel. So the pattern of the '90s is likely to continue: American Jews move left as the left moves away from Israel.
Merely look at American universities and their disastrous left-wing tilt (many are close to capsizing), and check out recent studies that document a startling deterioration in knowledge of and sympathy for Israel on U.S. college campuses, and you will learn plenty about the American left and its increasingly anti-Israel tendencies.
When you vote for a presidential candidate, you are voting to award jobs to a few of his supporters, and influence to vast numbers of them. Most Democratic politicians speak up for Israel. But grassroots Democrats are increasingly dangerous to the Jewish state (not to mention the American state). Still, American Jews vote for (and bankroll!) Democrats. And each time they repeat this performance, the risk is greater.
Will they risk it again in 2008? Will the Arabs force Israel into yet another round of catastrophic, self-destructive bloodletting after this round is over? In both cases, probably yes.
American Jews (especially the intellectual leadership) have a tragic history of acting against their own professed interests. READ IT ALL HERE
Related:
Some mysteries defy comprehension
... the House voted 410-8 in favor of a resolution "condemning the recent attacks against the State of Israel, holding terrorists and their state-sponsors accountable for such attacks, [and] supporting Israel's right to defend itself." Here's a list of the 12 congressmen who declined to support Israel:
Voting "no" Voting "present" Neil Abercrombie (D., Hawaii) Marcy Kaptur (D., Ohio) John Conyers (D., Mich.) Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) John Dingell (D., Mich.) Barbara Lee (D., Calif.) Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D., Mich.) Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) Jim McDermott (D., Wash.) Ron Paul (R., Texas) Nick Rahall (D., W.Va.) Fortney Hillman Stark Jr. (D., Calif.) Except Ron Paul, who was the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee in 1988 and who essentially opposes all foreign policy, all of these are liberal Democrats. Similarly, look at blogospheric reactions to Buchanan's screed, and you'll find that most of his defenders are on the left. They're welcome to him.
The self-hatred personified HERE
And take a look at some of the links HERE
Friday night fights ... liberal anti-Israel vs conservative pro-Israel
In our ongoing “Friday Night Fights” segment, an amazing barnburner occurred July 21 that will remind folks of Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd's old "Point/Counterpoint" skit on “Saturday Night Live” with the only thing missing being the famous line “Jane you ignorant slut.”
On the left was Fox News’s Juan Williams. On the right was conservative radio host Laura Ingraham filling in for Bill O’Reilly on “The O’Reilly Factor” (very enthusiastic hat tip to Ian at Expose the Left and Ms. Underestimated with absolutely must-see video to follow!).
From the beginning, this fight perfectly exemplified the divergence in opinion concerning the most recent flare up in the Middle East. Juan enunciated the liberal view that Israel is largely to blame for the rise in hostilities, and that America needs to put pressure on it to force an expedient ceasefire even if it goes counter to Israel’s ongoing security. Here’s a perfect example of Juan’s solution to the current problem: “Immediately begin diplomatic efforts. Start talking...Start talking to the Arab states about them getting involved in Lebanon and having them put the blanket on Hezbollah.” Truly amazing, Juan.
By contrast, Ingraham perfectly depicted the conservative position that Israel has been admirably participating in the peace process in recent years, but that its efforts have been rewarded with continued acts of aggression against her: ... Continued
Via PowerLine: The must-read column on the war today is Amir Taheri's long Times of London guide to Hezbollah land: "God's army has plans to run the whole Middle East." (Thanks to Cliff May and NRO's Corner.)
The following two articles should be read hand in hand. Although they deal with the bias in the press and the formenting of the argument by the terrorists, which is what we would expect from the MSM, the quotes point out how important it is to elect American leaders willing to stand up to terrorism and not be appeasers.
The MSM Bias Against Israel "Good editorial at YNet today in which the writer exposes the MSM bias against Israel by giving the example of the "Jenin Massacre": (h/t Little Green Footballs)"
Israel proves that appeasement does not work and Syria calls for cease-fire "Israel is showing the world that appeasement does not work. Not for them. Not for Europe. Not for Canada. Not for Australia. Not for the USA."
Summing up:
Putting Israel on the clock "The fig-leaf quality of Korb's arguments is a good sign that he and others in the defeat-retreat crowd are trying to limit Israel because they do not want to see it defeat Hezbollah, at least not on President Bush's watch."
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