Strawman arguments against “The Israel Lobby.”
Writing by abuhatem on Thursday, 8 of November , 2007 at 2:33 pm
Ruth Wisse, a Professor of Yiddish at Harvard wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post this Sunday about Jewish power in the United States. I recently read “The Israel Lobby,” and enjoyed it as Mearsheimer and Walt pretty much refuted every ad hominem attack against them including McCarthyist-style accusations of antisemitism. In fact, The Times of London, had an interesting unbiased review of the book which reinforced these claims.
Mearsheimer and Walt actually argue that a tactic used by the sympathetic pro-Israel community in the U.S., whether Jew or non-Jew, is to accuse its opponents continually of antisemitism or that they imply “Jewish domination,” or “Jewish conspiracy.” By repeating something over and over again, people believe that it is true. By misrepresenting the arguments of their opponents into antisemitism, the pro-Israel community builds a straw man and then continually destroys it.
In an exemplar proof of Mearsheimer and Walt’s claims in “The Israel Lobby,” Wisse uses this straw man in the first line:
These days, it’s becoming downright chic to hint forebodingly that America’s Jews are just too powerful. But whether it’s the political scientists John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt or former president Jimmy Carter, those who accuse modern Jews of having excessive clout are getting it precisely backward.
Well actually, this re-enforces the point, that these days it is downright chic to hint forebodingly in a McCarthyist fashion that others are hinting forebodingly and accusing Jews of being too powerful. When in fact, nobody is doing so. Actually, Mearsheimer refutes claims that Jews control the media or government. He states they attempt to have influence, and do have strong influence, in many sectors, but they do not have power or control or a cabal or conspiracy, it is precisely because they do not have power that they attempt to make their views known - but so do all groups, and this is an absolutely normal and in fact obvious fact of life in a Democratic society.
She even outright lies and slander’s Mearsheimer and Walt:
What about American Jewry? Mearsheimer and Walt allege that a Jewish cabal dictates U.S. policy in the Middle East, helping Israeli interests and hurting U.S. ones.
Nevermind the fact that Mearsheimer and Walt state they do not believe in a Jewish cabal (hello… did you read chapter 1?), that they never state that the pro-Israel community is synonymous with “Jewish,” that they claim many Jews disagree with many of the tactics and views of the pro-Israel politically active community, and that the pro-Israel lobby actually “hurts,” not helps Israeli interests, as well as hurting U.S. ones.
Wisse proves a fundamental point of the book, and gives more credence to Mearsheimer and Walt’s arguments in this op-ed: that in response to any criticism against the pro-Israel “lobby,” or community or interest groups, or think-tanks or whatever you want to call it, there will be an extreme public outcry accusing the other side of antisemtism, or accusing a “Jewish coup,” or “cabal,” in the form of numerous straw man arguments.
The Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, included a very good article about “The Israel Lobby,” by Daniel Levy, a Jew, and a previous member of the Israeli government which sufficiently refutes all accusations of anti-semitism, and talks about the Israel Lobby in a way conducive to accepting constructive criticism - on Israel’s end.
Thanks Dr. Wisse, for giving people more reason for buying the book…
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Pingback by Abu Hatem أبو حاتم » Blog Archive » Mearsheimer and Walt on the BBC
Made Saturday, 24 of November , 2007 at 4:45 am
[…] So after a barrage of malicious and slanderous ad hominem attacks by The Washington Post, The New York Times, FoxNews, Foreign Affairs, and every other newspaper or news magazine in the country, Mearsheimer and Walt are out to promote their book in the UK. I discussed one of the strawman arguments here. […]
