

This coming weekend the liberal Zionist organization J Street is holding its annual conference in Washington, aimed at saving the 65-year-old Jewish state by ending its 47-year-old disease– the settlement project– and as I have been making predictions lately about the rage on the right toward any perceived enemies of Israel, I wanted to share this video I saw recently when I was googling Peter Beinart’s name. Beinart is one of the main speakers at J Street this weekend, an avowed idealist who has led the discussion inside the mainstream Jewish community by asserting that liberalism and a Jewish state can be reconciled. Lately he has challenged the American Jewish community to make way for more Palestinian voices, because he sees the increasing toughness/stupidity of the American Jewish community, the result of tying itself to a colonial discriminatory project.

A year or so back, Beinart came out for “Zionist BDS” — a boycott aimed at the settlements, aimed at pressuring the Israeli government to pull back the colonies in order to “save Israel.” I would argue that Beinart’s call has been ineffective; Israel has only increased its settlements.

The above video was apparently crafted by some ass in response to Beinart’s boycott call. I have no idea who put it together; I’m guessing it’s a hard-right Zionist. You will see that the video uses the most rebarbative and disgusting language and imagery in arguing that Beinart is a Nazi and Ku Klux Klanner and anti-Semite, because he called for a limited boycott. Someone put a lot of effort into the production, burning a cross and an Israeli flag or two.

But Peter Beinart puts an Israeli flag in his son’s bedroom so the kid will grow up to love Israel as he does… You’d think he’d be immune from this sort of attack? I think it’s indicative of the demons that exist inside the rightwing Zionist community– here’s another rightwinger calling Beinart a Trojan horse in the temple— and that the demons are sure to come out in force, dragging their knuckles, if Israel is ever really challenged, by anyone.