My Jewish Problem

No, not my Jewish Problem. Philip Weiss'.

My Jewish Problem C'ted: My Tribe Is No Longer a Progressive Political Force

My point of entry here is my own struggle with my Jewish roots. Yes I'm an assimilator, but I know that I'm very Jewish in my thinking and approach, and part of my distaste for the neoconservatives has to do with the way that the Jewish presence in American life has changed in my generation.

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I would argue that while mainstream Jews are very liberal on abortion and school prayer and Hollywood sex and violence—social issues—they have allowed neocons to represent them—that is to say, Jewish public opinion is a conservative force in foreign policy. Ask erstwhile liberals Waxman (who represents Hollywood) and Lieberman, and watch from whom Ned Lamont's insurgent antiwar candidacy against Lieberman in Connecticut draws its strength. The antiwar movement is so far a populist movement. Not very Jewish. Though, yes, Hilda Silverman and Dan Ellsberg are there.

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[B]eing a progressive in American life, and opposing the war, both these things necessitate a separation from Israel—a slight separation, inasmuch as he's merely calling for a more evenhanded U.S. policy in the Middle East. The bulk of American Jewry cannot take that step. And so they have been swept to the right.

Observer