#This goes for ever center or right wing Jew saying to vote for conservatives and ever left wing Jew who says there isn’t antisemitism

[rotzaprachim]

a Zionist and an Antizionist Jew walk into a bar and the bartender says they don’t serve Jews. Printing and stapling that to every door and forehead arm

[schraubd]

My Thoughts on Jewish Organizations

There are a lot of Jewish organizations out there. And I have thoughts on them. Some I like a lot. Some I like less. I'm a progressive Zionist with more of an academic than a political bent, which means I don't like anti-Zionist or right-wing groups, and all else equal I prefer groups who are "wonkish" or "scholarly" to "political" or "activist". But the former part matters more than the latter -- I understand the importance of political organizing, even if it isn't my style; whereas groups which actively back settlements or BDS go a ways beyond "not my style". Anyway, these are just my opinions -- do with them what you will. * * * AIPAC: Kind of an old, creaky battleship at this point. I actually think AIPAC probably does see the threats to its core mission -- namely, the growing partisanization of Israel as an issue -- but is too large and unwieldy to actually do anything about it. For all its supposed power, it's actually not that effective anymore (though it's very effective at being a boogeyman for "the all-powerful Israel Lobby"). Ameinu: I like them a lot. The former Labor Zionist Alliance has the right political orientation and tends to take a careful approach to things, which I appreciate. Its "Third Narrative" initiative is definitely my cup of tea. American Jewish Committee: Deeply uneven. Sometimes stands out in front on human rights. Sometimes falls over itself to praise Jair Bolsonaro. Definitely not adjusting with the times, and definitely needs to fire whoever is running their Twitter account. American Jewish Congress: Are they still a thing? Americans for Peace Now: Of the true "left" groups, definitely my favorite. That's probably because its the only one that's still okay with Zionism, but also because it does genuinely important and substantive work and provides a much needed critical progressive voice inside Jewish communal structures. Anti-Defamation League: My favorite of the major "mainline" groups. Does it bat 1.000? No. But it's right more often than it isn't, and it takes a lot more flak than it deserves. The effort by conservative voices to place it in the pocket of the left is ludicrous. A Wider Bridge: In late 2015/early 2016, I started looking up which Jewish organizations not specifically focused on Mizrahi/Sephardic issues nonetheless mentioned Mizrahi/Sephardic Jews. My methodology was pretty basic and the bar was pretty low: do a google site search for "Mizrahi" or "Sephardic". The results were ... disappointing. A Wider Bridge was an exception. Generally does very good work, and the fact that it does good work is probably why its opponents are so desperate to smear it with the "pinkwashing" label. Be'chol Lashon: Can't rave about them enough. They deserve infinitely more attention, resources, and support from the rest of the Jewish community. I dare say the future of the vitality of diaspora Judaism depends on the success or failure of Be'chol Lashon's work. Bend the Arc: Another group I'm generally positively disposed towards, though I have little to say on them specifically. Conference of Presidents: More of an umbrella group, but it needs mention because for too long it's been far too solicitous of its right-wing members (see ZOA). American Jews vote for the Democratic Party at the same proportion as Idahoans vote Republican -- our conservatives should have exactly as much communal power as an Idaho Democrat. HIAS: If you don't like HIAS, you're a monster. Hillel: Desperately needs a dose of democracy. They're still the center of Jewish life on many campuses, and that's important in its own right. They're not the evil leviathan Open Hillel makes them out to be, but because they're not accountable to the student population they serve, they constantly fall into easily avoidable pitfalls. They certainly can't be trusted with something as sensitive as a partnership guideline. In my dream world, they become the bureaucratic arm of the American Union of Jewish Students. IfNotNow: Everything you don't like about BernieBros, but trying to rip apart the Jewish community instead of the Democratic Party. Sanctimonious, smug, hackish, theatrical, and almost unfathomably self-righteous. For them, sparking a civil war within the Jewish community isn't a risk they hope to avoid; it's the point of the movement. "Some people have never met a forest fire they didn't ache to pour gasoline on." I went from "cautious optimism" to "deep disdain" in a hurry. Israel Policy Forum: Somehow I'm always overlooking them. Don't know why -- they do really good work. Overall, I take a positive view. Jewish Community Relations Councils/Jewish Federations: Depends on the federation, naturally. As always, I worry about democracy deficit. Are they responsive to genuine community sentiment, or are they responsive to their donor base? Jewish Voice for Peace: Ugh. JFREJ: Everytime I read something from JFREJ, my reaction is always "meh". It's never particularly bad. It's never particularly good. It's meh. I'm if anything impressed by how consistently they make me shrug. JIMENA: Sometimes takes a more conservative line than I would like, but overall an important voice for the Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewish community. When I've worked with them, I've had no trouble integrating my progressive Zionist positions into what we've done together. J Street: Overall I like J Street (I definitely like this statement it just released on its commitment to Israel's future). It's a political lobbying shop, which means it makes certain compromises I wouldn't (less on issues, and more on using rhetoric that is mobilizing more than it is precise), but that comes with the territory -- a classic "not my style, but someone needs to do it" case. And, far and away, no group is maligned further out of proportion to its actual sins than J Street. It's not even close. OneVoice: Not exclusively a Jewish organization, but it's so important I'll give them a pass. You want durable and just peace in Israel and Palestine? Do the hard work of building grassroots support and political infrastructure for non-extremism and co-existence. That's what OneVoice does. Partners for Progressive Israel: I don't end up citing them a lot -- Ameinu ends up filling their niche -- but I'm generally positively inclined. T'ruah: Another very good progressive organization. Their commentary on the UN resolutions criticizing Israeli settlements is one of my favorite statements by a prominent Jewish organizations on any Israel-related topic, ever. Definitely endorse. Zioness: Came in deeply suspicious of them. Current posture is cautiously okay. They've filed off some of the rougher edges, and they haven't done what some groups in its niche love to do -- spend 90% of their time wailing about how mean people treat Israel before "proving" their progressive bona fides by writing a post about how terribly Saudi Arabia treats women (*cough* Women's March For All). They actually spend most of their time advocating for progressive ends that have no clear relation to Israel. Good on them! Still think they need to confirm that their progressivism extends to Israel itself, though. Zionist Organization of America: It's tough competition, but Mort Klein might be the worst. And since ZOA has become almost exclusively a vehicle for his hard-right, racist, xenophobic, anti-Palestinian politics, they're the worst too. The only difference between them and JVP is that ZOA gets to be the worst from inside the communal tent -- which goes to show how systematically biased the Jewish community in favor of our fringe right-wing voices. via The Debate Link http://bit.ly/2DEjdCu

[oldguardaudio]

Rush Limbaugh Asks -> How Can Anyone Think Trump Is an Anti-Semite?

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rush-limbaugh @ Old Guard Audio

Feb 28, 2017

  RUSH: This is Michael in Richmond, Virginia, welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you here.

CALLER: Well, thank you, Rush. I appreciate you taking my call.

RUSH: Anytime, sir. Any time.

CALLER: So during your first hour I was listening to you, and this question kind of formulated in my mind. At least to me, in my opinion, it proves that the mainstream media does have an agenda. So you were talking about how when the president… Well, let me start over. Every time the president or his administration talks about illegal voting, the mainstream media goes apoplectic and asks for proof. However, when Democrats and others talk about Russian hacking — alleged Russian hacking or whatever you want to call it — the mainstream media never asks for proof.

RUSH: That is an excellent observation. In fact, as they know there isn’t any and run the story anyway, and they include that in there. They include, “So far, officials have not been able to find any direct evidence of any linkage between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.” It’s always like in paragraph 15 or 20 (chuckling), and yet Trump comes out and says that illegals are voting? (laughing) “Prove it! Where’s the evidence?” That’s exactly right. Exactly right.

This is Ilana next in Palo Alto, California, where Stanford is. Great to have you on the program. Hi.

CALLER: (garbled cell connection) Hi. How are you?

RUSH: I’m fine. Thank you.

CALLER: Good. I just wanted to say I am a Jewish Republican, a conservative. I’m a huge Trump supporter. And, you know, in the last… Since Trump was elected, I guess, there have been about five to six waves of bomb threats against Jewish community centers and (unintelligible) —

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: — and Jewish day schools —

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: — and yesterday there were another twenty, including in Palo Alto, and I happened to be driving by to see little children escorted out with their stuff pushed on carts. And it’s so sad. And, you know, I guess the press is only interested when Trump is president, and the liberals choose… You know, my left-wing coreligionists are only interested in anti-Semitism while Trump is in office, right?

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: So I guess I want to say that this is terrorism. It’s terrorism, and, you know, if it was another group (beep) — if it was another minority group — I feel like media, Hollywood, would be all over it, and I want Trump to speak out. I want the FBI to be investigating and find this out because it’s very scary, you know, for our children and everyone. And, you know, I work hard as a Jewish conservative. I work hard. I’m a big activist. You know, I would love if the FBI would get involved. You know, prosecute these people.

RUSH: You know, one of the big mysteries for many conservatives for many, many moons — including me — was the existence of liberal Jews who put liberalism before their Judaism.

CALLER: (laughing)

RUSH: I didn’t understand it. I never understood liberal Jews blaming Israel, you know, supporting Palestinians. I’ve never understood it, until I spoke once to a man named Norman Podhoretz, and he said to me, “Many of you refer to liberal Jews that way. They’re not Jews. They are liberals. Liberalism is what is first and foremost in their identity. The fact that they are Jews is not paramount or prominent.

“It’s secondary — and, in many cases, even tertiary — to their identity.” Now, you look at Trump. Tell me something here, Ilana. Why in the world do you think Trump is being blamed as an anti-Semite after all he’s done during the campaign and since to defend Israel, to be on the good side of the prime minister of Israel, to oppose the Iran nuclear deal — which is very, very bad for Israel down the road? Trump’s done nothing but be a great friend of Israel, and yet he’s being tagged with anti-Semitism here. It doesn’t make any intellectual sense.

CALLER: Right. No, it doesn’t. I think most of these Jews, you’re right. They’re not Jews. If you look down the road, their grandchildren are not gonna be Jews. They use it like a badge like someone saying, hey, I can make a Jewish joke, I have a Jewish friend, you know? Trump is the biggest supporter of Israel for sure. I think he’ll go down in history as being the biggest supporter of Israel. And I think Jews think that if they stand with the left, I mean these liberal Jews, I don’t even want to call them liberal Jews. I think they’re left wing. If they stand with the left, they think that they’ll be protected and they were the biggest advocates against the refugee ban. And, I mean, who is a bigger target in Europe right now regarding —

RUSH: That’s what doesn’t make sense.

CALLER: Doesn’t make sense.

RUSH: None of this makes any common sense, because anti-Semitism is rampant again in Europe. And yet the Jewish people you’re talking about here in America, the Jewish liberals, it doesn’t seem to be a factor in them determining what side of issues they’re gonna fall down on. You know, I still don’t get the ease with which so many, like Hollywood politicos, can come down on Israel and rip Israel, just because Netanyahu happens to be conservative.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: I’ve asked all kinds of people about it, too, and there isn’t — Podhoretz is the best answer I’ve gotten, but I don’t think it’s all-inclusive. It’s a mystery. But you do have to be careful when you start —

CALLER: Right. And I think they replace their Judaism with liberalism, and they’re very passionate about it, and it’s ridiculous. But I wish, you know, every day I see Facebook posts suggestion, “Oh, you see, you see this is happening during Trump.” Anti-Semitism on colleges, the BDS and, you know, they’re shouting down Israel’s supporters on campus, that’s been happening all through Obama’s years, and nothing’s been done about it. And as soon as Trump’s president all of a sudden there’s been anti-Semitism in the U.S. for 20 days, you know?

RUSH: If there was ever a legitimate argument, it was that aimed at Obama. And you’re right. This is my point. It’s Podhoretz’s point. The loyalty is to the ideology, not the religion. And that’s what so many people have difficulty understanding. I know you get it. Look, Ilana, I’m flattered that you’re out there. Great to hear from you in Palo Alto. I gotta go, though. I’m way behind.

Rush Limbaugh Asks -> How Can Anyone Think Trump Is an Anti-Semite? Rush Limbaugh Asks -> How Can Anyone Think Trump Is an Anti-Semite? Feb 28, 2017 RUSH: This is Michael in Richmond, Virginia, welcome to the EIB Network.