It is already more than a week that I am keeping a curious article titled Diagnosis of a Mental Disorder on my desktop, trying to figure out its drift and, no less, the drift of its author, professor Paul Eidelberg.
The article starts with a good whopping of the reader's senses.
A mental disorder has crippled Israel. This disorder is rooted in fear, but this fear has yet to be adequately diagnosed.
The shock effect is certainly good in catching attention, I can be a witness to that. I would guess it was intended to be, too. The next few sentences explain that part of the diagnosis and, kind of, make a careful allowance for this fear that supposedly eats its cowardly way into our hearts, brains and livers.
Then prof. Eidelberg swiftly brings down another 2x4 on our heads:
But this fear has been magnified and rendered pathological by a related fear engendered by the triumph of democracy over Zionism in the mentality of Israel’s ruling elites.
And what is it that disturbs our professor in our "ruling elites'" behavior? Here it starts:
Despite Israel’s miniature size and precarious existence in the Middle East, its ruling elites have been conditioned to pursue policies toward Arabs—but not Jews—which makes Israel appear more permissive and egalitarian than democratic America, a continental superpower.
Not to go into tendentiousness of that statement, it is factually untrue, as any soldier who ever served in Gaza or West Bank will testify (unless he wears the same kind of eyeglasses as prof. Eidelberg).
Here is an article that will dispel this notion in a jiffy.
But professor doesn't stop at diagnosing fear and democracy."
Compounding this dilemma is the Jewish reputation for kindness and mercy," he says, adding another dimension to the landscape of our weaknesses. Read the rest of the article. Being a litany of democratic government's sins, mostly of unbearable softness, it ends on a shrill note of despair:
Heaven forbid that the Jews should stand tall and maintain their God-given right to Eretz Israel! No—this would smack of racism! This would undermine the democratic respectability of Israeli politicians and judges, of academics and journalists, and even of several rabbis. Democracy is their life raft.
This democracy, steeped in moral egalitarianism, has emasculated Israel.
Yeah... but the article is, besides putting the finger on the three mortal sins of our times, not very helpful as far as the desired (by our professor) replacement of the cursed democracy is concerned. This is a point that the author leaves for another opportunity, I guess. Or is he being coy?
Well, this coyness sent me to Google, to find other works of prof. Eidelberg. Thankfully, there is no lack of such. There is a touching
eulogy for Meir Kahane ("
He told the truth, and he died for the truth."). Or try that:
It was because he told the truth about the Arabs, who now applaud Saddam Hussein and scream “Itbach al-Yahud” – “Slaughter the Jews” – that he was called a “facist.”
I don't know who calls the late Rabbi Kahane "
facist", especially for the reason unearthed by prof. Eidelberg (an expert in political science, no less). I would call Meir Kahane "fascist", with all due respect to professor's titles, and for totally different reasons.
Then there is the
idea (I wonder whether our professor is the real daddy of this misbegotten child) of the "loyalty oath" that, in his design, is also a solution of the "demographic problem" (not clearly explained how that mechanism works, unfortunately).
A special place in professor's heart is allotted to Bolsheviks, whom he sees under every bed (including his own, I guess), typically in
this way:
Nevertheless, rather than say Israel has been Americanized, it would be far more correct to say Israel has been Germanized and Bolshevized!
Indeed, the mere foundations of Israel were rotten,
according to professor:
Ben-Gurion was indeed a Bolshevik (as admitted in his Personal History), and he very much wanted to induct yeshiva students into the army but was deterred from doing so by the Hazon Ish.
So, Bolshevism of Ben Gurion expressed itself in his desire to recruit the yeshiva students... what a smashing revelation (pity the Old Man failed in this regard, though).
As for Ben Gurion's Bolshevism: it is somehow symptomatic how easily American - born experts in Poli Sci use that "Bolshevik" sticker. Is it due to total lack of experience with the said Bolsheviks, whom they have seen alive only on a TV screen, I wonder? I submit that our learned professor wouldn't recognize a real Bolshevik if it bit him on the posterior...
One thing for sure: being surrounded by red-toothed Bolsheviks, professor Eidelberg still enjoys very much the benefits of democracy he so despises. He is managing a "think tank" that he called (being a founder)
Israel-America Renaissance Institute (sic!), publishing his stuff every each way, writing books, teaching in several places. In short, enjoying the bolshevik-led soft-bellied democracy to the hilt.
Somehow forgetting (or, probably, not quite understanding), that in a real Bolshevik-infested place many a thinker, both on the left and on the right, would have made a short-term acquaintance with a sturdy wall and an allotted number of bullets.
Without a mention in Wiki or any other source of information born in the sinful wedlock of democracy...
To conclude: heaven save us from self-made prophets of Poli Sci, who never have a doubt about the Gog-given validity of the "truths" they carry to the masses. And heaven save the democracy they dismiss so casually in favor of undefined but unappetizing solutions tailored to their personal vision of Eden.
P.S. Is it only I who finds the similarity in disdain and even hate for democracy by extreme right wingers and Muslim fundies mighty interesting?
