Question about Jewish American feelings toward Israel in 60s.
March 6, 2006 10:13 PM Subscribe
I am reading The Drifters by James Michener and am curious about the veracity of his statements concerning American Jewish sentiment towards Israel after the Six-Day War.
I know that it is dangerous to get ideas from novels and that's why I am asking this question. In The Drifters one of the characters sees alot of anti-zionist feelings from upper class Jews in America after the Six-Days War. I have done some searching but have been unable to find any quality information on the subject. What are your feelings on the subject and could you point me to any articles or books on the topic? Thanks!
I know that it is dangerous to get ideas from novels and that's why I am asking this question. In The Drifters one of the characters sees alot of anti-zionist feelings from upper class Jews in America after the Six-Days War. I have done some searching but have been unable to find any quality information on the subject. What are your feelings on the subject and could you point me to any articles or books on the topic? Thanks!
Except that James Michener didn't write 'just fiction', he wrote historical novels, where the main characters were fictional but the broader themes were meticulously researched and generally fairly accurate.
Of course I can't answer the question, I haven't ever met an American jew aged over 60. But I'm curious as to the answer as well.
I wouldn't be surprised though, a lot of left wing peace activists within Israel felt very strongly about the war, and it was characterised as a land grab by many in the west.
posted by wilful at 11:39 PM on March 6, 2006
Of course I can't answer the question, I haven't ever met an American jew aged over 60. But I'm curious as to the answer as well.
I wouldn't be surprised though, a lot of left wing peace activists within Israel felt very strongly about the war, and it was characterised as a land grab by many in the west.
posted by wilful at 11:39 PM on March 6, 2006
Response by poster: That is reassuring. I am aware that his books are of the historical fiction genre, but also am aware that not all such books are accurate.
posted by meta87 at 1:25 AM on March 7, 2006
posted by meta87 at 1:25 AM on March 7, 2006
On the other hand, Mitchener managed to write a book on the history of Poland without mentioning the Jews at all, more or less, and his book on Mexico was almost entirely about bull-fighting. I have to say that my feeling on Mitchener is that his research is usually good, but in a lot of cases incomplete. So what's there seems accurate, but there may be a lot missing. I can't think of any non-fiction on the subject off the top of my head, but I think there's some Herman Wouk which deals with the same time period (from a very different perspective, obviously).
posted by posadnitsa at 4:47 AM on March 7, 2006
posted by posadnitsa at 4:47 AM on March 7, 2006
you might read peter norvick's "the holocaust and collective memory" (american title "the holocaust in american life"). while it's largely about attitudes to the holocaust i would think it would cover this too, in passing. the book is a discussion of exactly how the perception of the holocaust (and other events related to the same issue) has evolved. self link to own rather amateur review.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:15 AM on March 7, 2006
posted by andrew cooke at 5:15 AM on March 7, 2006
I'm no expert, but the vibe I get about the situation is that some upper class American Jews of the era (and today!) looked down on Israelis as déclassé and rough, and were wary that any world scrutiny paid to Israel and “the Jewish question”, whether for good or ill, could possibly jeopardize their own hard-won genteel status in the US.
Also, nearly everybody likes an underdog, and with the ’67 War, Israelis literally went from about-to-be-destroyed-by-every-Arab-army to conquerors, all in six days. Maybe upper class US Jews resented losing alpha dog status among the world’s Jews.
Silly, I know, but hey, you asked…
posted by Asparagirl at 7:54 AM on March 7, 2006
Also, nearly everybody likes an underdog, and with the ’67 War, Israelis literally went from about-to-be-destroyed-by-every-Arab-army to conquerors, all in six days. Maybe upper class US Jews resented losing alpha dog status among the world’s Jews.
Silly, I know, but hey, you asked…
posted by Asparagirl at 7:54 AM on March 7, 2006
Divided We Stand: American Jews, Israel, and the Peace Process is apparently a history of just such attitudes.
> Ofira Seliktar is the Ann and Bernard Cohen Associate Professor of Israel Studies at Gratz College in Philadelphia. Her new book charts the changing attitudes of American Jews towards Israel since 1948, and she describes a gradual process whereby American Jews are growing less and less attached to Israel. And you may be surprised to hear that a greater proportion of the American Jewish community was opposed to the war in Iraq than was the case for Americans overall.
Ofira Seliktar describes the deep divisions in the American Jewish community, which she says stem from the watershed year of 1977, when the Likud government of Menachim Begin came to power after years of Labour governments in Israel. In particular, she tells the story in intricately-footnoted detail, of how in the 1990s a few very vocal orthodox and hardline nationalist groups managed to move from the margins of the American Jewish community, to become a driving force in American foreign policy.
Also, here:
Ninety per cent of the American Jews supported the proclamation of the state of Israel and Jewish immigration there.... If Zionism meant founding an independent state for the Jews, then American Jews at the end of the Second World War were confirmed Zionists — without obligating themselves for immigration to Israel.... Many American Jews even cringe before the word "Zionism": It connotes for them a total obligation toward the Jewish state — in other words, immigration.... For some American Jews, however, the centrality of Israel is a commandment in their lives that must be again and again internalized and proven within the Jewish communities. Nonetheless, this inner conflict became a problem for the American Jews only a long while after the founding of the state. In 1948, they were still urgently needed in the United States, and they saw their task in supporting the young state from here, in order to guarantee the cooperation and assistance of the presidents.
Israel played an important role in American foreign policy. The small country in the Middle East became a strategic position in the Cold War and was supposed [during the 1960s] to take over the regional task in order to relieve the United States, increasingly committed to Southeast Asia in those years. In addition, America assumed Israel's security doctrine: offensive defense on the basis of military superiority. In 1966, American military aid for Israel jumped from 168 million dollars the previous year to 338 million dollars....
With the Six-Day War in 1967, the respect for Israel within the American population grew immensely. American Jews celebrated Israel's victory as their own victory....
To the symbiosis of the American-Israeli relations was also added the ever-stronger growing exercise of influence on Israel's domestic policies by American liberal Judaism.... Israel was the esteemed mouthpiece in the matter of Judaism and religion, granted a monopoly to Orthodox Judaism, and with that able to decide over the concerns of the Diaspora. The American Jews supported Israel unconditionally. However, as was soon to be demonstrated, their attitude gradually changed.
the American Jews had to deal with the trauma of the Yom Kippur War. It formed a turning point in the relationship between American Jews and Israel. American Jews fell into a panic, fearful of a new Holocaust, this time in the Middle East. Even those who had never felt very close to Israel became pro-Israel — including the American anti-Zionist movement.
With the Lebanon War of 1982, for the first time, Jewish groups turned against Israel.
Since 1985, the cooperation between the United States and Israel has become ever more intensive, and the 99th Congress supported military aid for Israel even more vehemently than before.
More than ever, a depressing identity conflict has spread among American Jews: They are Americans, but at the same time closely tied to Israel. This crisis of loyalties reached its zenith during the Pollard affair.
Pretty interesting, the whole thing.
posted by dhartung at 8:13 PM on March 7, 2006
> Ofira Seliktar is the Ann and Bernard Cohen Associate Professor of Israel Studies at Gratz College in Philadelphia. Her new book charts the changing attitudes of American Jews towards Israel since 1948, and she describes a gradual process whereby American Jews are growing less and less attached to Israel. And you may be surprised to hear that a greater proportion of the American Jewish community was opposed to the war in Iraq than was the case for Americans overall.
Ofira Seliktar describes the deep divisions in the American Jewish community, which she says stem from the watershed year of 1977, when the Likud government of Menachim Begin came to power after years of Labour governments in Israel. In particular, she tells the story in intricately-footnoted detail, of how in the 1990s a few very vocal orthodox and hardline nationalist groups managed to move from the margins of the American Jewish community, to become a driving force in American foreign policy.
Also, here:
Ninety per cent of the American Jews supported the proclamation of the state of Israel and Jewish immigration there.... If Zionism meant founding an independent state for the Jews, then American Jews at the end of the Second World War were confirmed Zionists — without obligating themselves for immigration to Israel.... Many American Jews even cringe before the word "Zionism": It connotes for them a total obligation toward the Jewish state — in other words, immigration.... For some American Jews, however, the centrality of Israel is a commandment in their lives that must be again and again internalized and proven within the Jewish communities. Nonetheless, this inner conflict became a problem for the American Jews only a long while after the founding of the state. In 1948, they were still urgently needed in the United States, and they saw their task in supporting the young state from here, in order to guarantee the cooperation and assistance of the presidents.
Israel played an important role in American foreign policy. The small country in the Middle East became a strategic position in the Cold War and was supposed [during the 1960s] to take over the regional task in order to relieve the United States, increasingly committed to Southeast Asia in those years. In addition, America assumed Israel's security doctrine: offensive defense on the basis of military superiority. In 1966, American military aid for Israel jumped from 168 million dollars the previous year to 338 million dollars....
With the Six-Day War in 1967, the respect for Israel within the American population grew immensely. American Jews celebrated Israel's victory as their own victory....
To the symbiosis of the American-Israeli relations was also added the ever-stronger growing exercise of influence on Israel's domestic policies by American liberal Judaism.... Israel was the esteemed mouthpiece in the matter of Judaism and religion, granted a monopoly to Orthodox Judaism, and with that able to decide over the concerns of the Diaspora. The American Jews supported Israel unconditionally. However, as was soon to be demonstrated, their attitude gradually changed.
the American Jews had to deal with the trauma of the Yom Kippur War. It formed a turning point in the relationship between American Jews and Israel. American Jews fell into a panic, fearful of a new Holocaust, this time in the Middle East. Even those who had never felt very close to Israel became pro-Israel — including the American anti-Zionist movement.
With the Lebanon War of 1982, for the first time, Jewish groups turned against Israel.
Since 1985, the cooperation between the United States and Israel has become ever more intensive, and the 99th Congress supported military aid for Israel even more vehemently than before.
More than ever, a depressing identity conflict has spread among American Jews: They are Americans, but at the same time closely tied to Israel. This crisis of loyalties reached its zenith during the Pollard affair.
Pretty interesting, the whole thing.
posted by dhartung at 8:13 PM on March 7, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
It is dangerous to get accurate ideas about historical events from fiction!
posted by meta87 at 10:15 PM on March 6, 2006