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I am just old enough to remember grown-up disquiet when speaking of
McCarthyism—the first thick book I read was Louis Nizer's My Life in
Court, which was largely about the libel case of Quentin Reynolds
against Westbrook Pegler, the impresario of the scurrilous Red
Channels—and I remember feeling a certain pride in the very large number
of Jewish liberals who, like Nizer, helped bring America back to its
senses.
Let the galoots disgrace themselves attacking war-heroes like General
Marshall. Let weird groups like the John Birchers and Daughters of the
American Revolution and Republican Tafters impugn a man's integrity,
then repeat each others' insinuations, then spread them to widening
circles in captive media (where sympathetic pens were waiting). Let them
point to the public doubts they themselves manufactured "out of whole
cloth," as my father used to say. Jews, and Jewish organizations, knew
where they stood in the face of such smears. They stood for fairness,
patience, sanity. We knew for whom an unfair, impatient, insane America
would not "be good for."
Which brings me to Sen. Hagel. I think it is time to acknowledge,
bluntly, that certain major Jewish organizations, indeed, the Conference
of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations—also, the ADL, AIPAC, the
American Jewish Committee, political groups like the Republican Jewish
Coalition, along with their various columnists, pundits, and
list-serves—are among the most consistent purveyors of McCarthyite-style
outrages in America today. Are there greater serial defamers of public
officials in fake campaigns against defamation? Starting with Andrew
Young and the late Charles Percy, and on to Chas.
Freeman and (now)
Chuck Hagel, the game has been to keep Congresspeople and civil servants
who might be skeptical of Israel's occupation and apologetics in a
posture that can only be called exaggerated tact.
Fault Israel and you are accused of faulting Jews in our collective
state, or, the same thing, overlooking the venality of our
enemies—things only an anti-Semite would do and, of all times, in the
wake of the Holocaust. This is not a charge anyone in public life wants
to suffer or try to deny. My Israeli friends love that old Borsch-belt
joke, that anti-Semitism means disliking Jews more than necessary. For
American Jewish organizations, the very idea that dislike is ever
warranted is proof of bigotry, like Philip Roth's early novels were
proof of "self-hatred."
AIPAC et al know that if American politicians—and especially those
fighting routinely for Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio—are not cowed by
the fear of being branded as anti-Semitic they may not be embarrassed
into backing Israeli actions ritualistically. Where is the shame and who
is our Murrow?
I won't presume to go through the credentials that make Chuck Hagel fit
for appointment as Defense Secretary; I saw and heard him in person only
once. I also won't repeat, or defend him against, all the fatuous
charges leveled against him. Others have
done this better than I could. (If you want a comprehensive list of the
AIPAC-inspired letters Hagel refused to sign, you can find it here.)
Wednesday 26 December 2012
Hagel And The Neo-McCarthyites
Suffice
it to say that Hagel is a man of independent judgment whose views on
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict track pretty much exactly with those of
Haaretz. He was distinguished guest at J Street's first national
conference. Nothing he's said has not been said by leaders like Ehud
Olmert and intelligence chief Ephraim Halevy. Hagel is also a man, like
George McGovern, who having served with distinction in the military
knows the unknown dangers of resorting to military force without a clear
diplomatic strategy and except as a last resort. So he refuses to speak
glibly about using force against Iran the same way he refused to
endorse war with Iraq. A Vietnam purple heart, he would in retrospect
have engaged with the Viet Cong. Should he not now endorse engagement
with the Taliban or Hamas, for that matter? Continue Reading
Posted @ 15:57
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