VIEWPOINT Progressive Zionism? To be to fight fo eigns. P without e of possibi racial and hierarch ideals. Ye necessity vision to gressive t programf erence to "Progress try a refo backward eral socia softening ket-agend vision oft politics a market ec In put America must wall sponsible focusing. genuine sc ing for ju Middle Ea As such, means to gram inth Peace Zionists a nation an rests upon within a columnist and progr betweena nationalis depends, progress i Zionists o the Palest people aI In a cc ism betwe nel West, progressiv gressive writes, "A is like a p a real soli they also of others' interactio nationalisi versalistic Yet so stand this "Occupatio awl econ ence to Ist Jackie Bra ter is thatE I conside militarizat are integra Israel,to b lacks an u cal basisc progressiv like Ber B order to a ing of Isra reading E understan Read a Zi When you do, you will see that the great BY JEREMY MENCHiK Zionist intellectuals posit the legitimacy of the state on its democratic and pro- a progressive student activist is gressive character. r a global system where justice True, Israel's democratic character is 'rogressivism is an ideology dependent upon ending Israeli control xclusion, guided by the religion over the West Bank and Gaza. But this lity without the constraints that is not a new idea, it is a concept endless- I gender oppression and class ly promoted by Israel in pursuit of y impose upon democratic peace. Israel wants Palestinian self-rule t along with these ideals is the and Israel's future as a Jewish and of actualization to push that democratic state will only be secure ward reality, forcing any pro- through peace with a stable Palestinian o also put forward a practical neighbor. The United States and other for action. Cornel West, in ref- parties of goodwill should provide American politics, writes, extensive reconstruction and develop- ives must present to the coun- ment assistance to shattered Palestinian rm program that looks neither communities as they work toward the to the perpetuation of the lib- creation of a Palestinian state prepared . programs nor sideways to the to live in peace with Israel. of the conservative free-mar- So how do we actualize this com- Ia but forward to a practical mon agenda? If mainstream Palestinian the reenergizing of democratic supporters and Zionists want to see a nd the democratizing of the two-state solution tied into productive onomy of America." economic development and harmonious ting forward such a program in relations, how can the two groups work or abroad, a true progressive together? k a careful line between irre- Divestment from Israel is not our radicals and passive liberals by answer. Adopted as a strategy at the first on noble causes in pursuit of annual conference of the Palestinian ocial justice. This means work- Solidarity Movement, divestment is a stice, and in the case of the blunt tool for those who make the offen- ast conflict, working for peace. sive comparison between Israel and the peace process is the only Apartheid South Africa. Divestment is actualize a progressive pro- an intellectually dishonest tactic that has e Middle East. failed at universities nationwide. It will is the goal for progressive continue to fail for the simple fact that .s well. Israel is a democratic Israeli policies are not similar to those d the foundation of the state of Apartheid South Africa. Apartheid progressive ideals intertwined discriminated against black South Zionist framework. Some Africans, while the Israeli legal code s argue that Jewish nationalism does not discriminate against Arab essivism conflict due to a gap Israelis. The law provides for the equal a universalistic agenda and a treatment of both Jewish and Arab citi- stic one. However; this gap zets. In South Africa, the government 'upon the faulty idea that butchered blacks when they protested s a zero-sum gain. Progressive governmental policies; Israel has done ften advocate policy that helps nothing to either Israeli Arabs or Pales- tinian people and the Israeli tinians in the West Bank comparable to ke. that level of repression. Divestment onversation on black national- from Israel is unethical and wrong. en Michael Lerner and Cor- The peace process is right. If you West draws a parallel between are a progressive and you feel the need e black nationalism and pro- to fight for thebdowntrodden masses Zionism. As Cornel West then I beg you; be an intelligent advo- progressive black nationalist cate and know the ideology of those rogressive Zionist. They have you align with. On the University cam- darity with their people, but . pus, so-called progressive Palestinian want to accent the humanity activists include apologists for homi- who are engaging in humane cide bombings. There are activists an across groupings. Their associated with the Palestine Solidari- m has an internationalist, um- ty Movement who find common dimension. ground with Jew-hating white me progressives fail to under- supremacists on Jewwatch.com. Pro- reality of Zionism. In a letter gressive people must stand for what is in unites all who fight for social right and make alliances with ethical sic justice" (05/06/02) in refer- activists, before they actualize that aeli control of the West Bank, truth with a plan for peace. y writes, "The fact of the mat- Realize that peace and justice come economic imperialism, which with beneficial dialogue and discussion. r sweatshops to be, and the True peace will never be achieved ion and occupation of areas through violence, detachment or divest- lly linked." If Bray considers ment. True peace comes with mutual e a tool of imperialism, she respect and negotiations, the only way nderstanding of the ideologi- to actualize a progressive agenda. If you of te Jwishstae. Isugest are a progressive, and if you are Zionist, ef tey Jewishstaitelecsuestyou share a common goal: Push the par- es study Zionist intellectuals ties to go back to the negotiating table, .orochov and Alhad Ha'am, in wheteybog.' iwhere they belong. Monday, August 12, 2002 - The Michigan Daily - 5 Springsteen - Rising from the ashes LUKE SMITH UNRESERF) E1IBRACE he only thing and the battle cry of "Born in the U.S.A." were written post-Sept. 11, a few were less preposter- became more a rousing chorus, and less the penned pre-planes-into-buildings fiasco. 000 than a pop angst-ridden barb the record intended it to If this record had'been released in an star tackling the It - be. "Glory Days" another of the seven sin- America where Sept. I1 had never hap- month-old cloudburst gles on Born in the U.S.A. blew up on the pened, reviewers and listeners would be that was 9-11 is prob- airwaves despite its own dose of Spring- singing a different tune altogether. Probably ably a writer tackling steen's sullen lyrics. something closer to the groans made when } ! a pop star tackling Fast forward 18 years into this post- Springsteen released his last studio effort. tragedy. Nonetheless, Sept. 11, nothing has really changed other Let's not forget we are dealing with the the grail of musical than more news coverage, and a few new man who played songs on movie sound- criticism and credibility Rolling Stone cabinet positions in the United States. tracks like the Tom Hanks AIDS-flick dropped a five-star bomb on Bruce Spring- Springsteen is drawing rave reviews and "Streets of Philadelphia" and "Secret Gar- steen's latest record, The Rising. for all of the wrong reasons. Without even den" from "Jerry Maguire." Springsteen Springsteen's five-star score follows hearing The Rising, I can pronise that it is fans will point out that he won a Grammy perfectly in suit with Rolling Stone's recent not very good. Not "excellent," not "clas- award for "Streets," and I'd point out the tendencies to award older artists excruciat- sic," it might be good, but in all likelihood, it hundreds of artists who have won Grammys ingly positive reviews. Recently, Mick Jag- is simply exceptionally average. Reviews and proven themselves to be nothing special ger and Bob Dylan have been recipients of have championed his ability to write from or nothing hovering above average on the five-star reviews. It is painfully obvious why the post-Sept. I1 world with the appropriate musical radar. Mick Jagger would receive a positive levels of compassion and empathy for the I'd expect to see The Riisng all over criti- review -- the magazine is called Rolling issue. In fact, Bruce even went far enough cal top 10 lists at the end of 2002. This is Stone. Bob Dylan is some kind of exemp- to'contact victim's families and talk to them unfortunate, even more unfortunate is the tion as well - while I couldn't care less for about how they felt, so that the ever-present amount of Grammy Award nominations, Love and Theft, at least it wasn'tjust a mag- third person narrators in Springsteen's tunes and actual Grammy brass that the record azine suckling at the teat of its namesake. would have their usual life when dealing will likely garner. All of this, not because of It's not about the stars. They really don't with the tender wounds from the 11th. Springsteen's musicianship, but because of mean anything. In this case, it's about the The Rising is an album that is apparent- its subject matter. It is unfortunate that the reasons that the stars were given. ly so rich with importance that Rolling American people would rely on a pop The Boss hasn't exactly had a presti- Stone opened its freelance pocket wide and artist's take on tragedy, rather than treat the gious, groundbreaking or vitally important ensnared MTV's voice of reason and report- record as just that, a record. career. His voice was the voice of the facto- ing Kurt Loder to write the review for an Springsteen's album, when I finally sit ry worker, his lyrics of hardship and finan- album that was guaranteed five stars when down and listen to it, will no doubt be a dis- cial difficulty appealed to the very people its release date was announced. appointment. At best, I would expect it to be he came from. For many fans, Springsteen Loder likens the album to a "requiem an above average record, with a message was equal parts rock and rollgod and heart- for those who perished in that sudden infer- that allows it to be enshrined as "classic" land, down-home brother in a blue collar. no." This statement proves to be a nice liter- from the Tuesday that it came out. Image is everything. ary precursor and eventual transition into Oh, that's a parallel I didn't even think His giant-sized breakthrough Boes in the the part of the review where Loder actually of. The album came out on a Tuesday, and U.S.A. basically was misinterpreted by 9 discusses the album, and the first track he Sept. 11 was a Tuesday. Maybe Bruce out of 10 people who picked up the record. talks about is "Into the Fire" So, is the should've waited to release the album on a Springsteen's then trademark disaffection record really a requiem for the deceased, or Tuesday that was the 11th to further and disenfranchisement with the human in fact a wonderful tool for writer's to show- entrench his and his album's "classic" sta- condition in the United States was interpret- case their ability to connect music to the tus. Looks like the marketing wizards ed as little more than a series of anthems for real world and play the part of the great line behind Springsteen's rise back to the top the middle-class majority. between popstar and plain-folk. hadn't planned on that. The sullen lyrics of the album's title These sort of campy transitions should track describe a Vietnam vet down on his sicken readers and listeners of The Rising Lske Souh can berechedt luck after being used by the government, completely. Not all of The Rising's tracks luke s/numich.edit. VIEWPOINT Iraqi invasion: A dangerous step to the brink tration needs to look in their own back- attacks. Russia, China and the Euro- BY NORAl RABiAi yards and in those of their allies, partic- pean Union have all spoken out ulary Israel. Itsis a known fact that the against a war with Iraq. The United A recent radio talk show asked for United States and Israel possess nuclear States will only build up negative sen- listeners to call in to give reasons why "weapons of mass destruction." timent from the rest of world by bomb- the United States should or should not That's great if the Bush adminis- ing Iraq again. attack Iraq. As I was furiously dialing tration would like to demolish the Fourth, war always results in the the number, I realized I could give a production and use of nuclear loss of innocent lives on both sides. A hundred reasons why the United States weapons. However, if the administra- war with Iraq would result in the deaths should not attack Iraq. lere are a few: tion would like to dictate who is of numerous Iraqi civilians and possi- First, Iraq has never posed a direct allowed to have nuclear weapons and bly, numerous U.S. Army personnel threat on the United States. Never who is not, then this is an act of inter- overseas. No war is worth the loss of once has Iraq initiated any aggression national dictatorship. innocent lives, whether they are Iraqi or direct physical attack on the Ameri- Second, an attack against Iraq is or American. can people. In fact, Scott Ritter, who morally wrong in more ways than one. As Americans, we thrive on the was the chief of the United Nations' By stating that Iraq may be a threat to principles of democracy and civil team in charge of inspecting Iraq for the United States in the future does not rights. We should work to ensure that the presence of weapons of mass justify any attack against the country. people living all over the world are enti- destruction, stated that "Iraq's weapons This excuse for war, which is often used tIled to the these rights by letting them stock had been, by and large, account- by the Bush administration, implies that decide their own destiny - not by ed for - removed, destroyed or ren- the United States has the free will to bombing their homes back to the Stone dered harmless," as reported in the attack any country in the world, since Age or by depriving them of food and March 7 Cape Cod Times. According every country has the potential to medicine though brutal economic sanc- to Ritter's statement, Iraq does not threaten the United States in the future. tions, as we have done with Iraq. It is even have the capability of posing a Third, an attack on Iraq would only time tolet the Iraqi people live. threat to the United States. stir up antagonism in the region Furthermore, regarding "weapons against the United States. The large of mass destruction" the Bush adminis- majority of the world is against these Rabiah is a University alum. cqurre an ronesr unuersranu- el. Understanding Zionism by dward Said is like trying to A driving a car by walking. onist to understand Zionism. Menchik is a University alum and the assistant diretorofuhe onework Regional OJiceag/the Anti-Defaimation League.