I Knew They Stuck Together!!

Responding to this earlier post. Here's Lon from comments:

The comment about Jews is not as off as this post makes it suggest. The idea that Jews don't criticize each other in public is hardly contradicted by the fact that we do little but criticize each other in private.

And the J street phenomenon is more notable for how long it has taken to arrive and how much trouble it has maintaining support. The great majority of jews in this country do not agree politically with much that AIPAC is doing. Despite this there has been a Jewish reluctance to criticize AIPAC because they represent Jews. You now have Jewish Senators who agree with J-Street on the issues bowing to AIPAC pressure to not attend a J-Street event precisely because J-street attacks other Jews.

This is all rather silly because when Jews were a weak minority there was some sense to this kind of banding together. But while even more a minority, we are not at all weak at this point. And yet AIPAC has largely been able to play on the reluctance of Jews to publicly attack Jews to speak in the name of Jewish Americans while pushing a view that a minority of Jewish Americans actually hold.

It is true that when we do criticize each other publicly we can be caustic. But that is jut our style.

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't that mention that Goldblog has been on it ("it" being J Street v. AIPAC). Though not from the same angle as Lon. That's TNC--sowing discord in the Jewish community since, uhm, 2008.