Jewish Self-haters or Victims?

by Steven Shamrak

I recently have received the following message from an Islamo-Fascist (according to the name, tone and manner of correspondence) reader of mine: “Please explain however whether Norman Finkelstein, Israel Shamir, Noam Chomsky, Walt & Mearsheimer, Illan Pappe, Gilad Atzmon or the thousands of other anti-Zionist Jews who are on your "self-hating-Jew-list" are also "Islamo-fascists" or "Jew haters"?

While I was writing my answer, I realized that I and other defenders of Zionist ideals of Jewish people have been using the term “self-hating Jews” quite often in order to simplify a message of self-hate which is quite common among Jews. The issue, as I and others have explained, is more complex and disturbing.

Regardless of the political antagonism toward Israel’s position that some Jews have adopted at the moment, they are our brothers and sisters! I only use term “self-hating Jews” as a description of a behaviour, in order to save time and space in my letters, but never with hate toward them.

A minority of Jews have chosen an anti-Israel position quite deliberately for hypocritical and self-promotional reasons in order to improve their professional or financial standing - In short, to make a better living!

Others, there are more of them, simply have need and are looking for attention - It is not only children only who suffer from Attention Seeking Syndrome. This disorder is quite common among adults. Many people, not just Jews, find that any attention, even negative, is better than none! By taking an anti-Israel point of view they gain the support of anti-Semites and rebuke from Jews. It is a win-win result for them – What else one can wish!

Many Jews, under continuous external pressure in an anti-Semitic environment, are consciously or subconsciously just trying to fit in. And the best way to be accepted is to behave like others. They use this bizarre, self-bashing behaviour pattern as a cry of “I am not like them – Love me!”

But the biggest proportion of the Jews who have adopted the anti-Israel point of view are definitely suffering in various forms from Stockholm syndrome which is described as “a psychological shift that occurs in captives when they are threatened gravely… tend to sympathize with and think highly of their captors… When subjected to prolonged captivity, these captives can develop a strong bond with their captors”. For too long Jews have been hostages in hostile environments. No one is able to sustain extreme unhappiness indefinitely! Identification with the surrounding anti-Semitic majority brings to themselves a false sense of security and acceptance.

In many countries after people have experienced a trauma, be it a robbery or a terror act, they would receive a counselling. Unfortunately, for too long Jews have been subjected to the continuous pressure of the ugly reality which has been surrounding us, without any counselling or help at all. Yes, we have developed many techniques in order to survive - humour is one of them. Jews have survived two millennia of humiliation and persecution. But not without casualties. We must move from survival mode to living with dignity!

Delusional Jews. In a poll published on Wednesday, 70% of American Jews believe that the relationship between Israel and the US is ''positive enough'', whatever that means. (This is another Jewish syndrome)

With the Friend Like This… Both Jews and Muslims celebrated holidays in September 2009. However, the United States Consulate in Jerusalem – America's representative in Israel's capital [there is still no US embassy in Jerusalem] – chose to focus entirely on Islam this year, while ignoring the Jewish holidays of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur completely. The Consulate's website features Eid il-Fitr greetings from U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Consul General Daniel Rubinstein. Consulate staff was involved in Ramadan celebrations in Jenin and Shechem, and hosted a meal in Jericho for the Muslim holiday of Iftar. Clinton's greeting was published on September 19 – the first day of Rosh HaShana. However, the Jewish holiday was not mentioned. Snub followed an admission in August that the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem views itself as America's representative to the PA, while the embassy in Tel Aviv is seen as the representative to Israel.

Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak

A newly formed small country, Israel, without any natural resources and no viable industry, was been able to absorb millions of Jewish refugees from Europe 60 years ago. Over 850,000 Jews were forced out of Muslim countries and many found shelter in Israel. Most of the Jews from FSU fled the rise of anti-Semitism and economic disaster to Israel. It is time for Arab and Muslim countries to perform their own miracle and take back their “brothers and sisters”, if they really care about them!

US ‘Generosity’ at Israel’s Expense. In spite of revelations on Friday that Iran has maintained a secret uranium enrichment plant suitable for creating weapons-grade uranium, the U.S. is apparently allowing an additional three months to Iran for “talks”. At the same time the head of Iran's nuclear program, Ali Akbar Salehi said “We are not going to discuss anything related to our nuclear rights, but we can discuss about disarmament, we can discuss about non-proliferation and other general issues… The new site is part of our rights and there is no need to discuss it.'' (The usual stupid diplomatic game is being played in order to delay Israel’s strike on Iran and later say “It is already too late, they have already got the bomb!”)

Selectiveness of Goldstone Report. Terror victim, Dr. Mirella Sidrer, who was severely injured when Gaza terrorists shot a rocket at Ashkelon has criticized Goldstone’s UN Investigative Committee for excluding her testimony from its controversial report on the Cast Lead Operation. She has undergone seven operations for her wounds, and is in need of more. (For a long time already the anti-Israel bias of the UN have made this organization completely irrelevant in resolving the Arab-Israel conflict!)

Strange Generosity. UNRWA and the Italian Cooperation Office are sponsoring the Palestinian Olympic Games from September 25-27 in Sidon, Lebanon. (Why does this generosity not include sponsorship of the Jewish Olympic Games? Many of us are genuine refugees, not as fake as the so-called Palestinians ones!)

What Happened to September Deadline? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters following a meeting with the foreign ministers from Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany that the six nations would wait until the talks with the Islamic Republic scheduled to take place on October 1 before deciding whether to impose harsher sanctions over its intransigence on halting its nuclear development activities.

Propaganda does not Make Claims Legitimate. United States President Barack Obama issued a stinging condemnation of the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly: “The United States does Israel no favours when we fail to couple an unwavering commitment to its security with an insistence that Israel respect the legitimate claims and rights of the Palestinians.” (Mr. President, just because the world needs oil and, due to traditional anti-Semitic inclination, is unwilling to support Jewish rights to the land of Palestine, it does not make the claim of a recently forged ‘nation’ legitimate!)

Quote of the Week: “Defensive PR, like defensive warfare, never works. And Israeli PR and Israeli warfare has been on the defensive for decades now. If you break down Israel’s message to a single sentence, it’s “We didn’t do any of the things we are accused of.” That is the kind of message you expect to hear from criminal defendants, and it’s a message that impresses no one. The only thing it does is produce a debate about the validity of the accusations themselves” - Sultan Knish.

Let's Pretend We're Making Peace.

by Barry Rubin.

…What's achieved by pretending there is progress and success is imminent? Some very real and - in their way - important things:

• World leaders are saying that they are doing a great job, doing the right things, remaining active and achieving success.

• By saying peace is near, the situation is defused. Why fight if you are about to make a deal?

• Israel (and anyone else from the region who joins in) shows that it is cooperating, so others should be patient and not apply pressure.

• Since the West is taking care of business, Arab states will supposedly feel comfortable working with it on other issues, like Iran for example.

…THE FREEZE on settlement construction, as another example, is a scam. If Israel gives something on this issue, the Western governments declare victory and go home, so to speak. That doesn't mean there aren't reasons for not doing so, but the virtually open cynicism of the US and European strategy is striking

…There are three problems: The first is if Western leaders believe their own propaganda. Because if peace is "within reach" but isn't actually grasped, then someone must be blamed. That someone will, of course, be Israel. Why? Because if the West blames the Palestinians, leaders presume that Arabs and Muslims will be angry and not cooperate on other matters. There could be more terrorism and fewer profitable deals and investments. They gain nothing.

The second problem, however, is that neither the Palestinians nor Arab regimes will join in the optimism. Their line is: The Palestinians are suffering! The situation is intolerable! Something must be done! …Since this is not going to happen if Israel resists, they fall back on their alternative approach: Okay, so since you aren't forcing Israel to give us what we want, you have to give us other things, like money...

What's the third problem? Actions that might actually promote regional stability, or even Arab-Israeli peace, are not taken. These include two especially important tactics:

• More energetic efforts to overthrow the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. As long as Hamas is running half the Palestinian territories and outflanking Fatah in militancy, there won't be peace...

• More pressure on the Palestinian Authority to moderate and compromise. The PA and its positions are the main barriers to peace. As the PA possibly becomes more radical...

(A belief that overthrowing Hamas and pressuring of the PA will bring peace to Israel is the biggest delusion many Jews are suffering from! There is no Arab, Muslim and definitely no Islamic organization that supports the existence of Eretz-Israel! It is time to face reality, regain self-respect and stop supporting our enemies.)