Why Progressivists* Hate Israel**
Benjamin Disraeli's eloquent description of the Jews might shed some light on the cause (quoted from pages 267 of The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk):
**I refer, of course, to the Chosen People of the Old Covenant, not the modern state.
I choose the term "Israel" over "the Jew," "Jewry," or "Jews." The first two sound unfortunately archaic, although they are fine terms (much like the word "Oriental"). The last one would be incorrect because Progressivists generally don't hate the Jews as a people, they hate the vocation of that people. In fact, individual Jews, invariably of the self-hating variety like Karl Marx or Noam Chomsky, have become prophets of the Left.
Perhaps the term "Israel" used here is doubly appropriate; a lot of the hatred reserved for the State of Israel goes deeper than the "peace and justice" issues the Left claims for its motivation. Israel, of course, as any state, is not above criticism and I have engaged in such on this blog. It is important, also, not to make the same error made by many neo-conservative Evangalicals of identifying the modern state with God's Chosen People.
The Left, and certain elements of the paleo-conservative Right, place a far greater emphasis on Israel's wrongs than on any other nation. The plights of the Kurds, the Tibetans, or the East Timorese never received as much attention as that that the Palestinians receive, and certainly no Westerner has ever jumped in front of an Iraqi (or Turkish), Chinese, or Indonesian bull-dozer, à la Rachel Corrie, may God have mercy on her soul. [Of course, it goes without saying that Buddhist Tibetans and Catholic East Timorese (or Christian Palestinians for that matter) never produced suicide bombers, like the one whose house Miss Corrie died defending (see A Tribute to Rachel Corrie: Thanks for showing us what "peace" really means.).]
It is sometimes argued that the State of Israel is illegitimate, that it was "stolen" or usurped from another people. If that is the case, the United States, Australia, Canada, and several other nations are illegitimate as well. Why stop there? Why not demand North Africa back from the Arabs or Britain back from the Angles and Saxons? This is not to justify invasion, colonization, or any other past or present crimes of any nation, rather, it is to acknowledge the present reality that is the State of Israel.
This said, I would be happy to see a Palestinian State exist side-by-side with Israel. I would hope such a state could give a voice and a place to the Palestinian Christians, so that a Christian presence might continue in the Holy Land. I'd also like to see East Jersulem as the capital of that state, or the whole city become a truly international city.
Benjamin Disraeli's eloquent description of the Jews might shed some light on the cause (quoted from pages 267 of The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk):
They are the trustees of religion, and the conservators of the religious element. They are a living and the most striking evidence of the falsity of that pernicious doctrine of modern times, the natural equality of man.... They have also another characteristic, the faculty of acquisition.... Thus it will be seen that all the tendencies of the Jewish race are conservative. Their bias is to religion, property, and natural aristocracy; and it should be the interest of the statesmen that this bias of a great race should encouraged and their energies and creative powers enlisted in the cause of existing society.
**I refer, of course, to the Chosen People of the Old Covenant, not the modern state.
I choose the term "Israel" over "the Jew," "Jewry," or "Jews." The first two sound unfortunately archaic, although they are fine terms (much like the word "Oriental"). The last one would be incorrect because Progressivists generally don't hate the Jews as a people, they hate the vocation of that people. In fact, individual Jews, invariably of the self-hating variety like Karl Marx or Noam Chomsky, have become prophets of the Left.
Perhaps the term "Israel" used here is doubly appropriate; a lot of the hatred reserved for the State of Israel goes deeper than the "peace and justice" issues the Left claims for its motivation. Israel, of course, as any state, is not above criticism and I have engaged in such on this blog. It is important, also, not to make the same error made by many neo-conservative Evangalicals of identifying the modern state with God's Chosen People.
The Left, and certain elements of the paleo-conservative Right, place a far greater emphasis on Israel's wrongs than on any other nation. The plights of the Kurds, the Tibetans, or the East Timorese never received as much attention as that that the Palestinians receive, and certainly no Westerner has ever jumped in front of an Iraqi (or Turkish), Chinese, or Indonesian bull-dozer, à la Rachel Corrie, may God have mercy on her soul. [Of course, it goes without saying that Buddhist Tibetans and Catholic East Timorese (or Christian Palestinians for that matter) never produced suicide bombers, like the one whose house Miss Corrie died defending (see A Tribute to Rachel Corrie: Thanks for showing us what "peace" really means.).]
It is sometimes argued that the State of Israel is illegitimate, that it was "stolen" or usurped from another people. If that is the case, the United States, Australia, Canada, and several other nations are illegitimate as well. Why stop there? Why not demand North Africa back from the Arabs or Britain back from the Angles and Saxons? This is not to justify invasion, colonization, or any other past or present crimes of any nation, rather, it is to acknowledge the present reality that is the State of Israel.
This said, I would be happy to see a Palestinian State exist side-by-side with Israel. I would hope such a state could give a voice and a place to the Palestinian Christians, so that a Christian presence might continue in the Holy Land. I'd also like to see East Jersulem as the capital of that state, or the whole city become a truly international city.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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