Gilad Atzmon joined us to discuss his critique of “Jewish power,” identity politics and limitations imposed on discussions of these and related topics by “The Left.”  The initial purpose for the interview was to discuss Atzmon’s article earlier this year published in Counterpunch, “From Goldstein to Soros and Beyond Controlled Opposition,” but we went on to also discuss his previously published book The Wandering Who? A Study of Jewish Identity Politics.

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  1. A very interesting interview. There’s a term called ‘left gate-keeper’. Mr Atzmon seems to be talking about Jewish ‘left gate-keepers’- as he calls out some [who happened to Jewish] who have almost ‘guru’ status among the US’ ‘liberal’ / progressive ranks- IE: Noam Chomsky, Amy G. & Norm Finkelstein [among others]. And his point about so much ‘liberal’-‘left’ focus [& even activism] RE the Palestinian issue 8,000 miles away, while paying lip-service, if NOT over-looking, the plight of Blacks [&/or Hispanics] right down the street- certainly hits home.

    Here I’ll Offer Some Observations. First Norm Finkelstein: Very articulate critic of Likudnik policies RE the Palestinian issue. Passionate critic of the IDF’s ‘Op Cast Lead’, & offered an insightful counter narrative to the lame-stream media meme that Arafat blew by turning down the best offer he could have ever hoped to get at Camp David [meeting w out-going POTUS Slick Willy & Ehud Barak- who later over-saw ‘Op Cast Lead’]- Stating that it was NOT Arafat that torpedoed those Camp David talks & there was NO way Arafat could have accepted the ‘offer’ that was on the table.
    YET w all of that- I’ve heard Finkelstein make 2 curious critics- He seemingly criticizes the very idea of the BDS campaign. 2} He rejects out of hand the idea of the 1 State Solution, in favor of the so-called 2 state solution [which even Bush Jr gave lip-service to]. One Small Problem Norm- The real viability of the 2 state solution DIED when they KILLED Rabin- IF it was actually really ever viable. In order to implement a 2 State solution now, the Gaza siege would have to end, the separation wall dismantled, plus 250,000 Jewish settlers removed from the West Bank- which would likely start an Israeli CIVIL WAR! Most Israelis & Palestinians know that the so-called 2 state solution at this point is something of a joke- that politicians only give lip-service to.

    2nd Noam Chomsky: Seen as the venerable sage / guru of the US political ‘left’, Chomsky has made some VERY Curious declarations RE 2 of the most seminal events in modern US history- IE: the JFK Hit [IMO a prelude to the assassinations of Malcolm, Martin & RFK] & the 9-11 ‘New Pearl Harbor’ Event. He asserts in both cases that, even if they did involve a conspiracy [which he actually rejects out of hand] ‘It does NOT mean anything.’ HUMM. When he said this RE the JFK hit [which again became a hot topic of discussion in the wake of Oliver Stone’s ‘JFK’]- it raised some eyebrows, w a few from the US’ political ‘left’ [IE: Michael Parenti] even taking him to task for it.
    But then he did a repeat RE 9-11, & did/does so such that he effectively provides ‘left-cover’ for the Bush Cheney NeoCON cabal RE the 9-11 ‘New Pearl Harbor’ Event [see this article by Kevin Ryan ‘Noam Chomsky & His Willful Ignorance of 9-11’ [@ http://www.globalresearch.ca/noam-chomsky-and-the-willful-ignorance-of-911/5359871?print=1 ].

    3rd Amy G: Besides Amy G’s DN!’s {over}Emphasis on what Mr Atzmon calls [relatively trivial] identity politics [IE: the lame-stream {= mainly white} Feminist & queer agendas]- What really got my attention was DN!’s problematic take RE FUK-US NATO’s 8 month phony R2P bombing assault on Libya- partnered w the GCC & Al-Qaeda affiliated ‘rebels’ effectively acting as FUK-UK NATO’s foot-soldiers.
    Amy G’s DN! essentially regurgitated the lame-stream [DN! effectively turned into CNN] dubious -if NOT out-right bogus- narrative about Khadaffi the so-called ‘evil dictator’. This narrative hyped an alleged [but non-existent] Khadaffi ‘genocide’ vs Benghazi, while at the same time ignored a REAL GENOCIDE by that racist rebel lynch mob [aka the NTC]- against Black Libyans & African migrant workers there- Including turning the Black Libyan town of Twerga [population 30,000 – 40,000] into a ghost town [the bogus cover-story / justification was that ALL Blacks in Libya were non-Libyan Khadaffi mercs]!
    In fact it got so bad, I was ready to just cut DN! loose, but started watching it again [but far more selectively] because of DN!’s coverage of the killings of Trayvon & Mr Kenneth Chamberlain.
    PS: Today’s DN! covered Detroit’s financial. Curiously DN!’s guess for this segment RE the Dismantling of Detroit, which is 80% – 85% Black- was a white guy who, though knowledgeable, was NOT even a grass-roots or union activist but a financial guy- HUMM. It seems DN! [too] often follows this model.

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