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Those Progressive Liberals

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Israel National News reports about the President’s Conference now taking place in Israel. Judea and Samaria Council’s chairperson Danny Dayan and J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami participated in a panel discussion about criticism and loyalty in the relations between Israel and the Diaspora.

Dayan asked Ben-Ami: “When, recently, did you do a simple act for Israel, one which every child understands is for Israel and does not require a philosophical roundabout explanation?”

Dayan detailed the following rules to help define an organization as anti-Israel:

Any organization that operates a lobby on its government not to veto a decision condemning Israel;

Any organization that during an election supports candidates who signed an anti-Israel letter to their president;

Any organization that invites those who support a boycott, divestment or sanctions against Israel to its conference;

Any organization that bestows proclamations, honors and awards only to those who criticize Israel and not to a single person who highlights and compliments Israel;

Any organization that at a particular time and specific circumstance objects to sanctions against Iran.

Dayan, looking at Ben-Ami, said: “If he walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, so it is a duck. This Duck is Anti-Israel.”

For some time now I have been treated to the company of “progressive liberals.” They need to reassure themselves they do the right thing, so they congregate together.

I am talking about progressive Jews, otherwise known as self-hating Jews. Oh, how much they resent this title: Self-Hating Jews. They cannot fathom why anyone would consider them loathsome and reject their company.

They admit there might be a small, albeit tiny, outer fringe of real Israel haters, but the majority, they say, is made up of strong Israel supporters.

So strong in fact, they always start with the same line: “We support Israel (or Israel’s security), but….”

The “We Support” segment takes all of two seconds. Those progressives who truly want to outdo their brethren add another three seconds (“Israel is facing a demographic problem” or “we must safeguard Israel as Jewish and Democratic,” or maybe it is Democratic and Jewish since most do not believe Israel has a right to be Jewish?).

I become distracted listening to a speech about total support for the Jewish Homeland in two to five seconds, followed by the “BUT.” They go on for hours because liberals like to be heard. Their conviction is unshakable, their memories lucid when recalling all of Israel’s ill deeds. All evil that happens is Israel’s fault. For them it is perfectly legitimate to criticize Israel and spare no bombs in their attack.

Charge forward, why stop? The listener soon realizes, they have nothing positive to say about Israel, her very existence makes their blood boil with disgust. OCCUPATION, they shout. COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT, they accuse. APARTHEID. ZIONISM IS EVIL. And from there it is all downhill, as they gain momentum and become more and more fierce, emboldened by their own attacks.

Do progressives or liberals really support Israel? Only insofar as their preamble. When it stops, their sole existence is to advance the cause of Israel’s enemies (which I will lump under the false and misleading heading “Palestinians”), which plainly put is to drive the Jews into the sea, wipe Israel off the map and achieve, once and for all, the Final Solution.

Imagine a parent meeting with a teacher for a conference about his son. I love him dearly, says the father, but he is rude, unruly, cruel, stupid, crazy, lazy, …. He steals. He enjoys torturing animals and gutting them while they are still alive. He trips old women and sets empty houses on fire. He purposely turns the gas on and walks innocently away. He beats other kids, both smaller and larger than him. In fact, he lures them with vodka he steals from home, distributes narcotics and threatens others who do not obey his every wish.

Talk about “fatherly love,” this parent is not much different from progressive liberals. They too, “love Israeli dearly,” except her very existence is a major nuisance to them. She occupies a land not hers. She mistreats the true owners of the land, whom she threw out of their homes into exile. She made them refugees while she settled and built and continues to use their water and contaminate their environment.

The accusations go on and on. Once it was the lamentation of those who were exiled to Babylon after the Destruction of the First Temple. They sat, wept and yearned to return. Today it is a lamentation about Israel’s very existence, apparently born in sin. In 1917 there were only ten percent Jews in Palestine, they say, and in 1948 only thirty percent (the numbers are not correct, but they fit nicely into their argument and sound good).

So they congregate at the regular meetings, representatives of all the so-called “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” organizations. One of their elders is so disgusted with Israel, an observer is shocked by his hatred for the Jewish State. Simply, despite their preamble about loving Israel, they find nothing positive about the Jewish State.

Under the guise of “we love Israel” or “we are the sons or daughters of Holocaust survivors” or even “we are Israelis,” they attack. We must not allow them to embark on a journey of lies, hatred and deceit. It is time to stand up and say: No, you do not. You may have once loved or appreciated Israel, but now you have become a monster.

Today, those pronunciations preface an attack, which often includes the following defense: Those who claim they truly care about Israel, the (RIGHT WING) EXTREMISTS, are unreasonable. They shut us up and refuse to engage. They use labels and say we are Jew-haters. They are the real threat to Israel’s existence, to the rule of democracy and to all sane people. If only their settlements were demolished and they left the land, peace, tranquility and prosperity will bless the region.

They dance so proficiently one is confused by their arguments. Who is really the pro-Israel camp? Who is really good for Israel and who is an enemy-in-disguise?

Planting discord and doubt has always been the work of the devil, and it often leaves us confused and wondering. Allow me then to provide a short guideline, a checklist to help you ascertain, a friend or a foe?

First, look for the ratio: two second “I am for Israel BUT” followed by a long expose-a foe

Second, look at the means: resorting to personal attacks and the need for labels, i.e. attempting to shut up the other side-a foe

Third, look at the substance, not the headline: “Pro-Israel” means action, not empty words. The title “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” is true generally. If Israel has rights – a friend, if the Palestinians – a foe

Fourth, look for keywords: Occupation; Apartheid; Discrimination; Stealing Land; Thirsting the Population; Evil Zionists; Refugees (fourth and fifth generation); Collective Punishment and more Occupation-a foe

The enemies of Israel, the self-hating Jews, are so pre-occupied with the Occupation they see nothing good about Israel any longer. They are solely consumed by the plight of the so-called Palestinians. They do not stop at re-writing history to fit their objectives. They gladly attack anyone trying to correct them-not on substance but on form. Most importantly, they do so with a vengeance and are surprised when the truth emerges and their ugly lies are exposed in the light of day.

They like to hide behind nice words, catchy phrases and accusations lacking substance that sound egregious. They direct all the hatred against Israel, claiming they are doing on her behalf and for her own good.

I was once at a breakfast and one of the guests asked: The Right advocates Aliyah. What do we propose? He touched right to the heart of the issue: The American “Progressive” left just wants to hurt Israel and offers nothing constructive in return. The offer, incidentally, has to do with the Jewish state, and cannot include “giving,” “returning,” “leaving” or “committing suicide.”

The Left is the Trojan Horse of the Jewish People inciting destruction from inside. They are so engrossed with the Palestinians, they have lost sight of the fact that there is only one Jewish Homeland, and that we have a right to live in the Land of Israel. They refuse to see the Palestinian propaganda and lies as a threat and a tool for destruction.

They forget we did not steal Israel, nor did we conquer it. Jerusalem has been our capital-and our very essence- for some three thousand years. We have a history and a claim, while our enemies do not. Our cause is just, and we will prevail, as we did against enemies throughout the millennia.

They, the detractors from within, will be remembered as those who ushered us to the brink of destruction, and provided another front for us to battle. They are worse than many enemies. Hamas says it wants to destroy the Jews. Ahmadinejad says he wants to wipe Israel off the map and develops a nuclear arsenal for peaceful purposes (bringing peace by eliminating the Jews). The self-hating Jews sweeten the deadly pill by saying “We Love Israel.” They love Israel so much that a poisonous pill that brings an end is better than one that prolongs suffering.

The end, however, will not be of their planning. The Jewish People, you see, have a blank check, written long ago, dated to last for a thousand generations. It proved useful in the past, and some of us are still unwavering enough in our conviction to see it holds and will not expire in the future.

Naysayers unite, gather and seek consol from one another, for you do the work of Satan. You play a role too, testing our resolve, trying to trip the blind and hit the infirm. You cannot succeed for your role is evil. There is no good you offer, thus there will be none in store for you.

Check yourself against my litmus test, see if you are a true “pro-Israel” at heart or a messenger of evil, planting discord and helping those who want to destroy Israel.

In the series “Postcards from Israel,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers throughout the world to join them as they present reports from Israel as seen by two sets of eyes: Bussel’s on the ground, Zager’s counter-point from home. Israel and the United States are inter-related – the two countries we hold dearest to our hearts – and so is this “point – counter-point” presentation that has, since 2008, become part of our lives.

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