Israel and the new Left
Op-ed: Although current polarization of attitudes toward Jewish state is too complex to be attributed to a single cause, leftists' ideological shift can at least be viewed as a contributing factor.
While the economic stance of the Right has remained fairly the same, left-wing politics has morphed into a criteria that not only discreetly abandons all ambitions of socioeconomic fairness but openly renders the State of Israel, once vehemently admired and supported by the Left, an object of constant derision.
Although the current polarization of attitudes toward the Jewish state is too complex to be attributed to a single cause, the ideological shift of the Left can at least be viewed as a contributing factor. And to understand this part of how the delegitimization of Israel came to be embedded in the politics of the Left is to understand how its ideological shift went largely unnoticed. For on the surface, the rhetoric of the Left remains the same, with Western liberals still claiming to protect the rights of the "little guy."
However, the role of the underdog, once occupied by the working-class citizen, has now been replaced by the impoverished foreigner. Accordingly, the likes of corporate executives and other high-profile employers, who have come to rely upon outsourcing and employment of illegal immigrants in order to circumvent the legislative victories of the old Left, have gladly taken over the leadership roles once occupied by their left-wing rivals.
Meanwhile, the State of Israel, whose citizens are no longer disenfranchised and persecuted for their religious beliefs and ethnic origins, and whose economy has grown remarkably in its short history, has fallen out of grace with the new Left as its surrounding enemies have gained left-wing sympathy through the redefining of the underdog.
For a great deal of the people in Israel and the Western world, the Left’s abandonment of the working-class citizen has had negative consequences. As the political spectrum has subtly narrowed to the point where both the Left and the Right primarily protect the self-centered interests of big business owners, income disparity has widened, small businesses have begun disappearing, unemployment has risen, part-time employment and unpaid internships have begun replacing full-time employment, and working- and middle-class wages have dwindled in the face of rising costs of living.
Meanwhile, the State of Israel has received from today’s Western liberals and others who have adopted their version of liberalism a grossly disproportionate amount of criticism in spite of being the only country in the Middle East where a significant number of Western liberal ideals have been realized, including democratic elections, religious and cultural tolerance, freedom of speech and assembly, and equal rights for all citizens. For many Jews, this confluence of economic decline and demonization is distressing, as it is reminiscent of conditions that preceded historical acts of violence and persecution against their people.
Nevertheless, there remains hope for the protection of Israel and working-class citizens throughout the world. The current economic decline and anti-Semitism of the West still appear to be some distance from a boiling point, and much of the world knows that the Jewish people are now finally in a position to defend themselves should such a point be crossed again.
Furthermore, some of the public response to the current economic problems – the Tel Aviv protests against the rising costs of living in Israel, the mass protests of UK government workers against pay cuts, the Occupy movements that waved across the US, and many other sociopolitical gatherings that have been recently cropping up throughout the world—openly attests to a widespread loss of representation for working-class citizens within the institutions of their countries.
Since the end of the 20th century, the plight of those who constitute the majority of every country’s populace has been disappearing from the conversations of statesmen, journalists, and artists, while the Jewish state has been reduced to political cannon fodder. Although there are many factors that have led to the current socioeconomic situation and the demonization of Israel, these conditions will likely not improve unless the Left refocuses its political agenda on socioeconomic fairness for working-class citizens.
