I've Been Attacked in The Guardian

See these two letters:-

Yisrael Medad (Letters, Februry 6) asserts that Jews who are critical of Israel know little of the history of Zionism and "ignore Arab sins". As a British Jew I find this insulting. It is possible to condemn the violent stupidities of some Palestinian responses to Israel while sympathising with the plight of Palestinians. As for my knowledge of Zionism, I have long abhorred the right wing in Israeli politics and know well its history, dating back to Vladimir Jabotinsky and his revisionist Zionism, which demanded the establishment of a state after the first world war. Conversely, I have long regretted the earlier defeat of "cultural Zionism", associated with the writer Achad Ha'am, as an alternative to the Zionist triumphalism of both right and left that prevailed.

Prof Brian Winston
Lincoln


As he lives in Shiloh, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Yisrael Medad should know a lot about fudging historical facts, ignoring the law and "behaving in a street-gang manner". There is no need for settlers to call their philosophy "Jewish nationalism"; the term "colonialism" already fits perfectly.

Cathal Rabbitte
Bombay

Here's my letter to Winston (I managed to find his email address) -

Dear Prof. Winston,

I am sorry my resonse was delayed (I usually try to follow Internet developments more closely but today I was in Tel Aviv participating in a Civic Education seminar sponsored by the American Embassy with one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s associates, Dr. Bernard Lafayette). And I mention that in connection with the rather simplistic view one can have regarding other peoples political, ideological and historical outlooks.

You wrote that you found my statement "insulting" and that "It is possible to condemn the violent stupidities of some Palestinian responses to Israel while sympathising with the plight of Palestinians". Ah, but if only those who are vociferously in opposition to Israel's policies were equally strident in their criticism of Palestinian actions. I have been listening for a very long time, at least as long as since the time I spent two years in London doing Zionist work and just as recently as helping Jacqueline Rose with her review essay of Jabotinsky's novel, "The Five", published a few months ago in The Nation, but I fear my hearing is just not hearing. If you have raised your voice, please point me in its direction.

You are surely free to abhor anything you wish but in singling out Jabotinsky, the one Zionist leader who was visionary enough to attempt to save Jewish lives rather than dilly-dally over cultural Zionism, socialist Zionist and even religious Zionism, you seem to edge towards ignorance. Your regret at the defeat of Ahad Haam-ism I can sympathize with, to turn the tables, but cannot agree with as those who followed his lead were so horribly wrong in analyzing the immediate needs of more than 6 million Jews in the inter-war period and the reality of Arab opposition to Zionism which was total - neither in Jerusalem nor Tel Aviv or Emeq Yizrael.

As for Cathal, couldn't find an address. He's Irish, very pro-Pal., writes oads of letters and seems to be or have been employed by an Arab insurance company and previously based in Cairo.

Klug is Sluggish

Brian Klug, senior research fellow in philosophy at St Benet's Hall, Oxford, and associate editor of Patterns of Prejudice, has a problem. And being a good Jew, he takes that problem to The Guardian where he published an op-ed entitled, "No one has the right to speak for British Jews on Israel and Zionism".

He announced there that "We will not accept the vilification of those who protest at injustices carried out in the name of the Jewish people". Notice the "we"? The Royal "we", or the Papal "we".

And he goes on:-

today an oppressive and unhealthy atmosphere is leading many Jews to feel uncertain about speaking out on Israel and Zionism. People are anxious about contravening an unwritten law on what you can and cannot discuss, may or may not assert. It is a climate that raises fundamental questions: about freedom of expression, Jewish identity, representation...Anguish turns to outrage when the human rights of a population under occupation are repeatedly violated in the name of the Jewish people.

No one has the authority to speak for the Jewish people...

...Faced with this state of affairs, a group of Jews in Britain has come together to launch Independent Jewish Voices (IJV). We come from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life. we are united by certain fundamental commitments...They include: putting human rights first; giving equal priority to Palestinians and Israelis in their quest for a peaceful and secure future; and repudiating all forms of racism aimed at Jews, Arabs, Muslims or whomever.

We believe that these commitments - not ethnic or group loyalties - define the limits of legitimate debate. We invite like-minded Jews in Britain to add their names to the list of IJV signatories...

...when we speak out against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, or the bombing of Lebanon, or discrimination against Palestinians within Israel itself, we are not turning against our Jewish identity; we are turning to it. Some of us, recalling that nearly 40 years have passed since Israel's occupation began, hear a resonance. This was the length of time the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, near the end of which Moses gave them a directive: "Justice, justice shall you pursue" (Deuteronomy 16:20). It is a compass bearing for all humanity, especially when we are trying to find our way - or help others to find theirs - to a better future.

So, here's my letter-to-the-editor:-

Brian Klug bemoans an "oppressive atmosphere" that limits, he asserts, his and his comrades' freedom of expression within the Jewish community in the UK ("No one has the right to speak for British Jews on Israel and Zionism", Feb. 5). Well, thank God for The Guardian then.

As Klug is well aware, it is not the principle that is in dispute but the details. When critics of Israel's policies in the disputed territories or in Lebanon or in Israel itself adopt a standard of moral inequivalency, ignore Arab sins, glide over major societal and cultural differences, fudge historical facts, forget legal rights and in general, act in a street gang manner, they should know that it is fair and just to question their Jewish identity, or, at the very least, cast doubt whether they are interpreting to the non-Jewish public what Jewish identity is and what is Jewish nationalism.

The Biblical verse he quotes from Deuteronomy, "Justice, justice shall you pursue", is interpreted by the Rabbis as meaning that justice shall be pursued with justice. Klug , in his injudicious claims, is violating that instruction.