It's main thrust is this:
A painful question hardened: “Seeing what the occupation looked like, and given the ideals of Jewish democracy I was raised on, I wondered: Could Israel be failing and could we American Jews be defending that failure?”
But there's much evil in it.
Here's my comment left there and you, too, can do so:-
There are so many illogical, misconstrued and mendacious claims and assertions in this piece (but we all know that, for that is the essence of Cohen). But the funny aspect is his opening gambit. In addition to trying to link mainstream American Jewish organizations with violence and positing J Street dead-enders as the alternative, Cohen's shock at the "not real Jew" mantra is belied by the sign that the shtupped Stup carried. It was the exact opposite-but-morally-equal announcement: "Zionists aren't settlers". And this is not an internal Jewish argument that Cohen seeks to wage on the pages of the almost-but-not-quite Jewish newspaper of record. For the Arabs view the residents of Tel Aviv as settlers, those of BirSaba (Beer Sheva), Haifa, etc. as well. Cohen is locked in a box by Arab negativism of Jewish national feeling, i.e., Rachel's Tomb, Temple Mount, and a 90-year old campaign of terror to stop Jews from "settling" anywhere in the Land of Israel, and so decides to join forces with a group that undermines Israel's security and thinks he's a real Zionist. Oiy vey.P.S. Seems they didn't put my comment up.
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3 comments:
Isn't roger cohen british born and raised? why does he call himself now an "American Jew"?
Any bet Stup was returning to Tel Aviv from the July 2010 Gay Rights Parade in Jerusalem? Re-read Cohen’s description and it makes more sense. Israelis don’t set upon leftists, but to rally for Gay rights in Jerusalem, Stup was a kamikaze. Here’s footage from the Gay parade, but in a quick review I didn’t see Stup’s banner.
Cohen: The worst single incident occurred on Ben Yehuda Street in central Jerusalem. Stup, 24, a Columbia graduate, was returning from a rally [what kind of rally would cause that kind of reaction?] with a couple of friends carrying a banner that said, “Zionists are not settlers.” A group of religious Jews wearing yarmulkes approached, spat on them and started punching. “About 20 people saw the whole thing and just watched. They were screaming, ‘You are not real Jews.’ Most of them were American. It was one of the most disappointing moments of my life — you can disagree as much as you want with a banner but to allow violence and not react is outrageous. For me it was a turning point. Nobody previously had said I was not a real Jew.”
that sign was from a May 15 demo/rally (that was a flop) sponsored by the National Left (HaSmol HaLeumi) of Eldad Yaniv and Shmuel Hasfari. I think
see:
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=175653
Under the banner “Zionists are not settlers!” thousands of people demonstrated near Zion Square in Jerusalem on Saturday night to voice their disapproval of government policy and declare their support for a “Jewish state, for the Jewish people, with clear and recognized borders.”
The demonstration, organized by the National Left (Smol Leumi) movement, Peace Now and Ofek (the Meretz faction at the Hebrew University), lasted for nearly an hour and featured brief remarks from each of the movements’ representatives.
“We’re calling for an end to the occupation – with or without an agreement!” Eldad Yaniv, Labor Party chairman Ehud Barak’s former bureau chief and one of the National Left movement’s founders, told the cheering crowd.
“We’re calling for a Jewish state, for the Jewish people with clear and recognized borders!” he said. “Not a Jewish state built on settlements and discrimination!”
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