James Wolcott, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine, writes on his blog:
Named after its founder Phillip Weiss, Mondoweiss (co-maintained by Adam Horowitz) is one of the most invaluable sites in the blogosphere, a blast of sanity and moral suasion against the prevailing demonization of anything and anyone perceived as anti-Israel….Whether it’s the demolition of Palestinian homes to make room for Israeli settlers, Harvard’s honoring of Martin Peretz, the usual suspects laying down a drum track for military strikes against Iran, or the plight of Gaza, Mondoweiss covers it all within the sweep of its lighthouse beam.
Mondoweiss is holding a fundraiser and is one quarter shy of its modest goal and needs—especially modest when you consider how much money is being shoveled by conservative donors into a shiny latrine such as RightNetwork—so why not consider making a donation?
Yes, where would we be without Mondoweiss and its strident condemnation of Zionism, its obsession with “Jewish power” in America, and its jaunty advocacy of Jewish assimilation (problem solved!).
I’m not surprised that Wolcott is a fan, in light of his “hearty commendation to the London Review of Books for publishing the too-hot-to-handle (in the US) study “The Israel Lobby” by the academic duo John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.” Or this piece which leaves little doubt as to who Wolcott believes pulls the strings of U.S. foreign policy:
Once again the lobbying machine for plucky little nuclearized Israel is preparing to gear the US up for war, using the same tactics and rhetoric that were used to browbeat the political-military-media establishment into invading and occupying Iraq, and once again encouraging American’s proud squadron of chickenhawks to flap their feathers and squawk.
As usual, Wolcott fails to recognize the irony that he is working for the very same media establishment that supposedly won’t allow criticism of Israel or “The Lobby.” Vanity Fair, which has a circulation of nearly 2 million, is owned by Conde Nast, which earns $5 billion per year.
And, even more shocking, Conde Nast is owned by…..a Jew! Or, to quote Philip Weiss himself: “a Jewish editor friend tells me that Si Newhouse would be disturbed if Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter—who has done such courageous work against the Iraq war—did anything to expose the Israel lobby.”
Glad we cleared that up. In any event, my suggestion: If you have a subscription to Vanity Fair, cancel it, and give the money to an organization that actually does some good in the world. (Or, if you’re feeling especially spiteful, tell Wolcott that his post inspired you to make a contribution to Jews for Sarah Palin.)
Regarding this post and your earlier one on Mearsheimer and Mondoweiss – very well argued, by the way, particularly the climactic point on “normal” countries – I will suggest that it is past time to cease calling Mondoweiss an anti-Zionist blog and to more properly label it as the anti-Semitic blog it is. You very well sum “its strident condemnation of Zionism, its obsession with ‘Jewish power’ in America, and its jaunty advocacy of Jewish assimilation (problem solved!).” The advocacy of assimilation, rather than physical elimination, isn’t reasonably a firewall against the charge of anti-Semitism. Even after the Indian Wars were over, the U.S. government had a policy directed at leading American Indians to abandon their Indian identity and assimilate. This was an anti-Indian policy.
Beyond his vile commenting community, if one reads Weiss historically, one finds from him the full range of distaste for Jews and Judaism, negative emotional responses to both, and focus on Jewish transgression and the historic theme of Jewish power that are the hallmarks of anti-Semitism. Just because the blog has a progressive veneer and doesn’t say Stormfront in its header, that doesn’t alter its essential animus.