...And My Two Cents On Iran
I wrote a piece back in September that gives a more personal take on the Israel-Iran situation. It came out too long to post on Ricochet, so I benched it. I have a shiny new blog, though, and it occurred to me that that piece might make a nice first entry. I just put it up; feel free to stop by and have a look.
Here's a teaser:
We in Israel are forever being lumped together, and not only by those who wish to malign us. Israel is one of those subjects, like vaccinations or Jennifer Aniston’s love life, about which most people feel qualified to have an opinion, no matter how minute their actual knowledge of it. We’re all soldiers, all victims, all occupiers, all heroes, all redeemers of the land, all Nazis. That strategy of argument works well at cocktail parties and in graduate seminars, but its distortion of reality could ultimately come at a massive cost to those of us who live here.
Reducing the arguments to their essences, there are two schools of thought about Israel. One holds that we are morally obliged to concede everything it’s possible to concede in exchange for the right to live at all, since our very existence as a nation is an affront to the natural order. The country was stolen; it is therefore illegitimate, and any attempt to wrest it out of the hands of the thieves and restore it to the displaced is morally justified, no matter how barbaric the methods of restoration might be. We have forfeited our right to be considered human beings – creatures with a right to defend ourselves, and to be offended by double standards concerning violence against us – by callously blinding ourselves to the plight of those we have collectively wronged. Israeli children are as guilty as Israeli adults – as inhuman – since they are the product of a sinful enterprise. We are a monolith that offends the sensibilities of all decent people and are thus not entitled to be differentiated as people worthy of individual concern. Israeli Jews can earn readmission to the human race by agreeing, humbly and without insolent reciprocal demands, to deny our national and religious history, and to turn our backs on everything we’ve built on the stolen, sacred land.
The other school of thought is deeply sympathetic to Israel. We are the sole beacon of enlightened Western thought in an ocean of repressive Islamic theocracies and corrupt Arab “republics”. We are the standard-bearers for progress out of the darkness. We are the brave nation that rose out of the ashes of the murdered six million to give meaning to their destruction, and to give the Jews the home they have been denied for generation upon generation. We are indomitable in the face of relentless condemnation of all our attempts to safeguard our lives and those of our children. We are uncowed by the poison of salon anti-Semitism, which winkingly delegitimizes us from Oxford to Berkeley. We are both the first line of defense and the last stand against radical Muslim tyranny, which is at war with every freedom the West has grown too complacent to value. We are the army of the free. We are the army of the Lord.
The rest is at judithlevy.com.
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Aug '10
Re: ...And My Two Cents On Iran
Judith, I wish I could say your first category was overstated but it pretty-well describes the views of a large number of people in Ireland.I'm not at all sure they're a majority but they are the loudest contributors to the debate and have a mostly-sympathetic media. I do think there is a very high number of "no opinion/undecided" but regrettably very few of us in your second category.What is notable by it's absence from debate here is any concept of what type of society would replace a fallen Israel, and in particular how Jews would fare in such society ( or as a minority in a Palestinian state).
Jun '10
Re: ...And My Two Cents On Iran
In my attempt at typing with one arm due to recent rotator cuff surgery, I lost the post. Simply put, Israel needs to be the baddest, but fairest, a$$ in their hood. No one else gives a dang about the Jews. The Arabs have bought all the worldwide hate. Even American Jews have more loyalty to their antisemitic leftist comrades than to their Israeli brothers,sisters, and cousins. Israel has no negotiating partner. Determine your end game, Israel, then go out and make it happen...world opinion be damned. Hezbollah needs to be disarmed in Lebanon. Hamas disarmed in Gaza. Iran is tough. I do not know the extent of Israels capability. Can they afford to wait two more years and gamble on a new US President?
Jun '10
Re: ...And My Two Cents On Iran
Its a shame you have to have the "jump" -- I think you buried the lede. I urge all to read the entire beautifully done essay. I consider myself a friend of Isreal but I have to confess that I have been guilty of urging "let's you and him fight." This piece gives much food for thought. (BTW Nice start at your own blog)
Edited on Oct 29, 2010 at 10:21amMay '10
Re: ...And My Two Cents On Iran
Judith, did you get my message to react to the Miocheal Totten-Martin Kramer piece?
I sent it to Claire and asked her to pass it on:
http://pajamasmedia.com/michaeltotten/2010/10/26/if-iran-gets-the-bomb/
Update- just saw it. "Nevermind", says Gilda Radner.
Edited on Oct 29, 2010 at 9:28amMay '10
Re: ...And My Two Cents On Iran
Pilgrim is spot on. The entire article is really great and I wish you well on the blogging. I am happy to have a sensible, non-polemical, nuanced voice to which I may direct some of my not-so-sensible, polemical, un-nuanced friends.
Re: ...And My Two Cents On Iran
Thank you, guys!