ZGram - 8/21/2004 - "Paul Eisen: Jewish Power" - Part V

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

August 21, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Despite some occasional slipping into the RKPS mode,no doubt of 
necessity, this Eisen essay is one remarkably crafted essay! 
Beautifully done!  Rich in imagery and ice-cold in precision.  I wish 
I could write like that.  I regret to see it end, and I will 
certainly look up additional Paul Eisen articles and hope that you 
will, too.

Here is the conclusion with its long overdue mandate:  "If anybody 
calls you ugly names because you speak the truth - SO WHAT?!

[START]

Secular Jews often end up being just another round of Michael 
Neuman's "veritable shell game" of Jewish identity. "Look! We're a 
religion! No! a race! No! a cultural entity! Sorry--a religion!" 
Because this is the key to maintaining Jewish power - if it's 
indefinable, it's invisible. Like a stealth bomber (you can't see it 
on your radar but you sure know when you've been hit) Jewish power, 
with its blurred outlines and changing forms, becomes invisible. And 
if you can't see it you can't fight it.  Meanwhile the assault on the 
Palestinians continues.
The phrase is itself terrifying because of its past association with 
discrimination and violence against Jews, but Jews themselves have no 
problem with it. The notion of a Jewish People is at the centre of 
Jewish faith with Jews of all or no degrees of religious adherence 
over and over again affirming its existence. It is also at the heart 
of Zionism even in its most secular forms and is written into the 
foundational texts of the state of Israel. The concept even received 
international legal approval when the Jewish people were declared, by 
the West German state, to be the post-war residual heirs of intestate 
Jews. And yet it is an absolute article of faith for everyone, 
including those in the solidarity movement, that while we may 
criticize and confront Israel and Israelis, we may not criticize and 
confront the Jewish people and Jews. Unlike Israel and any other 
state, the Jewish People has no common policy and any attack on the 
Jewish people is, therefore, aimed at what they are and not at what 
they do.
But is speaking of the Jews doing this or doing that any more or less 
acceptable than speaking of, say, the Americans? If the American 
military lays waste a third world country, it is done by order of the 
government (a small group) with the full support of the ruling elites 
(another small group), the tacit support of a substantial segment of 
the population (a larger group), the silent denial of probably the 
majority of the population (a very large group) and the opposition of 
a tiny minority (a small group). Is it all that different with Jews?

It may be. Unlike the United States, 'the Jews' are not a legally 
constituted body and they do not have an obvious and defined common 
policy. 'The Jews' do not have an officially designated leadership, 
nor do they inhabit one area of land, nor do they speak a common 
language or even share a common culture. Theoretically at least there 
seem to be so many differences as to render any comparison untenable. 
In practice this may not be the whole story.
It is true that 'the Jews' do not constitute a legally recognized 
body, but Zionism, with its claim to represent all Jews, has 
increasingly confused the issue. It is also true that the Zionists do 
not represent all Jews but they do represent the views of very many 
Jews indeed, and certainly the most powerful and influential Jews. 
And there is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of organized 
Jews are fully behind the Zionist project. That 'the Jews' do not 
have a formally designated leadership does not mean that they have no 
leadership - bodies again to which the overwhelming majority of 
organized Jews owe allegiance: the Israeli Government, the World 
Zionist Organization; numerous large and powerful Jewish 
organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and The Conference 
of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, The Simon 
Wiesenthal Centre; lesser bodies such as the Board of Deputies of 
British Jews and similar organizations in every country in which Jews 
reside. Then there is the extensive network of Jewish bodies often 
linked, through synagogues to the whole spectrum of mainstream Jewish 
religious and community life. All these bodies with their vast and 
interconnected network do provide leadership; they do have clearly 
defined policies and they are all four-square behind Zionism and 
Israel in its assault on the Palestinians.
  Does this constitute a definable Jewish collective engaged in 
advancing Jewish interests? Officially, perhaps not, but, 
effectively, when one notes the remarkable unanimity of intent of all 
these bodies, the answer may well be yes. They do not of course 
represent all Jews nor are all individual Jews responsible for their 
actions, but nonetheless 'the Jews' - organized, active and effective 
Jews - are as responsible for the pursuit of Jewish interests in 
Palestine and elsewhere as 'the Americans' in Vietnam, 'the French' 
in Algeria, and 'the British' in India.

So why should our response be different? Why should 'the Jews' not be 
as accountable as 'the Americans' and even ordinary Jews as 
accountable as ordinary Americans? Why do we not picket the offices 
of the Anti-Defamation League or The Conference of Presidents or the 
offices or even the homes of Abe Foxman, Edgar Bronfman and Mort 
Zuckerman in the U.S. and Neville Nagler in the U.K.? Why do we not 
heckle Alan Dershowitz in the U.S. and Melanie Phillips in the U.K.? 
What about the U.K. Chief Rabbi who in his time has had lots to say 
about Israel and Palestine? Why do we not take the struggle to every 
synagogue and Jewish community centre in the world? After all, every 
Shabbat a prayer is said for the state of Israel in every mainstream 
synagogue in the land, most of which are focal points for Zionist 
propagandizing and fundraising, so why should these Jew who choose to 
combine their prayers and their politics be immune while at prayer 
from our legitimate protests at their politics? And for those few 
Jews who are really prepared to stand up and be counted for their 
solidarity with Palestinians, why can we not still give to them due 
honour and regard as we did to those few Americans who opposed 
American imperialism and those white South Africans who opposed 
apartheid?

The answer is that we are frightened. Even knowing that Jews are 
responsible and should be held accountable, still we are frightened. 
We are frightened because criticism of Jews with its woeful history 
of violence and discrimination seems just too dangerous a position to 
take - it may open the flood-gates to a burst of Jew hatred. We are 
frightened that if we were to discuss the role of Jews in this 
conflict and in other areas and begin to hold Jews accountable, we 
might be labelled anti-Semites and lose support. And, perhaps most of 
all, we are frightened of the conflicted inner passions that confound 
us all whenever we come to look at these things.

Does speaking the truth about Jewish identity, power and history lead 
to Jews being led to concentration camps and ovens? Of course it 
doesn't! It is hatred, fear and the suppression of free thought and 
speech which leads to these things - whether the hatred, fear and 
suppression is directed against Jews or by Jews. Anyway, despite 
efforts to convince us to the contrary, we do not live in the 
thirteenth century. Californians are unlikely to pour out of their 
cinemas showing Mel Gibson's 'Passion' chanting "Death to the Jews!" 
And, at a time when Jews in Israel/Palestine, overwhelmingly backed 
by Jewish organisations in the west, are desecrating churches and 
mosques wholesale and brutally oppressing entire Christian and Muslim 
populations, we may be forgiven for finding it hard to get excited 
about graffiti daubed on some synagogue somewhere.

If we were to begin to engage with the role of Jews in this conflict, 
we may well be labelled anti-Semites and we may well, initially at 
least, lose support. The anti-Semite curse has long served as a 
frightener to silence all criticism of Jews, Israel and Zionism, and 
undoubtedly will be used to discredit our cause. But so what? They 
call us anti-Semites anyway so what's to lose? Edward Said spent a 
lifetime picking his way through the Israel/Zionism/Judaism minefield 
and never once criticised Jews, and he was called an anti-Semite his 
whole life, right up to and even after his death. As a movement we 
have probably spent as much time being nice to Jews as we have 
speaking up for Palestinians, and for what? Where has it got us? We 
are not racists and we are not anti-Semites, so let them do their 
worst. We shall speak our minds.

For so long now Jews have told the world that black is white and not 
only that, but also if anyone should dare to deny that black is white 
they will be denounced as anti-Semites with all the attendant 
penalties. We are held in a moral and intellectual lock, the 
intention of which has been to silence all criticism of Israeli and 
Jewish power. In saying the unsayable we may set ourselves and others 
free. And think how it will feel the next time you are called an 
anti-Semite to say "Well, I don't know about that, but I do have some 
very strong but legitimate criticisms to make of Jews and the way 
they are behavingŠ.and I intend to speak out"? 

And you never know; we may be pleasantly surprised. Israel Shamir, 
who has no trouble whatsoever in calling a Jew a Jew, was cheered 
spontaneously recently when he introduced himself from the floor at a 
London solidarity meeting. I saw it with my own eyes. His first 
English-language book has just been published; he corresponds freely 
and reciprocally with many highly respected figures and is on the 
boards of advisers of The Association for One Democratic State in 
Palestine and of Deir Yassin Remembered. Perhaps it's all just a case 
of the Emperor's new clothes. Perhaps we're all just waiting for some 
innocent child to blow the whistle.

The situation facing the Palestinian people is truly terrible. Old 
political strategies have got us nowhere. We need a new and widened 
debate. It may be that a new and credible discourse which puts Jews 
and Jewishness at the critical centre of our discussions is part of 
that.

And one final point: In a previous piece, paraphrasing Marc Ellis I wrote:

  "To the Christian and to the entire non-Jewish world, Jews say this: 
'You will apologise for Jewish suffering again and again and again. 
And, when you have done apologising, you will then apologise some 
more. When you have apologised sufficiently we will forgive you ... 
provided that you let us do what we want in Palestine.'

Shamir took me to task, "Eisen is too optimistic", he said, 
"Palestine is not the ultimate goal of the JewsŠ..the world is."

Well, I don't know about that, but, if as now seems likely, the 
conquest of Palestine is complete and the state of Israel stretches 
from Tel-Aviv to the Jordan River, what can we expect? Will the Jews 
of Israel, supported by Jews outside of Israel, now obey the law, 
live peaceably behind their borders and enjoy the fruits of their 
victory, or will they want more?

Who's next?

[END]