Why Are Jews Liberals?

By Timothy V. Gatto

I was watching C-Span Book TV and they had Norman Podhoretz on, talking about his book “Why are Jews Liberals”. I felt as though I was in an alternate reality, like I had morphed into William Shatner and I was watching a monster on the wing of an airliner, but instead, I was watching a monster delivering a synopsis of a book.

I fully support a man’s (or woman’s) right to free expression, but I also feel I have a right to disagree. I know that since I’m not a Jew, my opinion counts very little to most Jews. Still, I feel I must state my disgust over this “intellectual’s” condemnation over his critique of the Goldstone (Who is a Jew)report. I was waiting to hear, as he bombasted the report, that Goldstone is a “self-hating Jew” but I don’t believe he did. Maybe in another Q and A he got around to it, but they didn’t broadcast the second Q&A.

I did see an older, frail man who identified himself as a Jewish doctor from the University academia say that he stood by the Goldstone report. In a trembling voice, he proclaimed that Podhoretz was dead wrong in defending what the Jews had done to the Palestinians in Gaza. I applaud his courage as he stood up to this author who has seemed to turn his back on humanitarian principles to support the Jewish State that has embraced the principles of fascism.

Watching this show, I learned that the United States had condemned the Goldstone Report in Congress, with only 37 Democrats either voting against condemnation or abstaining. This should be looked at as a cowardly act by the House. It is up to the American electorate to find out who voted to condemn the report and to withhold financial support from these cowards in the next election.

I can’t for the life of me understand why Israel should not be condemned. They used white phosphorus against civilians, bombed the American University in Gaza as well as the U.N enclave. They used tanks and infantry with automatic weapons indiscriminately against women and children. There were 2,500 deaths with only a handful of those dead being Hamas members. It was a massacre against an urban area that has a median age of 14 years old.

I can only surmise that political reality trumps international law and compassion for our fellow human beings every time. I wish we could change this paradigm, but it has been with us since man first picked up a club and beat another human to death. The more I see and hear, the more surreal things get. Oh, and by the way, I don’t make this stuff up.

timgatto@hotmail.com

Read Tim's Book "Complicity to Contempt" and watch for his new novel "Kimchee Days" coming out soon.