re: #299 SanFranciscoZionist

This is the wages of the PLO, their successor orgs, and their friends abroad’s extraordinarily successful campaign to identify the Palestinian cause with all that is holy, indigenous, oppressed, and freedom-fightin’ in the mind of the international left.

I seriously doubt that it was Arafat’s intention to extend this free pass to the religious fanatics of the Arab world, but as they have dug their claws into the ongoing Palestinian situation, that has been the effect. Those who perceive al-Quaeda to be some sort of anti-imperialist organization haven’t helped.

The upshot is a whole bunch of Western left-wingers with little understanding of the Middle East who vaguely figure that anyone who’s against the United States is on the side of the angels, and that it might be imperialist and Eurocentric to worry about such things as women’s rights, freedom of religion, the press, and speech.

I get where you’re coming from, and I can’t speak to your experience (being in San Francisco I’m sure is a factor), but I have had contact with many old-time and newbie lefties who, while they generally oppose the policies of the rightwing elements of the Israeli government, and fear the political influence of fundamentalist Jews on Israeli policy, and who are generally sympathetic to the suffering of Palestinians, in no way condone oppression or women, or think it is imperialist to worry about free speech.

What I’m saying here is that I think it’s important to not demonize people by virtue over-generalization. I feel the same way about over-generalizing about Tea Partiers. I guess it comes down to the definition of what you mean by “whole bunch.”