Re: Antisemism and the Us Left/(Was Zionists & American Blacks)

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

At 9:09 AM -0800 12/8/03, andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> I said that your denunciatory approach, though morally correct, was
> not constructive. I can get away with it somewhat better thana
> non-Jews, but even from me it is not very effective. It is the
> equivalent of refusing to stand for the Star Spangling Banner at the
> ballgame, a technically justified position that mainly pisses people
> off.

About Israel, almost anything that touches on the fundamental
political structure of Israel -- such as advocacy of Palestinian
refugees' right of return -- would piss off a number of people,
liberal Zionists included, even when couched in the language of
simply raising the awareness of Palestinian refugees' plight, rather
than advancing it as a clear political demand.

At 9:09 AM -0800 12/8/03, andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> It doesn't help builda llinaces to tell your potential allies, Don't
> Be Stupid, Your Fears Are Irrational, Your History Is Irrelevant,
> You Are The Oppressor Now.

There are social contexts in which Jews can be still the oppressed,
and my criticism of comparing defense of the Law of Return in Israel
to affirmative action for American Blacks doesn't negate it.

Building alliances goes _both ways_.  My criticism may offend a
number of people, but so does comparison of the Law of Return to
affirmative action, first and foremost American Blacks and
Palestinians in Israel, the occupied territories, and diaspora,
including in the United States.  Are liberal Zionists interested in
building alliances with American Blacks and Palestinians?  Or only
with those among them who regard feelings of liberal Zionists as more
important than their own feelings, fears, and memories rooted in
history?
--
Yoshie

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