Jewish Scene
Dual-loyalty of Diaspora Jews explored
Ynetnews
Published: 26.01.11, 13:31
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1. dual-loyality of.....
payer ,   planet earth   (01.26.11)
please give these ( jewish) people(s) 2 passports, one of the country where they live and another of their "homeland". there are many non-jews who have 2 (perhaps still more) passports. at first iam loyal to the entire mankind and the whole wide world. 2nd. iam loyal to my birth-town, residence and birth/native country. i also want to have 2 or more passports. it can be handy. perhaps everybody happy.
2. It is exactly this dual loyalty (e.g. Jonathan Pollard) that
John Robey ,   Austin Texas   (01.26.11)
makes many wonder about how much faith we should have in our Jewish compatriots. Is their first loyalty Israel or their homeland?
3. Loyalty to Israel
David N. ,   Haifa, Israel   (01.26.11)
No question--being born a Jew in America or elsewhere doesn't remove the primary significance of being an Israelite, and belonging to Israel. Hundreds of years in Egypt did not make us Egyptians, so why should a mere couple of generations remove our divinely inspired and ordained nationality/faith/peoplehood? I moved home to Israel--but no dual loyalty. Israeli first and last.
4. # 2..that has always been the question...
Edithann ,   USA   (01.26.11)
Can there be an American Jew, loyal to America first? That's the premise Israel was built on and not only the American Jew...all Jews! It's always interesting when Jews or Israeli's come across the same problems we 'others' have always had with dual loyalties... Where have you been Tex? TATA
5. #1...having 2 passports means you don't have a homeland...
Edithann ,   USA   (01.26.11)
You have divided loyalties...you want all the advangaes of both with no commitments to either.. Give up one and be loyal..and apply to the other when you want to go back... It's like family. If you can't be loyal to the country of your birth, the country that's educated you, that has allowed you all the benifits of the society into which you were born, then you can't be loyal to any one...It's not rocket science... TATA
6. Others' dual loyalties not questioned, only Jews'
Sue ,   Los Angeles   (01.27.11)
For example, there are 45.5 million Hispanics in the US who have strong ties to their home countries. In California, where they comprise 35 percent of the population, Hispanic-Americans' dual loyalty is not only never questioned, it is celebrated i.e. Mexican holidays (Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo) in our government schools and other official public events. Anti-Semites never make the dual loyalty accusation against any other ethnic group. They reserve it for spreading hate and intolerance against the 6.5 million US Jews.
7. #2, I ask the same
graczek ,   Maryland, USA   (01.26.11)
And furthermore, given this possibility for such dual loyalty, I would recommend to our government that anyone who is Jewish not be allowed to hold a policy-making position or to be granted security clearance unless he or she signs a document forswearing Zionism. And even then, one must remain suspicious. For instance, how many Pollard-type cases have there been that have not been detected? Does this kind of thing still continue?
9. to nr. 5.
payer ,   planet earth   (01.27.11)
i am not afraid of commitments. i am really loyal to what i have chosen myself and if my family and my country accepts and respects me as iam then iam also loyal to them. of course you have the right of your own opinion. although i donot fully agree with you i do respect your opinion.
14. dual loyalty
LKShuman ,   Narberth USA   (01.27.11)
The effort by YU to have young US jews better understand Israel is important. It is incredible that in a few short years the recent Israeli governments have put Israel onto the road of being a pariah to the rest of the world and undone the remarkable good will so much of the world had towards Israel. It has reached the point that on campuses throughout the US young Jews who support Israel are on the defensive and are having an ever more difficult time developing support for Israel both among the Jewish students and the non-Jewish student bodies. Hopefully, the efforts of YU will be an excellent counter balance to what is happening and will be imitated by other colleges and universities.
15. #2
Mike Carmel ,   Rishon le Zion   (01.27.11)
If you yourself are Jewish, then I can't understand why you are asking this question when you are in Texas and not Israel. If you are not Jewish then the nature of your question is extremely disturbing to say the least as it seems to have racist intentions.
16. #3
Mike Carmel ,   Rishon le Zion   (01.27.11)
How long have you been here? Are you still an oleh hadash? Wait a few years, your attitude may change.........
17. #6 - I question the others
Christy ,   Boston, US   (01.27.11)
More Americans are starting to question the dual-loyalties of some of our 'hyphen-American' citizens. Even when they don't have official dual passports. It's the attitudes that count. I would never in a million years wonder about dual Israeli, UK, or Australian passport holders - to name a few. People who hold a dual passport AND ARE NOT trying to get the US to look like their parent country are fine. I've never met a dual-passport, Israel-US,holder that I felt was undermining the US. There *are* some holders of dual citizenship in the US that are dual on paper only. Their hearts are for the mother country being duplicated in the US. They don't love the US except for what it can give them. This doesn't apply to Jews I've known, and some others, that can love the US yet love their mother country as well.
18. American Jews don't care about Israel
Sheik Rattle & Roll ,   USA   (01.28.11)
Most American Jews have no loyalty to Israel what so ever unless they are religious. The majority of American Jews have no knowledge of what Israel is about except what they read in the paper or in the Torah. No matter how much the Israeli government try's to reach out to American Jews to pay a visit or to immigrate the majority laugh. Who would give up there big car and big house much higher salary to pay 3 times the price in gas twice the price of a house half the size and car so small for 3 times the price that you can't even stretch your ball sack, unless you are a religious midget on a holy mission then the government of Israel subsidize your living expenses.
19. AMERICAN INDIANS LEGACY
Michael ,   California, USA   (01.28.11)
Every Yankee has an implied second passport, the one of the Indian "country" that was exterminated through killing its "citizens." Having thus escaped threats to its existence, the U.S. is OBLIGATED to keep helping countries which continue to be threatened. This obligation is moral and fulfilling it gives the U.S. citizens respite in the eyes of the world from the guilt of killing Indian populations once. Israel is one of the threatened countries. Overwhelmed numerically by its enemies, Israel would not survive without support from a Superpower. For those of us who immigrated to the U.S. when it was a Superpower already, the second passport can be of our country of origin, like Israeli passport for instance, or Iraqi, or Filipino, etc.. We are thankful to the U.S. for helping our original countries and are its loyal citizens. We pay taxes, participate in the democratic process, serve in U.S. military forces, and so on.
20. # 19....Out to lunch!
Edithann ,   USA   (01.28.11)
When you join the IDF while America is at war, then you are no longer a dual loyalist with 2 passports, you're a traitor and should have your US citizenship revoked....There are no such thing as a Dual Loyalist. No one can serve two masters..I think that might be 'biblical'. too.. TATA
21. Dump passports altogether
Mike ,   Portland, USA   (01.29.11)
I am a Jew of European ancestry. I am married to a woman of Irish, English, German ancestry (gentile). My intermarried relatives include people of Mexico and Native Americans who descend from people who were here long before the invention of passports. Obsession with origins and ancestry is good for horse breeders and those who wear KKK hoods and sheets. For the rest of us, equality and justice trump "cultural surivivalism". The hell with patriotism and religion, both the last refuges of scoundrels.
22. #16 Mike
David S. ,   Haifa, Israel   (01.30.11)
Since 1977. I love Israel even more now. I came unconditionally. I see all the faults, but diaspora countries have couontless problems, too. You made an assumption that I was an oleh hadash--and you are wrong. I know many Israelis from the US who regard themselves as Israeli only. AFTER many years.
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