" 'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism" is a 2006 essay written by Alvin Hirsch Rosenfeld, director of Indiana University's Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and professor of English and Jewish Studies. It was published by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) with an introduction by AJC executive director David A. Harris.Alvin Rosenfeld. 'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism . American Jewish Committee. 2006. The essay claims that a "number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent antisemitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist".
The essay Motivation Rosenfeld described his motivation for writing the essay in an interview featured on the CampusJ blog: Over the last few years I've been focusing a lot of my research on present day anti-Semitism.... In the course of my research I began to notice that some of the people who were voicing some of the harshest hostility were themselves Jews, especially Jews on the radical Left. I wanted to document and try to explain their words, which struck me as often being extreme.
Rosenfeld explained his motivation to The New York Times; he "wanted to show that in an age when anti-Semitism is resurgent, Jews thinking the way they're thinking is feeding into a very nasty cause.... Opposing Israel's settlement of the West Bank or treatment of Palestinians 'is, in itself, not anti-Semitic', [Rosenfeld] writes; it is questioning Israel's right to exist that crosses the line."
Specific criticisms by Rosenfeld Richard Cohen Rosenfeld criticized Richard Cohen for writing in a Washington Post column that "The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake.... The idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort we are seeing now.... Its most formidable enemy is history itself," and for writing that "There is no point in blaming Hezbollah" during the summer 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War.
Daniel Boyarin Rosenfeld quoted Daniel Boyarin with disapprobation for having written: "Just as Christianity may have died at Auschwitz, Treblinka and Sobibor ... so I fear that my Judaism may be dying at Nablus, Deheishe, Beteen (Beth-El) and El-Khalil (Hebron)."Cf. Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon (ed.), Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israel-Palestinian Conflict (New York: Grove Press, 2003). Rosenfeld accuses Boyarin of lacking "lucid thinking" as well as "bias" for having drawn an analogy between the Nazi Holocaust and the Israeli government's conduct toward the Palestinians.
Radicals, Rabbis and Peacemakers Rosenfeld wrote, "The Israel that emerges in [the book] Radicals, Rabbis and Peacemakers – a country characterised as 'amoral', 'barbaric', 'brutal', 'destructive', 'fascistic', 'oppressive', 'racist', 'sordid', and 'uncivilised' – is indistinguishable from the despised country regularly denounced by the most impassioned anti-semites." Rosenfeld derides the interviewed subjects of the book for "not driven by anything remotely like reasoned historical analysis, but rather by a complex range of psychological as well as political motives that subvert reason and replace it with something akin to hysteria".
The New York Times story While the essay was released in 2006, it did not attract mainstream attention until it was covered in a January 2007 New York Times piece by Patricia Cohen.
Cohen wrote that Rosenfeld's "essay comes at a time of high anxiety among many Jews, who are seeing not only a surge in attacks from familiar antagonists, but also gloves-off condemnations of Israel from one-time allies and respected figures" and goes on to note, "bitter debates over anti-Israel statements and antisemitism have entangled government officials, academics, opinion-makers and others over the past year, particularly since fervent supporters and tough critics of Israel can be found on the right and the left". In addition, Cohen devoted significant column inches to the angry reactions of many of those named by Rosenfeld in his essay.
The New York Times quoted Richard Cohen saying, "the essay cherry-picked quotations. '[Rosenfeld] mischaracterized what I wrote', [Richard Cohen] said. 'I've been critical of Israel at times, but I've always been a defender of Israel.' He did add, however, that a wide range of writers were named, some of whom have written inflammatory words about Israel. 'He has me in a very strange neighborhood.
Tony Judt described to The New York Times that he believed the real purpose of outspoken denunciations of him and others was to stifle their harsh criticism of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. The link between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is newly created,' [Judt] said, adding that he fears 'the two will have become so conflated in the minds of the world' that references to antisemitism and the Holocaust will come to be seen as 'just a political defense of Israeli policy'." Judt stated that he "[doesn't] know anyone in a respectable range of opinion who thinks Israel shouldn't exist"; The New York Times noted that his advocacy for a binational solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict is seen by many Jews as equivalent to dissolving Israel.
The New York Times also queried Tony Kushner for his reaction. Most Jews like me find this a very painful subject,' Mr. Kushner said, and are aware of the rise in vicious anti-Semitism around the world but feel 'it's morally incumbent upon us to articulate questions and reservations.
The original article in The New York Times described the American Jewish Committee, the organization that released the essay, as a "conservative advocacy group". The AJC promptly contested this characterization, which others did as well.Actually, the hard-to-pigeonhole AJC has endorsed creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It recently voted against ejecting a left-wing Zionist group from a campus pro-Israel coalition. The Times story referred consistently to Rosenfeld's targets as "liberal Jews". The essay itself refers to "progressives", a group that overlaps with liberals but is not synonymous. The Times story thereby reduced Rosenfeld's essay to one more round in the conservative-liberal catfight over what may or may not be said about Israel. In response, the newspaper issued a correction making clear that "[the AJC's] stance on issues ranges across the political spectrum; it is not 'conservative'."
Alvin Rosenfeld was highly critical of The New York Times coverage, alleging that the article on the whole was misleading and incorrectly framed his argument, the admitted mischaracterization of the AJC was just one example. The mischaracterization, according to Rosenfeld, even includes the title of the article, which describes the targets of his critical essay as 'Liberal Jews' when, Rosenfeld wrote, "I never referred to liberal Jews, if you read my piece carefully you simply won't find the phrase." Gershom Gorenberg concurs with this criticism writing that the "essay itself refers to 'progressives', a group that overlaps with liberals but is not synonymous". The misleading coverage, Rosenfeld wrote, "reduced my argument to a kind of Left-Right, Conservative-Liberal face off" and led to many people misreading the essay.
Other news coverage In early February 2007, Stacey Palevsky observed, in a report for the j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California, "Everyone seems to be talking about it": Journalists and Jews alike apparently are all trying to figure 'it' out – when does criticism of Israel evolve from legitimate to anti-Semitic? Why are progressive, liberal organizations increasingly tolerant of anti-Zionist language and actions? What does the rise of "new anti-Semitism" mean for Jews and for the Jewish state? And are Jews themselves contributing to anti-Semitic rhetoric? Or is such a charge contrary to the Jewish tradition of freethinking?
Ben Harris, in a late February 2007 report for j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California, wrote "the essay may be having the opposite of its intended effect" instead galvanizing "progressive" Jewish groups who feel "it is immoral to remain silent in the face of what they see as Israel's mistreatment of the Palestinians." Harris quotes Philip Weiss: "Things are changing.... My perception is that the Jewish community, the Jewish progressives, are feeling licensed and rising up." Weiss himself notes two recent developments: the launch by Jewish Voice for Peace of the Muzzlewatch Project dedicated to chronicling the alleged suppression of criticism of Israel, and the failure of the Zionist Organization of America to oust a liberal Jewish group from a national pro-Israel alliance.
Rebecca Spence wrote in The Forward that there was a similar ongoing debate in the UK, where, "Saying that Britain's mainstream Jewish groups have stifled a free discourse on Israeli policies, about 130 generally leftist Jews have formed their own group, Independent Jewish Voices."
Other responses Praise and support Shulamit Reinharz wrote in a column for the Jewish Advocate, "Most would say that they are simply anti-Zionists, not anti-Semites. But I disagree, because in a world where there is only one Jewish state, to oppose it vehemently is to endanger Jews."
Gil Troy wrote an opinion article in New York's The Jewish Week praising the essay and criticizing its critics:
Finally, rather than treating the essay as an honest analysis of a painful, complex issue, critics accused the AJC of stifling the debate. Such hysteria makes intellectuals look spoiled, thin-skinned and brittle. Best-selling authors like Noam Chomsky or billionaires like George Soros ritualistically applaud their own bravery and pretend they are lonely voices when joining the trendy intellectual pile-on against Israel. How it is that people who viciously criticize Israel and Zionism, who lecture the Jewish world about tolerating diverse opinions, suddenly cannot stomach vigorous debate when they are criticized? Nothing in the AJC essay advocates hate laws, suppressing free speech, shunning, or any other intimidation. Professor Rosenfeld did what thinkers are supposed to do – identify, catalogue, analyze, explain, and challenge.
Lee Adlerstein wrote an opinion article for The Forward titled "Alvin Rosenfeld Is Right About Liberals And The Jewish State":
People should and do have a constitutional right to criticize Israel, even harshly, including challenging its right to exist. There must be robust debate about the wisdom of Israel's policies, and there is much to criticize.
However, this is not a normal time and we are not permitted to ignore reality. Searing criticism rightly branded as delegitimization of Israel is truly dangerous, all the more painfully so when it comes from Jews. The community, given its own right of expression, should decry defamations of this kind.
For commentators with a public audience to delegitimize Israel at this time is hurtful, undermines existing needed support and, at least in that manner, encourages Israel's enemies. We should and must say so – as Alvin Rosenfeld has done.
David Harris was happy with the reaction the essay received: “The individuals Rosenfeld mentions are on the political fringes in asserting that Israel has no right to exist and should either be destroyed or morphed into a so-called binational state, which means the end of Israel as we know it."