It would be foolish, not to mention intellectually dishonest, not to reevaluate one’s political views in light of the recent assault by fanatic Islamic terrorists up the US.

This is especially true for those of us on the left of the political spectrum. This is not to say that those on the right should not also rethink their position, but the current reality does seem to justify an “I told you so” attitude on their part. However, while the Right’s outlook may at present seem correct, the Left’s notion of a negotiated settlement is still more realistic and hopeful.

A rightist view that we must fight the Palestinians at all costs because what they really want is all of Israel is a sure-fire guarantee of a never-ending conflict.

In addition, in reexamining our political outlook, we must not alter our progressive attitude on matters of social concern: embracing concepts of social equality, economic justice, and human rights.

A reassessment for us “lefties” is difficult because one of our enduring characteristics is that we are so self-righteous. But Osama bin Laden and his evil cohorts make no distinction between the Left and the Right.
It is Americans, and particularly Jews, they are after. And it could very well be that the majority of Muslims around the world did rejoice at the tumbling of the Twin Towers - one major reason being that it would focus the world, in the most dramatic way imaginable, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the countries of the world, or better yet, ordinary citizens of those countries, blaming Israel for provoking terrorism.

Such an attitude has already been adopted by many European nations. America is beginning to swallow the argument as well, as evidenced by President George W. Bush’s surprising call for a Palestinian state, something we leftists argue for. However, what was troubling about the president’s statement was the timing and the circumstances under which it was uttered.

Nothing can justify the horrific act of terrorism that was visited upon the US. There is no moral equivalency here. And so, Bush’s new awakening to the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate not only makes a mockery of his claim that America will never give into terrorist demands, it also is a subtle admission that Israel is, indeed, partially responsible for the bin Laden phenomenon.

Does any sane person truly believe that bin Laden and all his cheerleaders throughout the Arab world really want a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would tolerate even a truncated Jewish state?
Will not the Muslim world now find encouragement to force the Jewish state into the sea, just as the Right in Israel believes?

With Bush’s seemingly quick capitulation, apparently all that is needed to achieve Israel’s destruction is for a few more Muslim extremists to stage another devastating attack on America.

There are limits to coalition building. But the world has been turned upside down. What should we leftists be thinking now? Why are we not protesting America’s wooing of countries such as Iran and Syria, instead of praising

Bush’s call for a Palestinian state, which, under the present circumstances, is little more than sacrificing Israel so that even the Palestinian Authority, which has yet to arrest hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives, bin Laden’s spiritual comrades-in-arms, will be part of the new American coalition?

Imagine how it would be had prime minister Menachem Begin not destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981.

Why are we afraid to entertain the possibility that, perhaps, America should bomb the Pakistani and Iranian nuclear reactors, or blow up Iraqi biological and chemical factories so that only the Iraqi people suffer President Saddam Hussein’s menacing ways instead of we in Israel?
Why should we again tolerate America going to war while we sit in sealed rooms?

At what point should we leftists rethink our positions?
When bin Laden sends 25 suicide bombers into 25 shopping malls all across America: from Sacramento, California to Portland, Maine?
Or better yet, when he sends these crazies into Sbarros all across the United States to blow themselves up, so that by association, not only the American president, but every citizen in America will call on his government to abandon Israel.

There is the story of the psychiatrist who told a patient that he does not suffer from an inferiority complex, rather he was indeed inferior.
Israel is not paranoic; the Muslim world is against us, and if bin Laden has his way, as presently seems to be the case, so will be the rest of the world.

This new reality makes me wonder: Could it be that the Right is right?

This better not be the case, otherwise, not only will we be continually threatened physically, but we will also be spiritually wounded. For should we follow the rightist view to its logical conclusion, all hope would be lost.

Therefore, even in these uncertain and difficult times, being cognizant of the dangers that could await us, it is the leftists’ hopes that must guide us, not the rightists’ fears.

Recent Articles by Rabbi David Forman

• Counterpoint: Rabbis for Human Rights - the 20th anniversary - August 28th, 2008
• Counterpoint: 'Us' and 'them' - July 31st, 2008
• Counterpoint: An exercise in practical stupidity and moral idiocy - July 17th, 2008
• Counterpoint: A letter to a Jewish leader from abroad - July 3rd, 2008
• Counterpoint: What does the religious Right want? - June 19th, 2008
• Counterpoint: Forsaking both soldiers and the downtrodden - June 5th, 2008
• Counterpoint: Pigeonholing rights groups - March 27th, 2008
• Counterpoint: A liberal's lament - July 19th, 2007
• Truth and Hypocrisy - June 22nd, 2007
• Politics Make Strange Bedfellows - April 20th, 2007
• Feed the Hungry - March 2nd, 2007
• Trafficking in Women: A Blight on Jewish Decency - December 29th, 2006
• Rabbis for Human Rights receives Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Award - December 11th, 2006
• Succot has Universal Meaning - October 4th, 2006
• The Binding of Isaac - September 20th, 2006
• Try a Little Common Sense - July 25th, 2006
• Prisoners are no Asset - July 16th, 2006
• End the Degradation: An appeal to Israel's new defense minister - May 18th, 2006
• Yes, Birthright journey cheapens the message of Judaism - May 5th, 2006
• Getting beyond name-calling - March 29th, 2006
• Settlers, hands off the olive trees - December 26th, 2005
• MIAs - a failure of political will - December 11th, 2005
• Let's not turn to anti-Arab racism - November 14th, 2005
• To obey orders, or not - July 24th, 2005
• Forgotten in captivity - February 3rd, 2003
• Let PR constrain policy - August 7th, 2002
• Could the Right be right? - October 16th, 2001
• New intifada breeds depression, with no end in sight - April 13th, 2001
• Rabbi David Forman - May 16th, 2000

Categories: Perspectives
Tags: Bo, human rights, ISM, palestinians, rest, settlers, wall