> >How do we win in a war of positions concerning Israel and Palestine
> >and end the occupation? By emphasizing *political divisions* among
>>American Jews as well as Israeli Jews (among the latter especially
>>vocal critics of the occupation within the ranks of IDF reservists).
>>The Zionist strategy has always been to equate support for Jews with
>>uncritical support for Israel. Our strategy should be to falsify the
>>equation by highlighting and foregrounding Jewish dissenters,
>>*whatever* the nature or degree of dissent, from Michael Lerner to
>>Norman Finkelstein.
>>
>>Divide and conquer. Make your enemy look smaller in appearance,
>>which helps to make it become smaller in number. The Right is very
>>good at this. Leftists should learn from the Right. There is
>>nothing leftists can gain by adding to the Zionist propaganda that if
>>one is a Jew, one should support Israel (noting the "Jewish identity"
>>of a media owner when criticizing media biases against Palestinians,
>>for instance, implies that it is the owner's "Jewishness" -- not any
>>other factor -- that is the primary determinant in his bias against
>>Palestinians).
>>--
>
>but does that put more importance on jewish critiques?...... there is
>still an inherent contradiction with that....you are making the issue
>about "jewishness". making "jewishness" relevant only when it suits
>your purpose.....as a "strategy" of the left i find that hypocritical. if we
>are to commit ourselves to the strategy of hypocrisy in order to be
>more "successful" then what is it worth? personally i'd rather commit
>to my policies complete "failure" or whatever.
Pragmatic and principled advocacy of affirmative action ain't the same as hypocrisy, in my opinion. Affirmative action in this case is not only just but also expedient, and the fact that it is expedient does not take away from the fact that it is just.
Jewish critics of the Israeli government are excluded from or marginalized in the dominant discourse on Jewry and Israel. They are often made invisible by the Right, who want to pretend that all but "self-hating Jews" support the Israeli government policy toward Palestinians _no matter what_. Leftists should support dissident Jews (of various political persuasions), by making them visible. Check out the section titled "News Jews Can Use" (@ <http://www.maxspeak.org/Hot_Buttons/middle_east.htm>) from MaxSpeak.Org (@ <http://www.maxspeak.org/>):
***** MaxSpeak.Org | Middle East
Jews in the U.S. are pitifully ignorant of what goes on in the Middle East, and particularly so with respect to political debates in Israel. The result is a solid, politically sophisticated, and influential core of support for fundamentally awful policies in Israel and the U.S. The links below provide kosher, heterodox sources of information. I limit these to Jewish sources so that in debates, the serious student of Middle East affairs can better cope with efforts to debunk arguments and deny facts by the religious/ethnic equivalent of "playing the race card." Suggestions for new links are always welcome. Some of the sites are Hebrew-only, as indicated.
Newspapers/Periodicals/Information
Ha'aretz
Ha'aretz (Hebrew)
The Forward -- Neo-bundist/Yiddish heritage; NYC based
Tikkun - Michael Lerner's magazine; forums; organizing; etc.
Indymedia/Israel - alternative, web-based news service
Jewish Virtual Library
Ariga Peace Links
Organizations
Meretz, "Israeli Social-Democratic and Peace-Seeking Party"
Meretz-USA
Hashomer Hatzair - Progressive Zionist youth
Habonim Dror - ditto
Labor Party (Avoda), Israel (Hebrew)
The Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Territories
Peace Now (Israel) (Hebrew)
Americans for Peace Now (U.S.); Links
Canadian Friends of Peace Now
Gush Shalom -- Links
Jewish Voice for Peace - SFO based; Links
Hadash (Hebrew) - Israeli Communist Party; not exclusively Jewish, naturally.
New Profile
Yesh Gvul - support for Israeli 'refuseniks'
Not In My Name - U.S. organizing
Jews Against the Occupation - more U.S. organizing
Ta'ayush - Arab-Jewish partnership in Israel
Personalities
Uri Avnery
Norman Finkelstein - author, The Holocaust Industry
Noam Chomsky *****
As Max says, it's important to deny the Right the religious/ethnic equivalent of "the race card."
Notice also that Max doesn't limit the list above to only the perspectives with which he is in precise agreement. That's important. Max gets the Good Political Housekeeping Seal on the Left from me, whether he wants it or not. ;-> At this point in history, leftists need to work the hardest on making the Leftist Political Pie larger, rather than trying to gobble up the biggest piece of an as yet too small Leftist Political Pie; leftists who prefer the latter to the former spend most of their time dissing other leftists, (in contrast to rightists who know how to concentrate their fire on their enemies, whatever they do to one another in private and in their spare time), with the result that their sectarianism makes _all_ leftists (including themselves) unattractive. This applies to not just the question of Palestine but any other question. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>