Jewcy Shrugs Off Immigration Blacklist Attempt
April 3, 2009 Immigration, Jewish Community
Jewcy has published an editorial by Stephen Steinlight, entitled, “No Debate Please, We’re Jewish”.
Dr. Steinlight notes,
Aronoff and SPLC can’t play anything straight. The quote their “research” attributes to me is a misquote twisted out of context. I’m supposed to have said, “Immigration threatens the American people and Western Civilization.” In fact, I was speaking of the Islamization of Western Europe and, potentially, America. The actual comment addresses Muslim immigration in an age of Jihadism, not immigration per se.
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I’m not a fearful person, but what’s happening is frightening – not for me personally, because I’ll be fine either way, but for our community. The question before us is not about which immigration policies we should support. Rather, this: Will the Jewish community be an open forum for competing ideas, or will we surrender to a new McCarthyism? If this blacklist campaign succeeds, we will have permitted cynical opportunists to destroy the intellectual integrity and vibrancy of debate within our community. We will have succumbed to lies and debased ourselves. It is a categorical imperative to defeat it.
This is one of those things that is so utterly exasperating, because you can’t help but wonder, “Why do I have to even explain this?”
Should we really have to fight to have an open debate in the Jewish community about mass immigration?
It’s kind of like the haredim, who aren’t allowed to raise the issue of macro-evolution or Old Earth theories publicly without being condemned as heretics for defying contemporary literal Creationist interpretations. Only private conversations and grumbles are tolerated.
Immigration policies must be determined by the Gedolim of the social-liberal Jewish world, not us. WE CAN NOT FATHOM THE DEPTH OF THEIR REASONING!
3 comments
@ DK;
“…as if this is a unanimous, uncontested opinion…”
Given that virtually ALL major Jewish (USA) organizations support the “Progress by Pesach” campaign, wouldn’t it be safe to assume so do MOST USA Jews? After all, who comprises these USA Jewish organizations?
As such, wouldn’t it seem the debate you (and Steinleight) seek has already occurred and your side lost?
Besides, how can anyone as prominent as Stephen Steinleight whine about being “censored” in the internet age?
Gideon Aronoff succinctly lays out the case for comprehensive immigration reform, you just don’t like it. That’s fine, it’s a free country. EVERYONE is entitled to his/her opinion, even kooks like McDonald.
http://www.jewcy.com/dialogue/.....tion_aron3
P.S. Check out the polls Gideon Aronoff cites above.
It is certainly safe to assume that more than half of Jews support liberalized immigration, but HIAS has totally tried to make it look like Jews are, or should be, monolithically behind this. I can hardly blame people like DK, Ilana Mercer, Pamela Geller, and the like for feeling a little ignored. I will grant that I haven’t read every debate on the topic, but of what I’ve heard, most of it is just: leftist notes that someone has views skeptical of immigration, demands an apology, doesn’t get one, and leaves, end of debate.
“Given that virtually ALL major Jewish (USA) organizations support the “Progress by Pesach” campaign, wouldn’t it be safe to assume so do MOST USA Jews? After all, who comprises these USA Jewish organizations?”
Not at all. The policies are set by the leadership. A small fraction of the Jewish community can set those policies.
“As such, wouldn’t it seem the debate you (and Steinleight) seek has already occurred and your side lost?”
There wasn’t a debate.
“Besides, how can anyone as prominent as Stephen Steinleight whine about being “censored” in the internet age?”
Easy. He can be censored in the print media, when they try to prevent his op-eds from running.
“Gideon Aronoff succinctly lays out the case for comprehensive immigration reform, you just don’t like it.”
Well actually DK addressed the argument that was based on the “because were strangers in Egypt” theory, which is about as succint as you can get, and yes he doesn’t like it, for good reasons. ‘Besides if Aronoff lays out arguments for immigration reform, what’s wrong with someone laying out counter arguments?
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