Knives out for Rahm on the left?

I've been getting a lot of hits today for my post about whether Josh Bolten, Bush's chief of staff, is Jewish.

I'm guessing the sudden interest is related to the fact that Obama has now chosen Chicago thug Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. Rahm is Jewish, too, so you can stop your frantic googling right now.

But it turns out that for rabid Obama supporters on the left, being Jewish is NOT A GOOD THING AT ALL. As Omri Ceren explains at Mere Rhetoric (via Ace),

Pro-Carter shill MJ Rosenberg is asking the far left to eschew anti-Semitic attacks on Emanuel. Not because anti-Semitic attacks are wrong per se - what would the contemporary DNC ever do? More because Emanuel is apparently one of those "good Jews" that DKos cretins compare to "Likud German/Jew Fascists" like Joe Lieberman.

(More from Soccer Dad.) In my experience, a lot of liberal Jews think pretty much everyone to the right of them politically is either an anti-semite or a Jesus freak, which is probably about the same thing to them. To me, this is nuts. On the right, I've come across a small number of anti-semites, but I've been astounded at how many philo-semites there are, given that, politically speaking at least, the Jews are not terribly appealing to them.

In contrast, many Jews seem oblivious to the outright hostility toward Israel and, in many cases, hostility directly toward the Jews themselves that radiate from their allies on the left. So the way I see it is that if the Obama presidency, with Rahm as chief of staff, tests anything, it'll be the willingness of Jewish liberals to continue to turn a blind eye toward "progressive" anti-semitism.





And no, I'm not suggesting Obama himself is an anti-semite. But it would be nice if he told his anti-semitic supporters to put it where the sun don't shine.

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Sunday linkfest

Man, I've got a whole bunch of links burning a hole in my pocket, and I just don't feel like writing an entire post about any of 'em. So here's my linkfest. Hope you enjoy these.

1. A "Mom Job"? Oy. You'll be pleased to know that even mothers of college-aged children are having this plastic surgery. "'I had been thin all my life until I had my son and then I got this pooch of overhanging fat on my abdomen that you can’t get rid of,' Ms. Birkland, 39, said. 'And your breasts become deflated sacks.'" Mind you, this is a woman with a 20-year-old son. She was about 19 when he was born, and now she's concerned with her looks -- and blaming him? I shouldn't be surprised about her. Get this line: "There is more pressure on mothers today to look young and sexy than on previous generations, she added. 'I don’t think it was an issue for my mother; your husband loved you no matter what,' said Ms. Birkland, who recently remarried." Personal to Ms. Birkland's new husband: If that's what she thinks, ditch her now; she'll only get "worse" looking.

2. An observatory on the roof of your house? Cool. "'The reason why people don’t use their telescopes is they are such a pain to haul out and set up,' said John Spack, 50, a certified public accountant who had a domed observatory built on top of an addition to his house in Chicago last year. 'Now, if I want to get up at 3 a.m. and look at something, I just open the shutter.'"

3. "Pro-semites" on JDate? When, some years ago, Irving Kristol said, "the danger facing American Jews today is not that Christians want to persecute them but that Christians want to marry them," he was right on the money. It turns out that something like 11% of members of JDate aren't Jewish but are interested in meeting Jews. Pollster Mark Penn writes in a new book "that 'the number one reason they [people he calls "pro-Semites"] gave for desiring a Jewish spouse was a sense of strong values, with nearly a third also admitting they were drawn to money, looks or a sense that Jews "treat their spouses better."'"

4. Vegans dating regular vegetarians. As a former "vegetarian" who actually ate dairy, eggs, and even fish, and the father of a former vegan who was actually serious about it until he had a revelation (that vegans are morons, or something like that) and is now a proud carnivore, I have to admit this line tickled me: "'I'm in a relationship with a murderer,' bemoans Carl, one of many vegans who wrote in to the 'Vegan Freak' podcast for romantic advice." My son was never like that when he was a vegan.

5. Speaking of vegetarians, if you work for Countrywide and you didn't get the memo, W.C. Varones got it for you. Heh!

6. Stupid pickup lines. I did like the final one, which is charmingly cheesy: "Well, here I am. What are your other two wishes?"

7. "There are signs that the global Islamic jihad movement is splitting apart." Discuss. (via protein wisdom)

8. WTF? I saw this bumper sticker on a car on the highway in Maryland: "God Bless The Whole World / No Exceptions." Yeah, I understand it now: God bless Johnny, and God bless Billy, and God bless Osama. Because, heck, we're no better than any of those guys who are trying to murder us.

9. Here's a concert I'm glad I missed: Beethoven's 9th, redone according to the "aural graffiti" that Gustav Mahler wrote on the score. Tim Page lays the smackdown on Leonard Slatkin: "Somebody should sit Leonard Slatkin down and explain to him, firmly but not without compassion, that Ludwig van Beethoven actually knew what he was doing when he composed his Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, and that the work he created needs no enhancement from Gustav Mahler or any of the other musicians who followed in his shadow."

10. Andrew Ferguson in the Weekly Standard has an amusing review of Alan Greenspan's new book: "Alan Shrugged." ("Ayn," Alan would say, overcome by some Randian insight, "upon reading this, one tends to feel exhilarated!")

11. Columbia's newest friend, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has another insight: Move the damn Jews to Alaska. Seriously. (Via HotAir) He must have been reading the latest dreck from a Jewish writer suffering from Weltschmerz. Can you imagine the Jews in Alaska? All the Jewish geezers would sit around all afternoon saying things like this: "Oy, it's so cold here." "Moses got the desert, but we're stuck in this icebox."

12. And you just can't miss this last one, but don't listen to it at work, unless you can close a door behind you: Don't try that satire s--- in f---in' New Yawk. (Bad language alert.)

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The friend of my friend is my enemy

American Jews who care about Israel constantly face certain unpleasant realities.

For one thing, Jews are at most 2% of the American population, probably less -- a situation that (contrary to the delusions of the "Israel Lobby" conspiratorialists) gives them only a modest influence on American policy. For another, large sectors of the Jews' traditional alliance of liberal to leftist groups are harshly anti-Israel.

This situation leaves Jews with a question: When politically conservative, religious Christians offer their support for Israel, should Jews accept it?

Right now, you're probably thinking "Duh!" because that's the clear answer. Of course Jews should accept it. We don't have a lot of friends, and there's little doubt that conservative Christians truly support Israel. Menachem Begin understood this and was more than happy to greet Christian support with open arms.

But some Jews are morons.

Let me put this a little less provocatively: Some Jews think their left-wing political views are far more important than support for Israel.

In the current Washington Jewish Week, Rabbi Amy Schwartzman of Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, makes precisely such an argument against accepting conservative Christian support for Israel.

You've heard the saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Well, Rabbi Schwartzman flips that saying around and argues, "The friend of my friend is my enemy."

She writes: "I was deeply disturbed to learn that my rabbinic colleagues recently joined the Rev. Jim Hutchens, regional director of Christians United for Israel, at their gala event." Calling these folks "extreme right-wing Christians" and "extremist fundamentalists," she says that by working with them to support Israel, we are legitimating them somehow:

When we work with these people, we legitimize them as political players, strengthening their impact on agendas we find anathema -- from their opposition to First Amendment's guarantees of religious freedom to their callous opposition to programs most critically needed by the poorest among us.

The only issue on which we agree with CUFI's extremist fundamentalists is our shared support of Israel. They spend most of their time working hard to oppose the priorities and interests of the majority of American Jews.

Let me restate her argument. Although conservative Christians support Israel, that support pales in comparison with their opposition -- their "callous" opposition -- to poverty programs that have been tried for decades and failed. (Well, at least she didn't mention abortion rights, which is usually the top "Jewish" issue for the Left.)

Quickly, her three other arguments. One, Christians proselytize. "Teenagers regularly share with me the pain they experience when their peers from the youth-arm of the extreme religious right question their religious legitimacy and challenge their beliefs." Is she serious? Anyone who's religious constantly has his beliefs challenged by atheists. Why not by Christians? Instead of encouraging these kids to whine, she should be teaching them to defend their religious beliefs, assuming they have any. At a minimum, they should learn to say "No" politely to any attempt at proselytizing.

Two, conservative pro-Israel Christians are hostile to Muslims. I guess it's OK to call Christians extremists but not Muslims.

Three, my personal favorite:

Most mainstream Christians, our neighbors and colleagues whose support for Israel we are striving to secure, reject the leaders of CUFI. They see their ministers as charlatans. We risk our relationship with those potential religious partners when we associate with Rev. Hutchens and his ilk.

"Mainstream Christians" are decidedly anti-Israel. Rabbi Schwartzman is saying that we should forsake people who support us in order to try to gain support from people who hate us. The perfect response to this insanity comes from Rabbi Jack Moline of Congregation Agudas Achim in Alexandria (with whom I often disagree). In counterpoint, Rabbi Moline writes:

Politically, I find the most in common with mainline Protestants. But they are unreliable advocates for a safe and secure Israel. And for me, Israel is a bottom line issue.

He tells this story:

For many years, I have been positively engaged with the Episcopal Church in both Virginia and D.C. I was asked to sit on a panel at the Washington National Cathedral with then Middle East Bishop Riah H Abu El-Assal. His assertion, as I called for cooperation, that "Jesus hung on the cross for only three days; the Palestinians have hung there for 40 years" was about as anti-Semitic a remark as I had ever heard. It was greeted by applause from the crowd and silence from my hosts.

In contrast with these left-wing Christians, Rabbi Moline has found unshakable support on the right:

I am grateful for the unflinching support that many in the evangelical community have offered the state of Israel. And I am humbled to discover that many of my prejudices about these devoted Christians are wrong.

That is exactly how Jews should feel in these circumstances. It's mind-boggling that we're even having this debate.

(Included in Haveil Havalim #119.)

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Christian Zionists and left-wing anti-semites

Judith Weiss at Kesher Talk recently wrote an interesting and provocative post suggesting that the Christian Zionists' Bible-based rationale for Zionism is not an unalloyed positive. She wrote:

Listening to Pastor Hagee, I felt grateful that he recognizes the genuine existential threat to Israel, without being intimidated by political correctness; has the energy and persistence and personal authority to convince and mobilize others to use political clout and monetary donations to support Israel; and exhibits genuine courage and humility by doing so in the face of both death threats from antisemites and ongoing suspicion from the Jewish community (both of which he describes in the conference call).

But at the same time, she said she thought that his "intepretation of his religious imperatives leads him to be dismissive those of us who believe the re-instatement of a Jewish nation in Israel is more than legitimate, but think a Biblical justification is at best insufficient and at worst an impediment to the cause." She added, "If the main argument for the support of Israel is the authority of God, then using the authority of God to support the destruction of Israel (as with many Islamist theologians) can only be opposed by claiming 'my God is bigger than yours.'"

The discussion in the comments -- where she debated the point with co-bloggers Alcibiades and Benjamin -- was excellent, and I commend it to you.

I share some of Judith's misgivings, possibly because of my own religious doubts. But ultimately I think that the question is not what is the right argument for a right cause but rather what is an effective argument for a right cause. And my view is, "Let a thousand arguments bloom."

Despite my own misgivings about the nature of God-based arguments, I couldn't be more grateful for the leadership we've seen from Christian Zionists. So I was delighted to read that they have been publicly recognized -- at least once. At a dinner honoring the outgoing Israeli ambassador, Danny Ayalon, Congressman Tom Lantos, a California Democrat who's a Holocaust survivor, said what should have been said many times, and earlier. In the words of Arlene Samuels, who was there:

The chatty crowd quieted as Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), spoke eloquently about the past and the present world climate of anti-Semitism. Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor serving in Congress, disclosed, "I assumed naively that the chapter [Holocaust] of human history would be a dark nightmare moment of the past but that is not the case." He continued, "We have a new dimension, a convergence of historic anti-Semitism coupled with Muslims and the intellectual elite. This makes for a powerful cocktail yet, we have a powerful antidote [for anti-Semitism]; the decent Christians who learned the lessons of the Holocaust. The antidote to Auschwitz is the Christian community in the United States. We cannot tell you how precious you are to us. We deeply love and respect you more than you'll ever know because you represent the finest of civilization."

Rep. Lantos then said, "All Christians, please stand."

Christians don't advocate for Israel to gain accolades, yet when we stood, the sustained applause from Jewish hands settled on me like a crown. It's safe to say that other Christians in the hall, who have advocated for Israel much longer than I, felt the weight of the crown even more profoundly. With a noticeable contingent of evangelicals, including ICEJ Executive Director Rev. Malcolm Hedding, Earl Cox, (founder- Israel Always) and Ben Kinchlow, Co-hosts of Front Page Jerusalem Radio, I reveled in this historic moment in time; a moment which culminated 25 years of work and relationship-building between evangelical Christians and the state of Israel, pioneered in part by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem who planted a small seed of Christian Zionism in 1980.

As Lantos suggested, things are not so rosy on the other side of the political divide. Anti-Zionism, often indistinguishable from anti-semitism, is on the increase on the political left, more so the farther left you go, and more so the more you get in with the activists.

In fact, the Anti-Defamation League conducted a conference this weekend called "Finding Our Voice," to help left-wing Jews deal with anti-Zionism and anti-semitism among their comrades.

Workshops will feature presentations by university professors, community activists, elected officials and religious leaders. Among the titles are “That’s Not Funny: Cartoons and Editorials — What’s Legitimate and What Isn’t”; Opposing the War While Opposing Anti-Semitism”; “Breaking Through the Myth of Jewish Whiteness”; and “Using Positive Messages to Challenge Hate: Advocacy on the Campus.”

The keynote address will be presented by Anthony Julius, a British Jewish attorney who successfully defended Emory University Professor Deborah Lipstadt in the libel suit brought by Holocaust denier David Irving.

While much attention has been paid to the so-called “new anti-Semitism,” in which antipathy toward Jews is masked as rabid criticism of Israel, the Finding Our Voice conference represents the first organized effort by liberal Jews to fight back.

More on the conference here, here, and at the American Thinker and JunkYardBlog.

Anti-semites on the right have been largely marginalized. For example, Bill Buckley purged a whole crew in the 50s and again a few in the 90s. But we're still waiting for liberals and progressives to do the same.

But first, you have to recognize you have a problem. And you won't when you have headlines like this: "Unlikely source of racism spurs Jews." Nor will you when you have people who are shocked about it, like this: "'The progressive movement is about tolerance and justice and peace,' Litman said. 'It seems so strange that hatefulness can have a home there.'"

And even if you recognize there's a problem, you can't blame yourself first:

A spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace, a liberal advocacy group working on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said: “From our perspective, you cannot get to the roots of anti-Semitism in the progressive movement without honestly addressing the severe human-rights violations that Israel engages in every day. Judging by the lineup, that kind of honest examination is not likely to happen at this conference.”

I've used the metaphor of a boiling frog before. It works. That water is getting hotter and hotter.

Extra: The New York Times reports on an article about the American Jewish Committee's publication of an article accusing some Jews of aiding anti-semitism. (By the way, when did the Committee become a "conservative advocacy group"? What universe is the NY Times in? Don't answer that.)

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