RAMANAM
In the Name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit, Amen.
Countrymen,
Though it is erroneously put and hypocritically handled by them, there is a kernel of correct in the Presb/Episc/Method/National Council of Churches, etc. opprobrium for the State of Israel. It goes way back, existed in the 60s — I have first hand stories from high-level, official “inter-religious” discussions at Jewish Theological Seminary, across Broadway from Union Theological Seminary, where I was a student, right after the June 1967 War.
The kernel of correct is opprobrium for the element of tribalism strongly present in the State of Israel, indeed right at its root, which is Zionism, a tribal ideology, although one that has changed much over the years, and towards the obdurate rather than the compassionate, as we see in its fruits.
This tribalism, as also we see, has been answered by a far more vicious tribalism from most of the Arab and all of the Shia Persian tribes.
The Hashemites, Egyptians, who are partially Greek, and Turks, who are strongly Celtic (thus their strong ties with Europe), though Mohammedan, are exceptions. The Baha’i Persians and Baha’i generally are strongly pro-Israeli or at least not actively anti-Israeli. There are Arab, including Palestinian, Baha’i who do not approve the Persian Baha’i’s rather deliberate myopia towards Zionist tribalism. That myopia is largely but not entirely motivated by the fact that the central Baha’i Shrine is at Haifa!
The stereotypes of Jews run [the world] [the media] [the banks] [Hollywood] [the colleges and universities], etc. are imprecisely and therefore inaccurately stated pointings to Zionist tribalism, where it exists. And it exists far more among Ashkenazim than among Sephardim, a fact with a very long history, including with great significance in the founding of this country — and in the preservation of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, starting with the St. Matthew Passion (!) etc.
The thing meant to be said, especially today, is that whereas whites (aka Euro-based non-Jews, or more to the point, Christians) are held by schools, media and governments to strict non-tribalism in their dealings with others, including especially virulent tribalists, all other tribes, especially Jews, Africans and Arabs who behave tribalistically — and most Ashkenazi Jews and almost all Africans and Arabs do — are allowed, by schools, media and governments, any amount of tribalism under the rubrics of cultural diversity, multiculturalism and human rights.
This amounts to tribalists of all kinds, living in the comfort of tolerance created by Christian tribes and nations, monopolizing the organs of public opinion in those nations, then vilifying the handful of extended tribes on the planet who, through long struggle, have in fact transcended tribalism and created, in Europe, the Americas and India, national oases of non-tribalism, of tolerance.
Tribalists first aspired to live in those nations then aspire to destroy them because they tolerate people unlike themselves!
This is an intolerable situation and the tribes and nations who created the zones of tolerance in Europe, the Americas and India — by transcending their historic tribalism — are not going to stand by while its new-come beneficiaries tear apart the peace and opportunity they seek and enjoy here.
That is the kernel of correct in the denominations’ opprobrium for the State of Israel. The State of Israel is predominately a tribalist nation.
Now, the denominations are not even-handed — they do not equally condemn Arab, African and Persian tribalism — and that makes their actions hypocritical and wrong. And it is right to call them on it.
But inside their hypocrisy is a truth about the intolerability of tribalism to those who remember how long they struggled — and at what sacrifice — to transcend tribalism and create a peaceful, liberal but stable culture — by themselves not reverting to faction or tribalism, such as this hideous Left and Right, that are being falsely portrayed as the extant alternatives, are doing.
We need dialectical realism. The dialectical part is the Left and the realism part is the Right, to use the symbols of the day. The Left is adjectival — keep up discussion — the Right is nominal — face facts. Both are required and one does not exist without the other.
Update 1: Fred Siegel: The Godfather Of American Liberalism
AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA
