Israel, and in the Orthodox commu-
nity for which I have strong affection!'
Beinart's essay has unleashed a
stream of responses. "Everyone's
read it and everyone is talking about
it," said Marc Pelavin, the associate
director of the Reform movement's
Religious Action Center.
The essay comes as dovish and
leftist groups in Israel and the United
States are beginning to push back
against the conventional wisdoms
that define organizational American
Jewish attitudes about Israel. The
most prominent case is the rise in
recent years of J Street, but there are
other examples: B'Tselem, the human
rights group, recently exported an
Israeli staffer to direct its Capitol Hill
operation.
Officials of Ir Amim, a group that
counsels accommodating some
Palestinian aspirations in Jerusalem
as a means of keeping the peace in
the city, toured the United States
recently, sounding out Jewish lead-
ers about how to make the case for a
shared city.

Engaging Prose
For the most part, the debate has
been an earnest, friendly exchange. In
large part that's because of Beinart's
biography and standing.
James Kirchick, like Beinart an
alumnus of the New Republic, said
in a critique published on Foreign
Policy's Web site that Beinart's argu-
ments could not be dismissed.
"Beinart has never been part of
American Jewry's leftist faction; up
until recently, he was a prominent
spokesperson for the hawkish wing of
the Democratic Party:' Kirchick said.
Beinart's synagogue door decla-
ration of independence from what
he says is establishment Jewish
orthodoxy is framed in the polit-
est of terms, although he names
names: the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee, the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
"In theory, mainstream American
Jewish organizations still hew to a
liberal vision of Zionism:' he writes.
"On its Web site, AIPAC celebrates
Israel's commitment to 'free speech
and minority rights!"
Beinart says the Conference of
Presidents declares that " 'Israel and
the United States share political,
moral and intellectual values includ-
ing democracy, freedom, security and
peace.' These groups would never

say, as do some in Netanyahu's coali-
tion, that Israeli Arabs don't deserve
full citizenship and West Bank
Palestinians don't deserve human
rights. But in practice, by defending
virtually anything any Israeli govern-
ment does, they make themselves
intellectual bodyguards for Israeli
leaders who threaten the very liberal
values they profess to admire!'
The response, on the record from
the pro-Israel commentariat and off
the record from some of Beinart's
targets: He's moved on. Once an Iraq
war supporter, he is now affiliated
with the New American Foundation,
the liberal-realist think tank that is
home to a number of pronounced
critics of traditional American pro-
Israel orthodoxies.
Shmuel Rosner, a blogger for the
Jerusalem Post, wrote, "It is a story
worthy of telling, with careful atten-
tion to detail, with open mind. A
story more interesting than the per-
sonal misgivings one Jewish liberal is
trying to impose on the community
as a whole!'
Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent
at the Atlantic, and Leon Wieseltier,
Beinart's former colleague at the
New Republic, chided Beinart for
publishing his essay in the New York
Review of Books, which has published
material questioning the validity of a
Jewish state. In response, Beinart has
noted that it also has published tough
defenses of Israel and that it is an apt
forum for a writer trying not only to
reconcile Zionism with liberals, but
also liberals with Zionism.

Standing Firm

More substantive complaints had to
do with Beinart's omissions: He men-
tions only in passing the Palestinian
responsibility — through the failure
to contain terrorism and incitement
— for frustrating the peace talks,
and also does not substantially treat
the existential threat implied by
Iran's current rulers.
He also focuses on Netanyahu's
1993 book A Place Among the
Nations, which severs the Palestinians
from his vision of a peaceful Middle
East instead of the prime minister's
more recent pronouncements acced-
ing to a two-state solution.
Beinart, in follow-up essays in the
online Daily Beast, another of his
employers, argues that he glances by
the Palestinians because he is writing
about and for Jews.

Questioning on page 22

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dairy or parve dinner & enjoy th
time with family & friends!

We've reserved a picnic but
special for our group.

Family Friendly & Free!

6pm Friday, June 18_ Bloomer Park
6pm Friday, July 30 • Heritage Park
6pm Friday. August 20 • Beverly Park

6:00 PM • WEDNESDAY, JULY 21 • DETROIT ZOO

Bring your own picnic style dinner & meet your friends at the zoo
See the animals & enjoy Candy Band, a children's concert

For more informa on about tit rig
Young Family programs at Shaarey Zedek,
please contact Megan Rappaport,
Jewish Family Educator, at 248/357-5544 x 43
or e-mail mrappaport@shaareyzedek.org.

ODD
COMEGAIIPI

n .

21

