Tel Aviv: Peter Beinart, the conscience of modern Progressive Judaism and all around Liberal Zionist Bad Boy, is not too thrilled with the choices that Israel has been making lately. And he’s not afraid to tell us. In fact, Pete is currently quite cross with us for ignoring his amazingly prescient advice about the Peace Process, to the extent that he now takes press junkets to Judea and Samaria with J-Street in order to pester goats. His powerful voice has hit Israel like a bombshell, compelling everyday Israelis to stop what they’re doing and ask themselves “Just who does Peter Beinart think he is? No, Really. We’re kinda drawing a blank right now. Who is he again?” The Daily Freier walked the streets of Tel Aviv to gauge the feelings of real Israelis on just how they have been affected by Mr. Beinart’s harsh words about people in Ma’ale Adumim putting in a swimming pool and a patio.
As the Daily Freier made its way down Dizengoff Street, it bumped into Alert Local Ronit S. and proceeded to ask her how she felt about Peter Beinart’s criticism of Israel.
“Who?” she asked
“Peter Beinart. The beating heart of Liberal Zionism. Writes for Haaretz sometimes. Ringing a bell now?”
“Wait…so he’s with Haaretz? I went to their Cultural Conference in South Tel Aviv last Spring. I think I saw him there…..Is he the performance artist who put the flag in his butt and pelted the audience with orange rinds?” [Legal Disclaimer: No. No he’s not. But this did in fact really happen.]
Ronit needed to get to her new job at a Start-Up or something, so we continued south on Dizengoff until we hit Dizengoff Square. There we bumped into the Daily Freier’s very own Emily Goldstein, who was walking her neighbors’ dogs while they’re off hiking in India. We posed the same question to Emily: How does she feel about Peter’s ultimatum to Israel on behalf of Lefty American Jews who have not (Yet!) totally bought into BDS: specifically, that if we’re not careful we’re going to lose him?
Emily thought for a moment and then smiled. “Peter Beinart? Wasn’t he on Birthright with me? Kinda cute? Played soccer in college? From San Diego? Dad owns a chain of movie theaters?” mused Emily as she smiled and twirled her hair. The Daily Freier reluctantly informed Emily that this was not in fact the case, and she seemed a bit bummed out.
Undeterred, the Daily Freier stopped to ask a Delivery Guy named Moti whom we met in front of Dizengoff Center whether he had heard of Peter Beinart, the noted Progressive Zionist and Haaretz contributor who only critiques Israel out of love. Moti, a native of Petach Tikvah, seemed stumped.
“What’s Haaretz?”
Despite these setbacks, the Daily Freier continued its sojourn for Truth, turning right on King George and walking toward Gan Meir. There we ran into a confused disheveled man who was screaming at the top of his lungs at nobody in particular. We determined that he was either a vulnerable member of the Homeless Community or one of our Professors from Tel Aviv University. So we asked him the same question: How does he feel about Peter Beinart’s critique of Israel?
“Peter Beinart? Wait, is he the guy who starts every sentence with “As a Jew I…” before listing all the ways we disappoint him?”
Ding Ding Ding! Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
A Trump presidency may well become the causes belli needed for American Jewish lefties like Peter Beinart and Max Blumenthal to devote their energies to save America’s democracy rather than Israel’s. I would certainly welcome that and I’m sure not a few Israelis would as well.
Blumenthal isn’t left. He’s a narcissist lunatic. I wouldn’t dignify linking him with any place on the political spectrum.
When Max Blumenthal is not insanely bashing Israel, he can be considerably more lucid and constructive in analyzing domestic American politics. I would recommend reading “Republican Gomorrah,” a great take-down of far-right Republican politics published a few years back.
given everything that max has done post that book, and the fact that it came out all his vids done before that book were heavily edited, im not sure how much to trust the “facts” as he lays them out
This’d be a win-win. Anything that removes another thorn from Israel’s side is positive, and I for one can’t wait to see the likes of Beinert and that loathsome little phony Blumenthal trying to “save America’s democracy” by smacking their empty heads against the clearly expressed will of the American people. Good clean fun for the whole family!
I get why Beinart and Blumenthal rub people the wrong way. The Daily Frier gets it exactly right why Beinert is seen as so obnoxious when he starts each sentence with “As a Jew I…” Even as a fellow lefty who agrees with Beinert on Israel to a significant degree, I find this construction really annoying. But at least I really do think Peter Beinart wants Israelis to live in peace and to prosper. Max Blumenthal, on the other hand, seeks the destruction of Israel as the Jewish state at any cost.
and so does petey
he and max are two sides of the same coin
Beinart claims he received anti-Semitic messages after Trump’s election. Since he himself has dabbled in “the socialism of fools,” all I can say is, “Oh, boo-hoo.”
We’re starting to settle into a new normal of some Jews accepting unambiguously anti-Semitic language and actions if they are directed at other Jews with whom they have a political disagreement. This is a very bad trend and really needs to stop.
In this case, Beinart reaped what he has sown.
So, you know his claim to be true?
If Peter told me it’s daylight outside, I’d ask him to wait for a minute for me to walk outside to check whether it’s true.
Couple that with the Left’s ability to intuit anti-Semitism & supposed dog whistles & to read minds and hearts, and I’d say that it’s a 90%+ chance it never happened.
Why would I not believe it? It is part of a disturbing trend of American Jewish journalists critical of Donald Trump during this campaign being attacked for being Jews. There have been stories with screenshots of the anti-Semitic messages appearing on websites such as Huffington Post and Salon among others. The ADL believes this to be a growing problem as well.
the silver lining of a trump win
beinart and the jstreet types no longer have an ear to hear them in the wh
they are done
You are more likely right than wrong about that, Walt. But with Donald Trump, you never really know what you’re gonna get. Trump as president will be like shaking up a giant magic 8 ball and hoping for a good answer to appear.
Jared Kushner will keep them away from his father-in-law. There are also very good signs that Trump will yank the White House welcome mat from the Muslim Brotherhood placed there by Obama.
You know the old saying, “When one door closes, another one opens?” So with the departure of Obama we no longer need to examine the tenuous claims of his administration’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. With the arrival of Trump and his new appointees we’ll now have reason to be concerned that white nationalists have taken over the Oval Office. Such is the nature of our diverse country.