I know what you mean, but I did not mean what you suggest. I was particularly trying to identify the possible convergence of two key constituencies, one of which are the progressive Christian church groups who provided footsoldiers over years to demonstrations, letter writing etc, in Britain about apartheid and more recently about reform of the international system of global finance capitalism.
I do not have a religious faith myself, so I do not differ on abstract grounds from what you say here. But where I do differ, and at times I think I differ from most of the contributors to these lists, is this. It is almost pointless practically, and is quite idealist theoretically, do judge your political responses by what personally suits your value system. Hence so often the sectarian edge to email disputes as to which authority people like or they do not like. For Hitchens or against Hitchens etc. (I certainly do not find Hitchens attractive) But the whole debate needs to be anchored in some sort of serious materialist analysis of the available progressive forces, and the political agenda that could unite them in a more progressive direction, and undermine global finance capital, and more immediately destructive reactionary forces.
There is also a serious and difficult question about how the protests against the defects in imperial governance are pitched: the zionist state of Israel must end for the sake of the the interests of global finance capital (which I do not support) and the interests of international solidary between the working people of the world (which I do). People of Jewish culture, faith, or identification, are frankly less important in the task of building an internationalist coalition between people of Christian and Islamic cultural background. It is not about putting people all on the same level of identical status. Israel has been used as a garrison state for imperialism in the middle east. This must end.
The important and very valuable contribution from people of Jewish cultural, or religious, background would be to define how the basic rights of such people could be preserved from conflict in a non zionist israeli state, living in an economic interdependent Palestinian state with all external funding channelled through a United Nations Committee with representation from the World Bank and the European Union, and a subordinate role for the US government. Can anyone forward a document from left wing Israeli sources defining civil rights in a secular Israeli state?
It is not enough for somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 people to protest in London. They must demand and participate in solutions. They must insist those solutions are answerable to the interests of the people of the world. It is disappointing that the demonstration did not highlight the theme of global economic justice as well as political justice.
I am sorry, but to make the broader point, I would say that democratic Jewish voices have a rather limited and specific role to play compared to the creation of a democratic coalition of progressive people of Christian and of Islamic cultural background.
Chris Burford
London