Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumWhy Did the New York Times Publish Fake News About Trump, Zionism, and Alan Dershowitz?
On Nov. 20, the Zionist Organization of America, a small hard-right pro-Israel group, held its annual gala. To the chagrin of many in the American Jewish community, Donald Trumps newly-appointed senior strategist Stephen Bannon was scheduled to attend. Outside, scores of Jews protested. And inside, celebrated Zionist lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who had been scheduled to speak before Bannon had been invited, took the opportunity to issue a pointed warning to those in attendance.
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This warning was of a piece with Dershowitzs critique of Bannon, outlined in an op-ed titled: Bannons not an anti-Semite. But he is an anti-Muslim, anti-women bigot. Asked by The New Yorker about the anti-Bannon protesters outside the ZOA gala before his speech, Dershowitz said, Part of me wants to be with them. But
I confront. In the twenties, Jews were seduced by Communists. Now its by a populist right that has elements of Fascism. Im going to try to warn against that tonight. For his performance, The Daily Beast dubbed Dershowitz the bravest man of the night. Bannon ultimately didnt show.
And yet, remarkably, The New York Times published a piece yesterday which falsely claimed Dershowitz defended Bannon at the ZOA. Writing for The Stone philosophy blog in a post titled Liberal Zionism in the Age of Trump, New School assistant professor Omri Boehm attempted to argue that Zionism [is] a political agenda rooted in the denial of liberal politics that inevitably dovetails with hard-right bigotry and apologism. His banner example? Alan Dershowitz.
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Boehm claims that American Jews must either opt to hold fast to their liberal tradition, as the only way to secure human, citizen and Jewish rights or embrace the principles driving Zionism and become apologists for bigotry. The problem with this dichotomy is that it only holds up if one erases the great many Zionists who expose it as a false choicewhich is exactly what Boehm proceeds to do. Thus, he inverts the position of a center-left Zionist like Dershowitz, who has been repudiating Zionist fascists since Boehm was five years old. He entirely omits the strident criticism of Bannon by the centrist Zionist Anti-Defamation League. The piece never quotes anyone affiliated with J Street, the liberal Zionist lobby that has campaigned tirelessly against Bannon. And Boehm similarly elides conservative Zionists like Commentary editor John Podhoretz, who wrote that while Bannon may not personally be an anti-Semite, it should go without saying that the president of the United States should not have a tawdry, destructive, and repulsively uncivilized goon as a chief strategist.
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http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/220635/why-did-the-new-york-times-publish-fake-news-about-trump-zionism-and-alan-dershowitz
Some people here say the same thing about liberal Zionism, that it's a contradiction because Zionism is inherently fascist or something. Not surprisingly, most democrats see through that BS.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)The most compelling critique of liberal Zionism isn't that it's conceptually false. It's that it has utterly failed in the real world.
Its internal tensions between religious ethnonationalism and liberalism could have been resolved while preserving liberalism, but that's not the process underway in Israel, whose current government is a hodge-podge of racists, kleptocrats, religious fanatics, and outright fascists.
Mosby
(17,314 posts)Zionism has been a resounding success.
Your biases prevent you from seeing that.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)But it is an illiberal one, and one that grows less liberal every election cycle.
It will be interesting to see how Israel's government tries to outdo Trump in the racist, rightwing authoritarianism sweepstakes.
FBaggins
(27,507 posts)How odd.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)FBaggins
(27,507 posts)Nor those who can't seem to find a reason to comment on the height of the far shorter hobbits.
shira
(30,109 posts)Last edited Fri Dec 23, 2016, 04:51 PM - Edit history (1)
Far more sympathetic to those tyrants to anyone in Israel, Left or Right.
Response to Mosby (Original post)
Little Tich This message was self-deleted by its author.
Response to Mosby (Original post)
Little Tich This message was self-deleted by its author.