[lbo-talk] Rabbi Michael Lerner using the Antisemitism card against the US Green Party

[Jim Devine]

my guess is that there's anti-Jewish bigotry all across the US
political spectrum, but that the left suffers from it less than the
right does. For example, my right-wing East-coast relatives (part of
the Connecticut country club set) are anti-Jewish. (I've never liked
the word "anti-semitism" as restricted to anti-Jewish bigotry, since a
lot of anti-semitism is anti-Arab.)

On 2/11/06, jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net <jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Plenty of anti-semitism or just a bit? The left is not anywhere near monolithic enough to support the charge
> that it contains plenty of anti-semitism. If you made a list of the top ten shortcomings of left organizations in
> the US anti-semitism would not make the cut. It is a very small part of the problems among left
> organizations.
>
> Does Lerner not know that the Greens have called for boycots of oil companies, complained bitterly about
> Halliburton, and called for an immediate withdrawl of troops from Iraq? I imagine he does.
>
> Russia and China have very different relations to the US than Israel and making such a simplistic
> comparison as Lerner does is of no real help to anyone.
>
> Divest from China? How could that even begin to be seriously taken into consideration in todays economy?
>
> Knee-jerk reactions against the use of the term are a problem but since Lerner offers no real support for his
> assertion that the Greens are employing "a double standard that smacks of traditional anti-Semitism."
> questioning this assertion is reasonable.
>
> John Thornton
>
>
> On 11 Feb 2006 at 12:24, Chip Berlet wrote:
>
>  I am not a big fan of Lerner, but his statement below is perfectly reasonable.
> There is plenty of antisemitism in the U.S. political left, and knee jerk reactions
> against any use of the term are a real problem.
>
>  -Chip Berlet
>
>  ________________________________
> >
> >
> > I think the Greens have made a big strategic as well as moral mistake.
> > What Israel is doing is a violation of human rights and a big sin. But
> > it is not in the same league with the sins of many other nations, first
> > and foremost the U.S. If the Greens were calling for divestment from the
> > U.S., Russia (because of Chechnya), China (because of Tibet), and Sudan
> > (because of Darfur) then adding Israel to that list would be appropriate
> > and I'd support such a multi-focused divestment. But to single out
> > Israel, while not calling for divestment from U.S. corporations that
> > make possible the far more bloody occupation of Iraq, is a double
> > standard that smacks of traditional anti-Semitism.
> >
> >   Rabbi Michael Lerner
> >   editor, Tikkun
> >   RabbiLerner at tikkun.org
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>

--
Jim Devine

Bust Big Brother Bush!