Roger Cohen has an Op-Ed in the New York Times that addresses an important issue. The issue is Jewish criticism of Israel. But the sub-issue is when Jews call others “not real Jews”. Of course knee jerk reactionaries will say the NY Times is Anti-Semitic and Cohen has no credibility etc. In my opinion. that just proves his point.
This “you’re not a Jew” calling happens all the time. In Judaism there are so many passionate causes and ideals that sometimes those who believe in some of those causes and ideals feel like they have a license to determine one’s Jewishness or lack thereof by their commitment of lack thereof of that cause or ideal. (See this post for more: Our Penchant For Defining Ourselves By Excluding Others)
The subject of the article is a liberal American Jew who was in Israel for a year. There were several incidents that were disturbing but the worst incident was on his way back from a rally carrying a sign that said “Zionists are not settlers”.
A group of religious Jews wearing yarmulkes approached, spat on them and started punching.
“About 20 people saw the whole thing and just watched. They were screaming, ‘You are not real Jews.’ Most of them were American. It was one of the most disappointing moments of my life — you can disagree as much as you want with a banner but to allow violence and not react is outrageous. For me it was a turning point. Nobody previously had said I was not a real Jew.”
Obviously, this is horrible and I am ashamed. Jews should not be beating up other Jews for expressing an opinion. The aggressors clearly believe that the protestor is not “Jewy enough” to warrant their concern. It’s fine to beat him up because he is not “one of us”. It’s disappointing to see and it really calls into question the legitimacy of their position.
Cohen then goes on to argue (by implication) that all liberal Jews (and non-Jews) must disagree with Zionism and settlements. Further, Cohen says that really the president wants to exercise more pressure on Israel to change their policies toward the Palestinians. He uses the word “occupation” a few times as well.
It’s fine for Cohen to express his opinions. That doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is that he is guilty of a similar flaw he exposes in Zionists. Cohen is basically saying that you are not a good American Jew if you don’t criticize Israel. That is just as egregious as the Zionist calling the more liberal Jew “not a Jew”.
And what of this claim? If it was an anecdote in an Op-Ed I would try to tell Cohen to be less reactionary and chalk it up to a few morons. But unfortunately this is not the case. I have seen what Cohen describes with my own eyes.
Well meaning Jews will tell anyone who criticizes Israel as a traitor or less of a Jew. It happens. I have seen it.
If we cannot be critical of ourselves then of whom can we be critical.
If the reaction to anyone that disagrees is that “you are not one of us” that doesn’t speak well for the confidence in that position. If there is no conversation, no discussion, just “not a Jew” knee jerk responses nothing will change.
The situation is incredibly complex. Israel was granted to the Jews by the U.N. but there were non-Jews living there. That must have hurt. A lot. Many of their supporters refuse to recognize Israel as a legitimate country. That hurts too. For years, Israelis lived in fear of terror attacks. More recently, the terror attacks have been quelled. Palestinians have been told by their leadership that they are refugees, they have not lived the full lives that they deserve. The local Palestinian governments are linked to terrorists and corruption is rampant. Yet, they are human beings who are living marginlized lives a few short miles away from a thriving First World country. See, it’s complicated.
And in the end Israel is an important place. It is the most democratic state in the Middle East. But sometimes it can be hard to tell. It can still do better.
Link: NY Times
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