The End of Liberal Zionism

[Israeli]

Israel’s Move to the Right Challenges Diaspora Jews

LONDON — Liberal Zionists are at a crossroads. The original tradition of combining Zionism and liberalism — which meant ending the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, supporting a Palestinian state as well as a Jewish state with a permanent Jewish majority, and standing behind Israel when it was threatened — was well intentioned. But everything liberal Zionists stand for is now in doubt.

The decision of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to launch a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has cost the lives, to date, of 64 soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side, and nearly 2,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilians.
“Never do liberal Zionists feel more torn than when Israel is at war,” wrote Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian’s opinion editor and a leading British liberal Zionist, for The New York Review of Books last month. He’s not alone. Columnists like Jonathan Chait, Roger Cohen and Thomas L. Friedman have all riffed in recent weeks on the theme that what Israel is doing can’t be reconciled with their humanism.

But it’s not just Gaza, and the latest episode of “shock and awe” militarism. The romantic Zionist ideal, to which Jewish liberals — and I was one, once — subscribed for so many decades, has been tarnished by the reality of modern Israel. The attacks on freedom of speech and human rights organizations in Israel, the land-grabbing settler movement, a growing strain of anti-Arab and anti-immigrant racism, extremist politics, and a powerful, intolerant religious right — this mixture has pushed liberal Zionism to the brink.

In the United States, trenchant and incisive criticism of Israeli policies by commentators like Peter Beinart, one of liberal Zionism’s most articulate and prolific voices, is now common. But the critics go only so far — not least to avoid giving succor to anti-Semites, who use the crisis as cover for openly expressing hatred of Jews.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/opinion/sunday/israels-move-to-the-right-challenges-diaspora-jews.html?ref=international&_r=0

[Jefferson23]

1. More and more voices like this in the US..hopefully it will help before it's too late. n/t

[oberliner]

3. He's British

And he's been an anti-Zionist (self-proclaimed) for quite some time.

Thankfully there are very very very few voices like this in the US.

[Israeli]

6. Where did he proclaim it ?

I found this just now :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Lerman

In his recent book, The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist, Lerman analyses his positions over five decades, from early Zionist idealism to criticism of Zionism. He is not an 'anti-Zionist'. He argues that Zionism is a "done deal", like the French Revolution, something that occurred in the past. He contends that self-identifying Zionists in the diaspora are complicit in supporting an unjust occupation, and argues Israel must abrogate the Law of Return, change its Jewish character, and become a binational state for Jews and Palestinians. The diaspora must choose between universal values and multiculturalism, and Jewish exclusivity

He sounds more like a post Zionist to me oberliner.

[King_David]

7. The long time anti-Zionist explaining the newly started death of liberal Zionism

LOL

[Israeli]

9. I'm checking ....

So far have not found anything to back up your or oberliner's claim that he is an anti Zionist .

Ref :

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/britain-s-leading-lapsed-zionist-speaks-out-1.461937

Quote :

"" Are you anti-Zionist?

“No. Sometimes arguments about Zionism can sound like flat-Earthism. Zionism happened, it’s a done deal - and to be anti-Zionist is like saying I’m against the French Revolution. Wanting to dismantle Zionism is totally impractical, even if there was any justification for it. There is an Israeli state and a strong Israeli culture. But Zionism is today being portrayed as an ongoing project to purify the nation, as a settler ideology.” ""

BTW Avraham Burg likes him .....and that is good enough for me .

[oberliner]

11. Try Google: Antony Lerman: ‘Why I became an anti-Zionist?’

Though the OP itself clearly lays out his opposition to the existence of Israel in its current Zionist incarnation.

[Israeli]

15. I tried Google already thanks oberliner ...

...you have not convinced me .... I still think he is a post Zionist ....like Avraham Burg and Uri Avnery

[Jefferson23]

20. You don't need to do his homework for him, he has nothing and if he does, he can post it. n/t

[oberliner]

22. It's in the subject head

That is the title of the Google article that comes up.

[Jefferson23]

26. I did, that is not an interview with Lerman..why would a guy who is anti-Zionism

not say so? Isn't it more likely to be accurate that he does not ascribe to the meaning any
longer as originally intended..for him? You're leaving the impression here that he is some
kind of evil doer..hoping for the end of Israel.

[Jefferson23]

18. That's because he is not an anti-Zionist..but, whatever. I mean really, let us look at the

change for support among US youth and Israeli/US policy..it is sinking, and for good reason.

[oberliner]

23. Except he definitely is

I'm not sure why/if you would consider that to be a negative thing. Aren't you one as well?

[Jefferson23]

25. Ha ha, how you go on, oberliner. He is because you say so..if he is I am happy to concede

the point. Yet I have not read anything to suggest he affirms that, only his critics accusations.

[Jefferson23]

10. No kidding..thus, like this.

Watch out for the youth in the USA, they're very very very tired of Israel's propaganda.

[Israeli]

12. Ever heard of Avraham Burg Jefferson ?

He is not British .... and he is not an anti Zionist ... he is an Israeli post Zionist .

Sound familiar ?

The end of Zionism

Israel must shed its illusions and choose between racist oppression and democracy.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/15/comment

[Jefferson23]

19. 2003, and here we still are because there is no question that no matter what you call it,

the policies of Israel toward the Palestinians are brutal and illegal under international law.

This continues to this day due to the US..that is it...our complicity and our
voices of approval and or silence make for dead Palestinians.

[oberliner]

13. Liberal Zionism is the opposite of Israel's propaganda

In fact, liberal Zionists are quite often derided by the current powers that be in Israel.

[Jefferson23]

17. First, you're off the mark, he is not an anti Zionist. Second, your statement has nothing to do

with my response to you..the youth in the US are not buying into Israeli propaganda..not buying
their reasons for the brutal occupation. That is what will undue support for Israel Zionism, anti-Zionism,
post-Zionism..whatever. It may not come in time for the Palestinians to realize their right to a viable
state which includes the valuable resources stolen from them that rest in the West Bank..they are
entitled to an army, port, and airport...all of which should have no dependency on what Israel
thinks about it. The youth will not tolerate it never mind embrace such a thing.

The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist

In his recent book, The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist, Lerman analyses his positions over five decades, from early Zionist idealism to criticism of Zionism. He is not an 'anti-Zionist'. He argues that Zionism is a "done deal", like the French Revolution, something that occurred in the past. He contends that self-identifying Zionists in the diaspora are complicit in supporting an unjust occupation, and argues Israel must abrogate the Law of Return, change its Jewish character, and become a binational state for Jews and Palestinians. The diaspora must choose between universal values and multiculturalism, and Jewish exclusivity.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Lerman

[oberliner]

21. Yes, he definitely is

Wikipedia, notwithstanding, he is an anti-Zionist.

The Wikipedia links to an article from 2012. And, as he states in the OP you posted, his opinions have "evolved" since then. Did you read the entire article you posted?

Second, the statement made is to indicate that the liberal Zionist position is one that is in opposition to the right-wing in Israel (and it's supporters elsewhere) and ought to be championed by progressives around the wrong.

[Jefferson23]

24. Malarkey. Really Oberliner, you are stretching it more than a little.

Yea, I suggest you link his work and be specific, since you made the claim and he does not
elude to that. He is highly critical of Israeli policy, and coined an anti-Zionist by his critics. What do
you feel is his intent..the end of Israel? How you do go on.

[King_David]

16. Same with Mr Lerman the long time AntiZionist

Who wrote this.
It's all just wishful thinking. Hoping to fill his ranks .Jewish Liberal Zionist youth movements have never had higher enrollments of Jewish Kids.

[leftynyc]

29. I thought the same thing

Nothing but wishful thinking (he's not even American so I really don't see where this is relevant anyway). Poll after poll shows the same exact thing. Sympathies lie with Israel (latest poll is CBS 54 vs 16). That's the reality that the far left tries to ignore.

[Israeli]

33. Goodness gracious leftynyc ...

"" he's not even American so I really don't see where this is relevant anyway ""

Only the American Diaspora are relevant .......any British Jews on here willing to comment ??

[Israeli]

28. I think that is well represented ....

...in this thread Jefferson...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=77380

Maybe oberliner could comment there ???

[Jefferson23]

30. I think so too...but I'm not interested if he decides to respond or not. n/t

[Israeli]

4. Yup ...

As Mr. Freedland put it, liberal Zionists “will have to decide which of their political identities matters more, whether they are first a liberal or first a Zionist.”

...I think its already too late tho Jefferson.....next elections will tell .

[Israeli]

2. More .....

In the past, liberal Zionists in the Diaspora found natural allies among the left-wing and secular-liberal parties in Israel, like Labor, Meretz and Shinui. But Israel’s political left is now comatose. Beaten by Menachem Begin in the 1977 national elections, it briefly revived with Yitzhak Rabin and the hopes engendered by the 1993 Oslo Accords. But having clung to the Oslo process long past its sell-by date, the parliamentary left in Israel has become insignificant.
Diaspora Jewish politics has also changed. In the 1960s, when I was an enthusiastic young Zionist in England planning to settle on a kibbutz in Israel, some organizations had names virtually identical to Israeli political parties. This identification lasted only as long as the institutions that prevailed in Israel seemed to Diaspora Jews to reflect a liberal Zionist viewpoint.

Today, the dominant Diaspora organizations, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, as well as a raft of largely self-appointed community leaders, have swung to the right, making unquestioning solidarity with Israel the touchstone of Jewish identity — even though majority Jewish opinion is by no means hawkish.

Though squeezed by a more vociferous and entrenched right, liberal Zionists have not given up without a fight. They found ways of pushing back, insisting that their two-state Zionism held out the only hope for an end to the conflict and setting up organizations to promote their outlook. J Street in America and Yachad in Britain, founded in 2008 and 2011 respectively, describe themselves as “pro-Israel and pro-peace” and have attracted significant numbers of people who seek a more critical engagement with Israel.

I became an Israeli citizen in 1970, and I am still one today. I worked in the Jewish community in research and philanthropic capacities for 30 years, serving the interests of Jews worldwide. But in the 1980s, I began to rethink my relationship with Israel and Zionism. As recently as 2007, while directing the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research, an independent think tank, I still thought that liberal Zionism had a role to play. I believed that by encouraging Diaspora Jews to express reservations about Israeli policy in public, liberal Zionism could influence the Israeli government to change its policies toward the Palestinians.

I still understood its dream of Israel as a moral and just cause, but I judged it anachronistic. The only Zionism of any consequence today is xenophobic and exclusionary, a Jewish ethno-nationalism inspired by religious messianism. It is carrying out an open-ended project of national self-realization to be achieved through colonization and purification of the tribe.

This mind-set blocks any chance Israel might have to become a full-fledged liberal-democratic state, and offers the Palestinians no path to national self-determination, no justice for their expulsion in 1948, nor for the occupation and the denial of their rights. I came to see the notion that liberal Zionism might reverse, or even just restrain, this nationalist juggernaut as fanciful.

I used my position at the think tank to raise questions about Israel’s political path and to initiate a community-wide debate about these issues. Naïve? Probably. I was vilified by the right-wing Jewish establishment, labeled a “self-hating Jew” and faced public calls for me to be sacked. This just confirmed what I already knew about the myopia of Jewish leadership and the intolerance of many British Zionist activists.

continue reading @
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/opinion/sunday/israels-move-to-the-right-challenges-diaspora-jews.html?ref=international&_r=0

[oberliner]

5. Some very intelligent comments

Thankfully there are some NY Times readers who are willing to take the time to point out the many ridiculous elements of this article (which is essential the same article Antony has been writing for years).

[Israeli]

8. I thought so to ...

Why dont you point out " the many ridiculous elements of this article " then ???

I've never heard of him before or read anything of his before today ....found him on our web site @ http://www.kibush.co.il/

[oberliner]

14. The comments at NY Times do it better than I could

Read through them for some examples if you have a genuine interest.

[Israeli]

27. The comments at Israelcool do it better than I could ....

http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/24/not-one-rocket/

ref : "" No wonder the anti-Israel New York Times saw fit to print this piece of trash. ""

You do know who Varda Epstein is dont you oberliner ....if not I suggest you go Google her .

[King_David]

31. Two reasons the “I can’t be a Zionist because I’m a liberal” meme is false

Two reasons the “I can’t be a Zionist because I’m a liberal” meme is false


Another day, another essay by a “former liberal Zionist”, this time Antony Lerman in the New York Times, decrying the fact that while it used to be okay to be a liberal Zionist, nowadays Israel politics is so right-wing that being a liberal Zionist is a contradiction in terms. Regrettably, the author sighs, he decided to choose liberalism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/22/two-reasons-the-i-cant-be-a-zionist-because-im-a-liberal-meme-is-false/

[leftynyc]

32. I can't decide whether to

laugh, rage or mock against those who INSIST I cannot be liberal because I support Israel (along with the majority of Americans and Democrats). I'll stick with mocking.

[Israeli]

34. I've read your thread King_David ....

Its drivel ... the author has no idea of Israeli politics whatsoever .

I'm just a wondering if when this comes about :

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113478262

.....he will still be singing the same song .

[oberliner]

35. Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully together in one binational state

You see this happening when?

[Israeli]

36. That is what you take from this ??? !!!!!...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113478262

US officials are fully aware of these policy developments in Jerusalem and Ramallah. In the view of State Department officials, the trend toward a binational state is more possible and dangerous than ever. They do not think that a binational state with equal rights is at all realistic and therefore warn, like Kerry, of an Israeli apartheid state. This prospect would not only contradict President Obama's international human rights policy, but also jeopardize US interest in the region and in the world. US-Israeli relations would come under strong criticism from all the Arab countries as well as the European Union.

Is this prospect dangerous enough to prompt the US administration to engage in a serious peace process attempt to obtain a two-state solution? The answer is most probably the negative. At the very least, however, it will lead to more forceful communications from the Oval Office and State Department to convince the prime minister's office in Jerusalem and the Muqata in Ramallah to pursue policies that at least leave the door open to a two-state solution and refrain from unilateral acts to the contrary.


The Two State Solution is dead oberliner ....murdered by Bibi and Co ...just like they murdered Oslo and Rabin and any chance of Peace .

[King_David]

37. He was commenting on USA Jews not Israelis nt