What American Left?

Kris Petersen — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:27:13 +0000

If I lived in Europe–to say nothing of an Arab or Islamic nation–where the Palestinians are held to be innocent victims of Israeli aggression, my strong personal identification with, and intellectual belief in, the historic Zionist project would no doubt lead me to spend most of my time defending Israel’s legitimacy, if not its every action. (more…)

No doubt you would Mr. Alterman, because at heart you also espouse the racist beliefs shared by Zionists everywhere.

What’s Wrong With the American “Left”?

Kris Petersen — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:57:03 +0000

Reading Eric Alterman’s recent article in The Nation magazine recently (Israel at 60: The State of the State), I began to consider the significant gulf that exists between ideology and practice among those on the American “left”. I have been an avid reader of Alterman’s for some time, regularly visiting his website (Alternet.org), following his contributions in The Nation magazine, and reading a few of his books (What Liberal Media?; The Book on Bush; etc.). Of course, Eric and I have had our differences in the past – instead of blaming the inadequacies of the American political system for Bush’s “election” in 2000, he chose to blame Ralph Nader for Al Gore’s loss – but I am especially disappointed in his most recent article.

Referring to the 60th anniversary of Israel’s expulsion of the Palestinians and subsequent founding of the Zionist state, Alterman writes of the “successful prosecution of the War of Independence”. When discussing this state that regularly discriminates against 20% of its own population in its lawas and institutions. and which pursues policies of colonization and ethnic cleansing in the Occupied Territories, Alterman waxes romantic about a “democratic society in the midst of countless hardships in a hostile corner of the world that had known only autocracy”.

Does this sound familiar?

Fine, ignore that Alterman appears to be competing for a spot in the Avenue of the Righteous… His article quickly descends into a spate of baseless and abysmally arrogant speculations about the state of Israeli opinion of the Palestinians – and then blames this on the Palestinians themselves. “The increasing strength of Hamas, the weakness and corruption of Fatah, a rash of suicide bombings, the shelling of Israeli cities from Lebanon and hateful rhetoric emanating from so much of the Arab world have all but drained Israelis of their compassion and patience for the Palestinian “other.” Notice, there is not a word about Israeli racism or the vitriolic language regularly blown around the Knesset; nor is there any discussion of Palestinian frustration with Israel’s brutal occupation, continuation of the Gaza blockade and the construction of the illegal West Bank Barrier. No. According to Mr. Alterman, it is Palestinian extremism alone that is to blame for having drained his (euphemistically-phrased) “compassion and patience”.

But it is this imperialistic mentality that pervades so many on the American “left”. This makes it possible for Eric Alterman to travel to Israel and have a few BBQs in Tel Aviv, yet fail to meet a single Palestinian before blaming them for the state of relations in the Middle-East. As AngryArab writes sarcastically, “racism against the interior people is always justified” according to this mentality. Alterman’s argument can be summarized thus: “[T]he Arabs are not only responsible for their own tragedy in their land, but they are also responsible for the non-existence of the peace movement on [the] other side. This is like saying that blacks in apartheid [South] Africa are responsible for the racist political system under which they suffered.”

Unfortunately, this mentality afflicts too many on the American “left”.

harmonicminor.com » Alterman, Eric

What American Left?

What’s Wrong With the American “Left”?