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How Liberal Jews Are Enabling the Second Holocaust

By on 5.17.10 @ 1:04PM

In the past, I’ve remarked to friends that the difference between a Jewish liberal and a Jewish conservative is that when a Jewish liberal walks out of the Holocaust Museum, he feels, “This shows why we need to have more tolerance and multiculturalism.” The Jewish conservative feels, “We should have killed a lot more Nazis, and sooner.”

I thought of this as I read Peter Beinart’s new essay, “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment,” which argues that “liberal Zionism” is in danger unless groups such as AIPAC start to take a more critical view of Israel’s actions. Beinart, using a Frank Luntz survey of young American Jews as a jumping off point, writes:

Particularly in the younger generations, fewer and fewer American Jewish liberals are Zionists; fewer and fewer American Jewish Zionists are liberal. One reason is that the leading institutions of American Jewry have refused to foster — indeed, have actively opposed — a Zionism that challenges Israel’s behavior in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and toward its own Arab citizens. For several decades, the Jewish establishment has asked American Jews to check their liberalism at Zionism’s door, and now, to their horror, they are finding that many young Jews have checked their Zionism instead.

The problem, however, isn’t with leading Jewish organizations that defend Israel, but with liberalism. As sickening as it sounds, Jewish liberals see their fellow Jews as noble when they are victims being led helplessly into the gas chambers, but recoil at the thought of Jews who refuse to be victims, and actually take actions to defend themselves. It isn’t too different from American liberal attitudes toward criminal justice or terrorism, where morality is turned upside down and the lines between criminals and victims become blurred, and in certain cases, even reversed.

In the case of Israel, what changed over time was that Israel went from a state that exemplified Jewish victimhood (a role that Jewish liberals are comfortable with) to one in which Jews were actually in a position of power, which liberals are not comfortable with. Meanwhile, Palestinians, aided by the media, effectively exploited Jewish liberals by portraying themselves as the real victims, and Israel as the oppressors. I experienced this first hand once when I went on a Birthright Israel trip (which is a paid trip for American Jews to travel to Israel). At one point, we went to the cemetery at Mount Herzl, which is sort of Israel’s equivalent of Arlington National Cemetery, and is located by Yad Vashem, Israel’s main Holocaust Museum. While stopping at the cemetery, we were asked to offer our feelings standing in a cemetery honoring fallen Israeli soldiers, and the first American Jew who commented was this liberal girl who reflected, “All I can think about is how many Palestinian graves there are.”

Israel, right now, is surrounded by terorrist groups dedicated to the nation’s destruction. Palestinian society teaches its children to aspire to slaughter Jews much in the same fashion as the Nazis indoctrinated their young. Suicide bombers who die in the act of killing Jewish civilians are celebrated as heroes. It’s a culture that glorifies death and uses women and children as human shields to gain sympathy from the international community — and especially liberal Jews. And the terrorists are receiving aid from Iran, a radical nation that vows to wipe Israel off the map within the context of seeking a nuclear weapon.

Yet against this backdrop, all liberal Jews want to do is to pin the blame on Israel’s efforts to defend itself, and engage in the magical thinking that more Jewish concessions will create peace and security. By doing so, they are helping the enemies of the Jews who are intent on finishing the job that Hitler started. While Israel has no shortage of critics, when Jewish liberals attack Israel, it’s that much more damaging, because Israel’s enemies can say, “See, even Jews admit that Israel is the oppressor.”

While I would never suggest that Jews who happen to be politically liberal would want a second Holocaust to happen, I do think that by participating in a campaign to defang Israel and prevent it from taking the actions necessary to defend itself, that Jewish liberals are making things significantly easier for those who do want to carry out a second Holocaust.

Luckily, though, there are a lot of Jews in Israel who are determined not to let that happen.

View all comments (119) |

Pete| 5.17.10 @ 1:55PM

Fascinating. A true testament to liberal brainwashing in the US.

sheila | 5.18.10 @ 12:05PM

Let's get more of this enlightened commentary to the brainwashed brilliant in our University and the Israeli Universities. This "guilt" gene has to end here.

Yaakov| 5.18.10 @ 4:45PM

I have great difficulty in determining any action which I may take that will: give Eyes to See and Ears to Hear --Deut. 29. If you are not defective of thought and are reading this, then be aware: everything important in the Bible is stated or performed twice. There is the Exodus from Egypt story which makes Pharaoh appear as a fool refusing to acknowledge the G-D of Jacob. That was event One, and G-D said"...who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but rather ...-from all the places that I banished them-(paraphrased "-"). Jeremiah 23:7 and 8.
I see a second Exodus to happen, and the We are the tools actors for G-D this time. Beware.
Shalom

Yaakov| 5.18.10 @ 8:47PM

---yet another comment regarding this article and the Rabbinical list below, I know some of these Rabbis and hear them speak. I have not been able to determine if liberalism is brain washing as there are articles supporting or mental abnormalities which prevent a person from following a logical train of thought of "cause and effect", but it absolutely apparent that there are major sections of history and logic that they are unable to See or Understand how these catastrophes could be brought about by their actions. Hence they claim zero responsibility and will continue on the same path.

I await a process where all of us will be suddenly and completely aware of our own actions and the results we create.
Shalom Shalom

Chavdar Dobrovidel| 5.19.10 @ 4:51AM

I agree with the sharp critique of the cowardly and suicidal side of much of Jewish Liberalism. Jews in Israel should never give up Palestine and should instead make it a regular part of Israel, not a semi autonomous part of Israel. Jews should flood Palestine with Jewish settlers, and follow the example of the Jordanian government which simply killed the entire family of any suicide bomber who killed others in Jordan. Most of these suicide bombers were Palestiniann as well. If the Jews were given permission and blessing by God to conquer and settle Canaan/Israel , which they were given indeed, yet the Romans took Israel by force and by forced destroyed much of Jewish social presence in Israel and success in Israel, and Israel's lack of existence thereafter was accepted by the Civilized world as all right, why should not the Israelis by force take back Palestine and keep Israel, when they are doing only something that takes back what was given to them by God, and which was stolen from them. Israels several victories in wars against Arab nations suggest strongly that God favors Israel to exist as a nation now, and to continue to exist and defend itself by force.

I am Bulgarian, and my country suffered under the Turkish Muslim oppressors for 500 long years during the time Europe began its Renaissance, went through the Age of Enlightment. During this time our beautiful women were regularly stolen from their families to be married by force to Turks, and to be forced to convert to Islam. Bulgarians were continually humiliated by the Turks by their laws and actions. Bulgarians suffered much during this 500 year period, and it was only after 500,000 of us were murdered by the Turks during our April uprising of 1875 that the Russians stepped in to fight against the Turks for us and liberated us from the rapes, thefts, murders and humiliations from the Turks.

Both Renaissance and Enlightment were missed by the Bulgarians for the most part because of the Turks.
We had so many uprisings against the Turks that our population remained at the 5 million level at the end of these 500 years, and it began these 500 years also at the 5 million level. We Bulgarians were the biggest mecca in Europe for Armenians after the Turks kindly, and gently murdered 2.5 million Armenians and their government still officially pretends to this day that this holocaust as well as their murder at that period of 2 million Greeks, it pretends these holocosts never happened. Long Live Israel, and may God give sense to the cowards among the Jews in Israel and make them the warriors of God that Israel was made up of in so much of the Old Testament days

Chavdar (This is the name of one of our most famous leaders against Turkish oppression , a Robin Hood of Bulgaria) Dobrovidel

NuritG| 5.19.10 @ 5:25PM

You could have not said it better. Let people learn that when Islam dominates, only death, rape, murder and oppression trumps. When will it sink into the "enlightened-progressive" world's brain that it is either Islam or us; no cohabitation will ever transpire?!

Alan Brooks| 5.17.10 @ 2:53PM

"The Jewish conservative feels, 'We should have killed a lot more Nazis, and sooner.' "

Count me in; we should have leased Western Germany to the Russians from 1945- '47

Curmudgeon | 5.18.10 @ 3:01PM

For starters, that's not sooner, that's also too late.
And do you really think the Sovs would have stopped there?

Rich| 5.18.10 @ 7:47PM

Note to Alan: The viciousness associated by the Nazis to the Jewish people can only be trumped by the Russian Pograms datng back to the 1800's, that are still happening to this day. Don't ever replace a killer with a murderer.

PAthena| 5.19.10 @ 10:43PM

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were allies in World War II from 1939 to 1941. Their murderous policies were similar, Germany having murdered 6 million Jews plus others, the Soviet Union having murdered many more millions (See the Black Book of Communism), including 22,000 Poles in Katyn. The Soviet Union was as bad, if not worse, than Hitler German, and lasted much longer.

Alan Brooks| 5.17.10 @ 4:29PM

... that way there would have been fewer skinheads in 2010.

Tim*| 5.17.10 @ 5:35PM

...... but more Bolsheviks .

Curmudgeon | 5.18.10 @ 3:05PM

Gee, I guess that explains all of them in what is now the formerly Soviet bloc, doesn' t it? Unlike the former West Germany, the East *never* practiced Vergangenheitsbewältigung ("Coming to terms with the past')

Rich| 5.18.10 @ 7:52PM

Skinheads, who are completely devoid of the art of debate, are a direct result of liberalism

A.| 5.17.10 @ 4:32PM

A liberal, secular Jewish friend once told me he had nothing "but hatred" for the Israelis, and made this attitude clear at numerous times. It was unfortunate because he was a good man in all other matters.

I wonder how much of his anti-Israeli attitude was simply a cowardly desire to protect the advantages and peace he had known all of his life in the USA by not wanting to "look bad" by supporting an unpopular (in the liberal world, at least) cause like the protection if Israel? And I wonder how history will regard people like him if a second Holocaust does occur.

SDProg| 5.17.10 @ 7:10PM

Mr. Klein cites no evidence and oversimplifies the issue. He gives no historical context and paints the Palestinians with a broad brush. Basically, Klein wants us to believe that any military action the Israeli government undertakes is justified because of the holocaust. Never mind the fact that despite the rhetoric of some unsavory regimes in the Middle East these same regimes lack the collective military power to really challenge Israel. No government is beyond question, but for many conservatives it seems like Israel is the only exception.

Swami| 5.18.10 @ 10:03AM

I think you misread it, SDProg. Klein does not say "because of the Holocaust, anything Israel does is justified." If anything, he says "the lesson of the Holocaust is that even decent, kind, loving and altruistic people have to be prepared to defend what they love, or it can be destroyed."

I am reminded of a chilling moment asking questions about a young relative's recent class discussion about the Holocaust. I asked if the teacher covered how the Holocaust ended. Why did the Germans *stop* killing Jews? Simple question. No answer. It seems, the truth, that they were forced to stop when American, British and Russian soldiers killed so many Germans that the Holocaust couldn't continue, was unpalatable to an American public school teacher.

There is nothing wrong in applying lessons learned. You seem to be saying, by contrast, that since the Arab states lack the collective military power to challenge Israel (incorrect, they currently lack the power to defeat Israel, they can certainly challenge it!) then the Israelis have no justification in trying to protect citizens. No government is beyond questioning, but for many liberals it seems like Israel is the only one worth questioning. Ignoring far greater abuses elsewhere, and focusing the questions on Israel **because it is Israel** is a form of racism.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:39PM

Where is your evidence that I don't strongly condemn regimes like Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, etc.? I have on many occasions. I believe all governments are in need of questioning. You also do realize that liberals do work for organizations like Human Rights Watch that do issue critical reports on governement abuse around the world including Iran, Egypt, North Korea, and Myanmar. Israel has a right to defend itself, but we disagree on the best way to do this. You seem to favor the use of force, while I favor diplomacy and leading by example.

ddk632 | 5.18.10 @ 7:15PM

This is fascinating. How do you speak to mortar shells and Katyusha rockets when they are flying overhead into your neighborhood? Is there a special code of conduct that will make them turn around and safely land back in the Gaza strip, and say "sorry, didn't mean to try to kill your civilians there, just wanted to say hello". After every major attempt at diplomacy, negative events have happened; the first Intifada broke out after negotiations with Arafat broke down. The defense of the nation, which is Israel's business and not anyone elses, is not a mutually exclusive process to negotiations; both can happen at the same time. However, when one's country is repeatedly attacked, a response is well warranted. That rule applies to all nations, why not Israel?

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 10:28PM

They have a right to respond when under attack, but the response is often disproportionate from what I've seen and this bears out when comparing Israeli deaths with Palestinian deaths during their conflicts. To learn more about where I'm coming from I suggest you read the preview of this book: http://books.google.com/books?.....;f;=false. It goes into all the historical detail this subject deserves and isn't a polemic like most of the books on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. I should also point out that Hamas deserves a lot of blame for their role in perpetrating the continuing violence. I have no love for theocratic governments of any persuasion.

Laine| 6.6.13 @ 9:40PM

Israel PREVENTS a lot of deaths by looking after its citizens with a wall discouraging bombers, bomb shelters vs Pali rockets and excellent medical care for the wounded. Palestinians CAUSE a lot of death among their own citizens by violating cease fires and attacking Israel, situating their rocket launchers and ammunition depots in residential areas against the Geneva conventions and building nothing to protect Palestinians or deal with injuries (many victims are treated in Jewish hospitals!). Then someone foolish like you uses the predictably higher Palestinian death rate to claim that Israel's response to being attacked is "disproportionate". The "diplomacy" of someone that clueless is a suicide pact. No one has ever won a war by merely matching the violence of those trying to kill them! If you doubt that Palestinians are at war with Israel, read the Hamas charter and know that Palestinians vote for Hamas and its charter.

Jon Scallan| 5.18.10 @ 2:09PM

OF COURSE! Of course we find a liberal who feels that hatred of Jews is "ok" because they don't CURRENTLY have the means to act on it. ALL liberals are cowards. ALL liberals despise the brave and the good because they themselves do not have the courage or strength to be either of those things. The socialist utopia that liberals (oops! Sorry: "Progressives". Forgot they had to change their names since the old "liberal" tag left a bad taste in everybody's mouthes) are always fighting for means no one EVER fights or stands up for themselves. No one EVER demonstrates fortitude. Diversity is the new GOD unless we're talking about people who disagree with the "progressives". Then dissent MUST be silenced. THIS is why "progrssives" despise the US and Israel. Because until liberalism decays and weakens both coutries beyond the point of no return, both coutries still stand for freedom through strength instead of servitude through boot-licking and cowardice. "progressives" truly make me sick and are the scum of the world. There isn't a such thing as an "intellectual progressivism". There is only self-loathing hypocritical scumbags who enjoy seeing the weakness of others. In the case of Israel, you will be sorely disaapointed.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:46PM

When did I ever say it's okay to hate Jews? I didn't realize that criticizing policies of the Israeli government constituted as anti-semitism. I'm a liberal/progressive and I'm proud of it. There is such a thing as intellectual progressivism, but you have likely never gone looking for it because you are filled with hate due to a flawed understanding of what liberals want. I have found intellectual conservatives and I can respect them despite the differences I have with them.

HK| 5.18.10 @ 3:24PM

SDProg says "some unsavoury regimes" in the M/E, despite their rhetoric, lack the military wherewithal to act on that rhetoric. They are, however, with the aid of Iran and other terrorism sponsors, working hard on getting that wherewithal. Plus, SDProg's comment implies that somewhere in the Mid-east are regimes that are "savoury." Name one, please (apart from Israel, that is).

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:15PM

Actually, it doesn't imply that. Which states besides Iran and Syria do you have in mind? Also, Iran's government may bark, but it has historically not been an agressor in foreign wars. I also don't believe Iran's blossoming youth population yearns for such a war.

ed| 5.19.10 @ 1:11AM

you are a worthless dog

L.E. Powers| 5.17.10 @ 10:41PM

I also wish Mr. Klein had cited the history and evidence SDProg seems to want. If he had, then the case for Israeli self defense and its foreign policy vis-a-vis the Palestinian Question would be clear. Yes, as SDProg points out, Israel is the strongest power in the region; but why is that a surprise when they were attacked even at the moment of their founding in 1948?

The Palestinian Question is only a problem because Israel's neighbors first encouraged the Arabs within the newly formed Israel's borders to flee following their own expulsion of Jews from the Arab countries. Israel accepted all the Jewish refugees. They also warned the Arabs that were being encouraged to leave not to, or face the consequences of losing their land. After the Arab countries encouraged Arab flight from Israel, they chose not to absorb these people, but put them in refugee camps and not allow them to integrate--leading to the problem of "homeless Palestinians."

Israel has the right to defend itself, as does any country. If the Soviet Union was doing to Germany what the Palestinians in the form of the various state-sponsored terrorist organizations have been doing to Israel, we would have had WW3.

Go study the facts. Once they are really known, it is hard for anybody who is fair minded to object to Israel's policy.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 1:02AM

You should read this book for a comprehensive history of Israel's foreign policy: http://books.google.com/books?.....p;f;=false

Swami| 5.18.10 @ 10:09AM

An interesting but fundamentally flawed work.
Written from a liberal mindset, it makes some classic errors, such as the implicit assumption that a peace treaty is self-enforcing. History teaches otherwise. The treaty does not bind Egypt, reality does. Egypt is one islamic coup d'etat away from denouncing its peace treaty and resuming its state of war with Israel. American money, and Israel' s armed forces are insurance against this occurance.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:08PM

You have anything except hypotheticals? I have not seen any indication that the Egyptian government intends to break this treaty. Israel is already strong enough though. At this time, no coalition of Middle Eastern states could defeat Israel and Israel has nuclear weapons, which they don't have as well. Also, is it a flawed perspective to assume flawed humans make mistakes? Do you believe every military action the Israeli government has taken is justified?

HS| 5.19.10 @ 7:08PM

To put the author of the recommended book in perspective, Maoz is someone who has written that Israel should disband its nuclear weapons program so that there will be peace. Hm. He is also someone loved by the left, and this very book is recommended by Norman Finklestein, the Holocaust denier.

SDProg| 5.22.10 @ 8:34PM

This isn't a substantive argument at all. Maoz's argument is much more complex than what you are portraying. Finkelstein isn't a Holocaust denier and besides Maoz can't control who likes or recommends his books. Maoz's work is far from a polemic and Mark Tessler, a highly-respected mainstream scholar, offers an offcial endorsement/recommendation.

Heather Robinson | 5.17.10 @ 11:36PM

Thank you for your courage and clear thinking on this most important of issues, Mr. Klein. Thank G-d someone finally wrote this. G-d helps those who help themselves.

Barry Davis | 5.18.10 @ 1:14AM

The Jews who defang Israel are useful idiots. They are led by reform clergy, more interested in social justice and socialism who feel more at home in the pews of Jeremiah Wright's Church (even when he attacks Israel) than they do singing the anthem of Israel.

These are the Rabbi's who endorsed Obama as a stalwart friend of Israel and join J Street to undermine the defense of Israel. These are the Jews and Rabbi's who sign declarations insisting Israel must negotiate away sovereignty over Jerusalem for peace. Here is a list of those who can be found in California:
These are the California Rabbis who Endorsed Obama, vouching to Jews he was a stalwart friend of Israel - Their silence now is deafening!

It is not too late for them to apologize and redeem themselves

Are your rabbis on this list?

-Chairs:

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Laura Geller, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Richard N. Levy, Encino, CA
Rabbi Brian Lurie, San Francisco, CA

Rabbi Jonathan Aaron, Los Angeles, CA

Rabbi Adam M. Allenberg, Mountain View, CA
Rabbi Michael Barenbaum, Marin, CA
Rabbi Lewis Barth, Encino, CA
Rabbi Pamela Frydman Baugh, San Francisco, CA
Rabbi Leonard I. Beerman, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Karen Bender, Tarzana, CA
Rabbi Linda Bertenthal, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Sara Brandes, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Kenneth Chasen, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Hillel Cohn, San Bernardino, CA
Rabbi David J. Cooper, Piedmont, CA
Rabbi Mychal Copeland, Stanford, CA
Rabbi Stanley Davids, Santa Monica, CA
Rabbi Reuven Firestone, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Stacy Friedman, San Rafael, CA
Rabbi Jack S. Gabriel, Sonoma, CA
Rabbi Robert T. Gan, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Miriyam Glazer, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Jerrold Goldstein, Sherman Oaks, CA
Rabbi Donald Goor, Tarzana, CA
Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, Pasadena, CA
Rabbi Alan Greenbaum, Grass Valley, CA
Rabbi Alan Henkin, Northridge, CA
Rabbi Margaret Holub, Mendecino, CA
Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs, Woodland Hills, CA
Rabbi Ben Kamin, Del Mar, CA
Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, Palo Alto, CA
Rabbi Jim Kaufman, Valley Village, CA
Rabbi Jonathan Klein, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Lori Klein, Capitola, CA
Rabbi Debora Kohn, Berkeley, CA
Rabbi Allen Krause, Mission Viejo, CA
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, San Francisco, CA
Rabbi Noa Kushner, San Anselmo, CA
Rabbi Gail Labovitz, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Susan Laemmle, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Michael Lerner, San Francisco, CA
Rabbi Janet Marder, Palo Alto, CA
Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, Tarzana, CA
Rabbi Perry Netter, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Julie Pelc, Venice, CA
Rabbi Bruce Raff, Woodland Hills, CA
Rabbi Dorothy A. Richman, Berkeley, CA
Rabbi JB Sacks-Rosen, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi John Sherwood, Oxnard, CA
Rabbi Suzanne Singer, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Ruth Sohn, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Ron Stern, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Martin Weiner, San Francisco, CA
Rabbi Josh Zweiback, Los Altos, CA.
Here is what they represented to us:

We join together to support Senator Obama for President, and we do so in the belief that he will best support the issues important to us in the Jewish community.

Some of us know Senator Obama personally, and we recognize that he has been inspired by Jewish values such as Tikkun Olam and the pursuit of justice, and he is deeply committed as well to a civil discourse between opposing arguments. We also know that Senator Obama will inspire young people, both in the Jewish community and the wider American community, to become more involved in improving this country and repairing the world.

We know that Barack Obama’s longstanding, stalwart support for Israel is a testament to his own principles as well as the strong bi-partisan pro-Israel movement in America, and we fear that the attempts by some to use Israel as a wedge issue against him - unjustifiably - is dangerous in that it politicizes the pro-Israel position. Most importantly it has completely distorted Senator Obama’s record. With his tough but pragmatic approach to Iran, Senator Obama is in the best position to restore faith in America as a leader in the fight against serious threats to Israel, our allies, and the United States.

Senator Barack Obama inspires in us the hope for an America once more called to its best values. We know him to be a man of incredible integrity, born of a deep and abiding spiritual faith based on the teachings of the Hebrew Prophets, and committed to achieving a world of peace with justice for all people.

Ed Kubeck| 5.18.10 @ 12:33PM

Barry, Thanks for sharing the evidence of how these rabbi's promote the propaganda of the democrats and even more deadly promote a completely irresponsible and wreckless endorsement of Obama who they know nothing about. They state that he is Pro-Israel, but show no proof of that (propaganda). They talk of his record as if he had one in the Senate, but relay no proof (propaganda). Instead, they speak out against those who do not like his views as the enemy. This is perfect propaganda Soviet/Nazis style. The key to the Rabbi's statement is their last line of "commited to achieving a world peace with justice for all people." Somehow the rabbis see an unknow (Obama) as one to provide that. The rest of us know that those who are free are the ones who have peace and justice, and the only reason for that happening is because of countries like America!!!!

A.| 5.18.10 @ 1:05PM

How these California Rabbi's could have endorsed Obama despite the fact that the Los Angeles Times refused to release the videotape of Obama and Rashid Khalidi lambasting the Israelis is beyond me.

If these Rabbi's had any real courage they would sign a joint letter demanding that the tapes be released (better late than never) so the Israelis can know what our president really thinks about them in his own words.

Andre| 5.18.10 @ 1:34AM

Any rabbi who signed this letter has just about as much credibility as homer simpson! What complete fools. What useful idiots. These rabbis should be so ashamed that they should issue a public apology for the harm they have done to Jews and to Israel.

daniel| 5.18.10 @ 1:58AM

Liberalism, another name for the golden calf.

Jewish Marksman | 5.22.10 @ 12:12AM

Genius.

Sam| 5.18.10 @ 2:47AM

This entire article and some of the comments were RIDICULOUS! I am pissed that you would characterize those of us Jews who don't think like you do as somehow enabling another holocaust or opposing Jews and Israelis who defend themselves.

That's what infuriates me about conservative Jews. These big bearded, torah tapping phonies just assume that the poor Israelis are just trying to protect themselves and those evil Arabs always try to kill them.

No one is listening to you anymore. Israelis are just as capable of committing atrocities as anyone else, including Nazis. It's ironic that many conservative Jews implore us to remember the holocaust while encouraging the very same thing to be done to those dirty, less than human Arabs.

Luckily, most of us Jews know how to think for ourselves and aren't fooled by our backward, outdated relics who bleet and whine about protecting Israel. Newsflash: Israel has become immensely powerful. We must moniter them as we moniter those with power to make sure that they don't abuse it, as they have done recently.

nina| 5.18.10 @ 7:53AM

I wonder how you would feel if you lived in a border town in Israel and got attacked daily. I wonder how you would have felt when they told you needed a shower when you arrived at a camp.I bet you wished you had power available and no one was preventing you from using it to defend yourself. You are a useful idiot and a self hating Jew.Go and ask that USC student what she wants to do to you.

Lake Shore Drive| 5.18.10 @ 7:54AM

Sam...your word for today-meshuggener.

A.| 5.18.10 @ 12:46PM

Sam,

Assume for the sake of argument that the worst fears do become true, and there is a new Holocaust in Israel. Are you saying that this doesn't trouble you in the least?

walt kovacs| 5.18.10 @ 1:42PM

thank you

its important for all to see the jew hate that exists within the jewish community and why it occurs....straight out cognitive dissonance.

do not attack others because of your own guilt for not being observant and heading down the path towards total assimilation.

being strong does not mean a country has no right to defend itself. and not one person is calling for the annihilation of the arabs...cant say the same about the other side though.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 6:24PM

The quality of one's character is more important than being religiously observant.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 6:40PM

"I heard similar talk from Effie Eitam, a hard-edged former general who leads the National Religious Party, a coalition partner in Sharon’s government. Eitam, who is Sharon’s housing minister, said, “I don’t call these people animals. These are creatures who came out of the depths of darkness. It is not by chance that the State of Israel got the mission to pave the way for the rest of the world, to militarily get rid of these dark forces.” Eitam told me that he believes there are innocent men among the Palestinians, but that they are collectively guilty. “We will have to kill them all,” he said."

-From http://www.jeffreygoldberg.net.....ng_the.php

Effi Eitam is Netanyahu’s special emissary for overseas campus engagement.

Brenda| 5.18.10 @ 2:16PM

wow - you actually think that conservative Jews are all observant? What rock did you crawl out from under? Israel is not encouraging a holocaust of Arabs! quit talking crap or better yet sit down and shut up - you are making it dangerous for the rest of us.

Natan | 5.20.10 @ 12:08PM

Sam:

It's "monitor", not "moniter", and you are simply a demented ignoramus. And maybe genetically you are a Jew but in reality you are a dhimmi at best. I despise you and your ilk.

Daniel Murray| 5.18.10 @ 4:00AM

Sam,

Pitiful, your ideas of progress will only repeat a tragic past.

elixelx| 5.18.10 @ 4:17AM

"Basically, Klein wants us to believe that any military action the Israeli government undertakes is justified because of the holocaust...." SDProg

So, nincompoop, what exactly do you think "NEVER AGAIN!" means?

1400BCE Egypt, 1200BCE Amalek, 720 BCE Israel, 430BCE Shushan, 70CE Roman Palestine, 1290 England, 1492 Spain, 1500-1900 Pale of Settlement, Russia, Poland, MiddleEurope, 1933-1945 Europe , post-1948 every single Arab country.
Which Holocaust do you mean DC? WHICH HOLOCAUST?
"My People have suffered affront after after affront, daily, yearly, for decades, for centuries: AFFRONT THAT NEVER STOPS!" (paraphrase of Abarbanel's remonstrance to the Catholic Monarchs, 1492.)
"NEVER AGAIN"--do you hear that?--and certainly not from dolts like you!
Nowadays, we, here in the Jewish State, here, we do the pre-empting!

Lyonene | 5.18.10 @ 11:48AM

BS'D..
You tell em, Elix!!
G-d be with you in Israel, meanwhile us SANE Jews have to stand up to this drek and they are viscious!
Thank you for this article, Mr. Klein. I have been praying that more and more Jews willl come out and just tell the truth, take courage, tell people what horrible danger we are in.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:31PM

I'm viscious?

SDN| 5.18.10 @ 7:55PM

Is "scummy" clearer?

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 10:13PM

I'm not the one resorting to personal attacks, but you can believe what you want.

Paul from Texas| 5.18.10 @ 2:15PM

"Never Again" is taken 2 ways. By the liberal, as a warning to educate the world and to increase compassion. By the conservative, as a warning to be armed and ever-vigilent, to be ready AND ABLE to defend one's self, family and community against those who would kill you or them just for being Jews.

While I would submit that more education or compassion on the part of those who would otherwise despise us isn't a bad thing, there were some extremely highly-educated and otherwise (except for Jews) compassionate people near the top of the Nazi murder machine.

To the liberals, I have one question: which do you think is more apt to persuade YOUR potential murderer to go and do something else, a well-crafted, cogent and brilliantly delivered argument on your behalf, outlining how beautiful a person you are and how wonderful it would be for his soul to not kill you, OR the sound of a battle rifle being slammed into battery? Me, I'll take the rifle, thank you very much...and that of many friends and relatives.

Never Again" is an utterly meaningless and empty statement without the naked power to enforce it. Remember, idiot liberals (but I repeat myself), Anti-Semitism is the single most irrational hatred known to Mankind. Fancy arguments do nothing to persuade irrational people (and what else do you call those who strap explosive belts onto their own children?!), but the threat of taking something away from them that they value tremendously (their life, that of one of their kids, the existence of their mosque or the one in Mecca, etc.) is a strong force for persuasion. Nice simply does not, CANNOT, work against people who contemplate and/or practice genocide.

Would that every Jewish family in Europe in the late 1930s and early 1940s have had a rifle and 20 rounds of ammo...then we wouldn't be talking about "the 6 million" but more like the "German pogroms" that killed a few hundred and terrorized a lot of people BUT NO MORE.

What, you idiot liberals (and I again repeat myself) stopped the Holocaust? Guns, millions of them, wielded by Americans, Brits and Russian troops for the most part, and used to kill Germans. Now THAT is a formula for success, one so successful that no one has seriously tried to repeat the process in the 65 years since the last attempt ended. Let's stick with success, shall we?

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:29PM

My family suffered as yours did, but that doesn't mean I won't look at Israel critically from time to time. Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, but sometimes the Israeli government has overstepped in its response to attacks. Don't you think Israel's policies towards the Palestinians have had a major effect on how Palestinians view the Israelis? I believe many of Israel's military responses have been counterproductive to the peace process as it only ends up fueling more bitterness and resentment. I suggest you read these books for more background information and more cogent argumentation: http://books.google.com/books?.....p;f;=false and http://books.google.com/books?.....p;f;=false

HS| 5.19.10 @ 7:15PM

You keep recommending books from the far left. It was Maoz (a favorite of Norman Finkelstein's) before and now you add Burg, who is even further to the left, a supporter of J Street and the very left wing Meretz party. He wants the US to get tough with Israel until they cry uncle. I therefore have to think that this is where you are coming from.

SDProg| 5.22.10 @ 7:58PM

You've already made up your mind then. I would appreciate it if you provided some evidence to challenge their findings instead of pontificating over their ideology.

Natan| 5.20.10 @ 12:21PM

SDProg or whatever your real name is - what do you know about Israeli policies towards Palestinian Arabs? Can you support any of your accusations with facts rather than with distorted liberal and anti-Semitic drivel? Israeli army goes extra miles to protect "innocent" population (majority of which collaborates with terrorists) to its own detriment. Golda Meir once said that we will forgive arabs for killing our children but we will not them for forcing us to kill theirs. You have no clue what you are talking about. So get off your high "progressive" horse and stop being a useful idiot that you are so proudly exhibit here. Your reflexive anti-Israeli spin makes me sick.

SDProg| 5.22.10 @ 7:55PM

Can you support any of your assertions with facts? At least I make an attempt to cite sources whereas you have only responded to me with assertions.

Tim*| 5.18.10 @ 7:44AM

The Elephant In The Middle Of The Room !

Why Don't The Vast Majority Of Jewish Americans Support Conservative Principles ?

JEFF GORDON| 5.18.10 @ 7:45AM

You stupidly say that when a Jewish liberal walks out of the Holocaust Museum, he feels, "This shows why we need to have more tolerance and multiculturalism. Well, I'm a jewish liberal and I say we should have dropped 2 atom bombs on Germany after doing it to Japan !!!!

Swami| 5.18.10 @ 10:12AM

Ummm... Jeff?
After we nuked Japan, Germany had already been defeated and occupied for four months.

Just so we're all clear on the historical timeline, here.

Scott Adams| 5.18.10 @ 11:53AM

Not only that but Japan was given ample warning but decided to fight to the last man, woman and child. Nazi Germany fell to the Russians and the Americans.

StephenDvd| 5.18.10 @ 7:55AM

> No one is listening to you anymore.

Well, actually its the liberal establishment that is not being listened to anymore, as it has lost all credibility.

I consider myself a politically independent Christian, and neither liberal or conservative. But as Obama and his leftist government dig this country deeper into the pit of corruption and incompetance, I much prefer conservatives, as their follies are less dangerous to this country.

Klein hits the nail on the head here, and addresses an issue that has always perplexed me. Why do so many American Jews place their "liberalism" above self-preservation? Or, better, why so much self-loathing?

No country is above criticism, but the simple fact is that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East. The palestinians and surrounding Islamic countries have one goal: not to live in peace with Israel, but to destroy her, and Jew living in the world today.

That means you, too, "Sam". Wake up and smell the coffee!

StephenDvd| 5.18.10 @ 7:57AM

> and Jew living in the world today.

TYPO: should be "every Jew living in the world today"

JB| 5.18.10 @ 8:05AM

Sam,

The simple fact of the matter is that Israel is continuously under attack in one form or another from its neighboring states, especially Palestine. Choosing to believe this is not true (for whatever reason) does not suddenly make Israel's plight any less real. Israel has to take military action against its aggressors that desire to destroy it or it will be destroyed. Many liberal Jews believe that any military response by Israel to its attackers is unjust and/or downright evil, and so there is your fundamental difference Klein is talking about.

As a Jew, your choice to deny the truth on the ground in Israel is to effectively pardon the terrorists that attack it daily, and therefore you inadvertently welcome the destruction of your home nation.

martin j smith| 5.18.10 @ 8:10AM

Sam, let me introudcue you to a friend of yours by the name of Noam Chomsky. And, the Israeli government refused his admission to the State of Israel. In your case I would also refuse You to be admitted to that nation if you are not a so called Israeli ( yea I know about "Peace Now" and " J " street etc ). One more thing: In Israel a disproporationate majority have no faith in BHO at all and in this country a growing number of Jews have lost faith and are3 losing faith in him as well- as well the should.
Sam, you are aphoney troll and in my independent think I independently tell you to take a ,hike up a tall peak and stay there until you get some sense in your brain.

AliceL.| 5.18.10 @ 9:49AM

Beinart is an idiot. He is a Jew in Name Only and unfortunately, they are a majority of secular Jews. They know nothing of Jewish history or Judaism and are happy being victims.

AliceL.| 5.18.10 @ 9:51AM

Beinard is a typical girly boy who would not last a day in the IDF. He would hide under his bed if a bomb struck.

Glakes| 5.18.10 @ 10:01AM

Great article Mr Klein.. I am a Christian . I was brought up to respect the rights of Israel. I know Israel is right & the Arabs & radial Muslims are wrong . Although I don't understand the Jewish faith or the Muslim faith.. I have a good understanding about who has instigated needless death to innocent people & who promotes bloodshed time & again. Just read the book : O Jerusalem! By Larry Collins & Dominique LaPierre

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:49PM

How about you try this book as well?: http://books.google.com/books?.....p;f;=false

Karen| 5.18.10 @ 10:04AM

The question; "How stupid is a Jewish liberal" ?...has no real answer.It is purely rhetorical

potvin| 5.18.10 @ 10:56AM

What is wrong with these people? I'm Roman Catholic and Canadian. Here's my view. One Israel, indivisible. A Jewish state. God bless Bibi Netanyahu.

Paul B| 5.18.10 @ 11:04AM

Too bad the liberal/commie Jews are so vested in the deconstruction of our republic

there eyes will open when they see how many freinds they have if the diminishing of Christians in America succeeds, which they will have a great part in

oh

George Bush never let that scum Arafat near the WH and has been villified yet,

the beloved bubba Clinton had the mass murderer over on many occasions

their must be a Suicide gene

sarah| 5.18.10 @ 11:05AM

Liberalism leads towards death. Those who believe in GOD (and love life) cannot, by principal, adhere to liberalism. Liberals lobby for euthanasia, abortion, suicide bombers...you name it....the things which detract from life and end it. God is the God of the living. He wants you to live and prosper.

Kevin| 5.18.10 @ 11:24AM

Looks kind of like the mind set of the average American. Clueless and feminized to the point of stupidity...

Lysy| 5.18.10 @ 12:38PM

Liberalism is a mental disease !
Israel is already defanged ! Just look at their pathetic performance in war with Hezbos in 2006 and not much better with Hamas in 2008/2009.
Where is the Israel that whooped muzie's ass in 1967 !

walt kovacs| 5.18.10 @ 1:46PM

i am a liberal. i am a jew.

and please dont lump me in with those self hating bastiches....those deniers of history....those revisionists of mideast history.

and lysy, the reason the performance in the war in 2006 was so pathetic, is because israel chose to fight a "moral" war.

there is no morality in war....if you choose to fight, you must fight to win...and if you are fighting guerrilla terrorists, you must fight them on yours...not their...terms.

Paul| 5.18.10 @ 2:21PM

Congratulations, Walt, you are actually a traditional modern liberal, not one of these suicidal leftists. Unfortunately, people like you are on the verge of extinction, and have lost all power in the Demonrat Party, so the Leftists (who ALL hate Israel) run that asylum.

Trish| 5.18.10 @ 2:25PM

Interesting read, made me think. Thank you!

Glakes| 5.18.10 @ 3:04PM

They hide behind women & use children as shields and then lie . Lying is not in their vocabulary. It's part of a sick culture. How low can you go? That is the most despicable act you can do as man. setting off bombs where they could care less who gets killed.. witness the Times Square fool .. Demented Mullah's who safely sit on their asses and pass on a the worst kind of philosophy man has ever known . They are evil ..brainwashed by a 21st century verision of hate .. Humanity has to stop this right now. Are you listening World?

Tim*| 5.18.10 @ 3:15PM

Walt , this may help .
Interim Report , Winograd Commission Report :

· We found serious failings and shortcomings in the decision-making processes and staff-work in the political and the military echelons and their interface.

· We found serious failings and flaws in the quality of preparedness, decision-making and performance in the IDF high command, especially in the Army.

· We found serious failings and flaws in the lack of strategic thinking and planning, in both the political and the military echelons.

· We found severe failings and flaws in the defence of the civilian population and in coping with its being attacked by rockets.

· These weaknesses resulted in part from inadequacies of preparedness and strategic and operative planning which go back long before the 2nd Lebanon war.

tootrue| 5.18.10 @ 3:21PM

A friend of mind who is Jewish explained that American is the promised land, not Israel and that's why so many American Jews don't support Israel. I thought to myself, "If you don't support it, why should I?"

A.| 5.18.10 @ 5:07PM

My sense is that deep-down, that (US as promised land and not Israel) is a shared sentiment, unfortunately; why give up everything here to do something for those who "drew the shortest straw" so to speak, by being born in Israel? (Their view, not mine). I think the truth would come out and the confusion would be eliminated if more people looked at it that way.

It's tragic, but it's better to know the truth, I believe.

Ira| 5.18.10 @ 3:48PM

Kapos deserve only one fate.

section9| 5.18.10 @ 3:51PM

I am a Christian and a Zionist and a strong supporter of Governor Palin, and even I consider some of Israel's policies to be historically shortsighted, if only from the point of view of demographics.

Every Israeli Government since the Six Day War has proceeded with a policy of Settlements. Both Labour and Likud proceeded on this very shortsighted policy of intermixing Jews among the angry Palestinian Arabs. This only made it harder in the long run to have any kind of disengagement from them, which will be necessary in the long run for Israel's survival as a Jewish State.

Let's be clear: the Arab objective is a Judenrein Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. The only thing that prevents that is the State of Israel and her defense forces. Were the Jews to withdraw to the 1967 Green Line, there would be some other reason for the Arabs not to make peace (something Beinart and the liberals at J-Street don't quite understand).

Nevertheless, by remaining in "Palestine", the Israelis allow for Arab demographic growth to outstrip their own. This is a long term danger to the Jewish People, and can only be solved through seperation: cut the Palestinians loose in their own state, at long last, and let them be.

Jay E. Simkin| 5.18.10 @ 4:09PM

Jews' blind self-destructiveness is not new. Of the 603,550 adult Jewish men who left Egypt, only two - Caleb and Joshua - merited to enter the Promised Land. The others - who could not break the grasp of Egypt - died during the 40-year sojourn in the desert. They had complained endlessly about having left Egypt, wherein they had been brutally oppressed.

Jews are the product of centuries of oppression, which followed the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE). Since then, Jews, who stood-up for themselves, were usually murdered.

Jews are genetically disposed to be submissive and to kow-tow to their enemies. The Nazis - brilliant, within the limits of their moral and intellectual perversions - knew this. They found many Jewish helpers.

Jews embrace the "Holocaust", even though this word is viciously anti-Semitic. "Holocaust" means to sacrifice by fire. Yet, the Law that Moses brought down specifically and severely forbids Jews from even the appearance of human sacrifice, let alone the reality. Even though a Hebrew word - Shoah (catastrophe) - accurately and permissibly explains the Nazis' genocide, Jews flock to a museum in Washington, DC, the very name of which is a desecration. No Jew should enter that museum, until its name has been changed to "Museum of the Shoah".

Jewish liberals - like those besotted by Egypt (a sewer) - will not see their error. There is no way to reach them, any more than our ancestors were cured of their intoxication with Egypt by the miracles that preceded
the Exodus, the destruction of Egypt's Army, and the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.

Sometimes, ideas get such a grip, that there is no way to break that grip. Thus, it was decreed that adult Jewish males (those aged 20 years and older) would not merit to cross into the Promised Land. This decree did not apply to women: they understood Egypt was a sewer and did not look back at all.

In our era, the Germans - besotted by Nazism - were only freed when some 15% of them (11-12 million) had been killed. By ridding Germany of those, who were willing to do political business with machineguns, the Allies enabled peaceable Germans to take charge. Since then, Germany has been a wonderful force for good, in its region and beyond.

For Israel to be secure, it must change the demography of its enemies. This is hard. The US failed to do that in Iraq, leaving tens of thousands of old regime backers, who will forever resent their loss of power and their ability to brutalize their countrymen.

Israel must not make this mistake. Those, who proclaim hatred of Jews must be killed. "Collateral casualties" are of no concern. Had there been a concern about "collateral casualties" during World War II, the Nazis would still run Europe. Indeed, because the destruction visited upon Germany was so horrendous, Germans' commitment to their Federal democracy is rock-solid. Extremists are viewed with horror. That may explain why there have been no Muslim terrorist incidents in Germany.

In sum, Jews' self-destructiveness is not new. Until Jews cast-off the burden of centuries of oppression - and see that self-defense (rather than submissiveness) is a Divine command, they will suffer horrendously.

Jay E. Simkin
Nashua, NH, USA

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 5:59PM

Joshua and Caleb? I'll raise you Benedict Spinoza.

Natan| 5.20.10 @ 6:11PM

Your myopia is so predictable. Just so you know-in the eyes of jihadists you are no different from other infidels. Actually you are a much easier target lacking any natural self preservation. By the way it's Baruch Spinoza.

SDProg| 5.22.10 @ 7:50PM

Yes, as an atheist I realize jihadists/terrorists hate me, but what is your point? His latin name is Benedictus and thus Benedict is an approriate name.

Jeff| 5.18.10 @ 4:24PM

As Dick Morris stated, "No group of people is less dedicated to their own survival than the Jews". What a shame! I guess that "never again" thing was just a slogan.

Dan| 5.18.10 @ 4:41PM

Defend Israel ? Today's liberal Jews wouldn't defend the United States, nor even themselves against tyranny.

DiamondJack| 5.18.10 @ 6:31PM

I think you're overreacting a bit. With the snap of our fingers, we can get several HUNDRED congressmen to do our bidding. We have the two most senior advisers to the President. IF we really need the President, we have him. We're a tiny voting bloc, but I think we're doing just fine in influencing the vote. Lighten up!!

john| 5.18.10 @ 6:39PM

Iran, Syria and Hezbolla have been building a force that they believe will be able to defeat Israel in the very near future. At the very least inflict such damage that Israel can't recover from.
All one has to do is research the Iranian development in missile technology, and the recent rearming of proxies with precision guided missiles numbering in the tens of thousands. This won't be the Lebanon war of 06 with unguided rockets. Unless people wake up soon there won't be an Israel to complain about.

SDProg| 5.18.10 @ 6:48PM

If they did this then they'd essentially be committing suicide.

Lilly| 5.18.10 @ 8:17PM

I am sick and tired of the game Jews play with power and control in this country. Left or Right, America is a playground of amoral anti-freedom Jewish control freaks dragging the whole country through their tribal fetishes of fear and intolerance.

From the ACLU's relentless effort to oppress and control the speach and activity of the Christians Jews love to bully around and hate; to the ADL's campaigns to define "domestic terrorists" as any American who is not an anti-constitution Utopian death dreamer, I've had it!

This is not all I am angry about but this is enough to make the point. American Jewish "intellectuals" need to be taken out of power and their lock in control of higher education and therefore America's professions needs to be broken. As Woody Allen says "Obama should be a dictator for a few years." I missed the ADL, ACLU and the Jewish right telling the pip squeak, child molestor to STFU. I'm not playing the patsy for this insane and double talking hateful tribe anymore. They are going to take the whole world down with Israel.

Dennis D| 5.18.10 @ 8:26PM

Before election I think it was very clear that Obama would distance the USA a little from Israel and reach out to Muslims and still Obama won 75-80% of the Jewish vote . This tells me that the Jewish Liberals just don't care .

JmsA| 5.19.10 @ 1:41AM

The liberal Jews are suffering from sort of Stockholm Syndrome vis-a-vis those that wish to destroy Judaism. I have no problem with Jews defending themselves. The Palestinians have had plenty of chances of making and living in peace, and I believe the Israeli Jews would have been more than willing and capable of showing them how to prosper and thrive as they themselves have. The more things change the more the remain the same. There is good and bad in everything. The Jews have not cornered the market in evil as some would have us believe, yet the world stands idly by indifferent to the threats to Israel or in league with those who wish to destroy it. And by the way, I'm not Jewish.

chris| 5.19.10 @ 10:55AM

well i am not jewish(i am lutheran),but i linked to this article off of micheal savage,but i do find it strange the jewish (extreme)commitment to leftism,and im hardly a fire breathing right winger myself,having belonged to both political parties in my life,im currently a registered republican,but am becoming less interested in them as well.but anyways as an outsider looking in i admit to being confused by the likes of david axelrod,and rom emmanuel,who are both very close to president obama,and yet were silent when he snubbed netanyahu,i mean as a comparison,i have some english blood,and i was infuriated when obama removed a bust of winston churchhill,and my connection to england is tenuous at best,but rom emmanuel is not just jewish,i believe he is actually an isreali

Blue Collar Todd | 5.19.10 @ 3:33PM

I think there are Christian Kapos as well, those who support President Obama, the Democratic Party and their Liberal agenda. Liberalism seeks to take what Christians value and make it despised in society. The two key fronts this is happening on is abortion and gay rights. Both strike to core of Christian conviction about the value of life that God created and that there is a normative way men and women ought to relate to each other. Christians who support a Liberal agenda will help bring about the persecution of Christians.

Ken Besig| 5.19.10 @ 4:49PM

The American Jewish Community and the Israeli Jewish Community have for some time now matured and strengthened in different directions, with American Jews more comfortable and confident in their strength as an American community, and Israel less doubtful regarding it's future and more assured of it's military and economic success. The time has long since passed when most Diaspora Jews had deep personal, emotional, political, and even financial connections with the Jewish State. This loss of connection is what has led to the development of anti Israel and pro Palestinian groups like JStreet, has allowed an American President Barack Obama to publicly and deliberately humiliate the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and has given carte blanche to Jew haters like Watlt and Mearsheimer to shamelessly publish their neo Nazi rants. Will this lead to a Holocaust, that is, an attempt to exterminate American Jews along the lines of the European Holocaust of WWII? Almost certainly not, although the future of American Jewry is in doubt, not because of a potential genocide but more because of rampant assimilation and a decrease in Jewish identification with traditional Judaism. We Jews have always needed a crisis or an immediate danger to focus our energies on who we are as a People, and what our Jewish values are. I personally see Barack Obama as that crisis and immediate danger to us with his antagonism and hostility towards America's most loyal, reliable, and important ally, Israel. Indeed in the past year and a half Barack Obama, with support from Rahm Emmanuel, David Axelrod, and Samantha Powers, has successfully alienated both the American Jewish Community and the Israeli Jewish Community from his Democratic Party and his government. This might be just what the Jews need to wake up.

Nurit G| 5.19.10 @ 5:11PM

When the lines between criminals and victims become blurred in many cases the criminal, the Arabs terrorist become the victim. The Israeli Left useful idiots whether is it the media, Leftist organizations, academia, and Leftist kooks individuals aid and abet the Arabs to effectively portray themselves as the real victims, and Israel as the oppressors, the Nazi Apartheid state. Enough of this demented mentality.

AE| 5.19.10 @ 5:40PM

Gun show in Fredericksburg this weekend...350 tables. How many MOTs besides me will be there? Answer: not many, if ANY. Point: don't depend on the government in this country to prevent the "next Holocaust." Go get a copy of "It Can't Happen Here" and see if you find any analogous demagogery (even among the Christian Right supporters of Israel).

zeeman| 5.20.10 @ 12:14AM

SDProg felt that Israel's response to Gaza's rockets was out of proportion. OK, let's even it up. Israel must fire approx. 8,000 rockets into Gaza to even things up.
Chris...Rahm Emmanuel's jewishness is low down on his priority list. He is, first and foremost, an unprincipled political pitbull putting his self-interest way ahead of any jewish feelings.
Sam.....The statement you made that "jews are every bit as capable of committing atrocities as the Nazis" is very disturbing and absolutely not true. The Israelis in particular have conducted themselves even in times of peril in a controlled, dignified and moral manner. What other Army would telegraph where they planned to strike and advise the civilians to leave (using dropped leaflets and via direct phone calls.) The Nazi leadership was comprised of genuinely demented men. Are you inferring that the Israeli leadership is similar?

pamela | 5.20.10 @ 8:14PM

i am a strong supporter of israel. i hope that all future responses to the liberals/progressives who beat their breasts for the palestinians would be as respectful as possible and resist the temptation to use words like 'idiot' and other pejorative words when describing these people. using such words never informs the argument and always reduces the effectiveness of the argument(s) of the user of such words.

that by no means suggests that i don't believe, firmly, that those who recommend israelis negotiate rather than defend their country from the people who live to kill them aren't idiots.

and, further, notwithstanding the use of words i find inappropriate in what i believe should be a 'civilized' debate, i am enjoying the heck out of the back and forth and also learning a thing or two.

Natan| 5.20.10 @ 8:36PM

Pamela:
Just so you know-the definition of a "useful idiot" was coined by Lenin when describing the Western "progressives" who zealously defended the Bolshevik revolution. So with all due respect this is not a pejorative diminishing the civility of a discourse. And by the way, there is no room to "civility" when fighting for your own survival. You have to take the white gloves off.

Mordechai| 5.21.10 @ 2:24PM

The mass slaughter of humans of the Jewish faith, by Germans during WWII, was in their highest order of priority. It was attempt, in their grand scheme, to eradicate the Jewish gene pool. Surely, it was unthinkable in a 20th century civilized world; yet it happened. And, as unthinkable as it may seem, it could happen again.
Jews are entitled to preserve their existence, wherever they may live. The reality is, if it’s not the Germans attempting to eradicate the Jewish gene pool, there are other demonic entities in this world, who are ready to take up the gauntlet.
Unlike us Jews who are safely ensconced in the U.S.A., the Israeli Jews have a stern, foreboding reality to wake up to every day. And that is, the prospect of having rockets fall on them, of having bombs go off on their busses and in their markets, and of being attacked by neighboring powers at any moment. And now, with the radical Islamic regime in power in Iran, there exists the unthinkable prospect of having an atomic bomb fall on them. Remember, they thought it incomprehensible that Hitler would carry out his threat against the Jews.
The Jews in Israel have every right to preserve their existence. No others, whether they be American Jews or not, can dictate policy to the Israelis.
American Jews should take a perspective on why their forefathers came over here, and how it saved us from sure extinction, had they remained in Europe. The pogroms were indeed murderous. Their malevolence is in no way diminished by asserting that it was (mainly) because of the pogroms that large numbers of our forefathers made their way over here, thus saving the Jewish gene pool from what was to become the caldron of Europe.
Please click on the Breitbart TV web site to see and to hear top White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor John O. Brennan refer to the Holy Jewish City of Jerusalem--as “Al-Quds”
http://www.breitbart.tv/al-qud.....abic-name/

Mordechai| 5.23.10 @ 12:56AM

In their grand scheme, during the years 1933 to 1945, it was the Germans’ highest order of priority to eradicate the Jewish gene pool.
This is a must-understand, a starting basis, for the recognition of the situation of the Jews today, both in the U.S. and in Israel.
We in the U.S.A. are here, alive and safe and well-off, because our forbearers left Europe in great numbers during the 19th and early 20th centuries, because of the intolerable conditions in Europe.
The unfortunate ones who remained, fell prey to the policy of eradication of the Jewish gene pool, carried out by the Germans.
As the German army advanced in North Africa, they might soon have accomplished their goal of the ’final solution,’ had they been able to break through the British armies in Egypt. They were anticipating entering the territory of Palestine and exterminating the half million Jews residing there. The deal had already been made between Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Palestine.
What saved us from total annihilation in Palestine, and also saved what was to become the State of Israel, were the valiant efforts of the British army, with the participation of crack Guerka brigades from India, in holding off the Germans at Al’Alamayn.
Had the Germans been able to break through the combined British and Indian Guerka lines, it would have been curtains for us in Palestine, and most certainly there would have been no prospect for a future State of Israel.
Let’s take this as a ‘simon ha dovor’ or a sign from G-D that there WAS to be a State of Israel.
With this said and understood, we must recognize Israel as a divine creation. It is here by the will of G-D.
If the blind among us can recognize this, then we will all be a better people for it.

Joe Ben Avraham| 5.24.10 @ 1:11PM

As an Israeli, I'm always amused as self-righteous Jews from left and right beat each other up over moot points.
I despise the right wing for having their heads in the ground and thinking that civil rights are a "yeffe nefesh" liberal concept, then start squawking when the cops crack right wing heads and right wing youth are arrested and held in jail without access to lawyers.
I'm equally disgusted by the so-called liberal Jews who forgot that Israeli Jews also have universal human rights, and that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is only one of many issues in Israel.
From the right-wingers who think that Israel should be ruled by Torah only (sure, so long as I'M the rabbi in charge!) to the left-wingers who claim that settlers "have no rights because they break international law and squat on stolen Palestinian land"(yes, I actually heard that)...
...a pox on both your sick ideologies.
Everybody in Israel who is a citizen gets the exact same rights under the law - be they Arab or Jew. And for you lefties, history didn't begin in 1967 - the "green line" is not an agreed on international border. By international law, wars are ended with peace treaties between the warring sides. In our case it's a little complicated (of course) because Jordan used to own the west bank (not the Palestinians) and they decided they don't want it. That means the folks there do indeed have to negotiate face-to-face with us. And yes, it's next to impossible to sign a peace treaty when the Pals are split down the middle between Fatah and Hamas.
And no, I'm among those who live in Judea and admire the achievements of the liberal Jews, and rue the fact that many of them have gotten off track.
However, never in my wildest imagination do I think that they're gonna bring another Holocaust upon us. Just like I don't think that the right-wing conservative Jews will do the same because they can't envision peace with the Palestinians (in fact, unlike many of us who live here, most of them have never even talked to one yet will claim they are expert on the subject).

AS| 6.4.10 @ 3:03AM

Liberalism is a mental disorder. Of global proportions. Mossad should prepare a hit squad to kill kingpins of this global mafia, just like they worked on nazis. Sometimes I feel I will transform into a mullah and just like they rant to kill, I want to do the same about liberals. I wish all the liberals unite and be given a large country with all natural resources. these dogs will fuck it up in exactly 5 yrs.
Within 5 yrs Iran or taleban/al-qaeda will have nukes. and Israel should not trust Obama. Use Indian battle ships to access Iran.
rest all is coffee-table debate.

Chloe'| 6.6.10 @ 12:35PM

Excellent article. Very well said. As a 23-year-old Jewish woman, I find myself positively cringing when my peers discuss Israel. They are uneducated and regurgitate CNN's words like computer programs. They don't bother to do their own research, their own reading. Instead they cling on to words like "oppressor" and "subjugator" (that one being the most odious!) and use them to attempt intellectual discussions that have no real substance.

Alan Kaplan| 6.6.10 @ 1:42PM

I want to be able to participate in pro Israel events in the San Francisco Bay area. Does anyone have information as to email lists or other organizations that is available? ajk717@me.com

Saul Stein| 6.24.10 @ 3:46PM

Phillip Klein's essay really struck home with me. In particular, the confession of the liberal girl at the Mount Herzl Cemetery ("all I can think about is how many Paestinian graves there are"). This reminded me of a Yom Kippur Symposium at our synagogue in Memphis some years back. The speakers that day were a group of our high school seniors who had recently come back from their USY Summer trip to Israel. One girl gave as her most lasting impression the number of soldiers she saw standing guard and patrolling the streets in Jerusalem, particularly around the Old City, and the fact that they all had guns. Apparently, the thought that terrorists are willing to attack Jewish tourists in Jerusalem never made it past the "firewall" of Liberal indoctrination that qualifies for her as understanding.

I am concerned that we are headed for a confrontation between Jewish Liberals in the U.S. and the general population of Israel. The understanding of basic reality in the Middle East is what separates the two groups. Sadly, most Liberal Jews here in the U.S., don't have a clue.

Daniel| 10.26.10 @ 8:49AM

I have never seen on one site, with the possible exception of racist group Stormfront, so many people who LOATHE American ideals, who hate their country.

IF you just want to have all the Liberals rounded up into concentration camps, well wait, you do. Some of you need to reread what you wrote and if you can't see the vile and hate and baseness and simple wrongness of it, then something is morally wrong with you.

Mark| 2.16.11 @ 9:25PM

Not that I'm an expect - so be aware - it seems that most of the Jews in the US must believe that the "covenant" has been fulfilled and is therefore no longer applicable. After all, the Jews are "on the land" and their descendants are "as numerous as the sands of the beach". What a great time to dismiss God - He did His part, now, He can just leave the Jews alone to pursue whatever they want right? What history has taught throughout the ages, if the Jews abandon their moral underpinnings and engage in heinous social and personal sin, i.e. homosexuality, destruction of the innocent (abortion), euthenasia, desecration of creation (genetic manipulation), then, they will be forced FROM the land. It's their decision, they can either Love and appreciate God's favor, or dis Him. Again, in my humble opinion, the liberal Jew the nothing more than a vehement anti-Semite and a hater of The Law.

More Blog Posts by Philip Klein

http://spectator.org/blog/2010/05/17/how-liberal-jews-are-enabling

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