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They have a point but they have it backwards

Reader comment on item: Learning from the Mearsheimer-Walt Fiasco

Submitted by Ken Besig (Israel), Sep 16, 2007 at 10:42

First of all, Mearsheimer-Walt are correct in one single regard, that is the American Jewish Community has national political influence in America which is far greater than our rather small numbers would seem to indicate.

Secondly, and to my mind sadly and ironically, most of that influence has little or nothing to do with support for Israel, the disputes rocking the Middle East, or even the so called conservative or neo conservative American social and political policies which these two alleged academics, Mearsheimer-Walt , claim that the American Jewish community espouses.

Thirdly and thus most importantly, American Jews are largely extreme liberals, they vote for the Democratic Party by a huge majority, and they largely promote, espouse, support, and lead some of the most radical Left wing social and entitlement programs one can imagine.

Finally, while there are some large and active pro Israel Jewish groups in America, there are far more and far bigger anti Israel groups, led by and financially supported by American Jews, groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and even a group which calls itself by the unlikely name, The Committe Against (Palestinian) House Demolitions.

Indeed, most polls done by Jewish organizations now indicate that the American Jewish community is far less concerned with Israel either politically or financially and are far more monolithic and far more concerned when it comes to educational, religious, and social issues including employment, affecting their own local communities.

Please don't misunderstand me, I find the Mearsheimer-Walt theory of The Jewish Conspiracy to Control the American Government to be misguided, misinformed, tendentious, riddled with lies and falsehoods, and just as deeply twisted and hatefully anti Semitic as anything produced by Ahmanijihad in Iran or Nasrallah in Lebanon or at another time, by Hitler in Germany.

And what is really disturbing to me, and should be disturbing to all decent Americans is that Mearsheimer-Walt are supposedly professional academics who engaged in serious research to reach their half assed conclusions, not half drunk, unemployed, high school dropout neo Nazis.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (10) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Mearsheimer & Walt on You Tube: Iran is a "so called" threat [52 words]James BurkeOct 3, 2007 16:21110235
Mearsheimer on BBC Interview [127 words]Martin KesslerSep 22, 2007 23:24109480
A great peculiarity [115 words]P BergSep 21, 2007 16:15109395
Not a mistake to respond [206 words]James EckertSep 21, 2007 09:47109369
They have a point but they have it backwards [337 words]Ken BesigSep 16, 2007 10:42108983
To Mr. Ken Besig [315 words]YnnatchkahSep 19, 2007 16:39108983
Of course, this strategy only works when the opposition is a tiny minority [44 words]Mark JamesSep 15, 2007 19:33108946
Walt/Mearsheimer and supporters: profound insensitivity to history of Jewish persecution [614 words]S Silverstein MDSep 15, 2007 11:45108927
Object of Mockery. [172 words]YnnatchkahSep 17, 2007 03:10108927
Humanities a circus [591 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
S SilversteinSep 18, 2007 10:21108927

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