The Hard Left’s Only Sin Is Dissent
Among other things, the piece reinforces a thought that occurred to me after Yom Kippur, that for the hard left, there is only one sin: dissenting from the hard left’s policies and program. The manifesto of the hard left can, I think, be summed up in one sentence: No dissent from our diktat is permitted.
See Mazzig’s contention in the September 24 issue of the Jewish Link, (“An Israeli Leftist to J Street: Stop!”) that J Streeters “feel entitled to tell us, Israelis, what to do. When we think differently, they will arrogantly dismiss us as people who do not know what is best for our own welfare.”
Mr. Mazzig, of course, restricts this observation to J Street. Perhaps, in time, he will realize that this is the mindset of all hard leftists, going back, certainly, to…the Bolsheviks. Indeed, I should not be surprised if J Street dismisses the Mazzig article as a sad example of right-wing deviationism, and denounces the writer as the greatest renegade since Kautsky.
Thanks, also, for the uncredited (as far as I could determine) article on the appointment of Mr. Danon as Israel’s UN permanent representative. You cite someone who “thinks that Danon is too extreme for the New York Times.” My sense is that any Israeli sent to represent Israel at the United Nations who does not agree with The New York Times that “Israel undermines stability by failing to negotiate peace with the Palestinians” will be regarded as an extreme right-winger. Please see the Mazzig observation on J Street, above; it applies, I am convinced, with equal force to The New York Times. In this regard, please consider just about any Times editorial reference to Republicans and to Israel.
This is not to suggest That the New York Times, among others, opposes dissent. Never, for example, would The New York Times denounce disagreement with a Republican president as reflecting anti-government views. Are Republicans permitted to differ from, say, President Obama? As the paper’s lead editorial September 17, “The Elusive Truth About Fighting ISIS” indicated, Republicans are not to be allowed to disagree with the president.
David R. Zukerman, prop.
Lonely Pamphleteer Review
Thanks for the Montreal Memories!
I am just writing in appreciation of your 7/2 Montreal vacation piece. Due in large part to you we decided to take a trip there (and to Vermont) this August. Your advice was wonderful and our family had a great time. We left on a Wednesday morning, stopping in Albany for lunch at Terra, followed by a quick but memorable stop at Saratoga Springs racetrack and caught two races (the kids loved seeing that!). We arrived in Montreal in the evening and went straight to Grill Midtown for supper. We stayed in the Residence Inn Montreal Westmount, about a seven-minute walk from Chabad of Westmount. This was perfect because we got a third-floor two-bedroom suite with full kitchen with just enough room for us and our five kids ages 4-13. We ended up eating both Shabbos meals at Chabad which was a great experience. On Thursday morning we went to Old Montreal for Ben and Jerry’s and the Amphiboat tour followed by an afternoon at the Biodome and dinner at the fleishig Mozart. On Friday we went to SkyVenture (skydiving simulator) which the bravest among us enjoyed immensely, followed by Pizza Pita for lunch. After Shabbos we left the kids and went out to Mozart Dairy by ourselves! On Sunday morning we packed up and went to Exception Bistro for an early lunch on our way back to the States and Vermont.
We had a fantastic long weekend, thoroughly enjoying the French-flavored culture and super nice strangers we met along the way.
Bena Schwartz
