Never did I imagine I would EVER print anything written by the lunatic Daniel Pipes, but here it is folks.............bring on the violins, Daniel Pipes himself is saying Zionism is on the decline. The first few paragraphs contain typical Pipisms, but then it gets real sad for DPipes, as he mourns what is going on around him. Even the little things seem to make him SO sad :(
Inside Today's Bulletin
The Modern-Day Decline Of Zionism
"We are all Keynesians now," Richard Nixon famously asserted just as the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes fell into disrepute. Likewise, one could have said with similar confidence in 1989, as Israel's existence reached wide acceptance, "We are all Zionists now."
No longer. Count the ways Israel is under siege: from Iranians building a nuclear bomb,(?) Syrians stockpiling chemical weapons,(?) Egyptians and Saudis developing serious conventional (give me a break, no where NEAR what Israel possesses) forces, Hezbollah attacking from Lebanon,(who destroyed whose country ?) Fatah from the West Bank,(isn't Israel trying to make some of deal with them supposedly?) Hamas from Gaza (end the siege of Gaza)and Israel's Muslim citizens becoming politically restive and more violent.(violent?)
Worldwide, professors, editorialists and foreign ministry bureaucrats challenge the continued existence of a Jewish state. Even friendly governments, notably the Bush administration, pursue diplomatic initiatives that undermine Israeli deterrence even as their arms sales erode its security. (What, only ISRAEL is supposed to be armed by the US? How about NO BODY being armed by the US?)
Let's suppose, however, that the country muddles through these many problems. That leaves it face to face with its ultimate challenge: a Jewish population increasingly disenchanted with, even embarrassed by, the country's founding ideology, Zionism, the Jewish national movement.
As developed by Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) and other theoreticians, Zionism's call for a sovereign Jewish state fit the political context and mood of its time. (why don't we say mr. pipes of a PARTICULAR PEOPLE "of it's time" and that those who had to move out of the way were never consulted?)If the Chinese, Arabs and Irish sought to establish a national state, why not Jews? (because Mr. P, the ethnic cleansing of another people had to take place in order for you to fulfill your nightmare)
Indeed, especially Jews, for through nearly two millennia they had paid the greatest price of any people (victim becoming victimizer)for their political weakness, having been expelled, victimized, persecuted and mass murdered as none other. Zionism offered an escape to this tragic history by standing tall and taking up the sword. (Oh it took up the sword all right! )
From its inception, Zionism had its share of Jewish opponents, ranging from the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) to nostalgic Iraqis to reform rabbis. But until recently, these were marginal elements. Now, due to high birth rates, the once-tiny Haredi community constitutes 22 percent of Israel's current first-grade class; add to this the roughly equivalent number of Arab first-graders and a sea change in Israeli politics can be expected about 2025. (is this why Israel is looking for "new markets"to tweek the population while Palestinians are denied the right of return to THEIR lands?)
Worse for Israel, Jewish nationalism has lost the near-automatic support it once had among secular Jews, many of whom find this 19th-century ideology out of date. Some accept arguments that a Jewish state represents racism or ethnic supremacism; others find universalist and multicultural alternatives compelling. (WOW, imagine that Mr. P)Consider some signs of the changes underway:
OK Mr. P, breathe deep and let us have it:
* Young Israelis are avoiding the military in record numbers, with 26 percent of enlistment-age Jewish males and 43 percent of females not drafted in 2006. An alarmed Israel Defense Forces has requested legislation to deny state-provided benefits to Jewish Israelis who do not serve.
* Israel's Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has up-ended the work of the Jewish National Fund, one of the pioneer Zionist institutions (founded in 1901), by determining that its role of acquiring land specifically for Jews cannot continue in the future with state assistance.
* Prominent Israeli historians focus on showing how Israel was conceived in sin and has been a force for evil.
* Israel's ministry of education has approved school books for third-grade Arab students that present the creation of Israel in 1948 as a "catastrophe" (Arabic: naqba). (imagine, recognizing a FACT in third grade)
* Avraham Burg, scion of a leading Zionist household and himself a prominent Labor Party figure, has published a book comparing Israel with 1930s Germany.
* A 2004 poll found only 17 percent of American Jews call themselves "Zionist."
Seen in a larger context, this turn from Zionism echoes trends in other Western countries, where old-style patriotism and national pride have also declined. In Western Europe, citizens tend to see little of special value in their own history, customs and mores. Last month, for example, the Netherlands' Princess Máxima, wife of the heir to the throne, announced to wide acclaim that "the Dutch identity does not exist." This Western-wide decline of patriotism aggravates Israel's predicament, suggesting that developments there fit into a larger trend, making them the more difficult to resist or reverse. (ok Mr. P, you're talkning apples and oranges here)
To top it off, Arabs are moving these days in the opposite direction, reaching a fever pitch of ethnic and religious bellicosity. (another Pipism tossed in)
As a Zionist myself, I watch these several trends with foreboding about Israel's future.
I console myself by recalling that few of today's problems were evident in 1989. Perhaps in 2025, Zionism's prospects will again brighten, as Westerners generally and Israelis specifically finally awake to the dangers posed by Palestinian irredentists, jihadists and other extremist Middle Easterners. (ending of course with a PIPISM, but the inbetweens sure seem to have put Pipes in a depressed mood, and keep in mind, he is saying that Zionism is imploding both from without and from within. Keep in mind also, that only 28% of American Jews consider themselves Zionists)
_____________________________________________________________________
Has it ever ocurred to Mr. Pipes that maybe this was a wrong-headed thing to do in the first place? Why? because of this and this and now this
The victim became the VICTIMIZER.
The violins have stopped playing Mr. P
No longer. Count the ways Israel is under siege: from Iranians building a nuclear bomb,(?) Syrians stockpiling chemical weapons,(?) Egyptians and Saudis developing serious conventional (give me a break, no where NEAR what Israel possesses) forces, Hezbollah attacking from Lebanon,(who destroyed whose country ?) Fatah from the West Bank,(isn't Israel trying to make some of deal with them supposedly?) Hamas from Gaza (end the siege of Gaza)and Israel's Muslim citizens becoming politically restive and more violent.(violent?)
Worldwide, professors, editorialists and foreign ministry bureaucrats challenge the continued existence of a Jewish state. Even friendly governments, notably the Bush administration, pursue diplomatic initiatives that undermine Israeli deterrence even as their arms sales erode its security. (What, only ISRAEL is supposed to be armed by the US? How about NO BODY being armed by the US?)
Let's suppose, however, that the country muddles through these many problems. That leaves it face to face with its ultimate challenge: a Jewish population increasingly disenchanted with, even embarrassed by, the country's founding ideology, Zionism, the Jewish national movement.
As developed by Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) and other theoreticians, Zionism's call for a sovereign Jewish state fit the political context and mood of its time. (why don't we say mr. pipes of a PARTICULAR PEOPLE "of it's time" and that those who had to move out of the way were never consulted?)If the Chinese, Arabs and Irish sought to establish a national state, why not Jews? (because Mr. P, the ethnic cleansing of another people had to take place in order for you to fulfill your nightmare)
Indeed, especially Jews, for through nearly two millennia they had paid the greatest price of any people (victim becoming victimizer)for their political weakness, having been expelled, victimized, persecuted and mass murdered as none other. Zionism offered an escape to this tragic history by standing tall and taking up the sword. (Oh it took up the sword all right! )
From its inception, Zionism had its share of Jewish opponents, ranging from the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) to nostalgic Iraqis to reform rabbis. But until recently, these were marginal elements. Now, due to high birth rates, the once-tiny Haredi community constitutes 22 percent of Israel's current first-grade class; add to this the roughly equivalent number of Arab first-graders and a sea change in Israeli politics can be expected about 2025. (is this why Israel is looking for "new markets"to tweek the population while Palestinians are denied the right of return to THEIR lands?)
Worse for Israel, Jewish nationalism has lost the near-automatic support it once had among secular Jews, many of whom find this 19th-century ideology out of date. Some accept arguments that a Jewish state represents racism or ethnic supremacism; others find universalist and multicultural alternatives compelling. (WOW, imagine that Mr. P)Consider some signs of the changes underway:
OK Mr. P, breathe deep and let us have it:
* Young Israelis are avoiding the military in record numbers, with 26 percent of enlistment-age Jewish males and 43 percent of females not drafted in 2006. An alarmed Israel Defense Forces has requested legislation to deny state-provided benefits to Jewish Israelis who do not serve.
* Israel's Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has up-ended the work of the Jewish National Fund, one of the pioneer Zionist institutions (founded in 1901), by determining that its role of acquiring land specifically for Jews cannot continue in the future with state assistance.
* Prominent Israeli historians focus on showing how Israel was conceived in sin and has been a force for evil.
* Israel's ministry of education has approved school books for third-grade Arab students that present the creation of Israel in 1948 as a "catastrophe" (Arabic: naqba). (imagine, recognizing a FACT in third grade)
* Avraham Burg, scion of a leading Zionist household and himself a prominent Labor Party figure, has published a book comparing Israel with 1930s Germany.
* A 2004 poll found only 17 percent of American Jews call themselves "Zionist."
Seen in a larger context, this turn from Zionism echoes trends in other Western countries, where old-style patriotism and national pride have also declined. In Western Europe, citizens tend to see little of special value in their own history, customs and mores. Last month, for example, the Netherlands' Princess Máxima, wife of the heir to the throne, announced to wide acclaim that "the Dutch identity does not exist." This Western-wide decline of patriotism aggravates Israel's predicament, suggesting that developments there fit into a larger trend, making them the more difficult to resist or reverse. (ok Mr. P, you're talkning apples and oranges here)
To top it off, Arabs are moving these days in the opposite direction, reaching a fever pitch of ethnic and religious bellicosity. (another Pipism tossed in)
As a Zionist myself, I watch these several trends with foreboding about Israel's future.
I console myself by recalling that few of today's problems were evident in 1989. Perhaps in 2025, Zionism's prospects will again brighten, as Westerners generally and Israelis specifically finally awake to the dangers posed by Palestinian irredentists, jihadists and other extremist Middle Easterners. (ending of course with a PIPISM, but the inbetweens sure seem to have put Pipes in a depressed mood, and keep in mind, he is saying that Zionism is imploding both from without and from within. Keep in mind also, that only 28% of American Jews consider themselves Zionists)
_____________________________________________________________________
Has it ever ocurred to Mr. Pipes that maybe this was a wrong-headed thing to do in the first place? Why? because of this and this and now this
The victim became the VICTIMIZER.
The violins have stopped playing Mr. P
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