Is Israel Good for The Jews?

Abdullah sent me an article by the intellectual Norman Birnbaum (an anti-Zionist grandson of Zionists) that was published in the Nation and has been circulated among circles of young Arab university students and alumni. And here is the response from an anti-intellectual, Zionist great-grandson of anti-Zionists (hint: it's me):

There are too many misrepresented and misguided claims to address in this blog, but the most significant problem with this article is that its author never offers any arguments or facts to support his thesis that:

American Jewry's identification with Israel is neither good for Israel nor for the United States (and its Jewish citizens). As the US empire crumbles, it is best to urge Israel away from brutal militancy.

Instead, much of the article focuses on the fact that American Jews support the Jewish state, and perhaps more cynically, shape American foreign policy to that end. But what he fails to mention is that American Jews are some of Israel's harshest critics, and have achieved worldwide fame and wealth as a result of it (ever heard of Noam Chomsky?). He then hypothesizes that in the event the United States' allegiance moved away from Israel, prior Jewish support for the Israel would unleash American anti-Semtism. Such a discussion though intellectualy quite interesting, is not persuasive.

With the exception of the deplorable treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the United States has NOT witnessed significant xenophobia towards ex-patriot citizens (or people to whom the claim of double loyalty could apply) from Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, or Iraq (though aberrations do obviously occur), countries with which we have been engaged in war. I use these examples only to demonstrate the extreme possibiliy -- the probability of the United States waging war on Israel or (vice versa) is infinitesimally small because both countries do in fact share common values and ends.

And yet, this statement, which remains at the very heart of the issues hand is casually dismissed by Birnbaum. He writes:

There is, the Jewish organizations tell us, no conflict of loyalties and responsibilities; the two nations have common values and common ends. The assertion is nonsensical (not common values and ends? Do tell…), but its repetition does negate one stereotype about Jews, our supposed intelligence.

In other words, he calls proponents of this argument "stupid," and throughout the rest of the article does not provide one piece of evidence to support this ad hominem attack. Why should we care so much about this? Because if the United States and Israel do not share comman values and ends, then the only explanation for the United States' support for Israel is the influence of the Israel Lobby.

The reason that Mr. Birnbaum does not explain why the United States and Israel share common values and ends is because either it needs no explanation to the Nation's readers or the claim does not reflect reality. Or maybe both...

I would ask Mr. Birnbaum, if not Israel, with which other country in the Middle East does the United States share more values? Saudi Arabia? The Hamas-led government in the West Bank and Gaza? Even the most virulent critics of Israel would admit both countries share democratic forms of government, market-based economies, civil rights and liberties, Judeo-Christian values, secular civil societies, and modern education systems.

Moreover, Islamic Fundamentalism and terrorism threaten both Israel and the United States, and thus the two countries are natural allies. Of course, that is not to say that other countries in the region do not face similar threats. They do. The difference is that both countries have suffered more greatly than the others from their attacks, and rather than appeasing Islamic Fundamentalism in their state-run newspapers or by supporting "anti-Western" Imams, they seek to eliminate the threat by waging a war on both ideological and militaristic fronts.

And does anyone actually believe that the United States would be embraced by the Muslim world should American support for Israel cease? After all, between Israel and the United States, which one has earned the label "Great Satan" from Iran? (Hint: Israel is "Little Satan.")