Obama “Shakes” the Jewish Consciousness in Cairo, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

Obama “Shakes” the Jewish Consciousness in Cairo

By Shaul Magid

June 9, 2009

While not repeated with Rush’s bravado, the “equation,” as it were, has been mentioned by many in the American Jewish community. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, was quoted in the New York Times Friday June 5, saying “’I understand Palestinian suffering, it is terrible… But it is not on the other hand to the Holocaust” It is to this other hand that I would like to draw our attention.

To begin with, what if Rush is right? What if he is right precisely where he is wrong? “On the one hand/on the other hand” could surely be a phrase introducing moral equivalency—though it could just as easily recognize two unequal realities, both of which must be taken into account when trying to understand a complex situation. Moral equivalency needs more evidence than “on the other hand,” which is why David Frum discounted it when it could have served his purpose.

But there is more. What I want to argue is that Rush saw an equivalency that is, by its unstoppable allusion in Cairo, signalling a seismic shift in the United States’ attitude toward Jews, the Holocaust, Israel, and the Middle East crisis. And here I think he is right. Obama made three comments about the Holocaust worth rehearsing: First, Holocaust denial is unacceptable. Second, that the United States has “cultural and historical ties” to Israel that make the bond with it “unbreakable.” Third, that the Jews have a right to a Jewish homeland in part because of the Holocaust.

http://newageislam.com/obama-%E2%80%9Cshakes%E2%80%9D-the-jewish-consciousness-in-cairo--/islam-and-the-west/d/1462