Von: "dan s wang" danwang@mindspring.com

US Fundamentalists and Israel

There is a myth that US support for Israel exists because of the strength of the zionist lobby--meaning "Jewish lobby", as if there were thousands of Jewish zionists pressing palms on Capitol Hill everyday, or funneling thousands of dollars to pols all the time. In the more crackpot, fringe versions of this story diamonds get put into the pockets of presidents and senators. That's a bunch of anti-semitic crap-- military contractor interests are probably much more important.

But there is something I would add to that, something that should not be underestimated. And that is the power and involvement of the Religious Right. Fundamentalist evangelical Christianity, as exemplified by Pat Robertson's and Jerry Falwell's movements, over the decade of the 70s developed a highly articulate "pre-Millenial" theology. This was a more sophisticated theology than the simple scriptural literalism that defined most earlier American christian fundamentalisms. A basic tenent of this doctrine says that the Jews must return to Israel before the second coming of you know who. (Like in the Harry Potter books with Voldemort, I try to never say his name!) For somebody like Robertson, hastening the day of the second coming is about as important as anything in this world, and that includes stopping abortion. We all know how important that is to these people--well, 'returning the Jews to Israel' is probably more important, if you can imagine that!

The reason this has not received that much attention among left/radical activists is because the position is descended from a theological development that happened within the conservative christian movement, which is not exactly an area most leftist-types pay much attention to. But the results are there for all to see: check out the many commentaries on the 700 club website--you will not find any opinion pieces anywhere that are more pro-Israel than these! (And virulently anti-Arab, I might add.) Check out Pat Robertson's theological arguments against UN Res 242 and other declarations of Palestinian rights:

Pushing aggresively for increased aid to Israel became a key part of the Religious Right's effort to translate their theology into a political program, an effort successfully implemented by the 80s. Look at any socially conservative politician's platform nowadays and you will see that strong support for the State of Israel is on there--often times it's the only foreign policy isssue specifically addressed. My understanding is that this is a legacy of the conservative christian movement. This issue is *one of the reasons* these people are involved in politics in the first place.

How did the Israeli government respond to this effort? With open arms and gratefully, no matter that in eschatological terms they were just being used. After all, they were not above taking help from anybody who would give it, including, most notoriously, the apartheid regime of South Africa.

So this begins to explain a lot right? Because no matter the racist conspiracy theories which would have Jews running the country, Jewish people have never by themselves had the political clout to dictate foreign policy. Even less so since Jewish voters have traditionally voted something like 70% Democrat. Jewish backers of Israel in the past usually sent aid privately. All Democrats, more accurately representing majority Jewish concern because the Jewish vote, try to stay involved constructively--like both Carter and Clinton did. For the relatively small Jewish nationalist interests to hook up with a well-organized and geographically diffuse conservative christian movement--now we're talking about some real power and some real potential for abuse.

But even then, I don't see that as the full story. There are plenty of conservative Republicans who are not Religious Right in orientation, but who have taken on the zionist cause. Greedy bastards and/or simply power hungry--like George Bush the 1st--who are neither expecting nor hoping for a second coming. . . why are these types on board? My view is that it all dovetails nicely for all concerned and the Wall St Republican whose real loyalty is to the dollar gets a lot of political mileage out of adopting the pro-Israeli cause. For one thing, a Republican can't make it without conservative christian support nowadays. But even more importantly, a pro-Israeli stance gives him political cover, lets him tout a strong stand for a non-Anglo people, lets him appear non-racist in at least one way. And to do it in the name of protecting a democratic state. So while pleasing the conservatives, he simultaneously confuses, divides, and weakens the progressive opposition. He can even accuse others who don't want to support Israel of being anti-Semitic! For the American conservative, this issue is his best friend.

So a guy like Bush, who can't afford to alienate his conservative base, let's the blood flow, and doesn't really care about negotiating a settlement. For those outside the US, watch carefully--you'll see that right now it's the conservative members of congress pressuring Bush to take a hard line, criticizing him for not being tough enough on the Palestinians.

So it is very, very important to maintain a strong stance against racism in all its forms, including and especially anti-Semitism, given the smokescreens before us. Maybe the most difficult part of this situation is that there are a handful of Jewish demogogues more than ready to take advantage of anything that could possibly be perceived as anti-Semitic. I think the best thing to do is to inform ourselves and each other about the way all this developed, about how others (Religious Right, esp) have used the conflict for their own ends, and how support for a state which adheres to a ethnically-defined Right of Return practice cannot in any way be termed anti- or non-racist.

This conservative christian crusade mentality, in alliance with nationalist sentiment from some Jewish groups, the tempting potential for non-Jews to claim anti-racist credit, and generic War on Terror aggression against everything Arab is what is making this all possible right now. The least known element of this coalition from hell is the stake held by the conservative christians, and that's why I'm writing about it.

Dan w.

Home	LabourNet Germany: http://www.labournet.de/ LabourNet Germany: Treffpunkt für Ungehorsame, mit und ohne Job, basisnah, gesellschaftskritisch The virtual meeting place of the left in the unions and in the workplace
	Datei:
	Datum: