Diaspora Jews are not in ‘exile,’ they are at home

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

http://mondoweiss.net/2015/01/diaspora-exile-home

There is widespread dismay in France at the Israeli notion that French Jews are not really French and their real “home” is Israel. The horrors of terrorism which have been inflicted upon Paris and elsewhere are being confronted by the governments involved. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said, “If 100,000 Jews leave, France will no longer be France. The French Republic will be judged a failure.”

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, director of the European Jewish Association, said that far better than emigration to Israel would be the preservation and protection of Jewish life in the many countries Jews call home. He regretted that “after every anti-Semitic act in Europe, the Israeli government issues the same statement about the importance of aliyah rather than employ every diplomatic and international means at its disposal to strengthen the safety of Jewish life in Europe.” He said: “The Israeli government must stop this Pavlovian response every time there is an attack against Jews in Europe.”

Yonathan Arli, Vice President of CRIF, an umbrella group of Jewish institutions in France, says that he believes Jews should remain in France, which is their home. “We have had a Jewish community living here for more than a thousand years,” he said. “We went through bombing attacks, the Holocaust, acts of terrorism, and we are not about to leave now. We just want to be safe.”

Writing from Paris in The Forward, Laurent-David Samama notes that while some French Jews might be considering emigration, “others—including young Jews like me—feel that making aliyah is a too-easy escape; it’s simply not the answer. Those of us who who remain in Paris, Marseille or Lyon are determined not to let the terrorists win. Throughout French history, Jews have experienced many periods of crisis. We’ve always overcome them, and we will overcome them again. Now more than ever…there is another communal faction that believes France needs us to stay here, to play the role of social whistleblower.”

[oberliner]

1. ALLAN C. BROWNFELD The Conservative Curmudgeon

Mr. Brownfeld served as a member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee and was the author of that committee's 250-page study of the New Left. He has also served as Assistant to the Research Director of the House Republican Conference and as a consultant to such members of Congress as Reps. Phil Crane (R-Il) and Jack Kemp (R-NY) and to the Vice President of the United States.

http://www.fgfbooks.com/AllanBrownfeld/aBrownfeld-bio.html

Interesting source choice both for you and for Mondoweiss.

[King_David]

4. Not that interesting,

Monodoweiss is obsessed with all things Jewish and Israel , it looks favourably on the

most right wing groups of opposition to Israel.

They not progressive , they just have a slant on Israel and Jews that is neither

Left wing nor Right wing (but more often than not ,it is...very )

[King_David]

2. Mondoweiss is an 'expert 'on Diaspora Jews ??

I wonder besides maybe 10 Jews (all here on DU) , who would agree with Brownfield .....

LOL

Mondoweiss is not a source that should be used in IP as it is a vanity blog and not very reliable,

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. More than you appear to be apparently. But go on now.

[azurnoir]

39. Isn't Philip Weiss owner of Mondoweiss what would be called a diaspora Jew himself?

as in any Jew that doesn't live in Israel

[King_David]

40. Umm not sure ... Is he?

[azurnoir]

41. You don't know if Philip Weiss is Jewish? apparently he is Jewish as is Adam Horowitz his co-editor

but here if it helps

bout Mondoweiss
Mondoweiss is a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective.

It has four principal aims:

To publish important developments touching on Israel/Palestine, the American Jewish community and the shifting debate over US foreign policy in a timely fashion.
To publish a diversity of voices to promote dialogue on these important issues.
To foster the movement for greater fairness and justice for Palestinians in American foreign policy.
To offer alternatives to pro-Zionist ideology as a basis for American Jewish identity.

This blog is co-edited by Philip Weiss and Adam Horowitz. Weiss lives in New York state and Horowitz lives in Atlanta.

We maintain this blog because of 9/11, Iraq, Gaza, the Nakba, the struggling people of Israel and Palestine, and our Jewish background.

This site aims to build a diverse community, with posts from many authors. The views of these authors do not necessarily represent the views of Horowitz and Weiss.

-
See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/about-mondoweiss#sthash.B3iTtD1g.dpuf

[King_David]

42. Mondoweiss is not a source that should be used in IP as it is a vanity blog and not very reliable,

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

48. The express views of king dave are not to be take seriously since s/he is not very reliable.

IMHO...

[COLGATE4]

5. The sites of former concentration camps are filled with

the ashes of Jews who believed that they were "really German" and "really French" and "really Italian", etc. Their lesson has not been lost on many European Jews today who are not anxious to repeat the experiences of those who rried to "overcome" antisemitism in their countries of citizenship during the last so-called "periods of crisis". They believe, with more than a little reason that Israel is the only country in which a Jew can feel entirely safe being a Jew.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

6. It may appear that Laurent-David Samama doesn't share that opinion.

Writing from Paris in The Forward, Laurent-David Samama notes that while some French Jews might be considering emigration, “others—including young Jews like me—feel that making aliyah is a too-easy escape; it’s simply not the answer. Those of us who who remain in Paris, Marseille or Lyon are determined not to let the terrorists win. Throughout French history, Jews have experienced many periods of crisis. We’ve always overcome them, and we will overcome them again. Now more than ever…there is another communal faction that believes France needs us to stay here, to play the role of social whistleblower.”

[King_David]

7. And so ?

Brownfield seems very irritated by a tenet of Zionism : Aliyah.

He's an Antizionists, go figure .

Big whoop , WTF is he and WTF cares.

Another spokesman for the Jews .

WTF makes this his business anyway ?

LOL

Allan C. Brown­feld, a nation­ally syn­di­cated colum­nist, said: “What has hap­pened to Amer­i­can Judaism has com­pletely cor­rupted its reli­gious nature. What we are wit­ness­ing today — syn­a­gogues fly­ing Israeli flags, pro­grams urg­ing Amer­i­can Jews to emi­grate to Israel ‘their real home­land,’ — is a form of idol­a­try mak­ing the sov­er­eign state of Israel the object of wor­ship rather than God.” He added, “It is also my view that Zion­ism is a sub­ver­sive enterprise.”

http://blog.adl.org/tags/allan-c-brownfeld


Really .... "Zionism" is a subversive enterprise?.........WTF is this guy ?

[oberliner]

8. "Jewish/Zionist Terrorism: A Continuing Threat to Peace" is another article of his

That one is from the early 2000's.

He has a more recent article entitled: Here's How Obama Is Turning The American Presidency Into A Dictatorship

[King_David]

9. And this guy is posted here on DU ?

He's no spokesman for Jews ... He's not even a friend of the Jews .

And now he seems to have a problem with President Obama?

[King_David]

10. Good thing Laurent-David Samama

Is a part of the Jewish Community because it would really be insulting and condescending and bigoted if someone from the outside was telling Jewish Community members this.

😚

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

11. That's your narrow opinion.

And opinions vary, dave.

[King_David]

12. No I don't think there's much wiggle room in this case

I know this because I'm part of the minority involved .


You?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

13. Again, dave, that's your opinion

and it is getting narrower all the time.

Is there a "stomping foot smiley" you can use for emphasis?

[COLGATE4]

14. My post was precisely in response to that comment. I believe he is

in a distinct minority among French Jews. There are hundreds if not thousands of 'Laurent David Samama's' who exist now only in the records of Nazi extermination camps, precisely because they also believed that they were French, not Jews and that they would overcome their crisis. They were tragically mistaken.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

15. Well that's good that you can make assumptions

while delegitimizing Mr. Samama.

[COLGATE4]

16. No one is deligitimizing him. I simply believe

he is mistaken.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

17. Who were, not who "believed that they were".

You insult their memories, and by promoting the evil shared lie of Zionism and antisemitism that to be a Jew is to be a stranger in your own homeland you insult me as a British (not "integrated", not "assimilated", but British) Jew.

Your claim is utterly false, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

[King_David]

18. What nonsense ,

That's precisely the reason for Israel's existence.

What happened then will never happen now because of Israel .

Once we were weak Jews like lambs to the slaughter and we died and now we are very very strong Jews who fight back and survive.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

19. Nonsense yourself.

If you seriously think that I would be safer in Israel than I am in Britain, or than I would be in the USA, you are insane.

[King_David]

20. We talking about France here

And at the moment the Jews of France are not safe at all.

[oberliner]

22. Do you were a yarmulke in public?

You mentioned that you were Jewish - have you ever worn a yarmulke in public in France?

In France, 40 percent of approximately 1,200 Jews said they avoided wearing such items in public

http://www.jta.org/2013/10/16/news-opinion/world/1-in-4-european-jews-afraid-to-wear-kippah-survey-shows

Isn't that a tad disconcerting?

[COLGATE4]

21. "The evil shared lie of Zionism and antisemitism..."

Words fail me.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

23. You should take it on board.

There is a reason that so many antisemites supported the foundation of Israel so enthusiastically.

Zionism is, precisely, the acceptance of the age-old accusation of the antisemite that to be a Jew is to be at least in part a foreigner in one's own homeland.

[branford]

25. History, ancient and modern, has all too often rendered Jews strangers

in the land of their birth. They never had a choice. How many loyal and proud German, French, Belgian, Polish, etc. Jews were gassed and burned in the ovens. The Jews being attacked in Europe today have been in their countries for generations, but they are still viewed as outsiders, both on the left and right. Zionism is not to separate yourself from where you were born, its the stark acknowledgement that others will do so no matter you're efforts or loyalty, and it provides a refuge and sanctuary.

I am a loyal and happy American Jew. I am also a committed Zionist, despite the fact that I have no intentions to emigrate. Even the USA, one of the most welcoming countries to Jews where we have found great success, has a history of violent antisemitism, that sadly is alive and well with far too many of my countrymen.

I care not one bit whether antisemites supported the foundation of Israel or not. Neither Zionism nor Israel need the approval of antisemites or anyone else to survive and prosper.

Do you oppose any other groups efforts at self-determination if they may have successfully assimilated (or not) where they were born?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

26. I strongly oppose any form of "self-determination" on non-geographical grounds.

The only groups that have a right to control regions of territory are "the group of all the citizens of this region". Every state must be a state for all its people.

"A land without a people for a people without a land" is an entirely reasonable goal under those terms - if there is no-one living in a region, then it's perfectly reasonable for any group to go and settle it, and at that point they will coincide with "the group of people who live in this region". *But it would require a land without a people*.

[King_David]

28. Palestinian "refugees" in surrounding areas and countries included too...

Problem solved I guess...

ROR for Palestinians is a crock ?

Good to know ...

[Donald Ian Rankin]

29. Silly word games?

I would say I expected better from you, but it would be a lie.

I intentionally don't go into the definition of "citizen", because doing it right would stretch to a several-page discussion of immigration rights. But anyone native to a region, or their children or grandchildren, certainly qualifies, even if forcibly ethnically cleansed; conversely, race, ethnicity and religion absolutely do not factor into it, and nor do where your ancestors lived millenia ago.

[King_David]

34. How convenient...

"Qualifies".

(I didn't expect anything from you and your personal insult to myself was
"like water off a ducks back". Not for even an instant did it make me feel bad or regretful, so it was quite a waste...)

[branford]

33. Forget the Palestinians,

he just delegitimized virtually the entire western world and almost everyone else, no less ignored most of the history and purpose of human migration, conflict and settlement.

He also completely failed to address the point that Jews (particularly in Europe) do not normally separate themselves or want in any way to feel like a foreigner in the lands of their birth. It is something done to them, not by them as a choice. Apparently, this historical fact is just inconvenient.

The hand-waving of the Palestinian refugee issue, particularly in Arab lands, is also most amusing and unfortunate.

[King_David]

35. There's a lot of Jews who consider themselves far more righteous

That the rest of the tribe. They alone "get it" and are able to integrate with the "other" progressives because unlike the rest of us ....
They are singularly "righteous "

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

49. Judging who is and who isn't worthy again, dave?

Why don't you just go on and tell said individual that they have disqualified themselves from I/P?

[King_David]

52. Actually he seems pretty qualified to be discussing an internal

Debate among Diaspora Jews.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

54. You're just too silly, dave.

[aranthus]

45. And reality strongly opposes what you believe.

The only states that can exist are those that have a coherent cultural identity. Those that don't fall apart (if they are democratic) or implode (once the terror apparatus that keeps them together weakens). That's why there isn't a Czechoslovakia anymore, or a Yugoslavia, or a Soviet Union. It's why Iraq is falling apart. That's why "national self determination" is the foundation of the modern world.

[aranthus]

47. No that is not what Zionism is or means.

If anything it means that Jews are a separate people, like the Italians of French. Are there people of French or Italian descent living in the US as equal citizens? Of course there are. You might claim that Zionism assumes that loyal Jews won't be fully accepted as equal citizens in other countries, but in many places that's still true.

[branford]

24. I will never cease to be amazed at what I read on a purportedly liberal Democratic forum. nt

[Donald Ian Rankin]

27. If opposition to racism surprises you, you're easily surprised.

[King_David]

32. And this has absolutely NOTHING to do with opposition to racism,

Did you post on the wrong thread perhaps?

[COLGATE4]

30. It's absolutely astonishing.

Zionism=Anti Semitism.

[King_David]

31. Ashamed ? It's not Colgate who should be...

You rather lucky your a British Jew and not a French or Iranian Jew ... Aren't you?
But for them thank G-D Israel is around.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

36. No and yes, respectively.

Last edited Fri Jan 23, 2015, 07:58 PM - Edit history (2)

I'm lucky to be British; being French would also be lucky; being Israeli would be unlucky (although I hope I'd have the courage and decency to leave and move to a less racist country if I saw that my homeland was as institutionally racist as Israel is); being Iranian would be very unlucky (and I'm not sure I'd be able to leave).

On edit: this goes too far - I overreacted in anger, but it's not fair to say that there is a moral duty to leave Israel, just a duty not to support it.

[King_David]

37. Im sure no one would force you to stay in Israel if you wanted to leave

I'm also sure nobody is clammering for you or the other 2000/12 million anti Zionist Jews to go on Aliyah.

It's the French Jews right to leave and go on Aliyah if they so wish and the numbers will tell the story... Just wait.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

38. Sadly, they do have that right, while Palestinians of course do not.

Isn't racism wonderful when it works in your favour?

[King_David]

43. Like Little Briton has " the only Gay in the village"

You fancy yourself as "The only Righteous Jew in the tribe" ?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

44. No, I think I'm one of a significant minority of Jews who are right on this particular issue.

Of course, among humans as a whole, as opposed to among Jews, it's a majority opinion.

[King_David]

53. True and nothing has changed here for 2000 years

And lucky for you and me that the UK and the USA does protect its minorities but Jews in some other countries haven't been as lucky as we have been and hence the need for the State of Israel .

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

50. Again with the judging?

Please stop with that nonsense.

[aranthus]

46. This stopped clock can't even get it right once.

Almost, but not quite. The truth is that it depends on the society in which Jews are living. In the US, Britain, and other places in the Western world, Jews are home. In other places not so much. If I were a Jew living in France I would stay and fight for my country. If I were a Jew living abroad I would travel to France and symbolically flip off the antisemites. In fact, this year I'm going to.

[immoderate]

51. Miracle in the Desert? Meh... Go to Las Vegas!

--imm