{"id":4289,"date":"2014-06-06T00:07:41","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T07:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=4289"},"modified":"2014-06-04T09:56:31","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T16:56:31","slug":"lessons-from-debating-an-anti-zionist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/06\/06\/lessons-from-debating-an-anti-zionist\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from debating an anti-Zionist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Mira Sucharov&#8217;s debate with Max Blumenthal is on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cpac.ca\/en\/programs\/public-record\/episodes\/33222491\/\" target=\"_blank\">CPAC<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a previous blog post on haaretz.com, I discussed what appears to be an increasing chill factor in our Jewish communities. By way of example, I mentioned a then upcoming debate on the topic of whether Israel is and can be a \u201cJewish and democratic state\u201d between prominent anti-Zionist Max Blumenthal and me, a liberal Zionist. Given the event sponsors (Independent Jewish Voices), many in the audience were primed for Blumenthal\u2019s points \u2013 a scenario that makes supporters of Israel uneasy. But, unlike a \u201chasbarah\u201d activist or a right-winger or even a centrist, we liberal Zionists tend to be both emotionally connected to Israel and critical of Israeli policies. So, on the heels of that event, here are some reflections on what happens when a liberal Zionist debates an anti-Zionist.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to Israeli democracy, liberal Zionists focus on what is possible. From the government actions of the day, anti-Zionists infer absolute limits.<\/p>\n<p>There were times in the debate where, after I had addressed the central question, namely whether Israel\u2019s Jewish and democratic character are mutually exclusive, Blumenthal would imply that we need to move away from pie-in-the-sky ideals and toward how things actually are. But, as with any experiment in nation building, I see Israel\u2019s democracy as a work in progress. The contradictions need to be seen for what they are: temporary challenges to democracy, and requiring key legal reforms that Israel\u2019s supporters and concerned citizens must continue to push for. Which brings me to my next point:<\/p>\n<p>Read more at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/blogs\/the-fifth-question\/1.596715\" target=\"_blank\">haaretz.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mira Sucharov&#8217;s debate with Max Blumenthal is on CPAC. In a previous blog post on haaretz.com, I discussed what appears to be an increasing chill factor in our Jewish communities. By way of example, I mentioned a then upcoming debate on the topic of whether Israel is and can be a \u201cJewish and democratic state\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1247,641,1245,1244,1246],"class_list":["post-4289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-op-ed","tag-anti-zionist","tag-haaretz","tag-independent-jewish-voices","tag-max-blumenthal","tag-zionist"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}