Can an American Comment on Israel?

Submitted by Mike (United States), Jul 28, 2008 at 11:49

Logic like Mr. Schweitzer's has never made sense to me. Why should a person have to live in Israel in order to have opinions about Israeli policies? Responsible people should be knowledgeable and thoughtful about foreign affairs and how they affect their homeland. Israel is only a special case in that Jewish survival worldwide may depend on its success. This only makes understanding of Israeli policies a priority for all responsible Jews throughout the globe. Metpahorically speaking I ask...

Does a physician have to have diabetes in order to analyze symptoms and make a diagnosis or treatment recommendations?

Does a police officer have to be criminal in order to recognize and arrest criminal behavior?

Does a psychiatrist have to be schizophrenic in order to treat it?

Does a mechanic have to be an automobile in order to fix it (A ridiculous comment to make the point)?

Being a "professional" means one primarily utilizes one's intellect to fulfill their duties. Political analysts are professionals who are well trained and experienced to understand, assess, criticize or support political policies and behavior. They may come to the wrong conclusions, but that doesn't mean that what they do is not valid. Nor is it invalid for the average person to read various analyses and have opinons as a result. Isn't that the point of having an educated populace? Nor is it invalid for American Jews to have a special interest and opinions regarding Israel. After all, has the Israeli government ever returned a check sent by an American Jew?

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