So in the middle of a discussion about the need for nuance, listening, and complexity in discussing trans issues, we reduce an entire nation-state with millions of people to being "a cruel, right-wing country." (Which happens to be mostly populated by the descendants of refugees from the world upheavals in Europe and across the Muslim wo…
So in the middle of a discussion about the need for nuance, listening, and complexity in discussing trans issues, we reduce an entire nation-state with millions of people to being "a cruel, right-wing country." (Which happens to be mostly populated by the descendants of refugees from the world upheavals in Europe and across the Muslim world in the middle of the last century.)
Whatever the problems are between the Jordan River and the sea, they're complicated, and have been for a very long time. And yes, lots of Jews, me being one of them, think that there's an organic connection between the land of Israel and the Jewish people- which in no way endorses or promotes any particular governmental policy but does shape how some of these conversations play out.
I've been to the West Bank and slept in Palestinian homes and seen maps in the refugee villages ringed by bullets outlining the entire State of Israel. I've also seen Israeli soldiers be cruel in executing policies that they didn't vote for and don't support. To reduce the settlements to "big money" is to ignore the entire history since UN resolution 181, which the Jews accepted and the surrounding states didn't, leading up to wars in 67 and 73 which Israel didn't want to fight.
Regarding Avigdor Lieberman, you might call him a slobbering savage, but he's also the guy who brought down Bibi Netanyahu, an act of improving the world the likes of which neither of us will ever accomplish. He's also an ardent supporter of the right to be secular and resist the encroachment of state religion. That's something progressives might like, no?
As for Torat HaMelech, the racist book that advocating preemptively killing some putative enemies- you know that the Attorney General of Israel indicted and convicted one of its authors for incitement, right?
I'm not asking you to join the Likud, I'm just pointing out that these issues are really, really complicated and if you want to effect change, listening and learning is probably a better strategy than condemning an entire country on the basis of its most extreme elements.
"And while those extremists alienate everybody who doesn’t agree with 100% of their demands, public opinion is shifting against the trans community in general."
in pointing out that frivolous charges of bigotry only make things worse for innocents, then you were alone in that misunderstanding. The diversionary charge of "antisemitism" is as cheap a shot as "transphobia" and the comparison between rising public disgust with global Jewry and the "trans" community is an inevitable one. More homologous than analogous.
But if you think replacing a politically cautious figure like Netanyahu with a bloodthirsty settler bigot like Naftali Bennett is some sort of improvement ...!
FTR both my grandmothers had their European families murdered in the Holocaust and I am 87% Ashkenazi by genetic analysis. However my choice is atheism.
Hi Chris, I did understand your point, which you made very clearly. I think in the course of making that point, some generalizations were made which are out of the spirit of this blog, and FWIW, I certainly didn't call you antisemitic or anything else. I don't disagree with you that some right-wing Jewish organizations are too quick to call critics of Israel "antisemites, though I don't see much evidence that this is causing a backlash against Jews in the US outside certain online progressive communities. After all, the most violent incidents against Jews in recent years- in Poway, Pittsburgh, and Jersey City- didn't have anything to do with Israel.
I think your point is much stronger when it comes to accusations of racism. Look at the huge backlash against the specter of "CRT".
Finally, I do think Naftali Bennett, of the now deposed coalition, was a better PM than Bibi, because Bennett brought Arabs into the coalition along with right-wingers and moderates, and didn't engage in the constant racist incitement that is Bibi's SOP. Bennett also sought to repair relationships across the world that Bibi had fractured. But that's all water under the bridge as of yesterday afternoon. The world moves faster than a blog debate.
So in the middle of a discussion about the need for nuance, listening, and complexity in discussing trans issues, we reduce an entire nation-state with millions of people to being "a cruel, right-wing country." (Which happens to be mostly populated by the descendants of refugees from the world upheavals in Europe and across the Muslim world in the middle of the last century.)
Whatever the problems are between the Jordan River and the sea, they're complicated, and have been for a very long time. And yes, lots of Jews, me being one of them, think that there's an organic connection between the land of Israel and the Jewish people- which in no way endorses or promotes any particular governmental policy but does shape how some of these conversations play out.
I've been to the West Bank and slept in Palestinian homes and seen maps in the refugee villages ringed by bullets outlining the entire State of Israel. I've also seen Israeli soldiers be cruel in executing policies that they didn't vote for and don't support. To reduce the settlements to "big money" is to ignore the entire history since UN resolution 181, which the Jews accepted and the surrounding states didn't, leading up to wars in 67 and 73 which Israel didn't want to fight.
Regarding Avigdor Lieberman, you might call him a slobbering savage, but he's also the guy who brought down Bibi Netanyahu, an act of improving the world the likes of which neither of us will ever accomplish. He's also an ardent supporter of the right to be secular and resist the encroachment of state religion. That's something progressives might like, no?
As for Torat HaMelech, the racist book that advocating preemptively killing some putative enemies- you know that the Attorney General of Israel indicted and convicted one of its authors for incitement, right?
I'm not asking you to join the Likud, I'm just pointing out that these issues are really, really complicated and if you want to effect change, listening and learning is probably a better strategy than condemning an entire country on the basis of its most extreme elements.
If you did not understand that I was expanding on
"And while those extremists alienate everybody who doesn’t agree with 100% of their demands, public opinion is shifting against the trans community in general."
in pointing out that frivolous charges of bigotry only make things worse for innocents, then you were alone in that misunderstanding. The diversionary charge of "antisemitism" is as cheap a shot as "transphobia" and the comparison between rising public disgust with global Jewry and the "trans" community is an inevitable one. More homologous than analogous.
But if you think replacing a politically cautious figure like Netanyahu with a bloodthirsty settler bigot like Naftali Bennett is some sort of improvement ...!
FTR both my grandmothers had their European families murdered in the Holocaust and I am 87% Ashkenazi by genetic analysis. However my choice is atheism.
Hi Chris, I did understand your point, which you made very clearly. I think in the course of making that point, some generalizations were made which are out of the spirit of this blog, and FWIW, I certainly didn't call you antisemitic or anything else. I don't disagree with you that some right-wing Jewish organizations are too quick to call critics of Israel "antisemites, though I don't see much evidence that this is causing a backlash against Jews in the US outside certain online progressive communities. After all, the most violent incidents against Jews in recent years- in Poway, Pittsburgh, and Jersey City- didn't have anything to do with Israel.
I think your point is much stronger when it comes to accusations of racism. Look at the huge backlash against the specter of "CRT".
Finally, I do think Naftali Bennett, of the now deposed coalition, was a better PM than Bibi, because Bennett brought Arabs into the coalition along with right-wingers and moderates, and didn't engage in the constant racist incitement that is Bibi's SOP. Bennett also sought to repair relationships across the world that Bibi had fractured. But that's all water under the bridge as of yesterday afternoon. The world moves faster than a blog debate.