I think that Gordis is not aware of Sand’s clear political agenda. We are not talking about popular misunderstanding of an academic thesis, but rather an “academic” thesis with a clear political agenda.
The fact that the history of the Jewish people is far from Sand’s historical expertise and that the outstanding historians have panned the book only amplify this fact.

Shame on the European countries, and shame on those of you who chastised Israel for not tolerating thousands of rockets fired by Hamas into Israeli populations for years. Where are the charges that the Saudi response not proportional? Where are the cries that phosphorus bombs violated the norms of responsible nations?

Where are the crowds in London, Paris and other European capitols picketing outside the Saudi Embassy. Where are the United Nations and Human Rights Watch investigators? Where are calls for another Goldstone Report? Why are there no cries for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council?

Fat chance!

The difference is knee-jerk- anti-Semitic enmity towards Israel.

I Hope this clears up the specific point that concerns many people, including myself. That said, the issue of how progressive Jewish students address the challenge to Israel’s very legitimacy on campus is very complex. I have a great deal of personal experience in this area and want to stress that I think J Street U can play a key role in this battle. Precisely because the J Street U students speak the language of the left, they are best equipped to develop the correct tactics to deal with these situations. These tactics might not fit exactly with how we would ideally want the discussion to develop, but I think we have to be sensitive to the fact that these pro-Israel students are on the “frontlines” and are doing a good job. Equally important, by virtue of presenting a progressive view of Israel, they are creating a place for liberal Jewish students to be supportive of Israel while integrating the rest of their world view. If J Street U affiliated groups didn’t exist, more Jewish students would either find their place in the “one state solution” groups or opt out of the entire discussion. I hope we can akk agree that this would be a very bad result for Israel and the Jewish community.

Your article of November 6, “Anything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You”, is typical as much as it blatantly shows how you wind your literary way from an attempt at understanding to a total condemnation of those who seek something other than the policies of our government. Biblically you write “Are you with us or do you seek our destruction? ……those are our only choices”.

You engineer a fairly nasty literary analogy by equating J Street to Donald Bostrom. Unfortunately it also shows how narrowly you perceive that part of your biblical quote saying “Are you with us…..”. Your concept of being “with us” means agreeing with policies which others see as detrimental to our national interests and to our Jewish heritage.

You are terribly worried in your article that “Anything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You” by those nations and peoples that are out to get us. It follows symmetrically that it matters not what we say, it shall always be used against us. Logically it should also follow that we can say to each other what needs to be said, we can agree and we can disagree, without worrying about “what will the Goyim think” for they will always use it detrimentally. Actually, though, our ups and downs with the “Goyim” have little to do with what we “say”. It has mainly to do with what we “do”. But here, too, those who want to “get us” won’t relent regardless of what we “do” , so we may as well find ways of doing what we think is right.

Many of us believe that much of our country’s policies and actions in the occupied trritories are not “right”, but wrong. Many of us believe that our government is manipulating everything it says and does with the intention of holding on to as much (if not all) of the occupied territories as possible. Many of us believe this is wrong. Many of us think that our government does not want any kind of modus Vivendi which will allow for a separate Palestinian State, and therefore constructs its policies and actions in a way that will thwart that possibility. Many of us think that our government prefers the inevitability of more wars and intifadas rather than the loss of part of our biblical real-estate.

While I consider myself a truly kosher Zionist, while I totally support our need to remain militarily Stronger Than Ever, while I know that my grandchildren will still need to stand guard on our survival, I cannot agree to policies and actions which will teach my grandchildren that the main ingredients of morality and justice are “who can be stronger, fight better, subjugate better and oppress more efficiently”. I see our policies and actins as ones that are polluting our Jewish heritage and our national conscience. You would prefer I be silent for “they will use this against us”. If I speak out, you see me as the enemy who is out to “seek our destruction”. Nevertheless, while you continue to worry about those who will use what we say, I will continue to worry about what we are doing to ourselves.