The piece is totally bizarre. It reads like two totally different essays, one on the effort to prevent the US from participating in a redux of the infamous Durban conference (which she predictably attributes to Jewish neurosis and alleged strongarm tactics by Jewish communal groups), and one about President Obama’s failure to engage in the debate surrounding reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.

Her account of the Durban episode is totally skewed: she whitewashes the first Durban conference, misrepresents the Jewish community’s strenuous efforts toward a more balanced agenda, and then manages to characterize the emergence of a more sane, less Jew-hating 2nd Durban as some sort of defeat for the Jews. She then talks about Obama’s failure to engage in the reparations debate, a pretty much completely unrelated issue.

Klein sort of mushes the two topics together using a bizarre formula whereby the Jews of the world are preventing the developing world from moving ahead on a program to repair the legacy of centuries of slavery. (And somehow Obama — who Klein herself admits was never interested in this agenda anyway — is also being stymied in his (nonexistent) efforts at redressing the slavery legacy.)

The culmination of this line of thinking is the bizarre and offensive title of the essay, suggesting that Blacks and Jews are engaged in a worldwide “death match” (but one in which the US Black and developing world communities — and specifically champions of reparations — are the only ones on the side of right). Never mind that the movement against US participation in a Durban redux had nothing whatever to do with reparations, Obama, the Black community in the US, etc.

Klein seems obsessed with pitting Blacks against Jews in some sort of fantasy worldwide reparations debate, as well as in some sort of struggle for Obama’s attention domestically. You really need to see this thing to believe it; it reads like some sort of science fiction/alternate history short story.

torontodeclara...

It’s odd, though, that Klein fails to mention settlements, because this is where the anti-Zionist left can make common cause with Washington’s new policy assigning Israel co-responsibility for the conflict.

I’m not sure what I learn from her husband’s employment by Al-Jazeera. It doesn’t strike me that money is a problem for them. Beyond that, husbands and wives don’t always agree about everything. I have written many things on this site with which my wife would disagree, and sometimes quite strongly. Equating my views with hers would be a mistake that an outsider could easily make because we’re married, but it would be an inaccurate premise.

So let’s dispense with Naomi Klein’s husband and his employment.

That Harper’s article is precisely the type of article that caused me to cancel my subscription to that magazine after many years of subscribing. Reading about Israel’s supposed evils month in month out stopped being funny and became quite disturbing to read.

Klein is true to form in that article. She completely minimizes the input of the Palestinian advocates into the Durban 2001 draft, to a degree that should actually offend them. Then she plays up the reaction of Jews who cared about what happened there. She even goes as far as to create some sort of schism between black and Jews that is, of course, the fault of the Jews for expressing their distrust of Durban II. Incredible.

That wasn’t nearly as incredible as reading Joel Kovel’s loony criticism of her article in Mondoweiss for somehow diminishing the importance of equating “Zionism is racism” by playing down the claims of the Muslims and pro-Palestinians at Durban I. It kind of reminded me of my little essay a few days ago about how Uri Avnery got Lernered for not being anti-Zionist, and here we have Kovel Lernering Klein for not being anti-Zionist enough. It’s actually hilarious to watch these members of the far Left competing to out-hate Israel and dissing those who aren’t sufficiently virulent in their attacks. At least Kovel didn’t call her a dirty Jew.

She doesnt just support Israel’s destruction but also writes about vast conspiracies about Jews.
harpers.org/ar...

I agree that we shouldnt focus on her personal decisions in life (im sorry if i did a no-no).

The most pernicious aspect of what she’s doing is the entirely false claim that life in Israel is “normal” and therefore it’s this normality that needs to be attacked in order to end the conflict. Life in Israel is far from normal precisely because of the conflict and most Israelis have indicated time and again that they would agree to far-reaching compromise if it would bring about real peace. This has been reflected in the offers of two separate Israeli governments to the Palestinians.

What she is doing is supportive of and encouraging to those who seek Israel’s destruction.

I give her credi though- She did marry within the faith to Avi Lewis- who used to be so normal when he was on Much Music and then became so freaking weird when they married.
Either way like most jews who are not in tune with who they are religiously and search for something else to fill the void- they sure did find it in left wing nut communism..either way there’s a market ($$$$$) for thier what their selling (re: Noam Chomsky had to pass the menorah to someone else)
Thanks for calling her her BS out…