Israel’s academic Left and the Zionist debate

Degenerate Israeli Academics on the Rampage
by Isi Leibler

    In the politically correct world of infantile leftism, words like sedition and disloyalty have effectively been erased from the political lexicon. Indeed, those daring to employ such terms are automatically smeared as “McCarthyite” or fascist.

Right of Reply: Israel’s academic Left on the attack
By GERALD STEINBERG

    Claiming to be under unprecedented threat, the powerful Israel academic Left has launched fierce counter-attacks on enemies, real and imagined, among which I and NGO Monitor are included prominently. [..]

    Others involved in this ideological trench warfare include Prof. Daniel Bar-Tal. In a conference at Tel Aviv University, allegedly focused on academic free speech in the context of conflict, Bar-Tal condemned imagined “right-wing” McCarthyite threats to Israeli democracy and freedom of speech. [..]

    For this group, the right to free speech only applies to the Left. Their protests over the government’s misguided attempt to keep radical Prof. Noam Chomsky from visiting Bir Zeit University would be more credible if they had not sought to silence Alan Dershowitz. The Harvard professor criticized the use of classrooms for political indoctrination at Tel Aviv University recently.

The Anti-Zionist Hypocrisy:

    Zionism has more than its share of critics, however. Some have equated it with “racism,” or “apartheid. What’s rather interesting is that many of these critics are supporters of other national movements. However, when it comes to Zionism their views seem to change.

The Zionist Debate

    Yet for seculars, the issue of a theological stamp of approval for the settlements among its fans is secondary. Even after God shifted to the backdrop, the conflict between secular Zionism to its settler-religious version remained fundamental. Recently I heard Uri Elitzur, who served as Netanyahu’s bureau chief in the past, explain this as follows: In his view, Zionism is the revival of the link between the People of Israel and Land of Israel. The State is merely a means for reviving this relationship.

    Yet in the eyes of Herzl, Ben-Gurion, Weitzman, Jabotinsky, Rabin and even Begin, Zionism was a whole different matter. They believed in a Zionism-of-State, not Zionism-of-Land, and in their view the State was the objective, not the means.

This is not Zionism

    Assaf Wohl slams so-called Zionist Leftist camp’s preoccupation with settlements.

    Leftist organizations managed to bring a total of 2,000 (two thousand!) participants to their rally Saturday; that is, a little fewer than the number of guests in the wedding of an average yeshiva boy. Indeed, on the surface it may seem as though this is not a large number, yet if we look at the overall leftist camp, 2,000 may represent a huge percentage of it. Meanwhile, we saw another innovation Saturday: The number of groups that participated in the rally was larger than the number of actual participants at the display

May 19, 2010 | 22 Comments »

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  4. Heck Ted 4 links and my comment disappeared? 4 Links? That’s spam? I’ve [osted more than that and it passed. Change to a logical spam filter, The one you are using is a fanatic.

  6. Ah!

    I though it was odd that Jews had propped ’67 Chevys onto cinder blocks in their front yards.

    Most LA Jews prefer cars made by their good friends, the Germans.

    Really? In my day the Caddy was the auto of Jewish status and Choice. For comfort the German cars are the pits.

    I preferred 4WD Jeeps.

  8. There are currently 13.3 million Jews living in 100 countries all over the world, 41% of which have made Israel their home.

    These numbers appear to be flawed, since there are 17 million Jews living in the Wilshire Corridor and another 12 million in Encino.

    • These numbers appear to be flawed, since there are 17 million Jews living in the Wilshire Corridor and another 12 million in Encino.

      Just because half of them are called Hymie (Jaime) Léo , Leon and Solis does not make them Jewish.

      Their most common name should give you a hint: Jesus.

      • Ah!

        I though it was odd that Jews had propped ’67 Chevys onto cinder blocks in their front yards.

        Most LA Jews prefer cars made by their good friends, the Germans.

  10. Israel 2010: 42% of Jews are secular

    Central Bureau of Statistics report shows 52% of haredi men work, 88% of Israeli Jews satisfied with their lives

    Ynet
    05.18.10, 14:53 /

    The Central Bureau of Statistics report published Sunday reveals that 8% of Israel’s Jewish population defines itself as haredi, 12% as religious, 13% as traditional-religious, 25% as traditional and 42% as secular, on a descending scale of religiosity.

    The data is from the annual general survey carried out for the CBS, which supplies information about living conditions for Israel’s population. As part of the survey, some 7,500 people above the age of 20 were interviewed from throughout the country.

    Among the Jewish population, the percentage of haredim is higher among younger people. In the age bracket 20-29, some 14% define themselves as haredi, compared to only 2% among those aged 65 and above. The percentage of those defining themselves as religious or traditional-religious is similar for the two age brackets. Some 38% of those aged 20-29 define themselves as secular, compared with 43% among those aged 65 and above. Among Jews, there is no outstanding difference in level of religiosity between men and women.

    Most haredim work

    After the debates regarding the percentage of haredim who are employed, the CBS report shows that most haredi men (52%) work. Among Jews of working age (25-54), some 93% of secular men participate in the labor force, 91% of those defining themselves as traditional, 94% of the religious, and 52% of the haredim. Some 88% of secular women of working age participate in the labor force, 80% of the traditional, 83% of the religious and 61% of the haredi women.

    Among Jews, in the case of 61% of married couples, both partners work, and in the case of 28% only one partner works, usually the man (in 66% of cases). In the case of 6% of married couples, neither partner works. In the secular population, in the case of 71% of married couples both partners work, and in the case of 22% only one partner works, usually the man (75%).

    Among the haredi population, in the case of 19% of married couples both partners work, and in the case of 54% only one partner works – usually the woman (60%). In about 25% of cases, neither partner works.

    Among the Arab population, in the case of 20% of married couples both partners work. In the case of more than half of married couples (58%) only one partner works, usually the man (94%). In the case of 20% of married couples, neither partner works.

    Fifth of secular Mizrahim

    Some 60% of Jews aged 20 and above were born in Israel, and 40% abroad. Some 58% of secular and traditional, 61% of religious and 82% of haredi Jews were born in Israel.

    Some 36% of secular Jews are of European or North American background (not including those arriving from former USSR countries from 1990 onwards), 23% are from the former USSR who came from 1990 onwards, 23% are at least second-generation native born, and just 19% are of Asian or African background.

    Among the haredim, some 40% are at least second-generation native born, 29% of European or North American background, and 29% of Asian or African background. More than half of religious or traditional Jews (54% and 49% respectively) are of Asian or African background. Some 27% of religious and 19% of traditional are of European or North American background.

    And who is most satisfied with life here? The report reveals that some 88% of Jews are satisfied with their lives: 96% of haredi, 91% of religious, 86% of traditional and 87% of secular Jews. However, only 82% of the Arab population is satisfied with their lives.

    While there are restrictions on the use of internet among the haredi population, some 68% of Jewish Israelis use the internet: 80% of secular, 64% of traditional, 66% of religious and 32% of haredi Jews. Some 35% of the Arab population uses the internet.

    The survey also addressed the issue of religiosity among Arabs in Israel. Some 8% define themselves as very religious, 47% as religious, 27% as not very religious and 18% as not religious. Women define themselves as religious more than men – more than half of Arab women (55%) define themselves as religious compared to 38% of men.

  14. Right of Reply: Israel’s academic Left on the attack
    By GERALD STEINBERG

    Claiming to be under unprecedented threat, the powerful Israel academic Left has launched fierce counter-attacks on enemies, real and imagined, among which I and NGO Monitor are included prominently. [..]

    It is good that you made the liberals cry.

    Now make them flee.

    However fierce their counterattacks, make your counter-counterattacks fiercer.

    And constantly impugn their “patriotism”.

    Honesty dictates doing so.