Posted on 09/27/2006 3:37:13 AM PDT by goldstategop
Last month I wrote an article called “Norman Finkelstein’s Obscenities,” a response to Finkelstein’s latest screed, “Should Alan Dershowitz Target Himself for Assassination?” As the title of the article suggests, Finkelstein puts forward in his article what he believes to be a justification for my assassination as a war criminal, based on my support for Israel.
Nor was this the only obscenity in the article. Not by a long shot. As I wrote in my article, Finkelstein piece was accompanied by a:
cartoon drawn by “Latuff”, a frequent accomplice of Finkelstein. The cartoon portrayed me as masturbating in rapturous joy while viewing images of dead Lebanese civilians on a TV set labeled “Israel peep show,” with a Jewish Star of David prominently featured.
I found out recently that Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder and editor of Tikkun magazine, has been circulating the Finkelstein article from his Tikkun e-mail account and under Tikkun letterhead. Lerner apparently didn’t have the stomach to attach the cartoon, despite the fact that the inspiration for the disgusting cartoon comes directly from what Finkelstein writes in the article circulated by Rabbi Lerner, as I showed in my previous article:
The cartoon aptly represents the content of Finkelstein’s piece, which accuses me of being a “moral pervert” who “missed the climactic scene of his little peep show.” He also claims quite absurdly that I “sanction mass murder” and “the extermination of the Lebanese people.” (I’m surprised he hasn’t accused me of kicking of puppy dogs, scowling at little children, and parking in handicapped spaces.)
This is from a rabbi who modestly purports to devote himself “to peace, justice, non-violence, generosity, caring, love and compassion.” This is a rabbi who purports to observe the Jewish commandments against evil words (“lashon harah”) and bearing false witness. This is a man who ardently opposes Israel’s targeted assassination of Hamas leaders, but who apparently has no qualms about the assassination of pro-Israel academics. That’s a rather peculiar definition of “peace, justice, and non-violence” Rabbi Lerner is employing.
This is not the first time that Lerner has served as a megaphone for Finkelstein’s hate speech. Lerner published an article-length version of one of Finkelstein’s screeds in Tikkun, complete with Finkelstein’s hateful thesis: “Alongside Israel [American Jewish elites] are the main fomenters of anti-Semitism in the world today… They need to be stopped.” (Finkelstein had previously called American Jews “parasites.”) In the same book that Lerner was promoting, Finkelstein invoked some of the most crass anti-Semitic caricatures found in contemporary America, “Should people like Abraham Foxman, Edgar Bronfman, and Rabbi Israel Singer [who are prominent Jewish leaders] get a free ride because they resemble stereotypes straight out of Der Sturmer?” Can you imagine a professor issuing a similar description of a woman or a Muslim, or describing the Pope according to an anti-Catholic stereotype? Can you imagine Tikkun publishing an author who falsely described Rabbi Lerner as resembling a stereotype “straight out of Der Sturmer”?
Lerner tried to weasel out of what he had done by saying the he forwarded the Finkelstein article because I had called him “an anti-Semitic rabbi” in one of my books. (What I actually wrote is that “even a rabbi can support anti-Semitic actions” – as Lerner did when he supported divestment from Israel and only Israel – which is quite different from calling him “an anti-Semitic rabbi,” but never mind.) As a defense lawyer, I would recommend to Lerner that he would be better situated to defend against those charges if he didn’t so eagerly associate with anti-Semites and publish Jew-hating rants.
Through his nefarious association with Norman Finkelstein, who is a genuine Jew-hater, Michael Lerner has forever disqualified himself from being taken seriously on matters of Jewish concern, the Jewish community, or Israel.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Guys like Dershowitz and Nat Hentoff (of the Village Voice) and Joe Lieberman are liberals on social and probably on fiscal issues, of that there's no doubt. But they aren't moonbats. I don't think Dershowitz has had some sort of Damascene conversion to being a conservative. Unlike the radical left that's hijacked the Democratic Party, he's just sane enough to see things that the moonbats refuse to.
}:-)4
Is Lerner not the man Hillary was so enthralled by and talkked about "the politics of meaning" when embracing his views?
Dersh may be an ACLU criminal loving lawyer, but he is a good Jew and knows anti semitism when he sees it.
After Dershowitz's empassioned defense of the Liar in Chief, he can KMA. He has been teaching his moonbat brand of law for years, legally twisting the definition of truth, and now it is biting back
As far as I am concerned, he is on his own.
Hillary to Lerner c.1993, re ethics, "Am I your mouthpiece or what?"
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Let anyone think it won't matter if the left comes to power.......I beg you to think again.
--The Dersh has outed Michael Lerner
Who didn't know Lerner is a loon? This is a catfight.
Not really -- or not necessarily. It must be about 20 years ago that Dershowitz had a regular column that the Boston Herald used to run. On most subjects, it was infuriating liberal pap (though more literate than most). On Israel, however, he was always spot on!
Not so reliable on Judaism. Didn't he have a book some years ago, proposing a "Judaism without God"? -- he wanted some kind of animating and unifying Jewish identity, but he's not religious (no, I never read it, but I think I saw reviews). To my Catholic ear, it sounded like a call for "Judaism without Judaism." Talk about bricks without straw!
Thanks! That's the phrase that was eluding me. I recalled the connection with Hillary (in yet another ill-starred Dem attempt at the "spiritual"), but I couldn't recall the catch phrase.
There never was...
If my memory is correct, HIllary was on the cover of the NYT Mag, dressed in white and the title was Saint Hillary. And she waxed enthusiastic over Lerner. It made me nauseous,,the moral posturing. And Lerner sounded like a snake oil salesman turned guru.
This just goes to show that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are prophets, and their show, South Park is prescient!
Does anyone remember the episode "Jewbilee?" That was where "Elder Garth," from the "Synagogue of Antisemitic Jews" tried to usher in "The Reign of Haman."
On a more serious note, some of the worst oppressors of Jews in history have been people who were once Jews (or had Jewish ancestors), and rejected being Jewish. Examples would include many involved in the Bolshevik revolution and ruling the Soviet Union. And of course, there's been the rumor for many decades that Hitler had some Jewish ancestory.
For a less virulent version of this sort of thing, one can simply look at militant anti-smokers.
Mark
bttt
The Dersh is an enigma. Half the time I see him I want to throw a vase through the TV - the other half I'm cheering every word he says. Go figure.
One of my all time favorites!
I've heard though that Lerner and HRC may have had some kind of falling out. Does anyone have any details on why this occurred (if it did) and if there is any connection remaining between Lerner and Her Royal Thighness? After all, they both like to fancy themselves as "progressives."
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.
also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]
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The articles in question
Norman Finkelstein's Obscenties (The Dersh On The World's Only Jewish Hitler Lover Alert)
Two people determined to destroy our culture with their sickening so called progressive ideas.
Hentoff and Dershowitz are not that similar-I have frequently disagreed with Hentoff,but always respected him as a principled man-he is an atheist and pro-life,precisely because he believes there's nothing else-he's also against the death penalty-consistent-personally I don't understand atheists and don't equate the death penalty with abortion(what crime did the fetus commit?),but Hentoff has always been head and shoulders above Dershowitz-actually Dersh and Lerner deserve each other-I read some of Dershowitz' books and his view of Jews is very myopic-he has predetermined ideas and molds his facts to fit them-I saw him in adebate with Alan Keyes who wiped the floor with him-Dersshowitz in that debate let slip that he had no respect for the Constitution,it was merely an interesting document-very cavalier,but it told volumes about him.I think Nat Hentoff really does believe in the Constitution.And he is also a scholar in the field of jazz,a very American music form.
So many liberals have morphed into loony leftists, or have taken to reflexively appeasing leftists extremists, that those liberals who actually attempt to marginalize extremism stand out as oddballs.
If you have never seen the fantastic debate between Keyes and Dershowitz, try to get a tape (might still be available through C-Span)
It tells you pretty much where Dersh stands on religion. Keyes, who consistently maintains, that there is an absolute moral authority that comes from God, while Dersh insists that he himself KNOWS what's right (meaning what he considers right might sometimes be in line with spiritual teachings, but not always, and thus he is the authority unto himself.) It's relativism. It's picking and choosing what spiritual teachings you are going to observe and which ones you are going to ignore.
"Rabbi" Michael Lerner is an old SDS activist from the 1960s. I remember him very well from his days at the University of Washington, where he was - I think - a philosophy professor. He was an a-hole then, and remains one.
Every split in the enemy's camp should be exploited. This is one of those.
He is just figuring out LERNER is a scumball. I say this "rabbi" on c-span one time and knew what he was. He is a socialist maybe even communist. He is a hater of God, Christian, Women, Truth, Firearms. Oh heck hs is a walking lefty acting like a rabbi. He makes me ill just as lefty socialist so called Christians do. FAKE.
Say what you want about Dershowitz and I disagree with him over 85% of the time, but he is dead-on target when it comes to dealing with terrorists. He is all for torture if it involves mass murderers. Notice, how little air time the MSM gives him now that he is outspoken advocate of defending Israel and support of the war on terror.
The Dersh's conversion has definitely elevated him in my eyes as well. He seems to be going through a Horowitz-ish transformation from Left to Right. Horowitz drives the liberals insane because he knows their tactics and then exposes them.
I always took the phrase "The Politics of Meaning" to translate into "The Phonyness of Good Intentions". In otherwords, "meaninglessness".
I have never and do not now trust him.
The truly ugly; hypocritical and evil face of the Left is precisely that; if even a Rabbi is wearing it.
I do think 'the Dersh' is seeing it now; as he never has before. I hope more Liberal Jews can wake-up and see the 'light'; albeit without having to undergo terrorist-worthy, blindsiding- personal attacks such as Alan Dershowitz has experienced.
Of course, this is the favored MO of the Left. . .
As well or more. . .he was Hillary's guru. . .
The attributes shown are amazing and yet, not amazing. . .disgusting and yet. . .somehow, a fitting testiimony to all of those who share this circle.
A world without Absolutes. . .and yes, this is really one relativist doing battle with another. . .and relatively speaking. . .Dershowitz claims the higher ground here. . .and the 'Rabbi' has staked what he imagines, is his.
So true.
Dershowitz (like the "official leadership" of American Jewry) is simply a leftwinger who crosses over on the single issue of Israel (in the same way that Buchanan and his "palaeo" pals cross over from the other side on that one issue). Dersh and Co. support Israel as a modern western style democracy that is bringing women's suffrage and "gay rights" to the benighted Middle East. And Dersh and Co. become "the official leadership of American Jewry" because the genuine leadership of the Jewish Nation in exile in America (the Orthodox rabbinate) are so silent and even participants via support of and membership in secular "multidenominational" Jewish organizations.
The thing is, when pro-Israel Jewish liberals draw a picture of Jewish national purpose that is absolutely unrecognizable from a Torah perspective, sometimes it's the anti-Israel Leftists who actually connect the Zionist project to genuine Jewishness by screaming about "the genocidal teachings of the Bible" or the alleged "unfairness" of G-d having a chosen people.
Dershowitz has always been a strong supporter of Israel-- this is not a new position for him.
This is serious. Behind the hypocritical, self-righteous posturing of "Her Heinous" (love it-is it yours?) and guru, there is enormous evil.
Did HRC and Lerner have some kind of "breakup" since the days when she became enchanted with his "politics of meaning", etc.?
If the two are not on ideological soulmates any more, what caused the split?
. . .but perhaps that only means that Hillary was unable to put 'meaning' into the politics of meaning - a Lerner catch phrase; . . .or she just did not credit the author of her 'new directions' i.e. perhaps a plagiarizing of Lerner's politics of meaniong agenda;
. . .or perhaps, Hillary was guilty on both counts. . .
That said, I could be wrong here. .
So you are sure that their "relationship soured under the political spotlight." What's the source for that quote? Somewhere in the MSM, I'd guess?
[For some time, Lerner had a warm relationship with Hillary Clinton - and, by extension, with Bill Clinton also. Lerner's 1997 book titled The Politics of Meaning was the source of Mrs. Clinton's widely publicized use of that phrase. In a spirit reminiscent of the inscription atop Lerner's wedding cake, one of his book's chapters is entitled "The Tyranny of Couples." In Hell To Pay, her biography of Hillary Clinton, author Barbara Olson reports that Lerner, during his years of friendship with Mrs. Clinton, liked to frequently invoke the phrase, "Hillary and I believe" as a prelude to identifying points of agreement he shared with her.
However, as the Clinton presidency progressed, Lerner, a devoted far-leftist, lost interest in Bill and Hillary when he saw that polling data and focus groups were leading the administration toward moderation on such issues as welfare reform and social welfare spending. ]
Simple; but believeable inasmuch as neither Bill nor Hillary hold to core values (such as they are) over polling data that requires of them; a change of direction. . .
Michael Lerner is a dangerous jerk, who is in no way a rabbi. The Leftist Jews whom I have known who like him are hard core haters of Israel - lemmings who have not had a new thought in at least 35 years. A classic Northern California leftist, Lermer gets his followers to froth at the mouth and march in protest about a Palestinian Arab-owned tree in danger, but is silent when Jews and Christians are blown up or beheaded.
Lerner is a hypocrite with a self-promoting agenda. A self-hating Jew and enemy of Israel if there ever was one, he yelled "anti-Semitism" when the communists who run ANSWER did not invite him to speak at their anti-war rally! http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=385
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