Who Are the "Self-loathing" Jews?

In public discourse amongst Jewish people about the differences between Jewish perspective on Jewish history and current events, it is not unusual to hear the term "self loathing" applied to individual Jews. Usually, this term is applied to Jewish academics or activists who take a stand based on principle rather than on the politics of perceived self-interest.

For instance, when Dr. Norman G. Finkelstein wrote his seminal book called "The Holocaust Industry", which recognizes the tragedy of the Nazi holocaust but refuses to accept self-perpetuating victom-hood of Jewish people as an excuse for profiteering or Zionist atrocities against Palestinians, Zionists attacked Dr. Finkelstein endlessly by saying he was "self-loathing". The same charge has often been made against another American Jew, Noam Chomsky, whose writings fail to tow the politically correct Zionist propaganda that seeks to erase Jewish guilt over Jewish historic and current wrongdoing. Even Israeli Jewish activists, such as the esteemed Uri Avnery are categorized in this manner.

The principal irony of this sort of politically correct thinking is that Jews who side with historic truth and principles of civilized behavior are called self-loathing, while the name callers tend to be Jews who propagate lies and who commit and condone atrocities, profiteering, war crimes, and fascist thinking in their defense of victimizing in the name of victim-hood.

In reality, those who have every reason to loathe themselves and their own actions and philosophies, instead falsely consider that Jews of principal and honesty are somehow self-loathing. This is more than a case of "the pot calling the kettle black". This is a distortion that attempts to deceive, deride, demoralize, and defend the indefensible.

For this reason, the world outside of the Jewish nation and race tends to have a far different perspective of Jewish men of integrity, such as Dr. Chomsky and Finkelstein and Mr. Avnery than Zionists do. To principled people everywhere, these men are modern heroes, fighters for justice and truth; these men are men who obviously enjoy tremendous self-respect, even as they are respected by civilized and principled people of every nation. There is no self-loathing afflicting those accused of such.

A fascinating method of evaluating these perspectives can be found in letters posted on a website operated in the name of Dr. Finkelstein at http://www.normanfinkelstein.com . If anyone goes to the web page containing letters writing to Dr. Finkelstein by both admirers and detractors, one can see the levels of both appreciation and of hatred towards this man. And one can easily determine whom the self-loathing ones are.

How fortunate the world is that we do have Jewish men of honor, truth, and principle. These men, with their intellect and their abilities to think, communicate, and influence, could easily find financial enrichment by abandoning their principles. But, to do so, could result in self-loathing. Instead, these men stand for truth and justice and self-respect, and have earned the admiration of millions.

Cheers to the Jewish men who prove that self-loathing is NOT associated with lies and victimization.