The crisis facing Jews today is not only antisemitism but self-expression. After decades of translating Judaism into Western pop culture, many do not know how to explain Judaism on its own terms.
Nina, I think you've made a very important point. Jews have spent far too much time trying to explain themselves through the values and approval of others.
Personally, I'm a lot simpler. I'm Jewish. I'm proud of being Jewish. I stand with my people and I support Israel. I don't need to justify that through progressive politics, Western civilization, victimhood, or any other framework.
At some point, we have to stop asking others to validate our existence and simply be who we are.
Nina, you raise so many interesting questions and make many arguments that should stimulate a lot of discussion ( there is enough material here for a semester of intense classroom discussion)
Because of the breadth and depth I only have a few comments.
With all due respect, I have pretty much reached the point that I believe there is little chance the current wave of anti semitism ( i prefer anti jew) sentiment will be disappearing or even declining anytime soon. Our schools and colleges are in the driver's seats and they are fully committed to the anti Israel ( anti jew ) position and narrative ( part of oppressor - oppressed if you will). Oct 7 reactions to many of us was very predictable ( part of the anti racism horseshit that is merely a ploy to acquire power by those on the left by continuing to expand white guilt).
As you noted t we are regressing away from classical liberal values back towards the power of ghe jungle ( might makes right). Schmucks like carville have made clear what will happen if the dems regain power . And a large swath of American jewry is on board that political train because their leftism and politics is the center point of their lives. Many attend synagogues that are all in on all this. They have an affinity for israel but if israel were to disappear the crying and anguish would be short lived. We still live in a world ( and always will) where human nature rules the day. The question is whether the human desire for freedom can be squelched by brutal power as it has been in much of the world and that trend is accelerating .
One last question: what do you think francis f is all about these days. We all know about his 1989 book and how he missed the boat. He seems very preoccupied w trump but not so much w the growing totalitarianism. Am I off base in my assessment?
Interesting essay though overly intellectual to my simple tastes. I find most explanations for the Jew hatred that has existed throughout millenia lacking, as in each generation the justification changes with the times, but not with the essential nature of the hatred, which is not rational. The most logical explanation for this hatred is metaphysical, and appears in the bible as allegory.
When Nina delved into scripture and the story of Jonah, which I find revealing, I thought she might touch upon the story of Job, which I find offers the most rational explanation for this devil influenced hatred.
I have often said the story of Job in the bible is the story of the Jew in this world. As the devil hated Job and caused Job to suffer immense miisery and calamity, all because Job maintained his faith in G-d despite the misfortunes which afflicted him, so too the devil hates the Jew and causes the Jew to suffer immense misery and calamity, all because the Jews maintain their faith in Hashem despite the misfortunes and calamities which afflict them. As G-d restored Job, so too one day will the Lord restore the Jew. This is one of the lessons we learn from the Story of Job, and perhaps the most important lesson. The Lord sees the suffering of the Jews caused by the devil, who afflicts the mind of men with the Jew hating mind worm, but so long as Jews maintain their faith the Lord will restore them and defeat the machinations of the devil. In Job the story is condensed into the lifetime of one man. When it comes to Jews as a people, the story plays out over thousands of years. The lesson from Job is one day this senseless devil inspired hatred will cease, as G-d will have had enough of it. Baruch Hashem.
No. We must do both: Engage with the real and outside Non-Jewish world as proud covenanted Jews, strong in our own identity as this. I would add that there is also a crisis of self-confidence in the Non-Jewish West too, and thus this crisis is not only a Jewish affliction though it may seem as such. These Doubts connect and feed the fear of post-Imperial decline, which is then maliciously Projected onto The Jewish People as the cause of this decline. The larger re-alignment now taking place through the rise of Neo-Nationalist (TM) movements is the response to the very real threat of The Malthusian doubling of non-white numbers in The Third World and the Muslim attempt for Living-space for themselves on Western Territory and in Western Society. White people in The West now ask themselves; ‘Will our living standards and our Identity remain after this invasion’. Again, the fear of being outnumbered and overwhelmed and overrun finds The Jewish People once again the scapegoats for these anxieties. But in fact both Israel and The West are threatened by Islam which is a militarily-organised Demographic phalanx force of Invasion, and this is common cause. Simple explanation of these facts, clearly and repeatedly stated, by self-confident Jews should be a good start.
What makes this essay remarkable is that it shifts the conversation from public relations to civilizational psychology. For decades, many Jewish institutions attempted to justify Jewish existence and Israeli sovereignty through the moral vocabulary of others—progressivism, anti-racism, multiculturalism, or universal liberalism. The author argues that this approach was destined to fail because it placed Jewish legitimacy in the hands of people who neither share Jewish history nor feel bound by Jewish experience.
Historically, the survival of the Jewish people was never built upon external approval. It was built upon continuity, memory, covenant, and an extraordinary capacity to preserve identity under pressure. Empires rose and disappeared. Political ideologies emerged and collapsed. Yet the Jewish people endured because they understood themselves before asking others to understand them.
From a behavioral perspective, societies become vulnerable when they derive their self-worth primarily from external validation. The need for approval gradually replaces the confidence of identity. What this essay recognizes is that Israel’s existence cannot be defended merely as a policy preference, a progressive project, or a public relations exercise. It is the political expression of one of history’s oldest surviving civilizations and the collective determination of a people never again to place their fate in the hands of others.
The deepest strength of the Jewish story has never been the ability to persuade the world. It has been the ability to remain Jewish even when the world was unwilling to listen.
"The need for approval gradually replaces the confidence of identity"
Brilliantly said!
Much of the outreach in the US speaks to our adversaries in a language they don't share: tolerance for other viewpoints, compassion, compromise.
But we've seen how the litmus test becomes more and more stringent, how restrictions on freedom of speech become stronger and how they pride themselves on their lack of compassion.
The murder of the United Health CEO and the murder of two young Israeli diplomats in DC were met with a chorus of approval.
The approach above of a group of IDF soldiers in FAFO mode seems best.
Nina, interesting and important article. While there is a lot there, let me just comment on your first point regarding Bret Stephens, Robert Kraft, and Liel Leibowitz. I could not agree more with Mr. Leibowitz.
This message is needed not only as an external challenge those who threaten us but also an internal call to build up the defensive strength we need to protect ourselves on the street level, as well as organizational and political levels.
Our model can be the Jewish revolutionary groups (Irgun, Stern, Palmach) that helped kick the British out of the League of Nations Mandate of Palestine to create the modern state of Israel and the Israel Defense Force. Or more recently, the Jewish Defense League's neighborhood patrols and defiant pro-Israel/Jewish demonstrations.
Very detailed thesis, however I needed a better introduction and summary of where the thoughts and notions were going.
I was taught decades ago (and just reminded in a class I am currently taking) that all thesis should have a one or two sentences which explain the theme and direction of the whole.
As a Westerner who has experienced hate from my peers (confused jealousy) and I just finished Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice - I can see that there's an element of the famous 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' at work with the West... They can't understand it so they'll just cut it 'bring it down' to their level.
Like in MoV where Shylock is described as the "rich Jew" they can't understand him so want to contain him via judiciary or converting his daughter to Christianity so the evil, dark magic and 'otherness' that must be happening can be forgiven (understood).
I mean that the Jewish people have been and are so successful the basic bitches in the West can't understand it so they have to contain you somehow.
Confused jealousy may be the seed but it's grown and spawned into thick weeds all over the West. To get rid of weeds have to pull out the plant roots and all. (Swept away by metaphors there 🤔)
I think in this case, less is more. I loved the “Hate Jews? Fuck around and Find out!”. It’s simple, to the point, and takes away power from the Jew-hater and puts it right into the barrels of the rifles of the IDF.
Yes, we need to stop trying to explain ourselves and gain the approval of "progressives". No other people and nation feel the need to explain themselves and gain approval from others. We don't need to make the "case" for Israel or its right to defend itself. We only need to be strong and powerful and lethal enough not to be messed with. Why should we give a shit whether others approve of Israel's existence. It does exist and there's nothing they can do about it whether they like it or not.
This essay illustrates for me the daring and splendor of Future of Jewish, and the robust course it is setting. The course is bracing. That’s all to the good because our predicament is dire. The author’s approach is Talmudic and searching, not simply expository. Her essay climaxes in a majestic discussion of Jonah: the Lord’s “demand for fidelity that precedes comprehension,” inscribed in the “covenant whose obligations are inherited before they are understood.” Israel is the living embodiment of these words.
If I'm understanding this correctly, Saadat seems to suggest that the question "What are Jews for?" (a stupid question - one may as well ask "What are Hindus for?" or "What are the Japanese for" or indeed "What are humans for?" should be answered "Jews are the chosen people of God." But that is precisely that Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran et al claim - that they are obeying Allah. It's fine as a self-identity but doesn't help a whole lot in the battle. If every community exists only because of its God or Gods and Goddesses, what happens to shared values? These values need not be Western. What happened, in Saadat's argument to Asia beyond the Middle East? https://ruthvanita452091.substack.com/p/stand-up-and-fight
The concept of Jews as a race emerged from 18th-19th C Race Science and culminated in the 20th century. We all know how that went.
"The second relevant change, and the one that most affected the capitalism-friendly progressive class that contains Kraft, was the movement’s corporate appropriation."
A discussion of the emergence of CRT as a driving force in the Red-Green Axis would help round out the analysis. Yet another factor that might fortuitously be addressed is the effect of modernization, particularly the revolution in electronic communications to which traditional cultures are now violently reacting to preserve their religeo-tribal structures, values, and traditions.
"First, like “Antisemitism Is Racism,” [Hasbarah's argument on grounds of Israel's multi-cultural liberalism] cedes too much to those who will never be convinced because it does not understand its purported interlocutors."
Perhaps the problem more lies not with the capacity of Israel's propaganda adversaries but with the nature of their position: most come at the issue not from Opinion (variously, personal, public, received, but never informed or expert), or empirically based Argumentation, but rather Belief, defined as taking something to be so when there is no evidence that it is so and often even when there is evidence that it is not so.
"the story goes as follows: ancient Jewish civilization in the land of Israel; exile and suffering in diaspora; the Holocaust; the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty; and Israel’s survival and success against hostile enemies."
This story is but one version. There is another which non-Jews and too many Jews subscribe. Yes, the argument from the claim that Zionism is the right of Jews to self-determination in their homeland is correct, but it represents only one mode: political Zionism. Another, element that cuts to the core of Jewish identity is that of the intimate connection between peoplehood and homeland. We find it achingly articulated in Psalm 137 composed approx. 586–538 BCE and echoed repeatedly in the various declarations of the Prophets throughout Tanach and in exilic theological writings, liturgy, and ritual.
"do not the Palestinians occupy the Jewish role in the drama as the romantic, oppressed, indigenous, stateless underdogs?"
Yes, if they are singularly oppressed by Jews; Yes indigenous if not because of a label they affixed to their forehead but because they meet the objective criteria of what constitutes indigeneity; Yes, stateless if they ever had a state from which they are now exiled; Yes, underdogs, that is, victims if they have an overlord victimizer. Quick questions: How can you be a refugee if you claim where you are living is sovereign Palestinian Territory, the very location the UN and the ICJ in their infinite wisdom declare to be your state? Wouldn't that make you a refugee from your country in your own country?
"Israel is cast as a democratic beacon in the Middle East, yet its irreducible particularity sits uneasily within a worldview that treats the rationalization and convergence of governance as history’s end."
The accusation of particularism hides a hypocritical contradiction. It allows other nations their national identity, e.g. Irish, Ukrainian); it promotes "Palestinian" statehood, that is, a Palestinian national identity. These particularist identities are not only allowed, but expected and celebrated, yet when it comes to Israel and Jewish articulation of their peoplehood and identity, it is vehemently condemned in no uncertain terms.
"The Third World is not invading us. Our own ideological dust is being carried back into our eyes by their wind."
Well said. Very well said. One only needs to look at how the street calls to hatred are justified on the grounds of "Free Speech." Through oversimplification and reductionism they pervert the actual legal status of Free Speech to advance their replacement / supremacist agenda. Notice how the Red-Green-AltR Axis receive nodding acceptance even approval of the authorities who are supposed to be protecting civil discourse in the name of maintaining social order.
"The arguments reassure existing supporters far more effectively than they persuade outsiders."
AKA preaching to the choir. Another way of putting it is indulging in confirmation bias.
"beyond a moderate spike in gas prices, the war has very little effect on the lives of the overwhelming majority of Americans."
Yes, but it is propaganda gold the media exploit to discredit Trump (not that the author of the text book "The Art of the Braggart" needs discrediting), but also another spike in the cudgel used to bash Israel.
"The condition described in the Hebrew Bible is one of chosenness"
May be a bit of an oversimplification. Beneath the religious declaration that Israel is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6) and a light unto the nations (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6) is embedded a vision of universal purpose: that a people who practice ethical behaviour can teach a world how to outgrow its feral impulses so that the species can enjoy the optimum environment to evolve to their fullest potential as sentient beings.
All of which is great but isn’t a) going to stop this worldwide tsunami of antisemitism that is killing Jews or b) preventing a world in which which can prevent antisemitism in the future .. so the argument is .. suck it up and just accept our lot in life?
Very detailed thesis, however I needed a better introduction and summary of where the thoughts and notions were going.
I was taught decades ago (and just reminded in a class I am currently taking) that all thesis should have a one or two sentences which explain the theme and direction of the whole.
Nina, I think you've made a very important point. Jews have spent far too much time trying to explain themselves through the values and approval of others.
Personally, I'm a lot simpler. I'm Jewish. I'm proud of being Jewish. I stand with my people and I support Israel. I don't need to justify that through progressive politics, Western civilization, victimhood, or any other framework.
At some point, we have to stop asking others to validate our existence and simply be who we are.
Nina, you raise so many interesting questions and make many arguments that should stimulate a lot of discussion ( there is enough material here for a semester of intense classroom discussion)
Because of the breadth and depth I only have a few comments.
With all due respect, I have pretty much reached the point that I believe there is little chance the current wave of anti semitism ( i prefer anti jew) sentiment will be disappearing or even declining anytime soon. Our schools and colleges are in the driver's seats and they are fully committed to the anti Israel ( anti jew ) position and narrative ( part of oppressor - oppressed if you will). Oct 7 reactions to many of us was very predictable ( part of the anti racism horseshit that is merely a ploy to acquire power by those on the left by continuing to expand white guilt).
As you noted t we are regressing away from classical liberal values back towards the power of ghe jungle ( might makes right). Schmucks like carville have made clear what will happen if the dems regain power . And a large swath of American jewry is on board that political train because their leftism and politics is the center point of their lives. Many attend synagogues that are all in on all this. They have an affinity for israel but if israel were to disappear the crying and anguish would be short lived. We still live in a world ( and always will) where human nature rules the day. The question is whether the human desire for freedom can be squelched by brutal power as it has been in much of the world and that trend is accelerating .
One last question: what do you think francis f is all about these days. We all know about his 1989 book and how he missed the boat. He seems very preoccupied w trump but not so much w the growing totalitarianism. Am I off base in my assessment?
Interesting essay though overly intellectual to my simple tastes. I find most explanations for the Jew hatred that has existed throughout millenia lacking, as in each generation the justification changes with the times, but not with the essential nature of the hatred, which is not rational. The most logical explanation for this hatred is metaphysical, and appears in the bible as allegory.
When Nina delved into scripture and the story of Jonah, which I find revealing, I thought she might touch upon the story of Job, which I find offers the most rational explanation for this devil influenced hatred.
I have often said the story of Job in the bible is the story of the Jew in this world. As the devil hated Job and caused Job to suffer immense miisery and calamity, all because Job maintained his faith in G-d despite the misfortunes which afflicted him, so too the devil hates the Jew and causes the Jew to suffer immense misery and calamity, all because the Jews maintain their faith in Hashem despite the misfortunes and calamities which afflict them. As G-d restored Job, so too one day will the Lord restore the Jew. This is one of the lessons we learn from the Story of Job, and perhaps the most important lesson. The Lord sees the suffering of the Jews caused by the devil, who afflicts the mind of men with the Jew hating mind worm, but so long as Jews maintain their faith the Lord will restore them and defeat the machinations of the devil. In Job the story is condensed into the lifetime of one man. When it comes to Jews as a people, the story plays out over thousands of years. The lesson from Job is one day this senseless devil inspired hatred will cease, as G-d will have had enough of it. Baruch Hashem.
No. We must do both: Engage with the real and outside Non-Jewish world as proud covenanted Jews, strong in our own identity as this. I would add that there is also a crisis of self-confidence in the Non-Jewish West too, and thus this crisis is not only a Jewish affliction though it may seem as such. These Doubts connect and feed the fear of post-Imperial decline, which is then maliciously Projected onto The Jewish People as the cause of this decline. The larger re-alignment now taking place through the rise of Neo-Nationalist (TM) movements is the response to the very real threat of The Malthusian doubling of non-white numbers in The Third World and the Muslim attempt for Living-space for themselves on Western Territory and in Western Society. White people in The West now ask themselves; ‘Will our living standards and our Identity remain after this invasion’. Again, the fear of being outnumbered and overwhelmed and overrun finds The Jewish People once again the scapegoats for these anxieties. But in fact both Israel and The West are threatened by Islam which is a militarily-organised Demographic phalanx force of Invasion, and this is common cause. Simple explanation of these facts, clearly and repeatedly stated, by self-confident Jews should be a good start.
What makes this essay remarkable is that it shifts the conversation from public relations to civilizational psychology. For decades, many Jewish institutions attempted to justify Jewish existence and Israeli sovereignty through the moral vocabulary of others—progressivism, anti-racism, multiculturalism, or universal liberalism. The author argues that this approach was destined to fail because it placed Jewish legitimacy in the hands of people who neither share Jewish history nor feel bound by Jewish experience.
Historically, the survival of the Jewish people was never built upon external approval. It was built upon continuity, memory, covenant, and an extraordinary capacity to preserve identity under pressure. Empires rose and disappeared. Political ideologies emerged and collapsed. Yet the Jewish people endured because they understood themselves before asking others to understand them.
From a behavioral perspective, societies become vulnerable when they derive their self-worth primarily from external validation. The need for approval gradually replaces the confidence of identity. What this essay recognizes is that Israel’s existence cannot be defended merely as a policy preference, a progressive project, or a public relations exercise. It is the political expression of one of history’s oldest surviving civilizations and the collective determination of a people never again to place their fate in the hands of others.
The deepest strength of the Jewish story has never been the ability to persuade the world. It has been the ability to remain Jewish even when the world was unwilling to listen.
"The need for approval gradually replaces the confidence of identity"
Brilliantly said!
Much of the outreach in the US speaks to our adversaries in a language they don't share: tolerance for other viewpoints, compassion, compromise.
But we've seen how the litmus test becomes more and more stringent, how restrictions on freedom of speech become stronger and how they pride themselves on their lack of compassion.
The murder of the United Health CEO and the murder of two young Israeli diplomats in DC were met with a chorus of approval.
The approach above of a group of IDF soldiers in FAFO mode seems best.
This comment is about civilizational identity and the psychology of legitimacy, not about political strategy, security frameworks, or specific events.
Nina, interesting and important article. While there is a lot there, let me just comment on your first point regarding Bret Stephens, Robert Kraft, and Liel Leibowitz. I could not agree more with Mr. Leibowitz.
To that point, back on Feb 26, 2026, I posted to my Times of Israel blog a response to his TV ad titled "Robert Kraft Should Know That A Good Defense Is Having A Strong Offense" https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/robert-kraft-should-know-that-a-good-defense-is-having-a-strong-offense/
This message is needed not only as an external challenge those who threaten us but also an internal call to build up the defensive strength we need to protect ourselves on the street level, as well as organizational and political levels.
Our model can be the Jewish revolutionary groups (Irgun, Stern, Palmach) that helped kick the British out of the League of Nations Mandate of Palestine to create the modern state of Israel and the Israel Defense Force. Or more recently, the Jewish Defense League's neighborhood patrols and defiant pro-Israel/Jewish demonstrations.
I liked the title, but got lost in the text.
Very detailed thesis, however I needed a better introduction and summary of where the thoughts and notions were going.
I was taught decades ago (and just reminded in a class I am currently taking) that all thesis should have a one or two sentences which explain the theme and direction of the whole.
Thank you for your passion.
I had to put in into ChatGpt to understand it .. 🤦🏻♀️
This is not a good thing to do. ChatGpt is not to be 'trusted' and is limited to facts and algorithms to determine anything. Nuance is beyond it.
Agreed but without it I would not have understood the text let alone the nuance x
As a Westerner who has experienced hate from my peers (confused jealousy) and I just finished Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice - I can see that there's an element of the famous 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' at work with the West... They can't understand it so they'll just cut it 'bring it down' to their level.
Like in MoV where Shylock is described as the "rich Jew" they can't understand him so want to contain him via judiciary or converting his daughter to Christianity so the evil, dark magic and 'otherness' that must be happening can be forgiven (understood).
I mean that the Jewish people have been and are so successful the basic bitches in the West can't understand it so they have to contain you somehow.
Confused jealousy may be the seed but it's grown and spawned into thick weeds all over the West. To get rid of weeds have to pull out the plant roots and all. (Swept away by metaphors there 🤔)
I think in this case, less is more. I loved the “Hate Jews? Fuck around and Find out!”. It’s simple, to the point, and takes away power from the Jew-hater and puts it right into the barrels of the rifles of the IDF.
Yes, we need to stop trying to explain ourselves and gain the approval of "progressives". No other people and nation feel the need to explain themselves and gain approval from others. We don't need to make the "case" for Israel or its right to defend itself. We only need to be strong and powerful and lethal enough not to be messed with. Why should we give a shit whether others approve of Israel's existence. It does exist and there's nothing they can do about it whether they like it or not.
This essay illustrates for me the daring and splendor of Future of Jewish, and the robust course it is setting. The course is bracing. That’s all to the good because our predicament is dire. The author’s approach is Talmudic and searching, not simply expository. Her essay climaxes in a majestic discussion of Jonah: the Lord’s “demand for fidelity that precedes comprehension,” inscribed in the “covenant whose obligations are inherited before they are understood.” Israel is the living embodiment of these words.
I agree with the findings, but find the essay overall esoteric to an extreme.
If I'm understanding this correctly, Saadat seems to suggest that the question "What are Jews for?" (a stupid question - one may as well ask "What are Hindus for?" or "What are the Japanese for" or indeed "What are humans for?" should be answered "Jews are the chosen people of God." But that is precisely that Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran et al claim - that they are obeying Allah. It's fine as a self-identity but doesn't help a whole lot in the battle. If every community exists only because of its God or Gods and Goddesses, what happens to shared values? These values need not be Western. What happened, in Saadat's argument to Asia beyond the Middle East? https://ruthvanita452091.substack.com/p/stand-up-and-fight
Astute analysis. A few observations, if one may.
"The idea of antisemitism as a form of racism"
The concept of Jews as a race emerged from 18th-19th C Race Science and culminated in the 20th century. We all know how that went.
"The second relevant change, and the one that most affected the capitalism-friendly progressive class that contains Kraft, was the movement’s corporate appropriation."
A discussion of the emergence of CRT as a driving force in the Red-Green Axis would help round out the analysis. Yet another factor that might fortuitously be addressed is the effect of modernization, particularly the revolution in electronic communications to which traditional cultures are now violently reacting to preserve their religeo-tribal structures, values, and traditions.
"First, like “Antisemitism Is Racism,” [Hasbarah's argument on grounds of Israel's multi-cultural liberalism] cedes too much to those who will never be convinced because it does not understand its purported interlocutors."
Perhaps the problem more lies not with the capacity of Israel's propaganda adversaries but with the nature of their position: most come at the issue not from Opinion (variously, personal, public, received, but never informed or expert), or empirically based Argumentation, but rather Belief, defined as taking something to be so when there is no evidence that it is so and often even when there is evidence that it is not so.
"the story goes as follows: ancient Jewish civilization in the land of Israel; exile and suffering in diaspora; the Holocaust; the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty; and Israel’s survival and success against hostile enemies."
This story is but one version. There is another which non-Jews and too many Jews subscribe. Yes, the argument from the claim that Zionism is the right of Jews to self-determination in their homeland is correct, but it represents only one mode: political Zionism. Another, element that cuts to the core of Jewish identity is that of the intimate connection between peoplehood and homeland. We find it achingly articulated in Psalm 137 composed approx. 586–538 BCE and echoed repeatedly in the various declarations of the Prophets throughout Tanach and in exilic theological writings, liturgy, and ritual.
"do not the Palestinians occupy the Jewish role in the drama as the romantic, oppressed, indigenous, stateless underdogs?"
Yes, if they are singularly oppressed by Jews; Yes indigenous if not because of a label they affixed to their forehead but because they meet the objective criteria of what constitutes indigeneity; Yes, stateless if they ever had a state from which they are now exiled; Yes, underdogs, that is, victims if they have an overlord victimizer. Quick questions: How can you be a refugee if you claim where you are living is sovereign Palestinian Territory, the very location the UN and the ICJ in their infinite wisdom declare to be your state? Wouldn't that make you a refugee from your country in your own country?
"Israel is cast as a democratic beacon in the Middle East, yet its irreducible particularity sits uneasily within a worldview that treats the rationalization and convergence of governance as history’s end."
The accusation of particularism hides a hypocritical contradiction. It allows other nations their national identity, e.g. Irish, Ukrainian); it promotes "Palestinian" statehood, that is, a Palestinian national identity. These particularist identities are not only allowed, but expected and celebrated, yet when it comes to Israel and Jewish articulation of their peoplehood and identity, it is vehemently condemned in no uncertain terms.
"The Third World is not invading us. Our own ideological dust is being carried back into our eyes by their wind."
Well said. Very well said. One only needs to look at how the street calls to hatred are justified on the grounds of "Free Speech." Through oversimplification and reductionism they pervert the actual legal status of Free Speech to advance their replacement / supremacist agenda. Notice how the Red-Green-AltR Axis receive nodding acceptance even approval of the authorities who are supposed to be protecting civil discourse in the name of maintaining social order.
"The arguments reassure existing supporters far more effectively than they persuade outsiders."
AKA preaching to the choir. Another way of putting it is indulging in confirmation bias.
"beyond a moderate spike in gas prices, the war has very little effect on the lives of the overwhelming majority of Americans."
Yes, but it is propaganda gold the media exploit to discredit Trump (not that the author of the text book "The Art of the Braggart" needs discrediting), but also another spike in the cudgel used to bash Israel.
"The condition described in the Hebrew Bible is one of chosenness"
May be a bit of an oversimplification. Beneath the religious declaration that Israel is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6) and a light unto the nations (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6) is embedded a vision of universal purpose: that a people who practice ethical behaviour can teach a world how to outgrow its feral impulses so that the species can enjoy the optimum environment to evolve to their fullest potential as sentient beings.
All of which is great but isn’t a) going to stop this worldwide tsunami of antisemitism that is killing Jews or b) preventing a world in which which can prevent antisemitism in the future .. so the argument is .. suck it up and just accept our lot in life?
I liked the title, but got lost in the text.
Very detailed thesis, however I needed a better introduction and summary of where the thoughts and notions were going.
I was taught decades ago (and just reminded in a class I am currently taking) that all thesis should have a one or two sentences which explain the theme and direction of the whole.
Thank you for your passion.