Media baron Rupert Murdoch is as pro-Israel as they come.
Which of course, means he's now being attacked as anti-Semitic for the following tweet:
Why Is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?
Of course, Britain's left wing anti-Semitic rag The Guardian took him to task for it, the absolute height of irony.
Mr. Murdoch apologized, which is unfortunate. Because his question was totally legitimate.
While some people took his remarks to refer to the New York Times, Pravda-on-the Hudson isn't actually Jewish owned per se,but controlled by a corporation overseen by the Sulzberger family, with Arthur 'Little Pinch' Sulzberger functioning as chairman and publisher.
And yes, the Times is almost reflexively anti-Israel.
But even worse than that is the truly 'Jewish owned' press, the community newspapers, many of them funded by the local Jewish Federation.
The Los Angeles Jewish Journal is typical of the breed. Funded by the local Jewish Federation (and one reason I do not donate to them), it's run by Rob Eshman, whose political position could accurately be characterized as somewhere between Peace Now and J Street. While the paper does feature columns by conservative thinker Dennis Prager, the overwhelming slant of the paper, especially in the way it reports news is leftwards and yes, anti-Israel. And the Jewish Journal is far from unique.
There are Jewish newspaper in America like New York's Jewish Press, but they're outnumbered by the Jewish Journal types, which keep going because they get Federation funding which allows most of them to give the paper away for free.
I must also could also mention the whole 'industry' of Jewish columnists with obviously Jewish names that make a living bashing Israel, while using the fact that they were born Jews to protect the outlets they appear in from charges of rank anti-Semitism. Roger Cohen, Phillip Mondoweiss, Peter Beinart, and Lara Friedman are excellent examples of this type, just to name a few.
So now that we've established that Rupert Murdoch was right on the money, let's answer his question.
The answer varies a bit with individuals, but here's what it basically comes down to for a significant number of Jews on the left.
Most of these people left the actual practice of Judaism and any identification with its principles some time ago, although a Jewish name comes in handy, as does the turgid phrase 'as a Jew' when it comes to getting attention and getting their views aired. What they actually identify as is secular leftists, and Israel embarrasses them with their leftist friends. So in a particularly Jewish version of the Stockholm Syndrome, they identify with those who mean them no good in order to prove that they're 'good Jews', not like those horrid Zionists.And more than happy to bash Israel.
This goes back, believe it or not to the early days of Marxism and socialism,when many Jews in Europe and later on in America were suffering from anti-Semitism in spite of their best efforts to be accepted in their respective societies. Some of them embraced this doctrine because it was anti-religion,or so it appeared. Without religion, they subconsciously reasoned, there would be no further basis for the daily hatred and alienation they faced. It is worth remembering in this context that Karl Marx was a self-hating, apostate Jew who wrote many fiercely anti-Semitic articles over the course of his career.
Others unconsciously or consciously embraced this because it also aligns with the basic philosophy of the left in a way many self-styled progressive Jews themselves are unaware of. Judaic philosophy, like Christianity stresses the individual and his or her choices,or free will as theologians term it.Marxism and socialism stresses the collective, with the individual merely a cog in the machine.
That, by the way, is one of the points of affinity between Islam and the Left, because Islam also stresses the collective and the submission of the individual.
For many Jews who embrace this 'progressive' mindset, the very existence of Israel is a horrid embarrassment. It is a nasty bit of old time nationalism in an ideology that embraces 'solidarity' and a New World Order where such tiresome concepts are put to rest under the banner of the UN. Not only does the necessity of a strong and powerful Jewish State as a haven for Jews in a world that has demonstrated its hostility and even murderous intent towards them more than once escape them, it serves to single them out once again amongst their 'progressive' brethren.
Is it any wonder that the most vicious condemnation of virtually everything Israel does to preserve its security and nationhood should find its harshest critics among Jewish 'progressives' on the Left? Is it really a mystery that outspokenly pro-Israel Christians like Sarah Palin and Pastor John Haggee should come in for special vilification? It shouldn't be. 'Progressive' Jews need to prove their bonifides to their philosophical comrades.
There's your answer, Mr. Murdoch. And as a Jew, let me say no apology necessary.
No comments:
Post a Comment