| Revision as of 22:52, 8 January 2008 editNagle (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers16,107 edits Here's an attempt to disambiguate some of the issues. This might satisfy both sides. Then again, maybe not.← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:56, 8 January 2008 edit undoNagle (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers16,107 edits Co author of what? Add link.Next edit → | ||
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| According to ], director of the non-profit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE), "Reference is often made to the 'Jewish lobby' in an effort to describe Jewish political influence in the United States. This term is both vague and inadequate. While it is true that American Jews are sometimes represented by lobbyists, such direct efforts to influence policy-makers are but a small part of the lobby’s ability to shape policy."<ref name=JVLMitchellBard>], "", ], published 2006, accessed August 22 2007.</ref> Bard prefers the term ] as "a more accurate label than "Jewish lobby" because a large proportion of the lobby is made up of non-Jews." | According to ], director of the non-profit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE), "Reference is often made to the 'Jewish lobby' in an effort to describe Jewish political influence in the United States. This term is both vague and inadequate. While it is true that American Jews are sometimes represented by lobbyists, such direct efforts to influence policy-makers are but a small part of the lobby’s ability to shape policy."<ref name=JVLMitchellBard>], "", ], published 2006, accessed August 22 2007.</ref> Bard prefers the term ] as "a more accurate label than "Jewish lobby" because a large proportion of the lobby is made up of non-Jews." | ||
| ] comments that he and co-author ] "never use the term 'Jewish lobby' because the lobby is defined by its political agenda, not by religion or ethnicity."<ref>]"], '']'', Book World Live, October 9, 2007. Accessed January 7, 2008.</ref> ], commenting in '']'' on ] use of the term, states that "Mearsheimer and Walt would doubtless chide Dawkins for using the term 'Jewish lobby', which they studiously avoid in order to give no truck to anti-Jewish innuendo."<ref>]. , '']'', October 8, 2007.</ref> | ] comments that he and co-author of ] ] "never use the term 'Jewish lobby' because the lobby is defined by its political agenda, not by religion or ethnicity."<ref>]"], '']'', Book World Live, October 9, 2007. Accessed January 7, 2008.</ref> ], commenting in '']'' on ] use of the term, states that "Mearsheimer and Walt would doubtless chide Dawkins for using the term 'Jewish lobby', which they studiously avoid in order to give no truck to anti-Jewish innuendo."<ref>]. , '']'', October 8, 2007.</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | The term "Israel lobby" is not considered derogatory. ] refers to itself as "America's Pro-Israel lobby". The term "Jewish lobby" is more controversial. | ||
| ⚫ | The term "Israel lobby" is not considered derogatory. ] refers to itself as "America's Pro-Israel lobby". The term "Jewish lobby" is more controversial. |
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| ==Uses== | ==Uses== | ||
| Michael Visontay, editor at the '']'', writes that "The way the phrase 'Jewish lobby has been bandied about in numerous letters implies there is something inherently sinister in ] when Jews do it."<ref>Visontay, Michael. , '']'', November 14, 2003.</ref> | Michael Visontay, editor at the '']'', writes that "The way the phrase 'Jewish lobby has been bandied about in numerous letters implies there is something inherently sinister in ] when Jews do it."<ref>Visontay, Michael. , '']'', November 14, 2003.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 22:56, 8 January 2008
 | This article may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
Jewish lobby is a term referring to allegations that Jews exercise influence in a number of areas, including politics, government, business, the media, academia, popular culture, public policy, international relations, and international finance. It is used most commonly by the far right, far left, and Islamists.
The expression is commonly associated with antisemitic aspersions. Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, an American research group that tracks right-wing extremists, writes that it combines the classic elements of anti-Semitic stereotyping and scapegoating, and is part of the discourse of conspiracism.
History
For centuries, a key element of antisemitic thought were conspiracy theories that the Jews, as a group, were plotting to control or otherwise influence the world. Vijay Prasad described The myth of the "Jewish lobby" in India's magazine Frontline:
The idea of the "Jewish lobby" is attractive because it draws upon at least a few hundred years of anti-Semitic worry about an international conspiracy operated by Jewish financiers to defraud the European and American working poor of their livelihood. The "Jew," without a country, but with a bank, had no loyalty to the nation, no solidarity with fellow citizens. The anti-Semitic document, "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," is a good illustration of this idea. The Nazis stigmatized the "Jew" as the reason for poverty and exploitation, and obscured the role played by capitalism in the reproduction of grief. The six million Jews in the U.S. do not determine U.S. foreign policy; nor are they united. Jews in America, like other communities, are rent with division, not united behind one agenda.
"Jewish lobby" vs. "Israel lobby"
According to Mitchell Bard, director of the non-profit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE), "Reference is often made to the 'Jewish lobby' in an effort to describe Jewish political influence in the United States. This term is both vague and inadequate. While it is true that American Jews are sometimes represented by lobbyists, such direct efforts to influence policy-makers are but a small part of the lobby’s ability to shape policy." Bard prefers the term Israel lobby as "a more accurate label than "Jewish lobby" because a large proportion of the lobby is made up of non-Jews."
Stephen Walt comments that he and co-author of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy John Mearsheimer "never use the term 'Jewish lobby' because the lobby is defined by its political agenda, not by religion or ethnicity." David Cesarani, commenting in The Guardian on Richard Dawkins use of the term, states that "Mearsheimer and Walt would doubtless chide Dawkins for using the term 'Jewish lobby', which they studiously avoid in order to give no truck to anti-Jewish innuendo."
The term "Israel lobby" is not considered derogatory. AIPAC refers to itself as "America's Pro-Israel lobby". The term "Jewish lobby" is more controversial.
Uses
Michael Visontay, editor at the The Sydney Morning Herald, writes that "The way the phrase 'Jewish lobby has been bandied about in numerous letters implies there is something inherently sinister in lobbying when Jews do it."
The Guardian's David Hirsh feels that the term indicates a lack of "care, thought" and "self-education," commenting on Chris Davies, MEP for the northwest of England. Davies resigned after having used the slur in an e-mail considered inappropriate by the public and the Liberal Democrats.
Reviewing Queen Noor of Jordan's memoir Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life, Kenneth Jacobson of the Anti-Defamation League writes that though she refers to the "Zionist lobby", "...Queen Noor is not so insensitive or crass as to actually use the phrase 'Jewish Lobby,'." Joseph Lelyveld, in a The New York Review of Books review of Jimmy Carter's Palestine Peace Not Apartheid points out that Carter "doesn't resort to the term 'Jewish lobby'".
See also
- Anti-Zionism
- New antisemitism
- American Jewish Committee
- American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
- Israel lobby in the United States
- Zionist Occupation Government
References
- Aaronovitch, David. "Message to the left: there is no all-powerful Jewish lobby", The Guardian, May 27, 2003
- ^ Berlet, Chip. "ZOG Ate My Brain," New Internationalist, 372, October 2004.
- ^ The myth of the "Jewish lobby" by Vijay Prasad in the Frontline (India's National Magazine) Volume 20 - Issue 20, September 27 - October 10, 2003.
- Michael, George. The Enemy of my Enemy: The Alarming Convergence of Militant Islam and the Extreme Right, 2006, pp. 46-47 & 228-238.
- Ramadan, Tariq. "Muslims and Anti-Semitism", UN Chronicle, June 10, 2005:
"Much like the situation across the Muslim world, there exists in the West today a discourse which is anti-Semitic, seeking legitimacy in certain Islamic texts and support in the present situation in Palestine. This is the attitude of not only the marginalized youth but also of intellectuals and Imams, who see the manipulative hand of the “Jewish lobby” at each turn or every political setback."
- Mitchell Bard, "The Israeli and Arab Lobbies", Jewish Virtual Library, published 2006, accessed August 22 2007.
- John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt: Authors, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy", Washington Post, Book World Live, October 9, 2007. Accessed January 7, 2008.
- Cesarani, David. "Exerting influence", The Guardian, October 8, 2007.
- Visontay, Michael. "Free speech for some, others pay", The Sydney Morning Herald, November 14, 2003.
- Hirsh, David. "Revenge of the Jewish lobby?", The Guardian, May 5, 2006.
- Jacobson, Kenneth. "Queen Noor's Blind Spots", Anti-Defamation League, May 12, 2003.
- Lelyveld, Joseph. "Jimmy Carter and Apartheid", The New York Review of Books, Volume 54, Number 5 · March 29, 2007.