K-Swiss on Jewish Liberalism

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. It's easy to view this holiday as just another vacation day from work (and don't get me wrong, that's a wonderful thing too), but we should also remember just how much it means to honor our soldiers who gave their lives to protect our nation.

I am traveling this week, so posting will be light for several days. In the meantime, though, our Washington correspondent "K-Swiss" checks in with a reflectively hard-hitting essay on the seemingly paradoxical axis of American Jews and leftist liberalism.

Jewish Liberalism in America
by K-Swiss

Last month in Washington D.C., as in many other cities around the nation, rallies were held urging the Bush administration and Congress to help end the genocide taking place in Sudan's Darfur region. While news of the actual genocide has received only occasional media attention (and in these few instances, it is very seldom mentioned that Arab Muslims are the perpetrators), the “Save Darfur” rally did attract significant coverage from both the local and national media. In the days leading up to the rally, I read many articles and watched numerous TV pieces about the timing of the rally, the purpose, the location, the celebrity speakers, etc. And within this media space, one thing in particular stood out to me: the number of Jews and Jewish organizations helping to organize the rally and in attendance at the rally. Ranging from the keynote speakers to the participants being interviewed on TV (many Jewish-sounding last names) to my own circle of Jewish friends in D.C., it seemed as though Darfur was a specifically Jewish cause.

Now in itself, this is a truly great thing. Rallying to end genocide is a noble cause and a moral obligation, and it takes on special importance to Jews in particular because of the Holocaust. But during post-rally coverage, I could not help but wonder to myself - how many of the Jews at the Darfur rally had ever attended an Israel rally? How many of them denounced President Bush at the rally even though he has arguably been the most pro-Israel President in Israel’s 58 year history? How many of these people would give anything to save Darfur, but ignore the genocidal remarks made against Israel by Iran's President Ahmadinejad?

Unfortunately, the answer seems to be too many. Having lived in D.C. the past few years, I have seen a disproportionate amount of Jews leading rallies and at the forefront of liberal causes such as abortion rights, gay rights, feminist rights, saving the rainforests, stopping the Iraq war, etc. Jews, more than any other people, seem the need to flaunt their liberal credentials at every turn. But if something is considered "non-liberal", such as the Republican Party, many of these same Jews will turn completely against it, even if that non-liberal institution greatly supports Israel.

While in the past, it was the liberals and the Democratic Party who most supported Israel, the tables have turned in the 21st century, and it is now the conservatives and the Republican Party who most vociferously support the Jewish state. Yet a majority of Jews in America have either not woken to this realization or have not bothered to pay attention to it.

Jews here in the U.S. are at a crossroads, and we must ask ourselves where our priorities lie. Does saving the rainforests take priority over supporting a strong and secure Israel? Is rallying for abortion rights more important than rallying for freedom in Iran? How Jews answer these questions and other similarly pressing quandaries will likely determine the future of the Jewish people in this country.

Let's make the right decisions.

TheSolidSurfer.com responds: K-Swiss, thank you for the piece and for your astute insights and analysis. Jews in America are indeed quite liberal as a whole, and I also feel that the community's support for Israel (as well as its general vitality) could be greatly strengthened by adopting more "conservative" positions and values. This can be accomplished, in my opinion, my addressing the root causes of this ultra-liberalism, something Dennis Prager often discusses in his writings.

Hope everyone has a great week, and I look forward to resuming regular posting once I return from my trip. (And look for other guests to potentially appear soon on the site as well.)

Comments

[Allan]

I enjoyed this article. It really is disconcerting to see so many liberal Jews who are hostile to the Republican party. I am curious to see if a McCain or Guliani can make major in-roads into the Jewish vote in 2008. Perhaps it will take someone not affiliated with the Christian Right to get Jews to act more reasonable in their voting patterns.

[Freedom Now]

Ha haa haaaa!!!! I love it, the root causes of ultra-libealism.

You know it is ironic that the last six to eight months has seen the Left demand that the Bush Administration take more of an active stance on Darfur.

This is amusing because it was the Bush Administration that was the first to condemn the violence there and call it a "possible" genocide. Anti-Bush activists scoffed at the suggestion and accused the US of having ulterior motives. So the Administration resorted to working behind the scenes.

Proving that anti-American activism is pathological.

[kahaneloyalist]

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are friends of the Jew, while both Clinton and Bush talked alot in support of Israel there actions were always to the detriment of the Jewish State. The Jewish people must learn that the only friend of the Jew is the Jew and the only one we can depend on is Hashem.

[Madzionist]

Great seeing you, Surfer! Look forward to crossing paths with you again, my friend.

[Mini Me]

Great article K-Swiss! It makes you wonder about the future and what will happen to the voting patterns of the Jews? Can they continue to be anti-Republican if that means they are also anti-Israel? I wonder if voting patterns among Jews change, specifically in the 2008 election. How dramatically can liberal Jews change their values and beliefs before they finally give in and vote Republican? That question is starting to be answered now and it will certainly be addressed even more so in the future.

[Solid Surfer]

These are all really great insights...I think they're all more or less correct simultaneously. Like any political party in any nation, both the Democrats and the GOP are first and foremost out for themselves. And certainly this doesn't automatically include supporting Jews or Israel (or any other group of people).

But that said, in a straight toss-up between the two, the Republicans clearly seems more in line with Israel and Jewish interests and values, and on that basis, American Jews are increasingly incentivized to trend GOP.

And Allan - I agree with you on both McCain and Giuliani...guess we'll have to wait and see what happens in the 2008 primaries!