I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw an opinion post at the New York Times on March 9, 2013, that I can actually agree with. The NYT editors and writers are welknown for their blind support for the Zionist entity and crucification of its critics. It’s surprising that NYT will publish an opinion of a bona-fide “Self-Hating, Israel-Threatening (S.H.I.T)” Jew.
The opinion post is written by American Jewish professor Joseph Levine (University of Massachusetts) who was raised in a Zionist Jewish family environment. In the opinion post he raises several issues which even US president Barack Obama would not dare to raise. For example, Obama has always said that “Israel has the right to exist“. Levine believes that “non-existence of the state of Israel doesn’t mean the extermination of Israeli Jews”.
“The phrase “right to exist” sounds awfully close to “right to life,” so denying Israel its right to exist sounds awfully close to permitting the extermination of its people,” says Levine.
Levine also admit that the state of Israel came into existence as a consequence of the Holocaust, which Iranian president Ahmadinejad claims that since Holocaust did not happen in Palestine – so why punish Palestinian for the crime they never committed?
“In light of the history of Jewish persecution, and the fact that Israel was created immediately after and largely as a consequence of the Holocaust, it isn’t surprising that the phrase “Israel’s right to exist” should have this emotional impact. But as even those who insist on the principle will admit, they aren’t claiming merely the impermissibility of exterminating Israelis. So what is this “right” that many uphold as so basic that to question it reflects anti-Semitism and yet is one that I claim ought to be questioned?,” says Levine.
Levine also claims, and rightly so, that Jews don’t make a nation, therefore, they cannot claim the right to establish a “Jewish state” on a land where they never lived for many many centuries – and challenging their such claims is not an act of ‘antisemiticis’.
“My point is that even if we grant Jews their peoplehood and their right to live in that land, there is still no consequent right to a Jewish state. However, I do think that it’s worth noting the historical irony in insisting that it is anti-Semitic to deny that Jews constitute a people,” says Levine.
Levine also claims that to call non-natives living inside occupied Palestine as “Jews” is wrong. They should be called “Israelis” – because more Jewish people live outside Israel than they live within Israel. In fact, the Jewish population of United States is far greater than their brothers occupying Palestine – and a great majority of them still refuse to immigrate to Israel, inspite of several appeals by Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Levine also claims that the current structure of state of Israel doesn’t make it a democratic state. “The very idea of a Jewish state is undemocratic, a violation of the self-determination rights of its non-Jewish citizens, and therefore morally problematic. There is an unavoidable conflict between being a Jewish state and a democratic state. I want to emphasize that there’s nothing anti-Semitic in pointing this out, and it’s time the question was discussed openly on its merits, without the charge of anti-Semitism hovering in the background,” he concludes his argument.
NYT: Israel has no right to exist | Rehmat's World
The opinion post is written by American Jewish professor Joseph Levine (University of Massachusetts) who was raised in a Zionist Jewish family environment. In the opinion post he raises several issues which even US president Barack Obama would not dare to raise. For example, Obama has always said that “Israel has the right to exist“. Levine believes that “non-existence of the state of Israel doesn’t mean the extermination of Israeli Jews”.
“The phrase “right to exist” sounds awfully close to “right to life,” so denying Israel its right to exist sounds awfully close to permitting the extermination of its people,” says Levine.
Levine also admit that the state of Israel came into existence as a consequence of the Holocaust, which Iranian president Ahmadinejad claims that since Holocaust did not happen in Palestine – so why punish Palestinian for the crime they never committed?
“In light of the history of Jewish persecution, and the fact that Israel was created immediately after and largely as a consequence of the Holocaust, it isn’t surprising that the phrase “Israel’s right to exist” should have this emotional impact. But as even those who insist on the principle will admit, they aren’t claiming merely the impermissibility of exterminating Israelis. So what is this “right” that many uphold as so basic that to question it reflects anti-Semitism and yet is one that I claim ought to be questioned?,” says Levine.
Levine also claims, and rightly so, that Jews don’t make a nation, therefore, they cannot claim the right to establish a “Jewish state” on a land where they never lived for many many centuries – and challenging their such claims is not an act of ‘antisemiticis’.
“My point is that even if we grant Jews their peoplehood and their right to live in that land, there is still no consequent right to a Jewish state. However, I do think that it’s worth noting the historical irony in insisting that it is anti-Semitic to deny that Jews constitute a people,” says Levine.
Levine also claims that to call non-natives living inside occupied Palestine as “Jews” is wrong. They should be called “Israelis” – because more Jewish people live outside Israel than they live within Israel. In fact, the Jewish population of United States is far greater than their brothers occupying Palestine – and a great majority of them still refuse to immigrate to Israel, inspite of several appeals by Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Levine also claims that the current structure of state of Israel doesn’t make it a democratic state. “The very idea of a Jewish state is undemocratic, a violation of the self-determination rights of its non-Jewish citizens, and therefore morally problematic. There is an unavoidable conflict between being a Jewish state and a democratic state. I want to emphasize that there’s nothing anti-Semitic in pointing this out, and it’s time the question was discussed openly on its merits, without the charge of anti-Semitism hovering in the background,” he concludes his argument.
NYT: Israel has no right to exist | Rehmat's World