Monday, December 29, 2008

"Juicebox Mafia"?

I'm not sure where the term comes from, but Noah Pollak at the Contentions blog uses the term to describe the Jews who only know how to condemn Israel.
And condemn, they do -- holding Israel to standards that are insane.

No, what is interesting about the collective opinion of the Juicebox Mafia is the proposed rule of just war: Whoever kills more is the guilty party. This amounts to a total rejection of the distinction between aggression and self-defense and indeed the entire concept of deterrence. Taken to its logical conclusion, moral victory becomes impossible, because the moment one side has dispatched with a greater number of enemy than casualties have been suffered, justice has been forfeited. The only means of ethical conduct is pure immolation — which is indeed the prescription for Israel, expected to behave as the only true Christian nation on earth, responding to attacks by endlessly turning the other cheek.

There is a tendency on the left to brand critics, or even those who fail to toe the leftist party line, as "self-hating" whatever minority group the critic is a member of.  However, here is an example of what I believe deserve to be called "self-hating Jews".

There is something else about the Juicebox Mafia that is grating beyond its simple inanity: The only time its members write about Israel is when they can condemn it. The truth of the matter is that they have nothing invested in Israel other than their American liberalism and their Jewish surnames. Being a Jewish critic of Israel is ever so much more compelling and melodramatic than being just another leftist critic of Israel: Instead of trafficking in banalities, one can claim disillusionment, embarrassment, and betrayal. Pardon me if I call this out for what it is — moral preening and pure cynicism.

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