|
CounterPunch
March 14,
2003
An Open Letter to Paul Wolfowitz
To
My Former Dean and Other "Court Jews"
by JOSH RUEBNER
Dear Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz,
I doubt it if you remember me. That's
okay though. I don't think that I did anything to merit drawing
the attention of the dean as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). I
was pretty bookish at SAIS and spent more than my share of time
toiling over economic models in the library. As the dean of SAIS,
I am sure that you had fleeting contact with hundreds of students
like myself. I think that we shared a few coffees together during
your weekly breakfast meetings with students. I thought that
custom was classy and demonstrated the importance that you placed
on being in touch with us. I liked the fact that you invariably
showed up at our Friday afternoon Happy Hour ritual in the courtyard
when we all unwound after an intense week of studies.
The comfortable, accessible relationship
that you had with your students at SAIS makes it difficult for
me to address you as the Assistant Secretary of Defense of the
United States of America. It sounds so formal and removed, doesn't
it? Yet I wouldn't have the audacity to call you by your first
name either. Perhaps, for the sake of this letter, I can simply
call you "brother." I hope that you do not take offense
at this intimate appellation. But, you see, I am not writing
this letter as a secular American critic of a unilateralist U.S.
foreign policy that has run amok. Instead, I decided to write
to you as one fellow Jew to another. And as Jews, we do share
that intimate connection and shared sense of destiny even if
we do not really know each other. Perhaps in Hebrew school you
learned the dictum kol yisrael arevim zeh la'zeh-that all Jews
are responsible for and to each other. It is in this spirit of
mutual responsibility that I write to you.
Brother, I am concerned about you. I
am concerned that you are being exploited and that you do not
realize it. Before you discard my pro-peace, anti-imperialism
views about the war in Iraq as the ranting of an aberrant SAIS
student who somehow escaped from the school's neo-conservative
straitjacket, I plead with you to engage in chesbon nefesh-that
powerful, beautiful Jewish tradition of "soul accounting"
in which we engage during the High Holidays. Before the bombs
start falling on the long-suffering, innocent civilians of Baghdad,
please look into your heart and ask yourself honestly whose interests
you are serving by being such a visible symbol of this policy.
Lately I have come to the disturbing
conclusion that the Bush Administration is using you as its "court
Jew" par excellence. Rest assured, this is not a term that
I learned during my studies at SAIS. Rather I picked it up in
the course of my involvement with the Jewish peace movement which
is calling simultaneously for an end to Israel's self-destructive
military occupation of Palestine and is helping to mobilize the
millions of good-hearted Americans who have taken to the streets
to protest the war of aggression that the Bush Administration
is pedaling.
"Court Jew" is a term that
originates in the context of anti-Semitism in "enlightened"
Europe. On that blood-soaked continent, the reigning monarchs
and other despotic rulers thought up an ingenious system to perpetuate
their oppressive systems of government. These shrewd, Machiavellian
rulers made a psychologically brilliant pact with an elite, assimilationist
group of Jewish subjects who craved nothing more than acceptance
by the power structure of society. Often, these ambitious Jews
were so eager to serve the interests of the rulers so that they
could ease their feelings of internalized self-hatred. They viewed
serving the power structure as a way to overcome the marginality
and stigmas associated with being Jewish which were built into
the very fabric of society by the power structure to begin with.
The rulers understood this yearning to enter the halls of power
and took advantage of it by dangling a carrot of illusional power
before the hungry eyes of this wayward Jewish elite. These "court
Jews" were given politically unimportant, yet highly visible
positions within the regime. Why? So that when the subjected
masses rose up from time to time in justified outrage at the
oppressive nature of the regime under which they lived, there
was a convenient, ready-made scapegoat in place. The "court
Jew," as a highly visible symbol of the regime, served as
the lighting rod to bear the brunt of the blame and deflect criticism
from where it belonged rightfully. Brother, need I remind you
how disastrous it was for our people to be the target of this
rage? I think that you would agree that, in retrospect, it would
have been better not to have played the fool for those European
monarchs.
But, alas, the tragic mistakes of history
do tend to repeat themselves. (Brother, it makes we wonder sometimes
if the global community of human beings is making "progress"
toward anything worth progressing to.) Maybe you don't see it
coming, but I do. Your job is to interact in the high-brow world
of intelligence briefings and diplomacy. My job is to interact
with the people and mobilize them against the very steps that
you're taking. With all due respect, I think that I am in a
better position to hear what the people are saying. Do you know
what they're saying already? That the war in Iraq is being planned
by a cabal of extremist Jews. That it is the first part of a
Zionist conspiracy to redraw the map of the Middle East. That
Israel stands to be the prime beneficiary of this war. And it's
not just the marginalized skinheads who are saying this either.
It's also mainstream folks who would swear up and down that they
don't have an anti-Semitic bone in their bodies. I'm sure that
you, like me, recoiled in horror when you heard Congressman Jim
Moran assert that it is the Jews who are advocating for this
war and that only the Jews have the power to stop it.
It pains me that so many of my fellow
citizens are falling into this age-old trap of blaming the powerless
Jews who seem so powerful because of the existence of a handful
of "court Jews" who front for the power structure.
This doesn't mean that the "court Jews" of the unelected
Jewish Establishment haven't been hawking for this war. They
have been. There is no denying that Israel sent Benjamin Netanyahu
to Capitol Hill to testify for the war in Iraq and "convince"
Members of Congress that it was in the interests of the United
States to let loose the dogs of war (as if they needed much convincing
anyway). All of this is true. This is the beauty of how the system
works. Take a few "court Jews" and give them unimpeded
access to the mainstream media and, voila, you create the impression
among the masses that "the Jews" are spoiling for a
war. Do you see brother how you are misrepresenting us? I wish
that we in the Jewish peace movement could have as much access
as you do to the mainstream media so that we could shatter the
monolithic view of the Jewish community which the "court
Jew" by definition is set up to propagate. Of course, we
are denied that access by the same power structure which has
an interest in making sure that yours is the only "Jewish"
voice heard.
I'm really afraid that we are heading
for a calamity. If the people are this incensed now my brother,
how do you think they will feel when American men and women start
returning from the sands of Kuwait in body bags? Who is going
to be blamed if, God forbid, we are subjected to another terrorist
attack? Do these thoughts keep you awake at night? Are you scared
like I am that this imperialistic war in Iraq threatens the existence
of the Jewish people?
My brother, I don't blame you for accepting
the starring role of "court Jew." It must be a pretty
amazing feeling to convince yourself that you have as much power
as everybody says that you do. I hope that I never get close
enough to the power structure of this crumbling, decrepit empire
to get a taste of it. In my humble opinion, there is only one
honorable thing that you can do to undo the shameful damage that
you have caused already: resign. For the sake of your own dignity,
you must refuse to be exploited as the "court Jew."
Step down and deprive the power structure of its "court
Jew" and you will expose to the world the actors who really
motivate the Bush Administration. Please, before it is too late,
tell the world that it is not the powerless Jews who are pushing
for this war, but the greedy, venal barons of corporate America
who stand to profit while cowering behind the myth of the all-powerful
Jew. Tell everybody what you and I both know. That the real
interests hawking for this war are the defense contractors and
the oil industry who will make billions of dollars to first destroy
Iraq and then "rebuild" it under the protective wing
of American "democracy." And, while you're at it, please
tell the world that the $100 billion the Bush Administration
will require to pay the military-industrial complex to finance
this war of aggression will be sucked from the wallets of the
impoverished American working class which is systematically being
stripped of government services by this rapacious regime.
I am not the type of Jew who generally
bases his opinions on whether a particular action "is good
for the Jews." I would like to believe that I have a more
embracing, holistic view of humanity. Maybe it even seems self-centered
to worry about what will happen to the Jews because of this war
when thousands of innocent Iraqis stand to die in order for the
United States to "liberate" their country. I confess
though that I'm worried and I don't know what else to do with
my fear except express it. Brother, it seems to me to be so painfully
obvious that this war will benefit no one but the corporate interests
I mentioned above. Not Jews, not Americans, not Israelis, not
Iraqis, and not Palestinians.
If I've sparked even a sliver of doubt
in your mind as to the wisdom of the course you are pursuing,
please call me and we can get together for a cup of coffee over
breakfast. It will be just like the good old days at SAIS.
With love,
Josh Ruebner
Josh Ruebner
is co-founder of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel (JPPI)
and a former Analyst in Middle East Affairs at Congressional
Research Service (CRS). He can be reached: jruebner@hotmail.com
Yesterday's
Features
Robert Creeley
Help!
William Cook
Rage Against the Regime!
Issam Nahashibi and Abdelatif Rayan
Bush's Iraq Deja Vu: the Reincarnation
of Failed 1930s British Policies
Anthony Gancarski
Ledeen's Big Score
Wendy Brinker
Guns, Oil and Drugs
Robert Jensen
Petróleo, Petróleo, Petróleo
Karyn Strickler
The Big Lie About Partial Birth Abortions
Mickey Z.
Of Patience, Forebearance and War
Linda S. Heard
America, Don't Let Us Down
Col. Dan Smith
Crunch Time for the Security Council
Paul de Rooij
A Glossary to Warmongering
Website of the Day
Give
War a Chance: the Anti-Peace Anthem
Keep CounterPunch
Alive:
Make
a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online!
home / subscribe
/ about us / books
/ archives / search
/ links /
CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- Turkish Delights: a Pre-War Diary by Tariq Ali;
- The Plot to Frame the
Zapatistas: Talkers
and Cowards;
- Drugging Kids: The Plague of Neuroleptics;
- The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal:
a New Investigation.
Remember, the CounterPunch website is
supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. Our worldwide
web audience is soaring , with about seven million hits a month
now. This is inspiring, but the work involved also compels us
to remind you more urgently than ever to subscribe and/or make
a (tax deductible) donation if you can afford it. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe
Now!
Or Call Toll Free 1 800 840 3683
home / subscribe
/ about us
/ books
/ archives
/ search
/ links
/
|
Take a Bite Out of Phil Knight's Bottom Line: Buy No Sweat Apparel!
March 8 /
9, 2003
Edward Said
Who's
In Charge?
Bruce Jackson
Elegy
for Two Giraffes and a Zebra
Perry Anderson
The Casuistries of Peace and
War
Joanne Mariner
Patriot
Act II's Attack on Punishment
William Lind
A Warning from Clausewitz on 4th Generation Warfare
Sam Husseini
Why
So Long for Iraq to Comply? Follow the Policy
Forrest Hylton
Business as Usual in Bolivia?
David Lindorff
Race and the Death Penalty in Pennsylvania
Ben Tripp
Is There
a Eurologist in the House?
Anthony Gancarski
W's Personal Jesus
Jon Elmer
An Interview with William Blum
Douglas Valentine
The Clash of the Icons
Norman Madarasz
Radical Politics and the Writer:
Maurice Blanchot
Gordon Solberg
There's
Got to be a Better Way
Poets' Basement
Guthrie, Engel, Bernard
Weekend Website
The
White House
February 28,
2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Meet
the New Yorker's Chief Hack: Jeffrey Goldberg
Saul Landau
Now
It's Personal
Michael Neumann
A Plea for Hysteria
Karima Bennoume
The UN: Tool for Peace or War?
The Black
Commentator
The Rev. Sharpton and the Soul of the Democrats
Jennifer Loewenstein
Don't Turn Off the War
Richard Levins
Cuba's Biological Weapons: Why the World Needs More of Them
M. Shahid Alam
Is This a Clash of Civilizations?
Clay Conrad
Juries
and Judges: What's Relevant?
Ben Tripp
Speaking in Tongues: a Guide to Gibberish in the Age of Bush
Eliot Katz
To Declare Preemptive War is to Declare a Bankrupt Imagination
Kurt Nimmo
Paying Through the Nose to Kill Iraqi Kids
Matt Vidal
George W. Bonaparte
Mark Zepezauer
Why the Right Hates America
Mickey Z.
The Anti----War Talk I Never Gave
Jerry Kroth
Jung and the Space Shuttle Revisited
Shyam Oberoi
Chronicle of a War Foretold
Ron Jacobs
What If the Firebombing of Baghdad Were a Nightclub Fire?
Poets' Basement
Eliot Katz and Jim Cohn
Website of
the Weekend
Defense
Tech
Read
Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
|