The Last Exile

There has been a great deal of discussion concerning American diaspora Liberal Jewry and Israel. I haven’t really commented about it because the dilemma is not mine. Modern Liberalism can be a very fine thing but at the end of the day; it is not much of a shield to use to keep one safe from who invoke the ancient cry ‘Kill the Jews’ as a battle call to action.

It won’t save you from rocket attacks, being stabbed or bulldozed on the street, or being fired upon while driving your car or being blown-up on a bus or at the market or a mall. Of course, you can try it, but well, good luck to you. Then there is the fact that most ‘Liberal Zionists’ in North America aren’t particularly Torah observant either which would be my first guess why the connection is tenuous in even the best case circumstances. Be that as it may, I found this at the Jerusalem Post and thought it blog worthy.

The confrontation at sea between pro-Palestinian activists seeking to end the international blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza and Israeli forces seeking to enforce the closure has put Israel in a difficult position. Despite the fact that the aim of the so-called “freedom flotilla” was to bring aid to the terrorist regime running Gaza, the deaths of several persons on board one of the ships that resisted the commandos who boarded the vessel has created a public relations bonanza for the anti-Zionist groups that organized the effort.

The chorus of condemnations raining down on Jerusalem only hours after the incident shows the depth of anti-Israeli passion around the world as governments, NGOs and UN officials all chime in with the usual refrains about the use of “disproportionate” force, as well as the myth about the ships seeking to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in a region where food and medical supplies are not barred by the Israeli and Egyptian blockade, which is aimed at forcing Hamas to either step down or recognize Israel.

But while Israeli spokesmen will be scrambling to tell their side of the story in coming days, the spotlight on “liberal Zionists” will be crucial in determining not only the way American Jewry responds to the crisis but the reaction from the Obama administration.

As with the case of Israel’s December 2008 counterattack on terrorist strongholds in Gaza after years of ceaseless missile attacks on its southern towns, this week’s naval confrontation offers American Jews a stark choice. They can back Israel or Hamas.

(…)Americans looking for a justification to excuse themselves from the more difficult task of explaining Israel’s dilemma to a hostile world may seize upon the convoy deaths as a fresh rationale for quitting the ranks of the country’s supporters. But if that is what amounts to liberal Zionism these days, then its adherents must be judged as, at best, fair-weather friends, and, at worst, little different from open anti-Zionists who implicitly support the Palestinian terror organizations and the elimination of the Jewish state. If liberal Zionism in 2010 amounts to backing Hamas’s propaganda campaign and the delegitimization of Israeli self-defense, then it’s time to admit that such liberals have left the Zionist camp altogether.

I know where, why and who I stand with, but who do you stand for?