normblog - Shalom Lappin of Engage: "Regardless of what one thinks of Zionism and the creation of Israel in historical terms, Israel is a country that has existed for close to sixty years, and it now has a population of 6,869,500. Of these, 5,529,300 (80%) are Israeli Jews, who constitute a clearly recognizable national entity characterised by a language, shared culture, and common history. Using the rhetoric of anti-Zionism to criticise Israel’s repression of the Palestinians in the occupied territories is, in most cases, a device for rendering the call for Israel’s elimination palatable. By reducing an entire nation to an ideology, one gives the appearance of calling for a change of political regime when one is, in fact, advocating the destruction of one country and its replacement by another."

The hypocrisy of the Jew haters on the Left is terrible. But Norm consistently underestimates the fuel that envy gives to hatred: envy of the "other brother" (God loves him better!), envy of the rich (unfair!). In the ME, envy of the successful Jews (they must be cheating!).

Norm's own socialism is popular primarily because of this envy / desire to punish the rich -- yet he seems unwilling to examine that aspect of socialist popularity.