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Our False Partners

(Tablet) Natan Sharansky - Twenty years ago I visited 13 college campuses in the U.S. as an Israeli government minister. Since then, I appeared dozens of times at different universities, and with each visit I witnessed the new antisemitism growing stronger. In light of this experience, I insisted in many conversations with liberal American Jews that left-wing antisemitism poses the greatest threat, because it is buttressed by a powerful, all-encompassing ideology that divides the world into oppressors and oppressed, and assumes that moral righteousness always lies with the latter. This ideology assesses the moral value of an action not on its own terms but based on the identity of the agent. What is worse, if an action is thought to aid the downtrodden, it becomes acceptable to violate the most basic rights of those deemed to be their oppressors, including the rights of free speech and physical security. Liberalism asserts the primacy of the individual and affirms that human beings are of equal moral worth. Progressivism, as it is understood today, compromises individual rights and asserts the moral superiority of the oppressed over everyone else. Above all, because progressives see Israel as an oppressor and Jews as members of the privileged class, they believe that we are necessarily on the wrong side of history. To them, Israel is the last remnant of European colonialism and deserves to be attacked and dismantled. Some people believe that our goal should be to prove to progressives that Jews belong in the ranks of the oppressed, that not all of us are white and privileged. But why should we push ourselves into organizations whose ideology denies our equal rights and moral worth. Instead, we should carry on our own traditions with pride. Jews have a noble history of fighting against racism and injustice. In continuing to do so, without compromising who we are, we will find our true allies. The writer is a former political prisoner in the Soviet Union, former minister in Israeli governments, and former Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
2023-12-25 00:00:00
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