Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: The following piece provides a window into the morbidity of a Jewish progressive mind. Bill Weinberg is a self-described anti Zionist Jewish activist. He operates as a Jew under a racially exclusive Jewish political banner (‘New Jewish Resistance’ he calls it). He claims to oppose the Jewish State, but surprise, surprise, he also insists that such dissent must be run like a synagogue. He wants to determine who is allowed in to the resistance and who must be kept out – Weinberg, operating as a Jew, is issuing instructions on how to fight the Jewish State. I wonder is it really up to the Jews to decide who is kosher enough to speak against the Jewish State? Can you imagine for instance, the French resistance at the peak of WWII, taking orders from an ‘anti Nazi activist’ who identified politically and ideologically as an ‘Aryan’ or even as ‘Aryan Resistance?’ Just the thought makes me laugh.
Weinberg writes, “I was biking down Second Ave., and saw the ‘FREE PALESTINE’ banner outside the church, and stopped to check it out... To my disappointment it was the highly problematic group “If Americans Knew.” It is obvious from its name that this is basically a right-wing nationalist formation with (at least) an anti-Semitic streak.”
I would expect a ‘progressive Jew’ (a contradiction in terms, I know) to be concerned with texts distributed in synagogues and Yeshivas, but our progressive protagonist actually complains about the materials distributed by goyim outside their churches. Maybe this is what Jewish chutzpah is all about.
Weinberg is troubled by ‘If Americans Knew,’ probably the most prolific and effective opponents of Zionism, Israel and Jewish power in the US. Alison Weir, the heroic warrior who founded and runs the organisation, has done more than anyone else on this planet to expose the depth and the history of Jewish and Zionist domination in America. She and her small team believe that if Americans knew the extent of Jewish power, they might be more than a little upset. But Weinberg, the progressive Jew in our midst, doesn’t approve. Like the Zionist controlled media, he clearly prefers to keep Americans in the dark.
Weinberg isn’t just an ordinary ‘Jew,’ he is also a ‘cosmopolitan’ one. He neither approves of patriotism nor does he accept nationalism. It would be interesting to learn from one of those half a dozen cosmopolitan Jewish characters what exactly they offer to the Palestinian National struggle. Someone should advise Weinberg that the heroic militants who have smashed the IDF on Gaza’s streets in the last 10 days aren’t exactly cosmopolitan, revolutionary and Trotskyite atheists. They are the complete opposite: nationalist, patriotic combatants driven by an Islamic religious impetus.
But the Jewish Resistance icon is honest enough to reveal that once he found my name on the pro Palestinian flyer a “wave of existential loneliness swept over.” This, I must admit, filled me with pride. For the philosopher in me, to find that I invoke some deep ‘existential’ reflections in a uniquely tribal mind is nothing short of ecstatic fulfilment.
Weinberg complains, “If Americans Knew and figures like Gilad Atzmon just play right into the propaganda ploy that any opposition to Israel is anti-Semitism.” The Jew in our midst admits here that, for him, it is Israeli Hasbara that determines what is right and who is kosher. If Weinberg and other Jewish so-called ‘progressives’ such as JVP, Chomsky or Max Blumenthal were genuine opponents of the Jewish State, they would be at the forefront of the battle against Jewish power in media, politics, finance and culture. But not only is their presence missing, they devote their dissent primarily to the suppression of criticism of Jewish Power.
The verdict is obious -The Jewish Left is not the solution solution. In fact, it is at the core of the problem. If Jewish power is the capacity to silence criticism of Jewish power, it is the Jewish Left that facilitates this power. It serves to divert attention from the most crucial issues: the Jewishness of the Jewish State, the Jewishness of Zionism, Jewish power, the biblical genocidal inclinations that are embedded in Israeli practice in Gaza and beyond, etc.’
But Weinberg is not a happy man. He ends his short piece lamenting his isolation. “So it has actually been hard to find protests I can join against the aerial terror on Gaza.” Even Al-Awda, the largest Palestinian organisation dedicated to the Palestinian Right Of Return, is not kosher enough for Weinberg. Our protagonist ends up boycotting them as well. Like Israel, he locks himself behind self-imposed ghetto walls.
Weinberg is not a significant voice in the debate, I have never come across any important text by him, but his confession below is a priceless glimpse into the deceitful nature of Jewish tribal activism within the Left and its corrosive effects on the solidarity movement. Once you read Weinberg it is easy to understand why Jewish hegemony within the solidarity movement led to total paralysis.
http://newjewishresistance.org/blog/proverbial-pox-both-your-houses
The proverbial pox on both your houses
Today’s depressing news that some 10,000 joined a “New York Stands with Israel” rally at the UN (overseen by Chuck Schumer, of course) was compounded for me by a demoralizing encounter outside St. Mark’s Church. I was biking down Second Ave., and saw the “FREE PALESTINE” banner outside the church, and stopped to check it out... To my disappointment it was the highly problematic group “If Americans Knew.” It is obvious from its name that this is basically a right-wing naitonalist formation with (at least) an anti-Semitic streak. Right, “Americans” are pure and righteous (never mind Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and “shock & awe”), but are being hoodwinked into supporting atrocities by those wily Jews... I nonetheless took one of their flyers just to see what it said, and was dismayed to find it was a big quote from the vile Gilad Atzmon, a peddler of the most rank anti-Semitic garbage...
When I told the woman who handed me the flyer I don’t like Gilad Atzmon, she smiled smarmily and said, “He’s awesome.”
And that wave of existential loneliness swept over me yet again... Israel’s atrocities must be opposed—urgently, uncompromisingly. But groups like “If Americans Knew” and figures like Gilad Atzmon just play right into the propaganda ploy that any opposition to Israel is anti-Semitism. Their presence on this issue is worse than useless: it is deeply counter-productive.
So it has actually been hard to find protests I can join against the aerial terror on Gaza. “If Americans Knew” also had a visible presence at the al-Awda march two weeks ago... Another one where I was a spectator rather than a participant, because of the central role of the Workers World Party’s International Action Center, vigorous cheerleaders for Assad’s butchery in Syria. Again... supporting (or apologizing for) Assad’s bombardment of Aleppo while opposing Bibi’s of Gaza is actually counter-productive: it loans propaganda cover to our enemies. The Palestinians do not need this kind of “solidarity.”
I support Adalah NY, and I will join any march they hold (been to two so far, since the current round of bombing started). I oppose any alliance with If Americans Knew, or with any group in the orbit of Workers World—which includes Al-Awda.
I don’t support unity, you say?
Correct. I do not support unity.
Unity has to be based on principle, and there has to be a line you cannot cross. Gilad Atzmon and Bashar Assad, and their respective fans and apologists, are well on the other side of that line. Any unity with them hurts the cause of standing up to the Zionist machine here in New York City.